the pasture is almost burnt up by the approaching hot season,
the Kurds, Turkomans, &c., remove to the elevated valleys in
the mountains, and there remain till the cold weather enables
them to resume their former localities, which usually are at
no great distance, although on some occasions they take their
flocks, to a milder tract within the limits of Syria or Mesopotamia.
The animals differ but little from those of Persia and Mesopotamia;
but the buffalo, which is found in a wild state
towards the shores of the Black Sea, is one exception, and the
Angora goat, whose beautiful silky hair is the effect of climate
rather than peculiarity of breed, is another. Bears, wolves,
jackalls, squirrels, and the kaplan or hunting tiger are more
numerous, as are serpents and scorpions; but, on the other
hand, the hyaena and the lion are seldom found. The Taurus
abounds with birds of prey, especially eagles and vultures ; and
one kind of the latter exceeds the condor in size.1 Amongst
the birds may be noticed our magpie and the hooded crow ;2
also the woodpecker, the bee-eater, the black and white heron,
wild geese, ducks, teals, widgeons, and coots; the black and
common ibis,3 the common and blue jay or roller, the aigrette,
the flamingo, the francolin, and different kinds of bustards;
the little owl, and the Indian owl ;* the desert, the black, the
grey, the red-legged, and a still larger partridge, not yet
described; also nightingales in countless numbers; and, finally,
the Aleppo plover,5 a remarkable bird with a spur to its wing;
which is also found near the banks of the Nile.
The fields of Asia Minor suffer comparatively little from
that scourge of the East—the locust; but to the entomologist
and herpetologist the country would in other respects furnish
a rich and almost untrodden field.
Serpents are common; and leeches are taken in such numbers
as to be one of the principal articles of commerce. Sea and
river fish likewise abound; and the latter, as well as the trionyx
1 Vultur Cinereus, Linn. s Corvus Cornix.
Ibis Sacra. 4 Athena Indica, Gould.
‘ Charadrus cristatus, Lesson, Man. d’Ornithologie.
or gymnotus (according to Messrs. Dumeril and Bebron) and
common turtle, attain considerable magnitude.
The palm is seen occasionally ; but this and other tropical
fruits do not arrive here at the same perfection as they attain
at a short distance southward. The pistachio, the quince, and
the carob or locust-tree1 flourish ; and the rest of the vegetable
productions are nearly the same as those of Southern Europe,
but are more perfect.
Of trees may be noticed the spreading cypress2 (Arbor
vitse), the stone pine (Pinus pinea), the wild pear, the Judas-tree
(Cercis siliquastrum), the Siberian crab, and the carob or St.
John’s head (Ceratonia siliqua). The chestnut and the walnut
are usually of large growth ; the oriental plane, as well as
the beech, attains an extraordinary size ; and the like may be
said of many shrubs, such as the olive, bay-laurel, oleander,
myrtle, and heath,—the last being almost a tree. In some
parts of the country wild vines cluster over the trees, beneath
which there is a thicket of wild lavender, lilac, and white
cistus, rising to the height of 4 or 5 feet. Elsewhere tracts
are covered with thè flowering acacia, the arbutus » (Arbutus
unedo), and rhododendron, all in the greatest perfection.
The chief products are silver, copper, iron, lead, and alum;
fine figs, grapes, and other fruits ; grain ; silk, cotton, hemp,
and hemp-seed ; flax, tobacco, opium, saffron ; madder, mastic,
and other gums ; galls, yellow berries, »sheep’s wool, goat’s
hair, skins, hides, leeches, sponges, wax, honey, salt, and some
wine. :
The people of the country are employed in weaving tents,
hair-bags, and the celebrated carpets ; in the preparation of
various kinds of leather, and the manufacture of culinary
utensils. These furnish the means of carrying on a domestic
trade, and likewise afford ample returns for the purchase of
British and other manufactured goods ; but the commerce is
trifling compared with that which might be prosecuted in a
country occupying the most favourable position possible, having
extensive lines of sea-coast, along which are chains of
1 Ceratonia siliqua. 2 A variety of the Cupressus sempervirens.