THE ATLANTIC OCEAN. 
—_—— 
THE ATLANTIC is much better known to us than 
any other of the great divisions of the Ocean, be- 
cause, washing the shores of the principal commerical 
nations, it has been more traversed and explored. 
Its edges, on each side, are, in a greater degree than 
those of any other, hollowed into bays and harbours, 
and it is connected with the chief inland seas, such 
as the Baltic, Mediterranean, and Black Seas, on the 
one hand, and the Gulf of Mexico, and the Bays, 
or, rather Seas, of Hudson and Baffin, on the other. 
If, then, the importance of an Ocean is estimated by 
the length of the line of coast which borders it; the 
Atlantic takes precedency of all, exceeding even the 
Pacific in this respect, in the proportion of about 
four to three. It is remarkable, that it is the north- 
ern half which has so winding a coast, and to which, 
also, are confined the inland seas: and it is this part 
that is bordered with nations celebrated for naviga- 
tion and commerce, the maritime nations of Europe 
and the United States. Unlike the Pacific, whose 
vast solitudes are rarely broken by the presence of 
a ship, the Atlantic is continually ploughed by the 
keels, and spangled with the banners, of powerful 
empires, conveying from shore to shore those diver- 
sified commodities, the interchange of which so 
‘ P (169) 
