contains a number of picturesque islands. The lake of Leon lies N. W. of this lake. The lake of Atitan is 8 leagues in length, and more than 4 in breadth; the banks are precipitous, and the bottom has not been found with a line of 300 fathoms.

5. COAST. The approach to the coast of the Bay of Honduras is attended with much danger, on account of the reefs and keys dispersed along it. The coast of Nicaragua on the Pacific is almost inaccessible for many months in the year, on account of the furious north-east winds.

6. CLIMATE. The eastern coasts of this country are the most healthy; on the shores of the Pacific the heat is often extreme, and intermittent fevers are very prevalent. In the interior the climate is greatly modified by the height of the country.

7. SOIL AND NATURAL PRODUCTIONS. The soil is in general fertile, and the products are numerous and valuable. Some of the cedars exceed seven fathoms in circumference. The British territory on the Bay of Honduras has a fine soil, capable of producing all the richest fruits of tropical climates, but it has hitherto been celebrated only for its mahogany and log-wood. The other productions of the soil are similar to those of Mexico.

8. ANIMALS. One of the animals, said to be peculiar to Guatemala, is the Zachin, a quadruped resembling a rat, which preys upon snakes and poultry. Two species of birds, called the quetzal and the raxon, also confine themselves to this country.

9. DIVISIONS. Guatemala, or the Federal Republic of Central America,' as it is called in its constitutional acts, embraces the five states of Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and San Salvador, which are subdivided into 45 partidos or divisions.

10. Towns. Guatemala, the capital of the Republic, is situated in 140 40' N. lat. on a small river, in a large and fertile valley but as it is elevated 5,000 feet above the level of the Pacific, it enjoys a temperate and delightful climate. The streets are straight and well paved, and the houses although built low from the dread of earthquakes, are handsome and furnished with beautiful gardens. The cathedral is a fine specimen of modern Italian architecture. Pop. 30,775.

San Salvador is pleasantly situated, well-built, and has about 15,000 inhabitants.

Leon, near the lake of that name, is an Episcopal See, and has an University. Pop. 8,000. Omoa, one of the chief seaports of the country, is in lon. 89° 53′ W., lat. 15° 50′ N.

11. AGRICULture. The cultivation of indigo is very general in this country. All sorts of grain, the finest fruits, the chocolate-nut, sugar, tobacco, maize and cotton are also produced in great abundance.

12. COMMERCE and ManufactuRES. The two productions of this region best known to commerce are indigo and cochineal; the produce of the latter in 1825 was valued at 400,000 piastres. Manufactures of cotton, woolen and linen are established in some parts.

13. INHABITANTS. The inhabitants are whites, Indians, blacks and the mixed races. The Indians are the most numerous. The Mosquito-sambos are a savage and ferocious nation. The coast Mosquitoes are on the eastern part. The inner part of the country, being elevated, is salubrious, but fevers are fatal to Europeans near the coast. The manners and customs,

The city was originally built on the declivity of a mountain, at whose summit was a volcano. In this situation, in the year 1751, it was overwhelmed by an earthquake. It was afterwards rebuilt; but in 1775 another and more tremendous convulsion again destroyed it, and buried most of the inhabitants in its ruins. The city now stands 25 miles to the south of the old town.

like those of the other Spanish settlements, are similar to those of Mexico. The religion is Catholic.

14. GOVERNMENT. The government is nominally republican, and the constitution is framed upon the model of that of the United States. The country however has been for some time in a state of anarchy.

15. POPULATION. The population of Guatemala was estimated by Humboldt, in 1822, at 1,600,000; viz. 280,000 whites, 880,000 Indians, 420,000 of a mixed race.

16. HISTORY. This country was a dependency of the Spanish crown till 1821, when it participated in the revolt of Mexico: it was at first united with Mexico, but in 1823 Guatemala declared itself an independent state.

CHAPTER XLIII.

GENERAL VIEW OF NORTH AMERICA.

1. BOUNDARIES AND EXTENT. North America extends from the North Pole southerly to the isthmus of Darien, in lat 7° 30' N. It is washed on the eastern side by the Atlantic, and on the western by the Pacific Ocean, and narrows in breadth as it extends southerly. It contains above 8,000,000,` square miles.

2. MOUNTAINS. The great chain of the Rocky Mountains extends from the vicinity of the Polar Sea, south through the whole continent, and continuing beyond the isthmus into South America takes the name of the Andes. The only other large chain is the Apalachian, which runs parallel to the eastern coast of the United States.

