afford easy access from the ocean to every part of Rhode Island. A canal is contemplated, to extend from Providence into the interior of Massachusetts, to furnish an easy conveyance for fuel and produce to this flourishing sea-port.

531. The Merimac of New-Hampshire is much obstructed by rapids; but its upper waters are connected with Boston Harbour by the Middlesex canal.

532. The rivers of Maine are generally obstructed. The Penobscot, the St. Johns, and the western branch of the Kennebec, afford a boat navigation nearly to their sources. The heads of these rivers approach within no great distance of the waters of the St. Lawrence; and the portage from the head of the Kennebec to that of the Chaudiere River is only 5 miles.

533. The basins of the river St. Lawrence, and the Mississippi, and the Atlantic declivity are so intimately connected, that it would not be difficult to unite them by an inland navigation; and much progress has been made in accomplishing this important object.

534. The waters of the St. Lawrence, or the great lakes, have two natural communications with the branches of the Mississippi at particular seasons, by means of the Fox and Chicago Rivers, both emptying into Lake Michigan. A short canal would render either of these communications permanent.

[84] The Fox River, which flows into the branch of Lake Michigan called Green Bay, rises near the Ouisconsin branch of the Mississippi, and afterwards flows within 1 miles of its channel, separated from it only by a short portage, over a prairie. During the season of high water, this river is easily navigable, and the intervening ground is overflowed, so that loaded boats may pass to the Ouisconsin, which affords a rapid but unobstructed navigation to the Mississippi. Another communication is stated to exist from the Chicago River, emptying into the south-western corner of Lake Michigan, to the Illinois. It is passed by boats of 50 tous, engaged in the fur trade, and is open nine months in the year.*

535. Through the Hudson River, and the Northern Canal, passing to Lake Champlain, the Atlantic waters are united with Lake Ontario, and the lower portion of the St. Lawrence. The Grand Canal of New-York will form a similar communication to the upper lakes.

Two routes have been proposed to connect the Atlantic and western waters, by means of the Grand Canal of New-York. The most obvious is by a canal from Lake Erie to the branches of the Ohio, which will probably soon be undertaken by the state of Ohio. The other route, is by a canal from Lake Erie to Lake Michigan, and a second from Chicago River to the Illinois. The latter route is but little longer than the former; and the navigation would probably be less obstructed.

536. It is also proposed to connect the Ohio with the Atlantic,

* Edin. Enc.

by a canal from the head waters of the Monongahela to those of the Potomac, which will pass under the principal ridge of the Allegany, by a tunnel two miles in length. There is now a portage communication, by means of the Cumberland road.

The state of Virginia propose another portage communication, from the head waters of the James to those of the Great Kanhawa; and a third has been proposed in Pennsylvania, from the western branch of the Susquehannah, to the Allegany River, and also to Lake Erie.

537. Great facilities also exist for the establishment of an inland navigation along the coast of the United States, from NewHampshire to Georgia.

The Middlesex Canal, connects the Merrimac River above the falls, and the interior of New-Hampshire, with the harbour of Boston. From this harbour and Massachusetts Bay, a canal across the isthmus which unites Cape Cod to the main, would form a communication through Narraganset Bay, and Long Island Sound, to New-York. The Raritan River could be connected with the Delaware by a canal of 28 miles, requiring only an elevation of 30 feet to the summit level. The Delaware Bay will be united to the Chesapeake by another, of 22 miles, between Christiana and Elk River, which is already commenced.

All these canals would pass through a flat country; and might be con- [85] structed without very great labour. It is somewhat doubtful however, whether the canal across the isthmus of Cape Cod would not be liable to obstructions, by the accumulation of sand; and another route has been thought more likely to be useful, connecting Boston Harbour with Taunton River, which empties into Narraganset Bay, by a canal 26 miles in length, rising 133 feet.

538. After descending the Chesapeake Bay to Norfolk, on the Elizabeth River, there is a canal passing through the Great Dismal Swamp, which extends the navigation to Albemarle Sound. From this sound a range of low islands extend along the coast to Florida, which forms an inland passage nearly the whole distance. A part of this distance may be traversed by the canal which connects the Santee River with the harbour of Charleston.

539. The COLUMBIA RIVER is from one to three miles wide in the lower part of its course. Vessels of 300 tons may ascend to the mouth of the Multnomah, 125 miles; and sloops, to the head of the tide waters, sixty miles farther. At the distance of 200 miles from the mouth, there are two rapids which require a short portage but except these, the boat navigation is uninterrupted as far as the great falls, 260 miles from the sea.

1

ARCTIC REGIONS.

