Education is generally diffused, many of the peasantry being as familiar with the classics as their own tongue. Crime is unknown among Icelanders.

from Ireland; while on the other hand, the island | escape, and a column of boiling water, 10 ft. in of Thule, mentioned by ancient Roman authors, diameter, is sometimes thrown 90 ft. high. was probably identical with Iceland. Be this as it may, in short, the aborigines were gradually supplanted by Norwegians, who settled here since the year 874 or 875, established a kind of republic, but were, in 1261, subjected to the sovereignty of Norway, and in this manner Denmark became possessed of the island.

REIKIAVIK, the capital of Iceland, on the S. W. coast, is the seat of the Danish governor, of the bishop, of a scientific, a bible, and a tract society, The Geysers, or hot springs, are very remarka- and has 700 inhabitants, a cathedral built of stone, ble: the largest has a basin 56 ft. in diameter; a gymnasium, an observatory, and a public library the water rises and sinks rapidly; clouds of steam | containing 6,000 volumes.

NORWAY AND SWEDEN.

THESE two countries were separate kingdoms | cataracts and naked precipices, render the scenery until 1814, when they came under the government extremely wild and romantic. The coast is high of the same king; having, however, distinct and rugged, and in the Baltic broken into many constitutions and administrations. They extend beyond the parellels of 56° 71′ N. lat., and are bounded on the N. by the Arctic ocean, on the W. by the Atlantic, on the E. by Russia, the gulf of Bothnia, and the Baltic sea; and on the S. by the Skager rock and Cattegat, which separate them from Denmark. Their greatest length is about 1200 m., with a width varying from 200 to 400 m.; area 323,360 sq. m. Sweden contains 172,189, and Norway 151,171 sq. m. A grand chain of mountains, over 1000 m. in length, separates the two countries. This chain runs parallel to the Norwegian coast, and varies in height from 3000 to 6000 feet. The highest point in the range is, Scagstlostind, in the southern or Dovre field range, which is 8,400 ft. above the sea-level. Magnificent glaciers and cataracts are found among these mountains. Immense pine forests valleys in summer rich in various foliage, foaming

islands. On the Norwegian coast, the beating of the waves of the Atlantic has formed innumerable islands and extensive fiords, lochs or inlets of the sea. Among the Luffoden isles, off the coast of Norway, is the celebrated Whirlpool or Mælstrom, and is by some supposed to communicate with a subterranean passage through which the sea finds its way into the gulf of Bothnia. Others maintain that the pool is formed by the meeting of the tides at this point, which is most probable. The diameter of the whirlpool is about 2 m., concave towards the centre, like a funnel where the hissing waters foam, and rush with fearful velocity, especially during storms. Ships, and even whales, (nce drawn within the edge of the vortex, are said to be sucked down; but with a favorable breeze, a ship may safely approach it within two or three miles.

The rivers are numerous, descending from the

mountains. They are rapid and much obstructed | horizon for months. The Aurora Borealis, or

by cataracts and shoals, hence they are not navigable or of great length; they are used, however, in floating timber from the mountains.

These countries abound in lakes, and some are of considerable size. Lake Wener, in the S. of Sweden, is 100 m. long by 50 to 60 m. broad, and 147 ft. above the sea-level, surrounded by steep, red granite rocks, interspersed with noble forests. Wetter lake is more than 100 m. long, by 20 broad; Malar lake, on which Stockholm is built, is 60 m. long by 18 broad. These three lakes are united by the Gotha canal, 7 ft. deep by 22 broad, which afford (from April to November) a passage for vessels from the Baltic to the North sea. This great work was executed by the Swedish army, at a cost of $3,750,000. Norway has also many lakes-Mjosen, 60 m. long by 18 broad; Rund Sion is 50 m. long, with a breadth of only 2 m.; Faemund, 35 m. long by 8 broad. Floating islands, composed of matted turf and sea-grass, with shrubs, give a pleasing effect to the inland waters. There is no country in Europe of equal size presenting such grand and picturesque scenery, by flood and field, as Norway and Sweden. The extraordinary clearness of the water of the fiords of Norway, and the Northern sea generally, has been noted by all travelers, especially by Sir A. de C. Brooke, who states that the bottom of | white sand was clearly visible, with its minutest objects, at a depth of 20 to 25 fathoms. There are about 360 mineral springs in Sweden; the baths of Medevi and the wells of Loka Säter, Ramlösa, and Rottenby are celebrated.

