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Maps, plates, charts, etc., may be filmed at different reduction ratios. Those too large to be entirely included in one exposure are filmed beginning in the upper loft hand corner, left to right and top to bottom, aa many frames as required. The following diagrams illustrate the method: Los cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., pouvent Atro filmfe A das taux de riduction diff Arenta. Lorsque to document est trop grand pour Atre reproduit on un soul clichA. 11 est filmA A partir de I'angto supArtour gauche, de gauche A droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant to nombre d'images nAcessaire. Los dtogrammea auivants illustrent la mAthode. 1 2 3 32X 1 2 3 4 S 6 '^m P»W»*"I V '^ i ii ^f- '^ i __^._..-J > 1'^' -r»- III l^r-rrr- ■■p II MMMMMtS UN Ul i NAT I Fro Author of the ■♦. Sde EmbeUisht the a I'fllKTXJ • • • Si. \ t HISTORICAL. TOPOGUAPHICAL, AND DESCRIPTIVi: VIEW OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, AND OP . ' UPPER AND LOWER CANADA, WITH AN APPENDIX, Containing a brief and oompreheniire Sketdi of THE PB£SENT STATS OF ^EXICO AND SOUTH AMERICA, AND ALSO OF THB i NATIVE TRIBES OF THE NEW IVORLD. COLLECTED, AftnAKGED, AND DIGESTED, From the bat recent AHtharUlet and origi»at ComnumkaHotUt BY E. MACKENZIE, Author of the History of Egypt, and Editor of the History of Northumberland, '*■ Select Biography, Statistic Tables, Modem Geogn^hy.'&c. &c. * * f # '■^. EmbeUtshsd and illustrated hy a large correct Map, a Plan qf the City of Wathinfftonf and seven fine Engravings. . •*}ifetffAiftk upork Tjf^^ • I'&INTEp V^D!^V}ILISU£o'BY.MAjCflfpNZIE AKD D^Vt, .* • • • *■ * % » * * • « -. t iii*" fK4'^tffi1irrifiirti m - y » <.,i ii t^' -r- G t 1' #^: 'J \ ^ '"H % E • < • • > !• • t < • ♦ » t tf^ w FREFACE. America, sinee she conquered her independeiM^, has risen into importance with a rapidity unparal- leled in the history of mankfaid* In her plains and forests an industrious, enterprising, and intell^ant' population are daily creating new and extcnrive eemmunities, and exhibiting, the whole mysteiy of the generation as well as the growth of nations. The spectacle is imposing and instructive, notwith- standing the senseless ravings of animosity, or tlie affected sneers of a despicable enmity. IPhis marvelfous eraphre already embraces a r«ige of territory above thirty times the extent of Gieat Britain; and will, within one hundred and twenty years, if population increases in the same ratio as it has lately done, contain upwards of ibur hundred millions of human beings ! Yet,, even then it would not be equally populous wHh England. Without iv PREFACE. i'v't supposing the intervention of some great and im- probable political convulsion, no rational argument can be assigned why the capital and population of the Americans should not progressively accumulate, until the boundless extent of their fertile and unoc- cupied land be brought into cultivation. ' Where/ exclaims a popular journalist, ' is this prodi^ous increase of numbers, this vast extension of dominion, to end? What bounds has Nature set to the progress of this mighty nation ? Let our jealousy burn as it may; let our intolerance of America be as unreasonably violent as we please; still it is plain that she is a power, in spite of us, rapidly rising to supremacy; or, at least, that each year so mightily augments her strength, as to over* take, by a most sensible distance, even the most formidable of her competitors. Jn foreign com* merce, she comes nearer to England than any other maritime power; and already her mercantile navy is within a few thousand tons of our own ! If she goes on as rapidly for two or three years, she must overtake and outstrip us.* But instead of viewing every step America^d- vances in renown with absurd and groundless dis- may, England ought to rejoice in the growing strength and happiness of her daughter, who has become respectable and. glorious by exercising the virtues of her parent. Their interests, whether moral, political^ or commercial, are inseparably PKBFACB; iinited;* and should hordes of barbarians again thread the existence of liberty and civilisation in the west of Europe, America may become the right arm of British strength, or perhaps the last asylum of British liberty. *When the nation,' says Dr. Smollett, *\m enslaved by domestic despotism, or foreign dominion; when her substance is wasted, her spirit broken, and the laws and constitution of England are no more; then these colonies, sent oS by our fathers, may receive and entertain their sons^ as hopeless exiles and ruined refugees/ i The writer has no* intention of exhibiting emi^ gration in a tempting and illusive point of view. Such attempts are certainly bhuneable, though their consequences are far from being alarming; for^ under ordinary drcumstances, the emigrants from any community must always bear a small propor- tion to the whole population. - After all, says Dr. Smith, man is of all luggage the most difficult to be transported. nately refusing to quit a spot of earth which the perpetual conflicts of the elements hardly leave at rest for a day.' He knows all his privations, hii sufferings, his risks; but he deems it all not too high a price for the endearing idea of Aome— the love of country — ^and the thousand ties of society and friendship. Thus has Frovideoce, by a power- fiii instinct, provided against an excess of emigratian. Let not the dissipated, the ambitious, the petu- lent, or the discontented, deceive themselves, and wander into other climates and ntuations in search of happiness. * The wilds of America will yield no repose to tlieir perturbed spirits. The fiends will migrate with them.'^- vi^); ':• However, the industrious labourer, the raechamc* the farmer, the man of moderate eapitfd, and the father of a family who feeis solicitous about settting his children ; in short, all those who are prepared to encounter the numerous privations and inconve- niences of emigration, in order to enjoy the great and acknowledged advantages which America offers to adventurers, will find this work a Faithful AND Useful Guide. And this is extremely diffi- cult to obtain, notwithstanding the numerous, ex- -^ Ttiia-rr>iAwifcii ■•. ');»X Madure's Geology of the United States of America. , ,. Imlay and Filson's Account of Kentucky. Travels through the United States and Canada, by Isaac Weld, jun. Michaux's Travels in Nwth America, 1802. Grey's Letters from Canada, 1806,' 7, and 8. Lambert's Travels through Canada and the United States, 1808. , Travels in North America in 1809> 10, and 11, by John Brad- bury, F. L. S. Travels in Canada and the United States in 1816-7, by lieutenant Hall, 14th light dragoons. Palmer's Journal of Travels in the United States of North America and in Lower Canada. ■ Bnsted's Resources of the United States. Mellish's Travels and Directory through the United States for 1818. Statistical View of the United States, by T. Pitkin, Representative firom the State of Connecticut, 1817. Hints to Emigrants, by the Shamrock Society of New York, 18i6. A Year's Residence in the United States, by Mr. Cobbett, 1818. Morris Birkbeck's Notes on a Journey in America, 1818. Letters from the Illinois, 1818. "* ■'mnny^'.t Feuron's Sketches in America, 1818. ;• H"; , jf' !• 'Hf' ui :\i-ii tuu, .>.i- '*'>■»■ h'l\ •■! v:|? ■ '■ ■ t 01 f Al • . i :d; COl^TiJNTS.-,.,, ■^•Mh ites for 1818. [epresentative ,> Page Page GENERAL View of America 1 Discovery and ancient popu- North America Soath America Boundaries Extent Divisions Climate Seasons 10 ' lation of America Id UNITED STATES. 35 Cataracts 36 Canals S7 Forests 39 Swamps 40 Mineraloi 1 ■itv'-'ijl ; Face of the Country Hiwrn^ »b. Mineral Waters Soil . . , 41 Botany Affriculture . . 42 Zoology ♦ Rivers . • ib. Natural Curiosities '^' y.i'{ STATES AND TERRITORIES. ^,^^^ New England. Extent and Boundaries 80 Natural Productions Face of the Country 81 Manners and Customs Rivers . * 83 History 25 49 52 58 ■■uM 64 ib. 68 73 84 86 «9 Natural Geography Population Manners, &c. Chief Towns New Hampshire. 93 Trade and Resources ''" ''"id 94 Religion . ib. ib. Government , , ib. 95 History . '"!'' 97 b CpIfTENTa Matmhuuettt. SiC^ikkm and Extent Nitunl Gcognpl^r PopuI«ti<^ and Maiuten C^nief Towns Trade and Reflouroes Page 100 Rdigion Ik Educatiim IQS Government ibi Iflands 109 History Sitiiation and Extent' ' '- ' ti$ Ttkde Natural Geography Population and Manners ib. Government 118 History Sit4ati(ni and Extent Natural Gec^graphy Po|pulation and Manners Sttuatifm and Extent Natural Geogrrahy Population and Manners Chief Towns . Trade and Resources 119 Chief Towns ibt Trade and Resources ISO Government Pagt '. 1^ 110 Si 111 US 118 ib. ib. ISl ib. ib. 1S8 Education ib. Rieligion 1S4 .Government 'M- . Religion . .150 188 Govemment:r>; ^1 ; i)^ iw 181 "■140> Islands '.i'.ti'riitfH'^iiMi« ^t*-' ibi' -.149 Hislofy •• • :rv»^'«''' ^>>i<--'«U.:*«.ii89. Nen JwHu. 154 Trade and ResourfC^ . 157 155 Government }3^ I^»tory i(~\: botnxsie: it Sknation and Extent »i Nytnnl OeogTMhy ' ' 'J FiBDulation and MainiM' ' CUefTowns mde and Education anfl GwvsruunBM Histary iSitnation and Extent NiM^iral Geography Canal . Pqpulati(m . CIuefTowns ''iti ilrade and Reaoprcea 189 Education vvV'l^. ib, IMdigion . ' , '- ib; Gbvenunoit 190 History '^ Stale qf Ohio. lift lh» » I .'■U,'<:.>."'.bil >)1 m 191 Situation and Extent . l^t f'qifulation Natural Geog|«phy '*»'"' '^'m DiviriiHis Tnde and Rfttpyctt i. -rH^.rvjj^ eWvernmrot ■^'"■; Situation and Extent ]!ib|Niral Geography' .;tf ^ -- Situation and Extent Natural Geography Population and Alanners Chief Towns 008 Towns, &c. . ih» Govornment It !■ <• \ ,a;.) SO9 ib. ■ * ■. * ■ ! 'A ■ ' A, '{■ fl>. ibi 216 Sanation and Extent Natural Geography Population and Manners Chief Towns Trade and Resources Situation and Extent Natural Geography population and Manners Chief Towns Ti ib. Education and Religion 918 Gwenunent . gl7 Education , «w»«!i ■'■ ib. Religion S80 Oovimment ^ Hiflory lij ■ - ■ '' • • 885 886 ib. 888 Trade and Resources ib. Education and Religion 9(99' Gofemment 881 History North Carolina. Situation and Extent 83$ TrMle and ResoMXces Natural Geography PimuUition and Manners CUefTowns ib. Education and Rdjgion 841 Oovemment , 848 Aislpiy • 887 fbi ib. 843 m ir->' tir CONTBNTSi Sifejuition and Extent Natural ^^f^gmfay Emulation and Mai Cbief Towns tmcn Situation and Extent Natural Gebgrapiiy H^opulation and Manners chief Towns ,, Trade and Resources TheFloridas Sakih OanOkik. . Page 9^ Trade and B Education . . lb. It^^igion '9$3 Government S6$ History m ; ' ttiiijHV^t*^ Page fiS9 266 lb. 267 ib. Siiuatiain an^ Extent Katural Geography Populati«ii»liii ag CONTINTi^ Page • '' if' •OO! 1 ion • • S74 875 ib. ib. • ib. 284 iij. 287 291 ib. lb. ru" *.'. . 29$ 296 ib. 899 300 ib; UBI 30t lerce ib, 304 SHaation and Extent 304 Chief Towns Natural Geography 305 Commerce Population . 30l6 iGopiremment Nonhjuut Territory. Situation and Extent' T 309 fdpulation and Manners K(jtural Geography ib, Towns . %„,ft»ji-T^<'\ • . i^f^l ^ Netffbmdkmd :-.l . : , f n Mrs Bermudtu • ^v . , tars SPANISH NORTH AMERICA £sient , . 57*6 eSSSS :^'-'T^- ^ Climate 577 Face of the Country ib. Cities 588 Siven Lakes lb. 578 Trade Religion ^'^^'^ Mountains . . 579 Government , Botany and Zoology 580 Army M{neralIH:'Il/i. fj ^v ^ • t " . ■ ;.v..'.fo'> '"•wolf. ' >"v: ,'■. ; \ina'J ■■' ' ■ ■ '-^ ■ ' 'm^b ii' .V .: ■ , !. 1 • *" '. : * . c-rf '--,„--.y •■''.-'■('i'V. - f "> :-\ h'HHmn- frr t ( \. yr .?^TH»T5?0r) ' li t"»nii.'. :i» eai) DIRECTIONS FOB PX^^CINGyTHE PLATES. ," 1 lilRtH : ^eip qfihe UnUed States^ P'aUa qf Niagara The Rock Bridge Country round PUUburg Mount Vernon CifyifWaehingkm CapUol of Washington - Bank (fthe United States American Stage Waggon ' i»',t . ... . ^ '^^'A ' -^.'iHI Tajiice Ae TUk. m 40 m 'W m 177 m 1^ m m «t9 1 •» sao M . 895 m ae ; GENERAL VIEW OF AMERICA, .* PREVIOUS to entering upon a detailed description of the great American commonwealth, it will be proper to take a general view of the extennve continent tff which it forms a part, and of the epochs of the various discoveries. America, or, as it is frequently denominated by way of emi- nence, the New Worid, has, in many respects, been peou> liarly favoured by nature ; and seems destined, in the course' of human affairs, to assume an important rank, both natural and political. The first circumstance that strikes us on viewing the New World is its immense extent. It constitutes a new honiqphere, lai^r than either Europe, Asia, or Africa, the three noted divisions of tbe ancient ocmtinent; and is not much inferior in dimensions to a third part of the habitable globe. The division of this continent into two piurts, called North and South America, is strongly marked by the hand of nature, in a narrow isthmus, and by a great variety in the languages and manners of the ori^nal inhabitants. The general consi* deration of this quarter of the globe will, therefore, receive far more clearness and precision by being thus divided. Those authors who blend the whole into one description confound their to{Hcs by a heterogeneous mixture. ^ B 10 GENERAL VIEW ■0-9 The Mmthem limit of the American continent is deiriy esti- mated from the strut of Magellan ; but the northern extent b not ascertained with' equal precision. Its limit may extend to 80 degrees, or perhaps to the pole. The joumies of Heame and Mackenzie have, indeed, imparted some idea of its confines on the Arctic ocean ; but Baffin^s bay remains to be explored, except the late discovery ships have effected part of this desi- deratum in geography. Amidst existing uncertainties, it will, however, be sufficient to estimate the northern limit of America from the 72d degree of north latitude ; a space of 126 degrees. In South America the greatest breadth is from cape Blanco in the west to St. Roque in the east, which, according to tha best maps, is 4f8 degrees. But in the north the breadth may be computed from the promontory of Alaska to the most eastern , pl^nt of Labrador, or even of Greenland, whifeh would 'add more thini a third part of the estimate. In British miles the length of America may be estimated at 8800 ; and the breadth of North Americfi at 4400, and that of the southern continent at 3800. 1^ NORTH AMERICA. \ • Climate. — The climate of North America is extremely va- rious, as may be conceived in a region extending from the Ticinity of the equator to the arctic circle. In general, the beat of summer, and the cold of winter, are more intense than in moat parts of the ancient continent. The predominant winds are here from the west ; and the severest cold is from the north-west. The middle provinces are remarkable for the unsteadiness of the weather, particularly the quick transitions from heat to cold. Snow falls plentifully in Virginia, but sel- dom lies above a day or two ; yet aflcr a mild, or even warm day, James river, where it is two or three miles in breadth, has in one night been clothed with ice, so as to be passed by travellers. Such surprising alterations seem to proceed from the sudden change of the wind to the north-west The pro- vinces of South Carolina and Florida are subject to unsuftra- ble heat, furious whirlwinds, hurricanes^ tremendous thunder, ■ ^ QF AMERICA. 11 il|d fttal lightnings; and the sudden clianges of the weitliel* are alike pernicious to the human frame. A violent tufRwm hi^ipened near Cbarlestown in 1761, appearins like a column of smoke, with a noise like thunder, ploughil% the very bedft of the riTers, and diihiring universal destruction throughout its progress. Few opportunities have yet arisen for accurate accounts of the climate in the western parts of North America. That of California seems to be in general fhoderate and ple«*> sant, though somewhat incommoded by the heat of summer. In lat. 89 deg. the land has a most barren and wintry appear^ ance, even in June: the gloom is increased by frequent fogs, and the glaciers seem perpetual. Inland Seag.'