OF THE WHOLE EARTH.

12. The surface of the Earth contains nearly two hundred millions of square miles, and more than two-thirds of it is covered with water. Its circumference is 360 degrees, or 24,876 English miles: the average length of a degree being nearly 69, i of those miles.

13. The Land is divided into four great divisions, called quarters: viz. EUROPE, ASIA, AFRICA, and AMERICA.

Obs. 1. The natural boundaries of the earth are oceans, seas, rivers, and mountains.

2. Civil or political boundaries are the arbitrary and changeable limits of adjacent states or kingdoms, depending on political and military events.

14. The habitable parts of the earth are calculated to occupy a space of thirty-nine millions of square miles, of which Europe contains five; Asia eleven; Africa nine; and America fourteen.

15. The number of inhabitants is about eight hundred millions, and there are on each square mile in Europe 34, in Asia 46, in Africa 3, and in America 2 souls.

OF EUROPE.

16. EUROPE is the smallest of the four great divisions, or quarters, of the world; but it is inhabited by an active and intelligent race of mankind, who govern most of the other parts.

17. EUROPE Comprehends the independent countries, known by the names of

18. It has four inland seas, called the Mediterranean, the Baltic, the Black Sea, and the White Sea. The part of the Mediterranean which lies east of Candia, is called the Levant; and that on the north of the same island, the Archipelago.

19. The principal European islands are, Great Britain, Ireland, and Iceland, Candia, Sicily, Sardinia, and Corsica, with the Balearic Isles, which include Majorca, Minorca, and Iviza.

20. The principal rivers in Europe are, the Volga, the Danube, the Neiper, the Rhine, the Elbe, the Loire, the Tagus, and the Thames.

Obs. If the length of the Thames is taken at 1, then the length of the Rhine, the Danube, and the Volga, will be as 5, 7, and 94.

21. The most elevated mountains in Europe are, the Alps, which separate Italy from Germany and France; the Pyrenees, which lie between France and Spain; the Dofrafeld, between Norway and Sweden; and the Carpathian, which bound Hungary on the north and east.

Obs. The most mountainous countries in Europe are Switzerland, Norway, Wales, and Scotland. The country from France to Russia is almost a plain.

22. The principal capes and promontories of Eu

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rope are, the North Cape, the Naze of Norway, the Land's End of England, Cape Clear, Ireland, and the capes La Hague, Finisterre, St. Vincent, and Trafalgar.

OF SWEDEN.

23. The kingdom of Sweden now includes the extensive, but cold and thinly inhabited, countries, bounded by the Baltic, the gulf of Bothnia, and the Northern Ocean.

Obs. For nearly a thousand years Norway was subject to Denmark, but by late treaties among the European sovereigns, it was given to Sweden in lieu of Finland, which had previously been united to Russia. The kingdom of Sweden includes, therefore, at this day, the countries antiently called Scandinavia, and now known by the names of Lapland, Norway, and Sweden; which, though neither fertile nor populous, possess great capabilities in geographical position and mineral productions.

24. Lapland, the most northern part of Europe, and of the kingdom of Sweden, is covered with immense forests, chiefly of fir-trees; and with scanty pastures which nourish only the rein-deer.

25. The Laplanders are of diminutive size, but hospitable, generous, and courageous. In sledges, drawn by rein-deer, they will occasionally pass over hill and dale, two hundred miles in the same straight

course.

26. In the northern parts of Lapland the sun is absent about seven weeks in winter. The stars are visible at noon, and the moon shines without internission. In the summer, on the contrary, the sun never sets for seven weeks together.

Obs. These phenomena are explained and illustrated in the Problems on the Globes and Maps. See a future page of this Work, and also the introduction to my Royal Atlas.

27. NORWAY, an antient province of Denmark, was united to Sweden by the treaty of 1815, and thus it

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may give to that kingdom a maritime ascendancy. Its chief towns are Christiana and Bergen.

28. It is the most mountainous country in the world and the rivers and cataracts, which intersect the mountains, render travelling exceedingly dangerous.

29. The inhabitants have neither corn-fields nor gardens, but subsist chiefly by hunting and fishing. Horse-flesh is publicly sold in their markets as the ordinary food of the people.

30. On the coast of Norway are several thousand small islands, occupied by birds and some few fishermen; and here also is a dangerous vortex of the sea, called the Maelstroom.

31. The chief wealth of Norway consists of the fir timber, with which it supplies foreign nations. It possesses quarries of excellent marble, and mines of various metals; these it exchanges for corn and necessaries.

32. Exclusive of Norway and Lapland, Sweden Proper is divided into governments, or provinces, which include the islands Gottland and Eland.

33. The chief towns are Stockholm, the capital, which stands on seven rocky islands in 59° 20' of north latitude; Upsal, famous for its university; Gottenburg, a celebrated trading port; and Carlskrona, the naval port and arsenal.

Obs. Stockholm occupies seven small rocky islands, and the scenery around is truly singular and romantic. Most of the houses are of stone or brick, covered with white stucco; except in the suburbs, where several are of wood painted red. The royal palace stands in a central and high situation: and there are a castle, an arsenal, and several academies. The population is estimated at 85,000.

34. The chief wealth of Sweden arises from its mines of silver, copper, lead, and iron. The cop