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115. Straits.-The European straîts are very numerous. The following are among the most important with reference to navigation. The Straits of Waigatz or Kara, between Russia and Nova Zembla; the Sound, between Sweden and Zealand; the Great Belt, between Zealand and Funen; the Little Belt, between Funen and Jutland; the Straits of Dover, between England and France; of Gibraltar, between Spain and Africa; of Bonifacio, between Corsica and Sardinia; of Messina, between Italy and Sicily; the Hellespont or Dardanelles, joining the Archipelago and the Sea of Marmora; the Straits of Constantinople, joining the Sea of Marmora and the Black Sea; of Caffa, joining the Black Sea and the Sea of Azof.

116. Islands.-In the Atlantic and its branches: Great Britain and Ireland, with their dependent groups; Jersey, Guernsey, and Alderney, known as the Channel Islands; and the Feroe Islands. Το these must be added, notwithstanding their great distance, the Azores; on the principle that islands belong to the nearest continent: while, for the same reason, Iceland must be assigned to America.

117. In the Mediterranean and its branches: the Balearic Isles (Majorca, Minorca, Ivica), Corsica, Sardinia, the Lipari Isles, Sicily, Elba, Malta, the Illyrian Isles, the Ionian Isles (Corfu, Cephalonia, Zante, &c.), Candia, the Grecian Archipelago, (Negropont, &c.)

118. In the Baltic: Zealand, Funen or Fyen, and Falster, composing, with others, the Danish Archipelago; Oland and Gottland, belonging to

Sweden; Dago, Esel, and the Aland Isles, belonging to Russia.

119. In the Arctic Ocean and its branches: East Waagen, Hindoen, Nova Zembla (consisting of two islands), and Spitzbergen (the most northerly inhabited spot in the world).

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120. Continental Outline. - Europe is distinguished from all the other continents of the globe by the great irregularities of its shape and surface; and by the great number of its inland seas, gulphs, harbours, peninsulas, promontories, and headlands. This circumstance tends not only to influence the climate and the natural products of Europe, but to promote navigation and commerce, giving to the inhabitants that spirit of maritime enterprise by which they have so long been distinguished.

121. Peninsulas.-The general outline of Europe is singularly peninsular. Its largest peninsula consists of Norway, Sweden, and Lapland. The second in size consists of Spain and Portugal, and is often called "The Peninsula." Next to these rank Italy, Turkey, and Greece, with the sub-peninsula of the Peloponnesus or Morea, and others of less magnitude or less clearly defined.

122. Capes.-The capes of Europe are numerous. The principal are North Cape, in Lapland; Cape Skaw, in Denmark; Land's End, in England; Cape Wrath, in Scotland; Cape Clear, in Ireland; Cape la Hogue, in France; Capes Ortegal and Finisterre, in Spain; Capes Roca and St. Vincent, in Portugal; Cape Spartivento, in Italy; and Cape Matapan, in Greece.

123. Mountains.-Nearly two-thirds of the sur

face of Europe consists of an immense plain; the remainder is partly mountainous and partly hilly. The plain occupies the east part of the continent; and the hilly and mountainous countries extend along its western and southern shores. The mountains of Europe constitute several distinct systems.

124. The Alps compose the great central tableland of Europe, covering one-sixth of its whole area. Their principal branches spread over Switzerland, France, Germany, the Austrian Empire, Turkey, Greece, and Italy. The Apennines, Carpathians, Balkan, and others, all belong to, or are intimately connected with, this system. In the Pennine Alps, we find Mount Blane, the highest mountain in Europe, being 15,730 feet above the level of the sea. The Apennines traverse the whole length of Italy. In the southern Apennines, we find Vesuvius, near Naples; and in the insular Apennines, Etna and Stromboli; the former in Sicily, the latter in the Lipari Isles: these three are active volcanoes. The Eastern Alps, extending from Croatia to the Black Sea, include the Hamus Mountains in Turkey; and the mountains of Greece, as the Pindus chain, Olympus, and Parnassus; mountains not remarkable for their height, but rich in classical associations. The Carpathians stretch through Hungary; they are of moderate height only, but extremely rugged.

125. The Pyrenees, which separate France from Spain, extend through Spain, Portugal, and a part of France. They have many valleys, which are chiefly transversal. The oaks which clothe the sides of the hills impart a beauty to the Pyrenees which the fir-covered steeps of the Alps do not possess ;

but they are of difficult access, and only few of the passes are generally practicable.

126. The Dofrine mountains are the highest of the Scandinavian system, which embraces all the mountains of Norway, Sweden, and Lapland. This system differs from the Alps and Pyrenees, in not being a continued chain of summits, but a succession of table-lands, from twenty to thirty miles across.

127. Plains and Valleys.-A large portion of Europe, as already observed, consists of an immense plain but little elevated above the level of the sea, interspersed only here and there with a few detached hill-ranges of no great magnitude. Next to this rank the plains watered by the Lower Danube— Wallachia and Bulgaria; by the Middle Danube— Hungary; and by the Upper Danube-Bavaria. The third in size is the magnificent valley of the Po. The valleys of the Rhine between Bâle and Mentz, of the Upper Rhone in Switzerland, and of the Drave in Carinthia, are remarkable for their extent and beauty. Those of Norway and Scotland are long and narrow, and their bottoms frequently contain lakes of corresponding shape.

128. Although Europe presents no such deserts as some other parts of the surface of the globe, it contains several large sandy infertile plains: as the Steppes of Ryn, of the Oural, of the Crimea, and of Petchora, in Russia; the wilds of Sweden, Norway, and Lapland; the puztas of Hungary; similar districts in the kingdom of Hanover, in Russia, in the departments of the Landes and the Gironde in France, and in the Neapolitan province of Terra di Bari.

129. Rivers.-The great watershed of Europe, or the ridge dividing the waters which flow into the Mediterranean or the Black Sea from those which flow into the Baltic and the North Sea, runs through the continent in the general direction of north-east and south-west. The courses of the principal rivers are therefore, for the most part, southeast and north-west. The Wolga, Danube, Duiepr, and Don flow in the south-east direction; the Rhine and the Dwina in that of north-west. Nearly all the great rivers of Europe are in the east and northeast parts of the continent. Western Europe has but few rivers that have a course of more than 500 or 600 miles. Still, however, this part of the continent is extremely well watered; and some of the shortest rivers, as the Thames and the Shannon, afford the greatest facilities to internal navigation and commerce.

130. If the length of the Danube be represented by 100 parts, the length of the other principal rivers will be-Wolga 130, Dnieper 72, Don 69, Rhine 49, Elbe 42, Vistula 41, Loire 37, Tagus 32, Rhone 38, Tiber 10, and Thames 9, of those parts. The Wolga belongs rather to Asia than to Europe. The Danube is in all respects the first of European rivers, and, as it flows through several countries, shall be described under this general head.

131. The Danube.-The Danube originates in two streams on the east declivity of the Black Forest, in the Grand Duchy of Baden. It passes through the territories of Baden, Wirtemberg, Bavaria, and the Austrian Empire; divides Turkey from Wallachia, Moldavia, and Russia; and falls into the

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