region of Etna, and the woods of Caronia, on the northern mountains, consist chiefly of various kinds of large oak, elm, firs, and ash. The wines of Marsala, Mazzara, and the adjoining districts, are those chiefly exported. This wine is produced from a mixture of black and white grapes, to the amount annually of 30,000 pipes, of which from 18 to 20,000 are exported. Sicily produces silk in small quantities, to the extent of only about 400,000 lbs. a year; the greater part of which is manufactured into ordinary silk stuffs at Catania. Cotton is cultivated in small patches, but very negligently; and scarcely enters into the exports. Dye stuffs, barilla, honey, liquorice, and many other articles might be cultivated to a great and profitable extent; but these are all totally neglected.

Sicily forms a portion of the kingdom of the Two Sicilies. For administrative purposes it is divided into valli or intendancies, districts, and communes, corresponding to departments, arrondissements, and communes in France. There is no country which is so highly taxed; nor is there one which derives less benefit from its government. The following table exhibits the names, extent, population, &c., of each of the intendancies:

Total...........10,508....1,964,000.... 186

PALERMO, the capital of Sicily, is a large and fine archiepiscopal city, agreably situated on the northern coast, in a luxuriantly fertile and wellcultivated plain, named La Conca d'Oro (the golden shell,) which is enclosed on three sides by mountains, and opens on the north to a spacious bay. The houses are all flat-topped, and, instead of windows, have balconies with glass doors; the streets are all well laid out, and almost all terminate at two of the principal thoroughfares. Several fine public buildings, seven squares, and fine walks, the best of which is the marima, lying along the shore, a university, and several other literary establishments, an active commerce, and 130,000 inhabitants, entitle Palermo to rank among the principal cities of Europe. The fête of St. Rosalia attracts every year in July an immense crowd of people from all parts of the island, and gives a great stimulus to the trade of the city, which is otherwise very considerable. MESSINA, a large and fine episcopal city, with an industrious and commercial population of 85,000, possesses the finest harbor in the kingdom, and one of the best in Europe, and occupies a delightful situation on the west side of the strait to which it gives its name. The city has been rebuilt since 1783, when it was almost entirely destroyed by an earthquake. It has a citadel, and is otherwise strongly fortified; and its environs are the most densely inhabited, and the best cultivated part of the island. The exports are oil, currants, raisins, wine, almonds, lemons, sumach, and other produce of the island. CATANIA, a large archiepiscopal city, with wide and straight streets, and a good harbor on the eastern coast, stands at the foot of Mount Etna. It has suffered severely from earthquakes, but nevertheless still contains the remains of an amphitheatre, larger than the Colosseum at Rome, and other Roman antiquities. It contains a university, a lyceum, a

public library, a museum, and other literary establishments. The silk stuffs of Catania rival the best in the kingdom; the population amounts to about 40,000. BRONTE gave the title of duke to the celebrated Lord Nelson, but his estate, to which the title was attached, has been, since his death, completely destroyed by the eruptions of Etna, at whose base it is situated. SIRAGOSA, (Syracuse,) a fortified episcopal city on the east coast, with 14,000 inhabitants, a large natural harbor, a royal college, two seminaries, a library, and a museum, stands amidst the ruins of the ancient Syracusa, which cover a space of 20 miles in circumference, and of whose five magnificent and populous districts, the small island of Ortygia is the only one now inhabited. Its harbor, formerly one of the finest in the Mediterranean, was long believed to be so choked with sand as only to admit chebecks or brigantines, till Lord Nelson proved the contrary, in 1798, by sailing right into it with his ships of war and frigates, and finding excellent anchorage. The celebrated fountain of Arethusa, which flows through the town in a stream 4 feet deep, has become turbid and muddy, and is now used for washing the clothes of the citizens. AGOSTA, the ancient Augusta, to the north of Syracuse, is a fortified city, in a delightful situation, with a harbor and 10,000 inhabitants.

GIRGENTI, an irregularly built city, on the south-west coast, is situated on a hill, 1,100 feet above the sea, not far from the shore, where it has a harbor. It has some fortifications, and about 15,000 inhabitants. In its neighborhood, at Girgenti Vecchio, are the remains of Agrigentum, consisting of the Temple of Concord almost entire, the Temple of Juno, and the ruins of the Temples of Ceres, Proserpine, Hercules, Apollo, Diana, Castor and Pollux, Esculapius, and the Olympian Jupiter, the last of which was never finished, but was constructed with enormous columns 120 feet high. pier of the harbor of Girgenti has been built from the ruins of these magnificent temples.

