Geographical Journal (Journal of the Royal Geographical Society): Volume VIII, No. 5 [‎25v] (53/154)

456
A JOURNEY IN THE VALLEY OF THE UPPER EUPHRATES.
to Hassan Ova. This stone we found to be a Latin inscription bearing
the name of the Emperor Decius on a panel cut in the living rock on
the further or left bank of the Kara Budak, a tributary of the Euphrates
at a point situated about 4 miles from Dostal, and abont the same
distance from the junction of the tributary with the river. On the right
bank of the Kara Budak, opposite the inscription, there are remains of
an abutment of a bridge, and on the left bank the rock is cut away for
a short distance to carry a road.
As is often the case, the name of the river over which the bridge
was built is given in the inscription, and, curiously enough, it appears
to be the same as that by which the Romans called our own Severn, i.e.
Sabrina. Its discovery gives certain indication that a Roman road
passed the stream at this point.
From the spot where we found the remains Hassan Ova is reached
in one and a half hour, and a road to Kuru Cbai goes off to the left
fifteen minutes after leaving the bridge. At Hassan Ova. which is
situated close to the Armidan Chai,* another considerable tributary of
the Euphrates, and one which has as yet found no place in Kiepert's
maps of Asia Minor, we saw some signs of an ancient site in some
columns and capitals, probably of Byzantine date, lying in a ruined hut
by the side of our path. Unfortunately, we were prevented from
searching the village for further evidence of antiquity by the fear of
being detained in quarantine. Hassan Ova lies on the frontier between
the vilayets of Sivas and Erzingan, and eleven days’ quarantine had
been imposed on all travellers coming from the former province. Any
delay might have led to our detention in the wretched village, which
is notorious in this part of Asia Minor for its bad water, for ’eleven
days, so we hastened on, fortunately without being perceived by the
official to whom the supervision of this part of the frontier had been
entrusted.
A short distance above Hassan Ova the country through which the
western Euphrates flows becomes mountainous on the right bank and
OUT path Strict up into the hills, and, after a long and ease ascent
reached the height of 6458 feet.
We then crossed a well-cultivated upland plain until we came to the
raHey of the Nergieb Chai, which we followed down to Xergieb, a
Turkish Tillage of fifty houses, distant three hours forty minutes from
Hassan Ova. After leaving Xezgieb, we travelled for rather more than
an hour down the bed of the same stream; the path then mounts from
the eft bank, and crosses the heads of numerous rferea formed bv
small tributaries of the Euphrates. In this manner we gradualfy
ascended to the edge of a high cliff, from which we had a view of the
* It is also called the Kura Chai Su.
(loc.. cit^ pp. 308 ff.).
Its course was followed by Taylor in 1806