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Great attention is paid to education by the legislature, and whites may every where procure free instruction. There are 173 colleges in the Union, the principal are Harvard University, in Massachusetts, and Yale College.

Character.-The Americans are an active and enterprising people. Party spirit runs very high among them, and it is to be feared that the popular voice is not under sufficient control.

MEXICO AND MINOR STATES.

That portion of North America which is to the S. of the United States, having the Gulf of Mexico on the E. and the Pacific on the W., formerly constituted the republic of Mexico. It now consists of the States of California, Texas, Mexico, Guatimala, and Yucatan.

Government. The government of all these States is republican, but most of them are in an unsettled state. The Roman Catholic religion is generally professed.

At the arrival of the Spaniards, Mexico was the most powerful and populous empire of the New World. The people had made some progress in civilization, and recorded events by paintings of a peculiar character, little inferior to the hieroglyphics of Egypt. Fire-arms gave Cortez the advantage over the native Mexicans, and they were nearly exterminated. A mixed race sprung up, who were carefully excluded by the Spanish court from any share of the government. In 1810 a revolutionary struggle commenced; the contest was long and bloody, but the Mexicans at length succeeded in throwing off the Spanish yoke. In 1835 Texas declared itself independent of Mexico, and has since been annexed to the United States; in 1836 California revolted.

Face of the Country.-The greater part of this region consists of vast plains, varying from 6000 to 8000 feet above the level of the sea; from this base groups of volcanic mountains rise to the height of 14,000 or 18,000 feet, the summits of which are covered with perpetual

snow.

The largest rivers are the Rio Bravo del Norte,

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which separates Texas from Mexico, and the Rio Colorado, which is in California.

Productions. Fertile but unhealthy tracts of land border the ocean, which are clothed with the richest tropical vegetation, and produce sugar, indigo, and cotton; but the chief wealth of Mexico consists in its mines.

Gold is not procured in large quantities; but the annual produce of silver is ten times as much as is furnished by all the mines of Europe. Mexico has provided the gardens of Europe with many beautiful flowers, especially the dahlia. It supplies the market of the world with the cochineal insect, so valuable as a scarlet dye.

Towns.-Mexico, the most splendid city in the New World, stands near the lake Tezcuco. Pop. about 150,000.

Vera Cruz, on the Gulf of Mexico, the principal sea-port of Mexico, is an unhealthy and disagreeable town.

Acapulco, on the Pacific, has a magnificent harbour, but no trade. Zalapa, or Jalapa, near Vera Cruz, a handsome town; famous for the drug to which it gives name.

Queretaro is a considerable city of Mexico.

Houston, Texas, a place of great and increasing trade.

Britain possesses the settlement of Honduras, which lies between Guatimala and Yucatan, and is washed by the bay of Honduras. England hence derives her largest supplies of mahogany.

SOUTH AMERICA.

COLOMBIA, Consisting of the three states, New Gran'ada, Venezuela, and Equator, is in the north-west.

The isthmus of Darien, or Panama, which joins it to Guatimala, is 30 miles across.

In Mount Chimborazo the Andes attain the height of 21,440 feet.

Its top has never been reached; Humboldt got to within 2000 feet of it.

Cotopaxi, the most remarkable volcano in the world,

is nearly 19,000 feet high. The river Orinoco (pro. Orinōōco) waters this region; after a course of 1,800 miles, it enters the Atlantic by about fifty mouths.

A chain of mountains, branching off from the Andes to Point Paria, (opposite Trinidad,) forms the northern boundary of the basin of the Orinoco; another range on the south, called the Sierra Pacaraino, traverses the country from west to east, separating the waters of the Orinoco from those of the Amazon.

These rivers are united by the natural channel of the Cassiquiare, which joins the Rio Negro, an affluent of the Amazon.

The soil of Colombia is singularly fertile, and owing to the elevation, its climate, though equatorial, is delightful. Gold, and many other metals, and precious stones, are found. Noxious reptiles are very abundant, and earthquakes are not unfrequent.

Towns.-Bogota, the capital of Granada; nearly half the city consists of ecclesiastical buildings.

Quito, (pro. Kee'to,) lying under the equator at an elevation of 9000 feet above the level of the sea; possesses a genial climate. Owing to the vicinity of the volcanic mountain Pichincha it is exposed to earthquakes. Pop. 70,000.

Guayaquil is one of the principal sea-ports of South America; its dockyard is extensive.

