Among the different manners of death specified, we notice the following:

From the extreme strictness of the Austrian prov. administration, these official returns, extending over a population of upwards of 20 millions, form a most valuable contribution to the statistics of European population and mortality. It will be observed, that, in Galicia, where the cheapness of provisions encourages early marriages, not only the increase of pop. is greatest, but the number of illegitimate births is remarkably small in proportion. A nearly similar result is given by the Italian provs., in which an unremitting industry and judicious distribution of labour afford a competence even where the prices of provisions are higher. For a comparison of the prices we refer to the head Trade, &c. In the calculation of the proportional longevity in the provs., the same order does not occur which is shown in the increase of the population. The average of six years, for the above-named provinces, gives 338 individuals in 10,000 who attain 80 years and upwards; of which number Dalmatia had the most (during the six years 666), and Galicia the fewest (208). Of 100,000 individuals 82 attained 100 years and upwards: here, again, Dalmatia stands first, with 196 in six years; Galicia and the other Slavonic provinces rank next; Lombardy (21), and Venice (14), show the fewest.

Face of the Country.-Mountains.-The Austrian empire exhibits every variety of surface. Two grand mountain ranges, branching from the central group of the Alps, traverse it in different directions, throwing out numerous and extensive dependent branches. The first of these, which has been termed the Hercyno-Carpathian chain, divides the regions of the German Ocean and Baltic from those of the Black Sea and Mediterranean. Leaving the canton of Grisons, in Switzerland, this mountain range traverses Vorarlberg in a N. direction to the lake of Constance: thence it passes through Wirtemberg and Bavaria, separating the regions of the Rhine and Elbe from that of the Danube, and re-enters Austria on the N. E. frontier of Bohemia, where it throws off an extensive branch of the Erz (Ore) mountains, which stretch into that kingdom and into Saxony. Taking a S.E. direction from the sources of the Eyer, this chain runs, under the name of the " Bohemian Forest," nearly to the Danube, where it once more diverges to the N.E., and, dividing Moravia from Bohemia, sends out a branch into Prussian Silesia and Lusatia, named the Riesen (Giant) mountains. On the frontiers of Galicia and Hungary it joins the Carpathians, which branch off to the Danube near Presburg. The central Carpathians form the boundary between the above-named provinces, as far as the sources of the Sau and Dniester, where a chain of low heights stretch from them into the Russian territories, separating the region of the Vistula from that of the Dniester. The eastern Carpathians cover the N.E. counties of Hungary, the Bukowina, and Transylvania, as far as the Danube.

The second mountain range, which has much more elevated summits, and covers a larger tract of country, divides the region of the Mediterranean from that of the Black Sea: it stretches from the frontiers of Switzerland and Piedmont in three chains, which, through Tyrol, run nearly parallel to each other. The central chain exhibits the primitive formations of granite and slate its summits are covered with eternal snow, above the elevation of 8,000 feet. Following the right bank of the Inn, as far as the point of junction of Salzburg and Carinthia, it takes a N.E. direction through Styria into Hungary, and subsides in the Leitha chain near the Danube. The two accompanying chains are of limestone: that on the N. covers northern Tyrol, Salzburg,

north to the Baltic Sea.

Rivers, Lakes, &c. The Austrian empire belongs to the regions of the Rhine, Danube, Elbe, Oder, Vistula, Dniester, and Po. The Rhine forms part of the frontier of Vorarlberg, towards Switzerland from

