termination at the Danube, the Carpathians run W. by S.W. through Transylvania and the Banat, and along the Turkish frontiers. The MaliStirbacz belonging to this section of the chain, which reaches the Danube and causes that river to form a cataract, seems to be the connecting link betwixt the Balkan and Carpathian systems.

Seas.-The Mediterranean.] Turkey in Europe is washed by six seas, all of which may be regarded as branches of the Mediterranean. The Mediterranean itself only surrounds the shores of the large island of Candia and a few others.

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The Egean Sea.] The Ægean sea or Grecian Archipelago, is called by the Turks Ac-Degniz, or the White Sea;' in contradistinction to the Cara-Degniz, or Black Sea;' but they give the same to the whole Mediterranean. This sea is terminated on the N. by the shores of Romelia; on the E. by those of Anatolia; and on the S. by an imaginary line drawn from the southern extremity of the gulf of Symia, and passing along the eastern shores of the islands of Rhodes and Scarpanto, the southern shores of Candia, and the western shores of Cerigotto and Cerigo, and joining the continent again at Cape Malea. The shores of the Morea, Livadia, Thessaly, and part of Romelia form its limits towards the W. This sea is remarkable for the numerous peninsulas which project into its waters from the neighbouring continent and form many bays and gulfs, and for the innumerable isles which are scattered throughout its whole extent. The calcareous rocks which form the greater part of its shores are everywhere very steep, and present vertical strata as if they had been overturned. The navigation of the Ægean, though no longer such a formidable task as it was in ancient times, is not unattended with difficulty from the numerous little islands and rocks which rise amid its waves, and the violent winds which blow from December till February. The current arising from the sea of Marmora is not very rapid. The Archipelago was known to the ancients under a variety of names. They gave the appellation Egean Sea to its northern part conceived to be terminated by a line drawn from Cape Colonna to the island of Nicaria in the neighbourhood of Samos. The Icarian Sea stretched to the S.E. of the isle from which it received its name. The Sea of Myrtos laved the shores of the Morea. The Cretan Sea comprehended that part of the Archipelago extending betwixt Candia or Crete, and the Cyclades or central group of islands.

The Dardanelles.] The Hellespont or Straits of the Dardanelles, connects the Ægean sea with the sea of Marmora, and separates Anatolia in Asiatic Turkey from Akttche-Ovassi, or the Thracian Chersonnesus in European Turkey. The mouth of the Strait, according to Tournefort, is 5 miles wide. It is defended by castles built in 1659. The one on the Asiatic side is called Chanak-kalessi, and occupies a flat point immediately opposite to the European fort, so that the two batteries, (as the guns are immoveable, and are laid at right angles with the Strait,) must in the time of action bombard each other. They are assisted however by a battery of field-pieces and some works constructed by French engineers. These castles were formerly supposed to occupy the sites of the ancient Sestos and Abydos; but these must have been situated about 3 or 4 miles further northward, and were not exactly opposite to each other. About a mile and a half above the castles is the bay of Maito or Madytus; and two or three miles farther is a hill covered with the ruins of the ancient Choiridocastron, where the son of Orchan first planted the Turkish crescent on

the Thracian shore. The entrance of the Hellespont from the sea of Marmora is about a mile and three quarters wide. Mr Hobhouse says, that the banks here for several miles present a succession of scenery closely resembling that of the Welsh river Menai.

The Sea of Marmora.] Marmora, the ancient Proconnesus, which has obtained its name from its blue marble, has communicated it to the Propontis, now called the Mare di Marmora, or sea of Marmora. This sea is about 120 miles long, and in some places 40 miles broad. Chevalier mentions two lakes on the northern shores of the Propontis,the one called Kutchuck-Tchekmedge, or 'the Little Bridge,' the other Boiuk-Tchekmedge, or the Great Bridge.' These lakes are respectively one and two leagues in diameter, and have unquestionably been gulfs of the Propontis.

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The Thracian Bosphorus.] The ancient poets feign that the Bosphorus, which in Greek signifies, 'the passage of the bull or cow,' was so called from the metamorphosis of the daughter of Inachus who perished in this Strait. It has also been suggested that when the ancient inhabitants passed over the Strait, they may have used rafts drawn by oxen, and that this custom may have given rise to the name. The Turks call it Boghazichy, or the middle of the throat,' and Istambol Boghazy, or the throat of Constantinople.' Its most significant name, however, is that given it by Euripides, who calls it 'the key of the Pontus.' Herodotus calculates its length at about 150 stadia or 15 geographical miles; the Turks estimate it at 18 of their miles, or somewhat more than 16 geographical miles; the real length from the centre of Constantinople to Karak is about 20 miles. The breadth varies from half-a-mile to 2 miles. The average depth is about 18 fathoms. The most remarkable feature in the Bosphorus is that of its currents. The principal one is from the Black Sea to the sea of Marmora; another runs directly contrary; and a third motion of the water is found at some depth below the surface, where they take a course directly opposite to that which prevails towards the surface, that is, runs from the sea of Marmora towards the Black Sea. The coast on both sides of the Bosphorus, from Constantinople to the Euxine, is greatly diversified, sometimes exhibiting rugged and precipitous mountains, sometimes smiling gardens and villas.

