The Orange or Gariep rises in the country of the Bosjesmans and flows into the Atlantic at Cape Voltas, and has a course of about 1050 miles. In addition to the lake Tchad the lakes Ngami and Nyassi are vast bodies of water in the interior of Africa, the former of which has been ascertained to be about lat. 20° 20′ south. The latter is almost unknown except in

name.

Of the Mountains the most memorable is Mount Atlas, whose highest points have been supposed to be near 12,000 feet. The central parts of Africa may possibly contain immense mountains, as the mountains of Abyssinia are of considerable height, and yet seem but parts of some great central chain: Abba Jaret is estimated at 15,000 feet, and Kilmandjaro in Zanguebar rivals the loftiest summits of the Andes, being probably not less than 20,000 feet above the level of Near the Island of Fernando Po the mountain of the Cameroons is above 13,000 feet, and the Northern peak of the island itself is 10,600. There is also some high land about the Cape. The Beaufort mountains are about 5000 feet, and in Graaf Reynet the chain rises in the Mount Spitz Kop to double that altitude.

the sea.

The most remarkable features of Africa are the immense deserts of sand, the chief of which, called Sahara, or the Great Desert, is about 3000 miles in length, and almost 1000 in breadth. The sand is here sometimes carried by the wind like waves in the sea, or rather like immense moving columns which overwhelm whole caravans of the unhappy travellers who attempt to cross these perilous deserts. Frequently also both themselves and their camels perish for want of water.

Below the Straits of Gibraltar are the Madeira Islands, two in number, belonging to Portugal; and below them the Canary Islands, or Fortunatæ Insulæ of the ancients, belonging to Spain, seven of which are inhabited. The chief of the Canary Islands is

Teneriffe, where is the celebrated mountain called the Pike of Teneriffe, which is an almost extinct volcano, more than 12,000 feet above the level of the sea. Below the Canaries are the Cape Verd Islands, ten in number, lying off Cape Verd, and belonging to the Portuguese, the chief of which is St. Jago. North of Congo is the Island of St. Thomas, belonging to the Portuguese, and considerably to the south-west of it the Island of Ascension; below which, to the south-east, is the small Island of St. Helena, memorable for the confinement of Napoleon, belonging to the English, where the homeward-bound East Indiamen touch for refreshments. Off the coast of Mosambique is the Island of Madagascar, which is one of the largest in the world, being 840 miles long, and 240 broad; it has been very little explored, and presents a rich prospect to the industry of future speculators. East of Madagascar are the Islands Bourbon and Mauritius, or Isle of France. The smaller African Islands on the coast of the Red Sea are not worth particular notice.

Africa has been computed to contain 11,647,428 English square miles, and perhaps 100,000,000 inhabitants, though this can be matter of approximation only. Its chief products are dates, oranges, and other fruits, gums, ivory, and ostrich feathers. Gold is found in several of its rivers. It also produces saltpetre and natron in great abundance.

The religion of Morocco, the Barbary States, Egypt, and many of the northern tribes of Africa is Mahometan. The Abyssinians are nominally Christians, but their doctrines have been grossly corrupted. The Paganism of the Central and Southern tribes of Africa can scarcely be said to be affected by the European settlements in their vicinity.

CHAPTER VII.

AMERICA.

M. G. Plates I. XXIII. XXIV. XXV. XXVI.

THE immense Continent of America (Pl. I.), forming rather another hemisphere than a quarter of the globe, was discovered by Columbus. In his first voyage he discovered the Bahama Islands, October 12. 1492, and soon after Cuba and St. Domingo. It was not till his third voyage that he discovered the mainland of south America, in the year 1498; but previously to his return Amerigo Vespucci, a Florentine, had published an account of his voyage under Alonzo de Ojeda in 1499 along the north coast of South America, and, from this circumstance, has given his name to the New World. The first discovery of North America was made by Giovanni Cabot, a Venetian, in the service of our Henry VII., A. D. 1497.

North America (Pl. XXIII.) is bounded on the east by the Atlantic, on the west by the great Pacific Ocean, on the south by the Isthmus of Panama; on the north, above Hudson's Bay, by the Arctic Ocean. Above it lies Greenland, both West or New, and East or Old Greenland, the latter beyond description bleak and dreary, and scarcely inhabited by a few wandering Esquimaux; the former occupied by a few

The

Danish colonies. The British possessions in North America lie above five vast Lakes Ontario, Erie, Huron, Michigan, and Superior, which discharge themselves, through the River St. Lawrence, into the Atlantic Ocean. Below the mouth of the River St. Lawrence are Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. country lying above the River St. Lawrence is Canada, formerly divided into Upper Canada, above the Lakes, and Lower Canada above the St. Lawrence, but recently united into one province. Between Hudson's Bay and the Atlantic is Labrador, or New Britain; and on the western side of Hudson's Bay, are the territories of the Hudson's Bay Company, extending to the Arctic Sea and the Pacific. North-east of · Hudson's Bay are Davis's Straits and Baffin's Bay. A north-west passage to the East Indies has been hitherto in vain attempted through these straits and Baffin's Bay, though the greatest skill, intrepidity, and perseverance have been exerted in the attempt; especially in the expeditions under Captain Parry, and more recently under Captains Back and Ross, whose discoveries, together with those of an expedition sent out by the Hudson's Bay Company, have traced nearly the whole line of coast from Behring's Straits to Baffin's Bay. The extreme N. W. of America, together with the west coast as far south as Prince of Wales's Island, belongs to Russia. The savage tribes of Indians in this vast and thinly-peopled country are not worth enumerating. Below the River St. Lawrence and the five Lakes are the United States of America, formerly provinces of Great Britain, but severed from it, and

recognised as independent by the peace of 1782. These states (Pl. XXV.), now thirty-six in number, including the district of Columbia and four territories not consolidated into states, may be divided into eastern, middle, southern, and western. The eastern states, formerly called New England, consist of, 1. Maine, 2. New Hampshire, 3. Vermont, 4. Massachusets, 5. Rhode Island, 6. Connecticut. Below these are the Middle States, 7. New York with Long Island, 8. Pennsylvania, east of which on the Atlantic is, 9. New Jersey, and below it, 10. Delaware, between the Delaware and Chesapeak bays, 11. Maryland. The Southern states are, 12. The district of Columbia with only 100 square miles of territory, but containing Washington, the capital of the United States, 13. Virginia, 14. North Carolina, 15. South Carolina, and 16. Georgia. All these lie along the Atlantic. Between the Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico is, 17. Florida, and upon the Gulf of Mexico are, 18. Alabama, 19. Mississippi, lying along the eastern bank of the river of that name, 20. Louisiana. Above Mississippi and Alabama is, 21. Tennessee, and above it, 22. Kentucky, and above it, 23. Ohio, between Lake Erie and the river Ohio. West of these are, 24. Michigan, lying chiefly between Lakes Michigan and Huron, 25. Indiana, 26. Illinois, 27. Missouri, 28. Arkansas. West of the Lake Michigan is, 29. Wisconsin; still west, 30. The Minnesota territory, and below it, 31. Iowa. Extending from hence to the shores of the Pacific, is, 32. Oregon territory (Pl. XXIII.), and below it, 33. New California, with great riches in gold, the territories of 34. Utah