only eight are of any importance. Off the coast of East Florida (Pl. XXVI.) lie the Bahamas or Lucayos, comprising several hundred islands, or rather islets, of various magnitudes, one of which, St. Salvador, was the first land discovered by Columbus, on the 12th Oct. 1492. All these belong to the English. Below are the important West Indian Islands of Cuba, with its chief city, Havannah, belonging to Spain, and Hispaniola, or St. Domingo, now called Hayti, which is independent. Below Cuba is Jamaica, belonging to the English; its principal city is Kingston. Still east of Hayti is Porto Rico, belonging to Spain. East of these are the Caribbee Islands, the principal of which are St. Christopher, Antigua, Dominica, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, Barbadoes, Grenada, and Tobago, belonging to the English, and Guadaloupe and Martinique, belonging to the French. Below them is the Island of Trinidad, ceded by Spain to the English; considerably to the west of which are the Islands of Margarita, belonging to the government of Venezuela in South America, and still westward, Curaçoa, belonging to the Dutch. The area and population of North America may be estimated as follows: The chief produce of the British possessions is timber, corn, and furs: of the United States, timber, corn, tobacco, cotton, and rice; of Mexico, dyeing woods, mahogany, and some medicinal drugs: coal and iron abound in the United States, and in Mexico are most extensive and rich mines of silver, and other metals; but the silver mines are principally attended to. The extent and population of the West Indian Islands (Pl. XXVI.) are as follows: The produce of the West Indian Islands is sugar, rum, tobacco, coffee, cotton, indigo, and rice; besides various kinds of beautiful woods, fruits, and spices. The religion of the parts of North America, formerly under the dominion of the Spaniards, is Roman Catholic. So also is that of the mass of the population of French extraction in Canada, which formerly belonged to France. The English population, however, have their own Church. The United States have no established national Church, but tolerate all sects of Christians. The Indians are unconverted pagans, who yet have some notion of a great spirit and a future state. CHAPTER VIII. SOUTH AMERICA. M. G. Plates I. XXVII. NEARLY the whole of South America was not long since an appendage to the Crowns of Spain and Portugal. It is now divided into independent states, whose boundaries are yet hardly settled. The whole top of South America was formerly called the Spanish Main. It became a republic in 1823, under the name of Columbia, and occupied an extensive region stretching from the Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean, but was divided in the year 1831 into the independent republics of New Granada on the western coast, Venezuela to the eastward, and to the south, Quito or Ecuador. Eastward of these is Guiana, divided between the British, Dutch, French, and Brazilians; the portions belonging to the three former powers lie along, or reach to the coast. Brazilian Guiana lies along the north shore of the river Maranon. British Guiana comprises the settlements on the rivers Essequibo, Demerara, and Berbice: its chief products are sugar and coffee; the Dutch have Paramaribo on the river Surinam, and the French have Cayenne, famous for its pepper. South-east of Guiana is the immense empire of Brazil, formerly belonging to Portugal, but now independent. South-west of Brazil is Paraguay; below it the Banda Oriental, or Uruguay, reaching to the Rio de la Plata; and adjoining these, to the west, is La Plata, or the Argentine Republic, in which are the Pampas, immense plains stretching to the Andes. This district constitutes what are called the United Provinces of South America. At the lower part of South America is Patagonia, which is still in full possession of the aboriginal inhabitants. On the western side, and above Patagonia, is the republic of Chili, in the south of which is the independent territory of Araucania. Above Chili are the States of South or Upper Peru, called also Bolivia, and North or Lower Peru; above which the governments of Ecuador and New Granada reach up to the Isthmus of Darien. The interior of South America, East of the Andes, is, on the whole, an elevated plain, but partially inhabited, intersected by enormous rivers, and in a great measure covered with impenetrable forests. The following are some of the principal cities in South America: some of them are possessed of importance, as early Spanish settlements; others, as places of rising commerce. In Ecuador Lat. Quito Guayaquil Cuença In Venezuela W. Long. 0°13′ S. 78°43′ Capital of Ecuador: it is built 9630 feet above the sea, on the side of the mountain Pinchincha. Maracaybo Caraccas In Guiana 10°40′ N. 71°50′ On the vast Gulf and Lake of the same name. 10 30 N. 66 55 Capital of Venezuela. W.Long. 58° 11' The chief town of British Guiana. 55 20 Capital of Dutch Guiana. Assumpcion In Uruguay Monte Video In La Plata Buenos Ayres In Chili- Concepcion Lat. 12 58 S. 38 32 22 56 S. 42 1 Capital of Brazil. Lat. W. Long. 25°16′ S. 57° 37' Capital of Paraguay, and residence of the Dictator. |