Modern Greece is of smaller extent, and its limits are strictly determined by the arrangement between Great Britain, France, Russia, and Turkey, concluded at Constantinople on the 21st [9th] July 1832, which finally settled the question of frontier between Greece and Turkey. It left to Turkey the fertile Greek-speaking province of Thessaly and part of Acarnania, and fixed the northern boundary of Greece at a line running from the Gulf of Arta (Sinus Ambracius) to the Gulf of Volo (S. Pagasaeus), keeping along the crest of the Othrys mountain range. The pass of Khlomo was to belong entirely to Greece, and the fort of Punta (Actium) at the southern head of the Gulf of Arta was to continue to belong to Turkey, though Greek vessels were required to have free entry into the gulf. The Ionian islands, consisting of Corfu (Corcyra), Paxo (Paxos), Santa Maura (Leucas), Cephalonia, Thiake (Ithaca), and Zante (Zacynthus) on the west coast of Greece, and Cerigo (Cythera) on the south, which had remained under British protectorate for 50 years, were voluntarily ceded by Britain to Greece in 1864, after the accession of king George. Modern Greece is not more than two-thirds the size of Scotland; it is 200 miles long from north to south, and 180 broad from east to west, and has an entire area of 19,353 square miles, of which 8288 square miles are in the Morea, 7558 in the northern part of continental Greece, 2500 in the islands of the Aegean, and 1007 in the Ionian Islands.

Its most obvious geographical peculiarity is its remarkable richness in mountains, bays, and islands, which give it unexampled natural defences, unusual maritime facilities, and quite a peculiar variety of climate, vegetation, and scenery. In this respect it but gathers into a smaller page and expresses in distincter type the structural peculiarities of the continent to which it belongs. In the complexity of its make and the variety of its natural features Greece excels every country of Europe, as Europe excels every continent of the world. No part of Greece is 40 miles from the sea or 10 from the hills. Though not much more than half the size of Portugal, it has a coast-line greater than that of Spain, and Portugal together, and that coastline is broken everywhere into all manner of gulfs, and bays, and inlets, affording a rich supply of good natural harbours. The country is divided by its mountain chains into a number of independent parts, the capture of one of which by an cnemy is but a single step towards possession of the whole. The small basins of arable land between these hills maintained comparatively isolated populations, on account of the difficulty of inland intercommunication, and naturally developed that individuality of character, that local patriotism, and that political independence, which marked the ancient Greek communities. And the great variety of pursuit, interest, and stimulus which the geographical features of the country created could not fail to conduce to the uncommon mental vigour, quickness, and versatility which the people exhibited. The Greeks therefore owed their greatness largely to the country it was their fortune to dwell in.

The ruling feature in the mountain system of ancient Greece—and, to a certain extent, in modern Greece also—is the great chain of Pindus, which takes its rise in the Balkans (Haemus), and runs like a backbone through the entire length of the northern half of the peninsula, throwing out various branches to the east and the west on its way. At about 40° N. lat. the Cambunians leave it and go east, forming the boundary between Macedonia (Roumelia) and Thessaly, and as they approach the coast they turn in a southerly direction at the lofty and famous Mount Olympus, the highest mountain in ancient Greece, and are continued at intervals, on the other side of the vale of Tempe, by Ossa (Kissovo), Pelion (Zagora), and the hills of Euboea. At 39° the Othrys chain (Helloro), whose chief elevation is the conical Mount Veluchi (Tymphrestus), is sent out also to the east, and forms the northern bulwark of the present kingdom. A little further south the Oeta range (Katavothra) goes in the same direction, and reaches the Gulf of Zeitoum (Maliac Gulf) at the celebrated pass of Thermopylae. The Cambunian chain intersects Pindus at Mount Lacmon (Zygo), and thence westward the chain passes under the name of Taenarus and the Ceraunian Hills (Montes Acroceraunii) till it enters the sea at the Acroceraunian promontory (Cape Linguelta). From the point of junction with the Othrys, the Pindus chain is continued southwards in a.series of separate peaks—Parnassus (Liakura), Helicon, Cithaeron, Parnes, and Hymettus, on to the promontory of Sunium (Cape Colonna) in the southeast of Attica. Parnes divides Attica from Boeotia. The mountains of the Morea have no connexion with the mountain system of Northern Greece; they do not run in chains, but rather cluster in knots. The most important of these are Ziria (Cyllene), Khelmos, Olonos, and the range of Pentedaktylon (Taygetus), which stretches from the centre of Arcadia through the length of Laconia to Cape Matapan (Taenarum), and is the most imposing of all the mountains of Greece. The hegemony of Sparta in the Peloponnesus is attributed by some to its possessing both sides of this chain. Its highest point is Mount St Elias, called, like several other Greek mountains, after the prophet Elijah. None of the mountains of Greece is within the line of perpetual snow, though the tops of several are white for some months in the year. What is peculiar to Greece is not the presence of any one hill of pre-eminent height, but the great number it possesses of considerable and nearly equal elevation. Modern Greece has no summit so high as Olympus (9754 feet), but within its narrow area it has twenty-six hills above 3000 feet, of which eight are above 7000 feet, viz., Parnassus (8068), Taygetus (7904), Tymphrestus (7610). (Eta (7071), the three summits of Cyllene in Arcadia (7788), and Corax in Aetolia. The noted fortified hills of Greece were Acrocorinthus (1686 feet) which guards the isthmus, Ithome (2631 feet) at Messene, Larissa (900 feet) at Argos, and the Acropolis (150) at Athens.

