The soil is generally productive. The plains in Feet.
The Miiggelsberg (the highest in Branden burg,`, 34.0 The Rekuhl (the highest in 'Pomerania), 280 The mountains are generally covered with forests; to the southward, where they are the most lofty, with pines ; and to the northward, with various deci duous trees. if, at the present day, the Terra sylvis horrida of Tacitus cannot be found in Germany, it is still the most abundantly wooded territory in Eu rope.
Germany has seven large rivers which pass through it to the sea ; and, in their passage, receive the various smaller streams which issue from the moun tains, and spread fertility over this well watered country. The Danube rises in the Dukedom of Baden, becomes navigable for small craft at Ulm, receives the large rivers Loch, Iser, Inn, Ens, and March ; and, after a course of 430 miles, exclusive of its curvatures, waters Hungary in its way to the Black .Sea. The Rhine, rising in Switzerland, and navigable from its entrance into Germany. has a course, exclusive of its windings, of 460 miles, be fore it enters the kingdom of the Netherlands. In its progress, it receives the navigable rivers Neckar, Lahn, Moselle, the Saar, the Roer, and the Lippe.
The Weser rises in middle Germany, &tn two springs which form the Fulda and the Werra, and at their junction takes the name which it carries to the ocean, and under which name it runs, without no ticing its bendings, 190 miles. It. becomes naviga ble at Minden for boats, and at Vegefach, near Bre men, for ships. The Elbe, like the Weser, from its rise to its junction with the ocean, is wholly a Ger man river. It becomes navigable near its source, runs a course of 520 miles, and is the most consider. able channel of commerce with foreign countries, through the ports of Hamburg and Altona. It re ceives the navigable rivers Moldau, Eger, Seale, Ha. vel, Spree, Ilmonau, and Steckinitz, besides fifty smaller streams. The Oder becomes navigable for boats at Ratisbon, and running in the Prussian part of Germany, a course of 380 miles, empties itself in to the Baltic Sea in Pomerania. It receives the ri vers Bober, Neisse, and Warthe, besides many small er streams. The Eloch is the only German river that runs to the Adriatic Sea. It passes through the Tyrol, and only becomes navigable after it has entered Italy. The Ems is a river of short course,
rising in Prussia, and passing. through Hanover, whence it. becomes navigable, and soon enters the sea near the city of Emden in two branches.
The forming a junction between these great rivers, by means of canals, is an object of vast importance, and some progress towards effecting it has been made. The Holstein canal unites the German Ocean with the Baltic Sea from the river Eider. The Plauen canal unites the Havel with the Elbe, or rather facilitates and shortens the passage. The Finnow canal forms a communication between the Ravel and the Oder. The Fredrick Williams canal unites the Spree and the Oder. The Pappenburg canal is designed to unite the Ems with the Elbe.
Lastly, the Vienna canal, of which but a small portion is yet completed, will, when finished, form a com munication between the Danube and the Adriatic Sea.
The whole of Germany being the temperate I zone, though, with the variations of elevation and the difference of latitude, it differs in climate, is ge nerally very healthy. The most mild and beautiful are the middle provinces, between the 48th and 51st degree. In the south, under the influence of the Alps, the air is raw and cold, whilst in the plains and open vallies, the climate of the finest parts of Italy is enjoyed. The northern provinces are colder, damper, and more ungenial, and near the stagnant lakes unwholesome. The weather changes to great extremes, and the frost is frequently seen at a late period of the year. The inhabitants there too feel the effect of heavy fogs, and sometimes of tremen dous storms. No volcanoes are now in existence, and though the remains of them are to be seen in many places, they are not supposed to have been in a state of activity since the Antediluvian ages. Earthquakes are scarcely felt, and have never been injuriously experienced, and the country is free from the musquitos, which so much annoy the people of Italy. Vines, maize, and rice, grow as far north as latitude 51. Beyond that, they do not arrive to full perfection. The olive and the silk-worm are only raised on that small portion of Germany to the south of the 46th degree.