Inhabitants, Manners and Customs. The inhabitants of this country are a singular race of men, about 4 feet high, and ill shaped, their heads too large in proportion to their bodies. They are said to enjoy remarkable health and longevity, sometimes living more than 100 years, and frequently to 80 or 90, cheerful and active. They are clothed with skins of the rein-deer, or undressed-sheepskins, with the wool inwards. Their amusements are shooting with bows and arrows, and wrestling. They have some religious seminaries instituted by the king of Denmark; but are mostly pagans, and are said to be addicted to magie, and invoke demons, whom they commission to annoy their enemies. They live in huts from 20 to 30 feet in diameter, and 6 -high, covered with briers, bark of birch, or old skins of beasts. Marriages among them depend wholly on the pleasure of the parents, who pay no regard to the inclinations of their children. In general, they acknowledge the king of Sweden for their sovereign, though some of them pay tribute to the Danes and Russians.

The Lapps were originally one people with the Finns. Their language has now Some affinity to the Finnish. They are said to have a genius for poetry; of which the Orra Moor and Rein Deer Song in the Spectator, transJated from two songs in the Laplandic tongue, are proofs.

DENMARK.

Extent. THE countries constituting the kingdom of Denmark extend from about 54 20 N. lat. to the northern extremity of the European continent, being about 1400 miles long, by a medial breadth of 150 miles.

Divisions. Before giving a general description of the kingdom of Denmark, it will be proper to take a separate view of the several countries which compose it.

are,

These

1. DENMARK proper, including the islands at the entrance of the Baltic.

2. The kingdom of NORWAY.

3. ICELAND.

4. The FERRO ISLES, and some others in the Aretie and Atlantic oceans,

DENMARK PROPER consists of a small peninsula, extending about 220 miles to the northward of lat. 54 20; and the islands of Zealand, Funen, Laland, Falster, and some smaller isles, containing 1,548,000 inhabitants. The peninsula is bounded on the south by Germany; on the west by the Atlantic ocean; north and east it is washed by the Scaggerac and Cattegat, which form the entrance into the Baltic sea. This peninsula forms the provinces of Sleswick and Jutland.

All this territory, together with the dutchy of Holstein, in Germany, which belongs to Denmark, is generally flat, and the soil sandy. The air is rendered foggy by the neighbourhood of the seas and lakes, of which the country is full; but it has no considerable river. During winter, their harbors are frozen. The land is fertile, producing abundance of grain of all sorts. The pastures are rich and give sustenance to multitudes of horses and horned cattle.

NORWAY is bounded on the south by the entrance to the Baltic, before described; west and north by the Atlantic ocean; east it is separated from Sweden by a chain of mountains, collectively denominated the Norwegian Alps. The most southern point of Norway is called the Naze, in latitude 57 30, from which it reaches to the North Cape, lat. 71 20. Its breadth is from 30 to 280 miles. It is divided into 4 governments, Aggerhuys, or Christiana, Christiansand, Bergen, and Drontheim, and contains 912,000 inhabitants.

The climate of Norway is variable. At Bergen the winter is moderate; in the north and eastern parts the cold is intense, from October to April. Norway abounds in lakes and rivers; the former are so large that they ap pear like inlets of the sea. It is also full of mountains and forests, which furnish masts, planks, beams, and boards, and are exported to all parts of Europe. The principal forest trees are pine and fir.

Bears, lynxes, and other wild animals, harbor in the forests and mountains. Here is also the lemming, a species of rat. Sometimes they issue from the ridges in multitudes, destroying every thing in their way.

Norway is rich in mines of silver, copper, iron, lead and * cobalt. Marble and other useful stones abound. The maguet is found in their iron mines. It has some rich

pastures, but does not produce corn sufficient for the inhabitants.

ICELAND, an island in the Atlantic ocean between 64 and 67 degrees north latitude, and between 50 and 65 degrees west longitude, is 300 miles long and 150 broad, and contains 47,300 inhabitants. The coast is rugged, and broken by numerous bays and creeks.

Iceland is full of mountains whose tops are covered with everlasting suow and ice, while their bowels are filled with fire and lava. Mount Hecla is the most noted of these volcanoes; its eruptions have been frequent and very destructive. There are always many fountains of boiling water in Iceland, some of which form spouts of an astonishing height. In some parts there is tolerable pasture, and a little grain is produced, but not enough to supply the wants of its inhabitants, whose wealth consists, principally of small cattle and sheep. There are but few trees on the island. Among the wild animals are white bears, which are brought from Greenland on islands of ice.

