Tahiti (Otaheite) is the largest of the Society group; it was the scene of some of the earliest labours and triumphs of modern missionary exertions. The French have forcibly taken it under their "protection."

Many of these islands seem to be of volcanic origin, others have been formed by the coral insect; several of them contain mountains of considerable elevation. Mount Rosa in Owhyhee is 16,000 feet high. The islands possess a delightful climate and a fertile soil. The principal trees are the cocoa and bread fruit; the yam is a valuable root, but requires care in the cultivation.

AFRICA.

GENERAL VIEW.

Boundaries.-N. by the Mediterranean.-E. by the Red Sea and Indian Ocean.-S. by the Southern Ocean. - W. by the Atlantic.

Extent. It lies between 37° N. and 35o S. lat., and 18° W. and 51° E. long. Its length is 4,360 miles, and breath 4,036. It contains 12,000,000 square miles. By far the greater part of it lies within the torrid zone.

Coast.-Africa is singularly deficient in bays and minor seas communicating with the ocean. Its western coast exhibits a broad angle, containing the Gulf of Guinea ; two bays, the bights of Benin and Biafra, are at the head of this gulf. Delagoa and Sofala Bay are on the The Gulf of Syrtis, or Sidra, is on the north.

east.

The western coast of Africa bears the appearance which it would have if wrenched from the opposite coast of America.

The principal headlands are, the promontory on which Tunis stands, (the extreme point of which, Cape Bon, is the most northerly part of Africa,) Point Ceuta, opposite Gibraltar, Cape Verd, the most westerly point, Cape Palmas, Cape Negro, the Cape of Good Hope, and near it Cape Agulhas, the southern extremity, and Cape Guardafui the most easterly point of Africa. The Azore, the Madeira, the Canary, and the Cape Verd islands, are off its western coast; Fernando Po, and the Island of St. Thomas, are in the Bight of Biafra; Ascen

sion and St. Helena Islands lie far off in the bosom of the South Atlantic; the large island of Madagascar is separated from the eastern coast by the channel of Mozambique, and to the east of that island are Bourbon, and the Isle of France or Mauritius.

Face of the Country.-The Atlas mountains, extending from Tunis, parallel with the coast, terminate opposite to the Canary Isles.

They may be said to be continued under the sea to these isles, and thus gives rise to the celebrated Peak of Teneriffe. They reach the region of perpetual congelation, and are about 13,000 feet high. The Peak of Teneriffe is 12,358 feet above the sea.

The Mountains of the Moon stretch across the country parallel with the equator, at from 5° to 10° N. of it.

Other ranges of less elevation are found encircling most parts of the coast, so that Africa, as well as the other continents, is a great table-land.

Deserts of sand cover the greatest part of the surface of Africa. The largest of these is the Sahara, or great desert, which extends over the whole breadth of the land from the Atlantic to the Red Sea, with the exception of the Valley of the Nile.

The sand of these deserts is fine and loose, and is driven along in clouds before every breeze.

Rivers. The only large rivers of Africa are the Nile, the Senegal, the Gambia, the Niger, and the Congo.

In Asia and America, the mountain ranges, so essential to the rise of rivers, traverse these regions in their extreme length; in Africa the reverse is the case, and many of the streams are lost in the sands before they can reach the sea.

The Nile is formed by two principal streams, the Bahr-el-Abiad, or White River, and the Bahr-el-Azrek, or Blue River. The White River is probably the larger branch; its source has never been discovered, but it is supposed to descend from the Mountains of the Moon. The only tributary which the Nile receives after the junction of these rivers, is the Atbara (from Tigre; but it rolls its way with the reasures already received, for upwards of 1,000 miles, through an arid valley, fertilized by its course to the Mediterranean. Of the various channels composing the Delta of the Nile, the Rosetta and Damietta mouths are the only considerable ones.

This was the only river known to the ancients that overflowed its banks, and they were at a loss to account for the phenomenon, which is now known to be occasioned by the rains, that fall so abundantly in the tropical regions where the river has its source.

The swelling of the Nile begins at the summer solstice, and about the autumnal equinox the country in lower Egypt is so inundated as to resemble a great lake; at the approach of the winter solstice the waters gradually retire, leaving the soil enriched by the slime which it has deposited. The length of its course is estimated at 2,300 miles. The Senegal falls into the Atlantic to the north of Cape Verd, and the Gambia to the south of it.