near Feldkirch, until it falls into the Lake of Constance. The Danube enters the Austrian territories at Engelhardt's Zell, near Passau, where its depth is 17 feet, and its breadth 650 feet: in its course through the it receives all the waters falling from the two grand provinces of Upper and Lower Austria and Hungary, mountain ranges, described above; the chief amongst which are, on its 1. bank, the March, Waag, Gran, Theiss, &c.; on its r. bank, the Traun, Ens, Raab, Drave, Save, &c. All of these rivers, with many of their tributaries, are navigable, and with the gradual development of the resources of this vast empire, must afford facilities for commercial communication of the easiest kind, and on a gigantic scale. The Elbe has its source in Bohemia, which it traverses in a direction from N. to S., being navigable for barges from Prague after its junction with the Moldau, which is navigated from Budweis. Besides the Moldau, it receives the Adler, Sapawa, Wattawa, Eger, and other streams of inferior note, before it crosses the frontier of Saxony. The Oder has its source in the chain of hills which connects the Silesian Mountains with the Carpathians; it leaves the Austrian states without assuming the importance of a navigable river. The Vistula is formed by the junction of two mountain streams, which fall from the Carpathians, near Jablunka. It is navigable nearly along the whole of its course from Oswieczin to Zawychiest, a distance of upwards of 200 miles, in which it forms the Austrian frontier. It receives the Dunajec, the Wisloka, and the Sau, the last of which is navigable from Przemysl, along its course of 120 miles. The Dniester, which rises at the N. side of the Carpathians, where they branch off towards the Danube, through Transylvania, is navigable from the little town of Koniuszki, 38 miles S. W. of Lem. berg. In its course through Galicia, it receives 14 streams upon its left, and 6 mountain-brooks upon its right bank. The sources of the Sau, which falls into the Vistula, are situated farther to the E. in the Carpathians than those of the Dniester; and where these two rivers are large enough to be navigated by boats, they are almost connected by a series of lakes or ponds stretching through the sandy plain which extends from Przemysl and Jaroslow to Jaworow and Komarno, thus offering a natural communication between the Black Sea and the Baltic. The Pruth rises in the same chain of hills, but soon enters to Moldavia. The main channel of communication for Lombardy is afforded by the Po, which, in its course through and along the borders of the Austrian territories, receives from the Alps the Ticino, Adda, Oglio, and Mincio, besides smaller streams. The Adige, the Tagliamento, and the Lisonzo, traverse the provinces of Venice and Illyria to the Adriatic.

known in England, with the exception of grouse, and several kinds of birds unknown in our islands, are objects of chase. The urus and elk are sometimes found in the E. Carpathians, but only as stragglers. The ibex is nearly exterminated. Herds of wild horses of a diminutive size range the Hungarian plains; and even where the improvement of the breed is attended to, they are allowed to rove almost in a state of nature. The golden eagle inhabits Slavonia, and other large species are found in the Rhetian and Noric Alps. Herons of various kinds, some of the choicest plumage, abound in the morasses of Hungary; and there also the land tortoise is found in great numbers. The same morasses furnish an abundant supply of leeches, whence they are regularly transported by means of a series of ponds, that serve as so many stations, to Paris and the W. of Europe. Wax is an important product of the Bukowine and other S. provinces. Cantharides are found in several parts of Hungary; cochineal in Galicia; and pearls of a beautiful water are annually fished in the Moldau.

Lakes, &c. The Lake of Constance may be counted amongst the Austrian lakes, although only a portion of its E. shore belongs to Austria. On the S. side of the Alps, the Lakes Maggiore, Lugano, Como, Iseo, and Garda, are the most considerable. On the N. side of the same mountains, the largest lakes are those of Atter, Gmünden, or Traun, Hallstadt, and Augsee, which are connected together by the Traun, and the lakes of St. Gilgen and Monel See. The lake of Zirknitz, with others in the limestone hills of Illyria, although remarkable as natural curiosities, are of trifling extent. The Neusiedler and Balaton lakes, in Upper Hungary, are the largest in the empire; the water of the former is saltish. Climate. — Four distinct climates are found within the limits of this extensive empire. The most southerly part of Dalmatia produces the palm-tree, and at Ragusa, the mean elevation of the thermometer is stated by Blumenbach to be +1158′ R., or 57° 3′ Fahr.: upon a line drawn along the S. foot of the Alps, the mean temperature at Milan is 9° 4′; at Temeswar, +9° 2′. On the N. side of that chain, in Linz, it is +706; in Vienna, +8°5′, (nearly the climate of Strasburg); Buda, 8° 8'; in Klausenburg, +8° 3'. In Prague, the mean heat is +7° 9'; in Olmutz, +7° 3′; in Troppau, +7°3′; in Lemberg +61 R. Wine and Indian corn do not thrive to the N. of the last drawn line, except in unusually favour able situations; but corn of all other descriptions, flax, hemp, and hardy fruits, attain perfection. The observations, at the observatory of Vienna, for 1837, give for the mean temperature only +7° 2′ R.; 26 days in that year were clear, 172 cloudy, with sunshine; 166 cloudy. Rainy days were 144, snow 58; and there were 139 fogs, 26 thunder storms, and 17 storms. In the northern provinces, the air is mostly clear and salubrious. The greatest quantity of rain falls in the kingdom of Lombardy, the smallest quantity in the central districts of Hungary and in Dalmatia, which often suffer from excessive drought. In this last province, the fall of rain averages 12 inches: at Vienna the average was, for 1836, 15.99 inches; for 1837, 15:86. Tyrol has many varieties of climate, resulting from the elevation of its mountains in a southerly situation. The classification given by Francini for Switzerland has been found to suit Tyrol with equal precision.-1. The region of the vine, from 700 ft. to 1,700 ft. above the level of the sea. 2. The region of the oak, from 1,700 ft. to 2,800 ft.-3. The region of the beech, 2,800 ft. to 4,100 ft.; the walnut only reaches 3,500 it., the plum-tree, 3,720 ft.; pear and apple-trees, 4,100: but little wheat is grown in this region; but the meadows are excellent.-4. The region of fir, from 4,100 to 5,500 ft.-5. The lower Alpine region famous for its pastures, 5,500 ft. to 6,500 ft.-6. The Upper Alpine region, 6,500 ft. to 8,200 ft., above which is the region of eternal

