considerable quantities. In the low countries the people are infested with troublesome and noxious insects, and in warm weather they become almost intolerable. The seas, lakes and rivers abound with fish, and seals are found on the coasts.

The dominant race are the "Hellenes," who claim to be the descendants of the ancient people who rendered this country so famous, but they have unquestionably received a large proportion of barbaric blood, particularly by intermixture with the Sclavonians. They are a rude and unenlightened people, with all the vices of slaves and few redeeming virtues, but they are ingenious, active, enterprising and restless; and now that they have received some degree of national independence and civil liberty, they may be able to turn their talents to account in re-acquiring a portion of that civilization and learning they formerly diffused over western Europe. Their language is the Romaic, which they acquired during their subjection to the Roman Empire of Constantinople, and from which their Turkish name, Roumi, is derived. The Romaic bears a much closer resemblance to the ancient Greek than the Italian does to the Latin. The Hellenes all belong to the Greek church, but the priests freely admit and thankfully receive the bible. This circumstance and the general progress of education, will, no doubt, soon be productive of the happiest effect on the character of the nation, which at best is rather equivocal at the present day. The" Arnauts" or Albanians are very numerous, and have generally preserved their national manners, dress and language. They chiefly dwell in the cities of Hellas and in some portions only of the Morea. The "Mainotes," who boast that they descend from the ancient Spartans, inhabit the mountains of the south. They are a wild and lawless race, living under a sort of patriarchial feudal government, exercised by hereditary chiefs, and seem to be really the descendants of the free Laconians, who were enfranchised from the dominions of Sparta by a decree of the Roman Senate. The total amount of the population, in 1837, was 926,000, and may probably now count in round numbers 950,000.

The government is a constitutional monarchy, but the elements of its political system are in a very disorganized condition. The present king is a scion of the house of Bavaria. Greece formed a part of the Turkish empire until 1821, when the people revolted, and after a long and severe struggle, succeeded, with the aid of the Europeans and the sympathy of the whole world, in achieving their independence. The council of the state is composed of three Vice-Presidents, 17 Councillors in ordinary, and 14 special Councillors. In 1834 Athens was declared to be the capital. For administrative purposes the kingdom is divided into twenty-four "nomoi" or governments, and seven sub-governments. The defensive means of the nation are ample, and consist of 12,000 men of all arms, besides the militia; and they have a navy which numbers 32 small vessels, carrying 190 guns and 2,400 men. The revenue amounts to about 14,500,000 drachms, or about $2,500,000; but the expenditure in most years exceeds this sum. The public debt is about $35,000,000.

Education, until lately, has been entirely neglected; even the priests were illiterate; but under the new regime a respectable system of instruction has been established. At Athens there is a university, with 30 professors; a gymnasium, with eight professors; a high school; a normal school for the education of teachers; and three Lancasterian schools. These are all supported by government, and the scholars are promoted from the

lower to the higher on certificates of competency, for which there appears to be great competition. In the other parts of the kingdom there are four gymnasia, and about 250 or 300 primary and Lancasterian schools, partly paid from the treasury. The system as yet, however, has not been much extended, but in no country is education more highly-prized; and in a short time, it is probable, that a thorough revival will bring out the literary genius of the people, and place them in this respect on a common footing, at least, with the inhabitants of other European countries. Since the 4th August, 1833, the established religion of the state has been that of the "Orthodox Oriental Apostolic Church," of which the king is the head. Its government is vested in a "Holy Synod," which meets annually, and consists of a president, and five other members, with two secretaries. There are 33 bishops of the Greek Church; and Roman Catholic bishops at Naxos, Tinos, Syra, and Santorini. The Greeks are very jealous of their religion, and will not admit of propagandism.

Manufactures on a large scale do not exist. The people in their present circumstances do not require them, and such as do exist are necessarily confined to the rude necessaries of life. Coarse cloths, implements of husbandry, furniture, &c., are made with more or less skill. The position of Greece, and its outline, however, seem to point it out as naturally adapted to commerce, but hitherto the disturbed state of affairs has prevented it from assuming its proper position in the world. The people, however, are a sagacious race, and already have considerable trade with foreign countries. Their exports consist principally of raw produce, as cotton, corn, tobacco, olive-oil, timber, wool, silk, honey, currants, figs, hides, dye-stuffs, drugs; with some wine, cheese, live stock, and the coarse manufactures of the country. The imports from Western Europe consist of manufactured goods, West Indian and American produce, and peltry; and from Turkey, coffee, flax, rice, drugs, &c. There are in the country no roads, in a civilized point of view; and the transport of travellers and merchandize is effected on the backs of horses, asses, and mules.

