Variation in the Price and Supply of Wheat. 
171 
monopolize tlic wool trade ; in other words, tlioy bring it to 
market when they are inclined and are not in a state of quarrel 
with the government. In spite of the popular belief in their 
integrity, the Bedouins are the most dishonest people to deal 
with in the world. 
The western portion of Asia Minor is also shorn of its former 
greatness. Here was the kingdom of Croesus, King of Lydia, 
and on the coast of the iEgean Sea were those famous cities, 
Troy, Ephesus, and Sardis, whose names recal the history of 
former power and wealth. The resources of the country are 
great. Among the products of cultivation are silk, cotton, 
Avine, maize, sugar, and every kind of grain. 
A small quantity of wheat is sometimes sent to Marseilles and 
Egypt, but quite as often there are fears of famine at home. 
Locusts and the Turkish government are the great impediments 
to prosperity. Labour and provisions are low in price, but 
flour and manufactured articles are not so. The quotations, 
however, are in a debased currency. The " murrain " some- 
times attacks the cattle, and leaves localities and individuals 
destitute. The disease is rarely fatal to buffaloes ; and the un- 
happy Turks have merely 1o contend against cholera and famine. 
A Turk, with turban, pipe, and slippers, is a firm believer in 
destiny, and Providence, he thinks, did not destine him to labour. 
The population of Turkey in Asia is said to be thirteen mil- 
lions ; the area, four times that of Great Britain and Ireland. 
Industry alone is required to restore the former prosperity of these 
rich historic countries ; and when the Turk ceases to rule, their 
old fertility may return. 
Egypt. 
Alexandria used to send us a considerable quantity of wheat 
and of beans, mixed with a large proportion of dried nodules 
of Nile mud ; of late years the river has overflowed for cotton 
and crops more profitable than corn. But since the fall in the 
price of cotton, Egypt has again become an exporter of grain. 
The other Corn Countries of Europe. 
South of the Carpathians the principal tracts of fertile land 
may be traced in broad belts marked by the course of the 
Danube ,and its numerous tributaries. This great river rises in 
the far west near the sources of the Rhine, flows through the most 
productive countries in Europe, and falls into the Black Sea, 
after a course of nearly 1500 miles, including the windings of 
the stream, or nearly 900 miles of direct distance. The Main 
