most of her fleet was destroyed or captured at Copenhagen by Lord Nelson, and the city was saved only by the submission of the Danish government; and again, in 1807, when Copenhagen surrendered, after a destructive bombardment by the British fleet and army. On this occasion, the Danish fleet, consisting of sixteen ships of the line and fifteen frigates, with other vessels, and a vast quantity of naval stores, was brought to England, after which Copenhagen was evacuated by the British. At the peace of 1814, Denmark was obliged by the Allied Powers to yield up Norway to Sweden; and the island of Heligoland, at the mouth of the Elbe, to England; in consequence of having refused to join with them in the confederation against Bonaparte. In place of this valuable portion of her dominions, Denmark obtained a part of Pomerania, which has since been exchanged with Prussia for Lauenburg, and a pecuniary consideration. LAPLAND.* The boundaries of Lapland are not very accurately fixed. It may be regarded, however, as extending from the sixty-fourth degree of north latitude to the Frozen Ocean, and from the Atlantic to the White Sea. The country is divided, by the continuation of the Norwegian chain of mountains, into two parts, which are strikingly different. In that which extends round the Gulf of Bothnia, the heat in summer, and the cold in winter, are both very great; while, in the other part, the influence of the ocean moderates both. In the former, the heat in July is often as great as in France, and the inhabitants are tortured by musquitoes; while in winter, water is often frozen in the vessel, as the person is in the act of drinking it; and even spirits of wine are sometimes converted into ice. In this region, in consequence of the heat of summer, and of the ground being protected by snow in winter, vegetation is extremely rapid in the few fertile spots; corn being often sown in the end of May, and reaped before the beginning of August. About the North Cape, on the contrary, grain does not ripen; because the snow lies less permanently in winter, and the heat is less in summer, though the mean annual temperature is greater than in some of the higher parts of the other region. * As Lapland, though of small political importance, -presents a number of interesting peculiarities, it may be proper to give a few particulars respecting it, considered separately from Sweden and Russia, the countries to which it now belongs. The inhabitants wear coats which are commonly made of sheepskin, with the wool turned towards the body; and above these, they have outer coats generally made of the skins of rein-deer, with the hairy side out. The fires are placed in the middle of their huts; and the floors are covered with the skins of rein-deer, on which the family sit or recline. A thicker covering of skins is used on the floor of that part of the hut in which they sleep, and they cover themselves with sheepskins to keep off the cold. They live, for the most part, on animal food, and on the milk of the rein-deer made into cheese, or in other states. When their stock of fish, or of the flesh of other animals, fails, they kill a rein-deer, which serves a family of four for a week. The entire population is thought to be about 60,000. In the parts north of the arctic circle, the sun is constantly wisible for a number of days about midsummer, and invisible for nearly an equal period about Christmas. Thus, at the seventieth degree of latitude, he never wholly disappears from the 17th of May till the 28th of July, nor is any part of him seen from the 25th of November till the 17th of January.* During the latter period, however, even at the middle of winter, there is considerable twilight for an hour or two before and after noon; and the moon, the aurora borealis, and the snow, prevent the nights from being dark. During the other period, the sun is seen on the meridian twice each day; once on the southern side, and once on the northern. In winter, the Laplanders travel in sledges, drawn by reindeer, on the frozen surface of the snow. These are made of birch; and are so small and light, that they may be easily carried in the arms. With a couple of rein-deer attached to one of these, a Laplander will travel fifty or sixty miles a day, occasionally at the rate of ten miles an hour. In guiding and balancing the vehicle, he shows great dexterity; and in going down hill, if the descent be steep, he ties another rein-deer by the horns to the rear of the sledge, which it pulls back so as to lessen the velocity. To the Laplander, the rein-deer is invaluable. It constitutes, indeed, almost his entire wealth. Its milk and its flesh afford him excellent food, and its skin clothing. Of the tendons and intestines, he makes thread and cordage; of the horns, glue; and of the bones, spoons. In winter, it draws his sledges over *The first of these intervals is 72 days, and the second only 53. The difference arises from refraction, which causes the sun to be visible when he is really below the horizon; from considering the position of the sun's upper limb, instead of that of his centre; and from the earth's motion in its orbit, being more rapid in winter than in summer. (For farther illustration, see Note, pages 3 and 4). frozen lakes, rivers, or snow; and, at other times of the year, it carries his tents and baggage on its back. Of these useful creatures, a wealthy Laplander possesses 1000, or more; a person of the middle class, 500 or 600; and the poorer people, from 50 to 200: and they frequently kill great numbers of wild ones, particularly in autumn. In summer, the rein-deer feed principally on grass; and, in winter, on a peculiar kind of moss or lichen, which they are dexterous in discovering under the snow. They are above four feet high, and three of them are thought to The about equal in weight to a moderate-sized ox. ASIA. GENERAL VIEW. Boundaries, &c.