TIGRIS. Next in importance is the Tigris, which rises to the north of Medan, about 150 miles south from the sources of the Euphrates, and pursues nearly a regular direction south-east, till it join the Euphrates below Korna, about sixty miles to the north of Bassora; after a comparative course of about 800 miles. The Euphrates and the Tigris, are both navigable for a considerable distance from the sea.

Kizil Irmak. The third river in Asiatic Turkey is that called by the Turks Kizil Irmak, the celebrated Halys of antiquity; rising in mount Taurus not far from Erekli, but by other accounts more to the east, and, pursuing a winding course to the north, nearly across the whole of Asia Minor, till it join the Euxine sea on the west of the gulf of Sansoun.

Sacaria.

The river Sacaria, the ancient Sangarius, or Sangaris, rises about fifty miles to the south of Angora, and running to the north-west, joins the Euxine, about seventy miles to the east of Constantinople.

Meanner. In the next rank may be placed the classical river of Meander, rising to the north of the ancient city of Apamia, and running, in a winding streami about 250 British miles. Dr. Chandler has observed that Wheler, otherwise a most accurate and intelligent traveller, has mistaken a tributary stream for the real Mxander*; which is called by the Turks Boyuc Minder, or the Great Mæander, to distinguish it from this little stream, which resembles it in mazes. The Minder, not far from its mouth, is about 100 feet broad; with a swift, muddy, and extremely deep current, having received a considerable accession of waters from the lake of Myus.

Sarabat. The Sarabat, or ancient Hermus, renowned for it* golden sands, joins the Archipelago about ninety British miles to the north of the Minder, after a coarse of similar length.

The other rivers of Asia Minor are far more inconsiderable, though many of them be celebrated in classical history and poetry.

Orontes.

The chief river of Syria is the Orontes, now called Oron or Asi, rising about eighty miles to the north of Damascus, and running nearly due north, till it suddenly turn south-east near Antioch, after which it soon joins the Mediterranean.

Lakes.

Asiatic Turkey also contains numerous lakes.

Van. That of Van in the north of Kurdistan, is the most remarkable, being about eighty British miles in length from north-east to southwest, and about forty in breadth: it is said to abound with fish. This great lake, with that of Urmiah in Persia, about 100 miles to the southeast, appears to have been little noted in ancient geography; and D'Anville does not seem to have considered the difficulty, though the lake of Van may be the Thospitis of antiquity; but his maps and disquisitions are open to many improvements from recent accounts.

• This little stream, whose windings rival those of the river, flows da ■outh, and joins the Msander near its mouth, after a course of about forty British miles.

From Ptolemy it may be concluded, that the lake of Urmiah is the Arsissa of antiquity; but when he derives the Tigris from the lake Thospitis, he probably means the small lake of Gurjick, near the real source of the Tigris.

DEAD SEA. In Syria what is called the Dead Sea, may be regarded as a lake of about fifty miles in length, and twelve or thirteen in breadth. The lake of Rackama, to the south of Hilla and the ancient Babylon, is about thirty miles in length, and flows into the Euphrates.

Towards the centre of Asia Minor there is a remarkable saline lake, about seventy miles in length, and a mile or two in breadth, being the Tatta or Palus Salsa of D'Anville's ancient geography.

Uluban. Numerous other small lakes appear in Natolia, among which may be particularly mentioned that of Ulubad, anciently styled the lake of Apollonia, which, according to Tournefort, is about twentyfive miles in circumference, and in some places seven or eight miles wide, sprinkled with several isles and some peninsulas, being a grand receptacle of the waters from mount Olympus*. The largest isle is about three miles in circuit, and is called Abouillona, probably from the ancient name of the city which stood on it. About fifty miles to the north-east, was the lake called Ascanius by the ancients, now that of Isnik.

Mountains. Many of the mountains of Asiatic Turkey deserve particular attention, from their ancient celebrity.

Taurus. The first rank is due to the Taurian chain of antiquity, which was considered as extending from the neighbourhood of the Archipelago to the sources of the Ganges, and the extremities of Asia, so far as discovered by the ancients. But this notion little accords. with the descriptions of modern travellers, or the researches of recent geography; and, we might perhaps with equal justice infer, that th« Carpathian mountains, the Alps, and the Pyrenees, constitute one chain. Science is equally impeded by joining what ought to be divided, as by dividing what ought to be joined. The Caucasian mountains. have been well delineated by the Russian travellers, as forming a range. from the mouth of the river Cuban, in the north-west, to where the river Kur enters the Caspian, in the south-east. The remaining intelligence is dubious and defective; but it would seem that, in resemblance of the Pyrenees, a chain extends from Caucasus south-west, to near the bay of Scanderoon. This ridge seems the Anti Taurus of antiquity: but various parts of it were known by different names, as marked in D'Anville's map of Asia Minor. At the other extremity of the Caucasus, other chains branch out into Persia, which they pervade from north-west to south-east, but they may all be justly considered as terminating in the deserts of the south-eastern part of Persia; or as having so imperfect a connexion with the mountains of Hindoo Koh, which supply the western sources of the Indus, that it would be mere theory to regard them as a continued chain.

