EUROPE, 
141 
Europe, in Sweden, Norway, and North Russia, 
it is very cold; and as you go farther north it 
becomes colder, till you reach that part of the 
earth where the sun does not rise for days, Or 
weeks, or months; the time being longer as the 
land is nearer to that most northern point of ouX 
globe, called the north pole. 
The people who live nearest to this point, in 
these icy regions, are called Laplanders. And we 
should think them very wretched, but they do not 
seem to dislike their long nights, or rather long 
dark days. "They have plenty of oil from thg 
whales they take in those icy seas, to light up their 
cottages; and the moon, while it is shining, and 
the stars, look very bright. "They gain some light, 
also, from a bright appearance in the sky, some 
times of a pale pink colour, sometimes red, ot 
whitish, which spreads over a great part of the 
heavens, and which we too sometimes See, called 
the Aurora Borealis, or northern light or dawn— 
Borealis meaning northern, and Aurora dawn; 
it has been so called, because it resembles that 
light which we often see at sun-rise, "Then the 
reflection of the white snow with which these 
regions are covered, must increase what little 
light they have. 
Among the people of the northern and central 
parts of Europe, light hair and eyes, and a fair 
complexion prevail. In the south, dark hair and 
eyes, and a sallow or brown complexion, is almost 
universal. 
Various languages are spoken by the nations of 
Europe, besides our own English. Even in some 
parts of Ireland a different language is spoken,