EUROPEAN TURKEY. 



703 



CHAPTER XC. EUROPEAN TURKEY. 



PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 



1. Boundaries and Extent. European Turkey is bounded N. by the Austrian and Ru^^sian 

 territories ; E. by the Black Sea, the Sea of Marmora, and the Archipelago ; S. by Inde- 

 pendent Greece ; and W. by the Adriatic. The continental part extends from 39° to 48° N. 

 latitude, and from 16° to 30-' E. longitude. It comprises 183,325 square miles. 



2. JMountains. The Carpathian Alountains form a part of the northwestern frontier ; but 

 the first great mountain banier of Turkey, on the north, is the chain called the Balkan, or 

 Emineh Dag, anciently called Mount Ha:mus. It extends from the western limit of Turkey 

 to the Black Sea, and its numerous branches intersect the whole of the territory south of the 

 Danube. The loftiest point is Mount Orbelus, 9,600 feet in height. The defiles of these 

 mountains are nearly impassable during winter. The summits generally consist of masses of 

 naked granite, but in some parts the}^ are covered with thick forests. I'he Hellenic J\Iovntains 



constitute a range extending from the 

 Balkan, southerlv and southeasterly, into 

 Greece, and terminating at the promon- 

 tory of Sunium, in Attica. This range 

 divides the northern part of ancient 

 Greece into two portions of nearly equal 

 breadth. Pindus, Cithaion, and Par- 

 nassus were the ancient names applied 

 to diflerent branches of this range. The 

 celebrated J'lsoxtnt Olyvipiis, which the 

 ancients considered tlie loftiest sunmiit 

 in the world, is near tlie western shore 

 of the Gulf of Salonica, and is between 

 6,000 and 7,000 feet high. Its base 

 and sides are covered vvith thick woods 

 of oak, chestnut, beech, and plane trees, 

 and the higher parts with pines. There 

 were many other mountains called Olym- 

 pus, in different parts of Greece. Further east, a second branch leaves the main chain of the 

 Balkan, and traverses Bulgaria and Rumelia, terminating on the Archipelago and Sea of Mar- 

 mora, in numerous spurs. It is called Mount Rodope, or Despoto Dag, and reaches an eleva- 

 tion of about 6,500 feet. Mount Jlthos is an insulated hill, on a promontory of the Archipelago, 

 but it has principally attracted notice for its conical shape, and for the numerous churches and 

 monasteries, that adorn the picturesque declivities near its summit. 



3. Rivers. The basin of the Danube includes more than a third part of Turkey in Europe. 

 It receives numerous streams, the principal of which are the Prulli and the Sereth. The Marit- 

 za, which was the Hebrvs of ancient geographers, rises in the mountains of Hremus, and enters 



