NATIVE TRIBES OF NORTH AMERICA.

218. Numerous small tribes or hordes, of from 500 to 5000 each, occupy the vast extent of country from the United States to the Pacific Ocean; also Greenland, Labrador, the regions around Hudson's Bay and along the western coast, all in a barbarous condition, and depending on the uncertain produce of the chace.

OF THE WEST-INDIES.

219. The West-Indies consist of the islands which lie beween the continents of North and South America, and of those coasts of South America and Mexico which bound the Gulf of Mexico.

220. The most extensive of these islands are Cuba; chief town Havanna, and Porto-Rico, Spanish. St. Domingo, which is next to Cuba, both in magnitude and position, is divided into two parts, viz. Hispaniola, on the east, appertaining to Spain, and Hayti, on the west, now an independent republic of blacks and people of colour: the next island is Jamaica, English, the chief towns of which are, Kingston and Port Royal.

221. North of Hayti and Cuba are the Bahamas, English, the principal of which is Providence Island; and one of these is Cat Island, the first land seen by Columbus when he discovered Amcrica, in 1492.

222. The Caribbee islands extend from Trinidad in the south, to the Virgin islands in the north; and are, properly, the Windward Islands of the Antillas, or West Indies.

Obs. Of these, since the treaty of Paris, 1814, the English Islands are, Barbadoes, Tobago, Trinidad, Granada, the Granadines, St. Vincent, St. Lucia, Dominica, Montserrat, Antigua, Barbuda, St. Christopher's and Nevis, Anguilla, Virgin

gorda, and Tortola, with several smaller isles. The French islands are, Martinique, Guadaloupe, Mariegalante, and part of St. Martin's. The Danish are, St. Croix, St. Thomas, and St. John's; the Dutch, St. Eustatius, Saba, and part of St. Martin's. To the latter, also, belongs the leeward island Curazao, off the coast of Venezuela. The island of St. Bartholomew belongs to Sweden.

223. The native Caribs having been inhumanly destroyed by the sword and musket, these islands now are inhabited by about one-eighth Europeans, one-sixth Creoles, and the rest Black Slaves. They supply all Europe with sugar, rum, and cotton, and with much indigo, spices, cocoa, and coffee.

SOUTH AMERICA.

224. South America is best known for its gold and silver mines, which have been wonderfully productive to Spain. The choicest gums and drugs are likewise found in various parts of this immense continent.

225. South America comprehends the various immense districts called Columbia, late Terra-Firma, Guyana, Chili, Peru, Brasil, Paraguay, Patagonia, and Terra del Fuego.

226. The rivers Maranon, or Amazon, and La Plata, are celebrated as the largest in the world. Both of them rise among the Andes, and wind many thousand miles in length.

227. The mountains of South America are some of the loftiest on the globe, and have many volcanoes among them. The Andes run from north to south, and extend 4600 miles. The highest is nearly four miles high, and they are covered with perpetual snow.

Obs. Chimborazo, the highest of the Andes, and the highest mountain in America, is 21,000 feet in height,

228. The Spanish provinces in South America are, Terra-Firma, Peru, Chili, New Granada and Venezuela, La Plata and Paraguay; chief towns, Caraccas, Lima, St. Iago, Santa Fe de Bogota, Panama, Quito, and Buenos Ayres. Peru and Chili are particularly famous for their gold and silver

mines.

Obs. A great struggle has existed for several years past, the object of which has been the emancipation of the colonies from the yoke of Old Spain. The efforts of the colonists, more especially in the north, have been crowned with success: but the southern states cannot yet be said to have realized their independence, although the provinces of La Plata and Chili are free.

The republic of Columbia is established: and, by a decree of the sovereign congress, dated St. Thomas of Angostura, 17th. December, 1819, that republic is to include Spanish Guyana, Terra-Firma, and New Granada, and is to be divided into three departments, viz. Venezuela, Cundinamarca, and Quito; the capitals to be Caraccas, Bogota, (formerly Santa Fe de Bogota,) and Quito. The republican æra commenced on the 25th of December, 1819.

229. In Northern Chili it never rains, and the sky is seldom cloudy: but the dews of night supply the want of rain. Peru is a sterile and thinly in

habited country.

230. The Portuguese territory of Brasil, chief towns Bahia or San Salvador, and Rio Janeiro, called also St. Sebastian, is of immense extent, and wonderful fertility and beauty, and lately became the residence of the king and court of Portugal.

231. Guyana; chief towns Surinam and Cayenne, is partly British, partly Dutch, and partly French. The southern extremity of South America is Patagonia, a desolate country, inhabited by savages, some of whom are of colossal stature.

232. The central country, commonly called Amą.