on its banks, it thence obtained its popular name of ment is reckoned at 900,000 fr. ; 2,350 work-people are emAmazon, though it be still sometimes called Orellana, ployed in the manufacture of lace, besides those in the from its explorer. The origin of the term Maranon is riband and other trades. The trade of the town is very not certainly known. According to Condamine, it is the considerable. It is the principal market for the famous name of a Spanish officer, who visited the river pre- cheese dites d'Auvergne. (Hugo, France Pittoresque, viously to Orellana; but this is very doubtful, and the tom. it. p. 8.) more probable opinion seems to be, that it is derived AMBLETEUSE, a small decayed sea-port town of from an Indian nation of that_name, which had inha-France, dep. Pas de Calais, 6 m. N. Boulogne. Pop. bited some part of its banks. The Amazon was first accurately described by M. de la Condamine, who having embarked upon it, in 1743, near Jaen, and followed its current to its mouth, gave an interesting account of the expedition, with a map of the river, in his Voyage de la Rivière des Amazones, Paris, 1745. See also Humboldt's Travels; Journal of Geographical Society, ii. p. 650. Encyc. Britannica, art. America, &c. AMBAZAC, a town of France, dep. Haute Vienne, cap. cant., 12 m. N. N. W. Limoges. Pop. 2,736 AMBEER, a town of Hindostan, the ancient cap. of the Jeypoor territory, 5 m. N. by E. Jeypoor, lat. 26 57′ N., long. 75° 40′ E. The town, romantically situated on the margin of a lake, is now in ruins. In its vicinity is a fine old fortified palace, and a large castle. The former has a noble hall of audience, and many beautiful apartments, enjoying from their windows, balconies, &c., one of the most striking prospects that can be conceived, (Heber, ii. p. 416.) AMBELAKIA, a town of Turkey in Europe, sanjiack Tricala, or Thessaly, on the W. declivity of Mount Ossa, near the Peneus, 15 m. N.N.E. Larissa. This place was distinguished, during the latter part of the last and the first part of the present century, by the industry of its inhabitants, and the skill and success with which they carried on the business of spinning and dyeing cotton yarn. The towns-people, who were wholly Greeks, formed a sort of independent community, and either defended themselves from the exaction of the Turks, or were neglected by the latter. At first individuals carried on business on their own account, on the principle of free competition; but thinking that their profits would be increased by carrying it on in common, they formed themselves into an association on a joint stock principle. For a while this succeeded perfectly well; but, in the end, the parties quarrelled among themselves, and the fruits of their industry were swallowed up in expensive and protracted litigation. At length the staple trade of the place was totally annihilated by the importation of cheaper yarn from England; the produce of our spinning mills having not merely superseded the hand-spun yarn of Ambelakia in foreign markets, but in those of Turkey itself. The town and surrounding country have since become comparatively poor and depopulated. In the acmé of its prosperity it might have 7,000 inhab. (Urquhart's Spirit of the East, ii. p. 14, &c.) It AMBERG, a town of Bavaria, circ. Regen, on the Vils, by which it is intersected, 31 m. N. N. W. Ratisbon. Pop. 8,000. It was formerly the capital of the Upper Palatinate; streets wide and clean; and though the houses be mostly of wood, it is pretty well built. is encircled by a double wall, flanked with numerous towers. Principal public buildings the electoral, now royal castle, arsenal, mint, salt-warehouse, town-house, church of St. Martin, &c. It has a lyceum, a gymnasium, a seminary for the education of teachers, some well endowed hospitals, a convent for noble ladies, a public library, theatre, and house of correction. It is an entrepôt for salt, and has manufactures of fire-arms, tobacco, earthenware, &c. There are mines of coal, and iron, with iron-works, forges, &c., and the principal glass-works in Bavaria in its vicinity: its territory is also very productive of hops. It is the seat of a tribunal of appeal, a commissariat of police, a president and a chamber of finances. AMBERIEU, a town of France, dep. Ain, cap. cant. Pop. 2,800. AMBERT, a town of France, dep. Puy de Dome, cap. arrond., on the Dore, 36 m. S. E. Clermont. Pop. 8,016. The town is pretty well built; but the streets are narrow and crooked, and the houses, being principally constructed of granite, from the adjoining mountains, have a gloomy, dismal-looking appearance. Ambert, and the arrondissement of which it is the capital, are distinguished by their industry. The town is especially celebrated for its paper for printing and engraving, in the manufacture of which it employed, in 1834, 102 machines (cuves), each of which required the assistance of 10 persons, and consumed annually about 23,000 kilog. of