with slight undulations. The coasts are in some parts steep, and bold; but usually low and sandy. Towards the west where the Jutland peninsula terminates, the aspect of the country is exceedingly barren and desolate.

10. DIVISIONS. Denmark is divided into three parts, the first comprehending the kingdom of Denmark Proper; the second the three duchies of Sleswick, Holstein, and Lauenburg, which belong to the German confederation; and the third embracing the Feroe Islands, and Iceland, which are considered. as foreign colonies. The kingdom of Denmark consists of the peninsula of Jutland, and the islands contiguous. It is divided into seven Bailiwicks.

11. CANALS, By the canal of Kiel, a communication is maintained be tween the German Ocean and the Baltic. The canal of Steckenitz, unites the Elbe with the Baltic. The canal of Odensee unites Odensee with the sea. 12. CITIES AND TOWNS. Copenhagen, called by the Danes, Kiobenhavn, the metropolis of the Danish dominions, is situated on a low and marshy promontory on the east side of the island of Zealand. The circumference of the city is about five miles; it is regularly fortified towards the land and sea. Many of the streets are intersected by canals, by which a considerable commerce is carried on. The town is divided into three parts, viz. the Old and the New town, and Christianshaven. There is a beautiful octagon, called Frederic's Place in the New town, ornamented with an equestrian statue of Frederic V., in bronze. The arsenal, the exchange, and the barracks, are handsome edifices. The Royal Observatory is about 130 feet high, and 70 in diameter; and has a spiral road, of brick, affording an easy ascent for carriages to the top. This city owes much of its present regularity and beauty to the disastrous fires by which it has so often been partially destroyed. The buildings are mostly of brick covered with stucco, or of Norwegian marble. There are here three extensive libraries, namely, the Royal library, containing above 260,000 volumes; the University library, containing 100,000 volumes; and the Clasen library. Pop. 109,000.

Sleswick, the capital of the duchy of that name, is a long, irregular, but handsome town, with 8,000 inhabitants.

Altona, on the Elbe, about two miles from Hamburg, is a place of considerable trade, and extensive manufactures. Pop. 30,000.

Elsinore, or Elsineur, at the narrowest part of the Sound, is protected by the strong fortress of Cronenberg and contains about 30 commercial houses.

It has an excellent roadstead, in which ships anchor almost close to the town. At this place the tolls of the Sound are collected. Pop. 7,000.

Kiel, the capital of Holstein, is a fortified town on a bay of the Baltic, and is the seat of a celebrated University. Pop. 7,500.

Gluckstadt, near the mouth of the Elbe, has some trade, and is engaged in the Greenland fishery. Pop. 5,200.

Flensberg, in the duchy of Sleswick, has a good harbor, and is a place of some commerce. Pop. 16,000.

Roeskilde, at the extremity of the Roeskilde fiord, has a very ancient cathe dral, and is the burial place of the Danish kings.

14. AGRICULTURE. Denmark produces corn in abundance; also rape-seed, wheat, oats, buck-wheat and peas. A great quantity of excellent butter is manufactured. All kinds of domestic poultry are plentiful, particularly geese and ducks, the feathers of which are a valuable article of exportation.

15. COMMERCE. This country is well situated for commerce. The prin cipal imports are cotton, tea, wine, brandy and salt. The exports are timber, black cattle, horses, stock-fish, tallow, hides, tar, pitch, and iron.

16. MANUFACTURES. There are a few hands employed in the manufacture of woolen stuffs. Carpets, stockings, gloves, camlets, and lace are also made to some extent. Sugar refineries are common, and the produce is equivalent to the consumption.

17. FISHERIES. The most considerable fishery is that of herrings in the Lymfiord. Seals and porpoises are killed upon the coast and in the Eider.

18. REVENUE AND POPULATION. The annual revenue of Denmark, is 4,080,000 dollars. It arises principally from the royal demesnes, tithes, land tax, poll tax, a tax upon titles, places and pensions, stamp duties, customs, and a toll on vessels passing the Sound. The public debt is 40,000,000 dolThe population of all the Danish dominions in 1823, was 2,057,531 Of this number 160,000 belonged to the colonies.

lars.