Greece has few rivers, and these small, rapid, and, as a rule, turbid, as they could not help being in a country where they rise in high mountains and have no space to grow in before they reach the sea. They are either perennial rivers or torrents, the white beds of the latter being dry in summer, and only filled with water after the autumn rains. The chief rivers (none of which are navigable) are the Hellada (Sperchius) in Phthiotis, the Aspro Potamo (Achelous) in Aetolia, and the Roufia (Alpheus) and Vasiliko (Eurotas) in the Morea. Of the famous rivers of Athens, the one, the Ilissus, is only a chain of pools all summer, and the other, the Cephissus, though never absolutely dry, does not reach the sea, but is drawn off in numerous artificial channels to irrigate the neighbouring olive groves. The waters of both are clear and delicious to the taste. A frequent peculiarity of the Greek rivers is their sudden disappearance in subterranean chasms and reappearance on the surface again, such as gave rise to the fabled course of the Alpheus under the sea, and its emergence again in the fountain of Arethusa in Syracuse. Some of these chasms—“Katavothras ”—are merely sieves with herbage and gravel in the bottom, but others are large caverns through which the course of the river may be easily followed. Floods are frequent, especially in autumn, and natural fountains abound and gush out even from the tops of the hills. Aganippe rises high up among the peaks of Helicon, and Peirene flows from the summit of Acrocorinthus. It is surprising that there are no waterfalls in Greece, the only one worth mentioning being the famous Styx in Arcadia, which has a fall of 500 feet. During part of the year it is lost in the snow, and it is at all times almost inaccessible. Lakes are numerous, but few are of any size, and many merely marshes in summer. The largest are Trichonis in Aetolia, Copais in Boeotia, and Stymphalus in Arcadia.

The valleys are generally narrow, and the plains small in extent, deep basins walled in among the hills or more free at the mouths of the rivers. The principal plains are those of Thessaly (which is not in modem Greece), Boeotia, Messenia, Argos, and Marathon. The bottom of these plains consists of an alluvial soil, the most fertile in Greece. In some of the mountainous regions, especially in the Morea, are extensive table-lands. The plain of Mantinea is 2000 feet high, and the upland district of Sciritis, between Sparta and Tegea, is in some parts 3000 feet.

Strabo said that the guiding thing in the geography of Greece was the sea, which presses in upon it at all parts with a thousand arms. From the Gulf of Arta on the one side to the Gulf of Volo on the other the coast is indented with a succession of natural bays and gulfs. The most important are the Gulfs of Aegina (Saronicus) and Lepanto (Corinthiacus), which come in between the Morea and the northern mainland of Greece,—the first from the Aegean, the second from the Ionian Sea,—and are only prevented from joining their waters by the high land of the narrow isthmus of Corinth (3⅛ miles wide). The outer portion of the Gulf of Lepanto is called the Gulf of Patras, and the inner part the Bay of Corinth, and a narrow bay on the north side of the same gulf, called the Bay of Salona, penetrates northwards into Phocis so far that it is within 24 geographical miles of the Gulf of Zeitoum on the northeast coast of Greece. The width of the entrance to the gulf of Lepanto is subject to singular changes, which are ascribed to the formation of alluvial deposits by certain marine currents, and their removal again by others. At the time of the Peloponnesian war this channel was 1200 yards broad; in the time of Strabo it was only 850; and in our own day it has again increased to 2200. On the coast of the Morea there are several large gulfs, that of Arcadia (Cyparissus) on the west, Kalamatia (Messeniacus) and Kolokythia (Laconicus) on the south, and Nauplia (Argolicus) on the east. Then between Euboea and the mainland lie the channel of Talanti (Euboicum Mare) and the channel of Egripo, which are connected by the strait of Egripo (Euripus). This strait, which is spanned by a bridge, is 120 feet wide, and is remarkable for the unexplained eccentricity of its tide, which has puzzled ancients and moderns alike. The current runs at the rate of 8 miles an hour, but continues only for a short time in one direction, changing its course, it is said, ten or twelve times in a day.