rags, and produced 11,000 kilog of paper. Workmen employed in the paper trade, earn about 1 fr. 60 cent. a day, and women from 50 to 55 cent. A combination has existed among the work-people in this trade since the 15th century, and they are said sometimes to give the law to their masters. There are also in the town very extensive manufactures of ribands, lace, woollen cloths for the marines, called étamines à pavillon, serge, linens, pins, &c. The value of the linen annually produced in the arrondisse 581. It was formerly a sea-port of considerable importance; and both Louis XIV. and Napoleon endeavoured, by improving its harbour, to regain for it some portion of its ancient consequence. But, owing to the accumulation of sand, their efforts have had no permanent influence, and the town is almost deserted. James II. landed here after his abdication of the English throne, in 1689. AMBOISE, (an. Ambacia), a town and castle of France, dep. Indre et Loire, cap. cant., on the left bank of the Loire, 15 m. E. Tours. Pop. 4,695. The castle occupies the summit of a rock, about 90 feet in height. The town singulièrement triste et laide,lies principally between the bottom of the castle rock and the river; but it has suburbs on an island in the river, and on its right bank. The castle, which is of vast extent, was commenced under Hugh Capet, and finished under Charles VII.; it was a favourite residence of Louis XI., and in it Charles VIII. was born in 1470, and expired in 1498. It is also famous in French history as the birth-place of the conspiracy, dite d'Amboise, against the Guises, concerted in 1560. It suffered much during the religious wars, and was partly demolished during the revolutionary phrenzy. The remaining portion is now converted into a depot for the flints for the use of the French army, brought from the quarry of Meusne, near St. Aignan. The views from its towers and battlements are superb. A manufacture of files, graters, and cemented steel, established at Amboise in 1780, continues to flourish, and employed, in 1835, about 160 workmen. It consumes annually above 200,000 kilog. of fine steel, its products being estimated at 200,000 packets of files, dites d'Allemagne, 50,000 dozens do. after the English fashion, 2,000 packets do., dites de Nuremberg, and 6,000 carreauz. The manufacture is under the able direction of M. St. Bris. There is also in the town a manufacture of arms, with tanneries, &c. A handsome wooden bridge, with stone piers, erected in 1822, connects the town with its suburb on the opposite side of the river. (Hugo, France Pittoresque, ii. p. 104, &c.) AMBOOR, a town of Hindostan, in the Carnatic, district S. Arcot, 108 m. W.S. W. Madras, lat. 12° 50′ N., long. 78° 46′ E. It is neat and regularly built; the inhab., who are industrious, prepare a considerable quantity of castor oil for exportation. To the left of the town is a lofty isolated mountain, that was formerly surmounted by an all but impregnable fort; but its upper works have been destroyed since it came into the possession of the British, and the tower is used as a place of confinement for malefactors. AMBOYNA (Ambun, Malay), an island of the E. Archipelago, in its third or E. division (Crawfurd), belonging to the Dutch. It lies in 30 40 S. lat.; between 1280 and 1290 E. long. S. W. of Ceram, is 32 m. in length, and 10 in breadth; area 424 sq. m., pop, 45,000 (Cannabich, 1837). 1ts shape is irregular, being indented by a long bay (Binnen), which divides it into two very unequal portions, connected by a narrow isthmus. Surface mountainous. It is watered by numerous rivulets, and overgrown everywhere by trees and underwood, interspersed with clove plantations; its soil, a rich red loam, is of a darker colour in the vallies, and sometimes mixed with sand; climate healthy, the average heat of the year 82° Fah., the lowest temperature 72° F. The monsoons occur regularly, but their effects are quite the reverse of those experienced in Borneo, and the W. division of this Archipelago; the E. monsoon bringing rains, and tempests, and the W. dry weather. The Dutch appropriated this island to the culture of the clove, for the production of which it is especially calculated; and to secure to it a monopoly of this valuable product, barbarously compel the destruction of the trees in the other islands subject to their power. The clove (gomode, Tidor lang.) thrives best in a dark loamy soil, but not very near the sea, on hills, on sandy or hard clay soil, or on sedgy grounds, and requires much care in its culture. The plant resembles a large pear tree, from 20 to 40 feet in height. In the Moluccas it bears at 7 or 8 years, in Amboyna not till 10 or 12 years old; about one-third of the trees are infertile, the rest may continue to bear fruit for 70 years. The crops are gathered in Oct. and Nov., they are very unequal in different years, but the produce of each tree may average from 2 or 3 to 5lbs. ; the total