The Topography of the Scamander Valley.—I

Abstract

The course of the Scamander is divided into three well marked sections—valley basins divided by defiles. Beginning from the mouth we have first the Plain of Troy, of which nothing need be said here; enough has been written about it already. It is bounded on the south by the Bally Dagh and south of this again by the Kara Dagh. Into the bay between these two runs on the east a spur of the Kayaly Dagh. These hills descend in steep slopes to the river banks, and form a gorge of limestone cliffs some four miles long, nearly as far as Sarimsak Köprü (Garlic Bridge). The path from the north mounts the slopes of the Bally Dagh to a height of over 500 feet, then descends to the river where in the middle of the gorge there lies a small secluded plain—a spot of idyllic charm—and again rises to a height of over 600 feet in order to cross the southern barrier of the Kara Dagh and reach the high road from the Dardanelles to Ezine close to Sarimsak Köprü.