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498. Condition of the Laplanders. The Laplanders, who live between the 65th and 70th degrees of north latitude, subsist chiefly on fish and the milk and flesh of the rane. They build huts, or tents, of a concial form, divided into two parts, each of which has four subdivisions marked on the floor, one for the master, mistress, and guests; one for the children; a third for the servants, and a fourth for the cattle, the chief of which is the rane. The men wear a sort of robe of cloth or skin, with a red conical cap, lined with fur. The women wear a robe or vest like that of the men, but with a head-dress which widens at the top like a basis. In the summer they have a day of seven weeks long, and in winter a night of equal length; but the moon and stars, and a brilliant northern light, supply, in some measure, the loss of the solar rays.

499. Chief Towns. Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark, stands in a delightful situation, on the eastern side of Zealand. The city is built of brick or freestone, the streets are narrow, but well paved, the fortifications are regular, and the inhabitants 90,000. The city has a spacious harbor, and considerable trade, the name itself signifying the haven of merchants. The city is not ancient, but was originally a castle to defend the country from pirates, who swarmed in the northern seas. It became the residence of the kings of Denmark in 1443. In 1728, a great part of the city was burnt, and rebuilt with more elegance. The houses of the nobility are splendid, but the royal palace was consumed a few years ago in a great fire.

500. Altona and Elsinore. On the Elbe, within a small distance from Hamburg, stands Altona, which became subject to Denmark in 1640. It was then a mere village, but its commerce being cherished by the kings of Denmark, it has increased until it contains 25,000 inhabitants. It was burnt by the Swedes in 1712, but has been rebuilt, and is now the market for the Asiatic goods imported by the Danish East India company. Elsinore is a city containing about 5000 inhabitants, situated on Zealand, at the strait or sound, where all vessels must lower their topsails, and pay toll. The castle of Cron

berg, which guards this passage, is on a peninsula, and strongly fortified.

501. Bergen. The principal town in Norway is Bergen, which is situated on the sea shore, in a valley, surrounded by almost inaccessible hills, forming a crescent round a small gulf. It was founded in 1170, is the see of a bishop, has a good port, and about 20,000 inhabitants. Being constructed chiefly of wood, it has suffered repeatedly by dreadful conflagrations. The country around it produces little corn, but the city carrics on a large trade in skins, fish and timber.

502. Christiana and Drontheim. Christiana, founded in the south of Norway, by Christiern IV. in 1624, is a handsome town, with 10,000 inhabitants. Being near the mines of iron, silver and copper, its export of metals is considerable; but the principal commodities sent abroad, are tar and lumber. Drontheim, 270 miles north of Bergen, and containing 8000 inhabitants, is one of the most northerly cities in Europe. It was formerly the residence of the kings of Norway, and still carries on considerable trade in wood, fish, tallow and cepper from the mines of Medal and Roras.

503. Manufactures and Commerce. In Denmark are some manufactures of lether, wool and iron. In the royal manufacture of woollens at Copenhagen, 400 looms are employed. The chief exports are native commodities; from Holstein, Sleswick and Jutland, corn is exported; and from Holstein great numbers of horses and cattle. From Norway are exported timber of various kinds, hides, silver, copper and iron. Denmark owns the islands of Santa Cruse and St. Thomas in the WestIndies, and carries on a trade to the East Indies. A large canal of 20 miles in length, which connects the German Sea with the Baltic by the river Eydar, facili tates inland trade, and does honor to the enterprize of the Danes.

DANISH ISLANDS.

504. Zealand. Zealand, the seat of the Danish mon archy, lies at the entrance of the Baltic, with a strait or sound about 4 miles wide, which separates it from Swe

den on the east, and a strait called the Great Belt, which separates it from Funen on the west. It is about 100 miles in length and bredth, and 300 miles in circumference. This island contains the seat of government, and is among the best cultivated and most productive parts of Denmark.

505. Funen, Laland and other Baltic islands. Next to Zealand in magnitude is Funen, on the west, between Zealand and Jutland, from which it is separated by the Little Belt. To the south of Zealand are Laland and Falster, and between these and Funen, is Longland, a narrow long island. A still smaller island called Eroe, lies south of Funen, and northward are Hindsholm and Samsoe these with numerous smaller islands belong to Denmark. On the west of Jutland are Nordstrand, Fora, Lylt, Rom and others, with Helgeland nearer to the mouths of the Elbe.

