Imágenes de página
PDF
ePub

tures are leather, in which Russia excels all other European na tions, linen, coarse woollens, soap, sail cloth, &c. Moscow and Petersburg are the principal manufacturing towns; but as to hard-ware, Tula, to the south of Moscow, is the Birmingham of Russia. The manufactories have greatly increased within a few years in 1808 the number was 2,525, but in 1815, 3,253, of which 1,348 were of leather, 295 of cotton goods, 184 of linen, 150 of soap, &c.

Commerce.] Russia carries on an extensive commerce by land with China, Persia, and Prussia; through the ports of the Black sea with the countries on the Mediterranean, and through the Baltic with the northern and western nations of Europe. The principal exports are hemp, flax, leather, tallow, potash, wax, soap, timber, pitch, tar, peltry and iron in bars. The imports are sugar, coffee, cotton and other colonial produce; superfine woollens, cotton goods, silks, dye stuffs, wine and brandy. The value of the exports in 1805 was about $72,000,000, and of the imports $55,000,000. Of the exports about three fifths are the produce of agriculture; one fifth, the produce of animals; one tenth, of the forest; and the remaining tenth of the mines and fisheries.

Islands. Nova Zembla is a very large island in the Arctic ocean, belonging to the Russian government of Archangel, from which it is separated by the straits of Waigatz. i extends from 69° to 76° N. lat. and is 500 miles long and 240 broad. The east coast has not yet been explored, being seldom accessible, on account of the ice by which it is surrounded. No part of this dreary and inhospitable island has any permanent inhabitants; but the south and west coasts are annually visited by hunters from Archangel who find here an abundance of bears, foxes, wild reindeer, and other animals valuable principally for their skins. The whale fishery is also prosecuted along the coast.

Spitzbergen or East Greenland, lies in the Arctic ocean between 76° 30′ and 80° 7′ N. lat. and between 9° and perhaps 22° E. lon. It extends farther north than any other land yet discovered, and is one of the most dreary and desolate regions imaginable. The principal objects which strike the eye are innumerable mountainous peaks, sharp summits or needles rising immediately out of the sea to an elevation of 3,000 or 4,000 feet, and covered with snow and ice of a dazzling brilliancy, while some of the adjoining mountains of less elevation are covered perpetually with a gloomy veil of black lichens, presenting a contrast altogether peculiar. The climate of Spitzbergen is intensely cold and more disagreeable to the feelings than that of any other country, the temperature, even in the warmest months not averaging more than 34 degrees. The island is uninhabited, but the coasts are visited every year by the Russians and other nations engaged in the whale fishery.

The isles of Aland, lying at the entrance of the gulf of Bothnia, formerly belonged to Sweden, but were ceded to Russia in 1809. They are about 80 in number. Aland, the largest, is 40 miles long, and contains 462 square miles and 11,260 inhabitants.

KINGDOM OF POLAND.

Situation, Extent and Population.] The kingdom of Poland is bounded N. by the Prussian provinces of East and West Prussia; E. by the Russian provinces of Bialystock, Grodno and Volhynia; S. by Galicia and the free city of Cracow; and W. by the Prussian provinces of Posen and Silesia. In shape it approaches to the form of a square of 200 miles, nearly in the middle of which stands Warsaw, the capital. The area is estimated at 49,730 square miles, and the population at 2,793,000, of which number more than 200,000 are Jews.

History. Poland was formerly a powerful country of Europe, comprehending besides the present kingdom, large tracts of country now incorporated with the Russian, Prussian and Austrian dominions. The area was estimated at 284,000 square miles, and the population at 15,000,000 souls. In 1773 this unhappy country became distracted by internal dissensions, which furnished Russia, Prussia and Austria with a pretence for interference. They accordingly took possession of a large portion of the country, and divided it between them. In 1793 they interfered a sec ond time, and made a second partition, and in 1795 they divided the remainder and annihilated the kingdom. The following table shows the result of the whole.

[blocks in formation]

During the late war in Europe, various changes and transfers of territory took place, but according to the final adjustment at the Congress of Vienna in 1815, the division was as follows.

[merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small]

Of these territories, the Prussian part is in the northwest, the Austrian in the south, the Russian in the east, and the new kingdom of Poland in the middle. Including the kingdom of Poland, the Russian portion now embraces nearly two thirds of the whole population, and more than twe thirds of the territory.

Government.] This country is subject to the emperor of Rus sia, who in consequence takes the title of "king of Poland," but it is governed in every respect as a separate monarchy, under a liberal constitution granted by the emperor in 1815. The regal dignity is vested in a viceroy, in whom, and in a cabinet of ministers, the executive power resides. There is a diet consisting of a senate of 30 members, and a chamber of representatives of 77 deputies. The ministers are accountable to the senate, being obliged to lay reports before it, and to submit to discussions, nearly in the form observed in the British parliament.

Revenue, Army, Religion. &c.] The revenue amounts to £900,000. The army consists of 50,000 men, of whom 20,000 are cavalry. The prevailing religion is the Roman Catholic, but all others are tolerated. The principal exports are corn, hemp, flax, cattle, timber, wax and honey. The most important river is the Vistula, which passes through the kingdom from S. E. to N. W.

