. :, ;:- , ^ f j^'.r>iy. , .' ;v- : >:vj»-»:v.yy^ :->."■ :.gJt-.| .^. .;:■ ■ ■ r- ■„'atiij,^\, {•" 'j, ■-, jiViYi. o^ •-> \^ ^.f IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-S) «f Bi |2j2 £ Itt 12.0 •' Photographic oCi£Ou6S Carparatkn as WMT MAM STRHT WmTli.N.V. 14SM (7U)l7a-4S03 CIHM/ICMH Microfiche Series. CIHIVI/ICIVIH Collection de microfiches. CwM«*n InMHiiM lor HMoilcal Mlcror«produCfloi<» / InttHul camdiMi d* mlcronproduotlam MMailquM Ttchnical and Bibliographic Notaa/Notat tachn quaa at bibliographiquaa Tha inatituta haa attamptad to obtain tha baat original copy availabia for filming. Faaturaa of thia copy wliich may ba bibilographically uniqua, which may altar any of tha Imagaa in tha raproduction, or which may aignificantly changa tha uaual mathod of filming, ara chackad baiow. D Colourad covara/ Couvartura da couiaur I j Covara damagad/ Couvartura andommagia □ Covara raatorad and/or laminatad/ Couvartura raataurte at/ou palllculAa SCovar tltla mlaaing/ La titra da couvartura manqua r^^ Colourad maps/ Cartaa gtegraphlquaa an couiaur Colourad inic (l.a. othar than blua or black)/ Encra da couiaur (l.a. autra qua blaua ou noira) I I Colourad plataa and/or llluatrationa/ D D D D Planehaa at/ou llluatrationa an couiaur Bound with othar matarial/ RalM avac d'autraa documanta Tight binding may eauaa ahadowa or diatortion along intarior margin/ Lara liura aarrte paut cauaar da I'ombra ou da la diatortlon la long da la marga Intirlaura Blank laavaa addad during raatoration may appaar within tha taxt. ^Nhttwr poaaibia, thaaa hava baan omittad from filming/ II aa paut qua oartainaa pagaa blanchaa ajoutiaa iora d'una raatauration epparalaaant dana la taxta, mala, loraqua cala itait poaalbia, caa pagaa n'ont paa 4ti fiimtea. Additional commanta:/ Commantairaa auppMmantairaa; L'Inatitut a microfilm^ la maiilaur axnmpiaira qu'il lui a 4ti poaalbia da aa procurar. Laa dMaila da cat axampiaira qui aont paut-Atra uniquaa du point da vua bibllographiqua, qui pauvant modifiar una Imaga raproduita, ou qui pauvant axigar una modification dana la mAthoda normala da fllmaga aont indiqute ci-daaaoua. r~1 Colourad pagaa/ D Pagaa da couiaur Pagaa damagad/ Pagaa andommagtoa Pagaa raatorad and/oi Pagaa raatauriaa at/ou pallieuMaa Pagaa diacolourad, atainad or foxm Pagaa d^coloriaa, tachatiaa ou piquiaa Pagaa datachad/ Pagaa ditachiaa Showtfirouglv Tranaparanea Quality of prln QuaNti Inigala da I'kfnpraaaion Indudaa aupplamanttry matarii Comprand du matArM auppMmantaira Only adMon availabia/ Saula MMon diaponlbia r~~| Pagaa damagad/ I — I Pagaa raatorad and/or laminatad/ I — I Pagaa diacolourad, atainad or foxad/ rn Pagaa datachad/ rn Showtfirough/ r~l Quality of print varlaa/ r~1 Indudaa auppiamanttry matarial/ I — I Only adition avaHaMa/ Pagaa wholly or partiaHy obaeurad by arrata aUpa, tiaauaa, ate., hava baMi ranimad to anaura tha ba^t poaalbia imaga/ Laa pagaa totalafnant ou partiaHamant obaourelaa par un ffaulNat d'arrata, una palura, ato.. ont 4t* fflm4aa A nouvaau da fa^on A obtanir la malHaura imaga poaaiMa. Thia ham ia flimad at tha raduction ratio chackad balow/ Ca documant aat filmA au taux da rAductton IncHquA cl*daaaoua. ItX 22X 10X 14X 28X 30X H n fix ^m 12X 1AX aDx 2«X i Th« copy filmed h«r« has b—n r«produc« BT lS2LIS:feE RECLITS. V \^ EDITED BT E. G. BAVENSTEIN, F.R.G.8., F.S.8., Bic. ■ ■',. .*" VOL. L GREECE, TURKEY IN EUROPE, RUMANIA, SERVIA, MONTENEaRO, ITALY, SPAIN, AND PORTUGAL. ILLUSTRATED a AND MAPS. NEW YORK: D. APPLETON AND COMPANY, 1, S, AVP 6 B(VND STBBBT. 1869. sr**-v-«'".- Is P ■. - .awi^ j i h >fcit fe *ttk,-^>.^.^ii.*ia>tt...««tf!a}ra' ■ ■t. i B ^ j) ! - uBirti'i aL ' ; .rtLmigai B m^^ •i ^ iV CONTENTS. M bnoDcoioBT Kmtwi . . • < BUBOPE. L OMMHuniOAL iHNMnAmn n. Kznm Ain> Boumdarim . XU. NATinUL DlTMIOM AHD MOURTAUM IT. Tn MABnna BMiom . v. Ouiun YL iMHABRAm .... PAM 1 vim VIL Fumn Ponnoii amo PaoinoM or TrauT 148 Yin. Oonumm and ADtanmATioM . 160 TuATin or Sax Stdako Aim Bolim . 153 . 18 THE MBDITBBRANBAN. L Htsboumt n. Amual Lm, Fmnam, aid SAU-rAm nL Coiomcs AXD NAtraoAnoM 6BBBOT. L OnauL Aanoit .... n. ComtanrAii Qumm m. Tarn XonA, or PiuiroMimnni . 17. Tu IttAmw or nn JtosAM Ska Y. Tn loaiAK lius .... YL Tn Fnmr Ain> Fmrai or Qumm OanauamT Aim Pouiioal Dmsion 1« 18 88 88 81 88 48 68 •» It 80 88 V BUMANU . . 1S8 SEEYU AND MONTBNBOBO. I SUTU IL Monmoio 178 179 tubut in kubopb. L CrRtJBUL Aanon 87 H Outis AID TU iJOAimt 01 m Aioin- ntAM •* m. Tomr or nn Gun (Tbraoia, Maob- PORIA, AMD TUHALT) .... 88 lY. AuAiRA Aim Bmn .118 Y. Tm iLLTMAii AiMi BonnA, a*d Him- ooriKA 188 YI. BnaAMA . -181 ITALY. L OWBAL AfFicn .... . 188 ■ABvr, YmnA, Aim Bmiua . 188 UL LtsraiA AND in BmmA or OnoA . 880 lY. TraoAiTT' . 889 Y. Tm BoMAii ArwiiwM, m Yauw or no Tim, Tn MAMm, Aim Tn AHHTHOt . 857 YL Sovnaw I*a&t: Natui . . 888 YU. SiottT . 808 Th« .£oHan or lipwio Idaiids . 881 The iBgRdiuk Isbnda . . 884 ]hltouidCh»o .... . 888 Yin. SAIDimA . . . . . 888 IX. Tn Punm aiid Fvniu or Itait . . 858 X. Gommnm and AommiRRAnoK . . 888 OOBSIOA 868 SPAIN. L OnauL Asnon ... 870 n. Tn Camiui, Lmw, and ImauDiiBA . 877 IIL ijmA(.niiA . > 884 CONTENTS. nr. Thi HiDiTUUUiiiAM Ston: Mtmou amd Valimoia 414 y. Tn Bauabio Iuaiim .498 VI. Tri Vallit or m Bno: AaAaoN ard Oatalohia 497 VU. BAWica PioTiMon, Natauu, ard Lo- OBOilo 489 VnL Sartandir, thr AnuRiAa, and Oalioia . 448 IX. Tbr Prrirrt ard Futitrr or Stair . . 460 X Gotrrrmrrt ard Admirirratior . 448 rA«m PORTUGAL I. Obrrial AiTBon 4M II. NoRmRH Portvoal: tbr VAUum or THR MiRRO, DOORO, ARD MORDROO . 4ft III. Tn Taurt or nu Taour . 489 IV. SOVTRRRR PORTOdAL: AUORRM ARD Al> OARTB . 490 V. Thr Prrsrrt ard FunmR or Portvsal . 494 VI. GOTRRRM5RT ARD ADMiniTRATIOH . 498 INDEX . . . .801 -■-■' VMB .Mi ALUTS or RBMO . 419 . 481 1 Am AL' . 490 ^OITUSAL . 49« m . .498 . .oot ( , M. LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. MAPS PRINTED IN COLOURS. 1. Ethnognphkal Map of Europe . 3. Turkey«in-Eurape mmI G(«eoe . 3. Thq BtMplionu and Co n i to n t i a ople 4. Bthnognphioal Hap of Turkey . rA*i . 18 . M . 98 . 148 VACS 6. Italy . • • »M 6. TheDdtooftliePo 2^0 7. The Bay of Naples 388 8. Spain and Portugal 36A PLATES. Paaa a ntififomttieBnTfaromiof ithana 3\>/m>jnv« M Cotutoattnople and the Oo' 4 a Horn, from the Hdfl^ofEynb -99 AlliaiiiaBa • . • 118 Wealthy Anmto 124 TaddahMnletaeniatheHenMigaTiii* . 127 TimoTft . IM Bolgiaiaiu. 1^ HuMoliBaa of Adriaiu^Ia* and MuHnlmaa Lady of IV ill end • • 147 WallaeUaiia (Yalakhs) . . ■ . . 182 Bdgiade 17^ The Penaiae Alpa, aa leen from the Becoa di Nona (PfoOHml}, 10,880 fMk . . . 198 Vanioe ^ ....... 207 The Palace at Faitam -228 VaroDa • 229 PeaiaiitBef tfaeAtmaaoa 2M Naplaa Capri, fkm MaaM Lubtenae 2V/M(jMy« 800 . . 802 804 Layalatta,Halto . • 3>7 Peaaantaitf Toledo, Oaitile • SM Roman Biidfe at Aliiliitan . • 8>1 dortedeloaaaitBnea,Deflleo nsheiies of Comacohio .231 74. MonthofiheAdigeVaUey .838 78. Hie Passagea over the Alps .284 78. The Lakes and Canals of Mantua .337 77. Pahnanova 320 78. Junction of the Alps and Apenninea . . 281 79. Genoa and its Subnzbs . . 284 80. G»OA . 988 FMB • • . 1S7 lie Moathi of • ■ . IM kTmrging upon • • . 160 • t . Ml • • . IM • • . 158 t • . 1«1 viuBeManbU 194 • . 160 'ENEOnC . ndCkTe . . 174 fSkodim. . 180 n • . 180 • fl . 180 . . . . 101 the Alpi 1 end • • • . 192 Po . . IOC them Apeoniiuf 194 P« • . 195 It OlMier Lakes . . '• • . 100 • f . 107 . , . 108 > . 100 • • . 301 BaTfmui . . 003 iiianto,4o. . 005 • > . 309 . • ■ • .207 emu . too ■nd Orenunui . Sll fhem Italy . 210 • • .217 ) . 2X0 . 221 r . . 228 1 . 2S4 [■ntaa . 227 • • . 220 Ipennines . . 281 • ■ . 284 • • .385 LIST OF niLUSTRATIONS. 81. TheOulf of SpedA 287 83. Tmb OoLroLiNO or thb Amo . .240 88. Defllce of the Amo 341 84. Monte ArgonUro 343 85. VbI di Chiana 344 80. The Lake of Bientina . . .345 87. The Malarial Refiuna . .347 88. FmUnoi 353 80. The Harbour of Leghorn .... 355 00. The Lake of BoLwna 360 01. La Montagna d'Alhano .361 03. Andent Lake of Fuoino . . .268 08. Lake of Tnuimeno 264 04. OAMTAOitA OF Bomb 265 05. Pontine Maidiea 267 06. Andent Lakea of the Tiber and Topino . 260 07. OAaoAOBa or Tbemi . . . 270 08. The Delta of the Tiber . . 271 00. Pbabamti or thb Bomaw Oamtaoma . . 273 100. Bomb 376 101. The Hills of Borne 378 103. Givita Veochia 381 108. Talleyi of Erodon on the Weatem Slope of the Apeoninea 283 104. Biaini and Ban Marino .... 285 105. Monto Oargano 387 106. Aahea of the Oampania . .380 107. EnumoN or Movmt Ymotiub . . 303 108. Eduoatiooal Map ci Italy . .307 100. Pompeii '801 110. Hw Manhea of Salpl ... .305 111. Harbour of Brindid in 1871 .807 113. Harbour of Taranto . .' . . .808 118. Strait of MeMina SM 114. ProAle of Mount Btna .811 115. Lava Stream of Oatania .818 110. Snbddiary Gonaa of Mount Btna . 814 117. ThaMaooalubasandOlrgMiti . .817 118 Palbsmo Ann Moim Pbubobiiio . . 834 110. Tn^aoi and Mamla . , . 830 120. Syraeuae .328 121. Tbhtu or Ookoobd at OiaoBim . . 880 133. The Oeotial Portion of the JBoUanldanda 332 138. Hm Mediterranean to the South of Sidly. 834 134. The Port of Malta 336 135. The Sea to the South of SanUaia .380 136. Strait of Bonifado . . . .310 137. LaOian ... ... 345 138. Diitrictotlgledaa 348 180. Oaouabi . .350 ISO. Fort of Tenaaora 351 181. Kavigati 1 • . 4U NT") • 1 .4M . 4U • • . 4M ■A . • . 48» . 48» ■ or OiiMwr AT • > . 491 t • . 491 Promontory of . 491 • t .494 ' • • .49« Jm PortafMW . . . 