in Grecian mythology, the daughter of Agenor king of Phoenicia, from whom the continent of Europe is said to have derived its name. Her beauty was such that Jupiter himself became passionately attached to her, and, assuming the form of a bull, carried her away on his back over the sea to Crete. Her children, Minos, Sarpedon, and Rhadamantus, were adopted by Asterius, king of that island, to whom Europa was ultimately married.
Europe,
One of the great divisions of the globe. On a first view Europe appears to be less favoured by nature than the other quarters of the globe over which it has obtained so great an ascendancy. It is much smaller in extent; its rocky and mountainous surface does not admit of those noble rivers, like inland seas, which lay open the remotest regions of Asia and of America to the commerce of the world. Its vegetable productions are neither so various nor so exuberant; and it is poorly supplied with the precious metals, and with many of those commodities on which mankind set the greatest value. On the other hand, the climate of Europe, if it nourishes a less luxuriant vegetation, is of an equal and temperate kind, well adapted to preserve the human frame in that state of health and vigour which fits it for labour, and promotes the development of the intellectual and moral powers. The mountains that intersect its surface are barriers which enabled infant communities to protect themselves from violence, and to lay the foundation of arts, knowledge, and civilization. If it has few large navigable rivers, its inland seas and bays are, from their position and extent, the finest in the world, and have been the means of creating and nourishing that commercial spirit which has been one great source of its improvement. Though comparatively deficient in gold and silver, it is abundantly supplied with those useful metals and minerals which minister still more essentially to the wants of civilized life. Its apparent defects have become the source of real benefits, and the foundation of its grandeur. The disadvantages of its soil and climate have excited the industry of its inhabitants, given them clearer ideas of property, kindled a resolute spirit to defend their rights, and called into existence that skill and enterprise, and those innumerable arts Europe, and inventions, which have enabled the inhabitants of this apparently barren and rocky promontory to command the riches and luxuries of all the most favoured regions of the globe. It is only in Europe that knowledge and the arts seem to be indigenous. Though they have appeared at times among some of the nations of Asia, they have either stopped short after advancing a few steps, or they have speedily retrograded and perished, like something foreign to the genius of the people. In Europe, on the contrary, they have sprung up at distant periods, and in a variety of situations; they have risen spontaneously and rapidly, and declined slowly; and when they disappeared, it was evident they were but crushed for the time by external violence, to rise again when the pressure had subsided. It is only in Europe, and among colonies of Europeans, that the powers of the human mind, breaking through the slavish attachment to ancient usages and institutions, have developed that principle of progressive improvement, of which it is impossible to calculate the final results. The rudest tribe in Europe, in which this principle has taken root, has a certain source of superiority over the most improved nations of Asia and Africa, where society remains perfectly stationary. If these nations are ever destined to advance in civilization, they must borrow from Europe those arts which she has invented, and which belong to civilized life in every climate. But the tenacious adherence of rude nations to the customs and superstitions of their ancestors, will not allow us to hope that the benefits of civilization will be rapidly diffused in this way. It is more probable that colonies from the older states of Europe will multiply as the population becomes more and more redundant; and that these colonies will carry the arts and knowledge, the language and manners, of Europe with them, to the other quarters of the world. From prejudices on both sides, it is found that two races, in very different stages of civilization, do not readily amalgamate; and it is therefore probable that the feebler inhabitants of these countries, like the American Indians, will be gradually displaced by the continual encroachments of the more energetic races of Europe.
Europe is bounded on the N. and W. by the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans; on the S. by the Mediterranean, the Black Sea, and Mount Caucasus; on the E. by the Caspian Sea, the river Ural, and the Uralian Mountains. The greatest length of the continent is from Cape St Vincent to the Sea of Kara, in the direction of N.E. and S.W., and is 3490 English miles. Its greatest extent from N. to S. is from Cape Matapan to Cape North, 2420 miles. The superficies of Europe, including the Açores, Iceland, Nova Zembla, and all its other islands, is 3,700,000 English, or 2,800,000 geographical square miles; and the length of its coast line is about 16,000 miles.
The climate of Europe is distinguished by two peculiarities. It enjoys a higher mean temperature than any of the other great divisions of the world in the corresponding latitudes; and it is not subject to such violent extremes of heat and cold. These advantages it owes chiefly to its numerous seas, inland bays, and lakes, which render its temperature similar to that of islands; and partly also, according to Humboldt, to its situation at the western extremity of the greatest range of dry land on the surface of the globe; the western sides of all continents being warmer than the eastern. Europe lies almost entirely within the temperate zone, not more than one-fourteenth part of its surface being within the arctic circle. Only a very small part of it is uninhabitable from cold, and it nowhere suffers much from excessive heat. The mean temperature at its southern extremity, in the latitude of 36°, is about 66° of Fahrenheit; and at Cape North, in the latitude of 71°, where the mean temperature is 32°, the cold is not greater than in the latitudes of 55° or 56° on the east coasts of Asia and America. Hence Europe is habitable at a higher latitude by 12° or 14° than either of these continents.