Chief Towns.] Warsaw, the capital, is situated on the Vistula, a little north of the centre of the kingdom in lat. 52° 14′ N. and lon. 21° 3' E. It contains a great number of churches and convents, and many beautiful palaces of stone mixed in with a great multitude of mean wooden hovels. Here is a university established in 1816. The population is estimated at 70,000, or including Praga on the opposite side of the river, 76,000, of whem 10,000 are Jews. Lublin, 85 miles S.E. of Warsaw, is a place of considerable trade, and contains 7,000 inhabitants.

CRACOW. The free city of Cracow is situated in lat. 50° N. and lon. 20° E. in an extensive plain, at the confluence of the Rudowa with the Vistula, 128 miles S. S. W. of Warsaw, near the point where the Russian, Prussian and Austrian dominions meet. It has three suburbs, one of which, Casimir, lies on the opposite bank of the Vistula. The town is well situated for trade and is a staple city for Hungarian, Silesian, and Galician wares. The population is 25,000, of whom many are Jews. In 1815, by an act of the Congress of Vienna, Cracow, with a small territory adjacent, was constituted a free state under the protection of Russia, Prussia and Austria. The whole territory included in the new state contains 430 square miles and 61,000 inhabitants. The form of government is a democracy. The prevailing religion is the Roman Catholic, but all others are tolerated.

KINGDOM OF THE NETHERLANDS.

Situation and Extent.] The kingdom of the Netherlands is bounded N. by the German ocean; E. by Germany; S. by France, and V. by the German ocean. It extends from 49° 30' to 53° 34′ N. lat. and from 2° 35′ to 7° 5' E. lon. The area is estimated at 25,565 square miles.

Divisions.] The kingdom is divided into 18 provinces, the extent and population of which are given in the following table.

[blocks in formation]

Face of the Country.] The face of the country is uncommonly level and low. In the northern provinces there are neither mountains nor hills to relieve the eye from the monotony of a continued flat; and from the top of a tower or steeple, the only elevation commanding an extensive view, the country appears like a vast marshy plain, intersected in all directions by an infinite number of canals and ditches. Such a prospect is not, however, altogether uninteresting: it exhibits vast meadows of the freshest verdure, and covered with numerous herds of cattle; sheets of water, sometimes flowing and sometimes stationary; while at intervals clusters of trees, and in the environs of large towns, elegant country houses, situated in the middle of gardens and parks, and decorated with statues and busts, vary and enliven the scene.

The lowest tracts of country are in the provinces along the coast, many parts of which are below the level of the sea at high water. To prevent inundation, there are along the coasts, dikes or mounds of earth which have been erected at great expense, and are justly considered as among the greatest efforts of human industry. These mounds vary in height and thickness according to their situation; they present a gradual slope on each side, and the breadth at the top is often sufficient to allow two carriages to

go abreast. The great rivers are bordered with similar dikes and provided at convenient distances with sluices, by means of which the country can be laid under water on the approach of an enemy. The Dutch have also attempted, in particular situations, to regain portions of their country from the sea, and have actually succeeded in recovering considerable tracts. These, when surrounded by a dike, admit of being drained and converted into pasture land.

In the eastern provinces, bordering on Germany, the land is somewhat higher, and contains a few elevations but none which deserve the name of mountains. The southern provinces of Hainault, Namur, Liege and Luxemburg are the most elevated portions of the kingdom, and in some parts are mountainous, particularly Luxemburg.

Seas. The Zuyder Zee is a great bay of the German ocean setting up between the provinces of Holland, Utrecht, Gelderland, Overyssel and Friesland, and covering an area of more than 1200 square miles. The Haarlem sea is a lake in the province of Holland, 14 miles long and as many broad, communicating with the Zuyder Zee through the river Y which passes by Amsterdam..

The Biesboch is a large lake or arm of the sea, in the S. E part of the province of South Holland, between Dort and Gertruydenburg. It was formed in the year 1421, by an inundation of the sea, which burst the dykes and suddenly overwhelmed 72 villages containing 100,000 inhabitants. A few islands are the only remains of this once fruitful tract. The river Maese passes through the lake.

Rivers.] Several navigable rivers terminate their course in this kingdom, all of which rise in other countries. 1. The Rhine comes from Germany and immediately on crossing the frontier divides into two great branches, the most southern of which, called the Waal, flows west and joins the Maese; the northern branch before arriving at Arnheim again divides into two streams, of which one, assuming the name of Yssel, takes a northerly direction, and falls into the Zuyder Zee, while the main branch proceeds from Arnheim to Wyk, where it once more forms two streams; the larger called the Leck joins the Maese above Rotterdam, while the branch still bearing the name of the Rhine, now reduced to comparatively insignificant river, proceeds by Utrecht and Ley. den to the sea. 2. the Maese or Meuse rises in France and in its progress through the Netherlands receives the Sambre at Namur, the Ourthe at Liege, the Roer or Ruhr at Ruhrmonde, and the Waal at Loevestein, soon after which it divides and passes under various names to the German ocean. 3. The Scheldt rises in France, and in its progress through the Netherlands receives the Lys at Ghent, the Dender at Dendermonde, at Rupelmonde the Rupel (which is formed by the union of the Dyle and the Great and Little Neethe) after which it passes by Antwerp and dividing into two principal branches, called the East and West Scheldt forms at its mouth the islands of Zealand.

« AnteriorContinuar »