Euboea

Euboea (modern Negropont; Turkish Egripo), an island of the AEgean Sea, opposite to Boeotia, Thessaly, and Attica, being separated from the mainland by the Euripus, the channel of which is at Chalcis or Negropont (the capital) only 120 feet across, and is crossed by a bridge partly supported by a rock in the middle of the channel. (It is now being widened by the Greek Government.) There is much trace of volcanic action and the formation is principally slate or calcareous. There are two mountain chains, one of which in the north extends to Cape Sunium; and the highest point is Delphi in the centre (5,725 feet). The island is wonderfully fertile and salubrious, and there are extensive woods of pines, firs, chestnuts, and planes on the mountain sides. Much of the cultivation is carried on by English and French farmers.