19. ARMY AND NAVY. The present military force of Denmark consists of 38,819 men. In 1828, the whole Danish navy with all the ships of the colo nies amounted to 3 ships of the line, 3 frigates, 4 sloops of 20 guns, 2 brigs, 2 schooners, 77 gun boats, and 1 steamboat. The Danes are expert seamen, 20. COLONIES. The Feroe Islands lie between Iceland and the Shetland isles. They consist of 25 islands, 17 of which are inhabited, the rest being mere rocks. Their superficial extent has been estimated at 500 square miles; and the number of inhabitants at 5,300. The whole of these islands are com posed of basaltic rocks; and some of the mountains rise to the height of 3,000 feet above the level of the sea. In Osteroe is a range of basaltic pillars, almost as regularly defined as those of Staffa. The principal minerals are copper, jasper, and coal. The climate is rigorous. Trees are unknown, and the only fruit is wild berries. Cows of a small breed, and sheep form the principal wealth of the inhabitants. The islanders are supported chiefly by bird-catching and fishing; the seal-fishery in the month of September being often very productive. They manufacture a few jackets, and upwards of 112,000 pairs of stockings annually, which they exchange with the Danes for grain, timber, nails, coffee, salt, and other necessaries.

The Feroe islands were discovered and colonized by fugitive Normans, between the years 858 and 868. During the American war they became notorious for smuggling, and continued so for some time. The language is a Danish dialect of the Norse. The inhabitants are a laborious and simple race of men, and their ordinary food is barley, milk, fish, &c.

Iceland has been described in America. The other colonies are Tranquebar on the coast of Coromandel, and the factories of Portonovo, Friedrichsnager, Bassora, and Serampore in Asia; the forts of Christiansburg, Fried ensburg, Konigstein, and Prinzenstein in Africa; the settlement of Greenland in North America; and the islands of St Thomas, St Croix, and St John in the West Indies.

21. INHABITANTS. The Danes, like most of the northern nations, are fair in complexion, of middle stature, and hardy in constitution. The women have blue eyes, and auburn hair, and many of them are beautiful.

There is a no

bility, which though reduced from its ancient splendor, contains many who live in elegance, if not in ostentation. There are two orders of knighthood. The Germans occupy Holstein, Lubec and the most of Sleswic, and there are a few gypsies.

22. DRESS. The women of the middle classes are very fond of show in their dress, which is composed of many colors, red being the most prevalent. In summer many of the people retain their great-coats, and in winter they assume furs. The French fashions are common in the cities.

23. LANGUAGE. The Danish language is allied to the Swedish and Norwegian. The Frisish is used in some of the islands, and the German in Holstein, Lubec, and a part of Sleswic.

24. MANNER OF BUILDING. The houses in the cities are generally of brick; in the country they are of wood with piazzas; few of them have much pretension to elegance.

25. FOOD AND DRINK. The general food of the lower class is oat cake, rye-bread, potatoes, fish and cheese, Much beer and spirits, chiefly brandy, are consumed, and the use of tobacco is general, but less so than in Germany. 26. TRAVELling. The mode of travelling is less convenient than in Germany and few foreigners visit Denmark. The common post vehicles do not exceed four or five miles an hour.

27. CHARACTER, MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. The Danes are brave but not adventurous. They would do more for defence than for glory. They are less cordial than the Germans, and less cheerful than their northern neighbors. They are faithful and honest, but not strongly marked with national peculiarities. They are addicted to the use of spirituous liquors, and the proverbial expression of a 'drunken Dane' has some foundation in the national character. 28. AMUSEMENTS. The Danes are much less cheerful than either the Swedes, or the Norwegians. Cards and dancing are the most common amusements, but these are not followed with much spirit.

