a province of the kingdom of Denmark, one of those by which the king becomes a member of the Germanic confederacy. It was an ancient duchy, and the termination of the ancient German empire, from the year 811 till its dissolution. It is bounded on the north by Sleswick, from which it is separated by the river Eider and the Sleswick Canal; on the north-east and east by the Baltic Sea; on the south-east by the territory of Lubeck and the duchy of Lauenburg; on the south by the Elbe and the state of Hamburg; and on the west by the German Ocean. The province extends over 3260 square miles, and comprehends fourteen cities, twenty-two market-towns, 141 parishes, with 486 villages, and 374,750 inhabitants. The population are of the Saxon race, and speak the common platt Deutch, but the educated portion of the people speak the German language; their speech, as well as their manners and customs, seem to have borrowed little from the Danes, though they have for many centuries been a part of the same kingdom.

The soil is upon the whole fruitful; for though, in the centre of the province, there is a long strip of poor sand, scarcely worth cultivation, yet on both sides the land is highly productive. The western side, especially near the shore, consists of some of the best meadow-land in Europe, on which are fattened those fine oxen the meat of which is known by the name Hamburg beef, and much of it is exported from that city, as well as from Altona. When, in the course of husbandry, these lands are broken up, they produce abundant crops of oats, and some very tolerable wheat. On the eastern side, upon the Baltic, is much excellent arable land, and tolerably well managed, yielding the best of butter, with some wheat and barley; but the principal corn grown is rye. It may be said of Holstein, that it is the best agricultural district in the north of Germany. The climate is, however, cold, raw, and changeable, which is injurious to its rural husbandry.

The trade of the province is considerable. On every part of the coasts of both seas the fisheries afford much occupation. The number of ships belonging to the several ports of Altona, Kiel, Flensburg, and Glückstadt, creates and employs many most valuable seamen. The chief trade consists of the export of corn, butter, cheese, bacon, cured fish, rape-seed, honey, and wax. The Greenland fishery is carried on from Altona. The import trade chiefly arises from the Danish colonies in the West Indies, the produce of which is brought to Altona or Flensburg.

The manufactures are of small amount, excepting that of building and equipping ships. There are some small establishments for making paper, cutlery, copper articles, and common ironmongery. The shores of the Baltic present very picturesque scenes, from the deep indentations of the sea (called fiorder) into the land, where they spread out and resemble lakes, and are bordered by woods rising gradually to the tops of the hills. From the eastern side of this country, in the district of Engeland, according to tradition, Hengist and Horsa, two of the princes, sailed on their expedition to our island.