-Asia is the north-eastern part of the old continent, and is larger than Europe or Africa.* It is bounded on the north, by the Northern Ocean; on the east, by the Pacific, and by Bhering's Strait, which separates it from the north-western part of America; on the south, by the Indian Ocean; and on the west by the Arabian Gulf or Red Sea, the Isthmus of Suez, the Mediterranean Sea, the Archipelago, the Hellespont, the Sea of Marmara, the Bosphorus, the Black Sea, the Strait of Ienikale, the Sea of Azov, and European Russia. Seas, Straits, &c.-The other principal seas are the Sea of Okhotsk or Lama, the Sea of Japan, the Yellow Sea, and the Chinese Sea, on the east; and the Bay of Bengal and the Persian Gulf, in the south. Other straits are those of Bab-el-Mandeb and Ormus, Asia is situated between the second and seventy-eighth parallels of north latitude, and between 26° of east and 170° of west longitude. Its length, from the Strait of Bhering to that of Bab-el-Mandeb, is about 6700 miles; and its breadth, from the south-east of China to the Ural Mountains, about 3800 miles. at the entrances of the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf; Palk's Strait, between Ceylon and India; and the Strait of Malacca, south-west of Malaya. Divisions.-The principal divisions of Asia are Asiatic Russia, in the north; Asiatic Turkey, in the west; Arabia, in the south-west; Persia, Afghanistan, India, Chin-India, and Tibet, in the south; China, in the south-east; the Japan Islands,* on the east; and the various Tartar nations, in the middle. Peninsulas, &c.-The chief peninsulas are Arabia, Malaya, Corea, and Kamtschatka.+ The Isthmus of Suez unites Asia and Africa, and is about sixty miles broad. Face of the Country, &c.-In the middle of Asia, there is a vast plateau, or elevated tract of country, which consists of mountains and very high plains. The principal mountains are those of Tibet; and the Altay and other mountains, south of Siberia. * Other islands near Asia, are Ceylon; the Maldives; the Laccadives; the Andaman and Nicobar Isles; the Indian or Eastern Archipelago, which contains Borneo, Sumatra, Java, Celebes, and several smaller; the Philippine Isles, Hainan, Formosa, and others. Several of these have been classed in the newly-established division of Oceanica. There are also Bhering's Isle, and the Aleoutskoi or Aleutian Islands, east of Kamtschatka. †The countries east and west of the Bay of Bengal, are often called the Eastern and Western Peninsulas of India. This is improper, however, as there are large portions of their boundaries which are not formed by the sea. The country between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean, is a peninsula. This, which is now a part of Asiatic Turkey, was called, in ancient times, Asia Minor. f This tract, the most extensive table-land on the globe, lies between the parallels of 30° and 50°; and occupies the vast space between Siberia on the north, Hindostan and the Burman empire on the south, the Caspian Sea on the west, and China and Corea on the east. Its length probably exceeds 3000 miles; and its general breadth is 1200 or 1400 miles. From it, rivers flow in all directions; and the other countries of Asia slope from its boundaries, on every side. This tract has a remarkable influence on the climate of Asia. From its elevation, it is itself much colder than might be expected in such a latitude. It also interrupts, in a great degree, the atmospheric currents between the polar and the equatorial regions, which would otherwise tend to equalize the temperature; and thus, the heat of India, and the cold of Siberia, are both extremely great. -The most remarkable lakes are the Casthe Sea of Aral, Lake Baikal, and the Dead s.-Asia contains many great rivers, the prinwhich are the Kian Ku or Yang-Tse-Kiang, Hoang Ho, which flow eastward through the Lena, Yenisseï or Ieniceï, and the Obi, ow through Siberia into the Northern Ocean; ur or Segalien, which flows eastward into the Okotsk; the Ganges and the Brahmapootra, ite and flow into the Bay of Bengal; the Irwhich falls into the same sea; the Cambodia, ese river, which flows into the Sea of China; rates, which falls into the Persian Gulf; and 5, north-west of India.† aspian is more than 700 miles long, and contains 120,000 This ivers are arranged according to the lengths of their iven by Major Rennell, except the Amour, which he e greater than the Yenisseï or Obi. The length of the osed to be 1000 miles, and that of the Kian Ku about |