annual produce is said formerly to have been 650,000 lbs. (Hamilton.) Sago forms the chief nourishment of the inhabitants, and very superior indigo, but inferior coffee, are also grown. Sago trees are 7 years in arriving at full growth, and last about 30; but they are generally cut down when about | 20 years of age. When in full vigour, they yield from 42 to 46 lbs. of sago a year. The wild animals of Amboyna, are deer and wild hogs: there are no beasts of prey, but a multitude of birds and serpents. Buffaloes, cows, sheep, goats, and horses, were brought thither by the Portuguese, but cattle are rare. The inhabitants are of four distinct races, viz. 1. Horaforas, the aborigines, who are in a savage state and live in the forests, whither they were driven by, 2. Malays, who compose the bulk of the population: 3. Chinese, who are the principal merchants: 4. Europeans, mostly Dutch. The Malays are indolent, effeminate, and fond of imitating the Dutch; they are expert fishers, in canoes from 10 to 20 feet long; in war they use korokores, 80 to 100 feet in length, and capable of containing 80 men. Their houses are of wood, roofed with palm-leaves, and are mostly of but one story, on account of the prevalence of earthquakes. The prevailing religion is Mohammedanism, introduced A. D. 1515; but some of the Amboynese are Christians, and bear Portuguese names. The government is dependent on that of Batavia; its seat is at Fort Victoria; the public revenues are derived from a monopoly of arrack, custom-house and port duties, taxes on merchandise, and licences to keep an inn, and kill pigs. The exports consist of cloves, and other natural produce the imports chiefly opium, and a few European and Indian goods. (Crawfurd, Indian Archipei., iii. pp. 495-503.; Hamilton, E. 1. Gazetteer.) the Dutch. History.-Amboyua was first discovered by the Portuguese in 1515. It was taken by the Dutch in 1607, and by the English in 1615. The latter, who were soon after expelled by the Dutch, retained a factory in the island, till 1622. The destruction of this establishment by the Dutch, and the cruelties inflicted on the unhappy persons found in it, afforded a theme for lengthened negotiations, and for much declamatory invective. At length, under the vigorous administration of Cromwell, the Dutch were compelled to make some compensation to the descendants of those who suffered in the "Amboyna massacre." In 1796, the island was captured by the British, who restored it at the peace of Amiens. They recaptured it 1810, and held it till 1814, when it reverted once more to AMBOYNA. The principal town in the above island, and the second in importance belonging to the Dutch in the E. Archipelago, on the S. E. side of the bay of Binnen, near Fort Victoria, in 30 40 S. lat., and 1280 15' E. long. Pop, 7,000. It is regularly built; the streets, though not paved, are broad, and intersected by many rivulets; the houses, excepting the town-house, which has two stories, are all of only one story, constructed of wood and roofed with palm leaves. A long esplanade, reaching as far as the fort, is bounded by a handsome range of houses, and a double row of nutmeg trees; there are 2 Christian churches, an hospital, a fine garden, and menagerie, and several good bazars and markets. Fort Victoria is an irregular hexagon, surrounded by a ditch, but as it is entirely commanded by two neighbouring heights, its best defence is in the difficulty of anchorage in the contiguous bay. (See Hamilton, E. I. Gazetteer, p. 26.; Cannabich Lehrbuch, p. 843.) AMBRIERES, a town of France, dep. Mayenne, cap. cant., 7 m. N. Mayenne. Pop. 2,434. AMBROIX (ST.), a town of France, dep. Gard, cap. cant., 11 m. N. N. E. Allais. Pop. 3,107. It manufactures coarse silk stockings, and has tanneries, and nail works. AMELIA (an. Ameria), a city of the Papal States, deleg. Spoleto, 23 m. S. W. Spoleto. Pop. 5,000. stands on a small hill, is the seat of a bishopric founded in 1344, and has a cathedral, 3 churches, and some convents. Ameria was one of the most considerable and ancient cities of Umbria. The famous comedian, Sextus Roscius, was a native of Ameria, which is frequently referred to by Cicero in his speech in defence of Roscius. It is said to have been founded 1045 years B. c., and became a colony under Augustus. (Cramer's An. Italy, i. 273.) AMELIA, an island on the N. E. coast of Florida, from which it is separated by a narrow channel, 40 m. N. St. Augustine, between St. Mary's and Nassau rivers. It is 20 m. in length by 2 in breadth, is fertile, and its chief town, Fernandina, has a good harbour. AMERICA, or the New World of the W. hemisphere, one of the great divisions of the globe, surpassing all the others in magnitude, with the exception of Asia, to which, however, it is but little inferior. This vast continent stretches N. and S. a distance of above 9,000 m., or from about the 72d degree of N. lat. to Cape Horn, in about 56° S. lat. It is