language is a Latin dialect, like French, &c., but with a large Slavonic element. About 4 million Roumanians reside in the adjoining countries.

The entire population, with the exception of about 269,000 Jezus, 168,000 Roman Catholics and Protestants, are members of the Orthodox Greek Church. Education is free and compulsory, but not much advanced; and the mass of the people, as in all the Danubian States, are almost totally illiterate.

INDUSTRIES: Cattle and sheep rearing and agriculture are the chief industries. There are manufactures on a limited scale

in a few of the larger towns.

Wheat, barley, and maize, fruits, timber and wool are the staple exports, the imports are chiefly manufactured goods and colonial produce. The exports exceed the imports in value; the former amounting to about 18% millions sterling, and the latter to about 131⁄2 millions. There are over 2,300 miles of railways, but most of the traffic is carried on by steamers on the Danube and the Pruth, and by rafts on the Sereth, &c. The internal trade centres at BUCHAREST and JASSY, and the external trade (by sea) at GALATZ, BRAILA, and other Danubian ports.

The trade with the United Kingdom is considerable-nearly 1 million pounds' worth of produce, chiefly corn (maize, wheat, and barley), is annually sent to Great Britain; the imports therefrom, consisting principally of textile fabrics, metal goods, and coal, amount to nearly 14 million sterling.

... The navigation of the Danube is controlled by an International Commission, formed in 1856, which has its seat at Galatz, and derives its income of about £60,000 a year chiefly from dues on shipping.

GOVERNMENT: The government is a limited monarchy, the King being assisted by an Executive Council and an elected Senate and Chamber of Deputies.

After the formation of the Frincipality in 1861, it continued to pay an annual tribute to the Porte until 1877. when it proclaimed its entire indepen dence, which was confirmed by the Treaty of Berlin in 1878. Roumania was erected into a kingdom in 1881. The Revenue and Expenditure each amount to about 10 millions, while the Public Debt is enormous for so poor a country, amounting to nearly 58 millions sterling, or nearly £10 per head of the popu lation. Military service is compulsory, but the standing army is small-about 18,000 men; in war time, the territorial army, militia, and general levy would bring up the effective forces to about 160,000 men. There is also a small navy. DIVISIONS: Wallachia is divided into 18, and Moldavia into 13, districts, each under a Prefect or Governor.

The chief towns are BUCHAREST (282) the capital and seat of the govern. ment, which has some important manufactures; Jassy (78), the chief town of Moldavia; and Galatz (63), the principal port of the kingdom. Braila (58) and Giurgevo (20), are important ports on the Danube. Sulina is a seaport at the mouth of the most frequented delta-channel of the Danube. The only other seaport of Roumania is Kustendje, on the southern part of the Dobrudja coa-t, which is connected by rail with Chernavoda, on the Danube, but its trade is very small. Ploetsi (44) is an important trading town in the interior.

GREECE.

GREECE' is a small country in the south of Europe, and consists of three well-marked divisions: Northern Greece, Southern Greece or the Morea, and the adjacent islands, or Insular Greece.

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The Morea forms a peninsula, which is nearly divided from the rest of the mainland by the Gulf of Corinth. The Isthmus of Corinth (only three miles across) unites this peninsula to Northern Greece, to which nearly all Thessaly and a part of Epirus were added in 1881.

BOUNDARIES: Greece is bounded on the north by Turkey, on the west and south by the Mediterranean, and on the east by the Ægean Sea.

EXTENT: Including the Ionian Islands, the total area of the Kingdom of Greece is about 25,100 square miles-about half the size of England. The greatest length, from north to south, is about 200 miles; and the greatest breadth, from east to west, is 160 miles. In 1881, by the terms of the Treaty of Berlin, part of Albania was ceded by the Turks to Greece, but after the war of 1897 the frontier was rearranged and a small portion of territory retroceded by the Greeks.

COASTS: The mainland of Greece has the sea upon three sides, and its coasts are indented by a vast number of inlets. The peninsula of the Morea is subdivided and broken up by deep bays and gulfs into several smaller peninsulas. The total length of coast-line is upwards of 2,000 miles, or rather more than 1 mile of coast to every 10 square miles of area.

Thirlwall remarks that " Greece is distinguished among European countries by the same character which distinguishes Europe itself from the other continents, viz., the great range of its coasts compared with the extent of its surface; so that while in the latter respect it is considerably less than Portugal, in the former it exceeds the whole Pyrenean Peninsula."

The two principal Capes are Cape Matapan, and Cape Colonna. Cape Matapan is the extreme southern point of the Morea, and Cape Colonna forms the southward termination of the peninsula of Attica, in Northern Greece.

The chief Inlets are the Gulfs of Arta, Patras, and Corinth on the west coast; of Koroni or Kalamata, and Marathonisi, on the south; and of Nauplia, Egina, and Volo on the east.

