GENERAL VIEWS OF THE GLOBE. 



57 



Korthtrn Coast. 



prises most of the small islands of the Pacific with the American continent. The distribution 

 of land and water is not less unequal in this than in the former division. Thus we have 



Water. Land. 



In the Eastern Hemisphere, 320 parts. 186 parts. 



In the Western Hemisphere, 414 " 80 " 



Another striking circumstance in the conformation of the two continents, is the different 

 disposition of the land in each. In the old continent, the principal extension is to the west and 

 east, the breadth from north to south being comparatively inconsiderable, particularly if we leave 

 out the southern tongue of Africa ; in the new, the great extension is from north to south. 



In the former, we may draw continuous straight lines over land of great extent, but in 

 the latter, in order to draw lines of mucJi length, it will be necessary to make them winding. 

 Thus a straight line from the Gulf of Guinea to the northwestern coast of Siberia is 9,000 

 miles in length ; the longest straight line we can draw on the new continent is from Cumana to 

 Terra del Fuego, 5,400 miles. Conformable to this general extension of the lane}, is th 



direction of the great 

 mountain chains in the 

 two hemispheres. The 

 Rocky Mountains, the 

 Cordilleras, and the An- 

 des, stretch north and 

 south ; while starting 

 with the Pyrenees and 

 the Alps in Europe, we 

 may follow an almost un- 

 broken chain of lofty 

 mountains, comprising the 

 Tauro-Caucasian, Hima- 

 laya, and other Asiatic 

 chains, to the shores of 

 the Pacific ocean. Even 

 the direction of the small- 

 er portions of both con- 

 tinents, as their islands 

 and peninsulas, nearly 

 coincides with the general 

 course of the great moun- 

 tain chains. 



We shall now proceed 

 to describe the different 

 countries and states of 

 the globe under the fol- 

 lowing heads and in the 

 following order ; 



Western Hemisphere. 



1. North America. — 2. West Indies. — 3. South America. — 4. Europe. — 5. Africa- 

 — 6. Asia. — 7. Oceanica. 



Giving first a general description of each division, sketching its physical and political features, 

 and pointing out its minerals, plants, animals, and inhabitants, we shall then pass to a more 

 particular consideration of the separate parts of which it consists. 



8 