very irregularly shaped, being divided by the Gulph of Mexico and the Carribean Sea into the two enormous peninsulas of N. and S. America, united by the Isthmus of Darien, or Panama, not more than 28 m. across. Where broadest, N. America, excluding Greenland, is not less than 3,500 m. across, and S. America not less than 3,200 m. The estimates that have been formed of the area of America differ widely. Balbi supposes it to amount to 11,146,000 sq. m. of 60 m. to a deg., equal to 14,790,000 sq. Eng. m. of 69.15 to a deg. The following estimate, which is that given in the article America, in the new edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica, does not differ materially from Balbi's; and the ability with which the article referred to is written, renders its statements of the highest authority: sq.Eng. m. 7,400,000 6,500,000 150,000 900,000 14,950,000 This vast continent lies between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, the former separating it from Europe and Africa, and the latter from Asia and Australia. All the distinguishing features of the American continent seem to be formed on the most gigantic scale. The chain of the Andes, which runs from one end of S. America to the other, and is prolonged under different names through the whole extent of N. America, is, in point of length, unequalled by any mountain chain in the old world; and is far superior, in respect of altitude, to the Alps and every other mountain system with which we are acquainted, the Himmalaya only excepted. The plains, rivers, bays, lakes, cataracts, and forests of America are of unrivalled extent and grandeur. Her mineral riches seem also to be superior to those of every other continent; and she possesses every variety of climate, from the extreme heat of the torrid zone to the eternal winter of the arctic circle. It is singular, however, that while inanimate and vegetable nature are developed on so grand a scale in the new world, the animal kingdom should be comparatively deficient. native American is probably inferior even to the negro. Of the lower animals, neither the elephant, camel, nor lion is found in America; and it was originally destitute of the horse, the ox, and the sheep, all of which were carried thither by Spanish, British, and other European settlers. The N. America is more indented than any other of the great divisions of the globe, with immense One of the pringulphs and arms of the sea. cipal of these, in the N. E. part of the continent, consists of what Balbi has not unaptly called the sea of the Esquimaux, from its coasts being every where occupied with tribes belonging to that peculiar race. It consists of two great divisions, Davis's Straits and Baffin's Bay, separating Greenland from the rest of the continent; and Hudson's Bay, lying more to the S. and W., but connected with the former by numerous channels, some of which have only been recently discovered. The navigation of these seas and inlets, even at the most favourable seasons, is extremely difficult, from their being constantly encumbered with ice; and it is only during a short period of the year that it can be attempted. The next great inlet of the sea on the American coast is the Gulph of St. Lawrence, so called from the great river of that name which falls into its S. W. extremity. Passing over the numerous inlets and noble bays on the coast of the United States, we come to the Gulph of Mexico and the Carribean Sea. This vast mediterranean is separated from the | Atlantic by the peninsula of Florida, and the Greater and Lesser Antilles, or the West Indian islands. The latter are, as it were, a continuation of Florida; and are, it is probable, the only remaining points of what was once a broad belt of land, which has been broken to pieces and partly submerged in some of those tremendous convulsions to which the earth has been subject. But, however this may be, this great inland sea is divided into two portions by the peninsula of Yucatan and Cape St. Antonio, at the W. extremity of the island of Cuba, which approach within a comparatively short distance of each other; that to the N. being called the Gulph of Mexico, and that to the S. the Carribean Sea, or the sea of the Antilles. The Isthmus of Panama is at the extreme S. limit of the latter, in about the 8th deg. of N. lat. It is believed that it would be by no means difficult to cut a canal across this isthmus, and consequently to unite the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. The Gulph of California, separating the peninsula of that name from the main land, is the most important inlet of the sea on the W. coast of N. America. S. America bears a striking resemblance in the form of its coasts to Africa. It is much more compact than N. America, and is comparatively little indented by arms of the sea. The great rivers, Amazon, La Plata, Para, Orinoco, &c., may, however, be looked upon as a species of inland seas; and are, in some respects, more serviceable than the latter. The W. coast of America, from the proximity of the Andes, has but few gulphs; and is, in great part, all but destitute of harbours. The S. extremity of S. America, or the country of Tierra del Fuego, is properly an archipelago, being separated from the continent by the narrow and winding strait of Magellan, or Magalhaens. Mountains.