There is a difference of the same kind between the temperature of the sea-coasts of Europe and the interior. In islands, and on the sea-coast, the mean temperature of the year is higher, and the heat is more equally distributed through the different seasons. As we advance from the coast eastward the mean annual temperature diminishes, but the heat of summer and the cold of winter increase. Thus London has the same mean annual temperature as Vienna, but it has the summer of St Petersburg, and the winter is warmer than at Milan. The Mediterranean, the Baltic, and inland lakes, produce the same effect as the ocean, in an inferior degree. The following table shows, I. The temperature of the year, and the various seasons, in places having the same latitude; II. The different distribution of heat through the various seasons in places having the same mean annual temperature.
| Places | Mean Temperature | |--------|------------------| | | Of the Year | Winter | Spring | Summer | Autumn | Warmest Month | Coldest Month | | I. Lat. 56° | Edinburgh... | 47·8 | 38·6 | 46·4 | 58·2 | 48·4 | 59·4 | 38·3 | | | Copenhagen... | 45·6 | 30·8 | 41·2 | 62·6 | 48·4 | 65·0 | 27·2 | | | Moscow....... | 40·2 | 10·8 | 44·0 | 67·1 | 38·3 | 70·6 | 6·0 | | II. Lat. 48° | St Malo...... | 54·4 | 44·2 | 52·2 | 66·0 | 55·8 | 67·0 | 41·8 | | | Vienna....... | 50·6 | 32·8 | 51·2 | 69·2 | 50·6 | 70·6 | 26·6 | | | Dublin 35°21' | 49·2 | 39·2 | 47·3 | 59·6 | 50·6 | ... | ... | | | Prague 50°2' | 49·4 | 31·4 | 47·6 | 68·9 | 50·2 | ... | ... |
The mountains of Europe are more numerous in proportion to its extent than those of the other great continents, but they are of less elevation than the mountains of America and Asia. The highest and the most extensive chains in Europe run generally in the direction of east and west, and are placed near its southern shores. The central mass of the Alps, with which all the other mountains in the south of Europe are connected, forms the summit of the continent, and determines the position of the surface and the courses of most of the rivers.
The principal mass of the Alps extends in a semicircle from Nice, on the shores of the Mediterranean, to Trieste, on the Adriatic, a distance of 550 miles. Southward of Mont Blanc the Alps consist of a single chain, with many lateral branches, which lie chiefly on the west side; but immediately to the eastward of Mont Blanc the principal chain divides into two, which inclose the sources of the Rhone. These meet again at St Gothard, and on the east side of it part into three chains, one of which loses itself in Bavaria, another in Austria near Vienna, and the third terminates near Trieste. A lateral chain of no great elevation passes eastward, and connects the Alps with the mountains of European Turkey. Smaller branches connect the Alps with the Bohemian and Carpathian Mountains on the north, with the Vosges and Cevennes on the west, and, through the latter, with the Pyrenees. The Apennines are but a prolongation of the Alps on the south. Mont Blanc, the loftiest of the Alps, and the highest mountain in Europe, has an elevation of 15,680 English feet; and Mont Rosa, the Jungfrau, the Schreckhorn, and several other summits, approach to this height. The elevation of the chain diminishes towards both extremities. In general, the escarpments, or steepest sides, are turned towards Italy, and the lateral and subordinate branches are most numerous, and extend farthest, on the opposite side. The central chain of the Alps consists chiefly of granite, gneiss, sienite, and other crystalline rocks. Among the lateral ridges, to the westward of St Gothard, calcareous rocks belonging to the chalk and greensand abound, and a large area is covered by the Molasse and other tertiarys. On both sides are found great deposits of gravel, and large detached blocks or boulders, often at a vast distance from their original situations.
Eastward from St Gothard the central chain is accompanied on each side by a calcareous chain of great elevation. Though the summits of the Alps are steep and rocky, and the higher valleys are filled with glaciers, there is much good soil below. The vine grows at the height of 1600 feet above the sea, the oak at the height of 3390, corn at 4200 feet, and the larch at 6720 feet. At 6400 feet above the sea we have the climate of Lapland in latitude 68°, so that a degree of latitude in the northern half of the temperate zone in Europe corresponds to an elevation of about 290 feet. The lower limit of perpetual snow, according to Humboldt, is at the height of 8160 feet, in the latitude of 46°.
Pyrenees. The chain of the Pyrenees, which is next to the Alps in elevation, runs in the direction of east and west. Its length is about 240 miles; but, if we include the Cantabrian Mountains, which continue in the same line without interruption, the whole length will be about 500 miles. The central chain of the Pyrenees proper is of granite, but the most elevated summits are of secondary limestone, and lie on the south side of the granite. Mont Perdu, esteemed the loftiest of the whole range, consists of fetid limestone, and rises to the height of 11,270 feet. The south side of the Pyrenees is rugged and precipitous; but on the north there is a gradual descent to the plains of France by a series of parallel ridges diminishing in height. The Cantabrian Mountains are lower than the Pyrenees, and present their steepest sides to the north. There are four other chains of mountains in Spain, all running in a direction approaching to east and west, and all connected with one another and with the Pyrenees. The highest of these is the Sierra Nevada, the southernmost, one of whose summits rises to the height of 11,660 feet. The lower limit of perpetual snow on the Pyrenees is at the height of 8960 feet. The red pine grows at the height of 7480 feet, which is about 700 feet higher than any species of trees on the Alps.
