fs
imported. Choice Mocha coffee is imported for home use, and poorer
grades are exported. Most of the foreign commerce is in the hands of
English and French merchants. Armenians, Jews, and Greeks are the native
middlemen and traders.

The native population is subject to the Sultan, whose rule is absolute;
most foreign merchants and residents are permitted by treaties to remain
subject to the regulations of the consuls.

_Constantinople_ is the capital. Its situation on the Bosphorus is such
that under any other European government it would command a tremendous
foreign commerce. It is naturally the focal point of the trade between
Europe and Asia. A trunk line of railway connects the city with Paris.
_Salonica_ is the port of western Turkey, and is likewise connected by
rail with western Europe. A great deal of the foreign commerce of the
state is now landed at this port.

[Illustration: HARBOR OF CONSTANTINOPLE]

The chief possessions of the Ottoman Empire are Asia Minor, Armenia,
Mesopotamia, Syria, and Arabia.

=Greece.=--Greece is a rugged peninsula, no part of which is more than
forty miles from the sea. The country is without resources in the way of
coal, timber, or available capital. Its former commercial position, in
ancient times, was due largely to the silver-mines near Ergasteria, and
subsequently to the gold-mines of eastern Macedonia; these, however, are
no longer productive.

There is but little land suitable for farming, and not far from one-half
the bread-stuffs must be imported. Much of the timber has been
destroyed, and this has resulted in a deterioration not only of the
water-power, but of the cultivable lands as well. The railway lines are
short and their business is local; there are practically no trunk line
connections with the great centres of commerce.

The harbors and the natural position of the country are its best
remaining resources. The Greeks are born sailors, and the country is in
the pathway of European and Asian commerce. Most of the grain-trade
between the Black and Mediterranean Seas is controlled by Greek
merchants, and the Greeks are everywhere in evidence in the carrying
trade of the Mediterranean. The construction of the Corinthian canal has
also given Greek commerce a material impetus.

The chief exports are Corinthian grapes--commonly known as
"currants"--fruit, and iron ore from Ergasteria. Great Britain, France,
and Belgium are the chief buyers of the fruit-crop. The