A single glance over the map shows us at once how very unequally water and land are distributed. In one part we see continents and islands closely grouped together, while in another the sea widely spreads in one unbroken plain; here vast peninsulas stretch far away into the domains of ocean, while there immense gulfs plunge deeply into the bosom of the land. At first sight it might appear as if blind chance had presided over this distribution, but a nearer view convinces us that providential laws have established the existing relations between the solid and fluid surfaces of the earth. If the sea had been much smaller, or if the greatest mass of land had been concentrated in the tropical zone, all the meteorological phenomena on which the existence of actual organic life depends would have been so different, that it is _doubtful_ whether man could then have existed, and _certain_ that, under those altered circumstances, he never would have attained his present state of civilisation. The dependence of our intellectual development upon the existing configuration of the earth, convinces us that Divine wisdom and not chaotic anarchy has from all eternity presided over the destinies of our planet. The length of all the coasts which form the boundary between sea and land can only be roughly estimated, for who has accurately measured the numberless windings of so many shores? The entire coast line of deeply indented Europe and her larger isles measures about 21,600 miles, equal to the circumference of the earth; while the shores of compact Africa extend to a length of only 14,000 miles. I need hardly point out how greatly Europe's irregular outlines have contributed to the early development of her superior civilisation and political predominance. The coasts of America measure about 45,000 miles, those of Asia 40,000, while those of Australia and Polynesia may safely be estimated at 16,000. Thus the entire coast-line of the globe amounts to about 136,000 miles, which it would take the best pedestrian full twenty-five years to traverse from end to end.