The chaussée follows the right bank, at some height above the stream, in full possession of the views on either hand. The valley maintains its width; but the nature of the landscape changes; cultivation ceases, and the forest descends to the road. Thickets of rhododendron are seen for the first time--the tree-like bushes with which we are familiar in England and the large flowers. The brakes were a mass of bloom; a little higher we met the azaleas; the yellow azalea and the pale mauve petals of the rhododendron were in the splendour of their latest blossoming. In the lush forest we noticed the beech tree, the walnut, and the maple, the hazel, the oak and the elm; the elders were in full flower, and the cherry trees were conspicuous for their number and size. The more open spaces were covered with masses of forget-me-nots; calices of hellebore, withered yellow, rested on the rank grass; and yellow mullein, filling the air with its subtle perfume, rose from among the rocks. Little waterfalls leapt through the deep shade of narrow clearings; we were nearing the head of the valley. A bed of sandstone, holding the moisture like a sponge, interrupts the lava beds. The ridges circle inwards; the valley becomes an amphitheatre, and its stately character is preserved to the last. Upon a terrace of this amphitheatre the little settlement of Lower Hamsi Keui commands the long perspective towards the north. It is distant some fourteen miles from Jevizlik and thirty-four from Trebizond. We made our stage at the Upper Hamsi Keui, over a mile beyond the Lower, by a continuous ascent. It is situated above one of the two larger side valleys which converge towards the hamlet first named. It is from here that you commence the first portion of the climb to the Zigana Dagh, through forest glades in which the spruce firs alternate with the beech woods, and which are carpeted with an undergrowth of rhododendron and azalea and tall palm-leaved bracken. As we rose on the following morning above our surroundings we looked in vain for the vista of sea, the horizon being veiled in mist. Our ears were greeted by the song of nightingales, and by the clear call-notes of the cuckoo; while the plashing of innumerable streamlets and waterfalls mingled to a background of tremulous sound. Flocks of sheep were passed on their way to their summer pastures, and we could hear their liquid bells from afar. They were accompanied by shepherds with dogs not much smaller than mastiffs, which had long white hair and tails like a fox's brush. The side valley is left behind, and then a second and still smaller valley; until the forest ceases and you enter the region of dreary heights. But the azalea still continues, mounting the ridge like our English gorse and not less riotous of flower. Patches of snow remain unmelted even at this season. At the saddle of the pass we had covered about 10 miles and risen nearly 2600 feet (Upper Hamsi Keui, 4060 feet; Zigana Pass, 6640 feet).