EUROPE.

EUROPE, the smallest, but by far the richest and most important of the continents, lies entirely within the Northern Hemisphere, and forms the north-western portion of the Old World.

Europe certainly has no stupendous mountain chains and tablelands comparable to those of Asia, no vast deserts like those of Africa, or streams of such magnitude as the Americas; yet the physical structure of this division of the world is remarkably varied, while its natural resources and climatic conditions are such as to rouse into ceaseless activity the best energies of man. Europeans are thus the most enterprising, highly-civilized and progressive of all the peoples of the world; and, from this most densely-peopled of the continents, millions have emigrated to other lands, and in America, Australasia, South Africa, and elsewhere, the European race is distinguished by the same qualitiesphysical, mental and moral-and the same capacity for progress, that have made Europe the first of the continents in wealth, power and influence. In Europe itself, the superiority of its people is largely the result of the physical conditions of the continent-" the great development of coast-line facilitating commercial intercourse; the temperate climate favourable to work of all kinds; the moderate fertility of the soil, readily rewarding the cultivator, but not so readily as to discourage labour; the abundance of the useful metals and minerals; and the position of the continent, within easy access of other parts of the world-these are some of the causes which have contributed to place Europe in the van."

Europe is not a continent in the strict sense of the term, as applied to a "separate and independent mass," like America or Australia, but is, in fact, an immense peninsula jutting out from the western side of Asia, and forming with it by far the largest continuous mass of land, and hence named Eurasiaan abbreviation of Europe-Asia. On the south, Europe is entirely separated from Africa by the Mediterranean, and, on the west, from North America by the Atlantic.

BOUNDARIES.-Europe is bounded on the north by the Arctic Ocean; on the west by the Atlantic Ocean; on the south by the Mediterranean Sca, the Black Sea, and the Caucasus Mountains, and on the east by the Caspian Sea, the River Ural, and the range of the Ural Mountains.

The Extreme Points of the mainland are Cape Nordkyn (71° 6' N.) on the north; Cape Tarifa (36° 1' N.) on the south; the source of the River Kara (66° E.) on the east; and Cape Roca (9° 28′ W.) on the west.

EXTENT. The greatest length, from Cape St. Vincent to the Ural Mountains, 3,370 miles; the greatest breadth, from Cape Nordkyn to Cape Matapan, is 2,400 miles. Area, including the islands, 3,750,000 square miles.

Europe is, therefore, next to Australia, the smallest of the continents; it being about one-fifth the size of Asia, one-fourth of America, one-third of Africa, and one-fourteenth of the total area of the land surface, or one-fifty-third part of the whole surface, of the globe.

D

NATURAL FEATURES: The natural features of Europe are infinitely varied, and powerfully influence the condition and pursuits of its inhabitants.

Deeply-indented coasts, skirted by numerous islands, and broken by long peninsulas, with great inland seas, bays, and gulfs, communicating with each other or the open ocean, and numerous channels and straits, distinguish the outer margin of the continent; while inland, the surface is infinitely diversified -low-lying plains, undulating uplands, and lofty mountains, presenting an endless variety of surface and scenery. Roaring torrents rush down the mountain valleys, while great rivers wind through the lower lands to the sea, some of them expanding, here and there, into lakes, often of surpassing beauty.

COASTS. Very irregular, exhibiting a great many indentations, by means of which the waters of the adjoining seas penetrate far within the general line of its coast. Europe has thus a greater extent of coast-line, in proportion to its size, than is possessed by any of the other continents.

The coast-line of Europe, including the larger indentations, is estimated at 19,500 miles, or 1 mile of coast to every 190 square miles of area. If we also include the minor indentations, then the coast-line measures as much as 48,000 miles, or mile of coast to every 75 square miles of area. In fact, no other continent can compare with Europe in the variety of its configuration or contour, or the relative extent of coast-line. In Russia no part is more than 700 miles from the sea; in all other European countries the distance is everywhere under 400 miles, consequently, no other grand division is so favourably situated for the development of an extensive maritime commerce.