Apennines. The Apennines form an uninterrupted chain 750 miles in length, extending from the south-west termination of the Alps near Nice to the Straits of Messina. The southern extremity in Calabria consists chiefly of granite, gneiss, and crystalline rocks. From the Gulf of Tarentum, northward to the Alps, the prevailing rocks in the central ridges belong to the chalk, greensand, and probably the oolitic formations, which are flanked by tertiary deposits, and in some parts by volcanic tuffs. The most considerable elevations are about the middle of the chain, where Il Granasso rises to the height of 9570 feet.
Carpathians. The Carpathian and Sudetic Mountains, with the Erzgebirge and Boehmerwald, may be considered as forming one continued chain, the length of which, from the point where it strikes the Danube in Hungary, to the point where it strikes the same river in Bavaria, is about 1200 miles, exclusive of the transverse branches which separate Moravia from Bohemia and Hungary. The declivities of this long range of mountains are steepest on the south side. The elevations are lowest on the west, and generally increase as we advance eastward, till we come to the sources of the Theiss in the north of Hungary, after which they again decline. The Fichtelberg, at the westmost point of the chain, is 4030 feet high; Schneckoppe, the highest of the Sudetic Mountains, is 5280 feet, and Lomnitz in Hungary, the loftiest of the whole range, is 8460 feet. None of these mountains rise to the region of perpetual snow, the lower limit of which, according to Wahlenberg, is about 60 feet above the summit of Lomnitz. The rocks of these chains consist of granite, gneiss, and siliurians, associated with greensand and oolites. Corn and fruit trees are said to grow at a greater height upon the Carpathians than upon the Alps, though the latter are two degrees farther south.
The chain of the Dovrefeld, Dofrines, or great Scandinavian Alps, is about 1000 miles in length, and has a general elevation of from 3000 to 6000 feet. The altitude of Skagstos Find, the highest mountain of the chain, is 8400 feet. These mountains consist almost entirely of the older rocks, and present their steepest sides to the west. On Sulitelma, the highest mountain of this chain in Lapland, in latitude 67° 10', the lowest limit of perpetual snow is at the height of 3500 feet.
The Urals, or Uralian Mountains, which form the north-eastern boundary of Europe, extend from N. to S. through 20° latitude, with a breadth of about 40 miles. They rise very imperceptibly from the plains on both sides, and, where they are crossed by the road from Moscow to Siberia, the ascent and descent are so nearly imperceptible that, were it not for the precipitous banks alongside of them, the traveller would hardly suppose he was crossing a range of hills. The general elevation of that part of the range seems not to exceed 1350 feet, and the base on which it rests is itself 900 feet above the level of the sea. To the north of 58° 20' there are several summits that rise to 2500 feet; but the higher part of the range is situated to the N. of 59°, and the highest of all, the Daneshkenkamen lies to the N. of 60°. The chain consists of palaeozoic formations resting upon, and penetrated by igneous rocks. They contain much gold, which is procured by washing the thick masses of gravel resting on their flanks. Towards the S., the Urals diverge into or are connected with a number of small ranges that extend to the shores of the Caspian Sea and the Aral, and into the steppes of the Kirghiz, and even seem to be connected with the Ust-Urt, or High Plain, that rises to an elevation of 770 feet between the two seas. The Urals are rich in minerals, especially in gold and platinum, but these are found in most abundance on the eastern or Asiatic side of the range. The mountains of Nova Zembla may be considered as a prolongation of the Urals. Their principal summit is Glassowsky, which has an elevation of about 2500 feet above the level of the sea.
The great range of Caucasus, which is now assumed to be the south-eastern boundary of Europe, extends in a north-westerly and south-easterly direction along the north-east coast of the Black Sea, and across the isthmus, terminating with a series of low hills in the peninsular promontory of Abercon on the W. side of the Caspian Sea, along which its diverging branches form a large Daghestan, or hill country. The length of the principal chain is about 700 miles, with a breadth varying from about 60 to 140. The loftiest summits are found near the middle part of the chain, and are covered with perpetual snow. Elburz, the highest peak, has an elevation of 17,796 feet; Kasbec, the next highest, of 15,345; and the crest of the pass of Dariel, through which the only practicable road is carried, between Vladi-Kaukas and Teflis, rises to 8000 feet. The snow-line along the chain is between 10,000 and 11,000 feet above the level of the sea. The mountains of the Crimea, though separated from the Caucasus by the strait of Yeni-kaleli, and the alluvial delta of the river Kuban, would seem to be a prolongation of the chain, separated by some volcanic convulsion. This, however, may be considered doubtful, as there are no igneous rocks at all in the Crimea, so far at least as yet known, while granite is to be found in the Caucasus. The geological structure, however, of the Caucasus is very various. A considerable portion of the higher regions consists of white limestone, with ridges of black slate. The loftiest peaks are composed of granite, hornblende, schistes, porphyry, and trachytes. Many parts of the range are exceedingly craggy and precipitous; but, in other places, are found level plains and very beautiful and fertile valleys. A long mountain range extends in an irregular curve from the Adriatic to the Black Sea, in the latter of which it terminates with Eminen Burun, or Cape Haemus. The western portion, however, of the range properly belongs to the Dinaric Alps; and the Turkish Balkans (ancient Haemus) begins near the sources of the river Lepentz, 21° E. Long., a point from which two great ranges diverge, one to the south, forming the ancient Pindus, while the Haemus or Balkan range extends eastward, with a general elevation of less than 5000 feet, though a few of its summits reach the limit of perpetual snow; and the Tchar-dagh, the culminating point, rises to about 9700 feet. The range is broken through by numerous ravines, deep and narrow, and of the most terrific appearance; but there are also several practicable passes. The south side of the range consists of argillaceous schist, and is much more precipitous than the north side, which is calcareous. The range is well wooded, and believed to be rich in minerals. Near the east end a minor range, called the Little Balkan, diverges in a south-easterly direction, and, running parallel to the shores of the Black Sea, terminates near the Bosphorus. From the Tchar-dagh the Pindus extends southwards, dividing Albania from Rumelia, and forming a long range of wild hill-country with many lofty summits. To the south, it is connected with the mountains of Greece, which divide that country into a number of valleys and promontories. But the loftiest range is the Despoto-dagh, which is connected with the Balkans near 42° N. Lat. and 24° E. Long., and extends eastward between the basin of the river Mariza and the shore of the Archipelago. Its summits reach an elevation of 8000 feet, and it is chiefly composed of crystalline slates, gneiss, granite, and granular limestone.