The northern portions of these countries, extending within the Arctic circle, are exposed to all the severities of a polar winter. During the winter solstice, the sun does not appear above the

Northern Light, is here seen in all its brilliancy, which, in a measure, compensates for the absence of the sun. From November to March, the gulf of Bothina is frozen over, and travelers pass from Abo, by the Aland islands, to Stockholm. The spring and autumn are very short, as the heat of summer so suddenly succeeds the cold of winter. In southern Norway, the longest day is 18+ hours; the shortest, 5 hours. In the middle districts, the longest day is 21 hours; the shortest, 3 hours. The soil is generally very poor, though there are some fertile spots. The greater part of Lapland is sterile, covered with rocks, peats, moss, and gravelly plains.

History. The Swedes and Norwegians are of Germano-Celtic origin, and their language, although different, has many points of resemblance. Both nations are brave, frank, honest, manly and simple; they make good soldiers and excellent sailors, and their hospitality is the theme of all travelers who have visited their country.

SWEDEN, originally peopled by the Finns and Lapponians, was reduced to a regular form of government, A. D. 954, by Olof, one of the Upsala kings, who embraced Christianity; for many centuries, the Goths and Swedes remained distinct tribes, but A. D. 1250 became one nation. Queen Margaret of Denmark, by the treaty of Calmar, A. D. 1397, united Sweden and Norway to her dominions; but in 1448, they separated from Denmark and chose their own king. In 1520 Christian II. of Denmark conquered Sweden; in 1521 a Swedish nobleman named Gustavus Vasa drove out the Danes, and was proclaimed king in 1523, and the throne settled on his descendants; one of whom, Gustavus Adolphus, fell at the battle of Lutzen in supporting the Protestant German

THE EMPIRE OF RUSSIA.

THE most extensive and one of the most power- | the Himalaya chains, the Urals are very low in their general elevation, though some of them reach the limit of perpetual snow, a circumstance which is not remarkable in their high, latitude. In all the vast country, extending on the west side of this central chain to the confines of Poland and Moldavia, there is hardly a single hill. There is nothing, in fact, save the forests, to break or interrupt the course of the wind, in all the immense space interposed between the Ural and the Carpathian mountains.

ful empires of either ancient or modern times, occupies almost the entire northern portion of the eastern hemisphere, embracing, in its immense area, more than half of Europe, and one third of Asia. It is bounded on the north by the Arctic or Frozen ocean; on the west by Sweden, the Baltic, Prussia, and the Austrian dominions; on the south by Turkey, the Black sea, Persia, Tartary, and the extensive Chinese teritories; and on the east by the North Pacific ocean. Tooke, in in his history of Russia, computes its extent to be nine thousand two hundred miles in length, and two thousand four hundred in breadth; while its superficial area included within the above boundaries has been variously estimated from six to eight millions of square miles. This is three or four times the extent of the Roman empire in the height of its grandeur, and in the period of its greatest territorial amplitude. A better idea may perhaps be formed of the vast dimensions of the Russian empire, by taking into view the fact that it is equal to two Europes, or the whole of North America; that it includes within its boundaries about 1-7th of the territorial part of the globe, and about 1-27th part of its entire surface.

Physical Aspect.-Russia is, in general, level, and comprises some of the most extensive plains in the world. The empire, however, is naturally parcelled into the two great divisions of European and Asiatic Russia, by the Ural mountains, which stretch in a north-northeast direction from the Caspian sea to the Arctic ocean; forming, through the greater part of their course, the boundary between Europe and Asia. Compared with

Geology. Stratified rocks appear at the bottom of the mountains, and raise to a considerable height on their sides. These rocks consist chiefly of thick beds of limestone, conglomerate, and clay slate. Higher up are seen immense crystalline masses composed of granite, sienite, serpentine, and gabronite. These masses, though higher in position, are evidently lower in the geological series than the stratified rocks, which in many places have been upheaved by them, and in consequence have a considerable dip. Highest of all is trachytic porphyry, which forms the great body of all the principal summits of the central range. That this trachyte is the most recent of all the rocks is proved by the fact, that in many places it is seen piercing them, and throwing them into the wildest confusion.

Animals-The forests abound with almost every species of game-among quadrupeds, wolves, boars, jackals, deer, goats, and hares among birds, pheasants and partridges. A large species of wild cattle, called aurochs, roam at large, and the hares of the Caucasus have been famed from the remotest antiquity.