Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 09.djvu/230

* GREECE. iiOA GREECE. ponnesus is flat, low, and but little indented, while t lie north coast, wasliod by the waters of the Gulf of Corinth and its entrance, the Gulf of Patras, is high and steep, with a good harbor at Patras near fertile and liighly cultivated plains. The west coast north of the Gulf of Patras is swampy in the soutli, high and mountainous in the north, but of small importance in the sea trade. In its surface forms Greece preserves the char- acteristic aspects of the broader mass of the Balkan Peninsula (q.v. ) to the north of it. It is preeminently a mountain land, the ranges of the Balkan Peninsula extending into and through the country. The wild chain of the Pindus, a dominating feature, forms the water parting, and sliarply divides the larger western from the smaller eastern part of Greece as far south as the Gulf of Corinth. West of the Pindus the ranges of the Dinaric mountain system, which parallels the shores of the Adriatic farther north, pass tlirough Greece to the southern end of the Pelo- ponnesus. These chains are crowded so closely together that the valleys are very narrow, and there is little development of high mountain plains. The mountain chains of Northeastern Greece, on the other hand, are broadly distin- guished from those of the west by the fact that their main direction is east and west. On the whole, the mountains are of only medium ele- vation, though Parnassus, the best-known sum- mit of the eastern ranges, rises in the very heart of Greece to a height of 8065 feet; and Jlount Taygetus, the culminating point of the Dinaric system in the Peloponnesus, is 7890 feet high. The chains, frequently connected with one another by spurs, riiake a network of mountains throughout the country. The result is that Greece has no great middle point upon which its highways and activities converge. It is di- vided into a large number of small districts which are reached with diniculty over the moun- tain roads. The great bond of union is the sea, whose deep bays and gulfs serve the trade of the interior. Greece is rich in contrasts of color and in picturesque beauty ; and the charm of its landscapes is especially emphasized along the coastal indentations where the glowing col- ors of the bare mountain walls contrast Avith the deep blue of the sea between them. While there are many small plains among the highlands, the only great plains are those of Thessaly in North- ern Greece. They are surrounded by mountains and nowhere reach the sea; comparatively level and woodless, but covered with alluvium, they are very fertile, the granary of the kingdom, the region where landscapes are most smiling and vegetation is most luxuriant. The Thossalian jdains are separated by highlnnds extending north- west and southeast .about midway between Laris- sa and Trikala. There are many small fertile plains in Bteotia, Messenia, Argolis. and along parts of the coast. All the Greek islands are mountainous. They were once a part of the mainland, and the largest island in the .'Egean Sea, Eubira, is still so re- garded, as it is separated from Central Greece only by the narrow Strait of Enripus. which at Chalcis is little more than 100 feet wide. Enboea is the prolongation of the coastal mountains of Thessaly. The Greek islands in the .^gean Sea are of small fertility, thouch some islands of the Cydades, particularly Naxos and Santorini; produce e.xcellent fruits and wine. A chain of volcanic islands bounds the Cydades on the south; and the little group of Santorini, mid- way between Europe and Asia, is one of the four centres of volcanic action in Europe. The eruptions of 1806 resulted in the appearance of some new .small islands. The Ionian Islands near the west coast far surpass the Cydades in size and fruitfulness. Encircling their central mountains are hilly lands and plains of extraor- dinary fertility. Corfu (the ancient Corcyra) is the largest of the group, the other important isl- ands being Santa Maura (Leukas), Cephalonia, Ithaca, Zante, and Cerigo (Cythera). Hydrography. The rivers of Greece are small, and none of them is important for navigation or water-power. As in some other Mediterranean regions, water flows only periodically in most of the river beds, which arc; dry through the greater part of the year. Only the largest rivers carry water to the sea at all times. JIany of the rivers are swallowed up in 'sinks' in the limestone re- gions, reappearing far below and leaving large areas of parched lands which, if water were avail- able, might be made very fertile by irrigation. The most important river is the Achelous, empty- ing into the Ionian Sea, north of the Gulf of Patras, The chief rivers of the Peloponnesus are the Alpheus and the Iri (Eurotas), During the autumn rains. Hoods are very frequent in the riv- ers, nearly all of which, rising in the mountains, are torrential, Corfu is the only island that can boast of a small perennial stream, the Messongi, which is navigable for a short distance. Lakes are numerous among the mountains. One of the largest. Lake Copais in Boeotia, has been con- verted into a fertile plain by drainage. Some lakes have no visible outlet, Init the waters are sweet ; their outlets are underground conduits leading through the limestone to rivers or direct- ly to the sea. Climate. While the climate of the main mass of the Balkan Peninsula gradually approaches that of the Mediterranean countries, the Mediter- ranean subtropical climate prevails in Greece ex- cept on the higher elevations. The climate has two peculiarities. One is the extreme heat and cold occasionally recorded. The hot enervating sirocco blasts from Africa make some of the summer days almost unendurable, so that during their prevalence labor in the fields of Thessaly is carried on at night; and winds from the neighboring snow mountains of the north tend to intensify the winter cold. The other pecu- liarity is the contrasts in climate that neigh- boring localities present, due to the great diver- sity of the surface. While the loAvlands have hot, dry summers, and autumn and winter rains, the mountains are much cooler and have summer rains. There is little frost or snow in the low- lands, but the mountains are covered with snow in winter. The rainfall is considerable among the mountains of the west, while excessive drouglits prevail in the east, so that many farm crops cannot be grown without irrigation. The soil is only moderately fertile except where much alluvium lias overspread the rocks, as in Thes- salv. where the land is very productive. The for- mation of humus is slow and meagre. Many slopes have been washed bare of soil by winter rains, so that much land once tilled has been abandoned. Flora. Greece is very poor in timber, not a