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Europe, comprising England, Wales and Scotland.
This island and the neighbouring one of Ireland
constitute one kingdom called the United Kingdom
of Great Britain and Ireland. The island of Great
Britain is the largest in Europe: its extreme length
is about 580 miles : in the south it is 370 miles
broad; at the centred) : and near the centre of
Scotland 180. It is situated between 49. 57. and 58.
43. north latitude, and between 35. and 8. 34. west
longitude from Paris. Its surface contains 11,400
leagues. Its eastern and southern shores are less
deeply indented than the western : they are con-
sequently bolder. There are no islands upon the
eastern coast, and upon the southern none except
that of Wight and two others of inconsiderable
size: on the west are those of Sicily elsewhere de-
scribed, Anglesey, Man, Arran, Ila, Jura, Mull,
Tiry, Egg, Rum, Sky, the Hebrides and Orkneys.
In the south the largest bay is that of Exeter. In
the east are, beginning at the south, the sandy
bay of the Thames; the Wash, where the little
stream called the Glen meets the sea; the frith
which receives the Humber ; the friths of Forth,
Murray and Dornoch. On the western coast are
the friths of Clyde and Solway ; the bays of More-
cambe and Arlech, and the Bristol Channel, which
receives the Severn.
The mountains of this island compose three
roups : the first toward the north is formed by the
ighlands of Caithness and Inverness; of this
group the Orkneys, the Hebrides, Sky and Mull
are the extremities: The second consists of the
Grampian Hills and some other eminences which
terminate at the friths of Forth and Clyde : The
third comprises the Cheviot Hills and the broken
surface of Wales and the south part ofthe island.
The first group does not rise above 2,500 feet: the
highest eminence in the second attains to 4,370, and
in the third a few summits rise to 2,500 and 3,000
feet.
There are no basins of great extent. The hills
of Caithness, and the Grampian chain form the
one most northerly : the most considerable and
rapid river of this basin is the Spey which flows
with a swift course, and with much obstruction
from cataracts into Murray Frith. The southern
ramifications of the Grampians form with the
Cheviots an extensive basin through which flows
the Forth: this river in a course of GO leagues
traverses an extent of meadows, forests, and fer-
tile plains, and its waters abound in excellent fish.
The Moorlands and a few other hills surround the
vast basin of the Ouse, which under the name of
Ure rises in the valley of Wensley, flows to Ays-
garth, where it forms a beautiful cascade, takes
the name of Ouse after receiving the Swale, and the
name of Humber upon joining the Ocean. The
ridge which forms the southern limit of this basin,
bounds on the north that of the most important
river of Gre'at Britain, the Thames. The basins
of the southern face of the Island are too small to
give rise to any considerable stream. Those on
the western face are of small extent except that
traversed by the Severn: this basin is formed by
the highest mountains of England and Wales : the
Severn rises at the foot of Plinlimmon and runs
into the Bristol Channel. The basin of the Clyde
in Scotland, is narrow, but worthy of notice for
the beautiful falls of this river, one of which near
Stone Byres is 84 feet perpendicular. The region
watered by this stream is one of the most romantic,
fertile, and populous in the whole country. |
The lakes of Great Britain are small; the largest
in England is" Loch Lomond 30 m. long and 8
wide. Its beautiful banks are much frequented la
summer. It embosoms several islands, and i*s
waters are subject to violent agitations without any
apparent cause. In Scotland are many lakes, the
most noted of which is Loch Lomond, 30 m. long
and two to three wide.
The rigors of winter, and the heats of summer,
are much less felt in Great Britain than on the
continent under the same parallel. The winds
from the sea, temper seasons the most opposite,
but the variations of temperature are sudden and
frequent. If the northern regions are favorable to
the growth of vegetables, the state of the atmos-
phere is often an obstacle to their maturity : rains
destroy the too early expectation of a plentiful crop
Moreover, in the north there are wide tracts of
barren territory, and on the eastern coast, sand and
marshes oppose an obstacle to fertility. The most
fertile districts are in the centre and south.
The most useful plants and animals have been
imported from the continent at different periods
into the British Islands. At the most ancient
period, England was covered with virgin forests
like the wilds of America : the food of the inhabi-
tants consisted of acorns, apples, nuts and berries :
bears, wolves; and wild hoars ranged undisturbed
among these vast solitudes : the deer fed in the
woods and the wild bull in the plains. The beasts
of prey have disappeared; the deer only is reserv-
ed to afford a sport to the rich, and no other of the
wild quadrupeds remain but the small tribes which
find a shelter in the mountains and forests. A
goat is almost a rarity throughout the island, ex-
cept in Wales, where they approach somewhat to
a savage nature : the Welsh take great delight in
hunting them ; they prefer the he-goats as having
the best fat and skin : the horns of this animal are
sometimes three feet in length. Most of the
domestic animals of Scotland are small, but their
flesh is savoury and highly esteemed. The island
of Great Britain contained in 1821 a pop. of 14,158,
815. Adding to this the pop. of Ireland which is
6,801,800, gives a total of 20,963,513. for the pop.
of the United Kingdom. The total pop. of the
British empire throughout the world is estimated
at from 140 to 150 millions. The national debt of
Great Britain in 1830 was xc2xa3804,860,188 sterling.
The shipping of the kingdom amounts to 2,500,
000 tons. The imports are valued at 43 millions
sterling, the exports 57 millions. The yearly man-
ufactures of cotton 20 millions ; of woolen 18 mil-
lions ; of silk 10 millions. The whole amount of
property in the British empire is estimated at 4,096
millions sterling.
The geographical position ofthe British Islands
has necessarily raised the commercial power of the
United Kingdom to a degree of prosperity beyond
anything which antiquity exhibits to us. It has
long been customary to compare the naval power
of Great Britain to that of Carthage, but nothing
will establish the pretended resemblance. Seated
upon a continent, Great Britain would never have
attained the preponderance she now exercises.
If her twin great islands formed but one, the same
advantages would not have arisen. The extent
of her coasts maintains an immense maritime pop-
ulation, and removes the apprehension of any
rival in the empire of the seas.
The secret of the English power first began to
be understood by Elizabeth. Called to the throne
at a period when the religious reformation which
marked an important era, as political reformation
characterizes the present, had been obstructed in
its progress under the short and bloody reign of |
