GREAT and LITTLE, the name of two straits which connect the Baltic with the Cattgat. The former lies between the islands of Zealand and Funen. Its greatest width is about twenty miles, and its depth varies from five to twenty fathoms. The navigation of the Great Belt is dangerous, from the number of sand-banks and small islands which it contains. The shores in general are neither bold nor lofty, but they afford convenient harbours and anchorage. Vessels passing this strait pay toll at Nyborg, where a guard-ship is stationed to enforce compliance. The Little Belt separates the island of Funen from Jutland. Its greatest breadth is not more than the half of that of the Great Belt, and at the fortress of Fredericia, where the tolls are levied, it does not exceed a mile. The depth is from four to twenty fathoms. It contains several sand-banks, and the current from the Baltic to the Cattgat is of great strength. The passage of both Belts is attended with risk for large vessels, and on that account the Sound is more generally frequented.

Baleens, properly denotes a kind of military girdle or cincture, usually of leather, by which the sword or any other weapon is sustained. The belt was an essential piece of the ancient armour; insomuch that we sometimes find it used to denote the whole armour. In later ages the belt was given to a person when he was raised to knighthood; and hence it has also been used as a badge or mark of the knightly order.

BELTS, in Astronomy. See Astronomy.