INLAND SEAS: The principal European Seas-the Baltic, the Mediterranean, and the Sea of Marmara, the Black Sea, and the Sea of Azov-belong to the Atlantic Ocean, which is distinguished from all the other great divisions of the ocean by the number and magnitude of its seas. The White Sea, on the north, is an arm of the Arctic Ocean, the North Sea and the Irish Sea open out into the Atlantic. On the south-eastern border of Europe lies the Caspian Sea-a true inland sea.

The White Sea, on the north of Europe, is in reality a huge gulf, 45,000 square miles in area; deep, but navigable only for half the year, being frozen over from October to May, and connected by canals between the Dwina, Don, and Volga with the Black and Caspian Seas.

On the west of Europe are the Baltic, the North Sea, and the Irish Sea. The Irish Sea, between Great Britain and Ireland, is deep and navigable, but subject to violent storms. The North Sea, 244,000 square miles in extent, is comparatively shallow, especially between England and Holland, and numerous sandbanks and frequent storms render its navigation difficult and dangerous. The Baltic Sea, an almost completely land-locked basin, with an area of 180,000 square miles, is generally shallow, especially in the north, where the average depth is only to feet, while in the south it is only 50 feet. The navigation of this nearly tideless sea, which receives the drainage of about one-fifth of Europe (i.e., 2% times the area drained into the Mediterranean) is, at the best, difficult and dangerous, and is entirely stopped during the winter, when the greater part of it is frozen over. The immense inflow of fresh water into the Baltic renders its waters much less salt than the Atlantic.

The Mediterranean Sea, in the south of Europe, is by far the largest inland sea in the world, and completely cuts off Europe from Africa. Its length from Gibraltar to the coast of Syria is 2,400 miles, its breadth varies from 80 to 1,000 miles, while its area exceeds 1,000,000 square miles. Historically, the Mediterranean is the most famous of all seas, and on its shores were enacted nearly all the scenes of sacred and classical history': commercially, it forms one of the most important waterways in the world, being, in fact, the great highway between the East and the West, the Suez Canal route being 5,000 miles shorter than the ocean route round the Cape. The area drained directly into the Mediterranean is only 300,000 square miles (the Baltic and the Black Seas drain areas three times larger), and evaporation is so active that its waters are salter than those of the Atlantic, while its level is only maintained by a constant surface-current flowing into it from the open ocean through the Straits of Gibraltar.1 The Adriatic Sea is an arm of the Central Mediterranean, and from another arm, the Ægean Sea, a narrow channel, the Dardanelles, leads from the Mediterranean into the Sea of Marmara, from which again the Bosphorus, or Strait of Constantinople, opens into the Black Sea, the drainage basin of which includes nearly a fourth of the total area of Europe. Though deep and free from islands and rocks, its navigation is rendered dangerous by sudden and violent storms and dense fogs, hence its name "Kara Deniz," i.e., the Black Sea. The Sea of Azov is shallow, and always frozen over in winter.

The Caspian Sea, between Europe and Asia, is the largest true 'inland' sea in the world. Tideless, shallow, stormy, and difficult to navigate, with a few indifferent ports, the Caspian is still important to Europe as the outlet of its longest river, the Volga. Geologically, this depressed basin-its surface is 83 feet below the level of the Black Sea-is interesting as a survival of that great central sea which once extended north into the Arctic Ocean, and west to the Black Sea. A rise of 14 feet in the Black Sea would cause an overflow into the Caspian, and the Amu Daria or Oxus, which now enters the Sea of Aral, formerly discharged its waters into the larger sea.

INLETS: The chief bays and gulfs on the European coasts are :On the North: Varanger Fiord and the three arms of the White Sea-the Bay of Kandalaska, and the Gulfs of Onega and Archangel.