ATHENS, the capital of the kingdom, and one of the most celebrated cities of the world, is situated about five miles north-east of the Gulf of Ægina, in latitude 37° 58′ north, and longitude 23° 46′ east. It has been almost entirely rebuilt since the accession of the present government. Much, however, of the old town remains, and presents a sorry contrast with the modern improvements. The principal public buildings are the royal palace, the mint, the hospital, and barracks. The population, consisting of a most heterogeneous assemblage of all nationalities, already amounts to 20,000.

The antiquities of Athens are the great attraction. The ancient Acropolis, or citadel, is still in good preservation; and the remains of ancient temples are strewn over a large extent of ground, both within and without the walls.

Five miles below the city is the harbor of Port Leone, (ancient Piræus.) The harbor consists of a land-locked basin, with a narrow entrance, but with very deep water inside, and is large enough to accommodate a great number of heavy ships; and a pier has been erected for their accommodation. The communication between Athens and Piræus is formed by an excellent road, and omnibuses ply between them at all hours. The plain of Marathon, so celebrated for the victory gained there by the Athenians over their Persian invaders, B. C. 490, lies about 20 miles north-east of the

capital; and in the gulf westward of Athens is the island of Salamis, in the strait, between which and the mainland was fought the great naval battle between the Greeks and the Persians, B. C. 480. But it is invidious to notice a few celebrated places, where the whole land and water is teeming with historic glory, and pregnant with great events, both of ancient and modern times.

NAPOLI DI ROMANIA, or Nauplia in the Morea, was the capital for several years before the king removed to Athens. It is a well-built city, strongly-fortified, and possesses an excellent harbor. Nearly all the trade of the Morea centres here, and great activity prevails at the port. Its fortress of the Palamedi, on a high and steep rock, has been called the Gibraltar of Greece, and is deemed impregnable. Before the removal of the court the town contained about 9,000 inhabitants, but this number has been greatly decreased, and perhaps the present population may be 5,000. To the west and north of Nauplia are the ancient cities of Argos, Tiryns, and Mycenæ, but their ruins alone remain.

LEPANTO, the ancient Naupactus, is a small fortified city, in western Hellas, with a harbor on the north side of the Gulf of Lepanto, near the entrance. MISSOLONGHI, On the north side of a bay of the Gulf of Patras, is a small fortified town, famed for the sieges it underwent during the late war of independence, and for the death of Lord Byron, which happened there in 1824. CORINTH, one of the finest cities of ancient Greece, was, during the late revolutionary war, reduced to ashes. and now presents only a mass of ruins, and a complete picture of desolation. Some efforts have been made to restore it, but its situation is unhealthy, and little progress has been effected. It has long formed an entrepôt for the trade of Greece. The citadel, called Acrocorinthus, on a hill 1,800 feet in height, is considered one of the strongest fortresses of the kingdom. PATRAS is a considerable town on the north-west coast of Achaia, and has been much enlarged of late; population, 5,000. NAVARINO, on the south-west coast of Messenia, is a fortified town near the southern entrance of a noble basin formed by the island of Sphagi, (ancient Sphacteria,) memorable for a battle fought on the 20th Oct., 1827, in which the Turkish and Egyptian fleets were destroyed by the combined British, French and Russian squadrons, and which ended in effect the revolutionary war in Greece. SPARTA, so long renowned in history, and so long deserted, now constitutes the capital of the new province of Lacedæmon. It is situated in a plain near the right bank of the Basilipotamo (the ancient Eurotus), about 20 miles from the sea. It is now being rebuilt.

Hitherto we have confined our remarks to the continental towns: we must now take an excursion to the islands. EGRIPO (corrupted to Negropont), the capital of Eubœa, is a large town built on the site of the ancient Chalcis, at the narrowest part of the Euripus, or strait which separates Euboea from the continent. It was formerly the capital of the Turkish eyalet of Jezayrs. The houses are chiefly of Venetian build. The strait is divided into two unequal channels by a small square castle, which communicates with the mainland of Boeotia by a stone bridge 60 or 70 feet long, and with the Eubean shore by a wooden drawbridge 35 feet long. On the south side, boats alone can approach Egripo; on the north side there is no difficulty. Before the revolution, Egripo contained 16,000 inhabitants. SYRA, a large and rapidly increasing commercial town, is the capital of the same named island. The harbor is one of the best

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in Greece, and the population, which in 1827 was only 6,000, is now nearly 30,000. Syra is a free port, and the principal export consists of figs of a fine quality. ARNA, in Andros, is a good seaport, with 6,000 inhabitants. ANTIPAROS and MILO are celebrated for their noble antiquities. HYDRA is an important town, and has a large commercial population of at least 30,000; but its commerce was almost ruined during the late war. SPEZZIA, at the entrance of the Gulf of Nauplia, has 3,000 inhabitants, and its port is well frequented. The climate is very salubrious. chants of this city are very patriotic, and during the war furnished sixteen ships, besides fire-ships, to the Greek navy. The women are esteemed the most beautiful in Greece. EGINA, a newly built seaport town, in the island of Egina, in the middle of the gulf to which it gives its name, contains a museum and some literary societies. Egina was formerly celebrated for the richness and beauty of its ornaments, but almost the only remains consist of a few tombs, vestiges of wells, and a mosaic pavement. Near the south-east end of the island, on the top of a hill of moderate height, are the ruins of the temple of Zeus Banhellenios, (the Jupiter of all the Hellenes,) consisting of 23 columns, still entire, and the greater part of the architrave. These ruins are, however, thought by some antiquarians to be rather the remains of the temple of Pallas-Athené, or Minerva.

