The contour of Crete corresponds in a remarkable manner with the height of its mountains. Where these are high, the island is broad; where they sink down, it is narrow. In the centre of the island rises Mount Ida (Psiloriti), where Jupiter was educated by the Corybantes, and where his tomb was shown. Its lofty summit, covered with snow almost throughout the year, its gigantic buttresses, and the verdant valleys at its base render it one of the most imposing mountains in the world; but it was still more magnificent in the time of the ancient Greeks, when forests covered its slopes, and justified its being called Mount Ida, or “the wooded.” On the summit of this mountain the whole island lies spread out beneath our feet; the horizon towards the north, from Mount Taygetus to the shores of Asia, is dotted with islands and peninsulas; and in the south a wide expanse of water extends beyond the barren and inhospitable island of Gaudo. [Illustration: Fig. 28.—THE GORGE OF HAGIO RUMELI.] The Leuca-Ori, or “White Mountains,” in the western extremity of the island, are thus called on account of the snow which covers their summits, or because {92} of their white limestone cliffs. They are exceedingly steep, and perfectly bare, hardly any verdure being met with even in the valleys at their foot. They are known, also, as the Mountains of the Sphakiotes, the descendants of the ancient Dorians, who have retired into their fastnesses, where they are protected by nature against every attack. Some of their villages are accessible only by following the stony bed of mountain torrents leaping down from the heights in small cascades. During the rains the water rushes down these ravines in mighty torrents. The “gates are closed” then, as it is said. One of these gates, or _pharynghi_, is that of Hagio Rumeli, on the southern slope of the Leuca-Ori. When rain threatens it is dangerous to enter these gorges, for the waters rush down and carry everything before them. During the war of independence the Turks vainly endeavoured to force this “gate” of the strong mountain citadel. The level pieces of ground on these heights are sufficiently extensive to support a considerable population, if it were not for the cold. The villages of Askyfo occupy one of these plains, which is surrounded on all sides by an amphitheatre of mountains. In former times this cavity was occupied by a lake. This is proved by ancient beaches and by other evidence. But the waters of the lake found an outlet through some katavothras (_khonos_, “sinks”) and discharged themselves into the sea.