3 9 s P R Ü S S I A i
Sori.rii'Kb
AdKreu t..-
. -»rif kb.'
Rivers. ■
■Elbe. 1
Odeh-
Villula.
Lakes.
Curifch
Half.
pol'es to be the foie agricultural products in th e fe regions. In Saxony
the foil Becomes a good loam, yielding tolerable crops o f wheat.3 (
Among the chief rivers o f th e Pruffia'n dominions may be firft mentioned
the Elbe, 'which rifes ; the^S. -of Bohemia,
duchy o f Magdeburg. The Sprige, whi(jh»'paffes ;by
the Havel, a river tributary of the Elbe; The Oder,, the Viadrus of
the aneieats, may be regarded as a- river entirely Pruflian: attrifesiu
the mountains of Moravia, and after watering „Saldia, Brandenburg,
and Pomerania, joins the Baltic, after a courfeY'of about 350 miles.
Next appears another noble ftream, the Viftola, which fifing,1 inltbe
Carpathian mountains, piaffes Warfaw, and joins the fea near Dantzisk,
after a circuit o f about 450 miles; • Thu;PregehpaffingT>ry ;K.Qnigfb.erg,
fprings from fome lakes and marfhes in, Pruffi air,Poland g anjd -the
Memel, afuperior river, nowTorms,, in part* the Pruffian dbaB«d.afy on
^the eaft.
The lakes in. the Pruffian dominions are numerous, especially in -the
eaftern part, where among others may be mentioned the Spelding See,
which, with its creeks, extends more than twenty Britifli miles in every
diredtion. That region contains many other lakes, which fupply .the
fources of the river Pregel. A t their eftuaries fhe rivers Oder, Viftula,
and Memel, prefect lingular inland fheets of .water, in .the,, German
language called Hoffs ; that 'of the Oder beingjtyled Grafs Haff; • that
o f the Viftula, Frifch Haff (with another, inland creek ealfed-ihe laks ©f
Draufen); and that of the Memel, Curifch Haff. .The Frifch Haff is,
about feventy miles in length, and from three to ten milfs broad,
being feparated from the Baltic by a long flip of land, faid to have
been thrown up by the tempefts and waves about the year 1190., This
lake or bay is of fmall depth, and will not admit veffels of much
burthen.*
The Curifch Haff, fo called from its fituation in the ancient duchy
of Courland, is about 60 Britifh miles in length, and about 3p in its
grgateft breadth. A frmilar ridge of land divides it from the Baltic;
sad it is full o f dangerous fhelves, and infefted by frequent florins,
3 Marshall’s Travels, iii. z88. - , 4 B u felling, hi-. 10.»
Magdeburg,
CHAP . IV. N A T U R A L G E O .GRAPHY. 3 9 9
Magdeburg, Brandenbutg/'Tomerahia, 'Pruffia, and Poland, are in Moukthh«-
jgwISfitFMeveP^Slte^Hw; the Priiffiah domlniarts''
irfe t H o f e T l i f e mfouhtain’s ' i n ’tSe^S. and W . of-this
pfoVihefe m a y Be * 'regarded -hs k northern^ S'MiW^oF^the' Carpathian ' Sudetic .
chain,;'^vHicht^lfdlf^fdrms.'the hrfeft dbM/ern^houtidafy. bTMs’ branch Chain’'
ejftetidiTrOih Jablunka S. E.- foTri'edberg iimkpper L'hfatf-a/jf-'N. W . near
2foer'Britifh nMl^srun- I'Ma^fhj Su’detifche ©eibirge,~'of the-
Sudeticmhuntams ; Brit' ha s atfdf'fiore mmdf^l.OTM'ktio^»,3 th'e N . W l
part'Towards IllTafiahbefl^'caHe^Sfefffe^The 'middle ’^aft'-'the
miart-,' and the S'. -E. M o ra vian ’' b^iri1/? !O f ©fs'remarkable chain,
which has i:©fch]3ed the^ttlMtio'n _ o f . moft'-gedgfajfhli^^ndl drawers o f
maps, the highefb peak i^Hhe"ihb\intys^-6f?R i e M f ^ d f A f f ia n t s ',**1$*'
the' Schneekoppe', o r m ow head*, in th e Bohemian part,' the Eule, o r
O w l, arid the ‘Zoteribdrg. T h e ’'Moik'ri'ati.r' rid^l'^dfVrd'ds* intb:’in fe r io r ,
branches, one o f which forms a northern 'boundary o f thl* principality
o f Troppan.' In’ 'the-5n'drtfi^-tveffern parts ©£ Sffefi^'' afe''hlfb'detached
mountains o f conftderaBle height,^asThe-Spitzb^ig,' and Gratzberg, th e
Ruheberg, the fGlhfgekherg^ auif th ^ f^ h e f ib a c h i ‘ O f thefe 'mouri-
talfrrs' th e 'prdcife height* feem’s* riot .to be afcertaari:eif,jydt they may
fafely -be s-concluded to yield greatly to 'the- Carpathian chain, arr
account o f which will b e ’found “’in ther’dfeferiptfon d f the Auftria'n
doriiiiiions.^
Few 'parts o f the Pruffiari 'kingdom are: deftitute'-of wood's and ForeiK. '
forefts,' w h ich particularly abound iri P^riffia proper,- and in the recent
'Polifh acquifitfons. Towards Hungary*-' Sifefia prefetks a continhat-ieri
d f thick forefls, which cdnl^ife with the elevated moriogsik&*to' fdrm.
ah ifipenetrable barriet,
»BAiclrinV, vLz-i4.:
* Bufclimg, vi. 283, informs us-that ttK^Zoltenterg, between Sch-cveidhitz, aml Breflkg j*.
a celebrated moimtaiil fuppoftd to.be the Afcibumus,,Gf Ptolemy; which however rather ftemsf
■ to of Efegeberg. The Keighf M>abdbfe 2i4ol R&em/h feet.
On the S. it 1» connected with the Sudetic chain, but on. all other parts is furrounded by a valfc
plain, and is fuppofed to derive its, name from the neighbouring village of Zobten. This moun-
tain confifts entirely of feipentine with fome- hornblende. Kir wan,-. Geol. Elf. 204-.
Fabri- cqmputes the hfgheft peak of the Riefen at 4930 Rhenilh feet above, the fea., and the
Zottenberg at 1700. The Silefian' mountains, he adds, yield fome filver, tin, copper, and cobalt
with, conflderable quantities of calamine, lead', and iron: and there are quarries of marble,
frecllone, alabafter,.Jllate, and potters clay. Coal abounds, near Schwcidnitz,..
9 ’ The