497 RiodeJueiro. 49S THE EARTH AND ITS INHABITANTS. INTBODUCTOEY BEMABK8.* |UR earth ii but m an atom in space, a itar amongst stars. Tet, to us who inhabit it, it is stiU without bounds, as it was in the time of our barbarian ancestors. Nor can we foresee the period when the whole of its surface will be known to os. We havo been taught by astronomers atid geodesists that our planet is a sphere flattened at the poles, and physical geographers and meteorologiste have applied their powers of inductive reasoning to establish theories on the direction of the winds and ocean currents within the polar regions. But hitherto no explorer has succeeded in reaching the extremities of our earth, and no one can tell whether land or sea extends beyond those icy barriers which have fri£>trated our most determined efforts. Thanks to the struggles of indomitable seamen, the pride of our race, the area of the mysterious regions around the north pole has been redue««d to something like the hundredth part of the earth's surface, but in the south there still remains an unknown region of such vast extent, that the moon, were she to drop upon our planet, might disappear within it without coming into contact with any part of the earth's surfltce already known to us. And the polar regions, which present so many natural obstacles to our explorers, are not the only portions of the earth not yet known to men of science. It may be humiliating to our pride as men, but we feel constrained to admit that among the countries not yet known to us there are some, accessible enough as &r as natural obstacles are concerned, but closed against us by our fellow-men I There are peoples in this world, dwelling in towns, obeying laws, and having customs comparatively polished, but who choose to live in seclusion, and are as little known to us as if they were the inhabitants of some other planet. Their ftontiers are closed by war and its horrors, by the practice of slavery, by religious ♦ HonaMtt. "HirtoJw da Sol de I'Europe. -Cwl Bitter. "Baiop.."— Kohl, "DieOoogwphkeh* l»gt der HftupttidU EonpikV VOL. I. 1 f '■'b^..l\ S INTBODUOTOBT BEMABE8. fanaticism, and even commercial jealousy. Wo have heard of some of these peoples by vague report, but there are others concerning whom we absolutely know nothing. And thus it happens that in this age of steam, of the printing press, of incessant and feverish activity, we still know nothing, or very little, of th& centre of Africa, of a portion of Australia, of the interior of that fine and no doubt most fertile island of New Guinea, and of vast table-lands in the centre of Asia. Nay, even the country which most men of learning love to look upon as the cradle of our Aryan ancestors is known to us but very imperfectly. As regards most countries which have been visited by travellers, and figure more or less correctly upon our maps, a great amount of further research is required before our knowledge of their geography can be called complete. Tears will pass ere the erroneous and contradictory statements of our explorers con- cerning them have been set right. A prodigious amount of labour must be performed before their climate, their hydrography, their plants and animals, can be thoroughly known to us. Minute and systematic researches have to be conducted to elucidate the slow changes in the aspects and physical phenomena of many countries. The greatest caution will have to be exercised in distinguishing between changes due to the spontaneous action of natural Dauses and those brought about by the hand of man. And all this knowledge we must acquire before we can boast that we know the earth, and all about it I Nor is this alL By a natural bent of our mind, (dl our studies are carried on with reference to Man qp the centre of all things. A knowledge of our planet is, therefore, imperfect as long as it is not joined to a knowledge of the various races of man which inhabit it. The earth which man treads is but imperfectly known, man himself even less so. The first origin of races is shrouded in absolute darkness, and the most learned disagree with refermce to the descent, the amalgamation, the original seats, and migratory stages of most peoples and tribes. What do men owe to their surroundings P What to the original seats of their ancestors, to inborn instincts of race, to a blending with aUen races, or to influences and traditi9ns l^rought to bear upon them from beyond P We hardly know, and as yet only a few rays of light b^g;in to penetrate this darkness. Unfortunately our erroneous views on many of these questions are not livM solely to ignorance. Contending p«ssions and instinctive national hatreds too frequently obscure our judgment, and we see man as he is not. ''The lar-off savages- assume the shape of dim phantoms, and our near neighbours and rivals in the arts (tf civilisation appear repulsive and deformed of feature. If we would see them as they really are, we must get rid of all our jnejudioes, and of thoad feelings oi contempt, hatred, and passion which still set nation against nation. Our fore- fathers, in their wisdom, said that "the most difficult thing of all was to know one's self. Surely a comprehensive study of mankind is more difficult stiU. We are thus not in a positicm at present to fbmish a complete account of the earth and its inhabitants. The accomplishment of this task we must leave to the future, when fellow-workers from all quarters of tiie globe will meet to write the grand book embodying the sum of human kiiowledge. For the present on ■"WrU'WIIilOrtliliMla INTBODUOTOBT BEMABES. 8 ne of these absolutely the printing ery little, of hat fine and n the centre ook upon as B, and figure research is ete. Team plorers oon- >ur must be animals, can have to be [ phenomena istinguishing hose brought ire before we are carried of our planet if the various ,t imperfectly )d in absolute descent, the peoples and original seats I alien races, eyond P We this darkness, lot due solely 00 frequently ▼agea assume 1 the arts of [ see them as le feelings of I. Our lore- was to know itstiU. ooount of the t leave to the neet to write le prMont an individual author must rest content with giving a succinct account of the Earth, in which the space occupied by each country shall be proportionate to its impor- tance, and to the knowledge we possess with respect to it. It is natural, perhaps, that each nation should imagine that in such a description it ought to be accorded the foremost place. Every barbarous tribe, however small, imagines itself to occupy the very centre of the earth, and to be the most perfect r^resentative of the human race. Its langpiage never fails to bear witness to this naive illusion, bom of the very narrowness of its horizon. The river which irrigates its fields is called the " Father of Waters," the mountain which shelters its camp the " Navel," or " Centre of the Earth ; " and the names by which primitive races designate their neighbours are terms of contempt, for they look down upon them as their inferiors. To them they are " mute," " deaf," "unclean," "imbecile," "monstrous," or "demoniac." The Chinese, one of the most remarkable peoples in some respects, and certainly the most important of all as far as mere numbers go, are not content with having bestowed upon their Qonntry the epithet of " Flower of the Centre," but are so fully convinced of its superiority as to have fidlen into the mistake (very excusable under the circum- stances) of deeming themselves to be the "Sons of Heaven." As to the nations thinly scattered around the borders of their " Celestial Empire," they know them merely as " dogs," " swine," " demons," and " savages." Or, more disdainful still, they dedgnate them by the four cardinal points of the compass, and speak of the " unclean " tribes of the west, the north, the east, and the south. If in our description of the Earth we accord the first place to civilised Europe^ it is not because of a prejudice similar to that of the Chinese. No I this place belongs to Europe as a matter of right. Europe as yet is the only continent the whole of whose waiaoe has been sdentifioally explored. It possesses a map approximately correct, and its material resources are almost fully known to us. Its population is not as dense as that of India or of China, but it neverthelefu contains about one-fourth of the total populatiwi of the globe ; and its inhabitants, whatever their fidlings and vices, or their state of barbarism in some respects, still impel the rest of maiJcind as regards material and mental progress. Europe, for twoity-five centuries, has been the focus whence radiated Arts, Sciences, and Thought Nor have those hardjr cobnists who carried their European languages and customs beyond the sea succeeded hitherto in giving to the New World an importance, equal to that of "little" Europe, in spite of the virgin soil and vast area which gave them scope for unlimited espansiott. Our American rivak may be mora aotive and enterprising than we are— they certainly are not cumbered to the same extent by the traditiims and inheritances of feudal times — but they are as yet not sufficiently numerous to compete with us as regards the totality of work done. They have scarcely been able hitiierto to asoertain the material resources of the country in which they have made their home. " Old Europe," where every clod of earth has its history, where every man is tiw heir of a hundred successive generations, therefore still maintains the first place, and a comparative study of nations justifies us in the belief that its moral X. ""■IP II ;^B7r mi mm 4 INTBODUOTOBT BEMABK8. aaoendancy and industrial preponderance will remain with it for many yean to come. At the same time, we must not shut our eyes to the fact that equality will obtain in the end, not only between America and Europe, but also between these two and the other quarters of the world. The intermingling of nations, migrations which have assumed prodigious proportions, and the increasing fooilities of intercourse must in the end lead to an equilibrium of population being established throughout the world. Then will each country add its proper share to the wealth of mankind, and what we call civilisation will have "its centre everywhere, its periphery nowhere.