Besides the Alps, which form its south-eastern border, and the Pyrenees, which divide France from Spain, there are in France several mountain ranges of considerable elevation. The Cevennes, the Forez, and the mountains of Auvergne, form together a group that divides the low country on the Mediterranean and the basin of the Rhone from the plains that extend westward to the Atlantic Ocean and the Bay of Biscay. The elevation of most of the summits is only between 3000 and 5000 feet; but in Auvergne, the Plomb-de-Cantal rises to 6093 feet, and the Puy-de-Sancy to 6221. Between France and Switzerland the range of Jura has nearly the same elevation; and further north the range of the Vosges divides the basin of the Rhine from that of the Moselle, but it is comparatively low, its summits ranging from about 1400 feet to 4000, and the loftiest rising only to 4693 feet above the level of the sea. From the plateau of Langres, in the department of the Haute Marne, a ridge of high ground, scarcely rising into hills, proceeds westward, between the Seine and the Loire, terminating in Finistere, while other ridges extend northwards into Belgium, separating the valleys of the Moselle, the Meuse, and the Marne.
The mountains of Britain are comparatively insignificant. They extend in a long range, or series of ranges, with many divergencies and interruptions, along the west side of the island, about 630 miles in length; but it is only in Wales and the north-western parts of England and Scotland that they attain an elevation comparable to that of even the lowest of the continental ranges we have mentioned. Snowdon, in Caernarvonshire, the highest mountain in Wales, rises only to 3570 feet; Helvellyn and Scafell, in Cumberland, to 3055 and 3166; Ben Nevis and Ben Muck-Dhui, in Scotland, to 4370 and 4390. They consist principally of primary and transition rocks.
The Pyrenees, the Cevennes, Forez, Vosges, Jura, Alps, Apennines, Bohemian and Hercynian Mountains in Germany, Carpathians, and the Balkans, form together, as we have seen, a long range of high ground, inclosing many elevated valleys, and leaving between them and the shores of the Mediterranean Sea, only a series of long narrow strips of lowland. To the northward, however, Europe sinks into an immense plain, which extends all the way from the German Ocean and the North Sea to the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, and the shores of the Caspian and Black Seas. This plain would seem to have formed, since the commencement of the tertiary period of geology, though perhaps not all at the same time, the bed of the sea; for it is everywhere covered with tertiary formations and marine drift, and contains the fossil remains of animals that could only have lived in salt water. It includes the whole basins of the Baltic and White Seas; and the Scandinavian mountains would seem to have formed a large island bordering it on the N.W. The south-western portion of the plain is traversed by the large rivers that flow northwards from the Alps, and the Bohemian and Sudetic Mountains, which form the watershed between it and the basins of the Danube, the Rhone, and the Po; but eastward the watershed between the Baltic and the Caspian and Black Seas, only a few hundred feet in elevation, may be traced from a spur of the Carpathians, near the source of the Dnieper, through the Russian provinces of Volhynia, Grodno, Minsk, Smolensk, Bialystock, Pskov, Twer, Novgorod (where it forms a sort of plateau, and rises into the Valdai Hills, the highest of which is only 1370 feet above the level of the Baltic Sea), and Vologda, to the Ural Mountains at the sources of the Petchora. The northern slope, forming the basin of the White Sea, possesses a barren soil and a cold climate, and towards the north stretches out into immense plains, covered with moss, marshy in summer, frozen in winter, only interrupted with a few rocky ridges. The southern slope improves in quality as it advances southward, and the middle region is a country of great fertility; but farther south this fertile region is separated from the Black Sea and the Caspian by the steppes, the surface of the higher portion of which is in general only about 200 feet above the level of the sea, though towards the Caspian it sinks much lower. Throughout the whole space occupied by the higher steppes, which extend westward from the Don and the Manysth, along the Sea of Azof and the Black Sea, including three-fourths of the Crimea, and crossing the Dnieper westward along its right bank, till they meet the outskirts of the fertile regions of Little Russia, there is nothing to be seen but a coarse, rank grass, except in the hollows along the river banks, which produce a finer vegetation. The soil of the lower steppes, which extend along the Caspian Sea from the river Ural to the foot of Caucasus, with a breadth of from 250 to 300 miles, is covered with a fine sand mixed with shells, producing no trees or shrubs, but only at certain seasons a scanty grass. It is everywhere strongly impregnated with salt, as if the region had recently been, what there is every reason to believe it was, the bed of a sea.