506. Islands on the Norway Coast. The western shore of Norway is lined with a continued series of islands, most of them small and uninhabited. At the entrance of the gulf of Dronthiem are Bommel, Karm, Sartar and Hitteren; north of these the Vikten islands; still further north are those of Loffodon, which are the most considerable in size and number, and remarkable for the terrible whirlpool of Malstrom. Still further north, on the Laplandic shore, are Soroe, Mageroe and Wardhus, on the latter of which is a garrison. These islands are mostly mountainous and craggy, with water from 100 to 300 fathoms deep at their bases. Some of them produce oats and barley; others good pasturage, and many of them furnish excellent fisheries.

507. Feroe and Shetland. The Feroe islands lie in the nothern ocean between 61 and 63 degrees north latitude, and between 5 and 8 degrees west longitude. Seventeen of them are habitable; and the inhabitants of them amount to about 5000. They are lofty mountains rising from the occan, and separated by deep channels and rapid currents. They are mostly faced with steep and tremendous precipices; but some deeply indented with safe harbours. The soil is thin, but produces good barley, and pasturage for sheep. The exports are, mut

ton, tallow, quills, fethers, and eider-down; also, caps, stockings and woollen waistcoats. No trees will grow here, except juniper, willow and other shrubs; nor are any wild quadrupeds to be found; but fish and fowls are abundant.

stances.

508. Iceland. Iceland, which also belongs to Denmark, is situated in the northern ocean, between 63 and 66 degrees of north latitude, and between 20 and 25 degrees west longitude. Its length is computed to be 300 miles and its bredth 250. The surface of Iceland presents a hideous appearance of barren mountains, covered with snow, or valleys filled with lava and vitrified subSeveral of the mountains are volcanoes, one of which, Heckla, poured forth in 1763, volumes of smoke which obscured the face of heaven, and being wafted by winds over Europe, gave to the sky a hazy, gloomy aspect. Torrents of liquid fire flowed for weeks, till 20 villages were destroyed, twelve rivers dried up, and more than 3000 square miles of land covered with burning lava.

Iceland was

509. Settlement and history of Iceland. settled by the Norwegians, near the close of the 9th century. The inhabitants which they found on the island were christians, and probably of English or Irish origin; but most of the Norwegians being pagans, christianity soon became extinct, and Iceland was not converted to the christian religion, till about the year one thousand. The Icelanders retained their independence almost 400 years, but with frequent distractions and civil war; till at length, in 1261, they put themselves under the protection of the king of Norway, and with Norway, the island fell to Denmark. In this sequestered spot, literature was cultivated, poets and historians were produced, and the chronicles of Iceland are held in high estimation.

510. Productions of Iceland, state of the people. No corn will grow in Iceland, and a few only of the more hardy garden plants, as cabbages, turnips and pease. The inhabitants eat little bread, and that is made of flour imported from Denmark. They have plenty of cattle, horses and sheep, and their food consists chiefly of fish,

flesh, sour butter and whey, with a porridge of moss or rock grass. No trees grow upon the island, tho it is certain that Iceland formerly produced wood. Houses, or rather huts, are built of lava, and covered with turf, with the membranes of some animal instead of glass; and without chimneys, for fire is never used but for cooking, and is then made with turf in the middle of the cottage. The men spend their whole time in fishing; the women dress the fish, tend the cattle, knit stockings, and the like.

511. Population and Commerce. The inhabitants of Iceland are estimated at 60,000. The trade is held as a monopoly by a company of Danes, who send thither yearly 15 or 20 ships, with timber, fishing apparatus, tobacco, corn, horse shoes, brandy, wine, salt, with a few articles of luxury for the richer people. The exports consist of dried fish, salted mutton, beef, butter, tallow, train oil, coarse woollens, stockings, gloves, wool, sheep skins, fox skins, eider down, and fethers.

512. Dress and Customs. The Icelanders are an honest, simple, but silent people, and tho poor, very hospitable. They have little knowledge of the world, but have long had the benefit of a printing press, and have the bible and the histories of their country in their own language. Their learning consists chiefly in knowing the history and tales respecting their ancestors. The men wear a linen garment, with a jacket over it, made of woollen cloth called wadmal. They wear a threecornered hat, with shoes made of lether sewed over the toes and at the heel. The women also wear black wadmal, in a boddice, and over it a jacket with long sleeves, and at the top a black collar of velvet or silk. The petticoat is of wadmal, with a girdle of silver or other metal, to which the apron is fastened. The head dress is made of several cloths wrapped round the head very high, but girls are not suffered to wear it till they are marriageble. At weddings, the bride wears a sort of crown, and two chains round her neck, and a lesser chain to which is fastened a little heart.

513. Greenland. Greenland is a large island, or a part of the American continent, whose extent is not

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