Note 3 — Chapter XIV · DOWN THE MURAD TO MELAZKERT1

July 2. —The Murad opposite Tutakh had a width of a hundred yards; but it was not deeper than two and a half feet. After crossing the ford we proceeded along the left bank, sometimes winding over the westerly slopes of the grassy eminences which screen the Ala Dagh, at others following the alluvial flat in the bed of the river. Lavas, tuffs, and dark volcanic sands were conspicuous on the heights and in the valleys. Oswald observed the frequent introduction of a conglomerate, consisting of well-rounded pebbles or blocks of lava, interbedded with volcanic sands. It may denote that the lake, which filled the basin of Melazkert, extended at one time to this region. A new landmark rose in the north—the magnificent dome of the Kuseh Dagh; while, among our old companions, Khamur could still be seen, and we were in full view of Sipan and Bilejan. But neither the dreary downs on the right bank of the river—our only prospect of any extent—nor the bed of the river itself, with its pebble-strewn flats of alluvium, afforded any refreshment to the eye. No restful groves cast shadows across the sheen of the water, where, here and there, a flock was browsing on the scanty herbage, or a herd of buffaloes wallowed in the oozy mud. I was reminded of the bed of the Tigris below the town of Diarbekr; and, indeed, the Murad flows through these plains of Armenia with much the same appearance as that of its companion at the head of the Mesopotamian plains. It is a slowly-flowing river;3 and it might, I suppose, be made navigable from Tutakh as far as Karaogli. Locks would be required; but the lower region is so fertile that, with better government, such works might prove remunerative.