Page:History of Art in Sardinia, Judæa, Syria and Asia Minor Vol 2.djvu/109

 Boundaries, Climate, and Natural Divisions. 93 mainland, and in their lower course diffuse a loamy soil as rich as that of the Nile. Nowhere is there a closer union between the uplands and the lowlands ; nowhere has nature worked so much to bring it about, and nowhere has she shed her blessings with so lavish a hand. These contrasts from one region to the other are also found, as might be expected, in the climate. It is almost tropical in the south, but approaches that of Europe towards the Euxine, con- stantly refreshed by cool breezes blowing from the north. These, in winter, become icy cold, having swept over the southern provinces of Russia, then covered with deep snow. When they reach the peninsula, however, they have been somewhat softened by their passage across the Black Sea. The olive, whose growth on the Bosphorus is almost as luxuriant as in the Ionian Islands, disappears at the entrance of the Euxine, and is scarcely seen again until Trebizond. Here the Caucasus opposes its high crest against the wind ; and oranges, lemons, and Mediterranean pines ^ fill the gardens and throw a wreath of verdure around the city and along the whole coast to the very border of Russia. The western side of the peninsula is warm, and winter is scarcely known ; whilst the fierce noonday heat of summer is tempered by the Etesian winds, and the nights made cool by the. €7;iy8aT>;9, the wind that passes over these coasts and penetrates inland. Everywhere around these bays the slender foliage of the olive flutters with the breeze ; the lemon and cotton plant are grown wherever there is any moisture. Palms, however, nor edible dates, will flourish of their own accord ; for, lovely as is the climate of Ionia, it is less equable than that on the opposite coast or the islands washed by the /Egea.n. The valleys south of the Taurus are not open to the north wind ; and except Cilicia, which is almost tropical, the climate and productions are precisely the same as in Syria. The fields and roads are fenced, as in the latter country, by tall hedges of prickly pear, resplendent with scarlet blossoms ; the towering slender stems of the agave yielding the needful variety of outline. Winters are absolutely unknown. On the other hand, ^ As a matter of fact, the umbrella-like pine is seen inland wherever conditions are favourable for its growth. It was first observed in the south of FAirope, espe- cially along the roast, hence it came to be popularly known as " Mediterranean," or
 * maritime pine." — Editor.