is not rich in minerals : gold, silver, copper, lead, and iron, are found, but the mines have never been worked with zeal. The most famous mines in ancient times were those of Laurium in Attica. Coal is found in Eubieit and in sonic parts of the Peloponnesus ; salt is procured in many districts of Greece and in the Ionian islands; and marble of the purest kind, and of various colors, may be had in endless amount in almost all parts of Greece. The most famed quarries were in rams, Carystus (in Eubcea), Pentelicus, and Elymettus. Marble and building-stone were quarried by the old Greeks to a very large extent. There are many mineral springs, both cold and warm. and many caverns still emit those mephitic exhalations which in bygone days quickened the imagination of the poet, and confirmed the superstition of the peasant. ' Plains and valleys of Greece are very numerous, but owing to the great number and irregular courses of the mountain ranges, arc very small. The two great plains are those of Thessaly and Binotia, the former being the largest and the most fertile in all Greece: that of Messenia is both extensive and fertile.
Goa,q-Une.—As Europe is preeminent among continents for the great extent of its sea-coast, so is Greece for a similar feature remarkable among the kingdoms of Europe. The bays are very numerous, and many of them run far up into the hind, so that no part of the country is far from the sea—a circumstance which gives the inhabitants great facilities for commerce, and which leads the modern Greeks, as it did the ancients, to occupy themselves in very large numbers with rivers of Greece necessarily follow its valleys in char acter. None of them are navigable. The most important stream is the Achelous (Aspropotatno), which rises in Mt. Pindus, flows in a s. direction through Epirus, and empties itself into the Ionian sea, at. the mouth of the gulf of Corinth, after a course of about 130 miles. The Spercheus rises in the Pindus range, and disembognes into the Malic gulf, after traversing for more than 60 m. the fertile vale which is bounded oe the n. by Mt. Othrys, and on the s. by Mt. (Eta. Besides these, there are in n. Greece the Cephissus, rising in Doris; near the base of Mt. Parnassus, and flowing through the fertile Boeotian plain into lake Copais (Lago di Topoglia, or lake of Livadia); and in the s. part of Boeotia, the Asopus (Vuriemi). In Peloponnesus, the principal streams are the Eurotas (Vasilipotamo) and the Alpheus (1toufia), By the banks of this latter, the great Olympic games were celebrated. The rivers of Greece depend for their sup plies mainly on the atmosphere; hence in summer the larger streams are greatly reduced in size, and the majority of the smaller ones are either almost or altogether dry chan nels. Many of them are nothing more than mountain torrents, or gullet's, which the heavy rains of autumn and winter fill for a short season.
(2) many hill-encircled valleys of Greece, from which there is no out let, afford the most favorable opportunity for the formation of lakes; hence the rains of autumn and winter stagnate in many cases in the valleys of the mountains, and for at least a part of the year, form tiny lakes or tarns. Sonic of these are permanent, though
with great difference in depth of water, according to the season of the year, while others degenerate in summer into reed-grown marshes and pestilential fens. See BCEOTIA.
climate of Greece varies very considerably in different parts of the country. In the highlands of the interior, the cold in winter is often very severe, snow lying for several months. On the plains, and in the lower districts near the coast, snow is seldom seen; but the n. and n.w. winds are frequently very trying, though there is no intense cold. The summer heat is often excessive; and the sirocco not unfrequently visits the s. and lower parts. In moisture, too, there is much difference; thus, while Attica is remarkable for its pure air and beautifully bright sky, Bceotia has been famed from ancient times for the moisture of its climate and the fogginess of its atmosphere. The swampy valleys of lake Copais and other marshy tracts, when acted on by the scorching heat of a sufmner's sun, produce those noxious vapors which are found in so many parts of Greece, breeding malaria and disease. This defect seems to have increased since classical times, either from the greater thinness of the population, and the consequent diminution Of 'tillage, or :Other causes noteasily.reached. But drainage would be all easy matterin a country whose rciek:fortnation is of so soft a character as that of Greece. Were its natural advantages aided by drainage and irrigation, Greece might yet become one of the healthiest and one of the most fertile countries of Europe.
more common products of Greek soil in ancient times were wheat, barley, and other cereals; flax, wine, and oil, with fruits of various kinds. The figs of Attica were and still are famed for the excellence of their flavor. Forests once covered many of the hills, and supplied timber for domestic purposes and for ship-building: they are still extensive in some parts. The most importaut productions of modern Greece are those mentioned above, with maize, rice, millet, currants, and silk. Honey is produced in great quantity on Hymettus and in some parts of the Peloponuesus The mulberry-tree is largely grown for the silk worm; and on the n. and s. shores of the gulf of Corinth, as well as in Arcadia, and the W. coast of the Peloponnesus, the Corinthian grape or currant is most extensively cultivated. Vines flourish in almost all parts, but the island of Santorin possesses the most fatuous vineyards, with the greatest variety of grapes, and furnishes a wine highly prized by the Russians. The olive grows in a wild state over all parts of Greece; when ingrafted, it yields an excellent fruit, which the inhabitants pickle in very large quantity, as a staple article of food. The oil of the olive serves to supply light, and is used in cooking and for food, as we employ butter. Cotton, madder, tobacco, and leguminous plants grow in considerable quantity. Fruit trees are specially fertile; figs and apricots are plentiful and of excellent quality ; oranges, citrons, lemons, pomegranates. almonds, water-melons, gourds, and others of less note are widely spread, largely produced, and of excellent quality.