*' The central geographical position of Europe has undoubtedly exercised « most favourable influence upon the progress of the nations inhabiting it. The superiority of the Europeans is certainly not due to the inherent virtues of the races from which they sprang, as is vainly imagined by some, for in other parts of the ancient world these same races have exhibited fiur less creative genius. To the happy conditions of soil, climate, configuration, and geographical position the inhabitants of Europe owe the honour of having been the first to obtain a knowledge of the earth in its entirety, and to have remained for so long a period at the head of mankind. Historical geographers are, therefore, right when they insist upon the influence which the configuration of a country exercises upon the nations who inhabit it. The extent of table-lands, the heights of mountain ranges, the direction and volume of rivers, the vicinity of the ocean, the indenta- tion of the coast-Une, the, temperature of the air, the abundance or rarity of 'rain, and the correlations between soil, air, and water — all these are pregnant with e£Pebcs, and explain much of the charioter and mode of life of primitive nations. They account for most of the contrasts existing between nations subject to different conditions, and point out the natural highways of the globe which nations are constrained to follow in their migrations or warlike expeditions. At the same time, we must bear in mind that the influence exercised upon the history of mankind by the general configuration of land ,and sea, or any special features of the fonder, is subject to change, and depends essentially upon the stage of culture at which nations have arrived. Geography, strictly speaking, confines itself to a description of the eartii's sur&oe, and exhibits the various nations in a passive attitude as it were, whilst Historical Oeography and statistics show man engaged in the struggle for existence, and striving to obtain the mastery OYbT his surroundings. A river, which to an uncultured tribe wodd constitute an insurmountable barrier, becomes a commercial high-road to a tribe further advanced in culture, and in process of time it may be converted into a mere canal of irrigation, the course of which is regulated by man. A mountain nmge frequented by shepherds and huntsmen, and forming a barrier betwem nations, may attract, in a more civilised epoch, the miner and the manufiusturer, and in course of time will even cease to be an obstacle, as roads will traverse it in all directions. Many a creek of the sea, which afforded shelter of yore to the small vessels of our ancestors, is deserted now, whilst the opm bays, which vessek dreaded formerly, have been protected by enormous breakwaters, and have become the resort of our largest ships. Wii lnHMiWIMilil mmmimt* ■Kiriirririiiiiinjii in '-•mrtriTt t^Juiuismi^H mm nrrBODTJOTOBT BEMABES. ears to come, y will obtain heae two and rations which if intercourae id throughout I of mankind, its periphery ' exercised a ting it. The virtues of the other parts of ) genius. To 1 position the ; to obtain a long a period ;ht when they sises upon the ) of mountain I, the indenta- rarity of' rain, pregnant with oitiye nations. >ns subject to I globe which ditions. ixercised upon d sea, or any isentially upon ictly speaking, its the various f and statistics on the mastery d constitute an irther advan<»d mere canal of pnge frequented as, may attract, course of time otions. Many a f our ancestors, erly, have been or largest ships. Innumerable changes such as these have been effected by man in all parts of the world, and they have revolutionised the correlations existing between man and the land he lives in. The configuration and height of mountains and table-lands, the indentation of the coasts, the disposition of islands and archipelagos, and the extent of the ocean— these all lose their relative influence upon the history of nations in proportion as the latter emancipate themselves and become free agents. Though subject to the condition of his dwelling-place, man may modify it to suit his own purpose ; he may overcome nature as it were, and convert the energies of the earth into domesticated forces. As an instance we may point to the elevated table-lands of Central Asia, which now separate the countries and peninsuks surrounding them, but which, when they shall have become the seats of human industry, will convert Asia into a real geographical unit, which at present it is only in appearance. Massy and ponderous Africa, monotonous Australia, and Southern America with its forests and waterfalls, will be put on something like an equality with Europe, whenever roads of commerce shall cross them in aH directions, bridging their rivers, and traversing their deserts and mountain ranges. The advantages, on the other hand, which Europe derives from its backbone of mountains, its radiating rivers, the contours of its coasts, and its generally well- balanced outline are not as great now as they were when man was dependent exdusively upon the resources fiimished by nature. This gradual change in the historical importance of the configuration of the land is a fiwt of capital importance which must be borne in mind if we would understand the general geography of Europe. In studying ctacb we must take aooount of aaotha element of equal value — xms. ..> r. SfH 'kgi i jiJUIt i J l t i Hl l i -1 ■i. i i|llHiH i ft i "' tl HiiH ' '' i'i ' i ' * 'MJ ' i rJMW - irr?^.'^-^' '''WJ i.iiiiwwwKW^ "MiMi 1 EUROPE. I.— Gboobajphioal Impobtanoe. IN the geography of the world the first place is claimed for Europe, not heoanse of a prejudice like that of the Chinese, but as a matter of right. Europe as yet is the only continent the whole of whose surface has been scientifically explored. It possesses a map approx- imately cortrect, and its material resources are ahnoet fully known to us. Its popuktion is not as dense as that of India or of China, but it nevertheless contains about one-fourth of the total popuktion of the globe ; aed its inhabitants, whatever their failings and vices, or their state of barbarism in some respects, still impel the rest of mankind as regards material and mental progress. Europe, for twenty-five centuries, has been the focus whence radiated Arts, Sciences, and Thought. Nor have those hardy coir lists who carried their European Unguages and customs beyond the sea succeeded hitherto in giving to the New World an importance equal to that of « Uttle "Europe, in spite of the virgm soil and vast arm which gave them scope for unlimited expaiision. "Old Europe," where every dod of earth has its history, where every man is the heir of a hundred successive generations, therefore still maintains the first place, and a compaiative study of nations justifies us in the beUef that its moral ascendancy and industrial preponderance will remwn with it for many years to come. At the same time, we must not shut our eyes to the fact that equality will obtain in the end, not only between America and Eui«pe, but also between these two and the other quarters of the world. The ir ermingling of nations, migrations which have assumed prodigious proportions, and A© increasing feoilitiee of intercourse, must in the end lead to an equilibrium of popuktion throughout the world. Then will each country add its proper share to the wealth of mankind, and what we call civilisation will have " its centre everywhere, its periphery nowhere." The central geographical position of Europe has undoubtedly exercised a most favourable infinence upon the progress of the nations inhabiting it. The superiority of the Europeans is certainly not due to the inherent virtues of the races from which they sprang, as is vaiiJy imagined by sonae, for in other parts of 1 ■llll>IIWIllllll» WMNiii B 6 EUROPE. the ancient world these Bame races have exhibited far less creative genius. To the happy conditions of soil, climate, configuration, and geographical position, the inhabitants of Europe owe the honour of having been the first to obtain a knowl- edge of the earth in its entirety, and to have remained for so long a period at the head of mankind. Historical geographers are, therefore, right when they insist upon the influenc*) which the configuration of a country exercises upon the nations who inhabit it. The extent of table-lands, the heights of mountain ranges, the direction and volume of rivers, the vicinity of the ocean, the indentation of the coast-line, the temperature of the air, the abundance or rarity of rain, and the correlations between soil, air, and water — all these are pregnant with effects, and explain much of the character and mode of life of primitive nations. They account for most of the contrasts existing between nations subject to different conditions, and point out the natural highways of the globe which nations are constrained to follow in their migrations or warlike expeditions. 