THE EARTH AS IT IS.

CHAPTER V.

MOUNTAINS OF THE OLD WORLD (continued.) THE girdle of the Old Continent reappears in immense table-lands in Asia. Anatolia is traversed by short chains and broken groups of mountains, separated by fertile valleys sinking rapidly towards the Archipelago. Single

and a

or seven

mountains of volcanic formation are conspicuous, triple range of limestone mountains, six thousand thousand feet high, divided by narrow but beautiful val leys, runs along the shores of the Black Sea. Two-thirds of their height are covered with forests and broken by

zond, where it is wider and more

picturesque. The

near Trebi high land of Anatolia is bounded on the south by the serrated snowy chain of the Taurus, which rises in some parts 8,000 or 10,000 feet high, and beginning in Rhodes, Cos, and other Mediterranean islands, fills the south-wessingle lofty range along the iron-bound coast of Kartern parts of Asia Minor with its branches, and runs in a mania, and spreads itself out at Samisat, where the Ephrates has pierced its way through its stony girdle. Taurus chain, they are joined to it by the wooded ne The mountains of Lebanon are almost offsets of the

The group

of Gawoor, impassable except by two defiles. begins with Mount Casius, which rises abruptly from be sea in a single peak to the height of 7,000 feet near the continuous line of peaks to the sources of the Jordan, mouth of the Orontes. Thence the chain runs south in a where it splits into two nearly parallel branches, the Lebanon and Anti-Libanus, inclosing the fertile plain of Beká, or Ghor, the ancient Cœlo-Syria, in which are the

ruins of Baalbec.

The Lebanon branch terminates at the

sea

near the

mouth of the river Leontes; and the Anti-Libanus, including Mount Hermon, (9,000 feet high,) runs west of the Jordan through Palestine in a winding line, till its last spurs sink into rocky ridges to the south of the Dead Sea, on the desert of Sinai.

The feature which invests the whole range of Lebanon with peculiar beauty, is the luxuriant vegetation with which its sides are clothed to an extraordinary height. It is cultivated by the help of terraces, and there are villages and fertile gardens on eminences 6,000 feet high. The summits of bold precipitous ridges are seen towering one above another, covered with pines and oaks, to a height of 8,000 feet above the sea. The loftiest peaks are computed at 10,000 or 11,000 feet, and when their snowy brows are tinted by the rays of the setting sun, with the rich hues of purple and rose, peculiar to a southern atmosphere, the scene is wondrously beautiful, and in ancient times, when many of the heights were covered with thick forests of pines and cedars, great indeed must have been the glory of Lebanon.' Only ten or twelve of these ancient cedars remain, in a hollow half way up the range, where, with the younger cedars and pines, they form the grove so often described by travellers. The snow remains all the year round on some of the highest peaks, which may explain the name of Lebanon, 'white;' but it may allude to the greyish-white limestone of which the whole range is composed.

The country, high and low, becomes more barren towards the Holy Land, yet even here some of the mountains, such as Carmel, Bashan, and Tabor, are luxuriantly wooded. Jerusalem, however, stands on a declivity encompassed by severe stony mountains, wild and desolate. To the south of Palestine rises the lofty range of Seir, the highest mountain of which is Mount Hor, close to Petra, whose tremendous confusion of black and brown mountains is so well known. It is a considerable

basin, closed in by rocks, with chasms and defiles in the precipices. The main street, two miles long, is inclosed between perpendicular rocks from 100 to 700 feet high so nearly meeting as to leave only a strip of sky. T whole of Arabia Petræa, the Edom of the Bible, presents scenes of appalling desolation, completely fulfilling the prophetical denunciations.

Between the range of Seir and that of Sinai, lie the high desolate table-lands and wildernesses of Arabah, the scene of the Israelite wanderings. The mountain group of Sinai and Horeb fills up the peninsula between the gulfs of Akabah and Suez. Mount Sinai, 9,000 feet high is surrounded by higher mountains, covered with snow is winter.

