EUROPE. 



497 



7. Rivers. The principal rive'- of Europe is the Volga., the only stream whose course ex- 

 ceeds 2,000 miles in length. 

 The Danube was long consid- 

 ered the largest European river, 

 but it has a course of less lhati 

 1,600 miles. The Danube rises 

 in the Black Forest in Baden, 

 becomes navigable at Ulm In 

 Bavaria, passes through th« 

 Austrian empire, and separates 

 Austria, Wallachia, and Rus- 

 sia, from the Ottoman empire ; 

 after receiving 30 navigable 

 streams, it enters the Black 

 Sea by five principal mouths. 

 The Dniester^ the Don., the 

 Vistula, the A'^iemen, the Oder, 

 the Elbe, the Rhine, the Loire, 

 and the Rhone, are the next 



most considerable rivers ot J^Airope. 



8. Face of the Countnj. The central part of this continent is, in general, mountainous 

 The whole northern part, extending from London and Paris to Kazan, and comprising the 

 northern part of France and Germany, the Dutch and Belgian Netherlands, Prussia, Poland, 

 and a great part of Russia, is a vast plain, little elevated above the level of the sea, and scarcely 

 broken by any considerable elevations. There are several elevated plains or plateaus in Eu- 

 rope, but of no great extent. The Swiss plateau, lying between the Jura and the Alps, has an 

 elevation of from 1,800 to 4,000 feet. Central Spain forms an elevated table-land, 2,200 feet 

 high, and the central part of Russia forms a similar plateau, about 1,200 feet high. 



9. Climate. In general, the climate of southern Europe may be described as mild, and that 

 of the north severe, with long and cold winters, and hot but short summers. The climate 

 of the western coast is,, however, tempered by the vicinity of the ocean, and the same cause 

 renders it liable to sudden and violent changes. That of the eastern part of the continent is 

 rendered much colder, in corresponding latitudes, by its exposure to the icy winds of northern 

 and central Asia. The heat, brought by the burning winds of the African deserts to the 

 southern countries, is, in general, tempered by their great exposure to the sea, occasioned by 

 the'r peninsular formation. The mountains of Switzerland, Spain, and Hungary, also modify 

 the character of the climate in the extensive districts, which they cover. 



10. Minerals. Europe is less ricii, in the precious minerals, than the other quarters of the 

 globe, but it produces great quantities of coal, iron, lead, tin, copper, and salt. Gold, silver, 

 platina (in the Ural Mountains), and mercury or quicksilver, which is of great importance in 

 working gold and silver mines, and diamonds (Ural mountains), and some other precious 

 stones, are also found in considerable quantities. 



1 1 . Vegetable Productions. The most south- 

 ern parts of Europe have a vegetation resem- 

 bling that of Africa, and here we find the date- 

 tree [Phanix daclylifera), dwarf-palm (Chamce- 

 rops humilis), and pisang {J\iusa paradisiaca) , 

 giving a tropical aspect to the country. In 

 these latitudes the fig, the olive, the orange, 

 the vine, and the maize, find a congenial cli- 

 mate, and even the sugar-cane is cultivated in 

 Sicily. The olive will not thrive, even in val- 

 leys, higher than 44° 30', nor will the vine yield 

 good wine north of 48°, except in a few shel- 

 Ohve Tree. tered spots. At about the northern limits of 



trie olive, that is, in the parallel of the south of France, the southern forms of vegetation dis- 

 appear : the Quercus cerris, so common in Italy and Turkey, is hardly seen, and evergreen oaks 

 (Q. //ej"), and common oaks (Q. Pfrfioicw/rtYrt and 5f5S7/7ora) , supply its place. Clusters of pines 



I] 3 



Source nf a river. 



