The population of the Prussian dominions, though it varies in density in the several divisions, has been ascer tained with considerable minuteness. The following is the result of the last census, arranged according to the amount of each province : From this table it appears, that in proportion to their ex tent, Juliers, Cleves, and Berg, the Lower Rhone, and Si lesia, are the most populous; and East Prussia, West Prussia, Pomerania, and Posen, are the least so. We found above, that the whole Prussian territories embrace an area of 104,656 square miles, and from the calculations last stated, the number of inhabitants amounts to 10,536,571 averaging about 99 to a square mile. ' But so widely dif ferent is the ratio of population in the different provinces, that while Juliers, Cleves, and Berg, contain 255 to each square mile, East Prussia does not exceed 58, and some of the other provinces, as specified above, arc not much above that number. Of this population the males are 5,244,308, and the females 5,292,623. In 1740, Prussia, though then possessed of part of Silesia, and of extensive territories in the north of Germany, contained only 3,000,000; hut since that time, partly by acquisition, and partly by an augmentation of numbers in the old states, she has considerably more than tripled her population. Shc is now, in this respect, superior to Poland and Eu ropean Prussia, inferior by a third to France, and by a half to England and Ireland.
The physical appearance of territories so extensive, is less varied and striking than one could easily conjecture. In Pomerania, so slight is the slope towards the sea, that the land would be inundated to a great extent by the tide, were it not protected by a long range of sand hills, or ar tificial dikes. The rivers, both in Pomerania and the other provinces, often inundate the neighbouring country, in consequence of the levelness of the surface, or expand into lakes, some of which are of considerable dimensions. A level surface is the general predominating character, and though there may be occasionally some diminutive emi nences, there is nothing in the whole of Prussia that can, properly speaking, be denominated a mountain. There are, however, various mountain ridges connected with it, such as the Hartz in Saxony, the Riesengehirge and other large mountains in Silesia, the Westerwald in Westphalia, and the Hunsdruck in the Lower Rhine; but these, as they merely form the outskirts or the boundaries of the king dom, may be regarded as belonging as much to other ataleS as to Prussia. But though Prussia is devoid of mountains, there is a variety in other respects that de serves not to be overlooked. In every quarter of the king dom, particularly in the eastern parts of it, lakes of every degree of magnitude are more common than in any other country on the continent. The woods and forests, the lat ter of which, from the remotest date, seem to have dis tinguished this portion of Europe, are calculated to cover above seventeen millions of acres. Brandenburg, West phalia, and other places, abound in large plains of sand, or are covered with heath. Silesia, though extremely fer tile, is marked, more than any other province, by gentle inequalities; and the whole Prussian territories are beau tifully diversified by the great number of canals, and of large rivers that intersect them in all directions.
Prussia possesses one advantage peculiar to herself, with the exception of Holland, and probably of England; namely, her internal communication by water, and her ready communication with the sea, by means of large na vigable rivers. The shores of the Baltic also are, more than those of any other sea, indented with large and capa cious bays, extremely accessible, and favourable to all the purposes of commerce for places in the vicinity. And the more remote parts of the kingdom have a direct commu nication with the sea, by means of majestic rivers, which are not only numerou , but situated at so regular a distance from each other, as to answer, almost in an equal degree, every district of the country. Of these rivers, the Elbe (the .4lbis of the ancients, and the Labbe of the Bohemi ans) deserves first to be mentioned. It rises in the Giant Mountains (Riesengebirge) between Bohemia and Silesia, passes through Bohemia, and washing Dresden, Witten burg, and 'Magdeburg, falls into the German Ocean below Hamburg, not far from Heligoland. It receives the waters of several tributary rivers ; the i\loldau in Bohemia, the Eger from Franconia, the Milde, the Saale, the Ilavel,and the Spree, after it has entered the Prussian territories. From Magdeburg it forms only one stream. It is navigable for small vessels as far as Leutmeritz, in Bohemia, nearly a hundred miles further than Dresden. Its navigation, however, is much interrupted, and rendered expensive by the numerous tolls and restrictions imposed by the sove reigns of the different territories through which it flows. These duties have been much diminished since the late peace; but notwithstanding them, there is probably no river in Europe that exhibits a more busy and commercial aspect than the Elbe, 500 vessels continually plying on it, chiefly from Hamburg to 'Magdeburg. The Oder has its origin in Moravia, and passing by Ratibor, Breslau, Frank ton, and Stettin, flows into the Baltic by three mouths, forming two islands Usedom and \Vollin. It is navigable as far as Ratibor, about 87 miles south-east of Breslau. It receives several secondary rivers, the chief of which is the \Vartha, which, by means of a canal, unites the Oder and the Vistula. The Vistula takes its rise in the Carpa thian mountains, rind flowing nearly due north, washes Cra cow, Warsaw, Nock, and Thorn, and discharges into the Baltic at Dantzic. It begins to be navigable at Cracow, and, while it intersects Prussia, it forms, at the same time, the great channel for the conveyance of corn and other pro ducts from the interior of Poland. These arc the most im portant rivers. Those of inferior note, including the tri butary s'reams, arc extremely numerous, some of them very large, and all of them navigable in a greater or less degree. The PITO, in East russia, runs past Konigs burg, Where it is 300 feet wide, z•nd empties itself into the Frisch Haff. The Niemen, or Memel, forms the boundary between Prussia and Russia, and flows past Tilsit into the Baltic. The Spree washes Berlin, falls into the Havel, a tributary stream of the Elbe, and, by means of canals, unites the Elbe and the Oder. The Rhine, the Weser, and the Ems, though connected with Prussia, belong rather to Germany. All the rivers, as well as the shores of the Bal tic, produce fish in great abundance and variety.