— Among the inland seas of North America may be mentioned the gulfs of Mexico, California, and St. Lawrence; with Hudson's and Baffin's bays. Of all these seas the gulf of Mexico is the most celebrated, as lying in A more favourable climate, and presenting at its entrance that grand archipelago of North American islands called the West Indies. From this gulf a singular current sets towards the north-east : this current, called the gulf stream, passes to tlie banks of Newfoundland, and is supposed to proceed from the accumiAition of waters by the trade wind. It is distinguished fnrni other parts of the ocean by the gulf weed ; is eight or ten degrees warmer; never sparkles in the night; and, when it arrives in cool latitudes, produces thick fogs. The trade wind, or diurnal sea' breeze, is from the east and its collateral points, with little intermission, for nine months in the year. To the south of the gulf of Mexico is the bay of Honduras, well known in the annals of English commerce. The opposite shore presents the gulf of California, which seems an e^tuarv of two large rivers. The gulf of St Lawrence is the well known estuary of a liver of the same name, generally frozen from December to April. This noble gulf is closed by the island of Newfound^ land, and by numerous sand-banks, particularly what is called the Greet BanJc. This celebrated fishing station is more thart 400 miles in lengthi*by about 140, in breadth ; the water being from ^ to dO fathoED^ wiWi a-greftt W^IH and frequently a <^' .*"•, ::: '.ih'rsis^ IS GENERAL VIEW I ( ) thick fug. The chief fishery begins on the 10th of May, and cmtinues till the end of September ; the greatest number of cod fish taken by a single fisherman being twelve thousand, but the average is seven thousand : the largest fish was four feet three inches in length, and weighed forty-six pounds. More than 500 English vesseb commonly fish on the bank. By a late regulation, the Americans are prohibited from fishing here ; but perniisdon is given to the subjects of Louis XVIII. There are also great fisheries on the banks which lie off the coasts of Nova Scotia. Hudson sea extends from the entrance westward 1060 Bri- tish miles; thus exceeding the Baltic in length as w^ll as breadth. The shores are generally rocky and precipitous, and the climate almost the perpetual abode of winter. Davis^ gulf or sea may be considered as part of Hudson's sea, and proba- bly joins the arctic ocean. Baflin's bay is 870 British miles in length, and nearly as much in breadth. Lakes. — The ibkes Superior, Michigan, and Huron, consti- tute one large inland' sea, which might be called the sea of Canada, or that of Huron. This expansion of water is about 850 miles in length, and more than 100 at its greatest breadth. Lake Superiob is not less than 1500 miles in circumference. The greater part of the coast seems to consist of rocks and uneven ground. The water is pure and transparent ; and the bottom generally composed of large rocks. There are several islands, one of which called Minong is about 60 miles in length : the savages suppose that these islands are residences of the Great Spirit. More than thirty riifvft fall into this lake, some of them of considerable size. The chief fi»h are sturgeon and trout ; the latter being caught at all seasons, and said to weigh from twelve to fifty pounds. This part of the sea of Canada opens into the lake Huron, by the straits of St. Mary, about 40 miles in length, and in some [^iaees only one or two miles in breadth ; with a rapide towards the north-west extremity, which may, however, be descended by canoes ; and the prospects are here delightful. The storms on this largo expanse of water are as dangerous as those on the ocean, the waves breaking moito.qaif;}c, ajid i^uitfiiog nearly as high. The OF AMERICA. IS circumference of that part cdled lake Huron is jsaiil to be , about 1000 miles i and on the northern ude are some islands called Manatulan, implying the place of spirits. Another short strait leads into th« third lake, called Michagan, also navigable for ships of any burthen. When the population of Nor^ America shall have diffused itself towards the west, these lakes may become the seats of flourishing cities, and of arts and sciences now unknown in Europe. Their latitude conreaponds with that of the Black sea and the gulf of Venice ; nor are the rigours of the Baltic here to be apprehended. From the descriptions, it does not appeiir that these lakes are ever impeded with ice. The lake of Winnipeg or Winipic may also well aspire ta the name of an inland sea : but it yields considerably to the great Slave lake» or rather sea, a recent discovery, from which Mackenzie's river extends its course to the arctic ocean. The Slave sea, according to Mr. Arrowsmith''8 maps, is about SOO miles in length, by 100 at its greatest breadth. The smaller lakes shall be briefly dei^ribed in the divisions of territory to which they belong. It may here suffice to ob« serve, that there are probably above two hundred lakes of considerable size in North America ; a singularity which dis^ tinguishes it from any lUher portion of the globe. Rivers. — ^All the features of nature in America are upon a grand scale. The rivers are peculiarly noble. The source of the Mississippi has been traced to three small lakes above lat. 47 deg. and it enters the sea in lat. 29 deg. after a comparative course of about^2000 British miles. Nay, of late, the sources of the Missouri (the chief stream) have been detected about 3000 British miles more remote. The account of ttiis noble river shall be transcribed from a recent system of American geography, by Mr. Morse, who must have had several oppoiw tunities of being well informed. *The Mississippi receives the waters of the Ohio and Illi- nois, and their, numerous b/anches from the east ; and of the Missouri and other rivers from the west. These mighty streams united are borne down with increasing majesty, through " vast forests and meadows, and discharged into the gulf of -..tw.dlMaAiiWK.tUu 14 GENERAL VIEW Mexico. The great length and uncommon depth of this river, lays Mr, Hutchins, and the excessive muddiness and salu- blAous quality of its waters afler its junction with the Missouri, are very singular. The direction of 4]le channel is so crooked, that from New Oleans to the mouth of the Ohio, a distance which does not exceed 460 miles in a straight line, is about 856 by water. * In the spring floods, the Mississippi is very high, and the current so strong, that it is with difficulty it can be ascended ; but this disadvantage is remedied in some measure by eddies, or counter currents, which are generally found in the bends close to the banks of the river, and assist the ascending boats. The current at this season descends at the rate of about five miles an hour. In autumn, when the waters are low, it does hot run faster than two miles; but it is rapid "un such parts of the river as have cl,usters of islands, shoals, and sand banks. The circumference of many of these shoals being several miles, the voyage is Jonger, and in some places more dangerous, than in the spring. The merchandise necessary for the commerce of the Upper Settlements, on or near the Mississippi, is con> veyed in the spring and autumn, in batteaux, rowed by eighteen or twenty men, and carrying about forty tons. From New Orleans to the Illinois ihe voyage is commonly performed in eight or ten weeks. A prodigious number of islands, some of which are of great extent, intersperse that mighty river. Its waters, after overflowing its banks bclqw the river Ibber- ville oa the east, and the river Rouge on the west, never re- turn within them again, there being many outlets or stiiiims by which they are conducted into the bay of Mexico, more esp^ially on the west side of the Mississippi, dividing the . country into numerous islands. These singularities distinguish it from every other known river in the world. The island of New Orleans, and the lands opposite, are to all appearance of no long date, having evidently been formed by the mud and trees carried down the river, aJxA having an appearance similar to the Delta In Egypt. ^' < Nothing can be asserted with certainty respecting the length m the coast of Lalnrador to the source of the Utawas, divid- the rivers that fall into the St. Lawrence and Hudson's ^y. The Stoney Mountains run paraHel with the Pacific Ban from Cook's entry to the river Columbia, where they are ore distant from the coast and less elevated. The most celebrated mountains in North America are those led the Apalachian, passing through the territoiy of the Inited States from the south-west to the north-east. Accord- tig to the best maps, they commence on the north of Georgia, ^here they give source to many rivers running south to the ilf of Mexico; and to the Tenassee and other rivers running jrth. There are several collateral ridges, as the Iron or Bald lountains, the White Oak Mountains, and others; the exte< 4 13 GENERAL VIEW rior skirt mi the north-west being the Cumberland Mountainf. The Apalachian chain thence extend? through the western territory of Virginia, accompanied with its collateral ridges^ the breadth of the whole being often seventy miles, and pro- ceeds through Pennsylvania v then passes Hudson river ; and afterwards rii^es to more elevation, but seems to expire in the country of New Brunswick. The chief summits appear to be in the province of New Hampshire, where the White Moun- tains are by some reported to be 9000 feet above the sea. But it may weU be affiimed that they caimot much exceed 4000 feet : and the glaciers of the Pyrenees at 9000 feet shew th» futility of the calculation. The Apalachian chain may thus extend about 900 geogra- phical miles, a length unrivalled by any European mountains, except the Norwegian alps. In no chain perhaps are the col- lateral ridges more distinct;, and a naturalist would at once pronounce that the central, or highest, must be granitic, the next schistose, and the exterior belts calcareous. The height of the chief summits does not appear to be precisely ascertain- ed, but probably does not exceed 3000 feet above the sea; and they are often clothed with forests. The mountMns in the isthmus, as well as those in tlie west- ern part of North America, are certainly of far superior eleva- tion: and in most maritime divisions of the old and new continents, the highest mountains are towards the west, as their most precipitous sides uniformly front the west and south. But of the isthmus, the kingdom of Mexico, and California, the natural history and gcograj^y are far from being clearly illustrated. Such are the most striking and peculiar features of nature in the North American continent. The botany, mineralogy, and zoology of this grand division of the New World, will be detailed when we come to exhibit the natural histoiy of the United States. SOUTH AIMER^ICA. Climate. — The boundaries and extent of this division of the new continent have been already explained. The climate of OF AMERICA, ;ures of nature die southern extremity, extending. &r beyond that of Africa, is exposed to all the horrors of the antarctic frosts ; and Terra del Fuego in the south lat. of 55 deg. seems exposed to the almost perpetual winter of Greenland in north lat. 70 deg. Patagonia, consisting mostly of open deserts and savannas^ with a few willow trees on the rivers, seems to enjoy a tempe- rate but rather cool climate. On proceeding towards the north, the great chain of the Andes constitutes real zones and climates, which strangely contradict the theories of ancient geographers ; the chief inconveniences of the torrid zone being extreme cold on the mountains, and extreme moisture in the plains. Near Callao the months of October and November form the spring. In Peru what is called summer is the dry season, often extremely cold; and the rainy season is called winter. The former begins in May, which is nearly the be- ginning of winter in the lower parts, and continues till Novem- ber, when the slight fogs, called winter in the vales, begin to disperse. On the mountains winter begins in December, which in the plains is the first month of summer ; and a journey of four hours conducts the traveller from one season to another. At Quito, situated between two chains of the Andes, on a plwn of remarkable elevation, tli^ months from September to May or June constitute the winter, and the other months the sum- mer ; the former being exposed to almost constant rains, which are also frequent, but at longer intervals, during the summer season. At Carthagena the winter, or rainy season, extends, on the contrary, from. May to November; and the summer, or dry season, from December to April. At Panama the summer begins rather later, and ends sooner. At Lima, in a southern latitude corresponding with the northern of Cartha- gena, the heat is far more moderate ; and spring begins witli December, winter with July : the summer is in February, the autumn in May. In general, the confined regions on the west of the Andes are dry, the clouds being arrested by their summits; while the wide countries on the east of the chain are exposed to tor- rents of rain, from the eastern or trade winds blowing over the Atlantic. In Brazil the rainy season begins in March or » GENERAL VIEW April, and ends in August, when the spring begins, or rath«r the summer ; the distinction being only between wet and dry seasons. Lakes. — No part of the globe displays so great a number of lakes as North America ; and the southern part of the new continent is perhaps equally remarkable by their rarity. Many slupposcd lakes, as that of Zarayos or Sbarayos, in the course of the river Paraguay, only exist during the annual inunda- tions, which are on a far grander scale than those of the Gan- ges, and may be said to deluge whole provinces. In the most noi'tbern part the lagoon of M aracaybo is remarkable, bein^ a circular bason about 100 British miles in diameter, receiving numerous rivers and rivulets, and communicating with th6 sea by a considerable creek. The celebrated lake Farima, called also Poranapitinca, or the White sea, is represented by La ,,■ Cruz as more than 100 British miles in length by 50 in breadth. P^' tfj This size, and even its existence, have been doubted, as it was the seat of the hited city El Dorado, the streets of which were paved with gold ; a fable which seems to have arisen from a rock of talc reflecting, like a mirror, the golden rays of the sun. In Amazonia and Brazil there do not appear to be any ' < lakes of consequence. That of Titiaca, in the kmgdom of Peru, is regarded As the most important in Soutli America. Ulloa says that it is of an oval figure^ the circumference about 240 miles ; and the depth 70 or 80 fathoms. It receives tert or twelve rivers and several rivulets ; but the water, though not saline, is nauseous, being probably tainted with sulphur or bitumen. It contains two kinds of fish, and is frequented by geese and wild fowl. In an isle of this lake. Mango Capac, the founder of the Peruvian monarchy, reported that the sun, his father, had placed him, with his sister, and consort, Oello ; and here a temple was dedicated to the sun, the most splendid in the kingdom, and profusely decorated with plates of gold and silver. On the Spanish invasion, these treasures are said to have been thrown into the lake. A few small lakes are found near the course of the river Parana ; and towards the south of Chili there are -some of considerable size. '♦^ #-i4f*^» J^ •i'; >»jtn» OP AMERICA. «!' ksures are River3.'