-Humboldt has shown that all the high elevations of the New World belong to that great chain which, under different denominations, extends from one of its extremities to the other, along its western coast, over a space of no less than 10,000 m.! The American mountains may, however, be divided into eight systems, or principal groups, three of which belong to S., and three to N. America; and one each to the West Indian and Arctic archipelagos. 1st. Of these systems, that of the Andes, or Peruvian system, from the highest mountains being in the country formerly known by the name of Peru, is by far the most gigantic. This vast chain of mountains commences at Cape Horn, in about the 56th deg. of S. lat., and following pretty closely the line of the W. coast of the continent, to which it forms as it were a huge bulwark, stretches N. to the Bay of Panama, in about the 9th deg. of N. lat. But at Popayan, in about 24 N. lat., the chain is divided into three great ridges, of which the most westerly takes the direction above mentioned, while that farthest to the E. follows a N. E. direction, terminating a little to the E. of lake Maracaybo. The name cordillera, sometimes given to the entire chain, belongs properly only to the highest ridge. In parts the chain consists of only one ridge, and in others of 2 or 3, enclosing Alpine valleys of a vast height and sometimes of great extent. It has, next to the Himmalaya chain, the highest summits known to exist; and its mean elevation may be taken at from 10,000 to 12,000 ft. Chimborazo, near Quito, 21,400 ft. above the level of the sea, was formerly supposed to be the highest summit of the Andes; but the researches of Mr. Pentland have shown that it is far surpassed in altitude by Zorata and Ilimani, near lake Titfcaca, which respectively rise to the prodigious elevation of 25,250 ft. (nearly 10,000 ft. higher than Mont Blanc) and 24,000 ft. (See ANDES.)-2d. The system of La Parime, or Guyana, embraces the mountains scattered over the immense island formed by the Orinoco, Cassiquiari, Rio Negro, and Amazon. It consists of an irregular group of mountains, separated from each other by plains, savannas, and immense forests. The Sierra de Parime may be regarded as its principal chain. The Peak of Duida, 8,312 ft. in height, is the culminating point of the chain and of the whole system. 3d. The Brazilian system, embracing the mountains that lie between the Amazon, Paraguay, and Rio de la Plata. The Sierra de Espinhazo is its most elevated chain. It traverses, under different denominations, the provinces of Bahia, MinasGeraes, Rio de Janeiro, San Paulo, and the northern extremity of the province of San Pedro. Its culminating points are Itambe and the Sierra da Piedade, nearly 6,000 ft. high, in the province of Minas-Geraës. 4th. In N. America, the principal mountain system is that of the Mexican Alps, and Rocky Mountains, which may be regarded as a continuation of the Andes. In Mexico, it is divided into three distinct ridges; within which, between the parallels of 190 and 24° N. lat., are immense plateaus elevated to the height of between 6,000 and 9,000 ft. The central cordillera of Mexico stretches N. 10° W. from the 25th to the 38th deg. lat., separating the waters of the Rio del Norte, flowing S. E. from those of the Colorado, flowing S. W. The highest peaks in the ridge in Mexico, are the volcanoes of Pocatepetl, 17,060 ft., and Orosaba, 16,365 ft. From about the 38th deg. the ridge, which then begins to be called the Rocky Mountains, stretches N. 28° W., till it terminates near the mouth of the Mackenzie River, on the Arctic Sea, in about the 69th deg. of lat. and 138th deg. of W. long. Some peaks in this chain, between 520 and 530, are said to be nearly 16,000 ft. above the level of the sea; and others between 37° and 39°, have been ascertained to be from 10,000 to 12,000 ft. in height. We have no accurate information respecting the height of the passes of the Rocky Mountains, nor of the altitude of their base above the sea; but on their E. side is a very extensive tract, dry, sandy, and almost a desert. 