11.^ — ^Extent and Boundabies. The dwellers on the eastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea must have learnt, in the course of their first warlike and commercial expeditions, to distinguish between the great continents; for within the nucleus of the ancient world Africa is attached to Asia by a narrow band of arid sand, and Europe separated from Asia Minor by seas and channels difiScult to navigate on account of dangerous cnirents. The division of the known world into three distinct parts could not fail to impress itself upon the minds of those infant nations ; and when the Greeks had attained a state of maturity, and historical records took the place of myths and oral tradi- tions, the name of Europe had probably been transmitted through a long series of generations. Herodotus naively admits that no mortal could ever hope to find out the true meaning of this name, bequeathed to us by our forefathers ; but this has not deterred our modem men of learning from attempting to exphdn it. Some amongst them consider that it was applied at first to Thrace with its " large plains," and subsequently extended to the whole of Europe ; others derive it from one of the surnames, of Zeus with the ''huge eyes," the andent god of the Sun, specially charged with the protection of ^e continent. Some etymolo^sts believe that Europe, was designated thus by the Phoenidans, as being the ooontry of "white men." We consider it; however, to be far more probable that its mane originally meant simply "the West," as contrasted with Asia, "the East," or " country of the rising sun." It is thus that Italy first, and then Spain, bore the name of Hesperia ; that Western Africa received the name of £1 Maghreb from the Mohammedans, and the plains beyond the Mississippi became known in our own times as the " Far West." But, whatever may be the original meaning of its name, Europe, in all the myths of the imcients, is described as a Daughter of Asia. The Phoenicians were the first to explore the shores of Europe, and to bring its inhabitants into contact with those of the East. When the Daughter had become the superior ol her W M W» ' li li w il MT iH' 'i < rw i a.' l V» iill« Xi i lu i ■wwiawii EXTENT AND BOUNDARIES. I genius. To I position, the >tain a knowl- period at the en they insist on the nations Jn ranges, the itation of the rain, and the th effects, and ations. They it to different sh nations are have learnt, in tgaish between orld Africa is Ated from Asia ;erons currents, fail to impress ks had attained and oral tradi- a long series of sr hope to find ithers ; but this I to explain it. with its "Urge i derive it &om K)d of the Sun, lolo^ts believe the country of te that its mane "the East," or Spun, bore the I Haghreb from le known in our arope, in all the Phoenicians were ants into contact I superior oi hsae Kother in civilisation, and Greek voyagers were following up the explorations begun by the mariners of Tyre, all the known countries to the north of the Mediterranean were looked upon as dependencies of Europe, and that name, which was originally confined to the Thraco-Hellenio peninsula, was made to include, in course of time, Italy, Spain, the countries of the Gauls, and the hyperborean Fig. 1.— Thi Natural Bovni>ary of Edropi. Soile 1 : 11^)0,000. M*Ber Or. k .X^ ^^ •^ Tlie «m« of deprcnkm extandiag from tli« Black Seit to the Oulf of Obi ii iliaded. *rha darker tbuling to the north of the Oaapiaiii ahows the area depretaed below the level of the Mediterranean. regions beyond the Alps and the Danube. Strabo, to whom were known already the most varied and- fruitful portions of Europe, extends it eastwazd as far as the Palus HsBOtis and the Tanais.* * llodem Sea of Aiof and River Don. l''1i 8 EUEOPE. : \r- I Since that epoch the limits between Europe and Asia hav^ Seen shifted hj geog^phers still farther to the east. They are, however, mc.e or less con- ventional, for Europe, though bounded on three sides by the ocean, is in reality but a peninsula of Asia. At the same time, the contrasts between these two parts of the world fully justify scientific men in dividing them into two continental masses. But where is the true line of separation between them f Map-makers ' generally adopt the political boundaries which it has pleased the Russian Government to draw between its vast European and Asiatic territories, and others adopt the summits of the Ural Mountains and of the Oauoasus as the boundary Fl«. J Thi RiUBP OP EvHon. ▲«eoidiiivtoHonM«u,B«|l>Mii,Kiv«t,OlMii,MidoUim. Soidt 1 : ao,00IMNO. mft M U p, ft H » t, 1 ^ ^ 1, « ■" *_ JlS. ■ ^K^^^^Wf H ![;# a. 1 £\ i£j 1 (jirifii 1 ii. iL 1 flfll^^H HHRfli m^4T„ jL H. 1 r __ «g) ^liWiK it 1 p^^K^j?^^ -^ '- *!. P * m V A* V I ii L W ' L !W H* |i b ■■5m IMM itmit eSOfnt «■ Wly«ft . ' ■M* «lM IMV A^ a 4iy«k between the two continents; and although, at the first glance, thit delineation appears more reasonable than the former, it is in reality no less absurd. The two slopes of a mountain chain can never be assigned to different formationa, and they are generally inhabited by men of the same race. The true line of sepa- ration between Europe and Asia does not consist of moortains at all, but, on the contrary, of a series of depressions, in former times covered by a channel of the sea which united the Mediterranean with the Arctic Ocean. The stei^)e8 of the Manych, between the Black Sea and the Caspian, and to the north of die Caucasus, are still covered in part with salt swamps. The Caq>ian itself, as well as Lake Aral and the other lakes which we meet with in the direction of the Gulf of Obi, are the remains of this ancient arm of the sea, and the intermediate regions still bear the traces of having been an ancient see-bed. There can be no doubt that vast changes have taken place in the configuration rtiii Wimw »ii,jjmnj#iw MMWIM # NATUBAL DIVISIONS AND MOUNTAINS. 9 in shifted by or lesB con- , is in reality lese two parts > continental Map«makers the Russian les, and others the boundary 1 t i this delineation IS absurd. The formations, and le line of sepa- all, but, on the i channel of the The steiqpes of he north of the itself, as well as n of the Oulf of [mediate regions the configuration i j ih M > ' - ' - I I "I — WMM of Europe, not only during more ancient geological periodu, but also within comparatively recent times. We have already seen that a vast arm of the sea formerly separated Europe from Asia ; it is equally certain that there was a time when it was joined to Anatolia by an isthmus, which has since been converted into the Bosphorus of Oonstantinople ; Spain was joined to Africa until the waters of the Atlantic invaded the Mediterranean ; Sicily was probably connected with Mauritania ; and the British Islands once formed a portion of the mainland. The erosion of the sea, as well as upheavals and subsidences of land, has effected, and still effect, changes in the contours of our coasts. Numerous soundings in the seas washing Western Europe have revealed the existence of a submarine plateau, which, from a geological point of view, must be looked upon as forming an integral portion of our continent. Bounded by abyssal depths of thousands of fathoms, and submerged one hundred fathoms at most below the waters of the ocean, this pedestal of France and the British Islands must be looked upon as the foundation of an ancient continent, destroyed by the incessant action of the waves. If the shallow portions of the ocean, as well as those of the Mediterranean Sea, were to be added to Europe, its area would be increased to the extent of one-fourth, but it would lose, at the same time, that wealth in peninsulas which has secured to Europe its historical superiority over the other continents. If we supposed Europe to subside to the extent of one hundred fathoms, its area would be reduced to the oompnss of one-half. The ocean would again cover her low plr ' iS, most of which are andent sea-beds, and there wotdd remain above the waters merely a skeleton of plateaux and mountain ranges, far more extensively indented by bays and fringed by peninsulas than are the coasts existing at the present time. , The whole, of Western and Southern Europe would be converted into a huge island, separated by a wide arm of the sea from the plains of interior Russia. From an historical as well as a geological point of view, this huge island is the true Europe. Russia is not only half Asiatic on account of its extremes of temperature, and the aspect of its monotonous plains and interminable steppes, but is likewise intimately linked with Asia as riegards its inhabitants and its historical development. Russia can hardly be said to have belonged to Europe for more than a hundred years. It was in maritime and mountainous Europe, with its islands, peninsulas, and volleys, it« varied features and unexpected contrasts, that modem civilisation