and breaking through the chain of Mount Taurus, flows southeasterly into the Persian Gulf, after a course of 1,300 miles. The Tigris is a branch of the Euphrates, rising in the same quarter, and flowing mostly in a parallel direction, till it joins the Euphrates after a course of 800 miles. The Kizil Irmak, or ancient Halys, flows through the central part of Asia Minor northerly into the Black Sea. The Sakaria or Sangarias, the Mendres or Meander, and the Sarabat are the other most remarkable rivers of Asia Minor. Lake Van, in Armenia, is about 200 miles in circuit.

4. Islands. On the coast of Asia Minor, are many islands celebrated in ancient history. In the north are Tenedos, famous in the war of Troy, Lemnos, and Samothrace. Lesbos or Metelino is a beautiful island, with mountains covered with vines and olives, exhibiting a perpetual verdure. It has a population of 30,000. Scio, the ancient Chios, formerly renowned for its beauty and fertility, has obtained a mournful celebrity in our own days. The island was devastated by the Turks, and its inhabitants butchered in 1822. Samos is productive in grain and fruit. Patmos and Rhodes are famous in sacred and profane history.

Cyprus, the largest of the islands, lies the farthest south; it is 140 miles long and 60 in breadth. It is traversed by two lofty mountainous ridges; and the whole face of the island is so verdant as to resemble an immense flower garden. It produces vines, olives, lemons, oranges, apricots, and numerous other fruits. Corn and silk are raised, and carpets manufactured. The population is about 80,000.

5. Climate. In the mountainous parts, especially in Armenia, the climate is temperate and healthy. In Mesopotamia it is hot and unhealthy. The Simoom, a poisonous wind of the desert, is common here. This country contains the most fertile provinces of Asia, and produces all the luxuries of life in abundance. Raw silk, corn, wine, oil, honey, fruit of every species, coffee, myrrh, frankincense, and odoriferous plants and drugs, flourish here almost without culture, which is practised chiefly by the Greeks and Armenians. The olives, citrons, lemons, oranges, figs, and dates produced in these provinces, are highly delicious, and in great plenty.

6. Minerals. Silver, copper, and lead are found in Asia Minor and Armenia, iron in Mesopotamia, and salt in various places.

7. Animals. The Caucasian goat, which is larger than the common goat inhabits the Caucasian Mountains and the Taurus. The Angora goat is remarkable for its hair, which curls in long ringlets of eight or nine inches in length, and is of a silky texture, and glossy silvery white-ness. Much yarn, spun from it, is exported. The camel is much used here as a beast of burden, and its hair is valuable.

8. Divisions. Asiatic Turkey is politically divided into 16 eyalets or pachalics, which are subdivided into sangiacats. But many of the mountaineers and nomadic tribes are only tributaries, others are merely vassals, that is, they recognise the superiority of the Porte, and some are entirely independent. It is not rare for the pachas also to refuse obedience to the orders of the sultan, and to resist his forces. The common geographical divisions, generally used by writers, are Asia Minor or Anatolia, Georgia, Armenia, Curdistan, and Mesopotamia or Aljesira with Irak-Arabi. Only a part of Georgia, Armenia, and Curdistan belong to the Ottoman empire.

9. Towns. Bagdad, built upon both banks of the river Tigris, was

for some centuries the brilliant metropolis of the caliphate under the Saracens. This city retains few marks of its ancient grandeur. It is in the form of an irregular square, ill-built, and rudely fortified; but the convenience of its situation renders it one of the seats of the Turkish government, and it has still a considerable trade, being annually visited by the caravans from Smyrna and Aleppo, and supplied also with the produce of Persia and India. Most of the houses have a court-yard, in the middle of which is a plantation of orange-trees. The bazars are handsome and spacious, and filled with shops for all kinds of merchandise. These were erected by the Persians, when they were in possession of the place, as were also the bagnios. The castle, which is of stone, commands the river. Below the castle, by the water side, is the palace of the Turkish governor: and there are many summer-houses on the river, which make a fine appearance. Population 100,000.

Bassora or Basra, which is situated below the junction of the Tigris and the Euphrates, is considered as the second city of the pachalic of Bagdad; but it has greatly declined from its former wealth and importance, though it still has a population of 60,000, who carry on an extensive trade. The houses are meanly built; the bazars are miserable structures; and of forty mosques only one is worthy of the name. The Arabs form the most numerous class of the inhabitants; but the Armenians are the chief managers of the foreign trade. For the merchandise of British India, they chiefly exchange bullion, pearls, copper, silk, dates, and gall-nuts; and their horses, which are strong and beautiful, are also articles of exportation.

Mosul, which is situated on a plain near the Tigris, was once a flourishing town; but it is now declining, though it still has about 60,000 inhabitants; among whom, beside Turks, are many Curds, Arabs, Jews, and Armenians.