The history of ancient Greece is the school theme of every civilized nation; and its warriors, heroes, statesmen, philosophers and poets, the admiration of the world. Its modern revolutions need only occupy us in this connection. On the downfall of the old empires, the country was over-run by the Goths, Vandals, &c., &c. After the Latin conquest of Constantinople, in 1204, Greece was parted into feudal principalities, and governed by a variety of Norman, Venetian, and Frankish nobles; but in 1261, with the exception of Athens and Nauplia, it was re-united to the Greek empire by Michael Paleologus. In 1438 it was invaded by the Turks, but its conquest was not effected until 1481. The Venetians, however, were not disposed to allow its new masters quiet possession, and the country, during the 16th and 17th centuries, was the theatre of obstinate wars, which continued till the treaty of Passarovitz, in 1718, confirmed the Turks in their conquest. With the exception of Maina, the whole country remained under their despotic sway till 1821, when the Greeks once more awoke from their protracted lethargy, and asserted their claim to a national existence, and to the dominion of the land possessed and ennobled by their ancestors. The heads of the nobler families and others interested in the regeneration of their country, formed an "hetairia" for concerting patriotic measures; and in 1821, Ypsilanti proclaimed that Greece had thrown off the yoke of Turkey. The revolution broke out simultaneously in Greece and Wallachia; and the war continued with various success and much bloodshed, till the great European powers interfered, and the battle of Navarino, 20th October, 1827, insured the independence of Greece, which was reluctantly acknowledged by the Porte in the treaty of Adrianople in 1829. The provisional government, which had been set on foot during the revolution, was agitated by discontent and jealousies, and the President, Count Capo d'Istrias, was assassinated in 1831. The allied powers having determined previously to erect Greece into a monarchy, offered the crown to Prince Leopold of Saxe Coburg (now King of Belgium), who declined it, and it was finally conferred on Otho, a younger son of the King of Bavaria, who was proclaimed at Nauplia, on the 30th

August, 1832. Greece, however, is even yet in a very unsettled state, and a continued conflict is kept up between the king and the council respecting their several powers, but more in reference to the financial condition of the

state

THE UNITED STATES OF THE IONIAN ISLANDS.

THESE islands lie off the western coast of Greece, and are seven in number, namely: Corfu, Cephalonia, Zante, Santa Maura, Ithaca, Cerigo, and Paxo. The area and population of each is noted in the following table:

CORFU, in 39° 30′ N. lat., and 19° 50′ E. long., is situated a little to the eastward of the mouth of the Adriatic. It stretches from north to south in the form of a semicircle. The channel dividing it from the continent is only from two to ten miles wide, and has a depth of from 40 to 50 fathoms. The length is thirty-five miles, and its greatest breadth twelve. It is studded with mountains, and produces fine marble. The lesser hills consist mostly of an argillaceous soil, mixed with lime; and the substratum to all the low and cultivated lands is principally a stiff, tenacious clay, very retentive of moisture and extremely productive. The island is very subject to earthquakes, and has frequently suffered great damage. The climate is nearly tropical, and the animal sensations are influenced more by the winds than by the fluctuations of the mercury. The thermometer ranges from 44° to 91° Fahrenheit, and the average number of days on which rain falls is 96. Snow is seldom seen, and when it does fall it soon melts. Fevers and intermittents are of frequent occurrence, and form nearly two-fifths of the aggregate sicknesses. The plague has appeared on the island several times CORFU is the seat of the general government, and contains a population of 16,000.

CEPHALONIA, although second in rank, is the largest of the Ionian islands. It is situated in 38° 27′ N. lat. and 20° 32′ E. long., having Santa Maura six miles to the northward, Zante eight miles to the southward, and the west coast of the Morea, 24 miles distant. Extreme length, 32, and extreme breadth, 18 miles, with a circumference following the coast of 150 miles. Cephalonia is extremely rugged and mountainous At its southern extremity is the highest mountain of the islands, Mount Enos of the ancients, now called Montagna Negra, 3,625 feet above the level of the The harbor of Cephalonia runs inland for 8 miles, and is difficult of access, owing to its serpentine form, but offers a spacious and convenient shipping port. The entrance is extremely picturesque on either side groves and plantations, relieved in the back ground by majestic mountains,

sea.