E 
a, 
Mediterra- 
Black Sea. 
EUROPE. 
reaches the shores of America; another smaller squa- 
dron i 
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F 
f 
: 
E 
i 
: 
and extent of its inland seas; which have been just- 
ly regarded as one of the chief causes of its indus- 
try and civilization, and ae 
the other grand divisions of the globe. Amongst 5 
the Mediterranean is obviously pre-eminent. From 
its shores, their first seats, both in ancient and mo- 
dern-times, knowledge and civilization have been dif- 
fused over the other countries of Europe. From the 
! 
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which still further of inland na- 
Mitcwids tupanne’'f tide ca ts bonouttly tortoniod 
w sea is 
with islands, and environed with opulent coasts, abound 
ing with the most sublime and picturesque features of 
nature. Epnithe:Dodtistchagemy thane tate tides, ex 
cept in the narrowest straits ; but a current sets along 
the Italian shore from west to east, and towards the 
African in an ite direction. This sea abounds in 
ief fisheries are those of the tunny, of the 
sword-fish, of the sea-dog, and of the anchovy. To the 
north of the eastern part of this sea, which is denomi- 
nated the Levant, but distant from it some hundreds of 
miles, lies the Black Sea, with which it communicates 
by two narrow straits, and the small sea of Marmora, 
which is situated between them. This extensive sea, 
of which the western parts only be toE is 
said to have derived its name from its black r or 
navigation. To the north of the Black Sea, 
and connected with it by the short and narrow strait 
Sea of Azof. of Caffa, istthe sea of Azof, the utmost maritime li- 
Baltic, 
mit/of Europe in this quarter. It is shallow, and pol- 
luted with mud, whence its ancient name of Palus 
to the N. E. and 
called the Gulfs of Bothnia and Finland, both 
covered with ice during four or five months of the win- 
The greatest depth of this sea does not exceed 50 
fathoms; and the Sw 
me ope extent in the course of a 
con 
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t 
237 
called the White Sea, which is an extensive inlet or Europe. 
gulf of the Arctic Ocean; ing the northern pro- 
vinees of Russia in the direction of. 
sea was better known before the commerce of Archan- 
gel was supplanted by that of St Petersburgh. 
The numerous and extensive inland seas and gulfs of Straits. 
Europe, give rise to several celebrated straits. Of 
these, besides those ‘already mentioned, the most. im- 
are, the Straits of Gibraltar; which connect the 
editerranean with the Atlantic Ocean ; the Straits of 
Messina, between Italy and Sicily ; the Dardanelles, 
between the Grecian Archipelago and the Sea of Mar- 
mora ; and the Hellespont, between the Sea of Marmo- 
ra and the Black Sea; the Straits of Dover, which con- 
nect the English Channel with the German Sea, and 
the narrowest distance between the English and French 
coasts ; and, in the Baltic, the celebrated Strait of the 
Sound, between the Island of Zealand ‘and the coast 
of Sweden, where the king of a levies “ toll on 
all shi i and down the Baltic; the Great 
Beles ventt Peake and Funen; and the Little Belt, 
between Funen and the peninsula of Jutland. 
Europe contains few or no lakes of any great extent. 
The most considerable are; the lakes of Constance, 45 
miles inlength, and 15 in breadth; and of Geneva, 40 
miles long, and nine at its greatest breadth, both situ- 
ated in Switzerland. The lakes, Wenner, 80 miles in 
, and 50 in breadth ; Wetter, about 80 miles long, 
and 12 broad ; and Meeler; 60 miles by 18, in Sweden. 
And Lake Onega, which is about 150 miles in length, 
by a medial breadth of about 30; and the Ladoga, 
130 miles long by 70 in breadth, in the western divi- 
sions of the Russian empire. 
- The more limited extent of Europe admits not the rivers. 
accumulation of such mighty bodies of water as the 
Asiatic and American continents roll to the ocean. ‘The 
largest and most important of the Eu rivers, 
are, the Volga, the er pat of which belon 
this division of the globe. This largest of the Euro- 
a takes its rise in the mountains of Valday, 
Petersburgh and Moscow, and, after running 
ina direction, a course of upwards of 
1700 miles, falls into the Caspian at Astracan. This 
noble river, having no cataracts, and few shoals, is na- 
vigableeven as high as Tver. Its chief tributary streams 
are, Kama on-the east, and Oka on the west. 
Next to Volga is the Danube, whose m 
stream rises in Swabia, and Passing through Bavaria, 
Austria, Hungary, and Turkey, falls into the Black 
Sea, after'a circuit of 1500 miles. The Danube, though 
occasionally im by small falls and whirlpools, is 
yet sanviggltn an immense extent of its course. 
Dnieper, or ancient Borysthenés, rises in the 
vernment of Smolensk, about 150 miles to the of 
the source of the Volga, and after a course of about 
1000 miles through fertile provinces, falls into the Eux- 
ine Sea. The Rhine rises in the mountains of Switzer- 
land, and falls into the German Sea, by several mouths, 
on the coast of Holland. This noble river, whose banks 
are celebrated for their grand and striking scenery, 
forms the great barrier between France and Germany, 
and. its course may be computed at 600 British miles. Tt 
receives, near Mentz, the tributary stream of the Mayne. 
a 
the Baltic. This White Sea 
Lakes. 
to Volga. 
ificént Danube. 
‘0- Dnieper. 
Rhine. 
The Elbe rises in the Sudetic mountains of Silesia, EJbe. 
and, running through the north of Germany a course 
of 500 miles, discharges itself into the sea near Cux- 
haven. The Don rises frorn a lake in the 
of Tulan, and fulls into the sea of Azof, after a course 
of about 800 miles. The Dniester forms the boundary Dneister. 
ernment Don. 
a 