Europe contains several volcanic regions, in some of which the volcanic agency is still active, while in others it has been long quiescent at least, if not extinct. A volcanic belt is believed to extend through Central Asia, and Asia Minor, the Archipelago, Greece, Naples, Sicily, the southern parts of Spain and Portugal to the Açores. In the Archipelago, the island of Santorin has been the grand centre of volcanic action for the last 2000 years; and the neighbouring island of Milo is also a volcano of recent aspect, though the epochs of its eruptions are not known. On the eastern shore of Sicily rises the stupendous cone of Etna or Mongibello, to the height of 10,873 feet, composed entirely of volcanic products, and known to have been in activity for nearly 2500 years. To the northward of Etna, the islands of Stromboli, Vulcano, and Vulcanello, in the Lipari group, are still active, throwing out continually both fire and smoke. To the south-west of Sicily the island of Pantelleria is entirely volcanic, and covered with prodigious quantities of lava, pumice, and scoria. Livy mentions (Book 39) that an Europe.
The island was said to have risen out of the sea near Sicily in the year 183 B.C., and in A.D. 1831 a volcanic island actually rose from the sea, between Sicacca and Pantelleria, but soon disappeared, being washed away by the waves. On the shore of the Gulf of Naples stands Mount Vesuvius, a volcano in constant activity; while to the westward of that city there is a volcanic region, including the island of Ischia, where the fire has been quiescent since the sixteenth century. Further north, round Rome, there are several extinct volcanic craters, most of which are now filled with water, forming so many beautiful though unwholesome lakes. Near the coast of Valencia, in Spain, the islands of Columbretes are the remnants of an extinct crater, and the traces of another volcanic region are to be found near Olot in Catalonia. The Azores (if they should be reckoned to Europe) are all apparently of volcanic origin, but contain no active volcanoes. Along the whole line of this volcanic belt, earthquakes are frequent and destructive. On each side of the line of greatest commotion there are parallel belts of country where the shocks are less violent. At a still greater distance, as far as the foot of the Alps, there are spaces where the shocks are rarer and much feebler; though while we are writing (January 1855) we have learned that two severe shocks of an earthquake were felt at both Nice and Turin, early in the morning of 29th December 1854. Beyond these limits again all the countries of western Europe are liable to slight tremors, at distant intervals of time; but these may be considered as mere vibrations. Shocks of this kind have been felt in England, Scotland, northern France, and Germany, particularly during the tremendous earthquake that destroyed Lisbon in 1755.
Besides the volcanoes that are still active, or have been so within historic times, there are traces of extinct volcanic action in different parts of Europe. The plain of Limagne, in Auvergne, in Central France, forms the base of a long chain of volcanic cones and domes, which, to the number of 70, form a zone of nearly 20 miles in length by 2 in breadth, and varying in height from 500 to 4000 feet. The whole of these cones present the same general character, that of well-defined craters, inclosed by regular cones, on whose sides the lava currents may be traced, as easily as on those of Vesuvius. Appearances of the same kind are found near Velay, in the Viverais. Near the Rhine the chains of the Vogelberg and Westerwald are formed of volcanic products; and the Eifel, a group of hills near the left bank of the Rhine, in the Prussian government of Aachen, or Aix-la-Chapelle, exhibits all the signs of extinct volcanic action, in its conical elevations, lava streams, and round deep craters now filled with water.
Far to the north-west of the mainland of Europe, the island of Iceland forms a volcanic region apart. The whole island appears to be of volcanic formation; there are several volcanoes still in full activity, and in the interior there are vast tracts covered with lava, scoria, and volcanic sand. From the beginning of the twelfth century there is clear evidence that, during the whole period, there has never been an interval of more than forty, and very rarely one of twenty years, without either an eruption or a great earthquake. Some eruptions of Mount Hecla have even lasted six years without intermission; but from 1783 that volcano remained quiescent till 1845, when it broke out anew. Earthquakes have often shaken the whole island at once, causing great changes in the interior; and new islands have often been thrown up near the coasts. In the intervals between eruptions, innumerable hot springs give vent to subterranean heat, and solfatara discharge copious streams of inflammable matter. In the south-western part of the island, nearly a hundred intermittent springs of steam and boiling water, the celebrated Geysers, are said to be found within a circle of two miles. The island of Jan Mayen, between Iceland and Spitzbergen, contains an active volcano; and the mountain of Sarytcheff, in the northern island of Nova Zembla, is the most northern volcano at present known.
