203 



HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE. 



Part I. 



1?2 



minable forests, and its 

 immense river is well 

 known. The soil of a 

 small settlement formed 

 by the Portuguese is 

 very fertile, and pro- 

 duces corn, grain, and 

 all kinds of tropical 

 fruits ; besides a variety 

 of timber, as cedar, brazil 

 wood, oak, ebony, iron 

 wood, logwood, and 

 other dyeing woods ; - 

 and also cocoa, tobacco, 

 sugar canes, cotton, cassava root, potatoes, yams, sarsaparilla, gums, raisins, balsams of 

 various sorts, pine-apples, guavas, bananas, &c. The forests abound with wild honey. 



173 



C^^ 



and also with tigers, wild boars, buffaloes, and cavies ; while the true Amazonian parrot, 



Avith a green plumage and pale yellow front (^g. 174.), is found in vast flocks, and 



annually exported to all parts of Europe. The rivers and 



lakes afford an ample supply of fish, manattas, and mud- ^^4 



tortoises ; but the alligators and water serpents render fishing 



a dangerous employment. The trees, fields, and plants are 



verdant throughout the year. 



1245. Patagonia consists mostly of open deserts and savannas, 

 with a few willows on the rivers. It seems to enjoy a tem- 

 perate but rather cool climate ; but, separated in the middle by 

 the vast mountains of the Andes, one part of it differs widely 

 from the other. Northward of La Plata, this part of South 

 America is covered with wood, and stored with an inexhaustible 

 fund of large timber: but, southward of that river, there is 

 scarcely a tree or shrub fit for any mechanical purpose ; yet 

 even this seemingly barren country has some good pastures. 

 There are numerous droves of wild horned cattle, and abun- 

 dance of horses, both originally introduced by the Spaniards. 



1246. Of the South American islands, that of Juan Fernandes abounds in pasture, cattle, 

 and woods ; and Terra del Fuego, amidst its horrible snows, exhibits a variety of plants. 

 The Falkland Islands contain number of fowls and plants, somewhat resembling those 

 of Canada. Georgia is a field of ice, in which, or in any of the other islands, there is no 

 cultivation whatever. 



BOOK II. 



AGRICULTURE AS INFLUENCED BY 



GEOGRAPHICAL, PHYSICAL, 

 CIRCUMSTANCES. 



CIVIL, AND POLITICAL 



1 247. Agriculture, considered with regard to climate, territorial surface, and soaety, presents 

 some features which it may be instructive to contemplate. Whoever has perused with 

 attention the outline which we have now concluded of the field culture of the different 

 nations of the world, must have a general and enlarged view of that art ; and must ne- 

 cessarily have observed that there are different species of territorial culture, founded on 

 difference of geographical position or climate, difference of physical circumstances or 

 surface, and difference of civilisation or human wants. The object of the present Book 

 is to characterise these different species, and to refer to them the proper districts through- 

 out the world. 