The Niger, or Joliba, the great object of modern research, rises in the vicinity of the Senegal and Gambia; flowing in a north-east direction, it passes Sego, Jenne, and Timbuctoo; it then flows southward, and after passing Boussa and Eboe, joins the sea on the coast of Calabar, between the bights of Benin and Biafra.

A large fresh water lake has been discovered in central Africa, named Tchad; length about 200 miles, breadth 150: two considerable rivers run into it, the Shary from the south, and the Yeou from the west.

Climate.-Africa has always been noted for its extreme heat; the climate of the central region is, during the rainy season, very prejudicial to the European constitution.

States. The principal divisions of Africa are, the Barbary States, which comprise Tripoli, Tunis, Algiers, and Morocco; the region of the Nile, which comprises Egypt, Nubia, and Abyssinia; Western, Central, Eastern, and Southern Africa.

Population. It is impossible to ascertain the population of a country so little explored as Africa; it has been variously estimated at 60 to 100 millions. Its inhabitants belong chiefly to four tribes; the Moors in the north, the Negroes in the middle, and the Kaffirs and Hottentots in the south.

Animals. The camel has been used in Egypt from the earliest period; hyenas abound in the north; the lion attains his greatest strength in the hot regions of the interior; the giraffe is peculiar to the dry plains of Africa; the elephant and the rhinoceros are hunted for their flesh, their skin, and their ivory, but are not domesticated; the buffalo of the Cape is an animal of great size and ferocity.

The hippopotamus frequents the margins of all the rivers; the zebra, the springbock, and the ostrich, are objects of chase; the chimpanze is found, and powerful baboons and numerous tribes of monkeys abound. The white ants and locusts often commit dreadful ravages.

BARBARY STATES.

Situation. The northern coast of Africa, between the Mediterranean and the Atlas mountains, and the Atlantic and Egypt, is known by the name of Barbary.

Natural Geography.-Numerous streams descend from the mountains and run into the Mediterranean: those which fall from the southern side are absorbed in the sands. The soil is generally fertile, but is almost entirely uncultivated. The climate is that of southern Europe, the heat being tempered by the mountains and the sea.

Productions and Trade.-Corn and wine might be raised in large quantities; the olive oil of the country is superior; dates form the food of many. The principal manufacture is morocco leather, which is prepared from the skins of goats that abound on the declivities of the Atlas. Some commerce is carried on by means of caravans with the interior. Salt and European manufactures are sent in return for gum, gold-dust, ivory, and slaves.

States.-The States are Tripoli, Tunis, Algiers, and Morocco. Towns.-Tripoli, the chief seat of the trade with the interior; this city was taken by the crusaders in 1108, when a large and precious col lection of Persian and Arabic works was destroyed.

Tunis, the largest city of Barbary; the ruins of Carthage are a little to the east of it. Pop. 100,000.

Algiers, a large, but dirty and in commodious city; it is now the residence of the Governor-General of the French possessions. Fez, in the northern province of Morocco, of the same name, was once a place of great celebrity, but is now much reduced. Morocco, once said to contain 700,000 inhabitants; now 70,000. Mogadore, the only sea-port of Morocco that trades with Europe.

Government, Religion, &c.-The government of these states is an absolute but insecure despotism. The piratical practices of Algiers having more than once excited the attention of Europe, it was at length taken possession of by the French, in whose hands it now is.

The inhabitants are Moors, of a fierce and relentless disposition; they are all bigoted Mahometans.

THE REGION OF THE NILE.

Boundaries. The countries occupying this region are Egypt, Nubia, and Abyssinia; they have the Red Sea on the E., the desert on the W. and S., and the Mediterranean on the N.

Egypt is divided into Upper, Middle, and Lower, in relation to the

stream.

Face of the Country.-Abyssinia is mountainous and well watered. In Nubia, the Nile is hemmed in by high banks and rocks, which restrict the portion capable of cultivation to an extremely narrow belt; in Upper Egypt the valley of the river becomes wider, and in Lower Egypt it becomes an extensive flat, scarcely rising above the level of the sea.

Climate. The elevation of Abyssinia moderates the heat usual in its latitude, but in the lower regions the heat is frequently excessive. Rain is unknown in Upper Egypt, though on the sea-shore occasional showers fall.

Productions.-Egypt is peculiarly fertile, and has often been the resort of the surrounding nations in times of scarcity.. Besides rice and corn, dates and figs are the common objects of culture.

The reed from the pith of which the papyrus of the ancients was made, is still found on the banks of the river.

Commerce.-Egypt is favourably situated for commerce, being placed at the junction of two great continents, and in the immediate vicinity of Europe. After the discovery