GEOGRAPHY, TRAVEL, ARCHITECTURE 



533 



Giants' Causeway (deriving its name . 

 from a legend that it was the commencement of j 

 a road to be constructed by giants across the 

 channel to Scotland) is a natural pier or mole 

 of columnar basalt, projecting from the north 

 <>t' Antrim, Ireland, into 'tin- North Chan- 

 nel, seven miles northeast of Portrush. It is 

 of an overlying mass of basalt from 300 to 

 .")iM feet in thickness, which covers almost the \ 

 whole country of Antrim, and the east part of 

 Londonderry. 



Gibraltar, a seaport, and one of the strong- ; 

 in Europe belonging to England, j 



Mated in the south of Spain at the narrower 

 part of the Straits of Gibraltar, sixty-one miles 

 .southeast of Cadi/. The number and strength 



the military works, and the vast galleries 

 .ed in the calcareous rock, excite admira- \ 

 tion. The fortress, though taken by surprise! 

 by the British, in 1704, is considered impreg- 

 nable. The sea-passage, extending from Cape i 

 Spartel, Spain, to Cape Ceuta, Africa, connects! 

 the Atlantic with the Mediterranean Sea; 

 length about thirty-six miles; narrowest width 

 between Europa Point and Ceuta, fifteen miles; 

 broadening westward to twenty-four miles. A 

 M<* current sets in from the Atlantic through 

 the-e straits, ami it is supposed that a counter! 

 current passes underneath. 



Glaciers are generally masses of consoli- 

 dated snow, which by their own weight move 

 >lowly down the mountain where they have 

 been accumulated. Their pace is seldom more 

 than one inch per hour. Along their sides or 

 over their surface are scattered accumulations 

 of stone and detritus, which are called moraines. 

 The Alpine Glacier give birth to the five great 

 rivers of Central Europe the Rhine, Rhone, 

 Po, Inn, and Adige. Glaciers move like rivers, 

 faster in the middle and above than at the sides 

 and along the bottom. The torrent of icy water 

 that issues from the lower end of them is simply 

 tin- result of melting. The largest glacier in the 

 world is the Muir, in Alaska; the largest in Eu- 

 rope is the Justeldals Brae, in Norway. 



(Glasgow, the industrial metropolis of 

 Scotland, is one of the largest and most im- 

 portant cities in the United Kingdom. It is 

 ited on the Clyde, which affords great fa- 

 cilities for steam-boat traffic and shipping. The 

 wharfs and docks afford extensive accommoda- 

 i for vessels of every description. Glasgow 

 is celebrated as the great Scottish emporium *>i 

 and manufactures. The annual tonnage 

 S..IIH- ].. -,00,000 tons. The trade 

 .la^u'ow rose about the middle of the la-t 

 irv. and n.n-i ted ehielly of American and 



Indian < merce. Since then the manu- 

 facture of cotton goods has risen to a great ex- 



, as also woolens, silks, glass, iron, stone- 



nid chemical-. 



i.r.tnd < anyon. -or^e throu-h \\hich 

 Colorado River flows in An/ona. 

 nil., in. m Flagstaff. It is one of the nutnr.il 

 lers with that country abound- 



00 is a gorge 217 miles 1,,'njr. or with 

 I' ht ion of Marble Canyon, connected with 

 -'> mil.-. It is from nine to thirteen miles 

 wide and 6,300 feet below the level of the pla- 

 teau. This depth is maintained for about fifty 



miles and surpasses that of any other canyon 

 in the world. 



Great Britain, or The British Em- 

 pire. Britain, or rather Britannia, was the 

 name which was given by the Romans to mod- 

 ern England and Scotland. The name Great 

 Britain was applied to England and Scotland 

 after James I. ascended the English throne in 

 1603. These with Ireland, the Isle of Man. 

 and the Channel Islands, constitute the British 

 Isles, or the United Kingdom of Great Britain 

 and Ireland; and if the colonial and other for- 

 eign possessions be added, they form the Brit- 

 ish Empire. Of this empire it may safely be 

 said that it is the greatest the world has ever 

 known. It covers an area five times the size 

 of the Persian Empire under Darius, and four 

 times that of the Roman Empire under Augustus. 



Great Britain proper is bounded on the north 

 by the Atlantic, on the east by the North Sea, on 

 the south by the English Channel, and on the west 

 by the Atlantic, the Irish Sea, and St. George's 

 Channel. The most northerly point is Dunnet 

 Head in Caithness; the most southerly Lizard 

 Point in Cornwall ; the most easterly, Lowestof t 

 Ness in Suffolk ; and the most westerly, Ardna- 

 murchan Point in Argyleshire. Its greatest 

 length is about 608 miles, and its greatest width 

 From Land's End to the east coast of Kent 

 about 320 miles; while its surface contains 

 87,971 square miles. As the rocks of Great 

 Britain form the typical series of the earth's 

 strata, the geology of that country become- of 

 great importance as a key to the universal com- 

 position of the crust of the globe. The whole of 

 the recognized series occur in Great Britain, 

 one or two only being developed more fully el-e- 

 where. All the physical features of the country 

 are intimately connected with its geological 

 structure. The older Paleozoic rocks produce 

 mountainous regions intersected with deep and 

 narrow valleys. The newer strata seldom rise 

 to a great height. The highlands are rounded 

 undulations of the strata, except where igneous 

 rocks are intruded; and the valleys are broad 

 and shallow. In Scotland there are consequent ly 

 two extensive mountainous districts occupied 

 chiefly with rocks of Silurian age, and inter\ ru- 

 ing valleys filled up with Old Red Sandstone 

 and Carboniferous measures. The climate of 

 Great Britain derives its peculiar character 

 from the insular situation of the country, taken 

 in connection uith the prevailing direction of 

 the winds. It is mild and e<jual>le in a remark- 

 able decree, the winters U-ing considerably 

 \\.i inier and the .summers cooler than at places 

 \\ithm the stme parallels of latitude. Itappenrs 

 from data furnished by tin- Knulish mete. 

 cal societies that the mean tem}>crature of Eng- 

 .-otland 17.5 The annual 

 ' in tiKMft district! where hills do not inter- 

 fere Is in England about twenty-five inches, and 

 similar parts of Scotland about tv. 



eies of plants or animals are |x 

 to Great Britain, its natural history 

 ing generally \\ith ti -mental I 



The flora of the greater part of the island re- 



sembles that ol ' 



I he British colonies and foreign 



include: 