29. EDUCATION. There is a university at Copenhagen, and another at Kiel. There are many Gymnasiums, and every town has a primary school: 2,302 of these schools are on the Lancasterian plan. The nobility are educated at Scröa. There is a school at Copenhagen for the instruction of teachers, and there are several learned societies. The largest library has 260,000 volumes, of which 30,000 are of a date prior to 1500. There are 80 periodical publications in Denmark, 70 of which are in Danish. 30. STATE OF THE ARTS, SCIENCE, AND LITERATURE. The arts are not in a flourishing state, though Thorwaldsden the sculptor is by birth a Dane. The ancient literature is the Scandinavian, which will be mentioned under another head. In the 12th century Saxo Grammaticus wrote his Danish History. Holberg and Pontoppidan were Danes, and Malte Brun was born in Denmark. The sciences are cultivated with success, but the literature is limited. There are some popular songs, and good dramas.

31. RELIGION. The religion is chiefly Lutheran, and the church government partakes of the English hierarchy, and of the calvinistic discipline. Few of the clergy have livings of more than $1800, or less than $250 a year. In Jutland however some have but $130. There are a few nunneries.

32. GOVERNMENT AND LAWS. The government is an hereditary and unlimited monarchy. But though the king has power to make, interpret, and abrogate the laws, there is much practical freedom. The laws are equitable, and justly administered. The police is strict.

33. HISTORY. Denmark, Norway and Sweden were anciently called Scandinavia. A century before the Christian era the inhabitants of the peninsula of Jutland were known to the Romans by the name of the Cimbri. The Gothic conquerors gave this country a new set of rulers. In the middle ages these people with the Swedes and Norwegians were called Normans or Northmen. They conquered Normandy in France, peopled the Feroe Islands,

the Orkneys, Shetland and Iceland, and carried their arms into the south of Europe. Canute, king of Denmark, conquered in the 11th century the whole of Norway and nearly all England and Scotland. Under this prince Christianity was introduced; and the progress of civilization begun; but since this period the influence of Denmark upon the political affairs of Europe has de

clined.

CHAPTER LXXXI. — NORWAY.

1. BOUNDARIES AND EXTENT. Norway is bounded north by the Northern Ocean, east by Sweden, south by the Cattegat, west and northwest by the German Ocean. It extends from 58° to 71° 11' N. lat., and from 5o to 23° E. lon. It is a narrow strip of territory, for the most part not exceeding 60 miles in length, and contains 151,171 square miles.

2. MOUNTAINS. The Norwegian mountains form a grand chain, extending northeast and southwest nearly 1200 miles. The northern part of this chain forms the boundary between Norway and Sweden; in the south it bears the name of the Seveberget, and Dovrefield, and farther north, the name of the Kioelen mountains. The highest point of the chain, is the Sneehætta, in the Dovrefield range, which is 8,115 feet above the sea. There are glaciers in these mountains presenting beautiful and fantastic masses of ice, which are ascribed by the simple northern tribes, to the powers of magic. It is the peculiar character of the Norwegian mountains, that they combine the grandeur of Alpine scenery, with the luxuriant softness of the vales of Italy.

3. RIVERS. Numerous streams descend from the mountains, but none are navigable, and none are considerable for length except the Glommen, which rises in Lake Oesting, and flows southerly into the sea at Frederickstadt. Cataracts and shoals obstruct its course in every part, and the only use to which it is applied, is that of floating down timber from the mountains.

4. LAKES. The lakes are numerous, and many are of considerable size. The Mioesen is 60 miles in length, and 18 wide. The Rundsion is 50 miles long, and 2 in width. The lake of Famund is 35 miles long, and 8 wide. In many of the lakes are floating islands or mardynes, composed of pieces of turf or sea grass, torn from the shores by the water, and matted together by the force of the currents.

5. ISLANDS. The Loffoden Islands lie on the northwestern coast, and form a crescent round a bay called the West Fiord. The largest is Hindoen. They consist of high mountains covered with perpetual snow. Nearly all the remainder of the coast is strewed with small rocky islands, called in the language of the country, holms.