snow.

Natural Productions, Minerals, &c. - A statement of the produce of the mines in the Austrian empire is given under the head manufactures. We may here remark, that the amount produced is very far below the capacities of a country so highly endowed with mineral riches, that the extent of this source of wealth and industry is very imperfectly explored, and that what is worked neither attracts the amount of capital nor the degree of skill necessary to a successful result. In that statement, the amount of iron is not distinguished from the quantity of native steel obtained in Styria and Illyria; the only part of Europe in which the carbonated iron ore occurs, and where it is found in masses that require rather to be quarried than excavated. Platina is not found in Austria. Of the rarer metals, titan is found near Roese, in Hungary, uran in the Sudesen in Bohemia, tellurium in Hungary and Transylvania. Besides the opals of Hungary, the most beautiful that are known, an inferior kind is found in Moravia; carnelian, beryl, chalcedon, topaz, garnet, and amethyst, in Bohemia and Hungary, of superior quality. Beds of coal have been found in nearly every province, but the cheapness and abundance of fire-wood have hitherto prevented much search from being made after them. Upwards of 100 descriptions of marble, quartz for the manufacture of glass, clays for porcelain and mineral dies of all kinds, are also found in abundance. Of mineral springs, no country has so great a number; upwards of 100 are annually frequented, for the purposes of bathing and drinking the waters; amongst which Carlsbad, Toeplitz, Marienbad, Ischl, Gastein, Baden, Pistyau, Treutchin, Mehadia, and Roquero, attract visiters from all parts of the world.

Animals. All the domestic animals found in England are met with in the Austrian empire. Exclusive of these the brown bear is indigenous in the Alps and the Carpathians, the wolf in both these mountain chains, and the lynx is found in all the provinces. The chamois, red and fallow deer, roebucks, wild boars, all descriptions of game

* Graphite, or black lead, occurs in Bohemia and in Lower Aus tria. Sulphur, vitriol, saltpetre, the latter especially, in Hungary, are extensively obtained.

The

Products (Vegetable). These comprise the different sorts of corn and of cultivated grasses found in Europe, with vines, flax and hemp, tobacco, hops, saffron, woad, some species of indigo, yellow woad or rhus cotinus, galls, and an immense variety of fruits, &c. forests are of vast extent, and will, no doubt, come to be of great value. The mountain chains of the northern provinces and of the Alps are covered with fir, pine, beech, larch, &c. The low grounds, including the vast forest of Bukony in Hungary, with others in Transylvania, the Bukowine, Galicia, Slavonia, &c., produce oaks of a gigantic size, with beech, ash, alder, eim, &c. Every prov. is well supplied with wood, with the exception of Low. Austria, (into which large quantities are imported from Tyrol and Up. Austria, to meet the great consumption of the capital,) Lombardy Proper, and Hungary, where, from neglect of management and bad economy, the stock has in many parts been alarmingly reduced. In the other provs. the forests are well managed; and care is taken to supply the annual consumption by sowing and planting in proportion to the quantity felled. The proprietors of estates are obliged, in Austria, as all over Germany, to employ foresters, who have been educated in forest schools, and who have passed the necessary examination. Their business is to calculate exactly the quantity of timber that may be felled without diminishing the stock. The simple means at their command in back ranges of mountains are generally applied with great ingenuity to forward the felled trees to the common channels of communication. A kind of hollow railroad of timber (Riesen), sloping down the side of a mountain, often several thousand yards in length, and down which the trunks of trees are precipitated, is one means of transport. The trunks are raised from a valley to the summit of a neighbouring chain, over which they have to be transported, by means of ropes and pulleys, worked by a rude water-wheel temporarily erected by the woodman on a little brook (Holzaufzug); and the springs near the summits being led into a temporary reservoir on the ridge of the hills, the burden thus raised is received by it in order to be precipitated into the hollow on the other side, when the sluices confining the waters are opened (Klause). But while this ingenuity is shown in the management of the mountain foresttracts of fir, the far richer wooded districts of Slavonia, the military frontier, and Upper Hungary, in which the more valuable forest trees attain a size unusual in Europe, are neglected, and but little known. The carriage, instrument, and cabinet-makers of Vienna (who furnish the cheapest goods of the kind in Europe), are supplied from the better known, and rather more accessible forests of Illyria and Lombardy; but the want of capital is equally visible in this branch of trade as in the mines, and but little management is displayed either in economising the stock or in seasoning the supply brought to market. The forests cover more than a third part of the productive soil of the empire, and are distributed in the following proportions, according to the statement of Becker (Handel's Lexicon, Vienna, 1837), who, we have been assured, had access to official sources of information:

