'The Expedition for the survey of the rivers Euphrates and Tigris, carried on by order of the British government, in the years 1835, 1836, and 1837; preceded by geographical and historical notices of the regions situated between the rivers Nile and Indus. In four volumes. With fourteen maps and charts, and embellished with ninety-seven plates, besides numerous wood-cuts. Volume the first.' [‎65] (112/905)

CHAP. IV.]
DIVISIONS.
65
notwitlistanding this difference of climate, tlirougliout the
whole a great similarity prevails in the vegetable and animal
worlds ; and in these respects the valley of the Nile, the
plains of Mesopotamia, and those of Arabia southward of
Mecca, together with the central and southern parts of Iran,
have much in common.
Exclusive of the provinces occupied by Russia, the space Extent and ^
between the Indus and the Mediterranean sea forms three r^.
kingdoms almost of equal size. Persia occupies the centre,
Afghanistan the eastern, and the different provinces of
Asiatic Turkey the opposite, or western extremity. Instead,
however, of following the subdivisions of each of these por
tions, it seems preferable to consider the whole as constituting
two great divisions, separated from each other by the basin
of the Euphrates, with its continuation, the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. ;
Asia Minor, Syria, Arabia, and Egypt being on one side of
this natural line of bisection; and, on the other, an equal
portion of territory, which," under the name of Iran, formed
the eastern, or principal part of the ancient Persian empire
of Darius Hystaspes.
The surface of Iran extended 1280 geographical miles
in length, from Sumeisat on the Upper Euphrates, eastward
to Taxila on the Indus ; and nearly 900 miles in breadth,
from the shores of Gedrosia, in 25° north latitude, to the
banks of the Oxus, near Samarkand, in 40° north latitude.
The latter river and the Caspian Sea form the northern
limit of this great division; the Erythrean Sea 1 is on the
southern, whilst the rivers Indus and Euphrates constitute
the eastern and western extremities. In Iran nature hasiuw*
displayed her works on a scale of unrivalled grandeur,
more particularly by the formation of the gigantic plateau
from the base of Ararat, spreads eastward almost
1 This name was a]
which it forms on ea(
xxiv.
VOL. I.
K