. The earth and its inhabitants ... Geography. CHAPTER VIII. THE BASIN OF THE MIDDLE ELBE (SAXONY). General HE name of Saxony, which was formerly applied to so considerable a portion of Germany, is restricted now to the smallest of the four kingdoms forming part of the empire ; but this small countr}^ is moie densely peopled than any other portion of Germany,* and its inhabitants are distinguished by their intelligence and industry. Saxon}^ curtailed as it has been by Prussia, has no natural frontiers. It merely includes the northern slope of the Erzgebirge, and of the mountains whic
. The earth and its inhabitants ... Geography. CHAPTER VIII. THE BASIN OF THE MIDDLE ELBE (SAXONY). General HE name of Saxony, which was formerly applied to so considerable a portion of Germany, is restricted now to the smallest of the four kingdoms forming part of the empire ; but this small countr}^ is moie densely peopled than any other portion of Germany,* and its inhabitants are distinguished by their intelligence and industry. Saxon}^ curtailed as it has been by Prussia, has no natural frontiers. It merely includes the northern slope of the Erzgebirge, and of the mountains which form the continuation of this range to the east of the Elbe. Nearly all its rivers flow to the Elbe, which they join only beyond the actual political boundaries of Saxony, which thus depends mainly upon roads and railways for its internal communications. The Saxon slope of the Erzgebirge differs strikingly from the precipitous face which that mountain range presents towards Bohemia. It is gentle, and in many p irts the mountains assume the character of plateaux, upon which rise rounded summits. These plateaux, exposed as they are to the cold northerly winds, form a Saxon Siberia. They abound in mineral wealth, which has attracted a considerable population. Too frequently, however, the metallic lodes prove deceptive, and, as the niggardly soil yields but poor harvests, the inhabitants have been compelled to turn their attention to the manufacture of a variety of articles likely to find purchasers amongst the dwellers in the plain. Such was the humble beginning of the vast manufacturing industry which has converted the whole of South-western Saxony into one huge workshop, and accounts for the sterile mountain region being far more densely peopled than the fertile alluvial plain. The latter, however, has its sterile tracts too, which are covered with sand, and even with erratic blocks, carried thither from Scandinavia. The " Swedes' Stone," on the battle-field of Liitz
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade18, booksubjectgeography, bookyear1883