On the West: The great Fiords of Southern Norway-Trondhjem, Sogne, Hardanger and Bukke Fiords; the three arms of the Baltic-the Gulfs of Bothnia, Finland and Riga; the Zuyder Zee, on the coast of Holland; the Jahde and the Dollart, on the German coast; the Bay of St. Malo, on the northern, and the dreaded Bay of Biscay, on the western coast of France.

On the South: The Gulfs of Lions and Genoa, Naples and Taranto, in the western Mediterranean, and the Gulfs of Patras, Corinth, Nauplia, Egina, and Salonica, in the eastern part of the same sea.

1. "No other sea, indeed, has hitherto played a more brilliant or more weighty part in the history of mankind. It was the "Great Sea" of the sacred writers. By the Ancient Romans it was sometimes familiarly termed Mare Nostrum, "Our Sea," and sometimes Mare Internum, "the Inner Sea," to distinguish it from the great ocean that lay outside "the pillars of Hercules."

2. The ancient Mare Ægaum (in Greek, aigaios pelagos, of which the modern naine is a corruption. The word "archipelago" (from Greek, arch, chief, and pelages, sea) has become applied as a general term to seas which, like the Grecian Archipelago

(or Agean Sea), contain a great many islands, and, by modern usage, to the islands themselves. Thus, we speak of the British Archipelago, the East Indian Archipelago, and so on.

3. Black Sea (Turkish Kara Deniz), so called from The ancients the frequent dense fogs and storms, first named it Axinos, inhospitable; afterwards changed to Euxinos, hospitable (hence its Latin name, Fontus Euxinus).

4. So called from a Spanish province bordering upon it. French, Golje de Gascoigne, from the old French province of that name. This great inlet is frequently disturbed by violent storms.

STRAITS AND CHANNELS: The most important European channels and straits are the Sound, the Strait of Dover, the Strait of Gibraltar, the Dardanelles, and the Bosphorus. The Sound, because it forms the most frequented channel of entrance to the Baltic Sea; the Strait of Dover, because it is the chief commercial waterway of Western Europe; the Strait of Gibraltar, because it is the only entrance to the Mediterranean; and the Dardanelles and Bosphorus, because they are the only channels of entrance to the Black Sea.

On the West of Europe, we have the Skager-rak and the Kattegat, forming a continuous channel, about 70 miles in width, leading from the North Sea to The Sound, which is scarcely three miles across; the Great Belt, 12 to 24 miles wide; and the Little Belt, only of a mile across-three straits which lead into the Baltic,' between Jutland and the coast of Sweden. The Strait of Dover is a1 miles wide, and connects the North Sea with the English Channel.

On the South: the Strait of Gibraltar, which forms the entrance to the Mediterranean, and the Strait of Messina, which divides the island of Sicily from the Italian Peninsula, are each 8 miles across. The Dardanelles, mile in width, is a strait leading from the Ægean Sea (or Arenipelago) into the Sea of Marmara. The Bosphorus, or Strait of Constantinople, scarcely halfa-mile wide in its narrowest part, leads from the Sea of Marmara into the Black Sea; and the Strait of Kertch, or Yenikale, 4 miles across, connects the Black Sea with the Sea of Azov.

CAPES.—The principal capes on the coasts of Europe are :—

Cape Nordkyn, North Cape, and the Naze, in Norway; the Skaw, in Denmark; Ortegal and Finisterre, in the north-west of Spain; Roca and St. Vincent, in Portugal; Trafalgar and Tarifa, in the south of Spain; Passaro, Di Leuca and Spartivento, in Italy; and Matapan, in Greece.

The most northerly point of the continent of Europe is Cape Nordkyn. North Cape is on an island (Mageröe), and is 6' farther north. The most westerly point is Cape Roca, in Portugal, and the most southerly, Cape Tarifa, in Spain.

Europe is distinguished by the great number of its islands and peninsulas, the inhabitants of which enjoy, naturally, great advantages for maritime intercourse and traffic.

To the natural facilities with which Europe is thus favoured is largely due the gigantic trade which European countries, especially the more energetic commercial nations of Western Europe, carry on with each other, and with other parts of the world.

