T U R K E Y m A S I A .
I s ir
I sla n d s.
Cyprus.
no mofpfcnt, When -compared with *he large and edebrated m m of.
Cyprus, w-hich is about 160 Britifli miles !in‘length, and about--#? - at
its|reateft breadth. It was long- poffefifed by the (Ptolemies of Egypt,
till it fell -trader the Roman power ; when it remained,alpdatfon o#,«he
Byzantine empire, till it was-uferped by a Greek prince,.who was..expelled
by Richard I ofEnglancb •- This- mouarcfalbe&owed the kingdom
of'Gyprus on the hoüfeof Lüfignan, M a campenfatioifor, ;tbefo-fe
of the throne of Jerufatem. ‘ Th the' fifteenth cbntufy the &i*efeiaf:the
hotfife of Lufignan refigned this ifld-t^Çie VetfeRans ; :but in r570.it
was feizedby the Turks. The foH ra fertile, -yet agriculture in a |gfe-
feéed date. -The-Oxen are lean and of a fealhfize: the fhfeep i ’reldf
a better defeription. The chief produds are filk, cotton,'-wines, turpentine,
'and timber. The wine of Xÿ^uV^à'aefér^e^feÈlébrated.
The oranges are excellent ; and the mountains are covered .with hyacinths
açd ànemomes, and other-beautiful flowers. Cyprus ls fiippofed
to bave derived its name from the abundance of-eopper ore ; and it is
jfaid to have anciently produced gold, filver, and emeralds— What h
called die Paphian diamond is a rock cryftal, foéiidhèar Paphos*;'and
there is a quarry of amianthus, While feveral hiHs confift chieflyof t‘ak.
The other mineral produaions are red jafper, agàtes; grèen ;©ârth, and
umber/ The Cypriots are* till and degSfrjrç^V hut-th&ëhief »beauty
pf the .women Icônfifts in their fparkling eyes; To the difgrk£.j^f-»he
TurkHh ^government the population of this eifctenfivë ' iflthd-k'Sbin-
puted at 50,000 fouls ! Cyprus is pervaded ?by a Wain df mountains,
among which is a third Olympus, fotne primitive name, which foéms to
' have been general for a Van Ëgnfdnt fays
that there is not..oneiiyer in the ifland, he’means that continué^ its cpdrfe
in the fummer ; but that there are many pond?, lakes, and fens, producing
a damp and malignant ^ir. The,chief cïtiç? are Ni&jjd, the capital
and refidence of th? governor, and Famagufta.7
7 Van Egmont, i. 281. ' Mariti, &c. -
RUSSIAÄ EMPIRE IN ASIA.
C .B A j ^ E R I.
H i s -t ?o r i c a ,i , G r ~o g r ' a p r -y .
JSTakes.'— Eßtekt.— Boundaries.— Original 'Vbßulafion.— Etdgttpve' Geography.—
sf . ’ H ifio r ic a lE p ç h f 'àM ■Mti^uiiksï; ' -
THI^.Jatgp portioraof the habitabl^glabe .extends aimed: the, whole E xtent.
length-of-AGa, from abopt the ,57th degree o f lo'n,g^tude- e^ft -of
LMdOnlto more-than i g p f ; or i^ o /o fw e f t e r n . longitude,, ,.?As the
northern latitude is very b ig h i - ^ e ,degree „fliali only be aflumed at
m miles; and the length may thus h f competed a t 45^>yjec?|^^fiical
-p/lfis. T h e greateft breadth from, the cape o f ' Clptfrh. Voflochnoi,
called in feme maps Taimura, to the Altaian chain o f nou'ntainspn the
fp u th o f th,e fea o f Baikal, may be a 8V 4>br 16:80’ geographical rapes.
Im B ritifti miles the length may be tgug^ly, computed ati-5350; a p d j^ e
breadth.at i 960: an ex ten t which yvill be found to »exceed-that o f Eu-
rppe>f
The furtheft eaftern' boundary is that of A0ar,>and the Teas of Kam- . Boundaries,
ehatka and Ochotfk •, while ^he northern is the Arctic Ocean. On the
*';Mh :To«As^-.isi,.l5B'l6%y»!o?5di(ifiRuffiui Empire, coi®|>utSa ,th^wh:ok'»iin®Iu<&g.!th© Ewo«?:- *
cean part, at 9,200 Englifh miles in length, and 2,400 in breadth.
*'*? VOL. II. ' G weft