Abstract
Travels in Eastern Turkey AT A meeting of the Geographical Society on December 9, 1839, a communication was read from Mr. John Brant, H.M. Consul at Erzurum, describing a tour of about 900 miles in the country lying to the south of Mount Ararat and the north of the River Tigris. Brant was accompanied by Dr. E. D. Dickson and A. G. Glascott, R.N., who had mapped the route followed and had also prepared a chart of a section of the high land of Armenia, between Trebizon on the Black Sea, and Mosul on the Tigris, a direct distance of 360 miles, showing the remarkable features of the elevated plateau, which for the greater part preserves a level of 6.000 ft. above the sea. Astronomical positions were determined of the principal places visited, resulting in the correction of many errors. Among the towns visited was that of Van on the east side of the lake ot that name. The town had a population of about 35,000, half of whom were Armenians. The lake covers about 900 square miles and is 5,470 ft. above the level of the sea. By a special order of the Pasha, the party were able to visit the castle and caves and they also inspected the cuneiform inscriptions near Van, the Pasha expressing great anxiety to know if the party could translate them. An expedition was also made to the top of the mountain of Supan Tagla, 4,000 ft. above the lake and 9,500 ft. above sea-level, the theodolite being placed on the summit. From this spot could be seen to the north-east the beautiful peaks of the Great and Lesser Ararat, at a distance of 80 miles, rising into the regions of eternal snow.
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Science News a Century Ago. Nature 144, 990 (1939). https://doi.org/10.1038/144990a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/144990a0