362 Comparative Physical Geography. 



most intellectual of the human species, dwells there, and all the na- 

 tions of progressive civilization. If we add Egypt and the vicinage 

 of the Atlas, which belong to the Mediterranean, it is the true 

 theatre of history, in the proper meaning of that word. Neverthe- 

 less, in spite of this real community of characteristics, it is easy to 

 detect, in Western Asia and Europe, certain differences not less im- 

 portant, which force us to consider them still as two distinct conti- 

 nents. 



In Europe, in the southern zone, the plateau loses its continuity, 

 and splits into peninsulas. In the northern zone, the arid steppes 

 and the deserts are changed beyond the Ural into a fertile soil, more 

 elevated, well watered, covered with forests, and susceptible of culti- 

 vation. The areas become gradually smaller, and the whole conti- 

 nent is only a great peninsula, of which the headland, turning towards 

 the west, juts out into the ocean. The north-east direction of the 

 continental axis, crowding the lands farther north, and the influence 

 of the ocean, give it a wetter and a more temperate climate. Let 

 us further examine these two portions of Asia-Europe considered in 

 the historical point of view. Western Asia is placed in the middle 

 portion of the continent ; Asia-Europe between the two extreme 

 parts. Like Eastern Asia it has for its centre and prominent fea- 

 ture a table-land encircled with mountains, the plateau of Iran and 

 of Asia Minor ; but it is narrower, more elongated. The mountain- 

 chains are less elevated, less continuous. The mountains of Kur- 

 distan and of the Taurus, which edge it on the south, attain a height 

 of 10,000 or 12,000 feet only at a few points. The higher 

 mountains, as the Ararat, are isolated, or form a chain detached 

 from the mass, like the Caucasus. We have already said that the 

 north-east side is low and entirely open. The deep valley of Pesch- 

 awer cuts its eastern side and opens a passage towards India. Not 

 only is this plateau more accessible than that of Eastern Asia, by 

 reason of these forms of relief, but very different from the latter, 

 which is far from any ocean ; it is bathed at its very feet, on the four 

 corners, by inland seas, which are so many new outlets. On the 

 south, the Arabian Sea, the Persian Gulf, and the Mediterranean ; 

 on the north, the Caspian, and the Black Seas. 



Low and fertile plains, watered by twin streams, stretch at the 

 foot of the table-land of Iran. On the south, the plains of the 

 Euphrates and the Tigris, the unequalled fertility of which ceases 

 with the rich alluvial lands of those rivers ; on the north, the no less 

 happy plains of Bact''iana, watered by the Gihon and the Sihon. 

 Beyond these living rivers, the steppes of the deserts establish their 

 empire. 



The climate of Western Asia no longer offers those extreme con- 

 trasts which strike us in Eastern Asia. The plateau is on the south 

 of the central ridge, and not on the north, and enjoys a favoured 

 climate. It is less dry, more fertile ; the desert there is less con- 