^*rh^ titer of Amazons, so called firom a feoiide tribe inured to arms, discovered on its banks by the -first navi- gators, but more properly by a native term, the Maranon, is celebrated as the most distingtushed river, not only in South America, but in the whole world : and this reputation is no doubt just, when its magnitude is considered. The source is not yet absolutely ascertained. The original and proper Ma* ranon is supposed to be the Apurimac, which joins another large river west of the great lake Titicaca, south lat. 16 deg. 30 min. This noble river, in struggling through the Andes, must afford many striking scenes still lost to scientific observa> tion. Ulloa calculates the course of the Maranon at 3900 miles ; but it is probably much more. Like the Missouri and St. Lawrence, the Maranon is discolour ' which flowi in between Nortli and South America, may be con«idered ae a Mediterranean K%t which opens a maritime commerce with aU the ferlile countries by which it is encircled. The islands scattered in it are inferior only to those in the Indian archipe- lago, in number, in magnitude, and in value. As we stretch along the northern division of the American hemisphere, the bay of Chesapeake presents a spacious inlet, which conducts the navigator far iuto the interior parts of provinces no l«a» fertile than extensive ; and if ever the progress of culture and population shall mitigate tlie extreme rigour of the climate in the more northern districts of America, Hudson's bay may become as subservient to commercial intercourse in that quar« ter of the globe, as the Baltic is in Europe. The other great portion of the New World is encompassed on every side by the sea, except one narrow neck, which separates the Atlantic from the Padfic ocean ; and though it be not opened by spa. cious bays or arms of the sea, its interi*^. OF AMERICA Ui'i D18C0VKBY AND AKflENT POPULATION OF AMF.HICA. America was first discovered by th Norwcginns in llic year 982, when these adventurers visitetl Grcenhind, which, it is now universally admitted, forms n part of this grand division of the earth. This was followed, in the year 1003, by the dis- covery of Vinland, which seems to have been a part of Labra> dor, or Newfoundland. The coKmy of Vinland was soon destroyed by intestine divisions ; but that in Greenland conti- nued to flourish till maritime intercourse was impeded by the encroaching shoals of arctic ice. Though the firrt Em-opean colonies in Araeriia were thus lost, the Danes asserted their right by settlements on the western coast, called New Green- land, to distinguish it from the original colony on the castem shores, or what is called Old Greenland. After this there seems a long pause, for no further discovery in America has hitherto been traced, by the utmost exertion of learned research, till the time of Colon. But the Portuguese discoveries in the fifteenth century had gradually enlarged knowledge and encouraged enterprise. The Canary islands appear to have been faintly known to the Spaniards about the middle of the fourteenth century : and the Normans of France, in the usual enterprising spirit of their progenitors, had made piratical excursions as far as these isles. Their discovery, so far to the west, proved an important motive to the further re- searches of Colon ; who was also instigated by the numerous Portuguese discoveries in Africa, where the cape of Good Hope had been seen by Diaz in 1486. Colon, or, as he is usually called, Columbus^ sailed from Spain in quest of the New World on Friday the 3d day of August, 1492. On the 1st of October he was, by his reckon- ing, T70 leagues west of the Canaries. His men began to mu- tiny, and he was forced to promise to return in three days, if land did not appear. Fortunate pi-esages soon arose, as land birds, a cane newly cut, a carved piece of wood, and the branch of a tree with fresh ^d Arries. These and other symptoms ■WI*"^*^»W«W '"mimmi'mf^ S6 GENERAL VIEW \nduced Colon to order the ships to lie to in the evening of tlie 11th of October, in the certainty of seeing land on the approach of daylight. The night was passed in gazing expectation ; and a light having been observed in motion, the cry of land! land! resounded from the headmost ship. With the dawn of Friday, October ISth, a beautiful isle appeared, two leagues to the north. Te Deum was sung with shouts of exultation, and every mark of gratitude and veneration to the admiral. Colon was the first who landed, to the great astonishment of the na- tives, who regarded thdr visitors as children of the sun, the astonishment on both sides being indescribable. The first dis- covery was one of the group called the Bahama isles, being the Cat island of our mariners. In his second voyage he discovered several of the Caribbee islands ; and in his third voyage he fell in with an island which he called Trinidad, and viewed the estuary of the Orinoco. He then returned to Hispaniola, or St. Domingo ; and in Oc- tober, 1500, was sent back to Spain in chains ! When Colon arrived at the West Indies, he conceived that he was in the neighbourhood of Japan ; and the name of India was imposed in a new and improper sense. The discovery of Vinland could scai'cely have been known to him ; and that of Greenland was so remote, that there was no room for a sug- gestion that this region formed a part of a prodigious continent. As to the Atlantis of Plato, and the ridiculous Welsh tale of Madoc, which Southey has succeeded in rendering interesting, they cannot deprive Colon of one atom of his glory. Ojeda, an officer who had accompanied Colon in his second voyage, sailed to America with four ships in 1499, but disco- vered little more than Colon had done. One of the adven- turers was Amerigo Vespucci, a Florentine man of science, eminently skilled in navigation, who perhaps acted as chief pilot, an office on such expeditions of high account, and pro- bably only inferior to that of commodore. On his return, Amerigo published the first description that had yet appeared of any part of the new continent : and the caprice of fame has assigned to him an honour above the renown of the greatest conquerors ; that of indelibly impressinf his name upon this OF AMERICA. 2T xultation, and vait portion of the earth. It is idle to accuse his vanity, which never could have established such a claim : it was, on the con- trary, the ignorant and thoughtless gratitude of others, which alone could have imposed the appellation, from regard to the first man of letters who had disclosed this discovery to the ge- neral eye, as it seems before to have been concealed by jealousy and intrigue ; and the name is, at any rate, better than that of New Holland, or New South Wales, assigned in our own more enlightened times : nor do we esteem it any want of gratitude to Cook that no land has yet received its denomination from his i:ame. As the titles of the three other quarters of the world spread, by mere accident, from small districts, so when the name of America was imposed there was not the most dis- tant idea of the prodigious extent of the territory ; and it was only understood that this appellation was given to a large island. If any continent were adjacent, it was understood to be the large land of India. Cabral, on his voyage to the East Indies in 1500, accident- ally discovered Brazil : and in 1513, Vasco Nugnez de Balboa descried, from the mountains of the isthmus, the grand Pacific ocean ; and he afterwards waded into the waves, and took pos- session of it in the name of the Spanish monarch. This disco- very seems to have terminated the vain expectation that America formed part of Asia. It seems unnecessary to trace with minuteness the other epochs of discovery in thjs quarter. In 1515 the continent was explored as far as Rio de Plata ; but even in 1518 little was known concerning its western parts ; and twenty-six years had elapsed since the first voyage of Colon, before the existence was rumoured of the empires, or kingdoms, of Mexico and Peru. Hispaniola and Cuba still continued to be the chief seats of the Spanish power. In 1519, Cortez, with eleven small vessels, containing 617 men, proceeded to the conquest of Mexico, which was accomplished in 1521. Magalhaens, at the same time, having explored the Pacific ocean, the discovery of the western coast of America became a necessary conse- quence. After many reports concerning the riches of Peru, that country was at length visited in 1526 by Pizarro, at the ri^W^^'ft J' 88 GENERAL VIEW head of 36 cavalry and 144 infantry : and in ten years that empire was divided among his followers. In 1543 the first Spanish viceroy appeared in Peru. In NoETH Amkrica the epochs of discovery were more slow. In 1497, Giovanni Gaboto, a Venetian, called by the Eng- lish John Cabot, who had received a commisi^n from Henry VII., in the view of tracing a nearer passage to India, discovered Newfoundland, so called by his sailors; and in- spected the American shore as far as Vir^ia : but this land forming merely an obstacle to his wishes, he returned to England. In 1500, Corte de Real, a Portuguese captain, in search of a north-west passage, discovered Labrador, which he af^iears to have so called from the seeming industry of the natives. ' Florida was discovered by Ponce, a Spanish captain, in 1513. The powerful kingdom of France had hitherto taken n* shai'e in these discoveries; but in 1524, Francis I. sent Vere- zano, a Florentine, who examined a great part of the coast of North America. In 1534', Francis I. sending a fleet from St. Maloes, to esta- blish a settlement in North America, Cartier tlie commander, on the day of St. Lawrence, discovei-ed the great gulf and river to which he gave the name of that saint. In the folkiwing year he sailed about 300 leagues up this noble stream to a great cataract, built a fort, and called the country New France. The Spanish captain Soto proceeded in 1539 from Cuba to complete the conquest of Florida. He travelled northward to about lat. 35 deg., but died in 1542, and was buried on the bank of the river Mississippi. In 1540, Jean de la Roque, lord of Robcrual, a gentleman of Picardy, was appointed lieutenant-general of the new lands of Canada, Hochelaga, and Saguenay, who soon returned without success. Koberual again went in 1543. In 1556 the French also attempted a settlement in Brazil. The industrious and venerable Ilakluyt has published the accounts of these French voyages; and though merely a private clergyman, perhaps did more than any potentate to gromote a similar i^i* OP AMERICA. ten years that 1543 the first ry were more d by the Eng- ti from Henry ige to India, ilors; and ia- : but this land le returned to in, in search <^ ich he appears he natives, iptmn, in 1513. lerto taken no s I. sent Vere- of the coast of if aloes, toesta- le commander, gulf and river the following earn to a great France, from Cuba to northward to uried on the a gentleman ibe new lands jn returned In 1556 the ke industrious mts of these clergyman, similar spi- lit in England. The other French voyages during dus tury were of little moment. . It will now be proper to conuder the progress of the diief settlements. In 15?6, Frobisher, in search of a north-west passage, dia> covered the straits which retain his name. In 1678, Sir Humphrey Gilbert obtained a patent for set- tling lands in America; and, in 1583, he discovered and took possession of the harbour of St. John and the country to the south, but was lost on his return. The voyage of Drake round the world served to kindle the enthu»asm of the En^ish; and Raleigh obtmned a patent similar to Uiat of Gilbert. Two small vessds dispatched ljy Raleigh in 1584 unfortu- nately bent their course to that country now called North Ca- rolina, instead of reaching the noble bays of Chesapeake or Delawar. They touched at an island, ppobaUy Ocdcoki, su tuated on the inlet into Pamlico sound; and afterwards «t moke, near the mouth of Albemarle sound. These veuds tamed to England, with two of the natives ; and EUeabetk ^assigned to this region the name of Virginia, an iqipellatioa which became kixly applied to the British settlements in North America, till it was confined to a different country iioni the original Vii^inia. In 1585, Raleigh sent a small cdony, under the command of Sir Richard Grenville, w1k> settled in the isle of Roanoke, a most inc(Hnmodious and useless station, whence they returned in 1586. He made other unsucces^ul attempts to colonize ithe country, and afterwards resigned his patent to some mer- chants, who were contented with a petty traffic. At the death fof Elizabeth, 1603, there was not one Englishman settled in America ; and the Spaniards and Portuguese alone had fbrmed any establishment on that vast continent. The venerable Hakluyt, anxious that his countrymen i^ould partake of the benefit of colonies, procured an association of men of rank and talents for this purpose ; and a patent was granted by James I., April the 10th, 1606, that monarch be- ing wholly unconscious diat he was about to establish an inde- pendent and mighty empire. The bay of Chesi^ake was 30 GENERAL VIEW discovered in 1607 ; and the first lasting settlement was found-^ ed at James Town, in modern Virginia. Captain Smith, who afterwards published an account of his voyages, displayed re. markable spirit and enterprise : yet the colony was about to return to England when lord Delawar arrived in 1610 ; and though he remained only a short time, yet his prudent conduct firmly established the settlement. The discovery and progress of the other English settlements will be noticed when we come to the description of the different American states. Here it may be sufficient briefly to state the epochs of a few other remarkable discoveries, rather uncon- nected with these settlements. In 1585, John Davis, an ex- perienced navigator, visited the western coast of Greenland, and explored the narrow sea, absurdly enough called Davis^s strait, while it is as wide as the Baltic. On another voyage he proceeded as far north as the island of Disko, and the opposite shores of Greenland, which he named London coast. He also discovered Cumberland strait ; and, upon the whole, the three voyages of this navigator are of great consequence. His fur- thest point of discovery appears to have been Sanderson''s Hope, lat. 72 deg., whence turning to the west he was impeded by fields of ice. In 1607, Hudson made his first voyage ; and is said to ^ve proceeded along the eastern coast of Greenland as far as lat. 8S deg. ; but probably not above lat. 80 deg., or the furthest ex- tremities of Spitzbergen. On his voyage in 1610, Hudson discovered the straits which bear his name ; and that inland sea, approaching the Baltic in size, which has, however, been called Hudson's bay. In 1616, some public-spirited gentlemen sent captmn Bilot to attempt a north-west passage. William Baffin suled with him as pilot : and this voyage is one of the most singular in the whole circle of geography. He is said to have proceeded in an inland narrow sea as far as 78 deg. ; though the accurate and learned Pinkerton doubts the fact. Some curious disco- veries have, however, been just made in the arctic seas by captain Ross, who fell in with a party of Indians that were so ignorant of the world, and the existence of other men; OP AMERICA. 81 «s to suppose that the English had descended from the moon I Mr. Hearne, under the direction of the Hudson's bay com- pany, in an expedition which lasted from the 7th of December, 1770, to the 30th of June, 1772, proceeded from Prince of Wales's fort, on the Churchill river, in iat. 58 deg. 47^ min. north, and long. 94 deg. 7^ min. west of Greenwich, to the mouth of the Copper-mine river, which, according to some accounts, is in Iat. 72 deg. north, and long. 119 deg. west from Greenwich ; but is laid down by others in Iat. 69 deg. north, and long. 112 deg. west from Greenwich. But the Hudson's bay company, acting upon a contracted policy, did not render all those services to the subject of American geography which might have been expected. The enterprising spirit, however, of certain Canadian traders, afterwards united under the name of the North-west company, amply supplied the deficiency. Prior to the year 1789, they had extended their discoveries ^|and establishments along the numerous lakes and rivers situ- ^ated north of that high tract of country which divides the Mississippi and Missouri waters from those which run towards the north and east, to within a short distance of the Rocky mountains. In the summer of the year 1789, Mr. M'Kenzie made a voyage from fort Chepavyan, on the lake of the Hills, in Iat. 58 deg. 40 min. north, and long. 110 deg. 30 min. west from Greenwich, by the way of the Hare river. Hare lake, and a river by which this lake discharges its waters, since called iM'Kenzie's river, to the mouth of that river, where it falls [into the North sea, in Iat. 69 deg. 14 min. north, and long. 136 deg. west fi*om Greenwich. Mr. M'Kenzie again, in the year 1793, penetrated from an establishment on the Peace river, in Iat. 56 deg. 49 min. north) and long. 117 deg. 35 min. west from Greenwich, to the Pacific ocean, in Iat. 52 deg. 24 min. north, and long. 128 deg. 2 min. west from Greenwich. By the discoveries above alluded to, and those occasionally made during the rapid settlement of the country and the pro* gress of enterprise, the principal divisions of this northern con- mmm ss GENERAL VIEW tinent have been explored and become known. The unknown and unexplored countries (except so far as the surveys made by navigators of the coast of the Pacific ocean, and the imper- fect accounts of the travellers who have ascended the Missouri, have furnished infbnnation) comprehend the tract enclosed by this line, containing, in breadth, 1000 miles, and in length about 1800 miles in a direct line ; and, by the way of the Missouri and Columbia rivers, nearly twice that distance. In the year 1804, the American government sent out a corps of discovery under the command of captains Lewis and Clarke, of the army oi' the United States. They passed from the mouth of the Missouri, through tlie interior parts of North America, to the Pacific ocean, and have materially illustrated the geography of that river. Major Pike, in 1805, successfully explored the course of the Mississippi, and in a second expe- dition, penetrated the interior of Louisiana, surveying the whole of those majestic waters which rise in the rocky moun- tains of that district, and run westward into the Missouri and Mississippi. The recent and splendid contributions of M. Humboldt to our scientific information respecting the equinoc- tial regions can hardly be ranked with the expeditions of dis- covert^ above mentioned ; but we shall not fail to avail ourselves of them in the progress of this work. Inhabitants. — The next topic which occurs is the ancient population ; but our knowledge of the American languages is still so imperfect, thut the subject is involved in great doubts. None of the native nations of America displays the smallest trace of the oblique eyes, and other remarkable features, by which the inhabitants of eastern Asia are distinguished. Far from this, Pallas, Lesseps, Tooke, and other skilful enquirers, have pronounced that the Techuks and Koriaks undoubtedly proceeded from America, as they have not one Asiatic li^ neament. It is to be regretted that, neither in North nor South Ame- rica, have the languages been coinjiared, analysed, and classed, as has been done with regard to the numerous tribes subject to Russia and China. Hence, instead of solid knowledge, we axe overwhelmed with petty distinctions, and names without OF AMERICA. 