Far less can they be regarded as an extension of mount Taurus, which, on the contrary, terminates at the Euphrates and deserts of Algezira. Of this the ancients were aware; and in their fondness for the Taurus represented it as winding like an immense snake, by the Anti Taurus to the Caucasus, thus including the latter in the Taurian chair. Such ideas would only introduce confusion into geography: and modern

* H. 368.

precision will be contented to observe that the chain of Taurus, now called Kurun, perhaps from the old Greek name Ccraunus, extends for about 600 miles east and west, from the Euphrates to near the shores of the Archipelago. A recent traveller found the ascent and descent, between Aintab and Bostan, to occupy three days; and the heights abound with cedars, savines, and junipers. It is probable that these, and the other mountains of Asiatic Turkey, are calcareous; while the Caucasus alone aspires to the rank of a granitic or primitive chain.

Ararat.

Towards the east of Armenia is Ararat, of which we have a description by Tournefort*; and from his account it seems chiefly to consist of free-stone or calcareous sand-stone. It is a detached mountain, with two summits; the highest being covered with eternal snow. In one of the flanks is an abyss, or precipice, of prodigious depth, the sides being perpendicular, and of a rough black appearance, as if tinged with smoke. This mountain belongs to Persia, but is here mentioned on account of connexion.

Beyond Ararat are branches of the Caucasian chain; to which, as is probable, belong the mountains of Elwend, which seem to be the Niphates of antiquity.

Libanus. In Syria th: most celebrated mountain is that of Lebanon, or Libanus, running in the southerly and northerly direction of the Mediterranean shore, and generally at the distance of about thirty or forty miles. The Anti Libanus is a short detached chain, running nearly parallel on the cast. These mountains are of considerable height, the summits being often covered with snow; and they seem to be calcareous, the granite not appearing till the neighbourhood of mount Sinai and the Arabian gulf.

Olympus. The eastern side of the Archipelago presents many mountains of great height and classical fame, chiefly in ranges extending from north to south. Of these, Olympus (now Keshik Dag) is one of the most celebrated, and is described by Tournefort as a vast range covered with perpetual snow. He says, that a day's journey would be required to visit the summit of the mountain; and adds, that it is one of the highest in Asia. Many small streams spring from Olympus, and the large lake of Ulubad is another receptacle of its waters.

Ina. About 140 miles to the west of Olympus rises mount Ida, of great though not equal height. The summit of Ida was by the anci ents called Garganus; from which extend western prominences reaching to the Hellespont, and amidst them stood the celebrated city of Troy: Garganus, or the summit of Ida, being about thirty miles from the shore; and giving source to the Granicus, the Simois, and other noted streams, most of which run to the north.

Other remarkable mountains on this classical shore were those of Rhea, at an equal distance between Ida and Olympus. Mount Pedasus seems merely the southern extremity of Rhea, farther to the south the mountains may perhaps be considered as branching from the Taurus, such as the range which passes from the head of the Meandcr, and forms the promontory opposite to Scio, known in different districts

ii. 267, &c.

by the ancient names of Messogis, Tmolus, Sipylus, Corycus, and Mimas; while another branch passes along the shore to the mouth of the Meander, presenting the heights of Corax, Gallesus, and Mycale, the last opposite to Samos.

To the south of the Minder, or Mæander, the Taurus detaches a chain, called Cadmus and Grius, bending towards the isle of Cos and the Cyclades.

Forests.

These numerous mountains in Asiatic Turkey are often clothed with immense forests of pines, oaks, beeches, elms, and other trees. The southern shores of the Black Sea also present many gloomy forests of great extent. This abundance of timber supplies the inhabitants with fuel; nor has pit coal been explored in any part of Asiatic Turkey. Sometimes conflagrations arise, from the heedless waste of the caravans, who, instead of cutting off a few branches, will set fire to a standing tree.