3. SEAS AND GULFS. The Arctic Sea is supposed to extend from the northern part of America to the North Pole, but the immense masses of ice which are every where met with in this region, render it impossible that it should ever be fully explored. These ice-bergs are sometimes hundreds

of miles in length, and contain mountains 400 feet in height. The shock of these enormous masses produces a tremendous crash, which warns the seamen how easily his vessel would be crushed to pieces if it were caught

between these floating islands. Frequently the wood* that drifts upon this sea, takes fire in consequence of the violent friction to which it is exposed by the movement of the ice, and smoke and flames burst forth in the midst of eternal winter. This floating wood is very frequently found charred at both ends. In winter, the intensity of the cold is continually bursting asunder the mountains of ice, and at every moment is heard the explosion of these masses, which yawn into enormous rents. In spring the movement of the ice more generally consists of the mere overturning of these masses, which lose their equilibrium in consequence of one part being dissolved before another. The fog which envelopes this melting ice is so dense, that from one extremity of a frigate, it is impossible to discern the other. At all seasons, the broken and accumulated ice in the channels or gulfs, equally checks the passage of the adventurer on foot, whom it would instantly overwhelm, and of the mariner, paralyzing the movements of his vessel.

Numerous expeditions have been dispatched in search of what is called the Northwest Passage, or a communication between the Atlantic and Pacific round the northern extremity of America. The most recent are those of the English under Captain Parry, who in several voyages penetrated into the Arctic Sea from Baffin's bay, and passed the winter between the

70th and 80th parallels of latitude. The ice hindered his advancing beyond

The extreme abundance of floating wood, which is brought by the sea to the shores of Labrador and Greenland, and especially to those of Iceland, and the arctic lands situated between these two islands, forms another curiosity that deserves to arrest our attention among these polar regions. We are assured that the masses of floating wood thrown by the sea upon the island of John de Mayen, often equal the whole of this island in extent. There are some years, when the Icelanders collect sufficient to serve them for fuel. The bays of Spitzbergen are filled with it, and it accumulates upon those parts of the coasts of Siberia that are exposed to the east, and consists of trunks of larch trees, pines, Siberian cedars, firs, and Pernambuco, and Campeachy woods. These trunks appear to have been swept away by the great rivers of Asia and America. Some of them are brought from the gulf of Mexico, by the famous Bahama stream, while others are hurried forward by the current, which, to the north of Siberia, constantly sets in from east to west. Some of these large trees, that have been deprived of their bark by friction, are in such a state of preservation as even to form excellent building timber. If this floating wood, however, proceed from forests that are still actually in existence, another part appears to us to have a more remote origin, and to be connected with the great revolutions of the globe. We have already seen that extensive deposits of coal, of bituminous wood, and of overturned trees, are extended indiscriminately under the surface of continents and seas. This vegetable wreck must belong to several catastrophes, to repeated devastations of the solid land.

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the North Georgian Islands in lon. 110° W., but the discoveries of Captain Franklin and Parry render it pretty certain that there is a communication by sea from Baffin's Bay to Bhering's Strait.

Baffin's Bay has been ascertained by recent discoveries to be a wide strait communicating with the Arctic Ocean on the N. W. Hudson's Bay communicates with the Atlantic on the E., but its northern shores have not been fully explored. The Gulf of St Lawrence is formed by the expansion of the river of that name. The Gulf of Mexico lies between Mexico and the southern coast of the United States; it is 1150 miles in length and 930 in breadth. It has a remarkable current proceeding from it called the Gulf Stream, for which see the chapter on the Atlantic Ocean.

4. CLIMATE. The climate of the American continent is characterised by a greater degree of cold than is found in the same localities in the eastern hemisphere. A small part of North America lies within the torrid zone. On the north it stretches into the region of perpetual winter.

5. SOIL. The northern parts are sterile and almost totally unfitted for habitation. In the middle and southern regions the soil is equal in fertility to that of any part of the earth.

6. NATURAL PRODUCTIONS. Vegetable life shows an uncommon degree of vigor on the American continent. The lower parts of the country are covered with forests of trees of uncommon height. The warmer regions afford many valuable medicinal plants. The mahogany tree, one of the most valuable in the world, is peculiar to this continent.

7. MINERALS. The southern part is most productive in the precious metals. Iron, lead, copper, salt, and coal, are distributed over various parts of the continent.