53 ideas. Upon one point only do investigators seem to be agreed, that the friendly and helpless people in the furthest north, called Esquimaux, are the same race with the Samoiqds of Asia, and Laplanders of Europe. These, with the Peruvians and Mexicans, Dr. Forster chuses to consider as strangei's who have settled in America. *The curious question concerning the population of Ameriei^ says Finkerton, * can only be duly examined after the various' dialects have been compared with those of Africa ; for to those of Europe or Asia they certainly bear no resemblance. To trace the population from the north of Asia, not to menticm the positive contradiction of facts, would be an unnecessary restriction of the subject, as the progeny of so cold a latitude is ever found rare> feeble, and unenterprising; while if we consider the proximity of Africa, and the many copper colour- ed nations which are there to be found, there will be little rea- son to hesitate concerning the progress of the Africans to America, as well as to New Holland. This resource alone remiuns ; for it has already been seen that the language of the Malays, who extended themselves so far to the east of Asia, has no connexion with that of the Americans Amidst th^ wonderous dreams of antiquaries, it is surprising that none has attempted to prove that the Mexicans and Peruvians were de- scendants of the Carthagenians, who fled to the Hesperides in their abhorrence of the Roman yoke.' Dr. Robertson has enumerated several strong reasons which render it highly probable that America was not peopled from any civilised part of the ancient continent. He supposes that the Esquimaux proceeded from the north-west of Europe, and the other inhabitants of America from the north-east of Eu- rope. Tliis supposition is corroborated by the ingenious cap- tain Burney, who considers Beering's strait hot as the separation of two great continents, biit merely as the entrance to a vast bay. Mr. Bailey, the astronomer, who, with captain Burney, accompanied the celebrated Cook in his voyage of discovery northward, also conceives that Beering's straits is an inland sea. This opinion of the actual junction of the Old and New World simplifies the question of how the latter was peopled ; E V—-- 94 GENERAL VIEW, &c. unless it be found, on investigating the American languages, that they have, as Mr. Pinkerton conjectures, originated in Africa. The present population of this immense continent does not probably exceed thirty^ix millions; by which calculation North America will contain twenty millions^ and South Aroe> rica sixteen millions. Having exhibited all the great features of American geo- graphy, it now remains to turn our attention to that most im- portant portion of the North American continent called the UNION. Observations which cannot with propriety be intro- duced in a General View, will be inserted when we come to treat of the respective states and territories that compose this empire, t \ :W ^ . DESCRIPTION OF THE PHYSICAL FEATURES, CLIMATE, AND NATURAL PRODUCTIONS OF THE UNITED STATES. Boundaries. JN the treaty of peace, concluded in 1783, the limits of the United States are thus defined : — * And that all disputes which might arise in future on the sub- jetSt of the boundaries of the said United States may be pre- Tented, it is hereby agreed and declared, that the following are and shall be their boundaries, viz. From the north-west angle of Nova Scotia, viz. That angle which is formed by a line drawn due north from the source of St. Croix river to the highlands, along the said highlands, which divide those rivers that empty themselves into the river St. Lawrence, from those which fall into the Atlantic ocean, to the north-westernmost head of Connecticut river ; thence down along the middle of that river to the forty-fifUi degree of north latitude; from thenue by a line due west on said latitude, until it strikes the river Iroquois or Cataraquy ; thence along the middle of the said river into lake Ontario, through the middle of said lake, until it strikes the communication. by water between that lake and lake Erie ; thence along the middle of said communicaticxi into lake Erie, through the middle of said lake, until it ar- rives at the water communication between that lake and lake Huron ; thence through the middle of sud lake to the water 36 VIEW OF THE communication between that lake and lake Superior ; thence through lake Superior northward ui' the isles Royal and Phil- lipeaux to the Long lake ; thence through the middle of said Long lake, and the water communication between it and the lake of the Woods to the said lake of the Woods; thence through the said lake to the most north-western point thereof, and from thence, on a due west course, to the river Mississippi ; thence by a line to be drawn along the middle of sud river Mississippi, until it shall intersect tnc northernmost part of the thirty-^t degree of north latitude. South, by at line to be drawn due east from the detenu ination of the line last men- tioned, in the latitude of thirty one degrees north of the equa- tor, to the middle of the river Apalachicola, or Catahouche ; thence along Hie middle thereof to its junctioTr with the Flint river ; thence straight to the head of St. Mary^s river ; and thence down along the middle of St. Mary^s river to the At- lantic ocean. East, by a line to be drawn along the middle of the river St. Croix, firom its mouth in the bay a£ Fundy to its source; and from its source directly north, to the aforesaid highlands, which divide the rivers that fall into the Atlantic ocean from those which fall into the river St. Lawrence, com- prehending all islands within twenty teagues of any part of *he shores of the United States, and lying between lines to be drawn due east from the points where the aforesiud boundaries between Nova Scotia on the one part, and East Florida on the other, shall- respectively touch the bay of Fundy «id the At- lantic ocean, excepting such isles as now are, or heretofore have been, within the limits of the said province of Nova Scotia.'* * ' Extent. — The United StiAes are situated between 25 deg. 50 min. and 49 deg. 37 min. north lat., and between 10 deg. -^east and 48 deg. ^ min. west long, from Washingtota. The most northern part is bounded by a line running due west from the north-west corner of the lake of the Woods, and the south- em extremity is the outlet of the Rio del Norte. The eastern extremity is the Great Menan island, on the coast of Maine ; and the western extremity is cape Flattery, north of Colum- bia river, on the Pacific ocean. Their greatest extent, from itorth to south, is 1760 mties, and from east to west, 2700. UNITED STATES. 8T perior; thence oyal and Pbil- niiddle of said veen it and the ^oods; thence a point thereof, er Mississippi ; le of siud river most part of the by a line to be e line last men- rth of the equa- or Catahouche ; r with the Flint iry's river; and river to the At- jg the middle of of Fundy to its to the aforesaid into the Atlantic Lawrence, com- of any part of ween lines to be id boundaries |t Florida on the idy wid the At- >, or heretotbre of Nova Scotia/ stween 85 deg. e&a 10 deg. >hingtoto. The due west from ", and the south- The eastern \t of Maine ; •th of Colum- (t extent, from to ireit, 2700. Their surface coven more than 3,500,000 square miles, or 1,600,000,000 acres In 1788, the number of square acres in the United States amounted to 283,800,000, of which only about 1,250,000 were cultivated ; and in 1808 to 600,000,000, of which about 2,500,000 were in a high state of cultivation. At the presedt time, the American writers estimate tliem at the enormous in- crease of 1,600,000,000 acres. Of this it can only be remark- ed, tliat the accession of Louisiana and tlie knda cleared westward hardly account for so vast an addition of territory. Divisions. — There appear to be now nineteen United States of North America, including Indiana, and six Territorial Go> vernments, so called, as not being yet regularly organized into states, but under the general government of the Union ; dis- trilmted into the following four grand divisicms ; I. TJie Northern, New England, or Hastem States. Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, including the District of Maine ; Rhode Island, Connecticut. New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, II. The Middle States.. Delaware, Ohio, Indiana. III. Tfic Southern States. I Maryland, Virginia, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina. Geor^a, Tennessee, Louisiana. IV. Territorial Governments. District of Columbia, Mississippi Territory, Missouri ditto. Illinois Te/ritory, Michagan ditto. North-west ditto. ■<-» 98 VIEW OF THE The following table will shew the exte«t of territory within the Union, and the increase of population which has taken place during twenty-seven recent years* Statci. Square Miles. Number of Inhsbitwti. j 11 Wi. 1H17. Vermont - 10,000 85,539 296,450 New Hampshire 9,800 141,885 302,733 Maine . \ Massachusetts / 81,750 96,540 3U,647 8,500 878,787 564,392 Rhode Island • 1,700 68,825 98,721 Connecticut 4,500 237,946 349,568 New York 54,000 340,120 1,486,789 New Jersey 6,500 184,139 345,828 Pennsylvania 48,700 434,873 986,494 Delaware • 1,800 59,094 108,334 Maryland - 14,000 319,728 502,710 Virginia - \ Kentucky - J 75,000 747,610 1,347,496 52,000 73,677 683,753 North Carolina - 49,000 393,751 701,224 South Carolina - 32,700 240,073 564,785 Georgia 64,000 82,548 408,567 Western Territories » ~ 85,691 ... Districtof Columbia 100 . . _ 37,892 Tennessee - 63,000 ... 489,624 Ohia 45,000 . - - 394,752 Louisiana - 49,000 - - . 108,928 Indiana 38,000 ... 86,734 Mississippi Illinois Territory 55,000 66,000 - - - 104,550 39,000 Michagan ditto 47,500 ... 9,743 Missouri ditto 1,987,000 - - - 68,794 Total - 2,814,550 3,929,336 10,405»547 In estimating the e;itent of such immense regions, accuracy is not attainable ; but perhaps the above calculation may not be far from the truth. However, after making every reasona- ble deduction, the survey before us offers matter for reflections UNITED STATES. 39 af territory within which has taken MT of InhabtuntK. 1>*17. 39 B5 40 87 25 46 20 39 173 194 no 577 m 173 ;48 191 36 296,450 302,733 3U,647 564,392 98,721 349,568 1,4«6,739 345,822 986,494 108,334 602,710 1,347,496 683,753 701,224 664.786 408,567 37,892 489,624 394,762 108,92S 86,734 104,650 39,000 9,743 68,794 10,406,647 regions, accuracy lalculation may not ling every reasona- latter for reflections the most condolatory and imprenHive. England containn one hundred and eighty persons to a fiquarc mile ; and when the territories at prcivnt comprehended in the Uniim shall become equally populous, the population will amount io Jive hundred millions I while few writers on Statistics have ventured to esti- mate the inhabitants of Europe at more than one hundred and seventy millions. This shews the futility of the European rot/al associations for the purpose of impeding the marcn of knowledge, and of restoring the age of ignorance and bupersti- tion. The people of the Western Hemisphere will soon be qualified, whatever may happen in tiie Old World, to support and defend the ark of science and libertv. Climate. — The climate of the United territories, m already mentioned, is chiefly remarkable for sudden transitions fn)ia [heat to cold, and the contrary. The wind from the north-east violently cold, as it passes a wide expanse of the fro/en ^on- inent. In the plains on the east of the Apalachian chain the jmi>ier heats are immoderate ; and in some places even ice vill not preserve poultry or fish from putrefaction. Towards Ithe mountains the climate is salutary, even in the southern Ifitates, as is evinced by the bloom of the damsels in the back Isettlements of Virginia. In the northern states the winter is [longer and more severe than in England, but the sunnner heat [more intense. A north-east wind commonly attends rain, while on the west side of the Apalachian mountains a south- I west has that effect. In Georgia the winter is very mild, snow Lbelng seldom seen, and the east wind is there the warmest. This excessive heat of the plains must be regarded as one bause of that fatal pestilential malady called the yellow fever, Iwhich first appeared at Philadelphia in 1793, and has since too frequently repeated its ravages in various cities of the com- monwealth. Several medical men have treated this subject ! with considerable care and ability^ but do rot seem to have ex&mined whether any similar disease was before known on I the continent, and what method of cure was practised. Alzate, in his fugitive remarks on the natural history of Mexico, has mentioned an epidemical distemper, called in the Mexican lan- I guage matlazahualt ; but at Vera Cruz, Carthagena, and otlier 40 VIEW OF THE places, known by the name of the black vomit, which is the chief scourge of the king4oni c£ Mexico. In 1736 and 1737 it swept away above one-third of the inhabitants of the capital ; and in 1761 and 1763 it almost depopulated the kingdom. Alzate thinks that this disorder proceeds from the Inle mixing with the blood, the patient often bleeding «t the nose and mouth ; and a relapse is extremely dangerous. He dissuades purgatives and bleeding, as when used for other disorders they superinduce the meUlazahualtt which in Mexico always begun among the Indians, and was chiefty confined to them. May not this disorder be as much allied with the yellow fever as the black and yellow jaundice ? The Spanish phyaoians might at any rate be consulted, as they have long been accustomed to the American maladies ; and it is hoped that this hint may not be unsubservicnt to the interests of humanity. Seasons.— The seasons in the United States generally cor- respond with (hose in Europe, but not with the equality to be expected on a continent ; as, even during the summer heats, single days will occur which require the warmth of a fire. The latitude of Labrador corresponds ^\ iih that of Stockliolm, and that of Canada with France ; but what a wide difference in the temperature ! Even the estuary of the Delaware is generally , frozen for six weeks every winter. Nor does the western coast of North America seem warmer than the eastern. The nume- rous forests, and wide expanses of fresh water, perhaps contri- bute to this comparative coldness of the climate, which may gradually yield to the progress of population and industry. In fact, a favourable change in the climate is already very per- ceptible. In the oldest cultivated parts of the country, the cold in winter has sensibly decreased, tlie mow has diminished, and the frosts are neither so severe nor of so long a continuance as formerly. Face ofilie Coimh-y. — The face of these extensive territories is not so minutely diversified as might have been expected, tliu features of nature being here on a larger and more uniform scale than in Europe. Nor are there any scenes of classical or historical reminiscence, which transport the mind to remote p^nluries, and impart a crowd of relative ideas. The abuiu UNITED STATES. 