EUROPE. 



Ill 



ern more so than the northern. The most elevated 

 region is Switzerland, from which there is a descent, 

 which terminates, on the side of the North sea and 

 the Baltic, in low plains. The lowest and most 

 level parts are Holland and northern Germany, Den- 

 mark, Russia, and Prussia. The highest mountains 

 are the Alps, in Switzerland and Italy, which spread 

 from those countries in various directions, extend 

 \\-j-stwardly into France, and are connected by the 

 Cevennes with the Pyrenees, which separate France 

 from Spain. One chain of the Alps stretches south 

 towards the Mediterranean; then, taking an east- 

 erly course, runs through Italy, under the name of 

 the Apennines. Several branches run eastward from 

 the Alps, through the south of Germany, as far as 

 the Turkish provinces. Another chain, the Jura, 

 runs to the north, and separates Switzerland from 

 France. In the east of Europe are the Carpathian 

 mountains, which, on one side, meet the Sudetic 

 range, and on the other, the mountains of Turkey in 

 Europe. The highest mountain in Europe is Mont 

 Blanc, in Savoy, one of the Alps, which is said to be 

 15,766 feet above the level of the sea. Several of 

 the European mountains are volcanoes; as JEtna, 

 Vesuvius and Hecla. It is a fact worthy of notice, 

 that none of the volcanoes of Europe are to be found 

 in any of the great chains of mountains which have 

 just been enumerated. The only one on the conti- 

 nent is Vesuvius, and this is too much detached to be 

 considered as properly forming one of the Apennines. 

 ./Etna, in the island of Sicily, rising to the height of 

 10 or 11,000 feet above the level of the sea, is the 

 largest European volcano. The Lipari islands, an- 

 ciently called the JEoliun, a few miles to the north 

 of Sicily, bear evident marks of a volcanic origin; 

 and, in several of them, subterranean fires are still 

 in operation. The volcano of Stromboli is in almost 

 incessant activity, and differs, in this respect, from 

 any other with which we are acquainted. The 

 Azores, in the Atlantic ocean, are doubtless indebted 

 for their formation to the same circumstance as the 

 Lipari islands ; and, indeed, new rocks have risen 

 from the sea in their vicinity, within a recent period. 

 An eruption took place at St George, during the 

 present century. Iceland, too, though lying under 

 65 of north latitude, presents the most abundant 

 tokens of the presence of volcanic fire, and has often 

 suffered under its devastations. Mount Hecla is the 

 most noted, though not the only source of the erup- 

 tions on this island. 



To the possession of many inland seas, and, 

 consequently, of a line of coast very extensive in 

 proportion to its area, Europe is greatly indebted 

 for the great advancement of its inhabitants in 

 civilization ; these circumstances being favourable 

 to that intercourse without which nations never 

 make great advances. The peninsulas are six : 

 Scandinavia, Jutland, Crimea (Taurica C/iersonesus), 

 Italy, Spain, and Greece. The soil of Europe, 

 though not equal in luxuriance to that of the tropics, 

 is, almost throughout, fit for cultivation. The 

 tracts in the northern zone are almost the only ex- 

 teption. 



With respect to climate, Europe may be divided 

 into three parts, the warm region, where the 

 lemon-trees grow wild, as far as 48 north lat., 

 having a pleasant spring, a hot summer, and short 

 winter ; the temperate, as far as 65 N., 

 which grain ripens; and the cold region, to the 

 extreme north, where nothing will grow but rein- 

 deer-moss, and no domestic animal can live except 

 the reindeer. 



The products are not so various as in other parts 

 of the world, and many of them were originally 

 brought from foreign countries and naturalized ; but, 



on the other hand, Europe can boast of a more per- 

 fect cultivation. Among the animals are horses, 

 some of which are of the nobler, breeds, horned cat- 

 tle, sheep in Spain, Saxony, and England, of the finest 

 wool, asses, goats, swine, dogs, reindeer, wild beasts 

 of different kinds, valuable for their flesh or fur, 

 whales, sea-cows, sea-dogs, abundance of wild and 

 tame fowl, large quantities of fish in the seas, lakes, 

 and rivers, among which the herring, in particular, 

 affords sustenance to many of the inhabitants ; useful 

 nsects, such as bees, silkworms, kermes, gall flies, 

 and Spanish flies. Oysters and pearl muscles also 

 abound. It produces all kinds of grain, and suf- 

 ficient for its consumption ; beautiful garden plants ; 

 abundance of fruits, including those of southern 

 climates, such as figs, almonds, chestnuts, lemons, 

 oranges, olives, pomegranates, dates ; also flax, 

 liemp, cotton, madder, tobacco, the best kinds of 

 wine, and a great variety of wood for fuel, and for 

 house and ship building. The birch and the willow 

 best endure the cold of the northern polar circle. 

 Europe produces all the varieties of metals and 

 minerals in great excellence and abundance. In 

 jold and silver, Hungary and Transylvania are the 

 richest ; in iron, the northern countries, Sweden, 

 Norway, and Russia. Salt of all kinds, rock, sea, 

 and spring salt, is also abundant in Europe. 



The inhabitants, estimated by Malte-Brun at 200 

 millions, at least, are unequally distributed; in Russia 

 and Sweden there are from 15 to 18 to a square 

 mile ; in the Netherlands, where the population 

 is most dense, Italy, France, Great Britain, and Ger- 

 many, the same extent supports from 150 to 250 

 persons. The inhabitants consist of several different 

 races, speaking distinct languages. The stocks to 

 which the principal languages belong are the 

 Teutonic, which is the mother of the German, 

 Dutch, English, Swedish, and Danish ; the Latin, 

 or Roman, now spoken only by the learned, but the 

 mother of the Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese, 

 and Walachian ; the Sclavonic, to which belong the 

 Russian, Polish, Bohemian, Bulgarian, Vandal, and 

 the Servian, or Illyrian. Besides these, there are 

 the modern Greek; the Turco-Tartaric ; the Fin- 

 nish, and Hungarian; the Cimbrian, in YVales, and 

 the north-west part of France (Bretagne) ; the Scot- 

 tish, or Gaelic, in Scotland and Ireland ; the Basque, 

 among the Pyrenees. The most widely spoken is 

 the German, with its kindred languages, formed by 

 a union of the Roman with the Sclavonic. 



The prevailing religion is the Christian, which 

 includes several churches, viz., the Roman Catholic, 

 which is the most numerous; the Protestant (Lu- 

 theran, Calvinistic, and Anglican), consisting of 

 numerous sects Anabaptists, Mennonites, Quakers, 

 Unitarians, Methodists, Moravians ; and the Greek 

 church. A part of the inhabitants profess the 

 Jewish, a part the Mohammedan religion. Among 

 the Laplanders and Samoeides there are also some 

 heathens, but their number is small. 



Agriculture has made great advances in Europe, 

 and is daily improving. In this respect, those coun- 

 tries are particularly distinguished where the Teu- 

 tonic languages are spoken, as, also, are France, and 

 a part of Italy. 



In no part of the world are manufactures car- 

 ried to such perfection as in several of the European 

 countries, especially in Great Britain, France, the 

 Netherlands, and Germany. The inhabitants work 

 up not only native European, but also foreign pro- 

 ducts, and supply all the wants and luxuries of life. 

 Commerce is not less active, and is promoted by 

 well-constructed roads and canals, by well-organized 

 posts, banks, insurance companies, commercial com- 

 panies, and fairs. The commerce of Europe extends 



