TABRIZ, the chief town of Azerbijan, is a great centre of commerce, with a large but very fluctuating population. It is about 5,000 feet above the level of the sea, and is bordered on three sides with mountains, while on the fourth side the plain extends, without interruption, to Lake Ooroomiah, which is distant about 30 miles. The city is about four miles in circuit, and is surrounded by a brick wall; and the citadel, a high and massive structure of brick-work, is visible from a distance, rising above the broad screen of gardens, which mask the approach to the city, and which being cultivated with great care, yield every kind of fruit in the utmost perfection and abundance. URMI, (corrupted from Rhûmia, Urûmiah, or Ooroomiah,) the birth-place of Zoroaster, the founder of the ancient Magian religion, is now a well-fortified town, of 20,000 inhabitants, 12 miles west from the great lake.

The other principal towns of the kingdom are:-KнOI, one of the finest in Persia, with 30,000 inhabitants; RESHT, a busy trading town; Balfrush, formerly a flourishing commercial town of 300,000 inhabitants; ASTRABAD, the capital of the province of the same name; HERAT, the emporium of the trade between Persia and India; KERMANSHAH, celebrated for its carpets; KASHAN, famous for its silks and cotton manufactures; SHIRAZ, the capital of Fars, renowned for its wines; LAR, noted for the finest bazaar in all Persia; and KERMAN, whose wool is so celebrated, and whose shawls, felts and matchlocks are in request all over the East. These towns have generally from 20,000 to 50,000 inhabitants, and there are hundreds of others having populations from 10,000 to 20,000, some of which have a local celebrity; but our space precludes a further notice.

AFFGHANISTAN.

AFFGHANISTAN, the most eastern portion of Persia, is bounded on the north by the ridges of the Himalaya and Hindoo-koh mountains; on the east by the Indus; on the south by the northern frontier of Beloochistan, and on the west by the eastern border of Iran. From west to east it measures 630 miles, and from north to south 450, and contains an area of 240,000 square miles.

The country consists of a succession of lofty valleys and table-lands, separated and supported by immense mountain chains. The spurs of the Hindoo-koh and other mountains occupy the north, decreasing in elevation towards the south. The sides of these mountains are well wooded, and the valleys are rich in vegetation, and even the rocks are rendered beautiful from the rich verdure of the mosses which cover them. This region is called Kohistan or hill country. All the valleys of the range open ultimately into the great valley of the Cabul river, which extends east and west about 200 miles, and carries their waters to the Indus. The whole eastern portion is also a congeries of lower hills, which descend westward in a rapid slope. The elevation of these is considerable, but the Suffeid-koh is the only peak which retains snow throughout the year. The eastern portions of the country consist of elevated plains, rich in all the products of the climate; but in the south the Desert of Seistan occupies no inconsiderable amount of territory, and here all is bare and sterile and unfit for the residence of man.

The climate is as various as the elevations. In the eastern valleys the heat is sometimes as great as in the hottest parts of India, but it does not

continue so long, and the colds of winter are much greater. The heat of the west is more moderate. The low parts are hot, the middle, temperate, and the high, cold; but speaking generally, the average of heat does not reach that of India, nor is the cold so severe as in Europe in the same latitudes. Periodical rains occur in the north and east, but are less marked in the west, but occasionally the whole country suffers from the monsoon, and in winter the northern regions are often rendered impassable from accumulated The prevailing winds are from the west.

snow.

Gold does not seem to be found in Afghanistan, except in the streams which flow from the Hindoo-koh. Silver is found in small quantities, and whole cliffs of lapis-lazuli overhang the river of Kashgar. There are also lead, antimony, iron, sulphur, rock-salt and alum. Saltpetre is made everywhere from the soil. The mountains around Cabul are especially rich in minerals, and the sand of the Kerman is washed for gold.

The most common species of trees on the mountains are pines, oaks, cedars and cypresses, also walnuts, wild olives, wild grapes, &c. In the plains are the mulberry, the tamarask, the willow, plane and poplar. The gardens are profuse in roses, jessamines, poppies, hyacinths, and an innumerable catalogue of indigenous and foreign fruits and flowers.

Lions, tigers and leopards are found in several districts, and wolves, hyænas, jackals, foxes and hares are common everywhere. Bears are found in all the wooded mountains; wild boars are now rare, and wild asses appear to be confined to the sandy country to the south of Candahar. Elks and deer are found in all the mountains, but antelopes are found only in the plains. The wild sheep and goats inhabit the eastern hills, which contain also porcupines, hedgehogs and monkeys, ferrets and wild dogs.

