and some of them, particularly Balbec and Palmyra, exhibi magnificent ruins.

Rivers. The principal rivers are the Euphrates and Tigris in the east; Kizil-ermak, Meinder, and Sarabat in Natolia; and Orontes and Jordan in Syria.

Lakes. The principal lakes are Lake Van and Asphaltites or Dead Sea.

Face of the country. Natolia and Syria are greatly diversified with hills, mountains, and plains. Armenia is mountainous. Much of the country on the Euphrates and Tigris, is level.-On the south, bordering on Arabia, are vast sandy deserts.

Mountains. The chain of Taurus commences in the southwestern part of Natolia, and extends thence to the eastern side of Asia. Mount Ida and Olympus are in the NW. part of Natolia. Ararat is in Armenia, and in Syria are Mounts Lebanon, or Libanus, Anti-Libanus, Hermon, Carmel, and Tabor.

Climate. The climate of Asiatic Turkey is generally very excellent, equally favourable to health and vegetation. The air of Natolia is celebrated for its balmy softness.

Soil. The soil of a great portion of the country is very fertile, but generally under bad cultivation.

Productions. The productions are wheat, barley, cotton, tobacco, olives, wine, and silk.

Manufactures. The most noted manufactures are carpets and leather.

Islands. The principal Asiatic islands in the Archipelago are Metelin, Scio, Samos, Cos, and Rhodes.-Cyprus, in the eastern part of the Mediterranean, which is called the Levant, is about 150 miles long, and 70 broad. It was in ancient times very populous, and celebrated for its fertility and wine, and as the abode of pleasure.

RUSSIA IN ASIA.

This is a vast country, including all the north of Asia, and is about twice as large as all Europe.

Siberia forms the principal part. The other portions, which are much the most fertile and populous, lie on the

Volga, and on the Caspian and Black seas. Between these seas are Georgia and Circassia.

Siberia is one of the most forlorn and desolate regions on the globe. The climate is very cold, the soil mostly barren, and it is very thinly inhabited. Its principal productions consist in mines of gold, silver, copper, lead, and iron; also in furs and the rein-deer. A large part of it is composed of immense elevated plains.

Inhabitants. The principal part of the inhabitants of Siberia consists of native barbarous tribes. Some of the principal ones are the Burats, Yakoutes, Samoeides, and Monguls. They are mostly pagans.

The Circassians and Georgians, particularly the females, are celebrated for their beauty.

Astrachan, near the mouth of the Volga, is the largest city in Asiatic Russia. It carries on an extensive commerce by means of the Volga and the Caspian sea. Population 70,000.

Orenburg, on the Ural. has considerable trade. Teflis, the capital of Georgia, is celebrated for its baths.

Tobolsk, the capital of Siberia, and of the government of Tobolsk, is situated at the conflux of the Irtisch and Tobol. It is the centre of the fur trade, and celebrated as a place of exile for Russian criminals. Population 16,000. Irkutsk and Kiachta, near lake Baikal, are places of considerable trade.

Kolivan, Ekaterinburg, and Nertchinsk are celebrated mining towns.

Rivers. The Oby, Lena, and Enisei, in Siberia, are among the largest rivers in Asia. They flow into the Arctic ocean, and are closed most of the year by ice.

Lake. Baikal, in the southern part of Siberia, is the largest lake. It is enclosed by rugged mountains, and surrounded by the most sublime scenery.

Mountains. The Ural mountains are on the western border, between Asia and Europe. On the southern bordern are the Altaian mountains, which form a part of an immense range, extending from the lake of Aral to the Pacific ocean, about 5,000 miles. The Caucasian moun

tains are between the Black and Caspian seas.

Peninsula. Kamtschalka, on the east of Siberia, is a large peninsula, about 600 miles long.

ARABIA.

Divsions. The ancients divided Arabia into 3 parts, viz. Arabia Felix, in the south, the most fertile part; Arabia Petræa, in the northwest, some parts of which are rocky and mountainous; and Arabia Deserta, in the north and northeast, consisting mostly of barren sandy deserts. The present civil divisions are six; Hedsjas, Yemen, Hadramaut, Oman, Lachsa, and Nedsjed.

Chief cities. Mecca and Medina are regarded by Mahometans as holy cities, and are celebrated places of pilgrimage. They are situated in a dry and barren country, about a day's journey from the Red sea.

