PRODUCTIONS. Cyprus is supposed to contain considerable mineral wealth. Its copper mines were once celebrated. Mining is now not carried on. Salt is abundant. Its vegetable productions are corn, cotton, silk, tobacco, and fruits. A considerable quantity of wine is made.

HISTORY. Cyprus has been held by various nations; Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, Venetians, Turks. It was captured and held for a short time by Richard I. of England, when on his way to the Crusades, 1190. It was taken from the Venetians by the Turks in 1571, and was held by them till 1878, when it was ceded to England, to be occupied by English troops under certain conditions.

TOWNS. (1) Nikosia, in the centre of the island, the capital. Population, about 16,000. (2) Larnaka, in the south-east, the chief port. (3) Famagusta, a small port on the east coast, once the seat of great trade with the Venetians. (4) Limasol, in the south, a port with considerable trade, especially in wine. Here Richard I. married Berengaria, daughter of the King of Navarre. (5) Baffo, or Papho, is the site of the ancient Paphos, visited by St. Paul (Acts xiii. 6).

MISCELLANEOUS. Cyprus has been reduced to a miserable condition by Turkish misrule. Its connection with England, which will probably prove permanent, is likely to raise it again to something of its former prosperity.

ADEN.

Aden is a small peninsula in Arabia, near the southern entrance of the Red Sea. The area of this small possession is about 20 square miles. The population is about 22,000. The town is very strongly fortified, and is of great importance as a military, naval, and coaling station on the direct route to India. The harbour is a very good one. Aden was purchased from the Sultan of Aden in 1837.

At the distance of 90 miles is the Island of Perim, in the

Straits of Babel-Mandeb, occupied in 1859. A lighthouse has been built on this island, and fortifications erected.

The Curia Muria Islands, to the east of Aden, on the south coast of Arabia, were ceded to England by the Sultan of Muscat in 1854. Large quantities of guano are obtained from them.

INDIA, OR HINDOSTAN.

BOUNDARIES.

I. PHYSICAL.

North, by the Himalaya Mountains.
North-west, by the Soliman Mountains.
West, by the Indian Ocean (Arabian Sea).
East, by the Indian Ocean (Bay of Bengal).

EXTENT. Hindostan consists chiefly of an immense peninsula of triangular form, terminating at Cape Comorin in the south.

Length, about 2,000 miles.

Breadth, about 1,500 miles.

Area, about 1,500,000 square miles (including area of Dependent States).

COAST. The greater part of the coast is regular. Its length is about 3,600 miles. The only large inlets are the Gulfs of Cutch and Cambay on the west. The coast is much broken up in the north-east by the numerous mouths of the Ganges. The southern part of the east coast is called the Coromandel Coast.

The southern part of the west coast s called the Malabar Coast.

STRAIT. Palk's Strait, between Hindostan and Ceylon. CAPE. Cape Comorin, the extreme south point.

ISLANDS. None of importance. Ceylon is under a government independent of that of India. There are many small islands at the mouths of the Ganges and Indus.

MOUNTAINS. The surface of India is of a very varied

character, being composed of great mountain chains, table-lands, deserts, and fertile plains. The following are the principal ranges of mountains.

(1) The Himalaya Mountains, in the north, the highest in the world. This range extends to a length of nearly 1,500 miles, and consists of several parallel chains embracing a mountain system about 200 miles in breadth. The snow line is about 12,500 feet in height. The principal peaks are Everest, 29,000 feet (the highest in the world); Kunchinginga, 28,200 feet; Dhwalagiri, 28,000 feet; Chumulari, 24,000 feet. The passes over these mountains are very high and steep; the highest is the Langa Lacha Pass, which attains a height of 17,000 feet, considerably greater than the height of Mont Blanc.

(2) The Soliman Mountains, in the north-west, separating Hindostan from Afghanistan and Beloochistan. These attain an average elevation of about 6,000 feet. The highest is about 11,000 feet high. The famous Khyber and Bolan Passes through this range were taken by the British troops in the late war with Afghanistan, 1879, and remain in our possession by the treaty with the Ameer.

(3) The Vindhya Mountains, stretching across the centre of the country. Their average elevation is about 3,000 feet.

(4) The Eastern Ghauts, near the east coast.

(5) The Western Ghauts, near the west coast. These ranges attain an elevation of about 6,000 feet. The latter is the higher.