Salt

291,826 cwt. Merchandise - 151,258 Wood Fish Persons

2,538 cub. fath. 157 loads 3,888

Nett revenue for the year, 8,1307.

Facilities for Internal Communication and for Commerce. We have already alluded to the laudable attention paid by the Austrian government to the means of communication throughout the empire. From Pavia, on the S. W. frontier, an uninterrupted Macadamized road conducts the traveller through fine provinces to Czernowitz in the Bukowina, a distance of upwards of 1,120 m. From Milan to Vienna there are three lines of road, and through Galicia the line is double. Three grand high-roads from Venice, and two from Trieste, lead to Tyrol and Germany, and double lines run from each of these cities to the capital. Prague is connected with Vienna by numerous lines of communication, which are continued to the frontiers of Bavaria, Saxony, and Prussian Silesia. Materials for making roads abound in every province; and the art is well understood in Austria, where the roads are equal to those of Prussia. Upwards of 60 mountain passes, through the most extensive ranges of mountains that any single state possesses, have been made not only practicable, but commodious for travelling and commercial purposes. The lowest of these, as measured from the level of the sea, is perhaps the road along the Danube from Drenkova to Orsova, in the Transylvanian military frontier. The most elevated is that of the Stelvio or Wörmser Joch, in S. Tyrol. In length these passes vary from 10 to 70 miles. On the roads across the Alps from Tyrol and Illyria the greatest sums have been expended; their importance in a military point of view, and the necessity of facilitating the communication with a powerful and not very well affected province, rendering them indispensable. The roads across the Splügen, the pass of Finstermünz, and the Wörmser Joch to the Lake of Como, must be classed amongst the greatest undertakings of the kind. The road over the Wörmser Joch passes over an elevation of 8,400 feet above the level of the sea, and is protected in dangerous parts by covered ways of solid stone, which receive the fall of the avalanches, and cause them to glide into the depths below. This undertaking has surpassed the passages of the Simplon and Mount Cenis, both in boldness and splendour of execution. But the exertions of private industry have not remained far behind those of the state. In Hungary many nobles still consider it a privilege not to be obliged to contribute to the cost of making roads which tend so much to enhance the value of landed property. Individuals, however, have at no time been wanting amongst that respectable body who were sufficiently enlightened to set a laudable example on this point. A joint-stock company, chiefly composed of Hungarian nobles, undertook the execution of a road between Carlstadt in Croatia, and Fiume on the Adriatic Sea; it was carried over part of the Julian Alps in a very splendid manner. On that part, kuown by the name of the Karst, the porous nature of the rocks made it necessary to construct cisterns to catch the rain-water; and stout parapets have been added, which protect travellers and carriages against the furious blasts of the Bora, which, without this check, would sweep away every thing in its course. This road was commenced in 1803, and named after the Archduchess Maria Louisa. Two other lines, one between the same points, the other running from Carlstadt to Zeng and Carlopago, across the same mountain range, each of which was scarcely less expensive, although not so serviceable as the "Louisenstrasse," had been erected by, and called after, the emperors Charles VI. and Joseph II. The iron railway between Budweis in Bohemia, and Linz in Upper Austria, finished in 1829, was executed at the cost of a private company, and has since been extended on the S. side of the Danube as far as Gmunden. It is 75 m. in length, but consists of one line only, and the carriages are drawn by horses. The line from Budweis to Linz was rendered unnecessarily expensive by illjudged economy in the first instance, as it became necessary to exchange the original wooden rails, covered with metal plates, for others of cast-iron. The traffic has chiefly consisted hitherto in the salt conveyed from the mines of Upper Austria, to be consumed in Bohemia.

