

GEOGRAPHY, TRAVEL, ARCHITECTURE 



543 



chiefly important as one of the stations on the 

 pilgrim-route to Mecca. The city, like the 

 whole province of the Hedjaz, belongs to Tur- 



key. Population, about 16,000. 

 Mediterranean Sea, The 



(med-e-tir- 



ra'ne-An), a great inland sea, separating the con- 

 tinent of Europe from that of Africa and part 



-tern Asia; connecting by the Strait of 

 (iibraltar. at its western extremity, with the 

 Atlantic Ocean, and on the northeast with the 

 Sea of Marmora by the channel of the Darda- 



and thence by the Bosphorus with the 

 Kuxine. Extreme length, 2,300 miles; maxi- 

 mum breadth, 1,200 miles. Estimated area, 

 690,000 square miles. Various portions of its 

 surface talce other names, as the "Ligurian." 

 Tyrrhenian," "Ionian," 

 an. and "Adriatic" seas. 



Canadian," 

 Its coast-line, too, 



embraces the extensive gulfs of Taranto, Patras, 



. Salonika, Smyrna, Adalia, Iskanderoon, 



Gaeta, Genoa, Lyon, Cabes, and Sidra. It re- 



the waters of the Nile, Ebro, Rhone, Po, 



and many others; contains the considerable is- 



lands of Sardinia, Corsica, Sicily, the Balearic 



group, Malta, Candia, Cyprus, and the clusters 



in 1136, was destroyed by Edward II., of Eng- 

 land, in ISL'2. In 1396 it* was rebuilt by Robert 

 Bruce, and completed in the reign of Jam* - IV.. 

 about 1488^513. It was again destroyed by 

 the English in 1545. It was of Gothic style, and 

 the ruins still attest its grandeur and magnifi- 

 cence. 



Mexico (Spanish, Mejico; Mexican. Ana- 

 huac), an extensive republic and quondam em- 



e're of North America, bounded north by the 

 nited States, east by the Gulf of Mexi. 

 Caribbean Sea, southeast by Central America, 

 and south and west by the Pacific Ocean. Its 

 extreme length, northwest to southeast, may 

 be taken at 2,000 miles; and its maximum 

 breadth at about 800 miles. Its chief centers 



of trade and 



id Ipopulati 

 , Tampico, 



ion are Mexico, the capital ; 



Vera Cruz, Tampico, La Puebla, Jalapa, Mata- 

 moras, Acapulco, San Bias, Mazatlan, Durango, 

 and Chihuanua; of which Vera Cruz and Tam- 

 pico are considerable seaports. Mexico is one 

 of the richest and most varied zones in the 

 world, and consists of three grand natural divi- 

 sions, viz : the tierras calientes, or " hot regions," 



_ along its coasts; the tierras templadas, or "tem- 



of the Greek Archipelago;" and possesses a tern- perate tracts," occupying what is called the 

 perature averaging from 72 to 76, or $ Fahr. \ "table-land of Anahuac," and the tierras / 

 higher than that of the Atlantic Ocean. It has or "cold climes," found high up among the 

 a tide rising from five to seven feet, and a con- Cordilleras and the Sierra Madre, two mountain 



stant upper current sets in from the Atlantic, 

 through the Strait of Gibraltar. Its depth varies 

 according to situation; and it is at times subject 

 to destructive winds, such as the "sirocco" and 

 the "white squall." The surrounding territories 



systems that intersect the republic in almost 

 parallel lines. Connected with, or outlying 

 from, these chains, are some of the loftie 

 canic peaks on the North American continent, 

 the highest of which is Popocatepetl. The 



are the richest in the world, and the greatest frontier line separating Mexico from Texas is 



movements in civilization and art have taken the great Rio Grande del Norte, besides which 



place around it in Africa, Phenicia, Carthage, river there are the Bravo del Norte, Colorado, 



Greece, and Rome. (Irande de Santiago, and Conchas all streams 



Melbourne, the largest city of Australia; of magnitude. The chief lakes are those of 



capital of Victoria; is situated on the Yarra Chapula, Mexico, and Parras. The soil of M< \ 



Varra River, a stream of no great size, Melbourne ico is among the richest in the world, producing 



proper being several miles from its mouth, while the finest of tropical fruits and flowers, valuable 



rban extensions reach the shores of Port timber and dyewoods, the cereals, and impor- 



I'hillip Bay, into which the river flows. The tant medicinal drugs and spices. The products 



shipping trade is large, both in exports and im- of the Mexican mines include silver long the 



Erts, the chief of the former being wool, of the great staple of export, the annual average pro- 

 manufactured goods. Most imports are duce being valued at $15,000,000 iron, copper, 

 subject to a heavy duty. lead. tin. quicksilver, alum, and precious st 

 By its railway system the city is connected The foreign commerce of the country is 

 with all the principal towns of the Australian on chiefly with the United States, England, 

 continent. The first settlements on the site of and France. 



Melbourne were made in 1835, and a year or Michigan, Lake, the second largest of 



after it receive, 1 its present name, being so the Great Lakes of North America. It is 



i after Lord Melbourne, who was tnen wholly within the t'nited States, having the 



British prime minister. It was incorporated State of Michigan on the east and northwest, 



in isjj. In 1 v")l it became the capital of Victoria Wisconsin and Illinois on the west, and Indiana 



iblished as a separate colony), and on the south. On the northeast it communi- 



in immense impetus from tl cates with Lake Huron bv the narrow Strait of 



IIJ'11 A '111 f 1 t .*ll I 



-old fields. A centennial exhibition was 

 isss in celebration of the founding (in 

 1788) of the Australian colonies. The first Par- 

 liament of the Commonwealth of Australia \va- 

 opened in the Inhibition Building on May ! 

 1'xil. by : \\ales. Population, 



i79.* 

 M Irose, a village of Scotland, county of 



Mackinaw. It is 350 miles long, and on an 

 average sixty miles broad; area, estimated at 



L.Y,.niin square miles. '1 lie lake |fl 578 !' et ..'Love 



sea level ; the greatest ascertained depth is about 

 1,000 feet. 



Milan, a city of Italy, in the province of 

 Milan, which is a part of the old pn>\ 

 Lombardy. It is situated on n plain. U-tween 



rgh; on the Tweed, thirty-one miles i the rivers Ticino and Adda, and i- the largest 

 southeast of Edinburgh. It is celebrated for city of Italy after Home and Naples. I'nder 

 POBSC mint; the finest nio !i: , ~t i- ruin in Scotland, the Oft] ' "Iwlnnum it was an important 



Melrose Abbey, originally founded by David I . town of the Romans, and, from the time of 