8. ANIMALS. It was formerly believed, on the authority of Buffon, that the animals of America were inferior in size to those of the eastern continent. The researches of modern naturalists have not only refuted this error but have established the fact that where any difference of size exists in animals of the same class, the superiority is in a majority of instances on the American side. The birds are very numerous, and are more beautiful in plumage than those of the eastern continent. For particular descriptions see the several chapters.

9. POPULATION. In various portions of this continent, no accurate estimate can be formed of the population. The most probable calculations give from 25 to 30,000,000, for the population of all North America.

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CHAPTER XLIV. WEST INDIES.

1. SITUATION AND EXTENT.

The West Indies are an extensive cluster of Islands, at the entrance of the Gulf of Mexico, stretching from lat. 10° N. to the tropic of Cancer; between the coast of Florida in the north, and the river Orinoco, on the continent of South America; the Bahama Islands being the most northern and Trinidad the most southern. These islands were first discovered by Columbus, who called them the West Indies, on the supposition that they were connected with the continent of India. Sailors distinguish them into the Windward and Leeward Islands; and they are sometimes denominated the Caribbee Islands, the Great and Little Antilles and the Columbian Archipelago. We shall follow the political divisions of these islands in our description.

2. SPANISH ISLANDS. The possessions of Spain in the West Indies are Cuba and Porto Rico. Cuba is situated opposite the entrance of the Gulf of Mexico, and stretches from S. E. to N. W., through a space of nearly 750 miles, but varies in breadth from about 70 to 130. It lies between 190 and 23° N. lat. and 74° 85° W. lon., and has an area of about 56,000 square miles. Cuba has some resemblance in shape to an alligator, and a ridge of mountains runs through its whole length, dividing it into two parts. From this ridge, numerous rivers descend, and more than 150 are said to pour their crystal waters over its plains. At the foot of the mountains, the country opens into extensive meadows that afford pasturage for numerous herds of cattle both tame and wild, many thousands of which are annually killed for their hides. The soil is extremely fertile, particularly in the vallies, and produces the sugar-cane, coffee, cotton, tobacco, and all the fruits and aromatic plants of the tropics. The climate in the interior is healthy. In the seaports, in summer it is unhealthy, especially for strangers; and as the rays of the sun fall almost perpendicularly, the temperature is hot. In the mountainous parts the temperature is more moderate, and in a place exposed to the north, water has been found frozen. The most productive mines of Cuba are those of copper. An iron mine of excellent quality has been explored near Havana, and beds of loadstone are found on the island. The rock crystals of Cuba are very brilliant, and salt is produced in abundance. Mineral waters have also been discovered in several places.

Cuba is divided by the Spaniards into two districts; that of Cuba towards the eastern, and Havana towards the western part of the island. The city of San Jago de Cuba, on the southern coast, has been considered the capital of the island, but it now presents a dilapidated aspect.

Havana, which is the residence of the governor and the principal officers, is seated on the northern coast, at the mouth of the river Lagida. The town stands in a plain on the west side of the harbor, and most of the houses are built of stone. Among the public buildings are 11 churches, two hospitals, a lazaretto, and numerous convents, besides the citadel, the government house, and several others. There is also a dock yard, with a naval arsenal. The bay of Havana forms one of the finest harbors that can be conceived; being capable of containing 1000 large vessels at once, which lie in perfect safety in six fathoms water, while the entrance is so narrow that it admits but one ship at a time. Pop. 112,000.

The other principal towns are Matanzas, St Jago de Cuba and St Salva dor, which are seaports and places of considerable trade. The population of Cuba is estimated at 730,000, of whom 330,000 are whites, 710,000 free blacks and mulattoes, and 290,000 slaves.

Cuba was discovered by Columbus in his first voyage, who did not ascer tain whether it was an island or part of the continent; nor was this question determined till 1508, when it was circumnavigated by Ocampo. It was conquered by the Spaniards under Velasquez, in 1511.

Porto Rico. This island is 120 miles in length and 40 in breadth, and contains 4,500 square miles. The surface is greatly diversified, rising in some places to mountains, and in others sinking into valleys, watered by beautiful streams, which descend from the higher parts. The climate differs little from that of the adjacent islands; and the productions are similar. The woods are said to contain a breed of wild dogs, which the Spaniards imported to hunt the defenceless natives. The northern parts are supposed to contain gold and silver, but no mines are worked.

St Juan, a town, of 20,000 inhabitants, with a convenient harbor, on the north coast, is the capital. The other principal towns are Aguadilla, San Germano, Faxardo, and Ponce.