41 daiute of timb^, md the diversity of the foliage, contribute greatly to enrich the landscape ; but it is here reputed a weed, atid the planter fieldoni spares trees near his habitation, as the Todis havmg no great room to spread or penetrate, they would be dangerous during a violent wind. *What a bcautiivl country^ ttot disgraced by a single tree,' is an idea purely American. The landscape is-less ennobled by lofty mountiuns than by rivers of great magnitude; and is frequently injured by the barren aspect of large fields, which have been exhausted by the culture of tobacco, and which scarcely produce a weed or a pile of grass. The northern provinces, called New Eng- land, are generally hilly, as they approach the skirts of th« Apalachian chain, which has, by no unfit sintilitude, beeu called the spirte of the United territory. The vales in these northern regions are thickly clothed with wooti, and often pervaded by considerable rivers ; and many romantic cascades are formed by rivulets falling from the rocks, while towards the s^re th« land is kvel and sandy. In Virginia, a cdntral state, the Blue mountains. Mid other ridges of the Apalachian, add great charms and variety to the prospect, which is further enlivened by many beautiful plants and birds, particularly tlie humming Inrd, sucking the honey of various flowers, and rapidly gtonc- it^ in the sun ibs indesoribiLble hues of green, purple, and gold. Here a plain from 150 to 200 miles in breadth, reaching from the mouoiains to the sea, is studded with the villas of rich proprietors, the ancient hospitable country gentlemen of the United States. Similar levels appear in the Carolinas and Geor^at Beyond the Apalachian ridges extends another rich plain of amazing sise, pervaded by the muddy waves of the Mississippi, which does not appear to be table land, but on nearly the same level with the eastern plain. In Kentucky the surface is agreeably waved with gentle swells, reposing on a vast bed of limestone ; and a track of about twenty miles along the Ohio is broken into small hills and narrow vales. Soil.-^ The soil, though of various descriptions, is generally fertile, oflen, on the east of the Blue mountuns, a rich brown loamy earth, sometimes a yellowish clay, whieh becomes more and more sandy towards the sea. Sometimes there arc consi* 4S VIEW OF THE ai derable marshes, and what are called salt meadows, and spot» called barrens, Mrhkh, even in the original forests, are found to be bare of trees for a considerable space. On the west of the Apalacbian chain the soil is also generally excellent ; and in Kentucky some spots are deemed too rich for wheat, but the jnroduct may amount to sixty bushels an acre : and about six feet below the surface there is commonly a bed of limestone. The vales in the northern states are also very productive. Agriculture. — In agriculture the Americans are well skilled, and are eager to adopt the advantages of English experience. It is computed that three-fourths of the inhabitants of the United States are employed in agriculture. This free and vi- gorous yeomanry may well be regarded as the chief glory of any state; and commerce will impart sufficient opulence to enable them to promote every possible improvement. In the year 1816, the value of agricultural products exported amount- ed to thie sum o/i jvfly-tlvree millions^ three hundred andjifty' Jbur thousand dollars. But this subject must be reserved un;il we come to treat of the present state and resources of the Uniox, when it will receive an attention commensurate with its vast importance. Rivers. — The chief rivers in the United States have already been described in the brief general view of North America ; but a few additional particulars may be here noticed, and an account given of those of a more confined course, which parti- cularly belong to the United territory. The Mississippi generally affords fifteen feet of water, firom the mouth of the Missouri to that of the Ohio ; but, in time of flushes, a first-rate man-of-war may descend with safety. The mean velocity of its current may be computed to be four miles an hour. Its breadth is various, from one and a half to two miles : its mouth is divided into several channels, which continu- ally change their direction and depth. The ArTcansaw^ which runs into this mighty riven has been recently explored by major Pike, who c(»nputes its course^ from its junction with the Mis- sissipfn, about north lat. 34 deg. 10 min., to the mountuns, at 1981 miles, and thence to its source, 19S additional miles. It receives several rivers, navigable for upwards of 100 mUes. ■f^A UNITED STATES. 43 The Missdiirit with its eastern branches, waters five-aghths t>f the United States. It rises in the Rocky mountains to the north-west of Louisiana, in north lat. 45 deg. 24 min., and reckoning from its most extreme branch, the Jefterson, joins the MisMSsippi after a course of above 3000 miles, in west long. 90 deg. and north lat. 39 deg., when, forming one mighty stream, they pursue their way conjointly to the gulf of Mexico. The Ohio, less sublime and majestic in its course than those already noticed, is also less interrupted in its navigation. Its general breadth is about 600 yards; but it varies from 300 in the narrdwest to 1200 in the widest part. Tl»e course of the Ohio, from fort Pitt to its junction with the Mississippi, fol- lowing all its windings, is, by Morse and other American geo- graphers, computed at 1188 miles. This river commences at the junction of the Alleghany and Monongehala rivers. It has been described as, bevond competition, the most beautiful river in the world : its mear T'^g course through an immense re^on of forests ; its ele^ * iks, which afford innumerable delightful situations for ciLta, villages, and improved farms; with its various other advantages, well entitle it to the name originally given it by the French of < La belle Riviere.'' Since that period, tlie Ohio has greatly improved both in beauty and utility. The immense forests which once lined its banks have gradually receded; cultivation smiles along its borders; nu- merous villages and towns decorate its shores ; and it is not extravagant to suppose that the time is not far distant when its «ntire margin will form one continued series of villages and towns. Vast tracts of fine country have communication with the Ohio, by means of its tributary navigable waters ; extraor- dinary fertility, marks the river bottoms; and the superior excellence of its na'cigation has made it the channel through which the various productions of the most extensive and fertile parts of the United States are already sent to market. At its ounimencement at Fittsport, or Pittsburg, it takes a north-west course for about twenty-five miles; then turns gradually to west-south-west; and having pursued that course for about 500 miles, winds to the south-west for nearly 160 miles; then turns to the west for about 260 miles more ; thence south-west M VIEW OF THE ibr 100, and empties itself into the Mississippi in a fiouth di- rection, nearly ISOO miles below Pittsburg. In times of higli freshes, and during the flow of ice and snow from the All«i> ghany and other mountains, vessels of almost any tonnage may descend this river : it is never so low but that it may be navl. gated by canoes, and other light craft, not drawing move than twelve inches water. The highest floods are in spring, when the river rises forty-five feet ; the lowest are in summer, when it sinks to twelve inches at the bars, ripples, and shoals, where waggons, carts, &c. frequently pass over. The largest stream that flews into the Ohio is the Termes«ee river, whose remotest sources are in Virginia, north lat. 97 deg. 10 min. It runs about 1000 English miles south and south-south-west, receiving considerable accessions of minor waters on each ade, and then turning circuitously northward, blends itself with the Ohio at about 60 miles from the mouth of that river. It is navigable for vessels of large burden to the distance of S50 miles from its junction with the Ohio. The Alkghany river rises in Pennsylvania, on the western side of the Alleghany mmintains ; and after nmning alxiut 200 miles in a south-west direction, meets the Monougehala at PittsUarg, and the imited streams now form the Ohio. In this course it is increased by many tributary streams. Few rivers exceed the Alleghany for clearness of water and rafm^ty of current. It seldom fails to mark its course across tlie mouth of the Monongehala, in the highest freshes or floods, the water of the latter being very muddy, that of the former very clear. In high floods, the junction of these rivers presents a pleasing view ; the Monongehala flowing sometimes fiill of ice, the Al- leghuiy transparent and free. Its banks arc delightfully in- terspersed with cultivated farms and increafnug towns. In a course of 80 miles, however, from a place called Envalt's De- feat to Frt'eport, it is full of eddies, rapids, rocks, and other dangers, to a^'oid which requires the utmost attention. In some of the ripples the water runs at the rate of ten miles an hour; and a boat will go at the rate of twelve miles, without any other assistance than tlie steering oar. The waters of this river are recommended by the medical practitioners of Pitts. UNITED STATES. 46 burg, both for the parpoms of bathing and of drinking; but the peculiar medieinftl qualities of the \Ileghanv water ore, perhiips, more to be attributed to the faith of those who use it, than to any iidierent character of superior salubrity. The Memmgehaia ri^er rises at the foot of the Lanre( mountain, in Virginia ; thence, through A-arious meanderinga, Lpasaes into Pennsylvania, reoeiring in its course the Cheat and lYougheogheny rivers^ and man^ smaller streams. It has al- ready been stated that this river unites with the Alleghany at |I^ttsburg. Twelve or fifteen miles from its mouth, it is about [fOO yards wide, and is navigable for boats and small crafl, Iparticularly in autumn and spring, when it is generally covered [with what are called trading and family boats; the former led with flour, (ader, whiskey, apples, and various kinds of wrought materials ; the latter carrying furniture, domestic tensils, and agricultural instruments, destined ibr Kentucky New Orleans. i Another principal river of North America, and the most bnsidcrable one in the eastern states, is the Connecticut. It Bs in the highlands to the south of New Brunswick, in west »ng. 72 deg. and north lat. 45 deg. 10 min. After a lingering jurse wif eight or ten miles, it has four separate falls ; and fuming west, keeps ck)se under the hills wlndi form the jrthern lioundary of the vale through which it runs. The imonoosaek and Israel rivers, two principal branches of the ;;onnecticut, fall into it from tlie east, between tl»e latitudes 44 ind 45 deg. Between the towns of Walpole on the east, and Testminster on the west side of the river, are the Great falk Che whole river, compressed between twa rocks, scarcely thirt}' set asunder, shoots with amazing rapidity into a broad basin Blow. Over these falls, a bridge, 160 feet in length, was juilt in 1784, under which the highest floods may pass with- 3ut diificuhy. This is the first bridge that was erected over Ithis noble river. Above Deerheld, in Massachusetts, it re- [ceives Deerfield river from the west, and Miller's river from jthe east ; after which it turns westerly, in a sinuous course, to f Fighting Ms, and a little af^er tumbles over Deerfield falls, [which are impmsible by boats. At Windsor, in this state, it 46 VIEW OF THE receives Fanaington river fit>m the west; And at Hiurtford meets the tide. From Hartford it passes on in a crooked course, until it falls into Long island sound, between Saybrook and Lyme. The length of this river, in a stnught line, is nearly 800 miles. It is from 80 to 100 rods wide, 130 mile^ from its moutis where there is a bar of sand, which considerably ob. structs its navigation. On this beautiful river, whose banks are peopled almost, if not now entirely, to its soUrce, stand numerous well-built towns. Charles River has its sources, five or six in number, in the state of Massachusetts, on the south-east ude of Hopkinton and Holliston ridge. The main stream runs north-east, then north and north-eastwardly, round this ridge, until it mingles with Mother-brook. The river thus formed runs westward, passing over numerous romantic falls. Bending to the north- east and east, through Watertown and Cambridge, and pass- ing into Boston harbour, it mingles with the waters of the Mystic river at the point of the peninsula of Charlestown. It is navigable for boats to Watertown, seven miles. « Taiunion River rises in the Blue mountains, forming the principal drain of the country lying east of those mountiuns. Its course is about 50 miles from north-east to south-west; and is navigable for vessels to Taunton. It finally empties into Narragauset bay, at Tiverton. The rivers Concord, Mystic, MeAfbrd^ IptuAch, and many others, contribute to the beauty and commercial interests of Massachusetts. To the state of New York belongs the noble stream called Hudson River, and frequently North River. It rises in a mountainous country, between the lakes Ontario and Cham- plain. In its course, south-easterly, it approaches within six or eight miles of lake George ; then, after a short course east, turns southerly, and receives the Sacondago from the south- . west, within a few miles of the Mohawk river. The course of the river thence to New York, where it empties itself into York bay, is almost uniformly south. Its whole length is about 250 miles. The banks of Hudson, or North river, especially on the western side, as far as the highlands extend, are chiefly rbcky UNITED STATES. 417 : in number, in the side of Hopkinton ins north-east, then ge, until it mingles aed runs westward, mding to the north- imbridge, and pass- I the waters of the Bf Charlestown. It 1 miles. « ntains, forming the of those mountains. ist to south-west; It finally empties |he rivers Concord, 8, contribute to the usetts. Inoble stream called Iver. It rises in a intario and Cham- proaches within six la short course east, from the south- rer. The course of empties itself into ts whole length is cliffs. The passage through the highlands, whidi is sixteen to eighteen miles, affords a wild romantic seme. In this narrow pass, on each side of whidi the mountains toWer to a great height, the wind, if there be any, is collected and compressed, and blows continually as through a bellows : vessels, in pass- ing through it, are often compdled to lower their sails. The bed of this river, which is deep and smooth to an astonishing [distance, through a hilly, rocky country, and even through Iridges of some of the highest mountains of the United States, Imust undoubtedly have been produced by some mighty con- jvulsion of nature. The tide flows a few miles above Albany ; ■to which place it is navigable for sloops of eighty tons, and for Iships to Hudson. About 60 miles above New York the water Becomes fresh, and is stored with fish of various kinds. The Ivantages which this river affords to the inland trade of the ate, and those which, by means of the lakes, it renders to the tde with Canada, are very great. These have been consi- rably enhanced since the invention of steam-boats, of whidi pre are several, of amazing size, on this river, on which that pmorable invention was first successfully tried, in the year 107. Some (^them, though equal in length to a ship of the lie, travel throu^ the Narrows, and along the whole coune ^ this river frt^ New York to Albany, at the rate of seven or ght miles an hour, against wind and tide. The distance, it I said, has been run down the stream in seventeen hours : for- lerly an uncertain voyage of three or four days, or even a leek or two, according to the state of the winds and tidtfs. Ihe average time is twenty-four hours. Ferry-boats, propel- Y by steam, and so constructed that carriages drive in and It at pleasure, may be observed at every large town on this fce river. These, convenient vehicles are likely to supersede ^ use of bridges on navigable -vaters. They are, in fact a brt of flying-bridge, with this advantage over the numerous hd costly structures of that kind which now span the broad brface of the Susquehannah, in the interior of Pennsylvania Uheydo not require such expensive repairs; they may be t:ured from the effects of sudden floods ; and, what is of far ore importance, they present no obstruction to navigation. 