Belt

( Geog.) The name given to two of the three straits by which the Baltic Sea is joined to the Cattegat. They are distinguished by the addition of Great and Little. The Great Belt, which is the middle one, and the widest outlet for the waters of the Baltic, begins on the S., about 54° 50′ N. Lat., between the S. extremity of the island of Lan gel and and the W. shores of Laaland, and terminates on the N. between Rees Ne on the island of Zealand, and the S. extremity of Samsoe. Its length may be about 70 m. The narrowest part of the strait is at its S. extremity, where it is, properly speaking, divided into two straits by the island of Lan gel and; for the narrow sea between that island and those of Arroe, Taasing, and Fionia is comprehended under the name of Great Belt, and is hardly more than four miles in breadth. The principal branch between Lan gel and and Laaland is rather more than 8 m. wide. To the N. of the northern extremity of Lan gel and the breadth of the strait varies between 16 and 24 m.-Except near the shores, the depth of the water is considerable, but very irregular, varying from five to twenty-five fathoms. But some small and low islands and many shoals render the navigation difficult and dangerous, and on that account the pa age of the Sound is preferred. Between Nyborg in Fionia and Corsoer in Zealand, a regular communication is established by steamboats and smacks. In the good season the pa age is not difficult; but in the latter part of the autumn and in winter it is difficult and dangerous, especially on account of the pieces of floating ice which in severe weather become very numerous, and are sometimes cemented together by hard frost. It is then sometimes nece ary to make one part of the pa age in a sledge and the other in a boat. When, in such circumstances, snow begins to fall, the small island of Sprogoe, which lies in the strait, but considerably nearer to the coast of Fionia than to that of Zealand, offers a place of refuge. - The Little Belt, the most western of the three straits, begins on the S. between the islands of Arroe and Alsen, and extends between the island of Fionia and Jutland, to the capes called Oger Ne on Fionia, and Bicornsknudde on Jutland. Its length is upwards of 80 m., and its width varies from 8 to 10. Towards the S. extremity, between the islands Arroe and Alsen, it is generally above 10 m. acro . At A ens, a town of Fionia, it narrows suddenly to about five, and farther north it grows by degrees narrower, so that between the town of Mid delf art on Fionia, and the opposite coast at Snoghoe, the distance hardly amounts to 34 of a m. The depth of the water is considerable, varying from five to fourteen fathoms; but the navigation is dangerous, on account of the low islands (Arre, Baage, and Fance), the numerous shoals, and the violent currents which constantly run through the strait from S. to N. - See BALLTIC SEA.