The principal domestic animals are horses, ponies, mules, camels, buffaloes and humped-backed beeves. The great stock of the pastoral tribes consists of sheep. Of birds there are eagles, falcons, herons, cranes, storks, wild fowl and game in plenty, and a great variety of the smaller species of singing birds. The snakes are generally harmless, but scorpions of great size and venom exist in some districts. Flights of locusts are not of unfrequent occurence. Bees are common; and mosquitoes, which are however, less troublesome than in India.

The term Afghan is not known to the natives. The name they give to their nation is "Pushtun." They consider themselves to be descended from Affghan, the son of Irmia or Berkia, a son of Saul, king of Israel. They call themselves accordingly "Beni-Israel," though they consider the term "Yahudee" or Jew, as one of reproach. They say they were transported by Nebuchadnezzar, and continued to observe the Jewish ritual until the first century of the hedjira, when they were converted to Islam. They have the appearance of Jews, and by some are in reality considered to be a part of the lost tribes.

They are divided into small tribes, and their chiefs or khans are elected by the people of each. The internal government is conducted by these khans, and assemblies of the heads of divisions called "jirgas." The khan presides in the principal jirga, which is composed of the chiefs of the great branches of the tribes. Each of these presides in the jirga of his own division, which is formed in a similar manner of the chiefs of the subdivisions, who again hold their jirgas. This system of government, however, is so often deranged by circumstances, that it is seldom found in full operation, and must, therefore, be considered rather as the model than a correct de

scription of any one of them. The khan, though supreme, is not looked upon as a master but as a father, who has the welfare of his children in view, and is consequently secure only in the affections of his people. Accordingly the power of life or death is rarely possessed by a khan, and it is seldom that his personal interests would lead a tribe to take any step inconsistent with its own honor or advantage. An assemblage of many such commonwealths compose the Affghan nation. Each tribe possesses its own territory and exercises its own local powers, but there is sufficient affinity and national sympathy among the several tribes to keep the whole in a sort of unity and position of common defence.

The northern parts of Affghanistan are occupied by the "Hazarehs" or Huzaras, a simple people, who differ much from the Affghans, and in some respects resemble the Chinese. They are quite independent since the subversion of the kingdom of Cabul, owing their safety to the natural strength of their mountain country. They are mostly a pastoral people, and their subsistence depends chiefly on the produce of their flocks.

There cannot be said to exist such a thing as national industry. The people from necessity engage in such pursuits as afford them the necessaries of life, and raise crops and herds; but little in the nature of manufactures is undertaken. In this respect they are far behind their neighbors on all sides. Perhaps this may be in a great measure owing to the constant revolution and force that has harrassed the country; but there is no doubt that it equally originates in the constitution of the people themselves, who are little removed from the savage in their modes of life. Their form of government, however, must have a beneficent effect on their condition; and now that their ambitious despoilers have successfully destroyed each other, the popular principles which everywhere guide their rulers may develope the wealth and resources of the country, and make them a thriving and happy people. The whole population is said to amount to about 8,000,000.

CABUL, the principal city, is situated in a plain 1,000 feet above the level of the adjacent country. It is surrounded by a lofty wall of towers and curtains and a broad ditch, and with one exception of a suburb, stands all on the right bank of the river. The houses are built of sun-dried brick and wood, but few of them are more than two stories high. The great bazaar is an elegant arcade nearly 600 feet long and 30 broad. There are few such bazaars in the east, and wonder is excited by the silks, cloths and goods arranged along the sides, and at the quantity of dried fruits piled up in endless profusion. Each trade has its separate bazaar. The population amounts to about 60,000, who all converse in the Persian as their mother tongue; but the Paishtoo or Affghan language is spoken in the neighboring villages. The city suffered greatly from the British in 1842.

CANDAHAR is another fine city with an equal population. It is considered as the western capitol, and is surrounded by a brick wall. The streets, lined with houses of sun-dried brick, start from each of the four principal gates, and meet in the centre of the city under the vast dome of a circular bazaar filled with shops, and crowded with people from morning to night. The mosques are neither numerous nor splendid. Candahar is the centre of a great trade between India and Persia. It is supposed to be one of the Alexandrias, built by Alexander the Great; but the present city is quite modern, and the ruins of the older city are about three miles to the westward. GHUZNEE, the capital of a powerful kingdom in the 12th century, is now completely in ruins; there is a new town of small extent on its site, but of little consideration.

PESHAWER is a large town east of Cabul, upwards of 5 miles in circuit, but the environs exhibit little else than a vast space covered with ruins and tombs. It has the appearance, indeed, of a very ordinary Hindoo town, but contains about 105,000 inhabitants, consisting of Affghans, Cashmerians, and Hindoos.

There are some other towns, but generally they are unimportant. Jellalabad, Kohat, Mittun, &c., are those best known. Baumeean, in a valley to the north of the Hindoo-koh, is a singular place, and is celebrated for its colossal idols and innumerable excavations, which are found in all parts of the valley in which it is situated, the latter of which still form the houses of the inhabitants. Altogether they form a large city, but none of them have any pretensions to architectural beauty. Baumeean appears to be a place of great antiquity.