arose, the result of innumerable local civilisa- tions, happily united into a single current. And, as the rivers descending from the mountains cover the plains at their foot with fertile soil, so has the progress accomplished in this centre of enlightenment gradually spread over the other continents to the very extremities of the earth. III. — NATVRAii Divisions and Mountains. Thb Europe alluded to includes France, Germany, England, and the thfee Mediterranean peninsulas, and constitutes several natural divisions. The British Islands form one of these. The Iberian peninsula is separated scarcely leas ^ ^^ 10 EUBOPB. distinctly from the remainder of Europe, for between it and France rites a most formidable range of mountains, the most difficult to cross in all Europe ; and immediately to the north of it a depression, nowhere exceeding a height of 650 feet, extends from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic Ocean. The geographical unity of Europe is represented to the ftill extent only in the system of the Alps, and in the mountains of France, Germany, Italy, and the Balkan peninsula which are connected with it. It is there we must seek the framework of continental Europe. The Alps, whose ancient Celtic name probably refers to the whiteness of their snowy summits, stretch in an immense curve, more than 600 miles in length, frcm the shores of the Mediterranean to the plains of the Danube. They consist in reality of more than thirty mountain masses, representing as many geological {proups, and joined to each other by elevated passes; but their rocks, whether they be granite, slate, sandstone, or limestone, form one continuous rampart rising above the plains. In former ages the Alps were higher than they are now. This is proved by an examination of their detritus and of the strata disintegrated by natural agencies. But, whatever the extent of detrition, they still rise in hundreds of summits beyond the line of perennial snow, and vast riven of ice descend f^rom them into every upland valley. Looked at from the plains of Piedmont and Lombardy, these glaciers and snow-fields present the appearance of sparkling diadems encircling the mountain summits. In the eastern portion of the Alpine system — that is to say, between the Mediterranean and Mont Blanc, the culminating point of Europe — the average height of the mountain groups gradually increases from 6,600 to more than 13,000 feet. To. the east of Mont Blano the Alps change in direction, and, beyond the vast citadels represented by Monte Rosa and the Bernese Oberiand, they gradually decrease in height. To the east of Switzerland no summit exceeds a height of 13,000 feet, but this loss in elevation is Ailly made up by increase of breadth. And whilst tL(« general direction of the principal axis of the Alps remains north-easterly, very considerable mountain chains, hr exceeding the central mass in breadth) are thrown off towards the north, the eost, and the south-east. A line drawn across the true Alps from Vienna has a length of no less than 250 miles. In thus spreading out, the Alps lose tuo r character and aspect. We no longer meet with grand mountain masses, glaciers, and snow-fields. Towards the north they gradually sink down into the valley of the Danube ; towards the south thqr branch out into secondary chains, resting upon the arched plateau of Turkey. But, in spite of the vast contrasts offered by the true Alps and the mountains of Montenegro, the Hsemus, the Rhodope, and the Pindus, all these mountain chains nevartheless belong to the same orographical system. The whole of the Balkan peninsula must be looked upon as a natural dependency of the Alps ; and the same applies to Italy, for the chain of the Apennines is nothing but a continuation of the Maritime Alps, and we hardly know where to draw the line of separa- tion between them. The Carpathians, too, must be included among Hm HI mi .1. .AM.Ktm mmtmKH ■!^ NATURAL DIVISIONS AND MOUNTAINS. 11 ttnoe rises a Europe; and a height of !)oean. The n the system the Balkan he framework enesB of their es in length, They consist iny geological ouks, whether rampart rising re now. This disintegrated J still rise in t rivers of ice the plains of I appearance of between the ) — the average to more than direction, and, Dese Oberlond, lummit exceeds by increase of B of the Alps exceeding the cost, and the I length of no We no longer Bids the north the south th^ Ntu of Turkey. le mountains of lountain chains of the Balkan ; and the same a continuatitm line of separa- 1 among the mountain chains forming part of the system of the Alps. They have been gradually separated from them through the continuous action of water, but there can be no doubt that, in former times, the semicircle of mountains known as the Little Carpathians, the Beskids, the Tatra, the Great Carpathians, and the Transyl> vanian Alps was joined, on the one hand, to the Austrian Alps, and on the other to spurs descending from the Balkan. The Danube has forced its way through these mountain ramparts, but the passages, or "gates," are narrow; they are strewn with rooks, and commanded by what remains of the ancient partition ranges. The configuration of the Alps, and of the labyrinthine mountain ranges branching off from them towards the east, could not fail to exercise a most powerAil influence upon the history of Europe and of the entire world. The only high-roads known to barbarians are those traced out by nature herself, and they were consequently able to penetrate into Europe only by sea, or through the vast plains of the north. Having penetrated to the westward ot the Black Sea, their progress was first stopped by the lakes and difficult swamps of the Danubian valley ; and, when they had surmounted these obstacles, they found themselves face to face with a barrier of high mountains, whose intricate wooded valleys and declivities led up to the inaccessible regions of eternal snow. The Alps, the Balkan, and all the other advanced chains of the Alpine system constituted an advanced defensive barrier for Eastern Europe, and the conquering nomad tribes who threw them- selves against it did so at the risk of deetruotion. Accustomed to the boundless horixon of the steppes, they did not venture to climb these steep hiU»— -they turned to the northward, where the vast plains of (Jerraania enabled successive swarms of immigrants to spread over the country with greater ease. And as to the invaders, whom blind rage of conquest impelled to engage in the defiles of these mountains, they found themselves caught as in a trap ; and this accounts for the variety of nations, and of fragments of nations, whose presence has converted the oountries of the Danube into a sort of ethnological chaos. And as the debris carried along by the current is deposited in the eddy of a river, so were these fragments of nearly every nation of the East aocumuUited in motley disorder in this comer of the continent. To the south of this great monntam barrier the migrations between Europe and Asia pould take place only by sea — a high-road open to those nations alone who were sufficiently advanced in civilisation to have acquired the art of building ships. Whether pirates, merchants, or warriors, they had raised themselves long ago above a state of primitive barbarism, and even thnr voyages of conquest added something to the stock of human knowledge. Moreover, owing to the difficulties of navigation, they migrated only in small bodies. At whatever point they settled they came into contact with populations of a different race from their own, and this intercourse gave birth to a number of local civilisations, each bearing its own stamp, and nowhere did their influence preponderate. Every isLmd of the Archipela(^x>, and every valley of ancient Hellas, differed firom its neighbours as regards social con- dition, dialect, and customs, but they all remained Qreek, in spite of the Phconician and other influences to which they had been subjected. It is thus owing to the II BVBOPE. oonflguration of tho mountain oliaina and ooMt*Unef that the oMIiMtion whioh developed itaelf graduully in the Moditorrunean oountrie* to the wuth of tho Alpa was, upon the whole, more ipontaneoui in it« nature, and offered more Yariety and greater oontratta, than the oiviltiation of the far Ioh adTanoed nationi of the north, who were moving from place to pUoe on vast phiina. The wide range of the Alps and of their advanced chains thus separated two distinct worlds, in which historical development went on at a different rate. At the same time, the separation between the two slopes of the Alpine system was by no means •.'Omplete. Nowhere in the Alps do we meet with cold and uninhabited pkteaux, as in the Andes and in Tibet, whose enormous extent forms almost insurmountable barriers. The Alpine masses are out up everywhere into mountains and valleys, and the climate of the latter is sufficiently mild to enable man to exist in them. The mountaineers, who easily maintained their independence, owing to the proteation extended to them by nature, first served as intermediariea between the peoples inhabiting the opposite lowlands. It was they who effected the rare exchanges of produce which took place between the North and South, aud who opened the first commercial high-roads between the summits of the moun- tains. The direction of