I. Smyrna, at the head of a deep gulf which has exceptionaIl)r
good communication inland via both the Gediz Chai



ANATOLIA. 319

(Hermus) and the Mendere Chai (Maeander) rivers, is the
natural trade-centre for the west

2. Lemnos, Mitylene, Syme, Samos, and Rhodes have famous

harbours ; Chios, * the fertile,' is noted for wine and mastic ;
and all the islands have a sponge fishery, which is most
productive round Syme.
3. Crete, Chios, Samos, Rhodes, and Patmos have also special

historic interest ; but Crete has lost its old importance — as
commanding the entrance of the JEgtaxi Sea.
3. The surface is a broken plateau, sloping generally
from the Erzerum heights down to the archipelago
coast, with the abrupt buttresses of the Pontic and
Tauric ranges.
1. The average height of the plateau is broken on the north by

the deltas of the Kizil and Yeshil Irmaks, on the south by
the Pamphylian and Cilician plains, and on the west by the
peak of Mount Olympus.
2. West of the Anti-Taurus range there is wide central plain,

dotted with salt lakes, e,g: Tuzla Gol, and merging north-
ward in the barren steppes of Angora, and westward in the
railway-threaded defiles of unnavi^ablc rivers. East of the
Anti-Taurus the general level rises, and is crossed by
ranges from E.N.E. to W.S.W., amongst which the Tip-is
and Euphrates rise; but here, too, there is a typical
volcanic plain dotted with salt lakes, e^. Van.
4. There are, therefore, three climatic zones, with
their appropriate vegetation,

1. The north coast has damp muggy summers, and damp cold

winters, and the Pontic slopes are covered with timber.