5th. Parallel to the Rocky Mountains, and at no great distance from the sea, a chain of mountains runs N. from the peninsula of California, till it is lost in Russian America. This chain, which has been called by Humboldt the Californian Maritime Alps, increases in altitude as it gets further N. Mount Hood, near the 45th deg., on the S. side of the Columbia or Oregon river, is said to be about 16,000 ft. high; and Mount St. Helen's, about a degree further N. on the N. side of the Columbia, has an elevation of 14,000 ft. Mount Fairweather, in the 59th deg., is also 14,000 ft. high, and Mount St. Elias, the loftiest in the chain, attains to an elevation of about 17,000 ft. The last two are volcanoes. Between the Rocky Mountains and the Maritime Alps, is an extensive prairie tract, 700 m. in length, by from 100 to 200 m. in breadth. The Rocky Mountains and the Maritime Alps are connected by a ridge in about the 42d deg. lat., dividing the waters which flow N. to the Columbia from those which flow S. to the Colorado. - 6th. The mountains E. of the Mississippi do not at all approach the Rocky Mountains in magnitude. They are included in what is called the Alleghany or Appalachian system, extending in a N. E. by N. direction from Alabama, on the N. confines of Georgia, to the banks of the St. Lawrence, being about 1,200 m. in length, with a mean breadth of 100 m. The White Mountains of New Hampshire, 7,300 feet above the level of the sea, are the highest in this range, which is crossed by the tidal waters of the Hudson river. The immense valley of the Mississippi lies between the Rocky and the Alleghany chains. 7th. Balbi proposes to em-differs widely in character from the other, brace, under the denomination of Arctic system, all the mountains that are already, or that may hereafter be discovered within the Arctic archipelago. The culminating points of that system, in so far as they are at present known, are the Corn du Cerf, in Greenland, the height of which has been much exaggerated, but which is probably above 8,000 ft., and the Aeraefi Taekull, in Iceland, 6,649 ft.-8th. The system of the Antilles embraces the mountains in the archipelago of that name. Its culminating points are, the AntonSepo, in Hayti, nearly 9,000 ft. in height; and the Sierra de Cobre, in Cuba, the most elevated summits of which attain about the same height. Plateaus. America has a great variety of plateaus, some remarkable for their prodigious elevation, and others for their immense extent. Under the former are included the plateau of Titicaca, divided between Bolivia and Peru, comprising an area of about 18,000 sq. m., with a inean elevation of above 13,000 ft. The populous and well cultivated plateau of Quito is elevated about 9,600 ft.; and the extensive plateau or table land of Anahuac, in Mexico, from 6,000 to 9,000 ft. Among the latter, or those principally remarkable for their extent, may be mentioned the central plateau of S. America, embracing the vast province of Matto Grosso, with parts of Goyaz and San Paulo, in Brazil, the whole of Paraguay, Chaco in the confederation of the Rio de la Plata, and a part of the lands of the Chiquitos and Moxes in Bolivia. Its elevation varies from about 750 to 1280 feet. Volcanoes. America has a great number of volcanoes, and some of the most elevated volcanic mountains in the world. The departments of the Equator and of Cauca in Columbia, the states of Nicaragua, San Salvador, and Guatemala in central America, Chili, Russian America, and Iceland in Danish America, contain a great number of volcanoes. The most remarkable volcanic mountains are, Cotopaxi, Sanguay, and Pichincha in the Columbian department of the Equator; Pasto, Sotara, and Purace, in that of Cauca; Guagua- Plitina, or the volcano of Arequipa, and Sehama in Peru; the volcanoes of Copiapo, Chilan, Antoco, and Peteroa, in Chili; those of Socomusco, Guatemala, or Fuego, Agua, Pacaya, San Salvador, Granada, and Telica, near St. Leon, of Nicaragua, in central America; Popocatapetl, or the volcano of Puebla, Citlatepetl, or the volcano of Orizaba, the volcano of Colima, and that of Xorullo, in the Mexican confederation; St. Elias, and Fairweather, in the Californian Alps; the two volcanoes of the peninsula of Alashka, and those of the Aleutian islands; with Hekla, and others in Iceland. - In no other part of the world are the plains so vast. The immense space from the outlet of the Mackenzie River to the Delta of the Mississippi, and between the central chain of the Mexican system and Rocky Mountains, and the Alleghany, forms the largest plain, not of America only, but of the world; it embraces the basins of the Mississippi, the St. Lawrence, Churchill or Nelson, almost the whole basin of the Missouri, nearly the whole basins of the Suskatchawan and Mackenzie River, and the entire basin of the Coppermine River. Four fifths of that portion of this vast plain, which lies beyond the 50th deg. of lat., is a bleak and barren waste over. spread with innumerable lakes, and bearing a striking resemblance to N. Asia; but its more southerly portion, or that lying W. of the Alleghany chain, and N. from the Gulph of Mexico, being well wooded and fertile on the E. side, bare but not infertile in the middle, and becoming almost a desert in the extreme W. The second great plain of the New Continent is that of the Amazon: it embraces the whole central part of S. America, comprising