Returning to the main chain, the lofty mountains ef Armenia, Kourdistan, and Azerbijan, tower between the Black and Caspian Seas. The whole kingdom of Ar menia forms a chaos of mountains, valleys, and torrents from the centre of which rises Mount Ararat. This name, which in Scripture is applied to the whole moun tain range, is now confined to the highest peak, a solitary majestic volcanic cone 17,260 feet above the sea, shroud ed in perpetual snow. When viewed from the north, this cone is found to be divided into two peaks, separated by a deep glen. On the north-west face of this mountain is a stupendous rocky chasm, perfectly black, contrasting most strikingly with the brilliant whiteness of the snowy peaks. Dr. Parrot, a Russian traveller, accomplished the ascent of Mount Ararat for the first time in 1829. The Armenians regard it with such great reverence, believing that fragments of the Ark changed into stone are on its summit, that they think it wicked even to attempt its

ascent.

In 1840 Armenia was visited by a violent earthquake, which shook Mount Ararat to its foundation, and the im mense quantity of loose stones, snow, ice, and mud then

A

A

precipitated from the great chasm, overwhelmed and destroyed the monastery of St. James and the village of Aghuri, and spread desolation far and wide in the plain of the Araxes. The result of this has been a vast increase in the size of the chasm, from which the accumulations of ages have been swept away. The snowy summit of Ararat has sunk considerably; the white, yellow, and vitreous feldspar, crystals, and pyrites which seem to form the heart of the mountain, are now fully exposed to view on the upper walls of the great chasm.

Though high and cold, the soil of Armenia is richer than that of Anatolia, and is better cultivated. On the north it slopes down in beautiful luxuriant declivities to the undulating valley of Kara, south of the Caucasus ; and on the other side the broad and lofty belt of the Kourdistan mountains, rising abruptly from the plains. of Mesopotamia, send their ramifications, rent by deep and rugged ravines, over its surface. The line of perpetual snow is well marked, and even along the summit of these mountains their flanks are wooded and the valleys fertile.

The Caucasian range is an outlying member of the Asiatic mountain chain; it extends seven hundred miles between the Black and Caspian Seas. From the central crest offsets penetrate the Russian steppes on one side, and on the other, cross the Plain of Kara, and unite the Caucasus to the table-land. Some parts of these mountains are very high; the Elburz, on the western border of Georgia, is 17,796 feet. The central part of the chain is full of glaciers, and the line of perpetual snow is at an altitude of 11,000 feet, higher than in any other chain of the Old Continent except the Himalayan. The rocks beneath are rugged, bare, and precipitous, but there are fertile valleys below these, and the mountains themselves are rich in mineral productions.

The Persian mountains, of which the Elburz is the

principal chain, extends from Armenia almost parallel to the shores of the Caspian Sea, maintaining a considerable elevation, up to the volcanic peak of Demavend, near Teheran, 14,660 feet above the sea, which, though ninety miles inland, is a landmark to sailors in the Caspian Se Elevated offsets of these mountains cover the volcanic table-land of Azerbijan, the fire-country of Zoroaster. and one of the most fertile provinces of Persia, with beautiful plains, pure streams, and peaceful glades lying among the mountains. The vegetation at the foot of these mountains is as exuberant as in the tropics.

The Lasistan mountains, which bound the vast plain of the Tigris, rising from it in a succession of high tablelands, divided by rugged mountains, form the northern part of a mountainous belt, extending from the Persian Gulf to the mouth of the Indus. The last ridge of thes mountains, mostly covered with snow, abuts on the tableland of Persia. Oaks clothe their sides, the valleys are cultivated and fertile, and many rivers flow from them to swell the stream of the Tigris. These countries are ful of interest from their remains of antiquity, and the arcient inscriptions on their rocks.

The Khorassan mountains, and the ancient Paropamisan range, bring us to the Hindoo Koosh. This range takes its name from a single mountain-pass of great height, on which many Indian slaves have perished from cold. It is very broad to the west, and from the plains to the south seems to consist of four distinct ranges running one above another, the last of which is so high that its snowy summits are visible at the distance of one hundred and fifty miles. The highest summit yet measured is between 20,000 and 21,000 feet above the sea level. A ridge of stupendous height incloses the beautiful valley of Cashmere, to the east of which the chain takes the name of Himalaya, 'the Heaven's Snow.' Here, at the great mountain knot of Tsung-lin, the range is crossed by the