ISLANDS.-Europe has a great number of islands, some of them situated in the Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, others in the Baltic, and others in the Mediterranean Sea. The islands of Europe are naturally divisible into four classes, according to their position :

1. In the Atlantic Ocean, naming them in order from north to south, are the following:-Iceland, the Faroe Islands, the British Islands, the Channel Islands (off the coast of France), and the Azores or Western Islands.

1. Baltic, either from Baltia, the ancient name of Zealand, or from the Lat. balleus, a belt. C. Great Belt and Little Belt.

2. The Azores lie a long way out in the ocean, goo miles to the west of Portugal, and hence too far off to be shown upon the map of Europe.

2. In the Arctic Ocean are Nova Zembla, Vaygatz, Kolguef, Jan Mayen, and the Lofoten Islands. Nova Zembla is really a very extensive group of islands, but it is situated in so high and cold a latitude as to be nearly (if not quite) uninhabitable.

3. In the Baltic Sea are Zealand, Funen, and several of smaller size, which together form the Danish Archipelago, and lie at or near its entrance; with Rügen, Bornholm, Oland, Gothland, Oesel, Dago, and the group of the Aland Islands. The island of Zealand has on it Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark. 4. In the Mediterranean are Sicily, Sardinia, Corsica, Candia, and Cyprus,' which are all of large size. Sicily is the largest, and Sardinia is second in point of magnitude. The smaller islands are Majorca, Minorca, and Iviza (which form together the Balearic Islands); Elba, off the west coast of Italy; the Lipari Islands, to the north of Sicily; Malta and Gozo, south of Sicily; the Ionian Islands, to the west and south of Greece; and the numerous islands of the Archipelago, among which Negropont, or Euboea, is the most considerable.

The most important of the islands of Europe are the British Islands, which include Great Britain (England, Wales, Scotland) and Ireland, and which lie in the Atlantic Ocean, off the western coast of Europe. Great Britain is the largest of the European islands. Iceland, which also lies in the Atlantic Ocean, but much farther to the northward, is the second in point of size.

Jutland,

PENINSULAS.-The principal peninsulas are:-Norway and
Sweden, which together form the Scandinavian Peninsula ;
which forms a portion of Denmark; Spain and Portugal, or the Spanish
Peninsula; Italy; the Mɔrea, which is a part of Greece; and, lastly, the
Crimea, which is a part of Russia.

It is a remarkable fact that all the larger peninsulas of Europe, except Jutland, are turned towards the south, and that political power and commercial supremacy have always centred in one or other of these peninsulas. Greece, Italy, Spain, France, were successively the dominant powers in Europe; an insular power-England-now ranks first. The British Isles, however, at no distant geological period, formed a peninsular portion of the mainland. The three southern peninsulas of Europe are often compared to the three far Larger southern peninsulas of Asia; the Spanish, to the Arabian peninsula; Italy and Sicily, to India and Ceylon; and the Balkan peninsula to that of Further India. The Archipelago to the south-east of the Grecian peninsula represents, on a much smaller scale, the East Indian Archipelago, to the south-east of the Indo-Chinese peninsula.

ISTHMUSES:-All these peninsulas are connected with the mainland by isthmuses, of which the most important are those of Corinth and Perekop. The Isthmus of Corinth joins the Morea to the mainland of Greece, and the Isthmus of Perekop unites the Crimea to the mainland of Russia.

Across the Isthmus of Corinth, 4 miles in width, a ship canal has been cut to save sea-going vessels the long voyage round the Morea. The Isthmus of Perekop is 5 miles wide. Of the larger isthmuses, the French isthmus, between Bordeaux and Cette, measures 260 miles across; that of North Italy, 110 miles; while the Scandinavian peninsula is united to the mainland by a neck of land, 230 miles in width, between the extreme portions of the Gulf of Bothnia (Baltic) and the Bay of Kandalaska (White Sea).

1. The island of Cyprus belongs to Asia.

countries lying on the western side of the Baltic

Scandinavia was the ancient name of the Sea.