The

TRAPANI, a busy commercial fortified town, with a royal college, a tribunal of commerce, and 24,000 inhabitants, is built on a peninsula, at the western extremity of Sicily. Its inhabitants are largely engaged in fishing coral, part of which is carved into necklaces, and exported even to India, by way of Alexandria. The Trapanese are also expert carvers in ivory, alabaster, mother-of-pearl, &c. MARSALA, a large seaport town, about 20 miles S. by W. of Trapani, has a royal college, and 21,000 inhabitants. Its harbor is encumbered by sand, but its celebrated wines furnish an important article of export. There are here six wine establishments, four British and two Sicilian; three of the British are on a large scale, and have from 8,000 to 20,000 pipes in annual deposit; the fourth recently established, only requires time to be equally extensive. The wines have only come into repute since 1802, when they were introduced by Nelson for the use of the British fleet. CASTEL VETRANO, 28 miles S. S. E. of Trapani, with 13,000 inhabitants, is noted for its coral articles, its alabaster works, and particularly for its vicinity to the remains of the ancient Selinus, where are still to be seen enormous heaps of ruins, which the people of the country call the pilieri de Giganti (Giant's pillars.) In the midst of a pile of ruins resembling massive rocks, rise several gigantic columns, of the same style of Doric architecture as those of Segesta and Girgenti; while many others lie in confusion on the ground. ALCAMO is an archiepiscopal city, with a royal college, and 18,000 inhabitants, 25 miles west of Palermo. In the neighborhood is the site of the ancient Egesta, called also Egesta, Acesta, and Segesta, where is a temple in very good preservation; but everything else is reduced to a mass of shapeless stones and rubbish.

Sicily was early colonized by the Greeks; and at a subsequent period became the object of contest between the Carthagenians and Romans. It was the first and most valuable acquisition of the latter beyond the limits of Italy. After the fall of the Western empire it was successively held by the Vandals, the Goths and the Greek emperors, till 827, when it was overrun by the Saracens. In 1072 it was taken by the Normans, who established therein the feudal system, and kept possession until the establishment of the Suabian dynasty in 1194. In 1265, Charles of Anjou became master of Sicily; but the massacre planned by John of Procida, known by the name of the "Sicilian Vespers," 29th March, 1282, put an end to the sway of the Augevines. It soon after fell into the hands of Spain, and was governed by viceroys until 1706, when a popular revolution annexed it to Austria. By the peace of Utrecht in 1711, it was ceded to Victor Amadeus of Savoy, who in 1720 was compelled by the emperor Charles VI. to exchange it for Sardinia. In 1734 the Austrians were expelled by the Spaniards, and the infant Don Carlos was crowned king of the Two Sicilies. During the last war it was under the protection of Great Britain, and while Napoleon occupied the continental portion of the kingdom, Palerino was the residence of the Court. An insurrection broke out in 1821, but was speedily suppressed. Another popular rising occurred in 1848, and the island has since been governed by a revolutionary government, and the Sicilian parliament has invited the prince of Sardinia to assume the crown; but it is not yet certain that the people can retain their position, and the prince is wisely silent until assured of success. But however the present affair may terminate, it is certain that great alterations must take place in the government, or the people will again and again arise in their majesty until they crush the hydra that oppresses them.

THE BRITISH ISLANDS OF

MALTA, GOZO, AND COMINO.

THIS group of islands is situated in the Mediterranean sea, between 35° 45' and 36° 6' north latitude, and 14° 9′ and 14° 35′ east longitude, about 63 miles S. W. of Cape Passaro in Sicily, and extends in a line from northwest to south-east, a length of 28 miles, divided by two straits which are separated by Comino, the central island. MALTA, the largest, is of an irregular oval figure, about 16 miles in length by 8 or 9 in breadth, and is composed of calcareous rocks, which slope like an inclined plane from the level of the sea towards the south and east, where they attain the elevation of nearly 200 yards. The surface is composed of small valleys, defiles, and hills, which extend across the breadth of the island. In most places the rock is entirely naked, except where the hand of industry has placed over it a layer of travelled earth, brought originally from Sicily and other places. Gozo, the most northerly, is more elevated than Malta, and is entirely surrounded with perpendicular rocks, the highest of which are to the west and south, where they are very steep. The surface is not so uneven as that of Malta, and is consequently more easily cultivated; the pasture land is good, and great numbers of cattle are fed on it for the use of Malta. The grapes of Gozo are peculiarly fine, and are highly esteemed by the Maltese. Cotton and grain are cultivated with success; the air is particularly salubrious, and the country presents many agreeable prospects. COMINO is a small island, two miles in length, between Malta and Gozo, and partakes

most of the character of the latter. The two channels which it forms have from 12 to 20 fathoms water, and are safely passable by the largest ships in mid-channel, in which, too, there is good anchoring ground of fine sand.

The greater part of the land in Malta is planted with cotton. It also produces wheat, barley, and a grain called tommon, which grows in the poorer soils, sometimes mixed with wheat, and sometimes with rye. Both Malta and Gozo produce fruit of exquisite flavour, with excellent roots and very fine odoriferous flowers; cummin, aniseed, laricella, and a lichen which grows on the rocks exposed to the north, and is used for dying an amaranthine color. Gardens are numerous in Malta, especially towards the east, and are generally ornamented with orange and lemon trees; the greatest attention is paid to them, and they are commonly watered twice a-day from cisterns hewn in the rock, with trenches dug round about to collect the rain. Bees are kept in great numbers; the honey is delicious, and remains always liquid. There are numerous asses of a strong breed; the sheep are very prolific, and exceed 12,000 in number. About six or seven thousand beeves are also maintained, and five or six thousand horses of all kinds. But, besides the food produced from the soil, there are several hundred boats employed in the fisheries, for the daily supply of the markets. In August and September a fish is caught resembling the dolphin, which is called at Malta the lampoukeag. The climate is delightful; the four seasons are regularly defined, and the country is remarkably salubrious.

