vv.t U ^ 



AMERICA. 



IN 



proeeedinc & north to Moth, we have BaBn'i Bay and Hudson'* 

 K.T : the Utter, kind of inland larger than the Bartfc, runs AM- 

 Co th* OM of the land, end tend* to break the continuity of the 

 MM* breadth of UM continent Devi*'. Stniit and llaffin'i Bay, 

 wtth U. ley Ocean, may bo oon*id*r*d a. MpwmUnc Greenland and 

 lit* polar land* (tool the American continent, to which Greenland can 

 J37b. conUrl a. Wonging. 111. Bay of 8t Lawr>oa, and 



the great river iu.lf. with th. chain of en 

 nuuuaf ftv into the inUhor. form one of the 

 IM* continent, and on* whioh *z*rei*es a m< 



I I ft 



fresh-water lake. 



: 



mort powerful Influence on 



** *ad iU eanabitttie* a> a habitation for man Hudson'. Bsy 

 the Atlantic and Gulf of 81. Uwrenoe bound on three lidee the 

 L of Labrador. The mort southern 

 . Cod, the Unnination 



marking the opening and the limit, of a great gulf, of 

 which the Bey of Kun.ly i. h funnel formed termination. The coast 

 of Amerioa. between the Bay of Knndy and the O.ilf of Mexico, ii not 

 marked by any very considerable indentation, except the Cheeapake 

 Bar. which run* from couth to north about 180 miles, with an average 

 breadth of about UmUea. Cape Battens, in North Carolina, mar be 



point of thepsninsuU of Nova Sootis, with Cape Ood, the ten 

 of th* mo* eastern projection of the State of Massachusetts 

 Mlwin'srerl a. marking the opening and the limit* of a grca! 



in connection with Cape Florida to the eouth, and Cape 

 Cod and the aatha point of Nova Scotia, a* dividing the Atlantic 

 coast south of the St Lawrence into three great division*. Th* more 

 particular description of th* Atlantic coast south of the Bay of Fundy 

 b giveu under th* name* of the respective maritime states of the 



N :: '. 



If th* islands that in an irregular line lie stretched in front of the 

 Uulf of Mexico and the Caribbean 8m were united with one another 

 and with th* m*lnUnrl s state of things that we have no difficulty 

 to have once exieted we should have a large inland sea 

 to th* Mediterranean. If it be doubted whether this aea 



like the Mediterranean, we cannot doubt that the 

 i which now line its eastern limits have been hacked and broken 

 into -mnn-r piece, by th* action of th* ocean. Between 10* N. 1st., 

 which i* Mar th* island of Trinidad, and U* N. Ut (th* southern 

 mUsnwIj of Florida), we nnd the eastern limits of thi* great inland 

 sea ; but as we advance into it toward* the west we And it scooped 

 out into various basins, each of which has Us peculiar winds and 

 cnrrmts. The Oulf of Mexico i* on the north-west ; and on the couth, 

 th* Oulf of Honduras and th* Caribbean Sea, comprehending the Bay 

 of Darien and th* deep indentation* of the northern coast of South 

 America The archipelago which th* great inland sea of the Americas 

 present*, is one of the most extensive and interesting in the world. 

 The Oulf of Mexico, hemmed in by the peninsulas of Florida and 

 Timlin, and by the western aid* of the island of Cuba, U the most 

 important part of this inland sea. 



The wsatnn meat of North America present* no very deep and 

 extensive jiirtsnlaHom of the coast as we advance northward from 

 th* Bay of Panama, till we come to the immense Onlf of California, 

 about 100 mile, in length, and from 60 to 80 mile* in average width, 

 firmed by th* mainland and th* long narrow peninsuU of California. 

 The only indentation* worth notice thence to 60 N. Ut, are the fine 

 bay of San Francisco and th* sounds about Vancouver Island, 

 i this Wand and o N. Ut th* west coast of North America is 

 nregular, pumillu*,' a great number of ialand*, some of 

 extent, and forming with the mainland numerous bays 

 Farther north we And between Cook'* Inlet and Prince 

 r* sound an extensive peninsnU running about 200 miles from 

 and west of thi. the still more remarkable 

 of Allaska, running in a similar direction for 

 doable th* rilstane* Both thaw peninsula, have steep rocky 

 with ialand. and ruck*. Th* strait* which take their 

 th* navigator Behrinc separate Asia from America by a 

 >nel of about 48 miles in wi 



America ha* th* form of an 



irregular triangle, of which we may name a* the three point*, the 

 Isthmus of Panama, Cape 8t Roque (not strictly the most eastern 

 point), * 2*' a lat. *F W W/W,., and the iriand of Cape Horn, 

 irilat.dT'JO'W.loef. 



Th* great extent of It* Mi **a*> i* determined by M* psnuuular 

 lorm. and mthia, a. w.n a* in the absme* of all very great indentations 

 of th* ocean, it ines.nM sora* resembUaes to Africa; but it also 

 pfiimUth* stotkn^ eontras* of more eontinuon* and elevated moun 

 ill In, nnd a more complete development of It* w.toMywtem 

 The .stoat of coast that it offers to the Caribbean 8ea and the 

 Atlantic is roughly estimate.! at about 10,000 miles ; the coast washed 

 by the Paeifto is about MOO miles. Th* extreme eonthern point, of 



: . , v ........ ! . . ,. .. . 



iast nn the Pacifie, bear some 



nixlHrtudded with ahMet innumerable 

 > eitent, eepsrate*' by oonntle** channels. 