Europe is well watered with rivers, but they are mere brooks compared with the mighty streams of Asia and America, and, from the unevenness of the surface, afford in general no great extent of inland navigation. The Danube, the largest river that is entirely in Europe, is about 1500 miles in length, and drains an area of 370,000 square miles. But the Amazons, though only twice the length of the Danube, drains a surface seven times as large, and equal to four-fifths of the continent of Europe; and, as the quantity of rain that falls in tropical countries is much greater than in northern latitudes, it is probable, notwithstanding the increased evaporation there, that the Amazons conveys more water than all the rivers of Europe put together. If we divide the length of the Danube into a hundred parts, the length of the principal rivers of Europe, expressed in these parts, will be as follows: Danube, 100; Volga, 130; Dnieper, 72; Don, 69; Rhine, 49; Elbe, 42; Vistula, 41; Loire, 37; Tagus, 32; Oder, 31; Rhone, 30; Seine, 25; Po, 21; Tiber, 10; Thames, 9.
The courses of the great rivers show the fall of the country through which they flow, but it would be absurd to take the average of the fall per mile from the measurements of their whole lengths, for, with the exception of the Volga, and other rivers of Russia, the early parts of their respective courses are among mountains, or in elevated valleys, where, and from which, the fall is very rapid; and it is only when taken from the points where they leave their mountain cradles and reach the plains, that such an average will truly indicate the extent and degree of the general slope of the continent. The source of the Volga is only about 560 feet above the level of the Caspian Sea, into which it flows, and the length of its course being at least 2000 miles, without any serious rapids, the average of its fall is consequently very regular, and little more than three inches a mile; but, the direct distance being only 900 miles, the slope of the country exceeds seven inches a mile. The source of the Danube, in Suabia, is about 2176 feet above the level of the Black Sea; but its fall is in several places very rapid, particularly between Passau and Vienna, and at the Iron-gate, through which it passes from the plains of Hungary to the low level of Wallachia. The average fall, therefore, of such a river would be a most fallacious index of the configuration of the whole length of country through which it flows. Its course is indeed through a series of terraces, separated by deep falls. The sources of the Rhine, in the heart of Switzerland, have an elevation of more than 7000 feet, but when it reaches the Lake of Constance it has already fallen to 1300. From that lake to Basel, where it leaves the mountains, it falls more than 500 feet, and even further down it still flows with great impetuosity, falling 400 feet more before it reaches Strasburg, a distance of only 70 miles. The average, however, of its fall from the latter city to the sea is only about one foot a mile. The elevation of the Elbbrunnen, or sources of the Elbe, in Bohemia, is 4260 feet, but the river falls so rapidly, within a short distance, that, after passing the northern mountain border of Bohemia, its elevation is found to be, at Dresden, only 280 feet. The average fall from that point to the sea is less than a foot a mile. The elevation of the source of the Oder is 1705 feet, but at Breslau it has already fallen to 370, and the average fall of the remainder of its course is likewise about a foot a mile. The elevation of the source of the Vistula we have not been able to learn, but as it is navigable from Podgorze, near Cracow, to the sea, its average fall is probably much the same as that of the Elbe or the Oder.
Few of the rivers of Europe are of much importance as means of communication and transit. The Volga becomes navigable at Rief, about 70 miles from its source, and so continues to the Caspian Sea, a distance of more than 2000 Europe, miles, following the course of the river. It is the great highway of Central Russia, so many as 5000 loaded boats annually descending its stream; but as it ends unfortunately in an inland lake, it is of no use for the transport of other foreign wares than the produce of the sandy and barren regions that surround the Caspian. The Volga is so connected with the other great rivers and the lakes of Russia by canals, that there is uninterrupted navigation from the Baltic to the White Sea, the Black Sea, and the Caspian. The Don has a course of 900 miles, but has so many shallows as to be nowhere navigable for large or sharp-bottomed vessels. The Dnieper, the next largest river of Russia, has a course of 1000 miles, and is navigable from Smolensk to Kief; but, further down, its channel is so obstructed with rocks and falls, for a space of 150 miles, that navigable communication between the sea and the inland provinces through which it flows is completely cut off. The Danube becomes navigable at Ulm, 1500 miles from its mouth; but between Passau and Vienna it flows among mountains, and navigation is rendered difficult by the rapidity of the stream, and the frequent occurrence of rocks, shoals, eddies, and whirlpools; and, in leaving Hungary, through a narrow gorge of 60 miles in length, which it has cut for itself across the mountains that inclose that country, it falls in a series of rapids, the lowest of which is the famous Irongate, through which the stream rushes with great rapidity in a narrow channel, between stupendous rocks, ending in a series of whirlpools, eddies, and smaller falls. Here navigation was considered to be effectually stopped; but we have just learned (Jan. 1855) that steamboats have at last been constructed so as to be considered capable of passing these rapids in safety, and that they will be immediately put upon the river. It is also proposed to cut a channel through the rocks 1200 yards long, 40 feet wide, and 6 feet deep, which will give plenty of additional depth for the steamers and other loaded vessels. The number of workmen to be employed on this gigantic undertaking is 2000, and the work will extend over a period of six years, at a cost of two millions of florins. So numerous, besides, are the windings of the Danube through the comparatively level plains of Hungary, that between Presburg and the Black Sea, a direct distance of 650 miles, the course of the river actually measures 1200. The Rhine is navigable above the lake of Constance, but the navigation is stopped by the Rheinfall near Schaffhausen. From that point to Basel it is not very easy or always practicable; to Strasburg it is not free from danger, but further down the river becomes a fine navigable stream, not quite free indeed from difficulty and risk, particularly in the deep and narrow gorge which it passes through between Bingen and Coblenz; but below Coblenz the channel is uninterrupted and free from danger. Between the Rhine and the Danube there is a navigable communication by means of the rivers Meyn and Altmuhl, which are connected by the Ludwig's canal in Bavaria. The Elbe, and its tributary the Moldau, are both navigable even in Bohemia, and from their confluence to the sea there is no serious interruption. The Oder is navigable downwards from Silesia, and is of the utmost importance as the channel of conveyance for the productions of that country to the sea. Breslau, Frankfurt, and Stettin, three of the principal commercial towns of Prussia, stand on its banks, and it is connected by canals with the Vistula, the Havel, and the Spree. The Vistula is, like the Oder, the principal channel of transit between the Baltic Sea and the Polish provinces of Austria, Russia, and Prussia, and begins to be navigable at Podgorze, near Cracow.
