thirsty sand absorbs, within a short distance of their source, the
various brooks and streams which flow south and east into the desert
from the northern and western mountain chains, without allowing them to
collect into rivers or to carry fertility far into the plain region. The
the river of Isfahan forms the only exception to this rule within the
limits of the ancient Media. All its other important streams, as has
been seen, flow either into the Caspian or into the great lake of
Urumiyeh.

That lake itself now requires our attention. It is an oblong basin,
stretching in its greater direction from N.N.W. to S.S. E., a distance
of above eighty miles, with an average width of about twenty-five miles.
On its eastern side a remarkable peninsula, projecting far into its
waters, divides it into two portions of very unequal size--a northern
and a southern.

The southern one, which is the largest of the two, is diversified
towards its centre by a group of islands, some of which are of a
considerable size. The lake, like others in this part of Asia, is
several thousand feet above the sea level. Its waters are heavily
impregnated with salt, resembling those of the Dead Sea. No fish can
live in them. When a storm sweeps over their surface it only raises the
waves a few feet; and no sooner is it passed than they rapidly subside
again into a deep, heavy, death-like sleep. The lake is shallow, nowhere
exceeding four fathoms, and averaging about two fathoms--a depth which,
however, is rarely attained within two miles of the land. The water is
pellucid. To the eye it has the deep blue color of some of the northern
Italian lakes, whence it was called by the Armenians the Kapotan Zow or
"Blue Sea."