The number of shareholders is 13,183, at 50fl. per share ; but owing to the increased expense attending the works, they have as yet divided no profit. The line from Linz to Gmünden being a part of the high-road from Vienna to Ischl, which is much frequented as a wateringplace, has a greater number of travellers, and was better managed from the beginning, as the experience of the first attempt was turned to good account. Its traffic, in 1837, was:

Salt

Nett revenue for the year, 5,3252.

512,319 cwt. Merchandise - 130,328 cwt. Persons 77,905 This left a profit to be divided amongst the new shareholders, to whom the first proceeds are guaranteed to a certain amount, beyond which the shareholders in general are to participate. The length of this line is 32 miles; and the cost, inclusive of magazines, station-houses, 45 carriages, and 230 waggons, did not exceed 65,0001. The charge for transport of goods is 3 kr. (1 d.) per cwt. A second railway, upon a similar plan, was commenced about the same time between Prague and Pilsen in Bohemia, but was abandoned for want of funds, when only 39 miles of the distance had been completed. Prince C. E. Fürstenberg purchased it subsequently of the company, and let it to an enterprising individual, who keeps it in repair, and is said to derive some advantage from it. The railroad, now constructing by a joint-stock company, from Vienna to Bochnia in Galicia, for steamcarriages, will have a length of nearly 400 m. It follows the valley of the March or Morava, through Moravia, as far as Napagedl, with side branches; one to Presburg, along the Danube, another along the Thaya to Brünn, and a third following the March to Olmutz. From Napagedl the line follows the Beczwa, a tributary of the March, to Prerau, where it crosses over the heights near Weisskirchen, into the valley of the Oder, passing the grand European water-shed, with a rise of Ift. in 400ft. A branch here follows the Oder and the Oppa to Troppau, where it is to unite with the Prussian Silesian railway; while the main line crosses the heights near Seibersdorf into the valley of the Vistula, and throwing off another short branch to Bielitz and Biala, follows that river to Cracow, whence, with a gentle undulation, it reaches Bochnia, leaving Wieliczka a little to the S. This railroad is to be for steam-carriages; and the total estimate of its cost, with station houses, &c., amounts to 20,000l. per German mile,-which was subscribed in 12,000 shares, of 1,000fl. each. Of the probable importance of this spirited undertaking, not only for the internal, but also for the foreign trade of the empire, we shall have an opportunity of speaking under the head Trade, &c. The sanction of the government was ob tained, in the year 1838, for a railway between Vienna and Raab in Hungary; as, however, in granting the privi lege, a reserve was made in favour of any company undertaking the establishment of a railroad from the capital to Trieste, there are grounds for supposing that it is in contemplation to give every possible aid to such an enterprise whenever it is undertaken. The face of the country through which a railroad from the Danube to Trieste has to pass, presents the greatest difficulties that have as yet been encountered by a railroad company; but when we consider the means at the command of the Austrian government, the circumstance that the materials lie along the track itself, and the probable immense gain upon a line which should unite two such provinces as Galicia and Hungary with the sea, it is rather matter of surprise that it has not as yet been attempted, than that the difficulties should discourage from the undertaking. Between Venice and Milan the works have been already begun upon a railway, intended to be carried through Padua, Vicenza, Verona, Peschiera, on the Lake of Garda, Brescia, and Treviglio, to Milan. The length of this railway will be 300 kilometres, and the estimate of the outlay gives 1,8007. per kilometre, including the cost of buildings and carriages.

In

We have seen that the river system of Austria is upon a grand scale, and it is likewise, to a great extent, made available for the purposes of internal navigation. order to give an idea of the facilities for commerce which this immense empire possesses, we subjoin a rough estimate of the length of the navigable rivers, lakes, and canals, measured on the beautiful map drawn up from actual survey by the Imperial Engineer Corps, and published in 1832. The length of each river is measured by straight lines, following the principal bends. but not the windings of the stream; and the result is, for