These are the only rivers that seem to require notice as navigable streams in a general survey of Europe, though there are many others of great importance to the several countries in which they are found, as the Thames, the Tyne, the Clyde, the Rhone, the Po, &c.
The islands of Europe, including Nova Zembla and Iceland, occupy a space equal to 280,000 square miles, or one eleventh part of the surface of the continent; and of this space the area of the British isles amounts to rather less than one half. The Black Sea is the only large sea connected with Europe in which there are no islands worthy of notice.
The Mediterranean, the noblest inland sea in the world, forms the southern boundary of Europe, separating it from Mediterranean Africa, and partly also from Asia. It may be considered as the bottom of a vast basin formed by the Pyrenees, Alps, Balkans, Taurus, Lebanon, and Atlas. These mountains are everywhere near its shores, which are consequently narrow and much inclined. Hence there are no such extensive plains as Hungary or Poland near the coast of this sea, and hence also no very large rivers fall into it except the Nile; and altogether it receives a smaller quantity of water from rivers than the Black Sea or the Baltic, though six times larger than either. Its length is about 2350 miles, its breadth is extremely various, and its surface (exclusive of the Black Sea) is nearly equal to 1,000,000 of square English miles, or something less than a third part of the continent of Europe. It is generally of great depth; and its numerous islands, which have uniformly a rocky surface, appear to be the summits of marine mountains.
The Baltic, the greatest inland sea that is entirely in Baltic Europe, is about 1200 miles long, of very unequal breadth, and presents a surface of 175,000 square miles, exclusive of islands. It occupies the bottom of another large basin, 850 miles in breadth, and 1400 in length, extending from the Norwegian mountains on the north and west, to the Carpathians on the south, and, to the high lands in which the Dnieper, the Don, and the Volga rise, on the east. This basin, equal to one-third of the surface of Europe, has a very different character from that of the Mediterranean. The mountains are not very elevated, and are so placed as to leave a large tract of land very little inclined between them and the Baltic, over which, especially on the south side, many considerable rivers flow with a gentle current. Hence the country round the Baltic is much more level than round the Mediterranean; lakes are numerous in the low grounds, from the want of declivity; the sea itself is comparatively shallow, and receiving a much greater quantity of river water, it is much less salt. The commerce of the Baltic is annually interrupted by the ice, which endures four months in the Gulfs of Bothnia and Finland. The whole of this inland sea has sometimes been frozen over for a short time, but this is of rare occurrence.
The Black Sea, which belongs only partly to Europe, is Black Sea. 700 miles long and 380 miles broad, and, including the Sea of Azof, presents a surface of 170,000 square miles, being almost of the same magnitude as the Baltic. It derives four-fifths of its water from Europe, and is curiously distinguished from the other seas of this quarter of the globe, by its being almost totally destitute of islands.
The White Sea is 450 miles in length, of a very irregular figure, and occupies a space equal to 35,000 square miles. It receives some considerable rivers, but is frozen during six months of the year.
The lakes of Europe are numerous, and are of two kinds; Lakes. those which lie in cavities at the foot of high mountains, and which are generally deep, such as the lakes in the Alps, on the east side of the Norwegian mountains, and among the mountains of England and Scotland; and those which are formed in level countries from the want of a sufficient declivity to carry off the water, such as the lakes in Finland, Poland, and Brandenburg. Four-fifths of the lakes of Europe are in the country round the Baltic.