the valleys and the deeply cut mountain passes even then indicated the grand routes by which thu Alps would be crossed, at a future period, for the purposes of commerce or of war. That portion of the Alps whioh lies between the mountain masses of Savoy and of the Mediterranean would natu- rally cease first to form an obstacle to military expeditions. The Alps there are of great height, it is true, but they are narrower than anywhere else ; besides whioh, the climate on the two opposite slopes is similar, and assi m i l ates the mode of life and the customs of the people dwelling there. Far more formidable, at a natural barrier, are the Alps to the north-east of Mont Blanc, for they constitute a climatic boundary. The other mountain ranges play but a secondary or local part in the history of Europe, when we compare them with the Alps. Still, the influence whioh they have exercised upon the destiny of nations is no less evident. The table-lands and snow-fields of the Scandinavian Alps form a wall of separation between Norwegians and Swedes. The quadrangular mountain fort of Bohemia, in the oentreof Europe, whioh shelters the Oheohians, is almost entirely enclosed by Germans, and resembles an island fretted by the waves of the ocean. The hills of Wales and of Soot- land have afforded a shelter to the Oeltio race against the encroachments of Anglo-Saxons, Danes, and Normans. The Bretons, in France, are indebted to their rocks and landet for the fact of their not having yet become wholly French ; whilst the table-land of Limousin, the hills of Auvergne, and th* Cevennes con- stitute the principal cause of the striking oontrast which still exists between the inhabitants of Northern and of Southern France. The Pyrenees, next to the Alps, constitute the most formidable obstacle to the march of nations in Europe; they would have remained an insurmountable rampart down to our own time, were it not easy to pass round them by their extremities abutting upon the ■4k, THE MARITIME RE0I0N8. u Mtion which of tho Alps more rurietv lutioni of the oparated two int rate. At iratem woe by uninhabited forms almoet to mountain! lable man to ndependenoe, ntermediariee who effected 1 and South, ofthemoun- leeeven then Riture period, pe which lies would natu- e Alps there else; besides ktes the mode rmidable, as a 17 constitute a the history of e which they lUe-lands and n Norwegians treof Europe, and resembles and of Soot- ■oachments of ) indebted to lolly French ; Terennes con- lists between nees, next to »f nations in down to our ibntting upon rV. — TiiK Maritimk Rroions. Thb Talleys which radiate in all directions from the great central masses of the Alps are admirably adapted for imparting to almost the whole of Europe a remarkuble unity, whilst they offer, at the name time, an extreme variety of a«p(>ots nn^ of physical conditions. The Po, the Rhone, the Rhine, and the Danube trayerau untries having the most diverse climates, and yet they have their Houroes in tho same mountain region, and the fortiliaini; alluvium which they deposit io their valleys results from the disintegration of the same rocks. Minor valleys out up the "lopes of the Alps and of their dependent chains, and carry towards the sea the waters of the mountains and tho triturated fragments of their rooks. Rttsnint; waters are visible, wherever we oast our eyes. There are neither deserts, nor sterile plateaux, uor inland lakes and river basins such as we meet with in Africa and Asia. The rivers of Europo are not flooded as are those of certain portions of South America, which deluge half the country with water. On the contrary, in the scheme of her rivers Europe exhibits a certain degree of moderation which has favoured the work of the settler, and facilitated the rise of a local civilisation in each river basin. Moreover, although most rivers are suffi- oiently large to have retarded migration, they are not sufficiently so to have arrested it for any length of time. Even when roads and bridges did not exist, barbarian immigrants easily made their way from the shores of the Black Sea to those of the Atlantic. But Europe, in addition to the advantages due to its framework of mountains and the disposition of its river basins, enjoys the still greater advantage of poKsess- ing an indented coast-line. It is mainly the contours of its coasts which impnrt to Europe its double character of unity and diversity, which distinguish it amongst continents. It is "one" because of its great central mass, and "diversified" because of its numerous peninsulas and dependent islands. It is an organism, if wo may say so, resembling a huge body furnished with limbs. Strabo compared Europe to a dragon. The geographers of the period of the revival of letters compared it to a crowned virgin, Spain being the head, France the heart, and England and Italy the hands, holding the sceptre and the orb. Russia, at that time hardly known, is made to do' duty for the ample folds of the robe. The area of Europe is only half that of South America, and one-third of that of Africa, and yet the development of its ooast-lines is superior to that of the two continents taken together. In proportion to its area the coasts of Europe have twioe the extent of those of South America, Australia, and Africa ; and although they are to a small extent inferior to those of North America, it must be borne in mind that the arotio coasts of the latter are ice-bound during the greater portion ci tiiei year. A glance at the subjoined diagrams will show that Europe, as compared with the two other continents washed by tbo Arctic Ocean, enjoys the immense advantage of possessing a coast-line almost wholly available for purposes of navigatitm, whilst a large portion of the coasts of Asia and America is altogether useless to man. And not only does the sea penetrate into the very heart of ■i iiiiiiM^ ^^ff^ r 14 EUEOPE. temperate Europe, cutting it up into elongated peninsulas, but these peninsulas, too, are fringed with gulfs and miniature inland seas. The coasts of Greece, of Thessaly, and of Thrace are thus indented by bays and gulfs, penetrating far into the land; Italy and Spain likewise possess numerous bays and gulfs; and the peninsulas of Northern Europe, Jutland, and Scandinavia are out up by the waters of the ocean into numerous secondary peninsulas. Fig. 3.— DtviLOPMBirr of Coast- UNBt kblatitblt to Abba. EUROPE ASIA AFmCA SOUTH AMCRICA NORTH AMCRrCA AUSTRALIA 4,006,100 3,7£8,30p 18,600 17,010 1:2-6 17,308,400 16,966,000 34.110 28,200 1:2-6 AfriMU 11.642,400 11,293,930 16,480 16,480 1:1-4 N. AniMiea. 0,376,860 7,973,700 8. Amcriaa. 6,808,670 6,731,470 3,460,130 2,934.600 Total area, aquare miles . . Mainland „ Development of coast-line, ) miles > Accessible ooftsU .... Ratio of the geometrical to | the actntd contour . . . ) The shaded circles represent the various continents ; the outer circle represents the actual extant of coast-line. The blank space between the two concentric circles represents graphically the diiTerence between the smallest possible or geometrical contour of a country having the area of the respective continents, and the actual contour as exhibited in the existing ooast-Iines. Europe^ being in reality only a peninsula of Aria, hardly admits of this comparison. The islands of Europe must be lo<^ed upon as dqiendencies of that continent, for most of them are separated from it only by shallow seas. Oandia and the islands scattered broadcast over the JBgean Sea, the Archipelagos of the Ionian Sea, and of Dalmatia, Sicily, Corsica and Sardinia, Elba, and the Baleares, are in reality but prolongations, or maritime out-stations, of neighbouring peninsalas. To the islands of Sealand and Fyen, at the entrance to the Baltic, Denmark owes '. '' 41-1J.Ui.JJA.J|i. ■^ ii iii m ii ui i iwui i Mi i i ii wifciui iis im THE MABITIME REGION. 16 se peninsulas, of Qreece, of rating far into ulfs; and the ut up by the TRIU ItTKAUA Amriaa. ,808,070 ,781,470 AmtiaUK. 