The principal Straits are those between the islands of Negropont, Cerigo, and Corfu, and the mainland.

ISLANDS: A large portion of Greece consists of islands, which are naturally divisible into four groups-(1) Negropont, (2) the Sporades, (3) the Cyclades, and (4) the Ionian Islands.

Negropont, or Euboea, the largest island of Greece, is more than 100 miles long. It is divided from the mainland by the channels of Talanta and Egripo, the former of which is only 50 yards wide in its narrowest part. Το the north-east and south of it lie

The Sporades, of which the principal are Skyro, Skopelos, Khelidromi, Koluri (the ancient Salamis), and Egina; and

1 Greece, or Gracia, so called by the Romans. by the old Greeks "Peloponnesus." The old Greek name "Hellas" was not exclusively 3. A bridge connects the island with the mainapplied to Greece Proper, but was also given to other land, whence the name Negropont, from Egripo.

countries inhabited by the Greeks or "Hellenes." and ponte, a bridge.

2. Morea, from Gr. moron, a mulberry. Called 4 Sporades, Gr. sporas, sporados, scattered.

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The Cyclades,1 so called because they seem to encircle the sacred island of Delos. The principal islands are Andros, Tinos, Naxos, Paros, Milos, and Santorin.'

The IONIAN ISLANDS are situated to the west and south of Greece. They comprehend Corfu, Paxo, Santa Maura, Ithaca, Cephalonia, Zante, and Cerigo, with many smaller islets. These islands exhibit for the most part a rocky and even mountainous surface. They enjoy a delightful climate, and have a soil which, in some localities, is fertile and productive. The small species of vine which yields the Corinthian grape (the fruit of which reaches our own shores under the familiar name of currants) is their most characteristic article of produce. The olive also flourishes. The inhabitants of the Ionian Islands are of the Greek race. They number rather more than 250,000. The largest of the islands is Cephalonia; Corfu is second in size, and Zante third. Corfu and Zante are the most populous and productive of the number. The Ionian Islands were formerly under the protection of Great Britain, but were incorporated with Greece in 1863. The town of Corfu (16), on the island of that name, is the capital.

NATURAL FEATURES: Every part of Greece is mountainous, and, with the exception of the Salembria in Thessaly, there are no rivers of any considerable magnitude.

Mount The highest elevations reach upwards of 9,000 feet above the sea. Elias (in the ancient Taygětus range), in the south of the Morea, is one of the Mount Olympus, 9,750 feet, the highest point in the coast most celebrated. range, and, with one exception, the highest in the Balkan Peninsula, is within Turkey, just beyond the Greek frontier, near the western shore of the Gulf of Salonica. South of Mount Olympus are Mount Ossa (Kissovo), 6,400 feet, and Mount Pelion (Plessidi), 5,300 feet, both within Thessaly.

The mountains known to the ancients by the names of Eta, Parnassus, Helicon, Citharon, Hymettus, with others that are famous in classic story, are within the limits of Northern Greece-that is, to the north of the Gulf of Corinth. Between Mount Eta and the sea lies the celebrated Pass of Thermopyla.'

The small streams by which the country is watered, though bearing names that are famous in the records of past ages, are for the most part mere torrents. The largest rivers in Northern Greece are the Salembria, in Thessaly; the Aspropotamo (the ancient Achelous), which rises in the Pindus range; and the Arta, which flows into the gulf of the same name. The largest river of the Morea is the Rufia (the ancient Alpheus), which flows into the Bay of Arkadia.

There are numerous lakes, but none of any considerable size. The largest is Lake Kopais, in Northern Greece, which is drained into the Strait of Talanta by subterranean channels. It has recently been partially drained.

CLIMATE: Greece has a warm and delightful climate, snow seldom lying on the lowlands.

The mean annual temperature at Athens is 60° F., but in summer the temperature is frequently 100° F., and the heat then is so great that most of the smaller streams, and even some of the larger rivers, are dried up.

1. Cyclades, Gr. Auklos, a circle.

2. Santorin is the seat of volcanic fires, which are almost constantly burning.

3. Thermopyla, Gr. thermos, hot, and puit, a

gate; from the hot springs in the pass. Famous for its defence by 300 Spartans under Leonidas against Xerxes, B.C. 480.

PRODUCTIONS: Though much of the surface of the country is occupied by sterile rock, yet the vegetation is richly abundant wherever there is sufficient soil for its growth.

The vine and the olive, with the currant-grape, orange, lemon, citron, fig, and mulberry, are amongst its native fruits. The cotton-plant grows wild, so also does madder. The honey of Attica still preserves its ancient fame.

The various marbles and building-stones of Greece are of deserved celebrity. The island of Paros, in particular, yields the finest statuary marble. Mineral springs are very numerous, and many of the running streams are lost in subterranean chasms.

INHABITANTS: The population of Greece is nearly 21⁄2 millions, an average of only 97 persons to the square mile-not one-fifth of the density of population in England.