Diarbekir, the ancient Amida, formerly the capital of an independent state, is now the seat of a powerful pacha. It is surrounded by a wall, supposed to be a Roman work, famous for its height and solidity. Many of the houses are handsome, one mosque is magnificent, and the castle is an ornament to the town. Manufactures and commerce are prosecuted with some degree of spirit; and the inhabitants amount to 60,000.

Orfa, in Mesopotamia, is one of the finest cities in this country. It is the ancient Edessa, and is 3 or 4 miles in compass. The streets are narrow, but well paved and clean. The houses are of stone and well built, and the city has numerous excellent bazars or markets. A small lake at one extremity of the city supplies it with excellent water. Population 50,000.

The country upon the banks of the Euphrates and Tigris, was for centuries the seat of powerful empires, and the centre of the commercial transactions between China, India, Persia, Egypt, and eastern Eu rope. Here are still seen the ruins, or rather vestiges of the ruins, of the ancient Nineveh, once the largest city of Asia, and the capital of the Assyrian empire; of the magnificent and luxurious Babylon, the capital of the Babylonian monarchy and the wonder of the world; of the splendid and sumptuous capitals of the once powerful Syrian, and Parthian empires, Seleucia, and Ctesiphon. As the soil furnished clay, those cities were built of bricks baked in the sun, and of a perishable

nature.

Erzerum, in Turkish Armenia, is situated at the foot of a high mountain, in a large plain near the Euphrates. It has a flourishing commerce and extensive manufactures, with about 100,000 inhabitants. The side arms made here are in high repute in the east; its vast mosque, capable of containing 8,000 persons, its bazars, and caravanseries are the most remarkable edifices.

Van, upon the lake of the same name, a strongly fortified and industrious city, is the next most important place in Armenia. It is of great antiquity, and in a neighboring hill are shown vast subterranean apartments, attributed by the Armenians to Semiramis.

Kutaieh, the residence of the beglerbeg or governor general of Anatolia, is a large city with 50,000 inhabitants. Karahissar in the neighborhood, noted for its opium and its woollen manufactures, has a population of 60,000 souls.

Broussa or Bursa is one of the most flourishing cities of the empire; it contains an ancient castle, a number of magnificent mosques, handsome caravanseries of stone, and fine fountains, and has 100,000 inhabitants, actively employed in manufactures and commerce. It was once the capital of the empire, and at an earlier period was the residence of the Bithynian kings. In its vicinity is Isnik or Nice, now a miserable village, once a splendid city, and famous for having been the seat of the first general council of all Christendom, in 325. To the northwest on the Bosphorus opposite Constantinople, stands Scutari, with 35,000 inhabitants. It is the rendezvous of the caravans trading between Constantinople and the east, and contains many handsome buildings; its cemeteries are remarkable for their extent and elegance, the rich Turks of the European shore still preferring to be buried in Asia out of love to the ancient land of their fathers.

Smyrna, pleasantly situated upon a gulf of the Archipelago, but with narrow and dirty streets, is the principal commercial place of Western Asia. Its spacious and safe harbor, its central position, and its facilities of communication with the most remote provinces of the interior, render it the great mart of trade in this quarter of the world. The quarter inhabited by Franks or Europeans, enjoys the privilege of exemption -from Turkish jurisdiction, the consuls of the respective nations exercising the necessary civil and judicial authority. Population 130,000. Manissa, a flourishing commercial town, noted for its extensive plantations of saffron, with 40,000 inhabitants; Scalanova, 20,000, and Guzel Hissar, 30,000, are other considerable places in this part of the empire.

Konieh, in a rich and well watered plain, is now much declined from its former importance, but it has still a population of 30,000 souls, and contains numerous madrasses or colleges and manufactories.

Tocat, upon the Kizil Irmak, is a large commercial city with 100,000 inhabitants. Kaisarieb, to the southwest, has 25,000 inhabitants.

Trebisond, situated upon the Black Sea, with a fine harbor, and surrounded by a rich territory remarkable for its delicious climate, was once the capital of an independent Grecian state, and is still important for its commerce, its manufactures, and its population, amounting to 50,000. Copper and slaves are its principal exports.

Boli, upon the great caravan route to Constantinople, with 50,000 inhabitants; Angora, 40,000, noted for its camlets; and Tarsus, once a

rich, populous, and learned city, and still an active commercial town with 30,000 inhabitants, are also important towns.

10. Industry. Agriculture is in general in a most miserable condition, and, with few exceptions, manufacturing industry is not in a much better state. In the dyeing of silk, cotton, woollen, and leather fabrics, however, the inhabitants are noway inferior in skill to the Europeans. Western Asia has for centuries been the theatre of vast commercial operations, and although, owing to the dangers of the roads, and the want of facilities of intercommunication, the commerce of this fine country is only a shadow of what it has been, still its central position between Europe, Asia, and Africa, the rich productions of its soil, and the manufactures of the great cities, sustain an active and profitable, trade.