3,460,180 2,934,«00 the actual extaitk of ically the diffemm » of the raapeotive )eiiig ia nalitjr only that continent, Oandia and the i of the Ionian Baleares, are in peninralas. To Denmark owes most of her commercial and political importance. Great Britain and Ireland, which actually formed a portion of the European continent in a past age, cannot be looked upon otherwise than as dependencies of it, although the isthmus which once joined them has been destroyed by the waters of the ocean. England has actually become the gprand commercial emporium of Europe, and plays now the same part in the world's commerce that Gre^e once played in that of the more restricted world of the Mediterranean. It is a remarkable fact that each of the European peninsulas should have enjoyed in turn a period of commercial preponderance. Ghreece, the " most noble individuality of the world of the ancients," came first, and when at the height of her power governed the Mediterranean, which at that time meant nearly the whole universe. During the Middle Ages Amalfi, Genoa, and Venice became the com- mercial agents between Europe and the Indies. The discovery of a passage round the Gape and of America diverted the world's commerce to Oadiz, Seville, and Lisbon, on the Iberian peninsula. Subsequently the merchants of the small Dutch Bepublic seized a portion of the heritage of Spain and Portugal, and the wealth of the entire world was floated into the harbours of their sea-bound islands and peninsulas. In dUr own days Qreat Britain, thanks to its favourable geo- graphical position, in the very centre of great continental masses, and the energy of its people, has become the great mart of the world. London, the most populous city of the world, is alw the great centre of attraction for the treasures of man- kind ; but there can be no dodbt ihat sooner or later it will be supplanted, in consequence of the opening of new commercial high-roads, and changes in the political preponderance of nations. Perhaps some city of the United States will take the place oi London in a future age, and thus the American belief in the westward march of civilisation will be verified ; cr we may possibly return to the East, and convert Constantinople or Oairo into the world's emporium and centre of intercourse. But, whatever may happen in the future, ihe great changes which have taken place in the relative importance of the peninsulas and islands of Europe in the diort span of twenty centuries, sufficiently prove that geographical features exercise a varying influence at different epochs. That which at one time was looked upon as a great natural advantage may become, in course of time, a serious disadvantage. Thus the numerous inlets and guL» enclosed by mountain chains, which fiivoqred the rise of the cities of Greece, and gave to Athens tlie dominion of the Medifdrranean, now constitute as many obstacles to their cotmeotion with the existing system of European communications. Thai which in former times ctmstituted the strength of the country has become its weakness. In primitive times, before man ventured upon the seas, these bays and gulls formed insur- mountable obstacles to the migration of nations ; at a later date, when the art of navigati(m had been acquired, they became commercial high-roads, and were &vourable to the development of civilisation ; and at the present time ihey are again obstacles in the way of our road'builders and railway engineers. -> & »F!«S»}!-»»^««flW*. I ^ss^vmf!'^"' 16 ,1 EUBOPB. V. — Olimate. The influence exeroiBed by the relief of the land and the configuration of the coasts varies in diiferent ages, but that of climate is permanent. In this respect Europe is the most favoured region of the earth, for during a cycle of unknown length it has enjoyed a climate at once the most temperate, the most equable, and the most healthy of all continents. Owing to the inland seas which penetrate far into the land, the whole of Europe is exposed to the modifying influence of the ocean. With the exception of Central Russia, no part of Europe is more than 400 miles from the sea, and, as most of the mountains slope from the centre of the continent towards its circum- ference, the influence of the sea breezes is felt throughout. And thus continental Europe, in spite of its great extent, enjoys the advantages of an insular olimate throughout, the winds passing over the ocean moderating th« heat of summer and tempering the cold of winter. The continuous north-easterly movement of the waters of the Atlantic likewise has a favourable effect upon the climate of Europe. After having been heated by a tropical sun in the Gulf of Mexico, the gulf-stream issues through the Strait of Florida, and, spreading over the Atlantic, takes its course towards the coasts of Europe. This enormous mass of warm water, equal in volume to twenty million rivers as large as the Rhone, brings the warmth of southern latitudes to the western and northern shores of Europe. Its influence is telt not only in the maritime countries of Western Europe, but to some extent as far as the Caspian and the ITral Mountains. The currents of the air exercise as favourable an influence upon the climate of Europe as do those of the ocean. The south-westerly winds predominating on the coasts pass over the warm gulf-stream, and, on reaching Europe, they part with the heat stored up by them between the tropics. The north-westerly, northerly, and even north-easterly winds, which blow during a portion of the year, are less cold than might be expected, for theiy, too, have to cross the warm waters of the gulf- stretmi. Atid lastly, there is the Sahara, which elevates the temperature of a portion of Europe. The increase in temperature due to the combined influence of winds and ocean currents amounts to 40°, 50°, and even 60°, if we compare Eurt^ with other parts of the world lying under the same latitudes. Nowhere else, not even on the western coast of North America, do the isothermals, or lines of equal annual temperature, ascend so high towards the arctic regions. The inhabitants of Europe, though they may live 900 to 1,200 miles fiirther away from the equator, enjoy as mild a climate as do those of America, and the decrease of temperature on going northward is fiur less rapid tiiaii in any other pari' of the globe. This uniformity of temperature oonifttitutes one of the most characteristic features of Europe. The whole of it lies within the temperate region bounded by the isothermal lines of 82° F. and 68° F., whilst in America and Asia that {nrivileged Kone has only half this extent. mmamBSBm w CLIMATE. 17 ration of tbe u this respect ) of unknown b equable, and tlie whole of the exception iie sea, and, as ds its ciroum- lus continental nsular climate >f summer and Aantic likewise )een heated by 'h the Strait of 8 the coasts of twenty million ttitudes to the at only in the as the Caspian 1 the climate of ninating on the y port with the , northerly, and ur, are less cold ers of the gulf- mperature of a ) of winds and re Europe with re dse, not even of equal annual inhabitants of rom the equator, ) of temperature ^e globe. This ristio features of )ounded by the » that inrinleged This remarkable uniformity in the climate of Europe is exhibited not only in its temperature, but likewise in the distribution of its rains. The seas washing the shores of Europe supply all parts of it with the necessary amount of moisture. There is no rainless district, nor, with the exception of a portion of the maritime region of the Caspian and a small corner of Spain, any district where droughts occasionally entail the entire loss of the harvest. Rains fall not only regularly every year, but in most countries they occur in every season, ihe only exception being the countries of the Mediterranean, where autumn and winter are the real rainy seasons. Moreover, in spite of the great diversity in the physical features of Europe, the amount of rain is scarcely anywhere excessive, whether it descends as a fine drizzle, as in Ireland, or in heavy showers, as in Provence and on the Fig. 4.— Tbb Ibothirmal Zom or Evhopi. Bt^iinfloojooa. •0 •l»to»rt*A- a«Nto«M»lt • •Man. southern dope of the Alps. The annual rainMl scarcely ever exceeds thirty-nine inches, except on the flunks of certain mountain ranges vrhich arrest the passage of oonents charged with moisture. This uniformity and moderation in the rain- &U exercise a regulating influence upon the course of the rivers, for even the smallest amongst Uiem, at all events those to the north of the Pyrenees, the Alps, and ihe Balkan, flow throughout the year. They rise and fidl generally within narrow limits, and inundations on a vast scale are as rare as is want at water for purposes of irrigation. In consequence of this regularity, Europe is able to derive a greater advantage fiN»n its waters than other continents where the amount of precipitation is more considerable. The Alps contribute much towards main- MriMMMpiMi 18 EUBOPB. taining a regular flow of the riven ; the excess of humidity which fidls to their share is stored up in the shape of snow and ice, which descend slowly into the valleys, and melt daring the heat of summer. This happens just at a time when the rivers gain least from rain, and lose most by evaporation, and some amongst them would dry up if the ice of the mountains did not come to the aid of the waters descending from the sky. It is thus that a sort of balance is established in the economy of European rivers. The climate of Europe is thus characterized by uniformity as a whole, and by a compensatory action in its contrasts. Regularity and freedom from excess, such as are not known in other continents, mark its ocean currents, its winds, its temperature and rains, and the course of its rivers. These great advantages have benefited its inhabitants in the past, and will not cease to do so in the future. Though small in extent, Europe possesses by far the largest area of acclimation. Man may migrate from Russia to Spain, or from Ireland to Greece, without exposing himself to any great risk of life. The inhabitants of the Caucasus and the Ural Mountains were thus able to cross the plains and mountains of Europe, and to establish themselves on the shores of the Atlantic. Soil and climate are equally propitious to man, and enable him to preserve his physical and intellectual powers wherever he goes. A migratory people might found new homesteads in any part of Europe. Their companions of travel — the dog, the horse, and the ox — would not desert them on the road, and the seed-corn which they carry with them would yield a harvest wherever confided to the earth. t. ■JL. VI. — ^iNHABtTANTS. A STUDY of the soil and a patient observation of climatic phenomena