specially attracted to Asiatic Turkey.

A convention has been signed on the part of the Sultan and the British Government, and the people of Britain are no longer little more than spectators of the events occurring in the eastern provinces of Turkey, but are deeply interested parties to all taking place therein, and as such will welcome information bearing upon the past, the present, and the future prospects of this once highlyfavoured land. In the following pages it is proposed to briefly glance at the Geography, History, and the present condition and future prospects of Asiatic Turkey.

ASIATIC TURKEY-ITS GEOGRAPHY.

Situated between latitude 31° and 42° N. and longitude 26° and 48° E., Asiatic Turkey is bounded, on the north by the Black Sea, the Bosphorus or Straits of Constantinople, the Sea of Marmora, and the Hellespont or the Straits of the Dardanelles; on the west by the Archipelago and the Mediterranean; south by Arabia; and east by the Persian Gulf, Persia, and Transcaucasian Russia.

The space defined by these boundaries has an area of upwards of 600,000 square miles, and contains the countries of Asia Minor, Syria, Mesopotamia, and the larger portion of Armenia. The principal towns are Trebizond and Erzroum in Armenia; Smyrna in Asia Minor; Aleppo, Damascus, and Jerusalem in Syria; and Bagdad and Bussorah in Mesopotamia. The total population was estimated in 1867 at 16,000,000. Politically it is divided into Pashalicks, which vary in number and magnitude according to the varying power of their respective governors.

Roughly described, the country may be said to consist of two plateaus and of an extensive plain. The larger and more elevated plateau, having an elevation of from 4,000 to 5,000 feet above the sea level, occupies the whole of the northern portion of the country, while the other plateau is that of Syria and Palestine. The extensive plain, that of Irak and Mesopotamia, forming the lower basin of the Euphrates and Tigris, is bounded on the north by the northern and on the south by the Syrian plateau, and though now little better than a steppe, oftener covered with sand than verdure, it originally possessed attractions which marked

it out for the cradle of the human race, and made it the earliest seat of empire.

The mountains of Asiatic Turkey are the Taurus and Anti-Taurus, enclosing the table-land of Asia Minor, and separating the basin of the Euphrates from that of the Black Sea; and the Lebanon Range, proceeding from Mount Taurus southward along the Syrian coast and through Palestine into the peninsula of Sinai. Mount Ararat in Armenia may also be named, with its elevation of 17,112 feet.

The drainage of this vast region is carried to four different seas-the Euphrates and the Tigris emptying themselves into the Persian Gulf; the Yeshil Irmak, the Kizil Irmak, and the Sakaria, carrying their waters into the Black Sea; while smaller streams convey the torrents from the ́mountains into the Archipelago and the Mediterranean. The other principal rivers are the Aassy, or Orontes, in Syria, and the Jordan in Palestine.

On the whole Turkey in Asia is ill supplied with water, and though the mountain slopes afford abundance of excellent pasture, the plains and many of the valleys, especially those of the Euphrates, Tigris, and Jordan, are reduced by the

parching droughts of summer to the condition of sandy deserts. In ancient times these now desert districts were preserved in a state of fertility by artificial irrigation, but centuries of war have convulsed these once fair regions, the canals have been neglected and have long remained in an unserviceable condition.

The fertile portions of the country produce large quantities of wheat, barley, rice, maize, tobacco, hemp, flax, and cotton; the cedar, cypress, and evergreen oak flourish on the mountain slopes; the sycamore and mulberry on the lower hills; and the olive, fig, citron, orange, pomegranate, and the vine on the low lands.

The mineral products are iron, copper, lead, alum, silver, rock-salt, coal, and limestone.

The fauna (various animals belonging to the country) includes the lion, east of the Euphrates; the hyena, lynx, panther, leopard, buffalo, wild boar, wild ass, bear, wolf, jackal, and many others; while the camel and dromedary increase the ordinary list of domestic animals.

In a country so vast in extent, the climate

must necessarily be various.

In the elevated

table-land of Armenia, and the northern part of Kurdistan, cold predominates, and in winter the region is covered with snow. While in Syria, Mesopotamia, and the low country to the east of the upper Tigris, great dryness, combined with great variation of temperature, is the general characteristic of the climate.

The population is as various as the climate. The Osmanlis, or Ottoman Turks, are very numerous in Asia Minor, but are there mixed with Greeks and Armenians, also with Kurds along the Tigris and Euphrates, while Yezedees, Jews, Arabs, Turcomans, and Kurds-the latter properly belonging to Kurdistan-form the principal portion of the inhabitants of the remaining districts.

The estimated revenue of the country is about £12,000,000 per annum.

ASIATIC TURKEY-ITS HISTORY.

The earliest of the Asiatic monarchies was the Chaldean, probably established as early as B.C. 2000. The Bible gives Nimrod as the founder