Our course was directed towards Ilija, a village of above-ground houses at the foot of the western promontory, near some hot springs. The summer road to Erzinjan diverges towards the west shortly after you have left Erzerum. It is taken across the horn of heights, up a partial opening, which, however, was barely visible. The view across the plain and along the summits of the northern barrier extends from the Deveh Boyun and the distant heights of Kargabazar to the Kop mountain in the west. Several individual heights may be distinguished from their fellows: Sheikhjik, a beautiful cone, north-west of Erzerum; then Akhbaba, a cockscombed outline, and next Jejen, a symmetrical peak. The flat-topped, broad-shouldered mass, which closes the series, is the Kop, beneath whose shadow lies the pass. In the village of Gez--a cluster of houses, partly Mohammedan and partly Armenian--we made a stay of twenty minutes, and said farewell to some of our friends, who had driven out to meet us in a sledge. Sleighing is much in favour during the winter, both among rich and poor. Little black specks come gliding over the snow-field in the neighbourhood of the town. Taking shape, they are seen to consist sometimes of a lean hack drawing a couple of longitudinal logs, placed upon skates; or a graceful car, drawn by a pair of high-stepping horses, brushes past you at a rapid trot. Near Ilija we crossed a stream of warm water, which proceeded to follow us on our right hand; and at three o'clock we had reached the spot near the extremity of the promontory where the Kara Su might be expected to enter the narrows.