NORTH AMERICA. 



by which it is still historically known. In 

 1821, the Hudson Bay Company coalesced with 

 a new and powerful corporation, the North-west 

 Company of Montreal, established to secure the 

 rights of Canadian explorers over the Indian terri- 

 tories ; after which date the authority of the amal- 

 gamated companies extended from Labrador to the 

 Pacific, exclusive of the colonial settlements. In 



1869, the British government acquired pos- 

 session of the domains of the Company ; and in 



1870, the region entered the Dominion of Canada. 

 In 1882, the best part of the North-west Territory 

 was divided into the provinces of Assiniboia, 

 Saskatchewan, Alberta, and Athabasca. 



NEWFOUNDLAND. 



This colony the only part of British North 

 America which has not yet (1886) entered the 

 Dominion of Canada consists of the large island 

 of Newfoundland, the island of Anticosti, and the 

 coast of Labrador on the mainland. The island 

 of Newfoundland, the area of which is estimated 

 at 40,000 square miles, is separated from Labrador 

 by the Strait of Belleisle, twelve miles wide. Its 

 greatest length is about 370 miles, its greatest 

 breadth 290 miles. It is extremely irregular in 

 shape ; the coasts are bold and lofty, and are 

 deeply indented with spacious bays and estuaries. 

 The surface is hilly and rugged, with numerous 

 tracts of moss, intersected by rivers and lakes, or 

 ' ponds,' as they are here called. As seen from 

 the sea, it presents a wild and sterile appearance. 

 It is but thinly wooded, except near the rivers. 

 The settlements are confined to the coasts, and 

 are chiefly on the peninsula of Avalon, at the 

 south-east of the island. Here, wheat, oats, barley, 

 potatoes, turnips, have been produced of the best 

 quality. The island is rich in useful minerals, 

 and lead, silver, and copper mines are being 

 worked, but. the results are still small. The 

 atmosphere is humid, and subject to dense fogs, 

 but is, notwithstanding, more salubrious than any 

 part of the continent. Fishing is the great object 

 of industry ; and the exports consist almost solely 

 of dried and pickled cod, seal, cod, and whale oil, 

 seal-skins, herrings, sprats, and salmon. The 

 fisheries are of two kinds the ' shore ' fishery, 

 and the 'bank' fishery. The former comprises 

 the bays and coasts of Newfoundland ; the latter, 

 a great tract, known as the Banks of Newfound- 

 land, from 500 to 600 miles in length, and about 

 200 miles in breadth. These banks form a vast 

 submarine plateau, from 20 to 100 fathoms under 

 the surface of the ocean. In 1881, the value of 

 the exports to Great Britain, chiefly fish and train- 

 oil, amounted to ^595, 500 ; and of the imports 

 from the same country, to ,451,230. 



The administration of the colony is vested in a 

 governor, with executive and legislative councils, 

 and a House of Assembly. The capital, St John's, 

 is situated on the peninsula of Avalon, with a 

 population of 30,000, and a well-protected har- 

 bour. The whole population of the island, accord- 

 ing to the census of 1884, amounted to 196,411. 

 The French have a small establishment on the 

 islands of St Pierre and Miquelon, as a shelter 

 for their fishermen ; and they are allowed to catch 

 and dry fish on the north-east and west coasts of 

 the main island. 



UNITED STATES. 



These States occupy the middle division of the 

 continent, and are bounded on the north by British 

 America ; east, by the Atlantic ; south, by the Gulf 

 and Republic of Mexico ; and west, by the Pacific. 

 They extend from lat. 24 20' to 49 north, and 

 from long. 66 56' to 124 30' west ; the greatest 

 length being 2768 miles, and greatest breadth 

 about 1600. The area is about 3,607,600 square 

 miles, and the population in 1880 was 50,442,066. 

 The length of coast-line is stated at about 22,600 

 miles. 



The United States were originally British 

 colonies, but in 1776 declared themselves inde- 

 pendent. At that time, the territory extended 

 only from the Atlantic to the Mississippi ; all the 

 country to the west of that river belonged to or 

 was claimed by France ; Florida, to Spain ; and 

 Texas, to the Mexican Confederation. In 1803, 

 the French territory was added by purchase ; in 

 1819, Florida was ceded in compensation for 

 spoliations on American commerce ; in 1845, 

 Texas which had revolted from Mexico in 1835, 

 and erected itself into an independent republic 

 became part of the Union by annexation ; in 1846, 

 a large accession of territory was gained by the 

 Oregon treaty with Great Britain; and in 1848, 

 California and other tracts were ceded by Mexico. 

 In 1861, a civil war broke out between the 

 free and the slave-holding States. It lasted for 

 four years, ending in the complete defeat of the 

 latter, and in the formal abolition of the insti- 

 tution of slavery. The only states in the con- 

 federation at its first formation were the following 

 thirteen, the others having been formed since : 

 New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, 

 Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsyl- 

 vania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Caro- 

 lina, South Carolina, and Georgia. 



When a new tract of country is first settled, it 

 is administered as a territory, under the direction 

 of the federal government, until it is organised 

 and admitted as an independent state. The size 

 of the states and territories may be realised from 

 the fact that one of them, Texas, is considerably 

 larger in area than the Austro-Hungarian Empire ; 

 while four others are each larger than the United 

 Kingdom. 



Population. 



No other country has been peopled by so many 

 European races. New England was settled by 

 English Puritans ; New York, by the Dutch ; 

 Pennsylvania, by Swedes, and by English and 

 German Friends or Quakers ; Maryland, by Eng- 

 lish Roman Catholics ; Delaware and New Jersey, 

 by Dutch, Swedes, and English; Virginia, by 

 English Cavaliers ; the Carolinas, in part by 

 French Huguenots ; Louisiana and Michigan, by 

 the French; Florida, Texas, and California, by 

 Spaniards ; Utah, by Mormon immigrants from 

 all quarters. But of late years the stream of 

 immigration from Germany, Ireland, England, 

 Sweden, Scotland, Switzerland, Denmark, and 

 Norway, has been so great, that representatives 

 of the different nationalities are found scattered 

 over the whole territory of the Union especially 

 in the new western states. In 1882, the total 



315 