BELOOCHISTAN.

THIS, the remaining portion of Persia, lies between Affghanistan and the Indian Ocean, extending along the latter almost 600 miles, and comprising altogether an area of 180,000 square miles.

The greater part of the country is mountainous, and especially so in the east and west divisions, which consist of two elevated table-lands. A large portion of it is entirely desert, being a continuation of the desert of Kerman, and the seacoast is covered by flat, barren sands, which are destitute of water, and produce no other vegetation than date-trees.

Little is known of the geology of the country; but gold, silver, and some other metals, with sulphur, naptha, and rock salt, are found in different places. The climate is generally healthy, and the vegetable products diverse and luxuriant. The wild animals are much the same as those of the countries of Persia already described, and industry is not on a higher level.

The people are almost equally divided into two distinct nations-the Belooches, who are found in the west, and the Brahoes, who occupy the east. The Belooches" are almost entirely a rude, nomadic, and pastoral people, living in tents, and moving from place to place with their flocks. and herds. Their language is a corrupt dialect of the Persian, but they attribute their origin to the Arabs. The "Brahoes" inhabit chiefly the district of Kelat, and are inferior in personal appearance to the Belooches: they are more unsettled in their habits, but bear a better character with travellers. A people called "Gewahrs," probably of Gheber descent, are found in different places, and speak Persian. Hindoos monopolize most of the trade of the Eastern provinces.

The

KELAT is the chief city, and the residence of a Khan who claims sovereignty over the whole country, but whose authority extends little further than the precincts of his own town. It has a population of about 25,000. There are some other towns named on the maps, but they are inconsiderable, and their population fluctuating. Their names are Gundava. Punjgoor, Bayla, Lydree, Khoola, Choubar, Bunpoor, and some few others.

INDIA, OR HINDOOSTAN.

The THE natural boundaries of India are remarkably well defined. whole northern boundary is formed by the Himalayas; and the whole southern portion is circumscribed by the Indian Ocean. It lies between 70 and 350 N. latitude. and 670 and 970 E. longitude. In length 1870 miles, and in extreme breadth about 1800 miles, it contains an area of 1,250,000 square miles, with a sea-coast line of 3,622 miles.

The northern parts of India are covered by the gigantic ranges of the Himalayas; and for many miles southward their ramifications divide the country into a succession of lofty mountains and deep valleys, which are watered by mountain torrents, and generally inhabited. The vege table productions of this region are of the most remarkable stateliness, variety, and beauty. Except at the summits of the mountains the trees are very large; and everywhere, and at all seasons, the ground is covered with a profusion of flowers. In this region the great rivers of India, the Ganges and the Indus, with their tributaries, have their rise.

To the south of these mountainous and hilly regions, the great plains of Hindoostan extend over thousands of miles. Between the basin of the Indus or Sinde, which has been called "Sindetic India," and the basin of the Ganges, called "Gangetic India," is a series of ridges called “Aravulli," which extend south-west and north-east about 300 miles, with a breadth varying from six to sixty miles, and a general elevation of 3,600 feet. Further south the "Vindhya Mountains" extend east and west about 350 miles, and terminate eastward in a hilly region, which covers a large portion of Central India, forming a number of table-lands and valleys of considerable extent.

The southern part of India forms a large triangular peninsula projected into the Indian ocean about 900 miles further than the coasts of the Gangetic or Sindetic plains. Along the western coast the Ghauts, a lofty range of mountains, extends from near the mouth of the Tuptee river to the valley of the Coimbatoor, where they terminate with the Nilgherries, which are the highest ridges in the peninsula. The Ghauts rise very abruptly at the distance of about thirty miles from the coast, forming on their eastern side a table-land of about 2,000 feet above the level of the sea, rather undulating than flat, and covered with numberless smaller ranges, sloping eastward in terraces to the Bay of Bengal, into which their waters descend. On the eastern side a similar chain, the "Eastern Ghauts," extends along the borders of the Lower Carnatic and the Northern Circars, but at a greater distance from the sea than the western range, and is intersected in several places by the rivers which flow from the table-land. To the south of the Nilgherries, which form as it were the terminating nucleus of both ranges, the valley of the river Paniany forms a gap of sixteen miles wide; and beyond it rises a group of mountains clothed with stupendous forests, and intersected by lovely valleys, which extends southward nearly 200 Between miles, and may be considered as a continuation of the Ghauts. the western Ghauts and the sea there is but a narrow strip of land, and the precipitate sides of the mountains that rise above it are generally covered with forests of the tallest trees, and with impenetrable jungle. The low.and along the eastern coast is a broad, though unequal belt of country,