Note 1 — Chapter XVIII · ROUND NIMRUD BY LAKE NAZIK

August 2.—Walking our horses all the way, we reached Adeljivas in four hours, excluding stoppages. The track follows the shore of the lake the whole distance, and you never lose the expanse of waters. In fact, it is the base of the block of limestones on the west of Sipan that you are skirting throughout the ride; although at first, and for some distance, the stratified rocks are superseded by intrusive material of igneous origin. These sombre heights are flanked by low foothills of purple conglomerate, which have been thrown into a succession of shallow folds, with an axis parallel to the shore. But as you approach Adeljivas the igneous rocks give way, and the conglomerate thins out and disappears. The limestone meets the waters, which it tinges with its own white hue. Hardened almost to the state of marble, it is in places full of corals. The scene becomes remarkable in the neighbourhood of the town, where cliffs of this description and of great elevation descend abruptly into the depths above which you ride.1 Where these recede and leave the shore, giving place to a wide alluvial strip at the foot of Sipan, long concealed, is situated Adeljivas. The castle clings to the cliff; the gardens clothe the alluvial soil. In other respects our journey was not, perhaps, noteworthy. Besides Tunus, we passed only a couple of hamlets the whole way. Such oases of verdure—for the walnuts are especially fine—were much more rare than one would expect. But the district is unsafe; and it was patrolled by soldiers before we passed. This precaution was perhaps due to the presence by our side of the Kaimakam of Akhlat. His colleague of Adeljivas came out to meet us, near the border of his administrative district. The promontories along this shore do not protrude far; but they are bold, and with several prongs or bluffs. They offer no difficulties to the road. Lagoons have been forming on a large scale within the bays, due probably to the rise in level of the lake.