Extent.^ medial breadth o f only Of' thisfgfeat, length Denmark occupies
about 260 miles, while the remainder:, belongs to Norway. This, extent.,
o¥ gG&fl might be fuppofed to ponftitute a formidable naval power;
but unfortunately the havens are neither numerous nor important, and
are better adapted to-the fleets*, o f fmall velfefe- which formerly ftruck
" Europe with difmay, than to the pomp and nragöïtude o f modern n a -
Boumlafic's. vigation. T o the fouth the Danifh province o f Holftein borders 011
the wide territories o f Germany; on the eaft, weft, and north,, Denmark
. is furrounded by the' fèa. - The-eafor-n-limits o f Norway are chiefly
indicated by a long chain o f mountains, palling between t h a t I country
and Sweden.
Original The original population , of-Denmark appears to have confifted o f
Population. Qmbri, or Northern Geltsj thé ancêffors of öur Welch,-; a n d who in
particular held the Gimbric .Cherfonefe, o r ' raodyjn J u t l a n d ' a n d
Slefwkk. On tfife progrels1 of^the G’ot^s Trom t h e ^ N . km'- Ë. the
-Cimbri were- expelled ; and being joined'by p a r t .of th-e;Teut^^esJ-!of
riïorè fouthern Germans, they were lmcjueft of^other jföffeffioiïs," 'when
t h e y were defeated by "Marius. ‘ Tet iHë- Cffefïonefe .cqrljmued ^ o r e t a r n
their name; and Tacitus mentions that in;hrs time thdre' exifted .a fmaH
ftateéf theGrrabri, probably near the'iirrobtfr of the - the
remaindenof the Gberféneféiwas pefièfled' by feven Gothic tribes among
which he- names the Ac^lf, who- afterwardstjgaVé,a|Tpëlïatf6H^^Ê^i.‘
daad, and wbo-appëar-to have relxdèd in thé. Slefwiek,
where there in frill the pr-oviheeof Angllh. The ‘ Original: JroffdlÏOTs eff
Norway-, which, with:, Sweden, éoéflkutes- rité anéïënri SkncbniviaV
appear to have been the Fins-and the Laps, who' were- drrvért- 'td the
northern extremities, by the Gothic invafioa, a%goricaliyïhid< tö l&Vc
been conduded by Odin the God of War, • The':pftptfEtr6ri Has' ghee
continued pure and unmixed by > foreign cöi^üéftsf' and’‘the Nbjflre-
gians fti|l retain; the mufoalar frame, blooming éöüntêhinte, and
yellow hair of the Normans, fo well known ia Fr&öeep ItSTy, and
England.
G^Sy. Tbe progreiEve geography of Denmark maybe traced with , ferae
precifion fromthe firllmention'of the Gimbric Cherfonefé byf ailonifeed
Rome.. Pliny fupphea Xome omiflione in the. defcriptionof fTafeitus,
by.ijment-ionm^’tlfe'-tSinus:-Gpdanus, of Baltic, and fome bays apd
C&ands imfeir^vimnityj<P Tachps;de£crfbes she Süiones, anceftors of thé
Dalles','«of the-.''Swedes,' as imagin’edi'lfevcatflefs^^eegraphers, as
'cpnfiffiagsofffeités fltuated in the fea, that|is[ im the iflandfi pfZpeland,
and óthers which fhlhfdrifiLthe feak * ©ff D an r£hr power.1 - He adds that
they had .fleets, their fhips.being'dfj,a lingular,form,'capable of pre-
fenting, eifchferfend a’s 4 prowi; that they, .had acquired wealth, and were
ruled by a'r’rhCfrSrpb. fThe .whole - circuMftances/iasS^rellCas tihe courfe
of ffie narration, might eafily be lhown to apply to^the Danes, ^nd nqt
to'the Swedes* who are the \Si4bni^ctf that great writer. Tire pro-
greflivë'lgéogfaphy of Déninafk may aftèfward'S- be iihrftrated .from
'•tj^fiouS paffagps, efpecially'fpm^'Jornvaüdés;\'‘a&d' the Fraiicic..hiftorians,
till Adam of foremen,' in 'the’eleventh «century, ;.gaye a minute dc—
feription of the 1 country, and their own hiftorian Saxo Grammaticus
compofed- his-elaffical work about the-year ilJsoiBy
' The geography of Norway, as. may be .expedited, js more ohfeure;
nor is .there reafon to believe- that ‘any 'part,' ekeept its rqdft) fouthern
‘extremity, had beenfeen by the Roman mariners. It féefns therefore
a vain conception, 'merely ariling from fithifarity of names, to fuppbfe
that the Nërigón; of Pliny Is Norway;- and to; add - to- the abfurdity
that the city of Rergeh, which waé/fcinly' built about the year . i-oyoi
is! the Tfergos of that author! The .paüagë;;hetóngs? to his défèqp-
tion of Britain ;* and it would be mof©' rational to enquire for -thefe
ifles, !{for' he efpecially mentions»1’ Bergos as a feparate ille,}^ among
the Orkneys*; or perhaps off thê' cöaft of Jutland, where if is wellt,.,
Enp'w'n -that illes have been leflfe’ned ,and devoured by^Beffury of the
weftern waves. In.his atttempt to illuftrate this fubj.eSffD’Anville has
funk info the groffeft abfurdities; and.his, arguments are not only
puerile, but he even corrupts the text of Pliny;■ Suffice'it to obferve
that he-extends beyond'all rational boünd-s the -ancient kuowlefdge of
Northern Europe-; and fufSpofes .that the'-prbmontory of Rubèas is. the
füitheft extremity of Dahilh Lapland inftead of a cape-in, the N; of
Germany firetching intö the Baltic! If is'painful to obferve *'fc> able a
Germ. c. 44.
* L ib , iv.ic. 16 . BrUan(m‘êt ''Hyler.ma. ■ '/* Sunt.-qui et alias prödant, Scandiam, Damnbjn,v,
B e rg o s : 'maximamque oitfniuto Nerfgon, ex qua in T iu le d navigetur.”
VOL. i. 3 R ^ -geographer
P rogres-
SIVE G e-
. “OGRAPHTf.