TURKEY IN ASIA. 



899 



for their performance of filial duties and reverence for the memory of their fathers. They are 



brave, rude, and hospita- 

 ble. Their chief amuse- 

 ment is in the chase, 

 which inures them to dan- 

 ger and fatigue. The 

 prevailing relig'ion is the 

 Mohammedan, but there 

 arc many Pagans. Po- 

 lygamy is general. Some 

 tribes burn the dead, and 

 covei' the ashes in mounds. 

 Others expose the body 

 to be devoured by dogs, 

 from some superstitious 

 belief. The government 

 is that of khans elected 

 over the smaller tribes, 

 and appointed on a few 

 large ones, by the great 

 khan, who styles himself 

 king of kings. The sys- 

 tem of laws is principally 

 that of the Koran. 



11. History. The Scythians of the ancient world, and the Tartars of modern times, have 

 maintained in all ages an unchanged character. In war, they have always been formidable ; 

 their furious inroads, their rapid flight, and their terrible ravages, have always made them an 

 object of terror or anxiety to the bordering countries. The Saracens reduced some of the 

 countries on the Oxus to their sway, in the 8th century, but the Turkish tribes soon after ex- 

 pelled the invaders, overrun Persia, and conquered Asia Minor, where the Seljukian Turks 

 confinued to rule for several centuries. In the 13th century, Turkistan was included in the 

 vast empire founded by the great Mongol conqueror Zingis or Genghis Kahn ; but in the next 

 century, Timur, or Tamerlane, not only threw off the Mongol yoke, but carried the arms of 

 the Turco-Tartars over Persia, established a dynasty, commonly but erroneously called the 

 Mogul, which ruled over India, and crushed for a time the rising power of the Seljukian Turks 

 in the west. The ruling race of Persia is of Turkish origin. In more modern times, the 

 proper country of the Turks has been partly reduced to a nominal dependence on Russia, is 

 partly included within the Chinese empire, and is partly independent ; but, as above described, 

 split up into numerous petty States. 



CHAPTER CXLI. OTTOMAN ASIA, OR TURKEY IN ASIA. 



1. Boundaries and Extent. Asiatic Turkey is bounded N. by the Black Sea and Russia ; 

 E. by Russia and Persia ; S. by Arabia, Egyptian Asia, and the Mediterranean ; and W. by 

 the Archipelago. It extends from 30° to 42^ N. lat., and from 26^ to 49^ E long., com- 

 prising about 400,000 square miles, with 8,000,000 inhabitants. 



2. JMouniains. Asia Minor and Armenia are mountainous countries. In Armenia is JMount 

 Jlrarat^ 17,300 feet above the sea, and believed by the inhabitants to be the eminence 

 on which Noah's Ark rested. The chain of Mount Taurus extends westerly from Arme- 

 nia, and intersects by numerous branches the greatest part of Asia Minor. Its highest 

 summits have an elevation of from 12,000 to 15,000 feet. 



3. Rivers and Lakes. The largest river of this country is the Euphrates. It rises in 

 two broad streams in the mountains of Armenia, and breaking through the chain of 

 Mount Taurus, flows southeasterly into the Persian Gulf, after a course of 1,300 miles. 

 The Tigris is a branch of the Euphrates, rising in the same quarter, and flowing mostly 

 in a parallel direction, till it joins the Euphrates, after a course of 800 miles. The Kizil Irmak, 



Caravan attacked by the Tartars. 



