'ROUTES IN PERSIA. SECTION II.' [‎25] (50/122)

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7J
25
Route N o. 16— con/d.
No.
of
stage.
Names of stages.
Distancb ii^
miles.
Inter
mediate.
Rbmaeks.
Total.
A MADIA
Hayis
D UARI
GtJN-DUK
Road over a gently-undulating and well-wooded
countr y to the valley of A madia, which is but
sparingly cultivated ; it contains many villages,
partly of Kurds of the Bah din an tribe and partly
of Chaldeans. Excepting the slight elevation
intervening between the watershed The boundary between adjacent drainage basins. of the Kha-
bur and Gharah rivers, the valley extends from
the Tigris to the vale of Rawanduz, being, how
ever, curved about 12 miles to the east of Amadia
in the direction of Ziberri, and is about 5 or 6
miles wide.
The town is built on a rocky terrace, and is every
where surrounded by cliffs. There are two gates,
one to the north-west and the other to the east.
The town stands on the eastern portion of the
terrace. It is principally inhabited by Jews, of
whom there are 70 houses.
Issuing by the eastern gate, we got into the gardens
and vale north of the town.
Crossed the pa^s of the Matineh mountain, called
also the Geli Mazukah pass; the elevation was
5,840 feet, and there were patches of snow. From
this point the extensive district of Berrawi ex
tended before us; in our neighbourhood was a
long valley dotted with Christian villages. Be
yond it were two distinct lofty snow-clad chains
of mountains - " Tur Devehli^and " Tura Shina."
To the west the valley opened amidst forests,
rock, and arable land. The four great tribes in
Northern Kurdistan are Badhiuan, Buhtan, Hak-
kiari, and Eawanduz.
About an hour's descent brought us to the village
of Hayis (Chaldeans).
An hour's journey brought us to a perpendicular
precipice, about 250 feet deep, at the bottom of
which rolled the Robar Elmei, which flows to the
Zab. Road lay down the Robar Elmei; crossed
it by a wooden bridge, passing several Chaldean
villages, and then up a tributary stream to the
village of Duari, the residence of the bishop.
We had a steep descent from the Tara Dari and
reached a valley nearly filled up with snow. The
bishop's residence was 4,917 feet; the crest of
Duari 5,792 feet; and the vale with snow 4,917
feet.
From hence we ascended again to the ciest of the
Deralini hills (5,811 feet), thence a prolonged
descent of 1^ hours to the village of Gun-duk,
inhabited by tributary Kurds.
This deep valley reaches down to the Zab; it is
bounded on the north by the great range called
Karasi Tigari. The path or mule-way led round
the southern slope of the Karasi Tigari; the Zab