The Maltese are a mixed race, principally Italian and Arabic. Their language is, like themselves, an Italiano-Arabic dialect, intelligible to the natives of the opposite shore of Africa; but pure Italian is used by the mercantile and higher classes, and English, which is the language of government, is generally understood in some degree by the natives. The Maltese are a robust, active, and temperate people; but, from want of employment, are still very poor, wasting their energies in idleness. Their condition has, however, been greatly improved since they became British subjects, by the opening up of new sources of industry, and some of them have become the best sailors in the Mediterranean. They are bigoted Catholics, and very superstitious and fanatical; but education is spreading, and will by and by modify their character. The population of Malta in 1836 amounted to 106,614, being 1122 24-95ths to the square mile; that of Gozo to 16,534, being 612 10-27ths to the square mile. The commerce of these islands is considerable, but we have no late statistics. The total value of imports in the above year amounted to £685,531, and of exports, £467,942. The shipping inwards, 1,963 vessels, with a burden of 199,500 tons; outwards, 2,083 vessels, burden, 216,267 tons.

The capital of the islands is CIVITA VALETTA, on the north-east coast, built upon a tongue of land extending into a bay, so as to form a splendid harbor on each side, where also the projecting points are occupied by towns and forts; the city itself and the suburbs being surrounded by impregnable fortifications, parts of which are cut out of the solid rock. The streets of Valetta are narrow and steep; but it contains some splendid buildings, which still attest the magnificence and the devotion of its former masters, the Knights of St. John, to whom the island was gifted by the Emperor Charles V. after they had lost Rhodes, and was possessed by them till 1798, when they were dispossessed by the French. Valetta surrendered to the British in 1800, after a two years' blockade, and was confirmed to Britain by the peace of 1815. The CIVITA VECCHIA, or old town, is situated nearly in the centre of the island, and is called by the natives Medina (i. e. the

city;) it is an episcopal see, and contains a large cathedral, besides several other churches. It stands on such high ground, that in a clear day the whole island, and the coasts of Sicily and Africa, may be seen, both at the distance of about sixty miles. The catacombs are very extensive, and of great celebrity. The island contains beside, twenty-two casals or villages. Near the western part of the north coast is the CALLE DE SAN PAULO, or haven where St. Paul is said to have landed after his shipwreck; though some critics consider the island of Meleda on the Dalmatian coast, to be that on which the Apostle was cast. Gozo contains six casals or villages, two castles, and a fortress on a rock of 300 yards in diameter, in the interior of the island.

THE EMPIRE OF TURKEY.

(OTTOMAN EMPIre.)

THE Ottoman Empire, partly in South-Eastern Europe and partly in Western Asia, comprises some of the most celebrated, best situated, and naturally finest provinces of the continents to which they belong. The limits of the empire are not easily defined; inasmuch as it is usually represented as including several extensive countries, that are either substantially or virtually independent. Moldavia, Wallachia, and Servia, in European Turkey, are governed by their own princes or hospadars, and connected with the Porte only by the slenderest ties; though, as some of their fortresses are garrisoned by Ottoman troops, and as they continue to pay tribute to the Porte, they may still, perhaps, be properly included within the wide range of the Turkish dominions. Egypt, however, and the other African territories, that formerly belonged to Turkey, may now be consid ered completely dismembered; and, but for the interference of England and the other European powers, Syria and Palestine would have been annexed to the dominions of the Pacha of Egypt. Though the whole empire is under the same forms of government, and no distinction made between the Asiatic and European provinces, we must, in conformity with the geographical arrangements heretofore adopted, confine our remarks in the present instance to the European section alone.

European Turkey, in its present restricted limits, exclusive of Greece and the adjacent islands, lies between 39° and 48° 15′ north latitude, and between 160 and 30° east longitude. It extends, from east to west, in its greatest length, about 700 miles, and from north to south, in its greatest breadth, about 650 miles, including an area of about 183,140 square miles. The military frontiers of Austria form its northern outline; on the east it is bounded by the Pruth, the Black Sea, the Bosphorus, the Sea of Marmora, and the Dardanelles; on the south, by the Archipelago and the northern border of Greece; and on the west, by the Ionian Sea, the Straits of Otranto, the Adriatic, and the Austrian provinces of Dalmatia and Croatia.

Turkey is traversed by several lofty mountain ranges, which form and enclose high valleys and table-lands, leaving only, in some places, a narrow border of lowland along the sea-coasts. Such is its general character between the Danube and the frontier of Greece; but to the north of that