“ The surface in the S. and N. E. is generally mountainous; the northwest spreads out into extensive and often marshy plains, and belongs to the basin of the Ems; the northeast and a small part of the east to the basin of the Weser; the remainder, constituting the far larger portion of the whole, belongs to the basin of the Rhine, whose chief tributaries are the Ruhr and Lippe. Besides iron and coal in abundance the minerals include copper, lead, zinc, marble, slate, sulphur, antimony, and salt; and the manufactures are varied and important. ”