CHAPTER I.

GENERAL GEOGRAPHY AND LIMITS OF GREECE.

Northern boundary of Greece—Olympus.—Scardus and Pindus—their extension and dissemination through southern Greece and Peloponnesus.—Ossa and Pelion—to the Cyclades.—Geological features.—Irregularity of the Grecian waters—rivers dry in summer.—Frequent marshes and lakes.—Subterranean course of rivers, out of land-locked basins.—Difficulty of land communication and transport in Greece.—Indentations in the line of coast—universal accessibility by sea.—Sea communication essential for the islands and colonies.—Views of the ancient philosophers on the influence of maritime habits and commerce.—Difference between the land-states and the sea-states in Greece.—Effects of the configuration of Greece upon the political relations of the inhabitants.—Effects upon their intellectual development.—Limits of Greece.—Its chief productions.—Climate—better and more healthy in ancient times than it is now.—Great difference between one part of Greece and another.—Epirots, Macedonians, etc.—Islands in the Ægean.—Greeks on the coast of Asia Minor. 211-236