10 GEOGRAPHY. 



lies between 8° and 72° of north latitude, and 55° and 188° of longitude west 

 of Greenwich. Its greatest length from Cape Lisburn in Russian America, 

 to Cape Sable in Florida, is about 4260 miles ; but a somewhat winding line, 

 extending from the Isthmus of Panama to the Arctic Ocean, west of Mack- 

 enzie River, will not fall far short of 5900 miles. Its greatest breadth be- 

 tween 62° and 74° is nearly 3000 miles. It contains about 7,400,000. square 

 statute miles. 



South America extends from 12° N. latitude to 56° S. latitude. Its great- 

 est length amounts to 4550 miles, the greatest breadth to 3200 : the area in- 

 cluded is 6,300,000 square statute miles, being thus over 1,000,000 of square 

 miles less than North America. For the sake of conciseness we shall consider 

 the entire Continent as a whole. 



The northern part of the Continent is bounded by the Arctic Ocean, and 

 the vast space between it and the Atlantic is occupied by Baffin's Bay, with 

 its strait (Davis's), and Hudson's Bay, with James Bay in its southern part, 

 and communicating with the Atlantic by Hudson's Strait. 



The principal indentations of the Atlantic Ocean are the Gulf of St. Law- 

 rence, Bay of Fundy, Massachussetts Bay, Narragansett Bay, Delaware Bay, 

 Chesapeake Bay, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Caribbean Sea, with their vari- 

 ous bays, Campeachy, Honduras, Darien, Maracaibo, &c. 



On the Pacific side we find Behring's Sea, or the Sea of Kamtschatka, be- 

 tween America and Asia, connected with the Arctic Ocean by Behring's 

 Straits ; Bay of San Francisco ; Gulf of California ; Bay of Panama ; Gult 

 of Guayaquil ; and the Straits of Magellan, separating the mainland of South 

 America from Terra del Fuego. 



We have already referred to the principal current of the Atlantic Ocean, as 

 coming from Africa, and dividing in the vicinity of Cape St. Roque, one 

 branch going north toAvards the West Indies, another south along the coast 

 of Brazil. The former passes through the channels of the lesser Antilles 

 into the Caribbean Sea. A most remarkable current, known as the Gulf 

 Stream, passes out from the Gulf of Mexico towards the north-east, and is 

 conspicuous on account of the high temperature of its waters. Among the 

 currents of the Pacific we may mention the cold Peruvian current, passing 

 along the west coast of South America, from south to north. South of Cape 

 Horn a constant current passes from west to east, from the Pacific to the 

 Atlantic Ocean. The currents of the North Pacific have not yet been satis- 

 factorily ascertained, although a constant stream is known to flow south, along 

 the coast of California. 



I. The loftiest Mountains on the continent occur in South America. Here, 

 for example, w^e find the Cordilleras, which traverse the whole of South Amer- 

 ica from north to south. The highest peak is Aconcagua in Chili (23,910 feet). 

 ChimborazO; long considered the highest mountain of America, is exceeded by 

 several other peaks ; it is about 21,424 feet high. Cayambe, near the equa- 

 tor, has an elevation of 19,535 feet ; Antisana, 19,137 ; Cotopaxi, 18,875 ; 

 Pinchincha, 15,924 ; Tunguragua, 16,424. 



II. The Brazilian Mountains, which run parallel with the coast, and bear 

 different names, as Sierra do Mar, Sierra Mantequeira, Sierra Espinhago, 



16 