6. BAYS. The branches of the sea, which indent the whole coast of Norway, are almost innumerable but they afford scarcely one good harbor. Among the Loffoden islands is the whirlpool of Maelstrom, which in rough weather is very dangerous to ships.*

* An American captain gives the following description of this celebrated phenomenon. I had occasion some years since to navigate a ship from the North Cape to Drontheim, nearly all the way between the islands or rocks, and the main. On inquiring of my Norwegian pilot about the practicability of running near the whirlpool, he told me, that with a good breeze it could be approached near enough for examination without danger, and I at once determined to satisfy myself. We began to near it about 10, A. M. in the month of Septem ber, with a fine leading wind, northwest. Two good seamen were placed at the helm, the mate on the quarter deck, all hands at their station for working ship, and the pilot standing on the bowsprit between the night-heads. I went on the main-topsail yard with a good glass. I had been seated but a few moments, when my ship entered the dish of the whirl

7. CAPES. The two most remarkable capes lie at the two extremities of the country. North Cape, at the northern extremity, is formed by several islands lying close to the shore: they consist of high craggy rocks, and exhibit the most dreary and desolate appearance. The southern extremity of Norway is called the Naze, and forms the northern point of the entrance to a strait called the Sleeve, which communicates with the Baltic.

8. CLIMATE. Norway extends within the Arctic circle, and its northern, part is exposed to all the rigors of a polar winter; here the sun continues above the horizon in summer for two months and a half, and in winter remains below for an equal space. There is hardly such a thing in Norway, as spring or autumn, the summer's heat so suddenly succeeds the cold of winter.

9. SOIL. In the southern part are some tracts of considerable fertility, yet the soil of Norway, generally, is stony and barren; and in many parts it may be said there is none at all.

10. NATURAL PRODUCTIONS. Immense forests of pine, fir, birch, ash, &c, cover the mountains, and furnish the only important natural productions of the country.

11. MINERALS. Mines of silver exist at Kongsberg, which yield larger masses of this metal than any other mine in Europe. They produce annually 240,000 dollars. There are also mines of gold, iron, lead, and copper. Some districts furnish sulphur.

12. ANIMALS. Norway has the same animals with Sweden: but the glutton and the lemming or Norway mouse, are in some degree, peculiar to this country.

13. FACE OF THE COUNTRY. A great part of this territory is occupied by mountains, interspersed with romantic glens and fertile valleys, especially in the southern parts. It is intersected by many streams full of cataracts, and lakes and ponds bordered with trees of variegated foliage, and forests of tall and stately pines and firs. These afford the most striking scenery, but the multitude of naked rocks and barren mountains, give the landscape rather the appearance of grandeur than of beauty. Marshes and fens occupy large districts, and nowhere in Europe are found such a number of precipices, cataracts and glaciers as here.

14. Towns. Christiania, the capital, stands in a fertile valley on the shore of a bay. It is built with regular streets which are kept very clean: there are many beautiful villas in the neighborhood, and the country around it has several productive mines. The town has a military hospital, a university, four churches, two theatres, and enjoys a considerable trade in the exportation of deals, tar, and the product of the mines. Pop. 20,581. Bergen, stands upon a small bay skirted by mountains. of wood, and has a theatre, and two printing offices. fisheries of the place are pretty active. The most noted buildings are the castle and cathedral. Pop. 20,844.

It is built mostly The commerce and

Drontheim, or Tronyem, is one of the most flourishing towns in the king

pool. The velocity of the water altered her course three points towards the centre, although she was going three knots through the water. This alarmed me extremely for a moment. I thought destruction was inevitable. She, however, answered her helm sweetly, and we ran along the edge, the waters foaming round us in every form, while she was dancing gayly over them. The sensations I experienced are difficult to describe. Imagine to yourselves an immense circle running round, of a diameter of one and a half miles, the velocity increasing as it approximated towards the centre, and gradually changing its dark blue color to white-foaming, tumbling, rushing to its vortex, very much concave, as much so as the water in a tunnel when half run out; the noise too, hissing, roaring, dashing, all pressing on the mind at once, presented the most awful, grand, and solemn sight I ever experienced. We were near it about 18 minutes, and in sight of it 2 hours. It is evidently a subterranean passage. From its magnitude, I should not doubt that instant destruction would be the fate of a dozen of our largest ships, were they drawn in at the same moment. The pilot says, that several vessels have been sucked down, and that whales have also been destroyed.