Note 11 — Chapter VIII · FROM MUSH TO ERZERUM

I had read many accounts of the famous Bingöl Dagh, the parent mountain of the Araxes and of the principal tributaries of the Euphrates, and, in some sense, the roof of Western Asia. None had prepared me for the vision before our eyes. The actual walls of the crater were not, I imagine, visible; but those cliffs had no doubt been covered by deep beds of lava which had added to their height. The greatest eminence on the extinct volcano is that of Demir-Kala, which must be situated not far from the edge of the cliff. It has an elevation of 10,770 feet.11 But the mountain proper is but a wart on the face of the lofty tableland from which it rises, and which it has contributed to shape. I tried to examine the relation of this tableland to the plateau which we had crossed, but was prevented by the lie of the land upon the west.