Face o f the
globe,
Oceans.
O f the grand divifions o f the earth Afia has ever h e ê j^ th e ' möft
populous Jaud is fuppqfed to .contairiiahqut $oQ>)ooqjj&&$ öfjorilsj if^Gfeina^.
as recently averred^ èSnjptLZe 333 dj o yQ,'Q£>QC T h e population o f Africa
may be ^ojo.®®^!®©, <of America' 20,060^00®*: and i5 0>000>000 may
be affigoed to Europe*. - .
■Recent difcoveries have evinced that more than, two thirds of this
globe are covered with water ; arid thefe waters,, whether oceans, fe.as,
lakes, or -r-i-vers, are contained in hollow fpaCes, more or lefs large,
which late fren ch geographers have ftyled bei/fim, or. bafons, by a term,
o f little dignity. They may as well be called: Concavities ; while, on
the other hand, the chief Convexities or Protuberances o f thé.;, globe, by
the French ftyled plateaux, confift' o f elevated; uplands, fometim.es
crowned by mountains, fometimes rather level, as in the extenfive central
protuberance of Afia. In either cafe, long chains o f mountains
commonly pBoceed.frpm thofiychief cony^pties, i a . 1?
and th e principal rivers, ufually.fpGirig frprpyhe moft e je y ^ ed ^ ^ u n ^ ls.
Though the low; and fertile .plains,~generl | x !p^c%^ ^ l e ‘for a ^ ^ ® | c e
before rivers enter the fea, be -Often’ depchited Jby tle i? waters^ as’ ih tjie
Delta, and other inftances, ‘ y et the*’ |M ni a^ efn^
general rules ; ~ wfcrÜe^ .as'jan a J fm a l l j |||l | 'd e e p t'J fe n r',a rê ''%und
without any rivulet, fq on, a large, v^ft a n ^ ^ r e f i ^ ë h o y E q w ^ ^ r ji|-
pear, without theftaalleft tra c e h f th e ir ,h |i! |in ^
' T h e grandeft concavity’of'this glohHs filled ,b y .the 'Pacific 'Tyceari,
occupying nearly h a lf o f its furfacè, from athè e afteTn^örë#oT New
H olland to the weftern coaft o f America faffrd dlyerfifi|d j ^ i t h a l
groups o f iflands, which feem as it were .thé^ummi-ts o f
tains emerging from the waves. This c h ie f óOricavity, ï^ if ia te iyW n -
fidered, receives but few rivers, thé chief being the Amur from Tatary,
and the Hoan H d a n d Kian Ku from CHiik^vriiile th e pf?ind|)fii^rivers
o f America ru n towards th e eaft.
T h e next grand concavity is that ©f lhe Atlantic Ocean, between the
ancient cóntment and_the new. A third is the Indian Ocean.
THefeas W w e e n th e ar&ic and dn'tar&iq circles and the^pter^s,' -have
been ftyled the A rd ic and Antardic Ocqans; the latter having fuppUhted
the Te rra Auftralis, and being in f a d éhly
8 * Auftralafia and Polynefia, or New Holland and the Illes in the Pacific, p roba cy do not contain
above half a million. ' ® 1 ~ • , , 1 . 2 Atlantic,
•Atlantic,' and 1 ndknf'Gfi^aSfs' * while fhelA l-d if’&ea is partly embraced
h y continents','’arid' receives mafay® important risers.
are’ihe molt pr^ound pfmctm'tics'cjf thpagtobe,'while Others are
^Ifecbby mdt.cWmiK=c feas,4Vthc'TWftkcrraneanJ' the Baltic, and’others-
;pf fmalleriex^enfi till w e 'd? fee ad' toinlarid'^alces of fidh wat'ef. j
O T l® donhawtrls,' fonrefimes drgreat lengjhvJri^ri: of the Risers,, -
1ajre&.; which, p e n a l ly , afdiimlfilttiieA thcmighergfbhjads^ilfthe'de-
clivity'hAainc more gentle, lift then approach' tric a r as, their jirifePiofc
r ^ ^ jLlc^p, But atJyginerd nep#S ahe effilj,,' i^ J iuA ftp k ! tie
'W o t t u ^ as' air cad y iii pari ohjlryM, Tha t ^m rn aw e riv e i-s fo me times'
lpr£ng from '^ ra ia n d Jparfnes, h ad wjna throng^; valirpiajns; \Vnac- '
cdmpanled bty any. icmicdi \ty , ’ 'except thatt ofLtMit.ummcaiate courfe";
while, on the other h a r p l exrefdive vales, and lo-«v;hollow m a e j^ f frequently
OGe|yt, dcRifute^of ariy'ftream. Myers .will alio fiuh’gnmes-
iofee a paffager where natufe.nhs* frSpje(^m%lOTnst and rocks pgainA
3:; aria wfiefie’the b'ajpn o i^ p e fren ch y^ould appear lo b e in. another
mredfonj which the £ f ^ . mi^St- 'liave "gameH" wItm'* m!‘|e ’ kkfe^ fo'
eftuan^d* is filature f r p ^ ^ u m a n theory. J tin , like mamieij tno^Mi the
thiefchaiH's t f fhorihyaitK ih fiufope extend in
Taortti ^whfterly' fflfedioh, yet th ird .arg fe‘ ,cdiahf-! aifdffigh
iiumereus* and in ip o h an t' ip *® l^ tp ^ fts erl:. th t'g 'p b e , .that
*t|emy ih vain attempts to ^ n g r a |iie . *' ftl'lfiS u n la lfe ;^ ia¥ h e fgm in } h '
'every liyemoTrbf the fc6h|p'a|s, ;fo a fivef may rife''hotii .hft ihland
feke ot iftarfh, an® TOfce its' way ttifbn^h rocky batrierfe ‘Bf' gPeat
eteVatiSn. Ih mjSft the theory of the French gfebgripherS, though juft
4h general, mhftmot'he’% b tvidely accepted: arid the ;btft)k.nfnafiltc
thrift be regarded as thy chief code t»f tokfultatibm
/ 'Ffohi'ffie vaft expanie'of oceanic waters, afiles in the'ahcierit hethif- • Continent^,
phere, -that wideVSpntirient, which contains Afia, Europe,' arid "Africa
and in the modern hemifphere, contioent o f Amerjca# now djfco-
-VCred th fo fm , as;’iE‘were-,.' a feparate ifland, divfiecf by'a'fireight o f the
jfca from the ancient continent. In th e latter, many dilboveries, o f th e
utriioft importance to- geography, are of, very modern date, and it is .
aot above fix ty ' years fince-.we obtained an imperfedt idea o f the extent
o f Siberia^ and; the Ruffian empire: nor above twenty fince ample, ■
| real*.- i