The Greeks are quick, intelligent, and enterprising, and have made great progress since the insurrection of 1821-29, when they gained their independence. Three-fourths of the people are probably descended from the old Greeks, and their language, the Romaic or modern Greek, closely resembles the ancient Greek tongue. Besides the Greeks proper, there are about a quarter of a million Albanians or Arnauts, who are as intelligent and enterprising as the Greek portion of the population. About 6 million Greeks reside in the neighbouring countries, chiefly in the Turkish dominions, and undoubtedly are the predominant people in the trade and industry of the Levant, or Eastern Mediterranean, The Greek Church represents the established form of religion, and to it the great majority of the inhabitants belong. Public education is compulsory, but the law is very rarely enforced in country districts, and about one-half of the men and three-fourths of the women can neither read nor write.

INDUSTRY and TRADE: The industry of Greece is chiefly pastoral, but a considerable amount of trade is carried on at the various ports. Currants and other fruits, olive-oil, honey, tobacco, and lead, are the chief exportable produce of the country.

Only one-sixth of the land is actually under cultivation; but, although agriculture is in a very backward state, the produce is considerable. There are a few large proprietors, but no aristocratic class, and most of the land is the property of the peasants who cultivate it. The currant (which is entirely different from the currants grown in English gardens) is the chief crop, and large quantities of other dried fruits are exported, but the corn grown is not sufficient for home consumption.

The commerce of the kingdom is considerable, the annual value of the imports, which consist of cotton and other textile goods, corn, sugar, cattle, and timber, amounting to 6 millions sterling; and the exports, chiefly currants, olive oil, figs and other fuits, wine, honey, silk, tobacco, and sponges, with lead (from the mines of Laurium), and zinc, to 34 millions. Currants, of which immense quantities are grown along the shores of the Gulf of Corinth and the Ionian Islands, are the staple article of export.

The trade of Greece with the United Kingdom amounts to over 21⁄2 millions sterling a year-the chief export being currants (annual value one million), and the principal import, cotton goods.

The means of communication are still defective, although the roads have been greatly improved within recent years. Nearly 700 miles of railway are open for traffic, but most of the trade is carried on by sea, the mercantile navy numbering 200 steamers and 900 sailing vessels.

The Greeks are born traders; Greek merchants are actively engaged in the commerce of the Black Sea, the Danube, the Levant and the Western Mediterranean, and also do a large business in London, Liverpool, and other great commercial centres, while a considerable amount of the carrying trade of the Black Sea and the Eastern Mediterranean is under the Greek flag. A ship canal, with a depth of 26 feet, has been cut across the Isthmus of Corinth, and enables sea-going vessels to pass directly from the Ægean Sea to the Ionian Sea, without rounding the Morea..

GOVERNMENT: The Kingdom of Greece forms a limited and hereditary monarchy. The whole legislative power is vested in a popularly-elected Chamber of Representatives called the Boulé.

The Revenue and Expenditure each amount to about 5 millions sterling, while the Public Debt is 28 millions. The Army, which all young men over 21 must join (for 2 years with the colours and 28 years in the reserve) consists, in peace, of about 29,000 men, but in war time over 300,000 men could be put in the field. The Navy consists of a few vessels (3 of them ironclads), manned by about 4,000 men.

DIVISIONS: The country is physically divided into Northern Greece (the part of the Greek mainland which is to the north of the Gulf of Corinth), the Morea, and the Islands.

Politically, the kingdom is divided into 26 Nomarchies or provinces, which are further subdivided into 69 districts.

TOWNS: Most of the people are dispersed in small villages. There are only 12 towns with more than 10,000 inhabitants, and but one with a population of over 100,000.

The principal towns (with their populations in thousands) are :

Athens (112) and the Piræus (42), in Attica; Larissa (15), Trikhala (21), and Volo (16), in Thessaly; Arta, in Epirus; Patras (38), Kalamata (14), Nauplia, Argos, and Sparta, in the Morea; Syra or Hermoupolis (18), in the island of Syra, in the Cyclades; Corfu (18) and Zante (15), in the Ionian Islands.

ATHENS is the capital of modern Greece. It is on the western side of the peninsula of Attica, about five miles distant from the harbour of the Piræus, which forms its port. Athens is a city of moderate size (its inhabitants, including the Piraus, numbering only about 150,000), but it greatly surpasses, in this respect, any other place in Greece. Athens is connected by rail with the Piræus, and with Corinth and Patras on the northern coast of the Morea.

. The interest belonging to localities in this classic land depends upon their association with the events of a past age. The sites of Marathon and Salamis are not far distant from the capital-the former twenty miles to the northSalamis is represented by the modern Koluri, an island in the Gulf of

east.

Egina.

Thiva, a small town to the north-west of Athens, represents the Baotian Thebes. Further west, a short distance from the shore of the Gulf of Corinth,