There are no volcanoes on the mainland of Greece, but everywhere traces of volcanic action and frequently visitations of earthquakes, for it lies near a centre of volcanic agency, the island of Santorin, which has been within recent years in a state of eruption. There is an extinct crater at Mount Laphystium in Boeotia. The mountain of Methane, on the coast of Argolis, was produced by a volcanic eruption in 282 b.c. An earthquake laid Thebes in ruins in 1853, another destroyed every house in Corinth in 1858, and a third filled up the Castalian spring in 1870. There are hot springs at Thermopylae and other places, which are used for sanitary purposes. Various parts of the coast exhibit indications of upheaval within historical times. On the coast of Elis four rocky inlets are new joined to the land, which were separate from it in the days of aucient Greece. There are traces of earlier seabeaches at Corinth, and on the coast of the Morea, and at the mouth of the Hellada. The land has gained so much that the pass of Thermopylae, which was extremely narrow in the time of Leonidas and his three hundred, is now wide enough for the motions of a whole army.

The whole chain of the Pindus and some of the mountains of the Morea are composed of Primitive rocks,— granite, serpentine, porphyry, mica; and other schists,—but greater part of the country consists of Secondary formations, especially of a compact grey limestone, which hardens often into the purest marble. All Parnassus and Helicon consist of this rock. In the vicinity of Athens the limestone rests on mica schist, which prevails also in other parts of Attica, and in Euboea, Laconia, and the Cyclades. Clay slate is found in some districts, and coal, equal to two-thirds of an equal weight of Newcastle coal, is found at Kumi in Euboea, and of an inferior quality at Marco-poneo in Boeotia. Greece is not rich in minerals. Gold exists, but not in sufficient quantity to cover the expense of working. Copper is abundant, and silver, lead, iron, emery, antimony, cobalt, manganese, sulphur, and salt are found. Gypsum and porphyry are quarried. Marble is abundant, the chief kinds being the white marble of Pentelicus, of which the Parthenon was made, the blue marble of Hymettus, the green and red marble of the Morea, and the green and white of Caryste. In Mount Taygetus are beds of verd-antique jasper.

The scenery of Greece excites the warmest admiration of all travellers, mainly from three causes:—(1) its unusually rich variety; (2) its exquisite sensibility to every modification of the light of the sky; and (3) the graceful and almost severely classical outline of its hills.

The vegetation of Greece may be described as belonging to four distinct zones. (1) Up to δ00 feet above the sea is a region growing corn, vines, olives, oranges, melons, pomegranates, and other fruits; (2) from 1500 feet to 3500 feet is the region of the oak; (8) from 3500 feet to 5000 feet is the region of the beech and pine, interspersed still with a few com fields; (4) above 5000 feet is a sub-alpine region yielding only a few wild plants Most travellers are struck with the comparative scarcity of wood in Greece. But though most of the ancient forests have disappeared, more of the surface still remains woodland than travellers realize. Close on 15 per cent, of it was under forest in 1860, which is only 1 per cent, less than in Spain, and is 12 per cent, more than in Britain. The most common tree is the pine, but the oak, plane, walnut, chestnut, and olive are also abundant. The beech is said to be a modern invader from the north, where it covers the whole of the Pindus range, and in some places, as on Mount Pelion, which were covered with other kinds of trees in historical times, the beech seems now to have driven them entirely out. The palm thrives in Messenia, and finds a home even in Attica. Myrtles flourish in the west, and oleanders brighten the river beds.

The wild animals still to be found occasionally in Greeee are the boar, wolf, bear, lynx, wild cat, jackal, and fox. The wild goat, which has disappeared from the rest of Europe, finds a last asylum in some of the islands of the Greek archipelago. Game is abundant,—red deer, fallow deer, roe, hares, rabbits. It is said that hares and rabbits never occupy the same island, except in the case of Andros, where the hares are found in the north and the rabbits in the south. The birds are the eagle, vulture, hawk, owl, hoopoe, egret, pelican, pheasant, bustard, partridge, woodcock, nightingale, &c. Quails come in April. The domestic animals are the horse, ox, ass, mule, sheep, goat, pig, dog, and poultry. Poisonous snakes are only found in some few places, but mosquitos and gnats are everywhere sources of annoyance.

The climate of Greece, which ancient writers praised for its equableness, presents to modern observers two peculiarities which do not possess that character. One is a greater intensity of heat in summer and of cold in winter than obtains in Spain, Italy, and other countries which lie within the same latitudes, and are even less open to the tempering influences of the sea. This peculiarity is due to the exposure of the country to the cold winds from the snow hills in close proximity to it on the north, and to the exhausting sirocco from the sands of Africa on the south. The other peculiarity is the remarkable local contrasts and rapid transitions which the climate manifests, and which are a natural effect of the diversity of the geographical configuration. The remark of Gell is often quoted, that in travelling through the Morea in March he found summer in Messenia, spring in Laconia, and winter in Arcadia, without moving beyond a radius of 50 miles. There is great diversity in the rainfall in different parts of Greece. As a rale, rain is more prevalent in the west than in the east, which accounts for the fertile look of the hills of Elis and the barren aspect of those of Argolis. Attica is the driest part of Greece, and Boeotia has still the same heavy moist atmosphere it had of old; and, what is remarkable, the old contrast between the people of those two provinces, which was proverbial when both were Greek by...