18. The Sea of Marmora lies at the N. E. extremity of the Archipelago, from which it is separated by the narrow channel of the Hellespont or Dardanelles; it washes the shores of European Turkey on the North, and those of Asia Minor on the South, and is connected with the Black Sea by the Channel of Constantinople or the Bosporus. The Black Sea, or Euxine Sea as it is also named, lies at the South Eastern extremity of Europe, between European Russia on the North, European Turkey on the West, Asia Minor on the South, and Asiatic Russia on the East. Connected with it towards the North is the Sea of Azov, into which the R. Don discharges its waters. 19. PRINCIPAL STRAITS in Europe. The Northern part of the channel between Denmark and Sweden is called the Skager-Rack, and its South Eastern continuation is named the Cattegat: the Sound, the Great Belt, and Little Belt, are three smaller channels, which lead from the Cattegat directly into the Baltic Sea. The English Channel is the name given to that arm of the Atlantic Ocean, which runs up between the Southern shores of England and the Northern shores of France: at its Eastern extremity is the Strait of Dover, which connects it with the North Sea, and lies between the county of Kent in England and the Province of Picardy in France. The Sea between Great Britain and Ireland is called St. George's Channel or the Irish Sea, though the former appellation is sometimes restricted to that portion of the Channel alone which lies between Wales and Ireland. 20. The Strait of Gibraltar is the Western extremity of the Mediterranean Sea, which it connects with the Atlantic Ocean; it lies between the province of Seville in Spain, and the kingdom of Fez in Africa. The Strait of Messina, the central part of the Mediterranean Sea, is that narrow passage by which the Island of Sicily is separated from the province of Calabria in Italy. The channel connecting the Gulf of Venice with the remainder of the Mediterranean Sea is called the Strait of Otranto; it lies between the province of Otranto in Italy and Albania in Turkey. The channels of the Darda nelles [or Hellespont] and of Constantinople [or the Bosporus] lie between the province of Rumilia in European Turkey, and the North Western extremity of Asia Minor: the former connects the Sea of Marmora with the Archipelago, and the latter joins it with the Black Sea. The Strait of Enikale forms the junction between the Sea of Azov and the Euxine, and separates the Eastern part of the Crimea in European Russia, from the rest of the province of Taurida in the continent of Asia. 21. THE CHIEF CAPES, of Europe are, the North Cape, the Northern extremity of Sweden, and likewise the Northernmost point of the Continent; the Naze, the South Western point of Sweden, at the entrance of the Skager-Rack; the Skaw, the Northernmost land of Denmark; Cape Clear, the Southern extremity of Ireland; and the Lizard Point, the Southernmost Cape of Great Britain. Besides these there are C. S. Matthew, the Westernmost point of France; C. Ortegal and C. Finisterra, the North Western extremities of Spain; C. S. Vincent, the South Western point of Portugal; the Rock of Gibraltar, the Southernmost point of Spain; C. Spartivento, the Southern extremity of Italy; and C. Matapan, the Southernmost point of Greece and of the whole continent of Europe. CHAPTER IV. GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND. 1. THE British Islands consist of two islands lying East and West of each other, called Great Britain or Albion and Ireland or Erin. Of these the former is by far the greater. 2. Great Britain includes England, Wales, and Scotland, and contains with its islands 67,160 square miles. It is bounded on the W. by St. George's Channel, the Irish Sea, and part of the Atlantic Ocean; on the N. by the Orkney Sea; on the E. by the German Ocean or North Sea; and on the S. by the English Channel. The narrowest part of this last, where England and France approximate the nearest, is called the Strait of Dover, and is only 18 miles across; it has been supposed by many that the two countries were once connected together, but that they were torn asunder in some great convulsion of nature. 3. The distance from the North Foreland at the Eastern extremity of Kent, to the Land's End at the Western extremity of Cornwall, measures 283 miles in direct distance; and this is the greatest breadth of Great Britain. Its greatest length may be reckoned from the Lizard Point, which is the Southernmost cape of Cornwall, to Dunnet Head the Northernmost extremity of Scotland, which two places are 530 miles apart in direct distance but the Eastern side of the Island, from Dunnet Head to the North Foreland, only measures 470 miles. 4. Ireland lies to the W. of Britain, from which it is separated by St. George's Channel and the Irish Sea; on the three other sides its shores are washed by the Atlantic. The nearest points of contact between the two islands are the promontories called Fair Head and the Mull of Cantire, which are only 10 miles apart. It contains 24,300 square miles, being the largest island in Europe next to Great Britain. Its greatest length is 260 miles, and its average breadth about 140; but, owing to the deep indentations of the coast, there is not a spot in the whole island that is 50 miles distant from the sea. 5. THE RANGES OF HILLS traversing Great Britain, though by no means inconsiderable, are not lofty compared with those of some other countries. The highest points in the whole island are to be found in and near the Grampian Mountains in the heart of Scotland: of these the chief are Ben Nevis and Cairn Gorm in Inverness, Ben Lawers and Schiehallion in Perth, Ben Lomond in Stirling, and Hart Fell in Dumfries. It is the Grampian range which divides the whole of Scotland into the Highlands and Lowlands, the former comprehending the N. and N. W. parts of the country, and the latter the S. and S. E. parts. The Grampians continue winding in a Southerly direction, till they reach the frontiers of England and Scotland; here they attach themselves to the Cheviot Hills, running from N. E. to S. W. along the borders of the county of Northumberland, which they separate from the Scotch shire of Roxburgh. This last range formed a free chase, commonly called Chevy Chase, rendered famous by the well known ballad of that name, founded on an encounter which took place at Otterburn, A. D. 1388, between the families of Percy and Douglas. 6. From the Cheviot Hills a range winds to the Southward, through the counties of Cumberland, Durham, Westmorland, York, and Derby; it contains the most elevated hills in England, amongst others those of Skiddaw, Cross Fell, and Sca Fell in Cumberland, and Ingleborough and Pen-nigant in Yorkshire. Another great range strikes off from the mouth of the R. Humber, winds through the counties of Lincoln, Rutland, Northampton, Warwick, and Gloucester, and terminates, in a manner, above Bath on the River Avon: the Southern part of this range is called the Cotswold Hills, and contains the sources of the famous R. Thames. 7. The whole of the Southern counties, from the N. Foreland to the Land's End, are intersected by a continuity of ranges of various heights and names, which traverse the country in the most beautiful manner, and rise to the greatest height in Devonshire. Amongst their highest points may be enumerated Shooter's Hill in Kent, Leith Hill in Surrey, Chanctonbury Hill in Sussex, Black Down in Dorset, and Butterton Hill in Devon. 8. Wales is a very mountainous country, being intersected from North to South by one principal range, which throws off many arms both towards the sea-coast and the English counties: it contains higher land than any in England. Its most elevated summits are Snowdon and Carnedd-Llewellyn in Caernarvonshire, Arran Fowddy and Cader Idris in Merioneth, and the Beacons of Brecknock. |