Mecca is cele

brated as the birthplace of Mahomet, and contains the famous temple of Kaaba. It is supported chiefly by the resort of pilgrims. None but Mahometans are permitted to visit it. Population 20,000.

Medina, 180 N. by W. of Mecca, is the place where Mahomet was buried. Population 6,000.

Sana, in the interior, is reputed the chief city of Arabia. Mocha, near the straits of Babelmandel, is a port of considerable trade, and is famous for its excellent coffee. Mascat is a considerable seaport near the straits of Or muz. Jedda is the port of Mecca, and Jambo of Medina.

Mountains. Mounts Sinai and Horeb are considered as two summits of the same range, and are situated between the two north branches of the Red sea. Sinai is held in great veneration on account of its being the place where the Ten Commandments were given to the Israelites. It is composed of a remarkable rock of red granite, in which the Greeks have cut steps to the top.

Face of the country and soil. The general aspect of Arabia is a vast, dry, and barren desert, interspersed with spots of fertile ground; and intersected with some mountains of moderate elevation. Water is generally scarce, and there are no large rivers or lakes.

Climate. In the mountainous parts the climate is temperate, but in unsheltered situations the heat is excessive

Winds. A pestiferous wind, called the Simoon or Samiel, frequently surprises the traveller in the desert, and occa sions instant suffocation. Whole caravans are sometimes buried by moving clouds of sand agitated by wind.

Productions. Some of the most celebrated productions are coffee, gum-arabic, myrrk, and frankincense.

Animals. The most noted animals are the camel and horse. The chief dependence of the Arab is on the camel, an animal peculiarly fitted for the inhabitants of a E desert. It can travel 6 or 8 days without water, and carries about 800 pounds weight upon its back. The Arabian horses have been celebrated in all ages for their swiftness and beauty.

Literature. The Arabians were, in the middle ages, eminent for literature and science, but at present education is generally neglected. Few of the inhabitants are able to read and write.

Language. The Arabic is a copious and expressive language, abounding in synonymes. It is one of the most extensively diffused languages in the world, and is spoken in a large part of Asia and Africa.

Religion. Arabia was the birthplace of the celebrated impostor Mahomet, and is still the centre of his religion. The Mahometans compute their time from the Hegira, or Flight of Mahomet from Mecca to Medina, which happened A. D. 622.

Inhabitants. The inhabitants are styled Arabs. They boast of their descent from Ishmael, son of Abraham and Hagar, and have been called Ishmaelites and Hagareneans, also Scenites, Saracens, and Bedouins. They gener ally dwell in tents, and lead a wandering life. They are a rude, superstitious, and ignorant people. They are of middle stature and brown complexion; have always a grave and melancholy air; and they seldom laugh or weep.

INDEPENDENT TARTARY.

Divisions. Independent Tartary is a large country, com prising Great and Little Bukharia, Turkestan, and ChaA part of the country is now included in the king dom of Cabulistan.

rasm.

lahabitants. The Tartars consist of various tribes ; among the principal are the Usbeks, Kirguses or Kirgese, and Calmucs.

Towns. Samarcand, an ancient and celebrated city, is situated on the Sogd. It was the capital of a powerful empire, under the great conqueror Tamerlane or Timur Bec; and is famous as a Mahometan seat of learning.

Bukharia, capital of Great Bukharia, is situated on the Sogd, 100 miles west of Samarcand, and is said to contain 100,000 inhabitants. It is celebrated for the study of Ma

hometan theology and law.

Other towns are Kashgar, Balk, Gaur, Badakshan, Anderab. Termed, and Farkan.

Rivers. The principal rivers are the Jihon and Sir, both of which flow into lake Aral.

Lake. Lake Aral is 250 miles long. Its waters are salt, like those of the Caspian, and it has no communication with the ocean.

Mountains. The Altaian mountains lie on the north, and Belur Tagley, a branch of the Himaleh mountains, on the

south.

Soil. The surface and soil are various, in some parts fertile, in others, particularly in the north, there are extensive sandy deserts.

Religion, The religion is Mahometanism.

PERSIA.

Extent. The limits of Persia have been very various at different periods. In its most extensive sense Persia embraces all the region between Turkey and Hindoostan, but this includes large districts not subject to the present sovereign. The eastern part of Persia is now included in the kingdom of Cabulistan.