 *. far north a* th* Chiloe Archipelago, 



48' 8. lat. South of the lat of 40* 8. it i* remarked that the mountain* 

 proa* close on th* shore, instead of leaving a space between their base 

 and th* ocean, as is ths.oase in the parallel north of 40* 8. Th* sea 

 thus Insinuate* iteslf within the mountain., detaches island mis.nl. 

 and makes many deep creeks, somewhat renembling the fiord, on the 

 ooait of Norway. The rest of the coast of South America preesnts no 

 indentation, that require a notice in this general sketch, except the 

 great bend that take* place about the latitude of th* Lake Titicaca, 

 oorrasponding to a change in the direction of the Andes ; the Uulf 

 of Ouayaquil ; and the Bay of Panama. 



IfewWoww, Jttswr*, Aunu, *<., of fforlk Amtriea. The mountain 

 sjsliim of th* Americas in remarkable for presenting the longest line 

 of elevated surface in the world. The Andes, which may be traced 

 from the extreme rocky island, forming part of the system of Tierra 

 del Fuegu, run along the western side of the continent at a compara- 

 tively short distance from the coast [Avon.] Though this chain 

 experiences two depressions in the IsthnniH of Panama, another chain, 

 perhaps a continuation, immediately rises again and continues its 

 course between the Caribbean 8ea and the Pacific, .preading out in 

 Mexico into extensive Uble-lands crowned by elevated volcanic peaks, 

 and continuing in it. main line a general north mirth-went course, at a 

 much greater distance from the Pacific than the Andes of S 

 America. The part of this range within the limit, of the United 

 States is known by the name of the Rooky Mountains, and in the 

 North-Wast Territory is sometime* called the Chippewyan Range. 

 The termination of this range is at the Froxen Ocean on the west side 

 of the Mackenzie River ; above SO* N. lat the elevation i* not con- 

 siderable. Its whole length is not lee* than 8700 miles. The chain 

 which extend* from the table-land of Mexico doe. not run northward 

 in a line so regular as the Ande* of the southern continent About 

 82 N. lat it divide* into several branches. The most easterly branch, 

 whioh is but of inconsiderable elevation, i* in itx northern course 

 broken through by the Rio del Norte ; it then takes a north-eastern 

 direction, forming the northern part of the province of Texas : in this 

 part of its course, it acts as the watershed between the river Sabine 

 and other small rivers that enter the Gulf of Mexico, and the minor 

 affluent* of the Rio Roxo (Red River), a tributary to the Mississippi. 

 This is the range of hills which crosses the Arkansas, and appears in 

 the state of Missouri under the name of the Ucark Mountains, runnin- 

 towards the confluence of the Missouri nnd Mississippi ; and probably 

 i-oiitiiiued beyond them at 8 slight elevation towards Lake Superior. 

 The general direction of the Ozark Mountains is parallel to that of 

 the Alleghanies. 



The main mass called the Sierra Madre, running north from the 

 plateau of Ouanaxuato to the high table-lands of New Mexico, spre.di! 

 out to a great extent east and west, and contain* several parallel 

 chains of mountains, forming longitudinal valleys like that in wlm -h 

 the Rio del Norte runs. This mountain system, in its further course, 

 separatee the Basin of the Missouri and its affluent* from the waters 

 that flow into the Oulf of California and the Pacific. Of these 

 weetern streams, the Rio Colorado, which enters the Bay of California, 

 and the Oregon or Columbia River arc the chief. From the level of 

 the Missisirippi River, as we advance westward towards tho great 

 dividing line, the country rises in irregular terraces and in plains of 

 small inclinations, so that the main mass of the Rocky Mountain* 

 does not present to the spectator any remarkable features of gnuidour, 

 at least none corresponding to its actual elevation. But between 

 86* and 42', 'there are several point* of the Rocky Mountain* always 

 covered with snow, and the mean temperature of these elevated 

 region* within the territory of the United States is very low. Long's 

 Peak Is 18,600 feet high, and Fremont's Peak 18,670 feet " From 

 the summit of the latter," says Captain Fremont, in his official report, 

 " we saw on the one aide numerous lakes and stream*, the noiiraes of 

 the Rio Colorado, which carries its waters through the Cidiforninn 

 Oulf to the South Sea; on the other, the deep valley of the Wind 

 River, where lie the source* of the Yellowstone River, one of the main 

 branches of the Miesouri, which unites with the MissisBippi at St 

 Loui*. Far to the north-west we could just discover the snowy heads 

 of tho Trois Tetons, which give rice to the true sources of the Ml.- 

 aouri, not far from the primitive stream of the Oregon or Colmnl.i i 

 River, which i* known under the name of the Snake River, or 

 Lewi. Fork. 



To the west of the Rocky Mountains there are other chains running 

 parallel with them. Between the latitude* 84* and 45 N., theaechains 

 are connected with each other by a remarkable table-land, something 

 like that of the Lake of Titioaca, and named the Great Basin by the 

 explorers. It is an unknown country of nome 180,000 square miles, 

 and, almost uninhabited, and full of salt Inkes, the largest of \vhii-li 

 I* 4220 feet above the level of the sea. None of its rivers find u 

 paaeage to the sea. The western high mountain coast clinin of tliv 

 nian maritime Alps, the Sierra Nevada de California, is wholly 

 distinct from the Rocky Mountains, which rink down as they advance 

 towards the Mackencie River. It i* prolonged northward beyond 

 the Columbia River as far as 47* N. 1st,, nnd in the Intt. r 

 contains the three lofty summit* of Mount Jefferson, Mount 

 and Mount St Helen'*, which rise upwards of 16,000 feet above the 

 sea. The general height of thi* coast range far exceeds that of tl,,. 

 Rocky Mountain*. "During an eight months' journey along these 



