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MEXICO, aULF OF. 



MICHIGAN. 



798 



boats, which bring them over the lake of Tezcuoo ; but it depends, 

 especially for regetables, of which vast quantities are consumed, on 

 the supply by the canal of Iztapalapan, which leads from the lake of 

 Xoehimilco to the town. This canal is narrow, but always covered 

 with small canoes loaded with fruits and vegetables : it passes through 

 the ' cbinampas,' or floating gardens, which in their present state are 

 long narrow strips of well-cultivated ground, redeemed from the sur- 

 ronnding swamp, and intersected by small canals. It is stated that 

 they originally consisted of wooden rafts, covered with earth, and 

 floated about in the lake when it was full of water, whence their name 

 is derived. At present they are all stationary, but there are still 

 some floating gardens in the lake of Xoehimilco. 



The manufactures are not important, except those of plate and 

 tobacco, which latter is carried on for the benefit of the government, 

 as in every part of the republic Gold lace is alsa made. There are 

 also a few manufactories of soap, cotton and woollen cloths, coaches, 

 and hats ; but by far the greater part of the manufactured goods f )r 

 the consumption of the inhabitants is imported from Europe ; silk 

 stuffs, and especially stockings, are brought from China. The com- 

 merce of Mexico is limited to the importation of these foreign goods, 

 and to the exportation of the produce of the mines. The city owes 

 its present importance to the circumstance of being the seat of govern- 

 ment, and the residence of the president of Mexico and of a great 

 number of very wealthy individuals. 



The moat remarkable object in the environs of Mexico is the palace 

 of Chapol tepee, which is built on a rock, to the foot of which the 

 water of the hie of Tezcuco extended at the time of the conquest by 

 Cortes (1521). The palace, which was built by one of the viceroys of 

 Mexico, is properly a fortress ; bat it is now in a very dilapidated 

 state. 



MEXICO, GULF OF, is a mediterranean sea, tmited by numerous 

 ■traits with the Atlantic, from which it is separated by a row of 

 islands and widely extended banks. The long chain of the Antilles 

 forms its eastern boundary between 10* and 20° N. lat, and several 

 small banks, with the Great and Little Bahama Bank, extend along it 

 from 20° to 26° If. lat. It is divided from the Pacific Ocean by the 

 Mexican isthmus, which unites the two Americas. The length of the 

 whole se.t, from east-south-east to west-north-west, is not much short 

 of 3000 miles. It is divided into two portions by the island of Cuba, 

 which lies across the sea from east to west. Of these portions the 

 southern in modem times has obtained the name uf the Caribbean 

 Sea, whilst that of the Gulf of Mexico haa been limited to the northern 

 portion. 



The Caribbean Sea, which extends from east to west nearly 2000 

 miles, or the distance from the British Islands across the Atlantic to 

 NewfoundUnd, with an wrenga breadth of leas than 500 miles, is free 

 from rocks and dangers to navigation between the Lesser Antilles and 

 80° W. long., except along the coast of Venezuela, whore there are 

 numerous steep rocks and islands which extend westward to 70°. 

 West of 80°, and indeed from the innermost recess of the Gulf of 

 Darien, the coast is lined by numerous reefs and low wooded islands, 

 called ' keys,' which in the Mosquito Gulf and the Bay of Honduras 

 increase in number, and render navigation more intricate and 

 dangerous. 



The Gu>f of Mexico, at the northern portion of the mediterranean, 

 is united to the Caribbean Sea by a strait about 120 miles wide, which 

 is formed by Cape San Antonio, the most western extremity of the 

 island of Cuba, and Cape Catoche, the most northern point of the 

 peninsula of Yucatan. The length of the Gulf, from Cape Sable in 

 Florida to the eastern coast of Mexico^ is more than 1000 miles, and 

 its breadth towards the west more than 700 miles ; but between 

 Tucatan and Cuba, on the south, and the shores of Ix>ui8iana and 

 Alabama, on the north, it does not exceed 650 miles. Shoals and 

 small islands are rare within the body of the sea, and occtir only along 

 the northern coast of the island of Cuba and along the peninsula of 

 Yucatan. Along the coast of Mexico the soundings are very regular, 

 beginning at a distance of about 30 miles with 100 fathoms, and 

 decreasing gradually as we approach the shores. At the eastern 

 extremity, where the gulf terminates in the old Bahama Channel and 

 Florida Strait, the navigation is rendered very intricate by the Florida 

 Reef,,the Key Sal Bank, the Great Bahama Bank, and the numerous 

 keys, shoals, and islets which surround the northern coast of Cuba. 



The eastern trade-winds prevail in this sea during the summer from 

 May to November, and on its eastern border along the islands all the 

 year round. But along the const of Venezuela and the shores of the 

 Mexican isthmus the winds are subject to a regular change from 

 November to April In the Caribbean Sea calms and light winds 

 succeed the trade-winds in November until the month of December, 

 when the wind settles in the north-west, and varies only to the north 

 up to the month of April. This wind blows in violent gusts and is 

 attended with rain, but does not appear to extend beyond 12° 30' 