The soil of Europe has not the extremes of luxuriance Vegetable or sterility which belong to the soil of the other great continents. If it does not yield the rich fruits of tropical cli- tions. Europe, mates, it is not defrauded by burning sands like Africa, or by pestilent swamps like America. It does not pour forth its riches spontaneously, but, soliciting the care and the labour of man, it requites his industry with what is necessary to supply his wants; and, by exercising and sharpening his powers of mind, has given birth to those arts which place the productions of the most favoured climates at his disposal. Many of the plants which have been domesticated in Europe are natives of distant countries. The vine, the olive, and the mulberry, are said to have been brought from Syria by the Greeks; the Arabians introduced cotton; maize was received from the Indian tribes of America; the walnut and the peach come from Persia; the apricot from Armenia; and the sugar-cane and orange from China. There are not very many plants belonging to the tropical regions that absolutely refuse to grow in Europe, but an enlightened economy finds other productions more profitable. Besides sugar and cotton, the banana, the orange, citron, fig, pomegranate, and date, grow in the south of Europe. But the more delicate fruits are confined to southern latitudes, and disappear one by one as we advance northward. And it is worthy of remark, that the zones in which they grow generally follow the lines of equal summer heat, and run obliquely across the continent in the direction of south-west and north-east. If a line be drawn on the map from Brest to Konigsberg, skirting the southern shores of the English Channel and the Baltic, the zones that limit the growth of different plants will run nearly parallel with this line. This holds generally in the south and middle of Europe; but in the extreme northern parts, and especially with regard to plants that require a moderate heat continued for a considerable time, the lines that limit the growth of certain vegetables seem to follow a different course, and decline towards the south as we advance eastward, in consequence of the increasing severity and length of the winter. It is scarcely necessary to say, that the zones, traced as proper for different plants, only mark the limits within which their cultivation is found advantageous. Most of them will grow beyond these limits; but they either require some peculiar advantages of soil and situation, or they are less profitable than other kinds of produce.
The sugar cane, one of the most desirable tropical plants, grows in Sicily and the south of Spain, in the latitude of 37° and 38°. The culture of it, which was once extensive in the latter country, has not yet been entirely abandoned, even since sugar was procured from the West Indies. Cotton is cultivated in the south of Spain on a small scale, to a greater extent in Sicily, the south-east angle of Italy, and in Greece and its isles, as high as the latitude of 41°; we find it again at Astrakhan, in the latitude of 46°. The orange and the lemon come to perfection in the west of Europe, only in the countries to the south of the Pyrenees and Apennines, within the latitude 43° in Spain, and 44° in Italy. The olive does not succeed on the west coast of France in the latitude of 43°; but grows as far north as 44° or 45° on the east of France, and in Italy. Attempts to raise it at Astracan, in latitude 46°, have not succeeded, on account of the rigour of the winter. The fig and the pomegranate, which accompany the olive in the west of Europe, are found in the Crimea in the east, at the latitude of 46°, where the olive will not grow, a proof that these trees bear the winter cold better. The climate proper for maize is found to terminate on the west coast of France at 45°; on the Rhine at 49°; on the Elbe at 50° or 51°. Rice has nearly the same geographical range, but requires a peculiar soil and situation. The culture of the vine extends as far north as the latitude of 47° on the Atlantic coast; on the Rhine to 50°; and on the Oder to 52°. In Russia it grows as far north nearly as 52°, but is not cultivated beyond 50°. The mulberry generally accompanies the vine. The limits of the culture of the common cerealia are not so well defined, as the necessities of man oblige him to raise corn under the most unfavourable circumstances. In a general point of view, however, the parallel of 57° or 58° may be regarded as the northern limit of the cultivation of wheat in Europe. It is raised as far north as 60° or 61° in Finland, but only in some favoured spots. In Russia, generally, it is chiefly confined to the provinces under the latitude of 57°. The hardier cerealia, rye, oats, and barley, are cultivated in some sheltered situations on the coast of Norway, as high as the latitude of 69° 55′. But on the east side of the Norwegian mountains these grains scarcely ripen in the latitude of 67° or 68°; and farther east, in Russia, it has been found impossible to carry cultivation of any kind beyond the latitude of 60° or 62°. Barley, which accommodates itself better than any other grain to these high latitudes, by shortening the period of its growth, is sown and reaped within the space of seven or eight weeks. But the introduction of potatoes promises to be of vast advantage in these cold regions, as this plant thrives and yields a produce of thirty or fifty fold in places where grain often will not ripen. Peaches and apricots succeed with much care as far north only as the latitude of 50° in Russia; melons as far as 52°. The plum and the cherry grow wild as far north as 55°, but are carried farther by cultivation. Fruit trees and the oak terminate in Sweden, at Gefle, in the latitude of 61°; but the pine and the birch advance within the arctic circle; and the former grows to the height of 60 feet in the latitude of 70°. The blackberry and the whortleberry grow in Lapland, and the gooseberry even in Greenland. Tobacco is extensively cultivated over the greater part of the continent of Europe, from Sicily to Sweden. Flax and hemp have an extensive range as corn, but they are raised in the greatest perfection between the latitudes of 45° and 60°.
We have stated that the superficial extent of Europe is about 3,700,000 square miles. If we draw a curved line from a point in the Uralian Mountains, about the latitude of 60° or 61°, to the west coast of Norway, in the latitude of 69°, passing through the Lake Onega, and a little to the northward of the Gulf of Bothnia, this line will mark the extreme limits of cultivation, and will cut off a space equal to 550,000 square miles, or nearly one-seventh of Europe. The space cut off, however, is not entirely useless, as a part of it produces pasturage and wood. The cultivation of rye, oats, and barley, is confined to the region south of this line, and includes more than five-sixths of Europe; but in the northern parts of this zone only a very small proportion of the land will bear corn. The region adapted to the cultivation of wheat comprehends about four-sevenths of Europe, and includes all the densely peopled parts. The region of the vine extends over three-sevenths of Europe.