Yet, in spite of the comparative openness of such a situation, you do not see Bitlis until you are well within her precincts. The body of the town--the mediæval castle, the minarets and the bazars--lies in the trough of a deep gorge. The river which threads the valley is composed by the union of two main streams, the one coming from the north through a direct passage from the plains of the tableland, the other from the east, the direction of the Güzel Dere and the road to Van. The waters meet at some little distance above the settlement, to bury themselves on a south-westerly course in a ravine or cañon with a depth of about 100 feet. From either side of the ravine rise the slopes of the mountains, leaving no great interval of level ground. The road is taken along the right bank upon the summit of the cliff; and after a few winds reaches the commencement of the houses. They cluster on the cliffs on both sides of the stream and mount the first acclivities of the mountain walls. Of a sudden the valley opens and the river changes direction, settling down to a southerly course. Two side valleys with confluent streams enlarge the views. Tier upon tier the flat-roofed dwellings are terraced up the slopes, and are seen extending into the recesses of the hills. It will be about a quarter of a mile from where you reached the first buildings; and still the castle and the bazars are hidden from sight. It is not until that venerable pile is already passed that the banks of the river flatten. It grazes the eastern side of the platform of rock supporting the battlements, and is soon joined by the tributary to the right bank. These are the most densely-built quarters. Stone bridges with a single span of arched masonry present the most charming prospects up the labyrinth of houses to the castled rock of which the figure is that of a wedge with the broad side facing south. The water bubbles over the boulders in its bed, which is not more than thirty or forty feet wide. From its margin rise the slender stems of willows or poplars. A little lower down the second tributary rustles in, this one to the left bank. But the river soon resumes its burrowing and boring tendency, and compels the houses again to take refuge up the slopes on either side. The expanse narrows and assumes the form of a single trough in the mountains, threaded by a thin line of foam. The most comprehensive view of the city may be obtained from these southern limits, just before the entrance of the affluent from the east. It forms the subject of my illustration, which was taken from a position in the Avel Meidan (Fig. 146)--the quarter in which is situated the American Mission, and where, since the date of my visit, has been established the British consulate, the pioneer of the political and commercial intercourse of the states of the West with this remote Oriental town.