The Euxine, or Black Sea.] This large inland sea, the Pontus Euxinus of the ancients, washes the shores of Romelia, Bulgaria, and Anatolia. It is entered from the sea of Marmora by the Thracian Bosphorus, and is connected with the sea of Azof by the Cimmerian Bosphorus. According to Arrowsmith's 's maps constructed on the latest authorities, it lies between 41° and 46° 30′ N. lat., and 28° and 41° 30′ E. long. This will give for its breadth from Cape Baba in Anatolia to Odessa about 380 miles; and for its length from the coast of Romelia to the mouth of the Phasis 720 miles. It derives its modern name, either from the dense fogs which fre quently cover it, or from its dangerous navigation in consequence of these fogs. The coast is steep, and formed of layers of rock intermixed with strata of clay or gravel, and covered at the top by a good black mould. From the Bosphorus to Kara-Kerman within a few miles of the southernmost branch of the Danube, the coast is lined by the ridge of the Balkan, which is here covered with timber. No sand is found anywhere but at the mouths of the rivers. Tournefort, Buffon, Pallas, and Clarke hold the opinion of the ancients that this sea was anciently much more extensive, and did not communicate with the Mediterranean; and that its diminution

was effected by the bursting of the Thracian Bosphorus at the period of the deluge mentioned by Diodorus Siculus, when the waters which once covered the great oriental plains of Tartary, rushed towards the Mediterranean devastating the countries which lay between. Nine great and about 30 small rivers discharge themselves into the Euxine, which has yet but one known outlet. The quantity of water transmitted through the Bosphorus is little more than that which is discharged into the Black Sea by any one of the four mouths of the Danube, yet the Euxine does not increase in depth or extent; there must therefore exist some subterranean outlet for the waters, or the evaporation must be excessive. The Euxine possesses the advantages of being quite free from rocks, and of affording several harbours and roadsteds on all its coasts; yet every year witnesses frequent shipwrecks here occasioned by the ignorance and indolence of Turkish mariners, which greatly increase the expense of freight. It is partly for this reason that the Turks prefer small craft to large ships for coasting this sea, loading them indifferently with all goods which offer. If the Propontis and the Euxine were in the hands of an enlightened people, Constantinople might become the emporium both of Europe and Asia.

The Ionian Sea.] The Ionium Mare, or Ionian sea, forms a considerable part of the Mediterranean, extending between the western coasts of Turkey and the eastern coasts of Italy; or between the shores of Albania and the Greek provinces of Livadia and the Morea, and the S.E. coasts of the kingdom of Naples and the eastern coasts of Sicily. On the N. it communicates with the Adriatic by the Straits of Otranto, and on the W. it is united to the Tyrrhenian sea by the Straits of Messina. Cape Passero forming the S.E. extremity of Sicily, and the isle of Cerigotto, fix its southern limits and also its widest part. It is here about 165 leagues in breadth; but between Cape Tornese in the Morea, and Cape Spontivento in Naples, its breadth does not exceed 56 leagues. principal gulfs are: that of Lepanto betwixt the Morea and Lavadia,— those of Arcadia, Coron, and Kolskythia on the coasts of the Morea,—the gulf of Arta at the southern extremity of Albania,-the gulf of Tarentum,—and the gulf of Squillace. The only islands of importance in this sea are found along its eastern shores.

Its

The Adriatic Sea.] This sea washes the coasts of Albania where it forms the gulf of Avlona.

Rivers. The Danube.]

The basin of this majestic stream includes more than a third part of Turkey in Europe. We have already described the course of this river in our introduction to Germany. It receives the Aluta or Alt in Wallachia, the Dumbovitza, the Jalonitza, the Sereth, the Pruth, the Save with its tributaries, and the Morava.

The Maritza.] The basin of the ancient Hamus now the Maritza, occupies the greater part of Romelia. It rises in the Mount Rulla belonging to the Balkan-chain, and runs S. W. to Edrene, where it turns S. and falls into the gulf of Enos. It principal tributaries are the Stanimak, the Usundscha, the Arda, the Raska, the Tundscha, and the Erkene.

The Drin.] The White Drin and the Black Drin uniting their waters in the sandshak of Scutari, form the Drin, Drilo, or Drinus. The former branch rises in Mount Bora to the N.W. of Fotchia, and runs southward towards the Black Drin which descends from Mount Spiridion in the sandshak of Ochrida. The united streams flow westwards through the sandshak of Scutari, and after making a sudden bend towards the S.,