zonia, is not under the yoke of any European power. It is divided among barbarous tribes, each of which has its chief. The inhabitants worship images, but have no temples or priests.

233. The islands contiguous to South America are, Trinidad, the Falkland Islands, Terra del Fuego, Juan Fernandez, the Galapagos, and the Pearl Islands. The latter near Panama,

OF AFRICA.

234. AFRICA, reduced to a state of general barbarism, by the arts and villainy of slave-dealers, once contained several kingdoms and states, eminent for arts and commerce.

235. Egypt and Ethiopia were much celebrated; and Carthage, the rival of Rome, standing near the place now occupied by the city of Tunis, extended her commerce over every part of the known world.

236. The most striking features of northern Africa are its immense deserts, which comprise one third of the continent. Of these the sandy deserts of Sahara are 1500 miles long, by 800 broad.

Obs. These deserts are like seas, the sands being moved by the winds like waters, and storms on them being more destructive to travellers than the sea to voyagers. They have Oases, or fertile spots like islands, whose inhabitants are separated from the rest of the world; and caravans and merchants are enabled by these to traverse immense tracts. The kingdom of Fezzan is an Oasis which separates the Libyan from the great Desert, and connects Tripoli with Kashna on the Niger.

237. Africa is the country of monsters; every species of noxious and predatory animals reigning undisturbed in the vast deserts of that continent, and being multiplied by the sultry heat of the climate. Even man, in this quarter of the world, exists in a state of the lowest barbarism.

Obs. The north of Africa, from the Mediterranean to the desert, is peopled by Moors and Arabs; Egypt is inhabited by Copts and foreigners; Abyssinia chiefly by degenerate Arabs; and the centre, south and west, by the Negro race.

238. Africa may be considered in the following order: first, Egypt; then Abyssinia and Bornou ; the Mahometan States in the north; the nations on the western coast; the colony of Good Hope in

e south; and thence the eastern kingdoms oppote Madagascar.

339. Egypt consists of a narrow vale on both des of the Nile, bounded by parallel ridges of 1ountains or hills. It is divided into Upper, Middle, nd Lower, which last comprehends the Delta, ormed by the lower branches of the Nile, and' famed for its fertility. It was once the seat, if it were not the parent, of the sciences.

If glorious structures, and immortal deeds,
Enlarge the thought, and set our souls on fire;
My tongue has been too cold in Egypt's praise,
The queen of nations, and the boast of times,
Mother of science, and the house of Gods!
Scarce can I open wide my labouring mind,
To comprehend the vast idea, big

With arts and arms, so boundless is its fame.

Young.

240. Egypt is now governed by a Turkish viceroy, or bashaw. The chief cities are, Grand Cairo, the capital, Alexandria, Rosetta, and Damietta. Rain is very uncommon in Egypt; and it swarms with noisome insects and reptiles.

241. Abyssinia lies south of Egypt, and Gondar is considered as its capital. West of it lies the kingdom of Darfur, of which Cobbé is the capital; and further west the empire of Bornou, of which little is known.

242. Barbary extends along the Mediterranean, from the Strait of Gibraltar to the Libyan Desert, and includes the Mahometan States; as Tripoli, Tunis, Algier, and the empire of Marocco. The inhabitants of these countries are chiefly remarkable for their piracies, and for their political de

basement.

243. On the western coast of Africa, are innumerable tribes of people and various kingdoms,