(6) The Nilgherry Mountains, 8,000 feet, in the south, connecting the Eastern and Western Ghauts.

(7) The Aravulli Mountains, 5,000 feet, north of the Vindhya Mountains.

PLAINS, TABLE-LANDS, etc.

(1) The Great Plain of Hindostan, extending from the Himalayas to the Vindhya Mountains, and including the basins of the Ganges and Indus. It contains an immense tract of fertile land.

(2) The Great Indian Desert, south of the river Indus. Area, about 150,000 square miles.

(3) The Runn of Cutch, a large swampy district in the west. (4) The Deccan, an immense triangular table-land enclosed by the Vindhya Mountains and the Ghauts. Its height is about 3,000 feet. It contains much fertile land.

(5) The Plateau of Mysore, south of the Nilgherry Mountains, extending to Cape Comorin.

RIVERS. India is well watered by large rivers and their tributaries. The three largest, the Ganges, the Indus, and the Brahmapootra, all drain the northern part of the country, and rise near each other in the Himalaya Mountains. The rivers of India are more useful for irrigation than for navigation. Many of them overflow their banks during the melting of the snow on the mountains in which they rise. The following are the principal rivers of India, taken in order, commencing at the north-east :

(1) Brahmapootra. Length, 1,700 miles. Rises on the northern slope of the Himalaya mountains, flows east for more than 700 miles, then turns abruptly south and west, and flowing through Assam, enters the Bay of Bengal by a mouth connected with that of the Ganges. Only the lower part of the course of this river is in India. It drains an area of about 300,000 square miles.

(2) Ganges. Length, 1,500 miles. Rises on the southern slope of the Himalaya mountains, at an elevation of 11,000 feet, flows in a course which is generally to the south-east, and empties itself by a large delta into the Bay of Bengal. The delta commences about 200 miles from the sea, and the portion near the sea is called the Sunderbunds, of which the soil is formed by land washed down by the river. The stream bounding the delta on the east is called the Ganges, that bounding it on the west is called the Hooghly. The valley of the Ganges is one of the most fertile in the world. of more than 400,000 square miles.

This river drains an area

Tributaries: (On the right bank) Jumna, Sone; (on the left

bank) Goomty, Gogra, Gunduk. The Jumna is about 850 miles in length, and receives a tributary, the Chumbal, which is about 600 miles long.

Towns: (On the Ganges) Hurdwar, Furruckabad, Cawnpore, Allahabad (at the junction of the Jumna with the Ganges), Mirzapore, Benares, Patna, Moorshedabad, Calcutta ; (on the Jumna) Delhi, Agra; (on the Goomty) Lucknow; (on the Gogra) Oude.

On its banks are

(3) Mahanuddy. Length, 500 miles. Rises in the Deccan, and flows south-east into the Bay of Bengal. Sumbulpore, Cuttack, and Juggernaut.

in the Western Flows south-east

(4) Godavery. Length, 900 miles. Rises Ghauts, about fifty miles from the west coast. into the Bay of Bengal. At its mouth is the port of Coringa. (5) Kistna. Length, 800 miles. Rises in the Western Ghauts and flows east into the Bay of Bengal.

(6) Cauvery. Length, 500 miles. Rises in the Western Ghauts, flows south-east into the Bay of Bengal. On its banks are Seringapatam, Mysore, Trichinopoly, Tanjore, Tranquebar.

(7) Tapty. Length 450 miles. Rises in the Deccan, and flows west into the Arabian Sea (Gulf of Cambay). Near its mouth is Surat.

(8) Nerbudda. Length, 800 miles. Rises in the Deccan, flows west at the foot of the Vindyha mountains into the Gulf of Cambay. At its mouth is Baroche.

(9) Indus. Length, 1,800 miles. Rises in the Himalaya mountains, at an elevation of about 20,000 feet. Flows in a northwest direction to the north of the Himalaya mountains for about 700 miles, then flows south-west through the Punjaub and Sinde into the Arabian Sea. Its numerous mouths form a large delta. It drains an area of about 310,000 square miles.

Tributaries: (On the right bank) Cabul, which rises in Afghanistan, and flows into India through the famous Khyber Pass; (on the left bank) Chenab, which receives the Jelum, Ravee, and Sutlej. The Sutlej receives the Beas. The five