The FERRO ISLANDS, 24 in number, lie on the Atlantie ocean, between 61 and 63 degrees north latitude, and have 5300 inhabitants. STROMOE, the largest, is 17 miles long and 8 broad. The rest are much smaller, and many of them uninhabited. They are mountainous; but the soil, though shallow, is fertile, yielding barley and pasturage for sheep. They are the resort of great numbers of sea fowl, which furnish eider down, a valuable article to the fowlers. These islands are subject to terrible storms and whirlwinds.

Population. The Danish dominions contain together 2,609,000 inhabitants.

Manners. The servitude of the peasantry in Denmark proper, renders them spiritless and indolent, Those of Norway are more free, industrious, and euterprising, Almost every Norwegian is an artist, and supplies his family with his own manufactures. The women are handsome and courteous.

Religion. The established religion is Lutheranism; but other denominations are tolerated.

Language and Literature. The languages of all the Danish dominions are dialects of the Teutonic and Gothic. That of Iceland is said to be the purest.

X

The Danes are but little celebrated in literature Ty cho Brahe, the famous astronomer, was a native of this kingdom. There is a university at Copenhagen, and another at Kiel. There are also two academical colleges, and thirty-two other great schools in the principal towns. At Copenhagen is a royal society of sciences; another of Icelandic history and literature; an academy for painting and architecture; and a college of physicians. The university has funds for the gratuitous support of 328 stadents.

Government. Denmark is an absolute monarchy, but the administration of it has been distinguished for mildness, justice, and moderation.

Army. The army amounted in 1800, to 74,635 men.

Cities and Towns. COPENHAGEN is the capital, and the residence of the king. It is 5 miles in circumference, seated on the western shore of the island of Zealand, and contains 60,000 inhabitants. The houses are chiefly of brick; the palaces of the nobility are splendid.

BERGEN, the capital of Norway, has 16,000 inhabitants. ALTONA, in the dutchy of Holstein, has 30,000. CHRISTIANA, 10,000. DRONTHEIM has 8200, and is the most northerly city of Europe.

History. The Danes enumerate a long list of princes, through a period of near 3000 years, and affirm that their country received its name from Dan, their first king, who reigned about the year 1050 before the Christian era. But the history of Denmark, for several ages after Dan, is filled with wild and fabulous accounts of heroes, and other absurdities.

One of the most illustrious of the kings of Denmark was Canute the great, who was, at the same time, king of Denmark, Norway, and England; he died A. D. 1025. The famous Margaret, daughter of Waldemar III. who ascended the throne in 1387, raised Denmark to its highest pitch of glory and was justly styled the Semiramis of the north. She formed the union of Calmar, by which she was acknowledged sovereign of Sweden, Denmark, and Norway. The union was dissolved in 1448, but the three kingdoms were again united in 1457, under Christian I. and once more separated in 1464. In 1536, the protestant religion was established by Christian III. His grand

son Christian IV. was chosen head of the protestant league, formed against the house of Austria, 1629. His son Frederick III. ascended the throne in 1648, and conducted himself so much to the admiration of the people, that they assembled in 1660, and declared hereditary, that which before had been elective, and the power of the king absolute, which before had been extremely limited. Christian VI. who ascended the throne in 1730, and his grandson, Frederick V. who succeeded him in 1746, cultivated peace with all their neighbors, and employed all their power to promote the happiness of their subjects. Christian VII. the present king, ascended the throne in

1746.

SWEDEN.

Extent and Boundaries. THE kingdom of Sweden is of very considerable extent; being from the most southern promontory of Scone to the northern extremity of Swedish Lapland, not less than 1150 miles in length; and from the Norwegian Alps to the limits of Russia, about 600. It is bounded north by Danish Lapland; east by Russia : south by the Baltic, and the gulf of Finland; west by Norway, the Sound, and the Cattegate.

Divisions. The whole kingdom is divided into five grand divisions, viz. Sweden proper, 654,000 inhabitants; Gothland, 1,454,000; Norland and Lapland, 240,000; Finland, 835,000. Each division is subdivided into several provinces.

Climate and Seasons. The winter here is long, dry, and cold; the summer short and hot. There is a rapid change from winter to the heat of summer. During the long winter nights, the moon, the aurora borealis, and the reflection of the snow, produce a mild and agreeable light. In summer, the night consists only of a short twilight.

The pure, sharp air, which the Swedes breathe, renders them vigorous, and preserves them from epidemical diseases. They often attain to a very great age.

Face of the Country. Sweden is diversified in a picturesque manner, with lakes and rivers, mountains and vales, forests, rocks, and cultivated fields. The most remarkable