enaUe us to appreciate the general influmce exercised by the nature of the country upon the development of its inhabitants ; but it is more difficult to assign to each race or nation its due share in the progress of European civilisation. No doubt, in their struggles for existrace, di^erent groups of naked and ignorant savages must have been acted upon differently, according to their numbers and physical strength, their inborn intelligence, their tastes and mental tendencies. But who were those primitive men who first turned to account the natural resources of the country in which they dwelt P We know not ; for, if we go back for a few thousand years, every fact is shrouded in darkness. We know nothing even as r^^ards the origin of the leading nations of Europe. Are we the " sons of the soil," and the " shoots of oak-trees," as told in the poetical language of ancient tradition, or are we to look upon the inhabitants of Asia as the ancestors to whom we are indebted for our languages, and for the rudiments of our arts and sciences P Or did those immigrants from a neighbouring continent settle down amongst an indigenous population P Not many years ago the Asiatic origin of European nations was accepted as an established fact, and the original seats o{ our forefikthers were pointed out upon the map of Asia. But now most men of soienoe are agreed to rngmmmmmmmmmmmmm mMS!»wmmmmmmmm^■nfmml mm 1^" 'A.-j>>%£«UKitiil¥>«&£;.L'ki-.- '. falls to their owly into the b a time when some amongst the aid of the established in hole, and by a n excess, such its winds, its at advantages do so in the irgest area of and to Greece, bitants of the and mountains itic. Soil and Is physical and ht found new —the dog, the 9ed-oom which e earth. aena enable ns 3 country upon ^ to each race Ko doubt, in it savages must ysical strength, who were those the country in thousand years, ;ards the origin md the " shoots in, or are we to xe indebted for Or did those I an indigenous san nations was bre&thers were se are agreed to s. »iattiiAii ' " .. i i iB ii j i j iiwii*^^^ I INHABITANTS. If wek our ancestors upon the very soil which we, their descendants, still occupy. Caverns, the shores of oceans and lakes, and the alluvial beds of our rivers have yielded the remains of human industry, and even human skeletons, which clearly prove that long before these supposed immigrations from Asia there existed in Europe tribes who had already made some progress in human industry. Even in the childhood of history there existed tribes who were looked upon as aborigines, and some of their descendants — as, for ^ •»nce, the Basks — have nothing in common with the invaders from the neighbouring continent. Nor is it universally admitted that the Aryans — that is, the ancestors of the Pelasgians, the Greeks, the Latins, Celts, Germans, and Slavs — are of Asiatic origin. Similarity of language may justify our belief in the common origin of the Aryans of Europe, the Persians, and the Hindoos, but it does not prove that their ancestral home should be looked for somewhere near the sources of the Oxus. Many men of learning * look upon the Aryans as aborigines of Europe, but certainty on this point does not exist No doubt, in prehistoric times, intermigrations between the two continents were frequent ; but we hardly know what directions they took, and can speak with certainty only of those migrations of peoples which are related by history. We thus know that Europe sent forth to other continents Oalatians, Macedonians, and Qreeks, and more recently innumerable emigrants of all nationalities, and received in turn Huns, Avares, Turks, Mongols, Circassians, Jews, Armenians, Moors, Berbers, and members of many other nations. Leaving out of consideration the smaller families of nations, as well as the members of races who have not attained a national existence, Europe may be described as consisting of three great ethnological divisions, the principal boundary between which is formed by the Alps, the Carpavhians, and the Balkan. The first of these great families of European nations, the members of which speak Oreco-Latin languages, occupies the southern slopes of the Balkan and of the Alps, the Iberian peninsula, France, and a portion of Belgium, as well as a few detached territories within the limits of ibe ancient Roman empire, altogether surrounded by alien nations. Such are the plains of the Lower Danube and a portion of Transylvania, which are inhabited by the Rumanians, and a few tocluded Alpine valleys inhabited by " Romans." On the other hand, fragments of two ancient nations have maintained their ground in the midst of Latinised populations, viz. die Celtic inhabitants of Brittany, and the Basks of the Pyrenees. Generally speaking, however, all the inhabitants of South-western Europe, whether of Celtic, Iberian, or Ligurian race, speak languages derived from the Latin, and whatever diffeieaces existed originally between these various populations, this oonununity of language has more or less obliterated them. The Teutonic nations form the second great group. They occupy nearly the whole of Central Europe to the north of the Alps, and extend through Holland and Flanders to within a short distance of the Straits of Dover. Denmark and the great Soandinavian peninsula, as well as Iceland, belong to the same group, and * L>th«m, Benfey, Ouno, Spiegal, and othoi. i 10 EUBOPR the bulk of the inhabitants of the British Islands are likewise generally inoluded in it. The latter, however, should rather be described as a mixed race, for the aboriginal Celtic population of these islands, which now exists pure only in u few remote districts, has amalgamated with Anglo-Saxon and Danish invaders, and the language of the latter has become mixed with mediroval French, the resulting idiom being almost as much Latin as Saxon. The development of national characteristics has been favoured by the isolation in which the inha- bitants of the British Islands found themselves, and they differ essentially flrom continental neighbours — the Scandinavians, Qermans, and Oelto-Latins — in Ion- guage and customs. The Slavs, or Slavonians, form the third group of European nations. They are less numerous than the Greco-Latins, but the territories they occupy are far more extensive, for they spread over nearly the whole of Russia, over Poland, a large portion of the Balkan peninsula, and about one-half of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy. All the g^reat plains to the east of the Carpathians are inhabited by Slavs, either pure or mixed with Tartars and Mongols. To the west and south of the mountains the race is split up into numerous small nations, and in the valley of the Danube these come into contact with Rumanians, as well as with Turks and Magyars, the two latter being of Asiatic origin, and these separate the Slavonians of the north from the Slaronians of the south. In the north, Finns, Livonians, and Lithuanians interpose between the Slavonians and the Germanic nations.* Race and language, however, are not always identical. Members of one race frequently speak the language of another, and race and linguistic boundaries, therefore, differ frequently. As for the political boundaries, they scarcely ever follow those natural feati i~3 which would have been selected had their settlement been intrusted to the spontaneous action of the different nations. They hardly ever coincide with the boundaries of races or of languages, except in the case of a few high mountain ranges or of arms of the sea. On many occasions the countries of Europe were arbitrarily split up in consequence of wars or diplomatic arrange- ments. A few peoples only, protected by the. nature of their country as well as * Popuktion of Euiope, about 805,000,000 : Oraoo-Iiktiii. OrMki . . 2,600,000 Albaniuui 1,2«0,000 ItalikM . 27,700,000 French . 80,700,000 Sputiardsand For- tngueae 20,210.000 Rnmaniaiu ■ 8,400,000 BhntiaotC'Bomaiu") 42,000 09,902,000 flw IMIllll Oennaiu . 63,400,000 Dntoh and Flemish 0,720,000 Soandinavians 6,640,000 Anglo-Saxons . 80,600,000 Finns 4,700,(^ Onnanli 1,800,000 Magyars 6,770,000 Tartan 2,600,000 Calmuoks .... 100,000 96,860,000 BteTonie. Bnssians . 69.000.000 Poles . 11.800,000 6.760,000 Servians 6.760.000 Sloyenes 1.200,000 Bulgarians . 8,100,000 Included aboTO are 4,600,000 Jews. 87,600.000 GelU . . . . 1,600,000 Basks . . . . . 700,000 Letts. &c. . 2,000,000 Armenians . 280,000 Gipsies . . . . 690,000 Circassians 400,000 59,000,000 11,800,000 6,760,000 «,7<0,000 1,200,000 3,100,000 ARITANT8. M by their ynlour, hare maintained i«ir itt'iMfmid'^ce since the af^e of ^itk mlgrn- tiona, but many more have b«^t iv ptavviiy by cocmivo invasions. Mati^ otb «, again, have alternately seen their rontiers ex rid and oontraot me*''' ti "i 'iWtii'ij'ipaBHHHiRMfcsKi*-^ EIJHOPB. A.ul n.«. to .xch.nK» «r PJ^J^;;^ •"J/J^. t<^,M upon U.«..H. taportod inW Fmnc fro,a .11 part. «f *='"°P'; '"^^ ^ „, j^, g„„.k. Next « part o( »» inwrprotcr We«. A. n...on. of th. N""^"^"' ^.^.^ ij,^ Franc w. -hall d.«rib. A. Oennanio oountn.. o Europe. ^ taudiuuvi. i und U»tly, .1.0 in,n.on« .n.p.ro oi Ba-,- (I of th« deal are oot the Next to Iiluids, ■^'^.\ ^ ■i • . •*'/, .■}&. .V* , > st"_-~ \; •<, '?^ ^ -^ "i^4^ A. ^' >L ''.:. r«*r" vii 'T 1, '*:;- / '■'-- *' "- , ' \„ „■...,«, :..» -■ ifv . •Ill,* 1 milW i.m ii,.«ii'i.ll!iailLi ^.,