DENMARK. CHAP. I. Description of Denmark and its History to the Accession of Canute VI. Tislands the Baltic sea and a peninsula O Denmark, which consists of several adjoining to Germany, are added the kingdom of Norway and the great isle of Iceland. It is bounded on the west by the German ocean; on the east by Sweden and Swedish Lapland; on the north by the sea called the Categat; and on the south by Germany. The air of Norway is in general pure and salubrious; and it is said that some of the natives live to so great an age, that existence is no longer considered as a blessing. The climate varies according to its proximity to the sea and northern situation. The eastern parts of Norway are generally covered with snow; and during the winter season, which continues six months or upwards, the largest rivers are arrested in their course by the frost; and the saliva no sooner drops from the mouth than it rolls on the ground like hail. But, against the intensity of the cold, the wise and bountiful Creator of the universe has bestowed, on the inhabitants of this inhospitable climate, a greater variety of preservatives than most other countries afford. They are supplied with fuel by extensive forests; clothes and coverings for their beds are furnished them by the wool of their sheep and E e 2 the the furs of their wild beasts; down and feathers are afforded them by innumerable flights of birds; and they are even sheltered from the inclemency of the wind by the mountains, which - abound in caverns. At Bergen, the capital of Norway, the longest day consists of about nineteen hours, and the shortest of little more than five. During a part of the summer season, the inhabitants can read, write, and transact any business throughout the whole night; and, in the most northern provinces, the solar orb is perpetually in view. In those regions, however, in the middle of winter, there is only a feeble glimmering of light at noon, during an hour, when the rays of the sun reflect upon the tops of the mountains. In this gloomy season, however, the sky is so serene, and the moon and aurora-borealis are so bright, that the Norwegians carry on their fisheries and other trades without the assistance of any other light. The mountains of Norway are covered with eternal snow; and the shores are in general steep and rocky, but abound in gulphs, creeks, and harbours, in many of which vessels may ride at anchor without the least danger. The Norwegian seas are celebrated for the variety and peculiarity of their fish, and also produce cre. tures whose existence has been for ages deemed chimerical. A sea-snake, or serpent of the ocean, was shot in 1756 by a master of a ship, who says that its head resembled that of a horse, that its mouth and eyes were large and black, and that from its neck hung a white mane. floated on the surface of the water, and carried its head a considerable way out of the sea. The length of this creature was upwards of one hun It dred dred yards. Here also are whales of various kinds, porpoises, sword-fish, sharks, sturgeon, salmon, turbot, cod, thornback, rock-fish, flying-fish, whitings, carp, gurnet, flounders, mackarel, and many others common to the European coasts. We are informed by a very respectable writer, whose veracity is indisputable, that in 1734, above the surface of the sea appeared a very large and frightful monster, the head of which overtopped the main-mast of a ship that was passing by; that it had a long and sharp snout, broad paws, and spouted water like a whale; and that its body was as thick as a hogshead, and its skin variegated like a tortoiseshell. Near the isle of Moskoe is a singular kind of current, or whirlpool, the roaring of which is scarcely equalled by the loudest and most dreadful cataracts, and is heard at the distance of many leagues. During a quarter of an hour, between high and low water, the violence of this whirlpool is very considerably abated, and fishermen venture upon it with their boats : the impetuosity of the current, soon re turns, and gradually increases, till it forms a vortex, which absorbs every thing that comes within its attraction. It is not in the power of imagination to conceive a fate more dreadful and terrifying than when a person feels himself irresistibly drawn to the verge of a whirlpool, which is ready to devour him; and even whales, when they find themselves overpowered by its violence, send forth the most lamentable howlings. A storm greatly heightens the fury of the stream, whose attraction will then extend. farther than six English miles; and several vesEe 3 sels 318 sels have bee unhappy cre from the rea Greenland the Danish Captain Day straits whic land, receiv mer season DENMARK. ngulphed in this vortex, when the Considered themselves far distant of its force. an to which is a kind of appendage t wn, was discovered in 1585, by ed their denomination. The sumdivide North America from GreenContinues about three months, durEnglishman; from whom the e hs ing which the sky is winter, the choly mont morning an dious gloon that the str The fire. lific in fish sun shines bright and warm, and eldom shaded with a cloud: but, in Greenlanders during several melanevening twilight to relieve the tenever see the sun, and have only ongest spirits will freeze close by the and the brumal cold is so intense seas of Greenland are extremely proof almost every species, particularly hich swim in large shoals. ers have found a whale, they strike a harpoon fastened to a line made of When he is quite worn out by loss of pierce him with spears and lances, When the whales, w Greenland him with seal-skin. round the sister, body. Nothing can be more approach blood, and it is no longer dangerous to The moon, they say, was once ramour, spots. with whom he was familiar in the dark; rubbed her hands with soot, with which fo ma one ther the moon followed, and though he continues to pursue, he is never able to overtake her. They also believe, that the heavens revolve round the point of a prodigious rock, behind which the sun, moon, and stars retire, when invisible. The isle of Iceland, which also depends on the crown of Denmark, derives its appellation from the immense masses of ice, that float around it, and is situated between 63 and 67 degrees of north latitude, and between 11 and 27 degrees of west longitude; being four hundred miles in length, and one hundred and sixty in breadth. The number of its inhabitants, which has been estimated at sixty thousand, is certainly disproportioned to the extent of the territory. Indeed, so great has been the malignancy of the pestilence, and other contagious disorders, that this island has been repeatedly almost de populated. The small-pox, in particular, has at different times proved remarkably fatal to it; aud in 1707 and 1708, sixteen thousand persons died of that loathsome distemper. Though the Icelanders are not remarkable for their strength, they are about the middle size, and are well proportioned. They are generally considered as an honest, faithful, and obliging race of people; extremely hospitable, and tolerably industrious. Their principal avocations are fishing and breeding of cattle; and they are remarkably attached to their native country, and think themselves the happiest people on earth. The language of Iceland is the same as that formerly used in Norway, Sweden, and Denmark; and it has descended in such purity, from one generation to another, that the Icelanders can |