11. Religion. The Mahometan is the prevailing religion; it is that of the Ottoman Turks, the dominant race, the Turcomans, Arabs, Curds, &c. Some of the Curds, however, belong to the Armenian and Nestorian churches, while the Greek and Armenian races chiefly profess the doctrines of the churches bearing their respective names.

12. Inhabitants. The population is composed of a great number of distinct nations, comprising Ottoman Turks, Turcomans, Curds, Arabs, Armenians, Jews, Greeks, and several other tribes. The languages spoken by this mixture of nations, are equally numerous. In commercial places, a jargon compounded of several languages, called the lingua franca is much used.

The character of the population is various and discordant. The Turk is everywhere the same haughty, indolent being. The Armenian is timid, obsequious, frugal, industrious, and avaricious. He traverses all countries for gain, and generally the factors of the Turks, the merchants, and mechanics, are Armenians. They are a very ancient people; pliant to circumstances, bending to authority, and living by peaceful pursuits. They have an animated physiognomy and good features. They live in large families, closely united. The Jews do not essentially differ from them. The Greek is, as elsewhere, subtle, cheerful, and adroit. The Turcomans are boisterous, ignorant, brave, and hospitable. They will shed their blood in defence of those with whom they have eaten. The Curds are robbers and thieves, and one tribe is often at war with another. The amusements of the various people that inhabit Asiatic Turkey, are not of an intellectual or refined character. Tricks of jugglers, exhibitions of dancing females, feats of horsemanship, and recitals of stories are common. The arts are in a low state, and education is little more than learning to read and write, with the elements of some of the sciences.

In Asia Minor there are numerous tribes of Turcomans, who are merely vassals of the Porte; most of the Curds in Armenia and Curdistan are really independent, and often at war with the Turkish governors, as well as with each other; the Lazians, who occupy the country on the southeast of the Black Sea, are entirely independent of the Turkish authority. In Mesopotamia are numerous Arabs and Cos, whose dependence upon the Porte is merely nominal.

CXXVI.

SYRIA OR EGYPTIAN ASIA.

1. Boundaries and Extent. This region, which has lately been ceded by the Porte to Egypt, is bounded on the north and east by the Ottoman dominions; on the south by Arabia, and on the west by that part of the Mediterranean often called the Levant. It extends from Lat. 31° to 37° N., and from Lon. 35° to 41° E., having an area of about 50,000 square miles, with 1,500,000 inhabitants.

2. Mountains. The Libanus traverses the country from north to south in two distinct chains; the principal chain near the coast forms the Lebanon Mountains; the highest suminit, near Balbec, has an elevation of upwards of 11,000 feet. The Anti-Libanus or interior chain rises to a greater height, some of its summits being upwards of 16,000 feet high. Mount Carmel and Mount Tabor are of historical celebrity.

3. Rivers and Lakes. The Orontes is the principal river of this.. region; it rises in the Anti-Libanus, and reaches the sea after a course of 250 miles. The other rivers are small. The Jordan, or Arden, rises in Mount Hermon in the chain of the Anti-Libanus, and flows through the small lake of Genesareth, into the lake called by writers the Dead Sea. The latter is a small body of water, about 60 miles long, and from 10 to 15 wide; its waters are salt and bitterish, and remarkable for their great weight; they abound in asphaltuin, a sort of bituminous substance, whence the lake is also called Lake Asphaltites. It is supposed to occupy the site of the ancient cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.

4. Divisions. Syria, or Sham, comprising Palestine in the southwest, was divided, while it formed a part of the Ottoman empire into four pachalics or eyalets; Aleppo, Damascus, Acre, and Tripoli, bearing the names of their respective capitals.

5. Towns. Aleppo, not long since second only to Constantinople, in population, extent, and wealth, and the centre of an extensive commerce, was almost entirely destroyed by two earthquakes in 1822; previously to that disaster, its inhabitants were estimated to amount to 200,000. In the vicinity are Hamah, on the Orontes, situated in a fertile district, esteemed the granary of Syria, with extensive manufactures and a thriving commerce, giving employment to 60,000 inhabitants; Antakich, on the site of the ancient Antioch, with about 12,000 inhabitants; and Scanderoon, or Alexandretta, a small town in an unhealthy situation, but the centre of an active trade.

Tripoli, a well built city in a delightful district, carries on a considerable commerce. It has 16,000 inhabitants. Acre or Ptolemais is one of the principal commercial towns of Syria; population 20,000. In its vicinity are Mount Carmel, celebrated in sacred history; Tyre and Sidon, once queens of the sea; and Jaffa or Joppa, the nearest port to Jerusalem.

Damascus, one of the most ancient cities in the world, since it is mentioned in the history of Abraham, is one of the handsomest and most flourishing cities of Asia. It stands in a valley celebrated for its beauty and fertility, and ranked by the Arabians as one of their four terrestrial paradises. The houses, though simple externally, are in