AMERICA AMERICAN COMPANY. 



137 



abundance of copper, quicksilver, iron, antimony, 

 sulphur, nitre, lead, loads-tone, and marbles of every 

 sort. It has various kinds of precious stones, as 

 diamonds, rubies, emeralds, amethysts, alabaster, &c. 

 The inhabitants may be divided into three classes, 

 /Writes, Negroes, and Indiatis. The whites are de- 

 scendants of Europeans, who have migrated to A. 

 sir.oe its discovery. The Negroes are mostly held 

 in slavery, and are descendents of Africans, forced 

 from their native country. The Indians are the 

 aborigines, and generally savages. They are of 

 copper complexion, fierce aspect, tall, straight, 

 athletic, and capable of enduring great fatigue. 

 They are hospitable and g.enerous, faithful in their 

 friendships, but implacable in their resentments. 

 Their common occupations are hunting, fishing, and 

 war. At the time of the discovery of America, the 

 natives, in some parts, particularly Mexico and 

 Peru, were considerably advanced hi civilization. 

 For the most part, they continue a distinct people, 

 and retain their savage customs ; but, in some in- 

 stances, they have mingled with the white popula- 

 tion. The Indians still occupy the greater part of 

 America. In North America, they possess almost 

 all the country, except the southern and eastern 

 parts ; that is, the northern part of Spanish America, 

 most of the territory of the United States which lies 

 west of the Mississippi, and nearly all the vast re- 

 gions which lie north of the United States' territory, 

 and west of the St Lawrence. In South America, 

 they possess Patagonia, and most of the interior of 

 the continent. The whites, who are descended from 

 Spanish, Portuguese, British, French, Dutch, 

 Danish, German, and Russian colonists, are esti- 

 mated, by Humboldt, at . . 13,500,000 



Indians 8,600,000 



Negroes 6,500,000 



Mixed races .... 6,500,000 



The whole amount is over thirty-five millions ; 

 some think there are forty millions of inhabitants ; 

 but there is yet space and fertile soil for more than 

 500 millions. A great part of the Indians are sub- 

 dued, and are included in the population of Mexico, 

 Guatimala, and the states of South America. The 

 numbers of those who speak the different languages 

 made use of in A., are thus distributed : 



English language . . . 11,647,000 



Spanish 10,174,000 



Portuguese .... 3,740,000 

 Indian languages . . . 7,593,000 

 French language . . . 1,242,000 



Dutch, Danish, Swedish, and 



Russian .... 216,000 

 See Carey and Lea's Historical, Chronological, and 

 Geographical American Atlas, &c., Philadelphia, 

 1825, fol. See also the different names mentioned 

 in this article. 



AMERICA, Geology of. The great leading fea- 

 tures in the structure of the new world are, 1st. 

 The continuous belt of high mountains and plateaus 

 traversing its western border, from Behring's straits 

 to Terra del Fuego, forming the most uninterrupted 

 extent of primitive mountains known. Their north- 

 ern portion, consisting of the Rocky mountains, ap- 

 jieiirs to be chiefly granitic, while, in the Cordilleras 

 of Mexico, and the Andes of South America, the 

 primitive strata are, for the most part, covered with 

 immense accumulations of transition porphyries, 

 trachytes, and lavas, forming numerous volcanoes, 

 many of which are in constant activity. 2dly. The 

 wide expanse of low and generally plain country, 

 that succeeds immediately on the west to the above- 

 mentioned zone of mountains, and through which, 

 in both hemispheres, flow some of the most magni- 

 ficent streams in the world. This region consists of 



immense deposits of newer rocks, over which is 

 strewed every where, as with a mantle, the alluvial 

 formation, or a covering of sand and gravel, with 

 which are intermingled rolled masses of rocks. 3dly. 

 The chain of mountains of lower elevation and in- 

 ferior continuity, which forms the eastern boundary 

 to the low country, and whose principal masses and 

 highest points are composed of granite. 4thly. The 

 clusters of islands occupy ing the seas between North 

 and South America, which are, almost without 

 exception, of a volcanic origin. The geological 

 character of A. partakes of the simplicity observable 

 in her great mountain ranges, which obey highly 

 uniform laws of arrangement, and are, in a measure, 

 free from those interruptions which occur in Europe 

 arising out of its numerous chains, whose irregular 

 and often contradictory structure it is frequently dif- 

 ficult to reconcile or explain. The two continents 

 agree in the prevailing primitive character of their 

 northern extremities, and in the prevalence of vol- 

 canoes about their equatorial and southern regions ; 

 and an investigation of their geological relations 

 affords no grounds for the common opinion, that the 

 new world is of a more recent origin than the old. 

 For a more minute account of the geology of 

 America, see North America, Mexico, and South 

 America. 



AMERICAN COMPANY, the Russian. In 1785, 

 two Russian mercantile houses, Schelikoff and 

 Golikoff, projected the formation of a regular com- 

 pany, to encourage the fur-trade of the north-west- 

 ern shore of North America. They erected forts 

 for the protection of a chain of factories on most of 

 the islands, and induced several respectable mer- 

 chants to join in their extensive and lucrative adven- 

 tures. Many cruelties against the natives were 

 charged upon the company, and the emperor Paul 

 was upon the eve of suppressing it altogether, when 

 the company pledged itself to more regular proceed- 

 ings. In 1799, it was formally established with' 

 considerable privileges. The emperor Alexander 

 took it under his particular patronage at his acces- 

 sion. The condition of the fur-collectors of the 

 company is said, however, to be still wretched in the 

 extreme, and only to be exceeded by that of the 

 oppressed Aleutians, who are, in turn, their slaves. 



AMERICANISM ; an idiom, or use of the English 

 language, peculiar to the inhabitants of the United 

 States. The deviations of the Americans from the 

 English usage, in their common language, were 

 occasionally noticed, many years ago, by some of 

 their .own writers, as well as by the critics of the 

 mother country. Among the American authors, 

 who have animadverted upon them, the most con- 

 spicuous was doctor Franklin, who was himself a 

 writer of great purity and correctness of style, and 

 who censured, in strong language, the popular 

 errors several of the states were continually falling 

 into, both with respect to " expression and pronun- 

 ciation." This remark was made forty years ago, 

 when he himself noted a few words, which, at that 

 time, he pronounced to be objectionable innovations 

 in their parliamentary language; as the verbs to 

 notice, to advocate, and to progress, the last of which 

 he condemned as " the most awkward and abominable 

 of the three. The word opposed" he adds, " though 

 noi, a new word, is used in a new manner ; as, ' the 

 gentlemen who are opposed to this measure, to 

 which I have myself been opposed?" Several other 

 American writers have remarked upon particular 

 words and expressions. The British reviewers and 

 other writers have also, until very lately, indulged 

 themselves in severe animadversions upon American 

 writers, for their occasional deviations from the 

 English standard ; though, in some instances, they 



