GEOGRAPHICAL DEFINITIONS. iTHE surface of the Globe consists partly of Land and partly of Water. The Land is composed of continents, islands, peninsulas, and isthmuses; and the Water of oceans, seas, gulfs, straits, and rivers. There are two great Continents; the Eastern Continent, or Old World, which contains Europe, Asia, and Africa; and the Western Continent, or New World, which contains North and South America. Eu The great island of New Holland has, of late years, been sometimes called the Southern or Australian Continent. rope, Asia, Africa, and America, denominated the four parts or quarters of the Globe, are also frequently called each of them a Continent. Thus, speaking of Africa, we may say with propriety, "the interior of this vast continent is wholly unknown." An island is a tract of land entirely surrounded by water, as Great Britain, Ireland, Jamaica, and Borneo. A peninsula is a portion of land nearly but not wholly sur rounded by water; as Spain, Scandinavia. An isthmus is the neck of land which connects a peninsula with the neighbouring continent, and sometimes two continents together as the Isthmus of Corinth, which joins the Morea to the rest of Greece; and the Isthmus of Panamá, which joins North to South America. A promontory is a tract or slip of land stretching far into the sea, the point or extremity of which is called a cape or headland. A mountain is land rising much above the surface of the earth, as the Pyrenees. If it throws out fire, it is a volcano, or burning mountain, as Mount Etna. Inferior elevations are called hills, hillocks, and downs. Narrow spaces between mountains are called defiles, or passes, Low or hollow ground between hills or mountains is a vale or valley. The ocean is that vast mass of salt water which encompasses the globe, washing the shores of every continent. It is properly distinguished into three grand divisions: 1st, The ATLANTIC Ocean, which divides Europe and Africa from America, and is, generally, about three thousand miles wide; 2d, The PACIFIC Ocean, or South Sea, which divides America from Asia, and is, generally, about ten thousand miles across; 3d, The INDIAN Ocean, which lies between Africa and the East Indies and New Holland, and is about three thousand miles over. We also meet with the names of the Southern or Antarctic Ocean, lying round the South Pole; and of the Northern or Arctic Ocean, lying round the North Pole: the latter bore also the name of the Frozen Ocean; but this is equally applicable to the Southern Ocean. A sea is a smaller body of salt water, as the Mediterranean Sea, the Baltic Sea, the Arabian Sea. An archipelago is a part of a sea studded with numerous islands, and is especially applied to that lying between Europe and Asia, which contains the Greek islands. A gulf is an arm of the sea, extending more or less into the land, as the Gulf of Finland, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Gulf of Persia. A harbour or haven is a little gulf. A bay is an arm of the sea, having a much wider opening than a gulf, as the Bay of Biscay. A cove is a very small bay. A road is a part of the sea adjoining the land, where ships may anchor safely. A creek is a small inlet of the sea. A river is a stream of water running through a country, Smaller streams are denominated rivulets or brooks. An artificial line of water made for the purposes of trade, is called a canal. The source of a river means its origin, which is ge nerally on the side of high mountains. The mouth of a river is the place where it terminates by falling into the sea. meeting of two rivers is called their confluence. The Straits, a term generally used in the plural, signifies a narrow part of the sea, forming a passage from one sea to another; as the Straits of Gibraltar, the Straits of Magellan, the Straits of Dover, Behring's Straits. It is properly used in the plural in relation to the opposing shores by which such a passage is formed. A channel is a long passage of water from one sea to another, as the English Channel, which connects the Atlantic Ocean with the North Sea. In Scotland it is often called a sound, as the Sound of Mull. A frith (fretum) is a narrow sea into which a large river falls; as the Frith of Forth, the Frith of Clyde, Solway Frith. An estuary is the union of several rivers as they approach the sea, as the Humber. Currents are extensive movements by which the waters of the sea are carried, without any immediate impulse of wind or tide, in a particular direction. OF THE WHOLE EARTH. 26. THE surface of the Earth contains nearly two hundred millions of square miles, and more than two thirds of it are covered with water. Its circumference is 360 degrees, or 24,876 English miles; the equatorial length of a degree being nearly 691 of those miles. 27. The Land is divided into four great portions, called quarters; namely, EUROPE, ASIA, AFRICA, and AMERICA. The entire assemblage of islands, large and small, situated in the great ocean between America and Asia, is sometimes spoken of as a fifth part of the world, and called Australia, Australasia, or Polynesia, and by the French geographers, Oceanica. Australasia and Polynesia are often considered as two separate divisions. It will be seen, by a reference to the map, that the three great continents, Asia, Africa, and America, terminate to the southward in capes; Asia in Cape Comorin, Africa in the Cape of Good Hope, and America in Cape Horn. The most striking circumstance is the immense preponderance of land in the northern hemisphere. Two thirds of the land on the habitable globe are situated to the north of the tropic of Cancer, and scarcely a tenth to the south of the tropic of Capricorn. Obs. 1. The natural boundaries of the earth are oceans, seas, rivers, and mountains. 2. Civil or political boundaries are the arbitrary and changeable limits of adjacent states or kingdoms, depending on political and military events. 28. The habitable parts of the earth are calculated to occupy a space of thirty-nine millions of square miles, of which Europe contains five, Asia eleven, Africa nine, and America fourteen. 29. The number of inhabitants is conjectured at about eight hundred millions, and there may be on each square mile, in Europe 40, in Asia 46, in Africa 9, and in America 3 souls. |