Whole length of the bounding line of Europe, and whole quantity of water, . 16,000 100 -- Mediterranean, from Gibraltar to Constantinople, 4000 10 Black Sea, and Sea of Asoph, 850 26 The Baltic to the Naze of' Nor way, 3340 25 The Atlantic, from Gibraltar to Cape North, . . 3640 17 The Arctic Ocean, from Cape North to the Sea of Kara, 2200 12 The Caspian Sea (in Asia), 10 ( Arrarsstnith's Atlas.) We are not acquainted with the height of the sources of many of the European rivers above the sea. Those of the Danube, according to Make Brun, are from 2100 to 2200 English fbet, which gives a fall of one foot and a half per mile; but, near the sea, the inclination is less; for, at Buda, 900 miles from the mouth of the river, its height, according to Wahlenberg, is 229 feet, which gives a fall of three inches per mile, for the lower part of its course. In general, the rivers of Russia, Poland, and the north of Germany, flow over a more level surface, and are more navigable, than those of' the south of Europe. Professor Robison states, on the authority of the Abbe Chopp., that the sources of the Wolga are but 480 feet above the ocean (Envy. Brit. article Riven); but, as the Caspian Sea, in which this river terminates, is found to be 324 feet below the Black Sea (dna. Phil. VIII. 891), this increases the space through which the waters of the Wolga descend to 804 feet, in a course of 2000 miles. The average fall may therefore be about two inches and a half per mile.
The islands of Europe, including Nova Zembla and Iceland, occupy a space equal to 280,000 square miles, or one eleventh part of the surface of the Continent; and of this space, the area of the British Isles amounts to rather less than one-half. The Black Sea is the only large sea connected with Eu rope, in which there are no islands worthy of notice.
The Mediterranean, the noblest inland sea in the world, forms the southern boundary of Europe, se parating it from Africa, and partly also from Asia. It may be considered as the bottom of a vast basin formed by the Pyrenees, Alps, Mount Hemus, Tau rus, Libanus, and Atlas. These mountains are
every where near its shores, which are consequently narrow and much inclined. Hence there are no such extensive plains as Hungary or Poland near the coast of this sea, and hence also no very large rivers fall into it except the Nile; and, altogether, it receives a smaller quantity of water from rivers than the Black Sea or the Baltic, though six times larger than either. Its length is about 2350 miles ; its breadth is extremely various, and its surface (exclu sive of the Black Sea) is nearly equal to 1,000,000 of square English miles, or something less than one third of the Continent of Europe. It is generally of great depth, and its numerous islands, which have uniformly a rocky surface, appear to be the sum-. mita of marine mountains.
The Baltic, the greatest inland sea that is entire. ly in Europe, is about 1200 pules long, of very un equal breadth, and presents a surface of 17.5,000 square miles, exclusive pf islands. It occupies the bottom of another large basin, 850 miles in breadth, and 1400 in length, extending from the Norwegian mountains, on the north and west, to the Carpathi ans on the south, and to the high lands in which the Dneiper, Don, and Wolga rise on the east. This basin, equal to one-third of the surface of Europe, has a very different character from that of the Me diterranean. The mountains are not very elevated, and are so placed as to leave a large track of land very little inclined between them and the Baltic, over which, especially on the south side, many con. siderable rivers flow with a gentle current. Hence, the country round the Baltic is much more level than round the Mediterranean; lakes are numerous in the low grounds, from the want of declivity ; the sea itself is comparatively shallow, and receiving a much greater quantity of river water, it is much in= ferior in saltness. The commerce of the Baltic is annually interrupted by the ice, which endures four months in the Gulfs of Bothnia and Finland. The whole of this inland sea has sometimes been frozen over for a short time, but this is rare.