HISTORICAL SKETCH. 253 



the two continents; a large proportion of 

 which must, in the nature of things, fall 

 to the share of Great Britain, whose fa- 

 cilities of manufacture far exceed those of 

 any other nation. It is, therefore, of course 

 most material to watch the progress of 

 events in Spanish America, and through- 

 out the whole of the southern peninsula, 

 in order to be ready to derive from them 

 those advantages which, whatever course 

 th'ey may now take, they are capable of 

 producing. 



The considerations before adverted to, 

 may be more or less applied to the whole 

 extent of territory, from California to Cape 

 Horn, having for its boundaries the At- 

 lantic and Pacific Oceans ; including vast 

 tracts which are still little, if at all, known, 

 and having a population which, if increased 

 tenfold, would still be small in amount, 

 compared with the immense regions they 