 N. lat., to the north of which parallel the trade-wind always blows. 

 Calms and light aire in April indicate the change of the wind, which 

 soon settles in north-east and east In the Gulf of Mexico the NorUt, 

 or northern gales, are mach dreaded by navigators. They begin in 

 September or October, and become prevalent in November : they 

 blow with the greatest force in Mftrcb, and sometimes last to the 

 montii of April 



The currents in this sea are mostly independent of this change of 

 winds. A strong current sets into the Caribbean Sea from the 

 Atlantic; and one still stronger is met with along the coasts of 

 Venezuela and New Granada : it runs westward the whole year 

 round as far as the Gulf of Venezuela, but west of that bay only from 

 May to November. When the easterly wind ceases in November the 

 currents begin to mn to the westward some days before the north- 

 west winds come on, and continue to flow in that direction to the 

 mouth of April. But in the Gulf of Darien, the most southern corner 

 of the Caribbean Sea, the order of the currents is inverted ; they run 

 westward from December to April, and eastward from May to 

 November, These currents extend only about 21 or 30 miles from 

 the shores, and in the body of the sea they are always westerly, and 

 commonly we.ik, except in January and February, when they run 

 with great force. Along the shores of Mexico, and at a considerable 

 distance from them, no current is met with, except when the northers 

 blow, when a strong southerly current runs along the shores ; and to 

 this circumstance is ascribed the formation of the numerous long- 

 extended islands which line these shores, as also the bars which lie 

 before the embouchures of the rivers. Near the mouth of the Missis- 

 sippi River the northern current turns eastward, and afterwards to 

 the south-east. At the western extremity of Florida Reef the current 

 divides : the greater portion of the water, turning eastward, forms 

 the Gulf Stream ; while the remainder, running westward along the 

 reefs called the Colorados, winds about Capa S&n Antonio aud Cape 

 Corrientes, and returns to the Caribbean Sea. The Gulf Stream carries 

 the water back to the Atlantic. [Atlastic Ocean.] 



The Mexican Gulf may be entered by vessels through all the straits 

 which divide the Lesser Antilles from one another ; but navigators 

 prefer the straits between Trinidad and Grenada, and between San 

 Vincent and Santa Lucia, when they sail to the northern coast of South 

 America. 



The Gulf of Mexico is remarkable for the high temperature of its 

 waters. It raises the thermometer to 86°, while in the Atlantic, 

 between the same parallels, the water does not exceed 77° or 78°. In 

 the centre of this sea, between the northern coast of Yucatan and 

 the shores of Louisiana, great quantities , of Facut nutans, or gulf- 

 weed, are met with, extending in parallel lines from south-south-east 

 to north-north-west. 



MEXIMIEUX. [Al.N.] 

 MEY.MAC. [CoHRtzE] 

 MEYS3AC. [CoBBftZE.] 

 MEZEL. [AXPES, Basses.] 

 MEZlfeUES. [Abdeskis; Ikdrb.] 

 MGLIN. [CzEBSiooF.] 

 MHEYSIR. [HiSDOTTAS.] 

 MI.\Mr, [Ohio.] 



MICHAEL'S, ST. [Azores; Mabaziok.] 



MICHIGAN, one of the most northern of the United States of 

 North America, extends between 41° 50' and 48° N. lat. ; 82° 25' and 

 90° 34' W. long. It is bounded E., N.E,, and N. by Canada, from 

 which it is separated by lakes Erie, Huron, aud Superior, with their 

 connecting clianuels; N.W. by the territory of Minnesota, from which 

 it is divided by the Montreal and Monomonie rivers ; W. by the state 

 of Wisconsin ; S.W. by that of Illinois, from which it is separated by 

 Lake Michigan ; aud S. by the states of Indiana aud Ohio. The area 

 is 56,213 square miles, or about 2000 square miles less than that of 

 England and Wales. The population in 1850 was 397,654 (of whom 

 2583 were free-coloured persons), or 7'07 to the square mile. The 

 inhabitants being all free the federal representative population is the 

 same as the entire population in 1850; this, according to the present 

 ratio of representation, entitles the state to send four representatives 

 to Congress. To the Senate, like each of the other states, Michigan 

 sends two members. 



Surface, Hydrography, <tc. — The surface of the state consists of two 

 peninsulas — a southern and larger one — forming Michigan proper, 

 which lies between lakes Michigan, Hui'on, and a small portion of 

 Erie; and a northern one, lying between lakes Michigan and Superior, 

 and forming what is generally known as Northern Michigau. The 

 lake coast-line is said to be upwards of 1400 miles in length. 



The southern peninsula, or Michigan proper, has not a very diver- 

 sified surface. 'The eastern side is level. The western coast exhibits 

 some bold cliffs. The interior forms a plain generally level, but in 

 some districts undulating or intersected with low hills. This tract is 

 probably about 200 feet above the lakes, and the surface of the lakes 

 is nearly 600 feet above the sea-level. The highest land travei-ses the 

 peninsula towards its southern extremity in a south-west and north- 

 east direction, and terminates on the east of Saginaw Bay with 

 the smaller peninsula of Sanilac. The surface of this part is more 

 undulating than other parts, and intersected by a great number of 

 small lakes. The slope of this high land towards the lakes Erie and 

 St. Clair, and the straits of Detroit and St. Clair, is long and hardly 

 perceptible. This is probably the most fertile district of the country ; 

 it contains little prairie land, except on the alluvial tracts near the 

 mouths of the rivers and along the lakes, which are in some parts 

 marshy but fertile. Nearly the whole of the remainder of the country 

 is covered with trees of a heavy growth ; but the peninsula of Salinao 

 has a poor fMQ and is mostly sandy. The northern part of the psnin- 