46 VIEW OF THE The growini; population of the fertile lainds upon the nortbern blanches of the Hudson must aanually increase the amaung wealth that is conveyed by its waters to New York. In a£ most every pmnt of view, this river is on* of the greatest utility in the United States. •imiu ?!lv; The Onondago river rises in a lake of the same name, and, running westerly, falls into lake Ontario, at Oswego. With the exception of a fall, which occasions a portage of twenty yards, this river is navigable for boats from its mouth to the head of the lake ; thence batteaux go up Wood creek, almost to fort Stanwix, whence there is a ptMtage of a mile to Mo- hawk river. Towards the head waters of this river sakn^n are caught in great quantities. The Mchaxiik river rises to the northward of fort St&nwix, about eight miles from Sable river, a water of lake Ontario, and runs southerly SO miles to the fort; then eastward 110 miles, and, afl^ recdiving many tributary stretfns, fidls into North river, by three mouths, c^posite to the cities' of Lausin> burg and Troy, from seven to ten miles north of Albany, This is a very fine river, and is navigable for boats nearly the wh(^ of its course. Its banks were formerly thickly settled with Indians, but now cultivation and civUizatimi have ren« dered its course a busy scene of mercantile pursuit and in- erearing population. The Delawfwe, the Susquehanaafi, Tyoga, Seneca^ GemMe^ and the north-east branch of the AlleglMny river, all belcmg to the state of New York ; and such is the intersection of the whole state, by the various branches of these and other rivers, that there are few places, throughout its whole extent^ that are more than fifteen or twenty miles from a navigable stream. The river SavannaJt divides the state of Geoi^ia from South Carolina^ and pursues a course nearly from north-west to south-east. The freshes of this river will sometimes rise from thirty to forty feet perpendicular above the actual level of the stream. The New Piscata^ua, having four extensive branches, all 0^ them navigable for small vessels, furnishes the commence* ment of » line, which, diiawii from it» nort^evn koAy until it h i^Nm the nortleni Tease the Muasing ^ewYork. In al- ■ ^^^f^ the greatest uiiiky e same name, and, at Oswego. With portage of twenty m its mouth to the /"ood creek, ahnost ; of a mile to Mo- ' this river solmdn d of >fort Stiinwix, er oS lake Ontario, then eastward 110 streuns, falls into le cides' of Lausin- north of Albany, X boats nearly the srly thickly settled lization have ren- e pursuit and in. I, Seneca^ Gemtae^ river, all belong to ntersection of the e and other rivers, >le extent^ that are igable ^reani. eoi^ia from South om nortb-west to )metimes rise from actual level of the isive branches, all les the oommence- lein head, until it ;-;w^ IINITKD STATES. 4U meets the boundary of the province of Quebec, divides New Hampshire from the province of Maine. The Mcrrimaik, re> markable for two conoiderable falls, Amaska^'f; and Pantiickct, bean that naiiie from its mouth to the confluence of the Perni- sewasset and Winipisikee rivers, which unite in about lut. 43 deg. 30 mill. The first of these rivers forms the only port of New Hampshire. Great Bay spreads out from Piscataquu river, between Portsmouth and Exeter. Columbia River is the principal stream which has In-'cn ex- plored on the north-west coast of America. It is called, by the Indians, Taiwutche-Tesse, and is tlirmed by innumerable streams from the llocky «»ountains, rmug between the 4!Jd iuid 58d deg. of north lat The principal stream has a course of 700 British miles to the (K-ean, which itx'nters at north lut. 46 deg. Caforocf*.— Some of the chief wonders of this western he- n\isphere are found in its cataracts, or falls, which do not con- sist of single streams precipitated from hill to vale in picturesque beauty, as in the Alps, but of whole rivers tossed from broken mountains into immense basins below. The first in magni- tude are Tha Cataracts ofNiagartti between the lakes Erie and On- tario, distant about eighteen miles from the towu of Niagara, and situate upon a river of the same name. These falls may be regarded as presenting one of the motit interesting of all the phenomena in the natural world. ' At Queenstoii," says lieu- tenant Hall, ' seven miles from the fulls, their sound, ur'ted with the rushing of the river, is distinctly heard. At the dis- tance of about a mile, a white cloud, hovering over the trees, indicates their situation: it is not, however, until the road emerges from a close country into the space of open ground immediately in their vicinity, that the white vohnnes of foam are seen, as if boiling up frimi a .sulphuri>ous gulf Here a foot-path turns from the road towards a wooded cliff'. The rapids are beiield on the right, rushing, for the space of a mile, like a tem}X'stuous sea. A narrow tract descends about sixty foet down the cliff*, an<( continues across a plashv meadow, 8 G I' r*- «0 VIKW OF THE through a copse, encumbered tvith niaNseK of limestone; uxtrU cated from which, I found mjself on the Table Rock, at the very point where the river precipitates itiielf into the abyRs. The rapid motion of the waters, the stunning noise, the moun- tain clouds, almost persuade the startled senses that the tock itself is tottering, and on the point of rolling down into the gulf, which swallows up the mass of descending waters. I bent over it, to mark the clouds rolling white beneath me, as in an inverted sky, illumined by a most brilliant rtiinbow, — one of those features of softness which Nature delights to pencil amid her wildest scenes, tempering her awfulness with beauty, and making her very terrors lovely. * There is a ladder about half a mile below the Table Rock, by which I descended the cliff, to reach the foot of the fall. Mr. Weld has detailed the impediments and difficulties of i\\\n approach, and M. Volney confesses they were such as to over- came his exertions to surmount tiiem. A few years, however, have made a great change ; the present dangers and difficulties may be easily enumerated. The first is, the ordinary haKard every one runs who goes tip or down a ladder ; this is a Very good one of thirty .steps, or about forty feet ; from thence the path is a rough one, over the fr^ments and masses of rock which have gradually crumbled, or been forcibly riven from the cliff, and which cover a broad declining space, from its base to the river brink. The only risk in that yiart of the pilgrim- age, is that of u broken shin from a false step. The path grows smooth as it advatices to the fall, so that the undivided attention may be given to this imposing spectacle. I felt a sensation of awe as I drew near if, like that caused by the first cannon on the moniing of battle. I pdssed from Sunshine into gloom and tempest: the spray beat down in a heavy rain ; a violent wiud rushed from behind the sheet of water : it was difficult to respire, and, for a moment, it seemed temerity to encounter the convulsive workings of the elements, and intrude into the dark dwellings of their power : but the danger is in appearance only ; it is jiossible to penetrate but a few steps ])chind the curtain, and in these few there is no hazard ; the UNITED STATES. 0] footing is good, and the space sufficiently broad and free: there is not even a necessity for a guide ; two eyes amply suf. ficu to point out all that is to be seen or avoided.^ The most stupendous of these cataracts is that on the British, or north-western side of the river Niagara, which, from its re- semblance to the shape of a horse-shoe, has received the appel- lation of ' the Great, or Horse-shoe fall ;' but this name is no longer strictly applicable. It has become an acute angle, and the alteration is estimated at about eighteen feet in thirty years. The height of this fall is 142 feet. But the two others (for there are three falls, owing to the circumstance of small islands dividing the river Niagara into three collateral branches) are each about 160 feet in height. The large; t has been reckoned nt about 600 yards in circumference. Thi width of the island, which separates the * Great falP from the next in magnitude, is estimated at about 350 yards. The seamd fall is said to be only five yards wide. The next island may be estimated at about thirty yards in size ; and the third, commonly called tht^ * Fort Schlopvr fall,^ is about 350 yards. According to these calculations, the islands being included, the entire extent of the precipice is 1335 yards in width. It is supposed that the wa- ter carried down these falls amounts to no less a quantity than 670,255 tons per minute. A kind of white ibam surrounds the bottom of ' Fort Schloper fall,' and rises up in volumes from the rocks : it does not, however, as at the Horse-shoe fall, ascend above in the form of a cloud of smoke and mist, but the spray is so abundant that it descends like rain upon the oppo- site bank of the river. The whirlpools and eddies immediately below are so dangerous as to render the navigation completely impracticable for six miles. The river Niagara, above the falls, however, is navigable by boats and canoes as far as fort Chippaway, which is about three or four English miles from them. But, on approaching nearer, the waters are in such a state of agitation, as to require the boat or canoe io be kept in the middle of the stream, and, without skilful management, would inevitably dash it to destruction. The middle of Sep- tember is considered as the most pleasant time of the year for the examination of these celebrated falls, the surrounding fb. ;j I S2 VIEW OF THE rests being richly variegated with the autumnal colouring. At this season the traveller is not exposed to the danger of meet- ing with noxious reptiles and insects of the country, which completely disappear in the chilly nights. St. Anthonifit Falls^ in the river Mississtp{u, are situated about ten miles from the mouth of the river St. Pierre, which jcNns the Mississippi from the west. These falls were first discovered by Louis Hennipin, in the year 1680, and received their present name from that traveller, who was the jfirst Eu- ropean ever seen by the natives in these parts. The river fall» perpendicularly above thirty feet, and is about S50 yards in width. The rapids, which arc below, in the space of about 300 yards, render the descent apparently greater when it i^ viewed at ai>y considerable distance. These falls are so pecu- liarly situated as to be approachable without any obstruction from a hill or precipice ; and the whole surroundii^ scenery is singularly pleasing. The CoheZj or falls of the river Mohawk, between two and three miles from its entrance into North river, are a very great natural curiosity. The river, above the falls, is about 300 yards wide, and approaches them from the north-west in a rapid current, between the higli banks on each side, and pours the whole body of its water over a perpendicular rock of about 40 feet in height, M'hich extends quite across the riVer like a milUdam. The banks of the river, immediately below the falls, are about 100 feet high. From a noble bridge, erected in 1794 and 1795, ihe spectator may have a grand view of the Cohez ; but they have the most romantic and picturesque ap- pearance fixMii Lausinburg hill, about five miles east d:' them. The river, immediately below the bridge, divides into three branches, which form several large islands. Caruds. — The rivei*8 and lakes of North America are in many places connected together by Canals, which furnish an artificial assistance to the commuiu'ation establislied in other instances by Nature. The principal interior canals, which have been uinady couipleted in the United States, are, the Middlesiw coital^ uniting the waters of the Merrimak riyer uith tlie harbour of Bustim; and the canal Carondekt, ex- s«a UNITED STATES. S» between two and tending front Bayou St. John to the fortiBcations or ^iA of New Orleans, and opening an inland communication with lake Pontehartrain. On the 17th of April, 1816, and the 15th of April, 1817, the state legislature of New York passed acts appropriating funds for opening navigable cummunicationH between the Iake« Erie and Champlain and the Atlantic ocean, by means of ca- nals cwmected with the Hudson river. This magnifiqent un- dertaking is already begun, and promises to make effectual progress under the auspices of ^vemor Clinton. We have beibre ua, at this moment, the ollieial report of the canal com- missioners ; but the extent and the capabilities of these works will be noticed at greater length, when we come to speak of the physical resources of the United States. '« Fen-e^s. — Aboriginal forests are so numerous throughout the United t«rritiwy, that none seem to be particularty distin- guished. There does not appear to exist, on the whole oonti- luent of America, any i^ those sandy deserts which are so premarkable in A»a and Africa. There is, on the contrary, an exuberance of water even in the most toirid re^ons ; which might be added as a [miof of the theory that this continent has m(Ni-e^ recently emerged. Even the volcanoes in South America often pour down torrents of water and mud, and no where occur the sandy ruins of plains, after the fertile soil has been totally lost, or the rocky skeletons of ancient mountains. The large tract in the eastern part of Virginia and North Carolina, calked the Ksmal swamp, occupies about 150,000 acres; but it i^ entirely covered with trees, juniper and cy\:ress on the more moist parts, aid on the drier white and red oaks, and a variety of pines. I'hese trees attain a prodigious size ; and among them there is often very thick brushwood, so as to ren- der the swamp impervious, while other forests in North Ame- rica are connnonly free from underwood. Cane reeds, and tall rich grass, soon fatten the cattle of the vicinity, which are taught to return to the farms of their own accord. In this swampy forest bears, wolves, deer, and oilier wild animals iibound ; and stories are told of children having been lost, who have betm seen, after many years, in a wild state of nature. 54 VIEW OF THE Some parts are so dry as to bear a horse, while some are over, flowed, and others so miry that a man would sink up to- the neck. A canal has l)een led through it ; and, even in the dry parts, water of the colour of brandy, as is supposed from the roots of the junipers, gushed in at the depth of three feet. In the northern part the timber supplies an article of trade, while in the southern rice is found to prosper ; and in the neighbour- hood none of these diseases are known which^ haunt other marshy situations. ^^ Swamps. — Georgia presents a singular marsh, or in* the wet season a lake, called Ekansanoko, by others Ouaquafenoga, in the south-east extremity of the province. This marshy lake is about 300 miles in circumference, and contains several large and fertile isles, one of which is represented by the Creek In- dians as a kind of paradise, inhabited by a peculiar race, whose women are incomparably beautiful, and are called by them daughters of the sun. These islanders are sud to be a remnant of an ancient tribe, nearly exterminated by the Creeks. Sudi events may not have been uncommon among savage tribes ; and the more industrious people who erected the noted forts may have been passing, like the Mexicans, to a comparative state of civilization, when an unhappy defeat, by more savage tribes, extinguished their name and power. That the natives have no memory of such transactions is not matter of wonder, for their traditions can scarcely exceed a century or two at the utmost. Mineralogy. — This most important subject has not yet been illustrated in the manner it deserves. Every substance pre- cious to industry has been found in abundance ; and there is no doubt but that further researches will discover the more rare and beautiful production.