540. The ARCTIC REGIONS have not been fully explored; but appear to comprise a considerable extent of land, of which North Georgia, Greenland, and the island of Spitzbergen, are the principal portions known. Greenland and the neighbouring regions, have usually been considered as belonging to North America; but the channel of Barrow's Straits has been penetrated to 114° west longitude; the sea has been seen at two places, between this and Beering's Straits, by Hearne, Franklin, and Mackenzie ; and it is probable there is no barrier but ice, to interrupt the passage across.

541. The aspect of these regions, is dreary and desolate in the extreme. The coasts only appear to be habitable; and these present a surface of snow, varied with mountains of ice, during a greater part of the year. A scanty but beautiful vegetation appears, for a short period in the summer. The interior is traversed by naked, barren mountains, covered with perpetual ice, and interspersed with vast glaciers.

The rivers are neither numerous nor large. The waters and torrents of the summer, are chiefly converted into masses of ice during the winter; and the inhabitants and travellers depend on melted snow for their drink. These dreary regions are but thinly populated, either with men or animals.

ANTARCTIC REGIONS.

542. South of South America are the uninhabited islands of South Georgia, Sandwich Land, and the newly discovered South Shetland Isles, whose limits are not yet known. They are the only tracts of land known, near the Antarctic Circle. They present even a more barren, desolate appearance than the Arctic Regions and are scarcely habitable on account of the cold.

(23.) Physical Sections of Europe.

I. From the Atlantic to the Ural Mountains in latitude 65°. II. From the Black Sea to the Baltic Sea.

III. From the North Sea to the Mediterranean.

543. EUROPE is very irregular in its figure, and deeply indented with seas, bays, and gulfs, which gives a sea coast to every country except Switzerland, and the small states of Germany. They also divide it into small portions, which do not admit the extensive basins and majestic rivers, so common in America.

MOUNTAINS.

544. The surface of Europe presents two principal highlands -the Alpine highlands on the south, and the Scandinavian on the north.

The southern, or Alpine highlands, have their centre in the Alps of Switzerland, and send forth branches which traverse twothirds of Germany and France, and the whole of Spain, Italy, Austria, and Turkey. They pass through the north of Saxony to the Baltic, and through the north of Germany nearly to the North Sea, gradually descending to low ranges of hills. They extend through Poland and Prussia by the Valdai Hills, which connect them with the northern highlands and the Ural Mountains. The principal mountains are the Alps, the Pyrenees, the Carpathian, and the Apennine Mountains.

545. The Alps are the most celebrated mountains in Europe

for their height and grandeur. This chain divides Italy, on the north, from Germany, France, and Switzerland. It stretches in a crescent-like form, from the head of the Adriatic Sea, to the Gulf of Genoa, where it unites with a branch of the Apennines. Its length is about 600 miles, and its breadth in some places exceeds 100; the whole comprising various chains, or branches. [87] The Alps are broken into lofty peaks, separated by narrow valleys and dreadful chasms, several thousand feet deep. Many of these rocky masses appear like mountains piled upon mountains, till their summits rise above the clouds, and viewed from above, resemble islands emerging from the bosom of the ocean. These mountains are chiefly from 4,000 to 12,000 feet high, and many are clad with perpetual snow. The most rugged part of this chain is that between Savoy and the Valais, in the midst of which Mont Blanc, the chief of the group, rears its head to the height of 15,660 feet, and may be seen at the distance of 140 miles.

From these elevations, numerous lakes, and some of the principal rivers of Europe derive their origin. Impetuous cataracts descend from their sides, the sources of which are often above the ordinary elevation of the clouds.

546. The lower parts of the mountains generally abound with woods and pastures, remarkable for their luxuriant verdure. The middle regions, to which the herdsmen and shepherds resort with their cattle and flocks during the summer, produce a great variety of odoriferous herbs, plants, and shrubs, and are enriched with excellent springs. The upper division is chiefly composed of rugged, and almost inaccessible rocks, often hidden beneath perpetual snow. In ascending the Alps, the traveller experiences all the varieties of European climate, and every season of the year. A few paces conduct him from the flowers of summer to the undissolved snows of winter. The elevated valleys are filled with glaciers; and tremendous avalanches sometimes tumble from their cliffs.

547. The chain of Mount Jura is an important branch of the Alps, extending north-east from Geneva, and forming the boundary between Switzerland and France. It is thence continued under the name of the Vosges, and separates the streams and basins of France from those of Germany. This chain has an elevation of 4,000 or 5,000 feet, and is covered with snow the greater part of the year.

548. Next in celebrity are the Pyrenees, which separate France from Spain, and extend from the Mediterranean to the Bay of Biscay, a distance of about 250 miles. Their breadth varies from