more than half Brazil, with south west Columbia, the eastern part of the republic of Peru, and the northern part of Bolivia; its limits are nearly identical with those of the middle and lower parts of the immense basin of the Amazon and Tocantin. The plain of the Rio de la Plata extends between the Andes and their principal branches, and the mountains of Brazil, to the Atlantic Ocean and the Straits of Magellan. It embraces the south-west part of Brazil, Paraguay, the country of the Chiquitos, Chaco, with the greater part of the confederation of the Rio de la Plata, the state of Uruguay, and Patagonia. A large portion of it is known by the name of the Pampas of Buenos Ayres, or Rio de la Plata. The plain of the Orinoco, embracing the Llanos of New Granada and Venezuela in Columbia, extends from Caqueta to the mouth of the Orinoco, along the Guaviare, Meta, and lower Orinoco. In some of the flat parts of America large tracts of territory are met with, which, in respect of aridity of soil, and of the sand by which they are covered, may be compared to the deserts of Asia and Africa. The most remarkable and most extensive of these tracts, are the Desert of Pernambuco, occupying a great part of the N. E. plateau of Brazil; the desert of Atacama, extending with some interruptions along the coast of the Pacific from Tarapaca in Peru, to Copiapo in Chili; and the Desert of Nuttal, at the E. foot of the Rocky mountains, between the Upper Arkansas and Paduka, forming part of the central plain of N. America. The Rivers of America are on a much larger scale than those of any other portion of the globe, affording facilities of internal communication of vast importance, and quite unequalled any where else. The principal are the Amazon, Mississippi, Plata, St. Lawrence, and Orinoco. The Amazon flows E. through the broadest part of S. America, having its embouchure under the equator. Its entire course is estimated at about 4,700 m., and it has several tributaries, larger than the Wolga or the Danube. Uninterrupted by either rocks or shallows, it is navigable for vessels of considerable burden to the E. foot of the Andes, a distance, in a direct line, of above 2,000 m. from the sea; and though civilisation has as yet made little or no progress in the vast and fertile regions through which it flows, there can be no doubt that it is destined to become as it were a great highway for many powerful nations; and and to have its banks thickly set with populous towns and emporiums. The Mississippi, taken in connexion with the Missouri, the largest and most important stream, flows from N. to S., falling into the Gulph of Mexico, about 100 m. below New Orleans. Its course, including windings, exceeds 4,200 m.; many of its tributaries, as the Arkansas, Red River, Ohio, &c., are of great magnitude; and it drains one of the largest and finest basins in the world. It is navigable for about 1,700 m. in a direct line from its mouth; and though civilisation has only begun to strike its roots and scatter its seeds in the wide regions through which it flows, it is already a well frequented channel of communication. But the boldest flights of imagination can hardly figure what the Mississippi will be, when the rich and fruitful countries on its banks, and those of its affluents, are all fully peopled, and making use of its waters to send abroad their surplus products, and to import those of other countries and cli mates. The Plata, which runs S. with a slight inclination to the E., is the grand channel of communication to a very large portion of S. America. Its course may be estimated at about 2,500 m.; and its basin is inferior only to that of the Amazon or the Mississippi. The St. Lawrence, with its connected lakes, or rather great inland seas, is the grand outlet of the largest freshwater system in the world. Including the lakes, its course exceeds 2,000 m. It is remarkable for the equality of its current, which is nearly uniform throughout the year. The Orinoco has a course of about 1800 m., and carries to the sea an immense body of water. There is a water communication between one of its affluents, the Cassiquiari, and the Rio Negro, an affluent of the Amazon. Owing to the circumstance of the Andes, and of their prolongation in N. America, being generally within a comparatively short distance of the W. coast, there is not, in most parts, room in the intervening space for the formation of any very great river. Hence, notwithstanding the prodigious length of the W. coast, it only receives two large rivers, and these not of the first class; the Rio Colorado, falling into the bottom of the Gulph of California, and the Columbia or Oregon. Their corse may be estimated at about 1,100 m. each. The Mackenzie is the only great river flowing into the Arctic sea. It has a N. N. W. course; it is connected by a series of lakes and tributary streams with lake Superior, and consequently with the St. Lawrence. lakes