'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.' [‎457] (542/905)

CHAP. XIX.]
CYPRUS.
457
tlie Levant A geographical area corresponding to the region around the eastern Mediterranean Sea. , is situated near the entrance into the gulf of Extent and
Iskenderun, and between the coasts of Asia Minor and Syria; cypriM™ 8 of
being nearly 42 miles from the former at Mersyn (Cape
Zephyrium), and about 65 miles from the latter at Ladikiyeh.
The principal or south-western part of the island has the form
of an irregular parallelogram, which, with a width of about
40 miles, extends from south-west to north-east, a distance of
90 geographical miles, 1 and then terminates with a long
narrow peninsula, running in the same direction an additional
distance of 35 miles, to the elides or keys of Cyprus, a string
of islets close to the promontory of the same name, 8 the
Dinaretum of Pliny. 3 The surface of the country is almost
entirely occupied by the elevated range known as the third
Olympus of heathen mythology, whose culminating points
are Santa Croce (Olympus) and Thrados, which have an
elevation of 7000 feet; and the slopes of these mountains
descend both to the northern and southern shores. On the
former side the chain is bold and rugged; and, in addition to
numerous Greek villages on its sides, one of its elevated valleys
contains the modern capital, Nikosia.
On the southern side the scenery is still bolder, presenting itg metals and
a deeply-serrated outline with thickly-wooded sides, which are mmera s "
broken by masses of limestone, or furrowed by deep picturesque
valleys, in which grow the narcissus, the anemone, and the
ranunculus. These valleys, as well as the slopes, are dotted
with villages, hamlets, vineyards, and patches of cultivation,
among which appear the towers built to protect the crops.
The mountains contain gold, silver, copper, emeralds, and the
Paphian diamond, in addition to quarries of asbestos, talc, and
red jasper. The level tracts are chiefly confined to the
country around the capital, and the plains of Limosa, Larnika,
and Famagosta, where marshes have been formed by streams
whose beds are occasionally dry.
The fruitful and well-irrigated tract at the western extremity
forms the modern district of Baffa, one of the seven San-
jakliks into which the island is divided by the Turks. To
1 Strabo gives 1400 stadia, or about 137 miles.—Lib. XIV., p. 681.
2 Plin., lib. V., c. xxxv.; Herod., lib. V., c. cviii. 3 Lib. V., c. xxxv.