Botany. The extensive provinces of Matolia, Syria, and Mesopotamia, since their reduction under the Turkish yoke, have been but little accessible to European curiosity. The natural productions of Syria, however, have been investigated, though imperfectly, by several naturalists of eminence, while die mountains and rich vales of Natolia towards the great Caucasian chain, are almost wholly unknown. These countries having been inhabited and civilized from the remotest antiquity, possessing for the most part a dry rocky soil, with fewer rivers than any tract in Europe of equal extent, contain none of those low swampy levels that form so characteristic a feature in almost all the American countries, that compose the greater part of Holland, and occupy no small proportion of Hungary and the dominions north of the Baltic. Those vegetables therefore that inhabit swamps, lakes and bogs, will be very sparingly found in the flora of Asiatic Turkey; nor will the indigenous alpine plants be more numerous; not indeed on account of the absence of high mountains, but from their having been hitherto almost entirely unexamined. Of the scanty catalogue of plants that have been found wild in the Asiatic part of the Ottoman territory, the following are the most worthy of notice:

Among the trees may be distinguished, olea europea, the olive-tree, abounding throughout the whole Archipelago and the shores of the Levant; salix Babylonica, the weeping willow, graceful with its slender pendant branches, which has adorned the banks of the Euphrates from time immemorial; clæagnus angustifolius, wild olive, bearing a small sweet esculent fruit; betula alnus, the aider; morus albus, the white mulberry; cercis siiiquastrum, remarkable for its long seedpods; zygophyllum fabago, berry bearing tree; melia azedarach, the bead tree; styrax officinalis, storax tree, from which exudes the fragrant gum resin of the same name; punica granatum, pomegranate; mespilus pyra cantha; amygdalus communis, almond tree, and amygdalus persica, peach tree; ccrasus sativus, cherry, a native of Pontus in Natolia, whence it was brought to Rome by Lucullus; citrus limon and aurantium, the lemon and orange; cytisus laburnum, and myrtus communis, myrtle, growing plentifully by the side of running streams; musa paradisaica, plantain tree; rhamnus paliurus; vitis vinifcra, vine, in a perfectly wild state, climbing up the highest trees, and forming verdant

grottos among its ample festoons: pistachia lentiscus, terebinthus and vera, the masiich, chio turpentine, and pistachia nut tree; ceratonia siliqua, carob; juniperas drnpacea and oxjxedrus, two of the largest species of this genus nearly equalling the Cyprus in height, and found upon mount Cassius, and other rocky hills in Syria; cuprcssus sempervirens, Cyprus; thuia orientalis, pinus cedrus, the cedar, a few large trees of which still remain on mount Lebanon, the venerable relics of its sacred forests. Hibiscus Syriacus, distinguished by the uncommon splendor of its blossoms, and on this account much cultivated about Constantinople, and other parts of the Turkish empire, where it does not grow spontaneously; ficus carica, fig tree; ficus sycomorus, sycamore Jig, abounding in Palestine, and other parts of Syria; phenix dactylifera, date tree; quercus cerris, prickly cupped oak, from which are procured the finest Aleppo galls; laurus indica; plantanus orientalis, oriental plane tree, highly esteemed for its shady tent-like canopy of foliage. Mimosa arborea; carpinus ostrya, hop Iwrnbeam; and menispermum cocculus, the berries of which, commonly called cocculus indicus, are much used by the natives for taking fish, on account of their narcotic qualities.

Of the lower trees and flowering shrubs, the principal are syringa vulgaris, lilac, abounding on the banks of the Euphrates; jasminum fruticosa and officinalis, yellow and common jasmine, found plentifully in the thickets and woods of Syria; the long hollow stems of the latter of these are in great request among the inhabitants, as stems to their tobacco pipes; ruta fruticulosa and linifolia, two species of rue, the former of which is rather uncommon, and has been chiefly found about Damascus; arbutus unedo, arbute; prunus prostrata, a trailing shrub, the smallest of the plum kind, covering the rocks near the summit of mount Lebanon; Spartium junceum and spinosum, Spanish and thorny broom, occupying many of the sandy tracts that are of such frequent occurrence in Syria; nerium oleander, a common ornament of every rivulet; tamarix gallica, tamarisk; rhus cotinus; lycium europæum, boxthorn; osyris alba, poet's cassia; erica scoparia, with many other kinds of heath; laurus nobilis, bay tree; caparis spinosa, caper bush; several species of cistus, especially the sage-leaved and gum cistus; and euphorbia mauritanica, mauritanien spurge, with the acrid juice of which the scammony is not unfrequently adulterated.

Several dying drugs and articles of the materia medica are imported from the Levant, among which may be particularized rubia tinctorom, madder; a variety of this, called alizari, is largely cultivated around Smyrna, which yields a much finer red dye than the European kind, and to this the superiority of the Greek and Turkish reds is principally to be ascribed; smilax aspera; mirabilis jalapa, jalap; convolvulus scammonia, scammony; cordia myxa, sebesten; croton tinctorium: ricinus communis, the seed of which yields by expression the castor oil; momordica elaterium, squirting cucumber; cucumis colocynthis, ccloquintula; papaver somniferum, opium poppy; sesamum orientale; and costus Arabicus, spikenard.

A few esculent plants not commonly made use of elsewhere are the produce of Natolia and Syria, such as solanum melongena, mad apple ; eypcrus esculentus, the large aromatic root of which is much esteemed;