Caraccas, the capital of Venezuela, was nearly destroyed in 1812 by an earthquake,-12,000 persons perished. This circumstance occurring in the same year in which the people revolted from Spain, was regarded as a token of Divine displeasure, and gave a temporary check to the revolutionary movement.

Colombia early resisted the tyranny of Spain, and in 1821 achieved its independence under Bolivar.

The Caribbee Indians, a very fierce tribe, occupy the interior of this territory. They are tall and of a reddish copper colour.

The Roman Catholic religion is generally professed throughout the whole of South America, the ceremonies and processions of which are observed with much pomp. Dancing and bull fighting are the favourite amusements.

Here, as throughout all South America, they practise the lasso, a mode of catching cattle by a noose skilfully thrown over the animal when in full chase.

The principal exports from all the South American States, are tallow and hides, for the sake of which alone the wild animals are slain in immense numbers. For manufactured goods, South America is dependent upon Europe, the chief imports are cotton and woollen goods. ENGLISH GUAYANA, DUTCH GUAYANA, and FRENCH GUAYANA Occupy the north-east of the continent.

The coast is low and lined with marshy islands and mud banks, which bar the mouths of the rivers. The soil is very rich but the climate is unhealthy. The country is still for the most part covered with forests, which abound in trees of great size. Among the tenants of the wilderness, are the sloth, the bell-bird, and the goat-sucker. The Indians in shooting birds use a blow-pipe and arrows tipped with the Wourali poison. The cayman or alligator is found in all the large rivers.

British Guayana, which was taken from the Dutch, contains the important settlements of Demerara, Essequibo, and Berbice (pro. Berbece). The chief towns are Georgetown and New Amsterdam.

Dutch Guayana contains the colony of Surinam, the chief town of which is Paramaribo.

Cayenne is the chief town in the French territory.

PERU Occupies the middle of the western coast: it has recently been divided into two separate republics, called Peru and Bolivia. It is intersected by the Andes, which here attain their greatest elevation.

The mountain of Sorata is said to be 25,400, and Illimani 24,350 feet in height; thus exceeding Chimborazo, which was long esteemed the highest in the world.

Peru, which is proverbial for its riches, abounds in the ores of silver and quicksilver. The silver mines are situated in the heart of the Andes, about the limits of perpetual snow; those of Potosi are the richest known.

The lama, a species of small camel, and the condor eagle, are the most interesting of its living productions. Towns. Lima, the capital of Peru, is situated on the Rimac in a delightful valley at the distance of six miles from the Pacific. The

city was founded by Pizarro, and its fine cathedral contains his tomb. Pop. about 60,000.

Cuzco, formerly the capital of the empire of the incas; it retains traces of its ancient architectural grandeur. Its inhabitants are chiefly Indians. Pop. 40,000.

Potosi, Bolivia, famous for its silver mines. It stands 13,000 feet above the sea, and is probably the highest city in the world. It was once very populous, but is now nearly deserted.

Chuquisaca is the capital of Bolivia, or Upper Peru.

Truxillo, Peru, is a fine sea-port, 300 miles north-west of Lima.

BRAZIL lies on the east of South America, and occupies nearly half of that continent.

Brazil was first visited by Amerigo Vespucci, a Florentine, whose name is supposed to have given rise to the designation of the New World. Brazil takes its name from the dye-wood, which was known in Europe long before the discovery of America.

Besides the Amazon, the Francisco is a Brazilian river. The soil of Brazil is rich, but a great portion of the country is covered with dense forests.

Diamonds form the chief of its mineral treasures, nearly all at present in Europe having been supplied from Brazil; gold and other metals increase its wealth.

Brazil-wood, used in dyeing, rose-wood, the cocoa plant, and several medicinal plants, abound. It exports a considerable quantity of sugar, coffee, and cotton-wool, also tallow, hides, horns, and bones.

Towns.-Rio-de-Janeiro, the largest and most flourishing city of S. America, is situated on a bay above 60 miles in circumference, studded with islands and opening to the Atlantic by a deep entrance about a mile wide. The trade of Rio is chiefly carried on by British merchants. Pop. 140,000. Bahia, or St. Salvador, formerly the capital of Brazil, is situated on the magnificent bay of All Saints, capable of containing all the navies in the world. Of the imports into Bahia, slaves, notwithstanding the nominal suppression of the trade, continue to be the most important article. Pop. 130,000.

Pernambuco has considerable trade. Pop. 60,000.

Government.--Brazil, formerly a colony of Portugal, is

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