^! of nature. , Volney, who wrote on the climate and soil of America, makes a suppositious division of the United States into five distinct regions,->-thc granitic, the sandstone, the calcareous, the sea- sand, and river alUivions. The granitic commences at the mouth of the river St. Law- rence and ends at Long island. It is mixed with sandstone and limestone, in New Hampshire and Maine, except the White UNITED STATES. 55 mountains in New Hampshire, which are granite, '''he Aver Mohawk appears to be the dividing line of the granite and the sandstone; but in the river Susquehannah some granite is found ; and at the base of the south-west chain of the White mountains in Virginia. The whole of the Apalachian mountains are sandstone ac- cording to this arrangement; and, towards the north-west, thef sandstone ends in slate and marl. The Katskill mountains are of the same sandstone as the Blue ridge. «? The calcareous region commences at the west of the Apala- chian mountains, and runs to the Mississippi, and, as some have supposed, to the Rocky mountains. This stratum lies horizontally, at depths proportioned to the depositions of soil. The region of sea-sand runs alcmg all the shore from Long bland to Florida. It is bounded towards the land side by a iseam of granite, full of large mica, or raiher talc; and this Iboundarv runs uninterruptedly along the coast from the west Ibank of 'the river Hudson to the river Roanoke in North Ca- rolina ; its breadth is from two to six miles, its extent 500. 'This boundary generally marks the limits of the tide, and fre- i quently occasions falls in the rivers. The land Iietween the cranite ridge and the sea varies in breadth from 30 to 100 miles, and is evidently sand recently brought by the ocean, whose limits were originally determined by this hill of granite. The bare rocks projecting into the sea are granite, which seems to indicate that the sand brought in by the sea merely covers rocks of this description. The region of the river alluvions extends from the granitic ridge to the base of the sandstone mountains ; hence it appears that the ridge of granite in the Apalachian chain is narrow and lower than in the sandstone. ' .ml :>" Mr. Maclure has recontly publii^hed much highly interesting ini'ormation on this im|)ortunt department of science, ami seems to have studied the geology of the United States with great success. Accordir.;- to this writer, throughout the greatest part of the nort! in and north-eastern states, the sea washes the |>rimary ro( ! • ; but at Long island there commences an alluvial forraatioii, which, increasing in breadth as it stretches 56 VIEW OF THE I southwtrd, covers a great part of both the Carolinas and Geor- ^a, and almost the whole of the two Floridas and Lower Louisiana. This vast alluvial formation is bounded on the east by the ocean, and by a line commenciitg at the eastern end of Long island and passing through Philadelphia, Washingtonv Richmond in Virginia, Halifax in North Carolina, Columbia in South CaroKna, Augusta on the Savannah, and thence to Nat. ohez on the Mississipfn. The tide water ends in all the rivers from the Mississippi to the Roanoke at the distance of from 30 to ISO miles from the western limits of the alluvial formatioh ; from the Roanoke to the Delaware, the tide penetri^es thrcnigh the alluvial, and is stopped by the primitive rocks. In all the northern and eastern rivers, the tide runs a small distance mto the primitive formations. In the southern states the alluvial formation is elevated con^derably above ^he level of the sea; but as it approaches the north, it rises very little above it. On the western side of the great range of mountains, there is a long narrow zoue of transition rocks, banning mi the eastern side of lake Champlain, and extending in an undulating line in a south-westerly direction, to a point between the Ala^ bama and Torolngbee rivers, in about 34 dcg. north lat. and about 85 dcg. west long. It is generally broadest where the primitive formation is narrowest, and via; verm; and runs from SO to 100 miles in breadth. On the north-west of those transition rocks commences an immense region of secondary rocks, extending beyond lake Superior to the north, and some hundred miles beyond the Mississippi to the weHt, not fur distant from the foot of the Stoncy mountains, forming an area of about 1500 miles from cast to west, and al)out 1200 miles from north to south. The volcanic fires which constitute so grand a feature in the geological history of South America, have not extended their dominion to the no»'them continent, nor have any productions been di8a>vered which indicate that volcanoes have at any time existed there. '-umA .*">fKi i • Of the primitive i-ocks granite for>ns hut a small part; but it is found both «)n the tops of the mountains and in the plains. There arc many varieties of it, in regard to the size' of its con- UNlTEDi STATES. 57 llarolinas and Cieor. loridas and Lower is bounded ott the r at the eastern end Iphia^ Washington^ rolina, Columbia in and thence to Nat« ids in all the rivers iistanoe of from 30 alluvial formatioh ; penetrates through i rocks. In all the small distance into 1 states the alluvial le l6vel of the sea ; little above it. r mountains, there banning an the ig in an undulating : between the Aku icg. north lat. and roadcst where the verm; and runs iks commences an ting beyond lake miles beyond the in the ibot of the 1500 miles from h to south. Id a feature in the lot extended their any productions have at any time small part; but md in the plains. lie si'/eof its con- stituent parts; and it is oct^ionally mixed with hornblende; The granite generally divides into rhomboidal masses, and, except in some very small^rained varieties, there is no appear^ ance of stratification. It is frequently so far decomposed as to have lost tl« adhenon of its particles, to the depth of 30 w 40 feet below the sur&ce; each crystal b in its places and' kxyksr as if it were solid ; but when jou take it up, it foUa into sand.' gbiass extends orer a half of the primitive formation. It in> eludes in a great many places beds from three to three hundred feet thick, of a very large-grained granite, which run in the same direction, and dip as the gneiss does. .;! (huhtr tliiuimb Within the limits of what may be termed the primitive country, there are found several partial and detached- Ibrmatione of the traoMtion and secondary rocks. A transition formation occupies nearly the whole of Rhode island, and runs from Rhode island to Boston, fifteen miles broad. There is a range of secondary rocks^ ex:te^ding, with some intervals, from the Connecticut to the Rappahannock rivers, a distance of. nearly 400 miles ; and in width, generally fnmi fifteen to twenty-fi^'e miles. It appears to belong to the old red sandstone formation of Werner. A fiwmtUiion of transition rocks runs nearly south* west from the Debware to the Yadkin river, from two to fifteen miles broad, consisting of beds of blue, grey, red, and white small-grained limestone, alternating with beds of greywacke and greywacke slate, quart»>8e granular rocks, and a great va- riety of the transition class. Much of this lime.stone contains 80 much smalt-gTiUned sand^ as to resemble a dolomite ; and, in many places, considerable beds of fine-grained white marble, fit for the statuary, (xxur. About ten or twelve miles west of Richmond in Virginia, diere is a coal ibrmation, lying upon, and surrounded by primitive rocks. It is situated in an ob- long basin, from twenty to twenty-five miles long, and about ten miles wide, having the whitish freestone, slaty clay, &c. with v^>tabJe impressions, as well as most of the other at* tendants of that formation. t,i Great varieties of mineral substances are found in the primi- tive formation ; anil, from the number already found, in pro- portion to the limited researches that have been made, it is H 58 VIEW OF THE probable that, in so great an extent of rocks of a crystalline structure, almost every mineral substance discovered in similai situations elsewhere will be found in this country. Metallic substances are found in considerable abundance in the primi- tive rocks — iron, copper, manganese, and cobalt. The general ndture of metallic repositories in this formation appears to be in lieken, in New Jersey. This mineral is employed to furnish the chromic acid, which, when united with the oxide of lead, forms chroniate of lead — a very beautiful yellow pig- ment, of which there is a manufactory at Philadelphia. « It is sold under the name oi' chromic yellow, and is etnployed for painting furniture, carriages, &c. , We have l)efore noticed the vast extent of limestone of dif- ferent species that is spread over the United States; and profes- sor Cleaveland of Bawduin College, in an Elemtuitary Treatise on Mineralogy and Geology, enumerates several varieties o£ the primitive limestones in the eastern stiUes, which are used as marble in ornamental architecture and in sculpture ; but Iw remarks that the state uf the arts has not yet caused them to be extensively quarried, or even sufficiently explored. Some of the Vermont marbles are as white as the Carrara, mth a grain intermediate between that of the Carrara and Parian marUes. At Middlebury, in Vermont, during the years 1809 and 1810, ^0,000 feet of slabs were cut by one mill, containing 65 saws; and the sales of marble, during the same period, amounted to about 11,000 dollars, In Rhode island it is found snow white, of a fine grain, translucid, ,and. perfectly ro- sembles the Carrara marble. Gypsum, or plaster stone, is found in Virginia, Maryland, and Connecticut. It is very abundant in several parts of the 68 VIEW OP THE Btate of New York, particularly in Onondago and Madison counties ; also in the vicinity of Cayuga lake, whence, in 181S, 6000 tons of it were exported to Pennsylvania. In many partn of the United States, it has been found an important article of manure, in the cultivation of grasses, roots, and grain. Rock salt has not hitherto been discovered ; but there arc numerous salt springs. These sometimes flow naturally ; but are more frequently formed by sinking wells in those places where the salt is known to exist, us in certain marshes and in salt licks, so called from having been formerly the resort of wild animals to lick the clay impregnated with the salt. These springs are chiefly iitund in the country westward of the Al leghany mountains, near the rivers which flow into the Ohio. They occur also in the state of New York, near the Onondago and Cayuga lakes, associated with tiie great gypsum forma^ tion already noticed. This brine is strong, and yields about S00,000 bushels of salt annually. The whole quantity of salt annually obtained from saline springs in the United States, ex- ceeds 600,000 bushels. Nitre of potash, or saltpetre, is met with in considerable abundance. Mr. Cleaveland gives the follo\ving descripti wm UNITED STATES. Eigo and Madison whence, in 181S, I. In many parts nportant article of Eind grain. «d ; but there arc 9W naturally ; but Is in those places in marshes and in nerly the resort of h the salt. These estward of the Al low into the Ohio, lear the Onondago at gypum forma^ , and yields about ole quantity of salt United States, ex- th in considerable sving description of the slate of Ken- I earths which exist nitrate of potash le lixivium is then lilkali of which the evaporation, the most remarkable oked creek, alwul Is cavciu extends tiient passage for Itls, its breadth is |ht about 10 feot. louly yields from |t has been f()un(l Iv is impregnated * Kentucky also fumishe* nitre under a very different form, and constituting what is there called the rock ore, which is in fact a sandstone richly impregnated with nitrate of potash. These sandstones are generally situated at the head of narrow valleys which traverse the sides of steep hills. They rest on calcareous strata, and sometimes present a front from 60 to 100 feet high. When broken into small fragments, and thrown into boiling water, the stone soon falls into sand, one bushel of which, by lixiviution and crystallization, frequently yields 10 lb. and sometimes more than SO lb. of nitrate of potash. The nitre obtained from these rocks contains little or no nitrate of lime, and is said to be superior for the manufacture of gun- powder to that extracted from the afore-mentioned earths. * ' Masses of native nitre, nearly pure, and weighing several pounds, are sometimes found in the fissures of these sandstones^ or among detached fragments. Indeed, it is said that the»e masses of native nitre sometimes weigh several hundred pounds. Similar caverns occur in Tennessee, and in some parts of Vir.* ginia and Maryland.' With the exception of the red oxide of zinc, and the native magnesia, discovered by Dr. Bruce, no simple minerals have hitherto been discovered in the United States that were not already known to exist in other part$« of the world. There are some of the simple minerals, however, which are found in a state of great perfection, such as the cyanite, green tourmaline and rubellite, inelanite, precious serpentine, garnet, and beryl. A mass of native iron has recently been found near Red river in Louisiana. The form is irregular ; its length being three feet four inches, and its greatest breadth two feet four inches — its weight exceeds 3000 lb. Its surface is covered with a blackish crust, and is deeply indented. It is very malleable anil compact ; but is unequally hard, some parts being easily cut by a chisel, while others have nearly the hardness of steel. Its specific gravity is T'40. It contains nickel, and is less easily oxidated than purified iron. This is rendered particu- larly interesting, by its containing in its interior octahedral crystals, which may be easily cut by a knife, and are striated 6$^ VIEW GF TUB f lik« magnetic iron^ The Uurge»t crystal is more than half an inch in length. Amethysts are ibund in Virginia ; but it is pmbabW tiiat the emerald mentioned by Mr. Jefferson is only a green crystal. No mineralogic discovery has been made in Georgia, besides a bank of oyster sliells, 90 miles from the sea. Mimral Waters. — There erre sereral mineral waters, of va- rious virtues, in different provinccfi of the United States, but none of distinguished emiiience like Bath, or Aix-la-Chapelle. In the province of Vermont, or the Green mountain, there is a remark-'Me sulphureous spriiig, which dries up in two or three years, and bursts out in another piave. There are seve- ral mineral springs in Massachusetts, but little frequented, and there is another at Stdlbrd in Connecticut. Those of Sarato- ga, in the province of New York, are remarkably co|»ous, and ■urrounded with singular petrifactions. They are considerably frequented, as well as those of New Lelwnon in the same country. New Jersey boasts of some chalybeate waters ; and near Isle creek in Pennsylvania on the river Alleghany, or Ohio, there is a spring which yields pef;roleu«i, said to be use- ful in rheumatic complaints. Two warm springs occur in Vir< paiB, one of them IIS dcg. These are called the springs of Augusta ; but others more frequented ore near the river Poto- mak. A bituminous ^ring was discovered on the estate of general Washington, which easily takes fire, and oontinues burning for some time. The salt springs in Kentucky also deserve mention ; and there are others in the province of Ten- nessee. In Georgia, near the town of Washington, there is a remarkable spring rising from a hollow tree, which is encrusted with matter probably calcareous. Botany. — A country that experiences on the one frontier the severity of the Canadian winters, and on the other baaks in the full radiance of the West Indian summers, may naturally be expected to contain no small variety of native plants, So nu- merous and important indeed are they, as to render it impos- sible, in a work not devoted particularly to the subject, to notiee them m they deserve; we must therefwe be contented UNITED STATES. 