of Tezeaco, Xochimilco, &c., in the valley of Mexico, are remarkable for their elevated situation, their vicinity to the capital, and the superb works undertaken to prevent the damage caused by their frequent overflowing. Lake Nicaragua, in central America, is remarkable for its size, the beauty of its scenery, its volcanoes, and from its forming the basis of the works projected for uniting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. The limited size of the principal lakes of S. America, strikingly contrasts with the dimensions of those of N. America. The lake of Titicaca, the largest and most celebrated of the S. American lakes, is situated near the N.W. frontier of Bolivia, or Upper Peru, in an Alpine valley surrounded by ridges of the Andes. It covers an area of above 4,000 sq. m., and is elevated 12,795 feet above the level of the sea! Manco Capac made his first appearence on the banks of this lake. The basins of the Rio Colorado, or Mendoza, and Rio Negro, present several very extensive lakes; but these are really rather vast morasses, than lakes properly so called. Islands. -A multitude of islands belong to America. We shall briefly notice the principal, in the order of the seas in which they are situated. In the Atlantic Ocean are, the archipelago of St. Lawrence or of Newfoundland, at the mouth of the Gulph of St. Lawrence : its principal islands are Newfoundland, Anticosti, Prince Edward's Island, and Cape Breton. The great Columbian archipelago, or Antilles, commonly called the West Indies, comprises a great number of islands and secondary groups, lying between the peninsula of Florida and the delta of the Orinoco. Its chief islands are, Cuba, Hayti, or St. Domingo, Jamaica, and Porto-Rico, called the greater Antilles; St. Cruz, Antigua, Guadaloupe, Martinico, St. Lucia, Barbadoes, St. Vincent, Tobago, Trinidad, and several others, called the smaller Antilles. The Lucayos, or Bahama Islands, a vast secondary group, are situated to the N. of Cuba. Towards the southern extremity of the New Continent, are the Falkland or Malouine Islands, which have no fixed inhabitants; in the southern ocean is the archipelago of Magellan and Tierra del Fuego, the most southerly inhabited part of the world. By its position, at the extremity of America, it belongs as much to the ocean, to which we have assigned it, as to either the Atlantic or Pacific Ocean. Lakes. No part of the world has so many lakes as N. America, especially that portion between 42° and 67° lat., which might be justly called the lake region. It presents not only the greatest masses of fresh water on the surface of the globe, but so many smaller lakes and mo- The Antarctic archipelago, or Antarctic lands, rasses, that their enumeration is almost impossi- under which denomination we include all the ble. These lakes form a most important fea-islands situated beyond 56° S. lat.,next claims attenture in the physical geography of the new world. tion. The greater part of these islands have been In the rainy season, several of them overflow recently discovered; they are all uninhabited, are their banks; and temporary communications are mostly covered with ice, and are important only then established between rivers whose embou- to whale and seal fishers. The most remarkchures are frequently at immense distances from able islands and groups are, the Island of each other. Some of these communications are St. Peter, called by Cook, S. Georgia; the archipermanent; as, for instance, that of the Mississippi pelago of Sandwich, the Orkneys, S. Shetor Churchill with the Mackenzie River. The land, Trinity Island, the small islands of Alexgreat lakes of N. America are, Lake Superior, ander I. and Peter I.; being at present the most Michigan, Huron, St. Clair, Erie, and Ontario. southerly of the known parts of the world. These, which are all connected together, dis- The Pacific Ocean has also a multitude of islands, charge their superfluous waters by the St. Law. lying in groups, of which we can only notice the rence, and form that vast reservoir of fresh water, following: the archipelago of Madre de Dios, sometimes called the sea of Canada. (See the on the W. coast of Patagonia; the Campana titles for a full description of these lakes.) The and Madre de Dios are the largest of these next in size and importance are Lakes Winnipeg, islands: the archipelago of Chiloe, situated to the Athabasco, Great Slave Lake, and Great Bear S. of Chili, to which it belongs, and of which Lake, stretching N. N. W. from Lake Superior Chiloe Island is the largest: the archipelago of to near the mouth of the Mackenzie River, and Gallopagos, situated under the equator, about forming as it were a continuation of the Canadian 500 m. W. from the coast of Columbia, but lakes. There are some considerable lakes in the which has no stationary inhabitants: the archiMexican states; and the comparatively small pelago of Quadra and Vancouver, comprising a |