NORTH AMERICAN. 183 



and Melinda and Magadoxa, in the north. All of these states are 

 named from their chief towns ; but Magadoxa, is the chief place of 

 trade, supplying ivory, myrrh, and frankincense. The name Somau- 

 lia, may be applied to the remaining eastern coast of Africa, extend- 

 ing from Magadoxa to Cape Guardafui, and thence to Abyssinia. It 

 comprises Ajan, in the south-east : and Berbora, and Adel, in the 

 north and north-west. Berbora, is so named from its chief town ; 

 and Zeyla, in Adel, on the straits of Babelmandel, is also a place 

 of trade. The Somaulies, on the coast, and the Gallas, in the inte- 

 rior, are the leading native tribes ; in a very savage state. 



6. The African Islands, are numerous, but subject mostly to 

 European powers. Madagascar, the largest, is inhabited by Arabs, 

 Malays, and Negroes ; and divided into several small states. Tana- 

 narivou, the capital of Imerina, in the central part, is probably the 

 largest town. Of the adjacent islands, Mauritius, on the east, and 

 the Almirante, and Seychelle Islands, to the north-east, belong to 

 Great Britain ; but Bourbon, near Mauritius, belongs to France. That 

 part of the Indian Ocean, which surrounds these islands, is known 

 as the Ethiopian Archipelago. Of the islands west of Africa, the 

 Canaries belong to Spain; Santa Cruz, on Teneriffe, being their 

 chief town. The Azores or Western Islands, the Madeiras, the 

 Cape Verdes, St. Matthews, and Ascension, belong to Portugal ; 

 and St. Helena, to the British. 



CHAPTER IV. 



NORTH AMERICAN GEOGRAPHY. 



NORTH America, colonized chiefly by the English, and Spaniards, 

 now ranks next to Europe, in civilization, science, and improve- 

 ments. It was unknown to the civilized world, until comparatively 

 recent times. Greenland, was discovered by the Icelanders, as early 

 as A. D. 982 ; and either Newfoundland or New England, appears 

 to have been discovered by Biorn, (or Bjorn), a Norwegian, in 1002, 

 under the name of Finland, or wine-land. It is also supposed that 

 the brothers Zeno, (the Zeni), of Venice, discovered the same 

 region, which they called Estotiland, in 1390 ; but still, the ex- 

 istence of a western continent was not believed in, by the civilized 

 world, until Christopher Columbus, of Genoa, under Spanish 

 patronage, discovered Guanahani, since called St. Salvador, or Cat 

 Island, one of the Bahamas, in 1492. In the same year, he disco- 

 vered Cuba and St. Domingo : in his second voyage, Jamaica ; and 

 in his third voyage, in 1497, he discovered Trinidad, and the con- 

 tiguous coast of South America ; of which we are again to speak. 



In the year last mentioned, 1497, John Cabot, and his son Sebas- 

 tian, sent by Henry VII. of England, in search of a north-west 

 passage to India, discovered Nova Scotia and Newfoundland ; and 

 the latter, in a second voyage, in 1498, coasted southward as far as 



