'The Transactions of the Bombay Geographical Society. From January 1865 to December 1867. (Edited by the Honorary Secretary.) Volume XVIII.' [‎26] (161/268)

26
OVERLAND JOURNEY FROM
Its historical associations are, moreover, such as to ensure for it the
attention of all inquiring travellers. I could do little more than ride
round the base of the hill, and admire the landscape. The southern
aspect of the citadel was that which struck me the most, when the fort
was divested, as it were, of the town, and stood out alone in real
grandeur. I never saw a much more picturesque effect of the kind; it
was not unlike what many of us must have often admired in the Castle
at Edinburgh. The morning after arrival I was able to pay a hurried
visit to the Roman hall, where the monuments and inscriptions are still
in excellent preservation, but the necessity for my early departure, in
answer to a telegram from Constantinople, prevented me from attempt-
ing any researches. Murray estimates the population at 20,000, of
whom a third are Armenians. This certainly does not appear an
overstatement.
35. The famous goats, producing a wool renowned over Europe,
are exquisite little animals, and abound in the vicinity of the town
from which they derive their name. It is said that they are only
found within certain circumscribed limits, which may be defined as
between the west bank of the Kizzil Irmak and Sevri Hissar, the latter
place marking the most southerly point, and the Black Sea being the
northern boundary. A space of five hundred geographical square
miles may here be assigned, from which removal would cause deteriora
tion. It is a known fact that if transferred to the east bank of the
Kizzil Irmak they suffer from the mol du pays. Many are lost from
exposure, but the losses are made up for by breeding with common
goats, and caste is supposed to be recovered in the third generation.
The Angureh goat gives one oka, or forty-four ounces avoirdupois, of
wool ; and the quantity supplied throughout the wool region is estimated
at from 350,000 to 400,000 okas, i.e., 962,500 lb. to 1,100,000 lb.
From the same authority it appears that 40,000 okas (110,000 lb )
are expended in thread manufacture in Asia Minor itself, of which more
than half is sent to Holland, and 8,000 to 10,000 okas (17,500 lb.) are
converted into home-made shawls and stuffs- 36
36. That the present report is necessarily rambling and meagre
will, I trust, be excused from the circumstance that I have no office,
and few references besides my own diary and notes. These, if I were
to draw on them too freely, would lead me into questions foreign to