The Sun.
London, England, 1854-04-03 00:00:00

THE BALTIC

is what is termed a close sea, occupying the centre of
Northern Europe, separating Sweden and the Danish
islands from Germany. Prussia, and Russia,-and extend-
ing from 54 deg. to 66 deg. N. lat., and from 10 deg.
to 30 deg. E. lon. Its great length and comparatively
small breadth give it the form of an extensive gulf, the
low and comparatively narrow tract of land which forms
the southern part of the Danish peninsula of Schwles-
wig. The Baltic is connected with the ocean by a large
gulf called the Cattegat, which separates Denmark from
Norway and Sweden ; and by three Straits, the Sound,
the Great Belt, and the Little Belt, which may be con-
sidered as three gates by which the Baltic is entered.
The surface of the whole Baltic sea, according to
the calculations of German geographers, is upwards
of 160,000 square mites. The southern coast of the
Baltic is low and sandy ; and the shores of the Gulf of
Livonia are low and commonly sandy, though in a few
places interrupted by a rocky beach. The rocky coast
becomes general at the entrance of the Gulf of Finland ;
and it preserves this character along this gulf and that
of Bothnia, and even to the south of the latter, to the
entrance of the Sound of Kolmar, which separates the
Island of Oland from the continent. With the excep-
tion of the innermost recesses of both Gulfs, which are
low and sandy, the whole of this extensive coast is
rocky, though commonly low, rising in very few places
to more than 50 feet. The basin of the Baltic is one of
the most extensive in Europe, exceeded only by that of
the Black Sea, and by, that to no large amount. The
drainage of more than one-fifth of the surface of Europe
goes to the Baltic. Perhaps in no inhabited country in
the world such a quantity of snow falls as in the countries
round the Baltic. Hence the freshness of its waters ; 31b.
of water from the North Sea contains 747 grains of salt ;
but the same quantity from the Baltic does not yield more
than 389 grains. Its comparatively small depth may
perhaps in some degree be attributed to the numerous
rivers which flow into it, and of which it may be termed
the estuary, and the greatest part of its surface is filled
up by the bars formed by rivers, which, in spring time,
are exceedingly turbid, and carry down vast quantities
of earthy matter. Its depth is greatest where no
great rivers enter, as near the island of Bornholm, and
between it and the coast of Sweden, where it is 110 to
115 fathoms deep, while in general it only attains from
40 to 60 fathoms. To its freshness and shallowness it
is to be attributed that the shores of the Baltic nearly
every year are coverejl with ice, which, from the end of
December to the beginning of April. shuts up the har-
bours, straits, and bays, and interrupts navigation. In
the Gulfs of Finland and Bothnia the freezing begins
sooner and ends later. In 1658 Charles X. of Sweden
marched an army over both belts to the conquest of
Zealand ; and in 1809 a Russian corps passed from Fin-
land to Sweden, over the ice, at the narrowest part of
the Gulf of Bothnia. The waves of the Baltic do not
rice so high as in the North Sea or the Atlantic, but they
break much more abruptly. The current of the Baltic may
be compared to that of a wide river or large estuary ;
commencing in the reinotest extremities, and it course
being towards the outlets of the sea. The current (from
rivers discharging into the northern part of the Gulf of
Bothnia) is very rapid in the strait ; it becomes less so
where the gulf enlarges, and divides afterwards at the
Aland islands into different branches, which, however,
again unite, and the stream is felt over the whole sur-
face in the central parts of the sea, until it makes its
exit through the three straits, being most sensible in the
Little Belt. As in most wide estuaries, when a strong wind
has blown directly into the entrance for some time, it
changes the current, and causes an influx of water from
the open sea ; and such a temporary current is said to
exist sometimes even at the entrance of the Gulf of Fin-
land, after a long prevalence of north-west winds. The
difficulties in the navigation of the Baltic arise partly
from the narrowness of the sea, and partly from the nu-
merous sandbanks along its southern and eastern shores,
where shipwrecks are more frequent than in any other
part ; it being said that two per cent. of the vessels which
visit the Baltic annually are lost. Besides, the harbours
are shut up for three or four months by the ice and thus
the navigation is interrupted for nearly one-third of the
year. Another disadvantage is the shallowness of the
harbours on the southern coasts, and the complete want
of tides. No vessel drawing 20 feet of water can enter
any harbour as far as the Gulf of Finland, and most of
them admit only such as draw 15 or 16 feet ; conse-
quently the vessels visiting these ports average only be-
tween 200 and 300 tons. The harbours to the north of
the Gulf of Finland are much deeper, and admit vessels
of 600 tons and upwards. a