65 nan than kalf an r. pmbabW that th« y a green crystal. Georgia, beside* a sral waters, of va- Jnited States, but r Aix-la-Chapelle. mountain, there is ries up in two or There are seve- ile frequented, and Those of Sarato- kably copious, and ey are considerably tanon in the same rbeate waters ; and ivcr Alleghany, or km, said to be use- MPinga occu? in Vir- lled the springs of tear the river Poto- j on the estate of re, and continues in Kentucky also le province of Ten- ington, there is a which is encrusted ie one frontier the other baaks in the may naturally be ye plants. So nu- io render it impos- |to the subject, to ^fore be contented with the selection of such alone as, from their utility and hcoiity, have the strongest claim to our attention. The Ixjtany of these states, including the Floridas, or, in other words, of the whole region extending eastward from the Mifisissippi to the > .M- Among the vegetables that inhabit the low shores of the Flo- ridas, Georgia, and South Carolina, may be distinguished the mangrove tree, the only shrubby plant that can flourish in salt water, the fragrant and snowy-flowered pancratium of Carolina, and the splendid lobelia cardinalis. The low ridges of calcareous soil running parallel with the rivers, and rising from ^he level savannas into extensive lawns and swelling hills, are generally covered with open or entangled woods, except where they have been converted into tillage by the industry of the inhabitants. In these rich tracts grow the lofty palmetto, the evergreen oak, the sweet bay, the benzoe laurel, the common laurel, the white shading broom pine, and the red cedar. The strait silvery columns of the papaw fig, rising to the height of twenty feet, and crowned by a canopy of broad sinuated leaves, form a striking feature in this deli- cious icenery ; while the golden fruit and firagrant blossoms of the orange, here realize the ancient traditions of the groves of the Hesperides. Superior, however, to all th' e is the tower- UNITED STATES. 67 d low shrubs as are 1 their introduction allinsonia, used by ie, several gay spe. sylvanian lily and ny spedes of aster, ktly high to be rich sensibly cooler tbwn )f the south are in- and the northern id in the plants ci principally confined ere that the unfad- nn magnificence of ice of the steaming f the botanist every r form, can delight r shores of the Flo- i distinguished the can flourish in salt 'atium of Carolina, parallel with the X) extensive lawns open or entangled ed into tillage by 2h tracts grow the bay, the benzoe broom pine, and of the papaw fig, ned by a canopy oture in this deli- ;rant blossoms of of the groves of ' e is the tower- ing magnificence of the great magnolia: in this rich marlcy soil it rises above a hundred feet, with a perfectly erect trunk, supporting a shady conical head of dark green foliage : from the centre of the coronets of leaves that terminate the branches expands a large rose-shaped blossom of pure white, which is succeei^ed by a crimson one, containing the seeds of a beautiful coral red colour, and these falling from their cells remain for several days suspended from the seed-vessel by a silky thread, six inches or more in length, so that whether in this state or in blossom it is second to none for grandeur and beauty. The level plains by the sides of rivers, and therefore genc> rally in a flooded state during the whole rainy season, are called savannas. The trees that grow upon them are of the aquatic kind, such as magnolia glauca, or beaver tree, American olive, and gordonia lausianthus, silvered over with fragrant blossoms : these are generally either single, or grouped together into small open groves, while the larger part of the meadow is overgrown with long succulent herbage, intermixed with shrubs and plants ; die candleberry myrtle, with numerous species of azaleas, kal- mias, andromedas, and rhododendrons, arranged by the hand of nature into thickets and shrubberies entwined and over- arched by the crimson granadilla, or the fantastic clitoria, here display their inimitable beauties in full luxuriance. The sides of the pools and shallow plashes are adorned by the bright cserulean flowers of the ixia, the golden blossoms of the canna lutea, and the rosy tufts of the liydrangia, while the edges of the groves, and the dubious boimdaries of the savannas, rising imperceptibly towards the forests, are fringed by innuincrable gay varieties of the phlox, by the shrinking sensitive plant, the irritable diono^a, the glowing amaryllis atamascu, and the im- penetrable ranks of the royal palmetto. The swamps are at all times, even in the height of summer, for the most part under water, and are distinguished from the rest of the country by the crowded stt^ms of the cane, the light foliage of the tupclo tree, the taccamahacca, the fiinge tree, and the white cedar. This last is perhaps the most picturesqne tree in all America : four or five enormous buttresses or rude pillars rise from the groimd. and unite in a kind of arch at the 68 VIEW OF THE height of about seven feet, and from this centre there sprinj^s a straight column eighty or ninety feet high, without a branch : it then divides into a flat umbrella-shaped top, covered will) finely divided leaves of the most delicate green. This })latforin is the secure abode of the eagle and the crane ; and the oily seeds contained in its cones are the favourite repast of the par- roquets that are constantly fluttering around. Hundreds more of interesting plants yet remain, and wo might go on to describe with unabated pleasure the profusion of \ arious coloured lupines and dwarf palmettt)s that relievo the dusky hue of the pine forests in which they live; the wild vines, the gourds, the bignonias, and other climbers that dis- play to the sun their fruits and glowing blossoms above the summits of the tallest trees; we might describe the tent-like shade of the plantanus, the regal splendour ol" the crimson- flowei'ed horse-chesnut, and the humbler, less obtrusive, yet not less exquisite beauties of the mcadia, the spigelia, and gaura; but these our limits will not admit :^ it is enough for the present purpose to have sketched some of the characteristic features in the botany of a country, the most accessible of all the warmer climates to the investigation of European science. Zoology. — The domestic zoology of the United- States nearly corresponds with that of the parent country, with some few sliades of difference in size and colour. Among the larger wild animals may be mentioned the bison, large herds of which used to be seen near the Mississippi, and thev were once very numerous in the western parts of Virginia and Pennsyl- vania. The musk bull and cow only appear in the more western regions, beyond the Mississippi Among the animals now lost are classed the manmioth, whose cnoniKHiis bones are particularly found near the salt springs upon the Ohio; and teeth of the hip{)opotamus are said to have been -dug up in Ijong island: but the labours of a late French naturalist have evinced that such remains often belong to animals long since extirpated, and of which he has traced more than twenty kinds. The mammoth of America, though armed with tusks oi' ivory, has been supjjowd to be even five or six times larger than the elepliant ; but tiie bones are probably the same with those ot UNITED STATES. 69 the supposed elephant found in Siberia. The moose deer are become extremely rare, and will probably in no long time be utterly extirpated, as the wolf and boar have been in Britain. The black moose deer are said to have l>een sometimes twelve feet in height, while the species called the grey seldom exceed the height of a horse. Both have larj'e pahiiated horns, weigh- ing thirty or forty pounds. Mr. Pennant mentions a pair that weighed fifty-six pounds, the length being thirty-two inches. The moose deer is only a large species of the elk, and is found in the northern parts of the United States ; while the rein deer inhabits the northern regions of British America. The Ame- rican stag rather exceeds the European in size, and is seen in great munbers feeding in the rich savannas of the Missouri and Mississippi, where there are also herds of that kind called the Virginian deer. In the northern states are two kinds of bears, both black ; but that carnivorous animal called the ranging bear is found in all the states, as is the wolf. Several kinds of foxes are also seen : and the wolverine seems a kind of bear. ' The animal most dreaded is the catamount, or cat of the mountains, found in the northern and middle states, and is probably the same with the puma of Pennant, which he says is sometimes in North America called the panther. One killed in New Hampshire was six feet in length, and the tail three ; but the length of the leg did not exceed twelve inches. The cougar is about five feet in length, and in the southern states is called the tiger: but it is well known that the ferocious animals of the new con- tinent are totally duierent from those of the old, there being neither lions, tigers, leopards, nor panthers, in the whole extent (.F America. A German missionary, who resided twenty-two years in Paraguay, describes the tiger of that coimtry as marked with hia.-jk spots, sometimes on a whitish, sometimes on a yel-" low' ;ii ground ; and says that as the lions of Africa far exceedP those of Paraguay, so the African tigers greatly yield in si/e to the American ; which may be just, as the royal tiger seems peculiar to Asia. But he adds that he has seen the skin of a tiger three ells and Iwt) inches in length, or equal to that of a large ox. This animal easily carries off a horse or an ox ; and ' IfO VIEW OP THE seems to exceed in size any American beast of prey admitted in the system of Buffon^ whose fondness for theories is jften to be lamented ; and his Jaguar^ or American tiger, seems only a diminutive species. Captains Lewis and Clerk frequently encountered the white and brown hour in the north-west inte- rior ; an animal of a most ferocious description : they also saw herds of antelopes, buffaloes, and wolves. The lynx, the ocelot, and the margay, are smaller beasts of prey, of the cat kind. These and many other animals supply furs. The beaver is well known from the fur, and the singu- lar formation of his cabin, built in ponds for the sake of secu- rity ; but he seems to feed on the twigs of trees, and not on fish, as commonly supposed. This industrious animal is found in all the states, and is somewhat imitated by the musk rat, which likewise builds his hut in shallow streams. Some kinds of monkies are said to be found in the southern states. The morse, or sea cow, and the seal, used to frequent the northern shores; and the manati, common in South America, is said sometimes to appear on the southern coasts : this animal, which has fore feet like hands, and a tail like a fish, while the breasts of the female resemble those of a woman, seems to be the mer- maid of fable. Among the birds there are i*»""^' kinds of eagles, vultures, owls, and numerous sorts called by European names, though generally different in the eye of the naturalist. The bird called a turkey is peculiai' to America, and abounds in the north. They were brought from Mexico to Spain, and from Spain to England about 1524 ; the African poultry, or meleagrides of more ancient authors, being Guinea fowls. There are also birds which resemble the partiidge, ptarmigan, and quail, of Europe. Virginia abounds with beautifuJ birds, among which is the humniing bird, as already mentioned, while the wakon il%sembles the bird of paradise : and it may be conceived that vast varieties of acjuatic birds crowd the numerous lakes and rivers, the largest being the wild swan, which sometimes weighs thirty-six pouruKs. Upwards of one hundred acid thirty American birds have I»r«"u cmimenitcd. and niany r>f them descTil)od bv (atesbv. UNITED STATES. n ist of prey admitted r theories is rMen to m tiger, seems only id Clerk frequently the north-west intew ption : they also saw are smaller beasts of >thcr animals supply fur, and the singu- for the sake of secu- :)f trees, and not on ious animal is found d by the musk rat, reams. Some kinds uthern states. The equent the northern th America, is said : this animal, which sh, while the breasts items to be the mer- it .'. of eagles, vvdtures, )ean names, though St. The bird called unds in the north, and from Spain to or meleagrides of s. There are also gan, and quail, of irds, among which while the wakon be conceived that imerous lakes and |i sometimes weighs licrican birds liave ril)od bv Catesbv. Jefferson, and Carver. The Mowing catalogue is inserted to gratify the curious, to infbnn the inquisitive, and to shew the astonishing variety in this beautiful pa t of the creation. The Blackbird Razor-billed ditto Baltimore Bird Bastard Baltimore Blue Bird Buzzard Blue Jay Blue Grossbeak Brown Bittern Crested Bittern Small Bittern Booby Great Booby Blue Peter Bullfinch Bald Coot Cut Water White Curlew Cat Bird Cuckow Crow Cowpen Bird Sheldrach or Canvass Duck Buffels head ditto Spoon bill ditto Summer ditto Blackhead ditto Blue-winged Shoveller Little Brown Duck bpngtail White-faced Teal Blue-winged Teal Pied-bill Dobchick Eagle -^^^ Bald Eagle Flamingo Fieldfare of Carolina, or Robin Purple Finch Bahama Finch American Goldfinch Painted Finch Crested Fly-catcher Black-cap ditto Little !>rown ditto Chattering Plover or KiWeeRea-eyed ditto Crane or Blue Heron Finch Creeper Yellow-breasted Chat Conaxx&xA Hooping Crane Pine Creeper Yellow-throated Creeper Goose Slorm Finch Goat Sucker of Carolina Gull Laughing Gull Dove Ground Dove Duck Ilathera Duck Round-crested ditto Canada Goose Hawk Fishing Hawk Pigeon Hawk Night Hawk 72 VIEW OF THE • The Swallow-tailed Hawk Soree ' \ ' Hangbird Snipe Heron Red Start Little white Heron Red-winged Starling Heath-cook Swallow ' Humming-bird Chimney ditto Purple Jackdaw, or Crow Snow-bird Blackbird Little Sparrow King Bird Bahama ditto JKing-fisher Stork Loon Turkey • Lark Wild Turkey Large Lark Tyrant Bm5 de- grees. The roof of this cavern is of rock, through which the water is continlially percolating. The stalactites which hang from the roof appear like icicles on the e%'es of houses, and are continuidly increasing in number and magnitude. The bottom and sides are daily incrusting with spar and other mineral sub . stances. On the sides of this subterraneous hall are tables, chairs, benches, &c, which appear to have been artificially iearved. This richly ornamented room, when illuminated with the candles of the guides, has an enchanting effect upon the eye of the spectator. If we might be indulged in assigning the general cause of these astonishing appearances, we should conclude, from the various circumstances accompanying them, that they arise from water filtrating slowly through the incum- bent strata ; and taking in its passage a variety of mineral substances, and becoming thus saturated with metallic particles, gradually exuding on the surface of the caverns and fissures, in a quiescent state, the aqueous particles evaporate, and leave the mineral substances to unite according to their affinities. s fi the cleft, ft small istance in the pUun le riot and tumult » And participate of imposes itself; and • lead. You cross ng its side through ) terrible precipices about twenty miles round that. This Yet here, as in re people who have 3S, and have never between rivers and fi itself to its centre.* It, on the side of a sm, at its entrance, ng this you descend 20 feet in breadth cnt is about 45 de- through which the ites which hang of houses, and are ude. The bottom other mineral sub- s hall are tables, e been artificially n illuminated with ig effect upon the iged in assigning ranees, we should lompanying them, rough the incum- ariety of mineral metallic particles, s and fissures, porate, and leave o their affinities. ■,'i: .■'*■:■..■ .»■=■• 'I 'Will * 1 llM H nfi' ' Ku ft . ■1 I^B 1' 11 IH ^B^v' I 1 ml HI .i :»i- li*:' IMkCI^O for M4CKBirZIBS AMSRICA. %j^' View of the Rock Bridge , HeigAt Bia ^0t. 4>»« ^ dn r/ki^Ht/9 c^thi arch 4a tU. >«RICA. UNITED STATES. 75 At the end of this cave ist* circular Jiole, fifteen f«et cleep, ap- parently hewn out, in a conical ibrm, enlarging gradually as you desceodi in the form of a nug;&r loaf. At the Iwttoni is a spring of fresh water, in contiiitiul motiuii, like the boiling of ,a pot. Its depth has never been (lunded. t,, In the county of Hockbridge is a remarkable natural bridge of rock, from which the county tukos its inme. « Tliis hridge^^ says Mr. Weld, ' stands about ten niilus trom Fluvanna river, and nearly the same distance from the Blue ridge. It extends across a d^