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201

CHAPTER THE ELEVENTH.

THE REMAINDER OF EUROPE DESCRIBED.

ELIZABETH.

DOES not the country that was called Greece, that we read of in ancient history, form part of Turkey in Europe.

MOTHER.

Yes; and so do many other ancient provinces. The different nations of ancient Greece inhabited a small part of the south of Turkey; the peninsula now called the Morea, was formerly Peloponnesus; what is at present Romelia, takes in the rest of Greece, with Macedonia and Thrace; and Albania was once divided into the kingdoms of Epirus, Chaonia, and Illyricum. The islands of Candia, formerly called Crete; Negropont, which is the ancient Euboea; Stalimene, the ancient Lemnos; Patmos, Paros, Antiparos, Santorin, and

Delos, and some smaller islands in the Archipelago, belong also to Turkey in Europe.

You already know, that the Danube runs through great part of Turkey: no

river can be compared to it in size.

other Turkish

The course of

the Maritz even, which is next in fame and importance, is not three hundred miles in length.

ELIZABETH.

The river Maritz is supposed to be a branch of the ancient Hebrus.

MOTHER.

Constantinople, the chief city of Turkey, was built by the Roman Emperor Constantine, who found it more convenient to reside there than at Rome, as it was nearer the eastern Roman provinces.

WILLIAM.

Here is Constantinople, between the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmora.

MOTHER.

Adrianople, the second city of European Turkey, was built by the Emperor Adrian. The principal city in the southern provinces is Salonica,

the ancient Thessalonica, in a bay of the Archipelago.

The south-western coast of Turkey is divided from the north-eastern coast of Italy by the Gulf of Venice, which is sometimes called the Adriatic Sea. On the north and north-west, Italy is separated from the rest of Europe by high mountains.

ELIZABETH,

Cisalpine Gaul was the old name of the northern part of what is now Italy.

MOTHER.

Like most other countries, Italy was at one time divided into a great number of smaller states at present, we may consider it as forming three distinct parts-the western, which includes Genoa, Tuscany, Parma, Placentia, and part of of Piedmont; the kingdom of Italy; and the kingdom of Naples. You will find some of the cities and rivers of Italy celebrated in history and poetry; particularly Rome, Naples, Milan, Venice, Genoa, and Florence; and the rivers Tiber, Arno, and Po-which last was often called Padus or Eridanus.

WILLIAM.

And the Rubicon that Cæsar crossed-is not

that in Italy?

MOTHER.

Yes; it falls into the Adriatic Sea,

a few miles It is now

to the north of the city of Rimini. called the Fiumesino, and is but a small stream. The islands of Sicily, Malta, Sardinia, Elba, and Capri or Caprea, all in the Mediterranean Sea, belong to Italy. Sicily is separated from Italy by the Strait of Messina. Palermo, once called Panormus, in the valley of Mazaro, and Catania, not far from Mount Etna, are the largest Sicilian cities. Mount Etna is a volcano or burning mountain. There is another volcano in Italy, Mount Vesuvius, a few miles from the city of Naples.

WILLIAM.

Have these mountains been always burning?

MOTHER.

The first eruption of Mount Vesuvius that was observed, happened in the time of the Roman Emperor Titus, in the year 79 of the Christian era. There was an earthquake at the same time,

which overturned Pompeii, Herculaneum, and some other cities. Since that time, there have been between thirty and forty eruptions. The last was in the year 1794, and was so violent, that five thousand acres of vineyards were destroyed, and most of the houses in the town of Torre-delGreco buried. It is not known when the eruptions of Mount Etna were first observed, but it is supposed that two or three happened more than seven hundred years before the Christian era.

WILLIAM.

Here are four other islands in the Mediterranean Sea-Corsica, Minorca, Majorca, and Ivica do they belong to Italy?

MOTHER.

No; Corsica, though it is so near Italy, belongs to France, and the other three to Spain, which we may now look for. The islands of Minorca, Majorca, and Ivica, were formerly called the Baleares or Balearic Islands.

Spain is every where surrounded by the sea, except on the west, where Portugal joins it, and on the north-east where the mountains called the Pyrenees separate it from France. This country is divided into fourteen provinces-Old and New

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