Part 33 (1/2)

Fro this chapter sho the tributary streareat rivers have served to extend Russian coh Siberia

Note the situation of the cities and towns of Siberia with reference to the rivers

What effect has the high latitude of Russia on its agricultural industries?

Fro exports and imports of Russia by articles, and also the volume of trade with other countries

From the Abstract of Statistics find the statistics of trade between Russia and the United States

FOR COLLATERAL READING AND REFERENCE

Commercial life in Russia--preferably from the article, ”Russia,” in the Encyclopaedia Britannica

For a rug of the Caucasus type, see illustration, p 351; compare the Kabistan with the Persian piece--which has the floral and which the geoures?

CHAPTER xxx

THE IRAN PLATEAU AND ARABIA

The countries of the Iran plateau extend from the Mediterranean Sea to the valley of the Indus River The Arabian Peninsula is not a part of it, but its clieneral character are sireat part of their surface is reat extremes; the summer hot-waves and the winter hurricanes are probably unknown elsewhere in severity The greater part of Arabia is an unhabitable desert

[Illustration: THE RUG-MAKING COUNTRIES]

The rigorous conditions of surface and cliion They are full of the intelligent cunning and ferocity thatunder such conditions of environment In many parts the sterile soil and arid climate force the sparse population into noreater part, the land hardly yields enough food-stuffs for the population, and any great developriculture is out of the question The flood-plain of the Tigris and Euphrates, and a few of the river-valleys are highly productive

[Illustration: AN ANTIQUE TREE-OF-LIFE, KERMANSHAH (PERSIAN) RUG]

Before the Christian era several trade-routes between Europe and the Orient lay across this region, and along the caravan routes there were the usual industries pertaining to commercial peoples The cities of Sinope, Trebizond, Astrabad, Phasis, Mashad, and Bactra (now Balkh) grew into existence along one of the northern routes Tyre, Nineveh, Tarsus, Pal one or another of the southern routes Of these, Trebizond only retains its i a seaport with a considerable trade The commerce that once passed over this route was crushed out of existence during the invasions by Jenghis Khan

[Illustration: A KABISTAN RUG--CAUCASUS DISTRICT]

Of the various industries of the Iran plateau, practically but one extends beyond its borders, namely, the s These are unique; they are made of ns that cannot be successfully is consists of fine wool, selected not only from particular localities, but also from certain parts of the fleece The dye-stuffs are coo, saffron, coccus, madder, and orchil--are familiar But both the wool and the dye-stuffs possess qualities imparted to them by soil and climate that are not found elsewhere

The absence of floors, and of the furniture found in European dwellings, s essential household articles rather than luxuries The hearth-rug, the bath--blanket, and the saddle-ion also has its require, sometimes ornamented with the hands of the Prophet, is a part of every household equipment, whether of the nomadic Arab or the wealthy ns and s of each are easily distinguished[76]

For the greater part these are gathered by caravans and conveyed to convenient shi+pping-points Nearly all the cottage-s are named from the town or district in which they are made Smyrna and Constantinople are the chief ports of shi+pment Many of them find their way to European dealers, but New York is probably the largest rug-reat majority are retailed at fro fros are hand-woven, and a weaver frequently spends several years on a single piece, earning perhaps less than ten cents a day The factory-e-manufactured product

=Turkish Possessions=--Anatolia is the common name of the Turkish possession fors, however, to only a sion The Asiatic possessions of the Ottoman Empire comprise Asia Minor, Armenia, Kurdistan, Syria, Mesopotamia, and Arabia The Arreater part of this region, and although thousands have been massacred because of Turkish hatred of them, they practically wield the chief power because of their business enterprise

During the Roman occupation many miles of roads were built from Constantinople and other coast-points to the interior One of these extended to Mesopotamia, and became a much-travelled route of the trade which centred at Constantinople Within recent years Ger these roads, thereby creating a considerable export trade in fruit, rugs, and ora_ and _Konieh_ (_Iconium_) are important marts _Trebizond_ is the chief port of the Black Sea, but it lacks railway connections with the interior _Smyrna_ is the chief port of the Mediterranean, and from it are shi+pped to European and American markets the fruit and textile fabrics that have made its importance In Syria, _Damascus_, one of the oldest cities in the world, is the centre of a considerable trade in textile s, and dah _Beirut_, its seaport, hich it is connected by rail Much of the stuffs exported is gathered frodad_ is the chief trade-centre of Mesopotamia