143 



The total population of the Archipelago of the West 

 Indies is probably not less than two millions and a half, al- 

 though the particular distribution of this population amid 

 the different groupes of islands may admit some changes on 

 farther inquiry. These verifications are especially requisite 

 for the free inhabitants of the English islands, the Spanish 

 part of the republic of Hayti, and Portorico. 



B. AREA. 



It is almost superfluous to relate the precautions, that 

 Mr. Mathieu and myself employed in the calculation of sur- 

 faces, either by decomposing the irregular figures of the 

 new states into appropriate trapeziums and triangles, mea- 

 suring the sinuosities of the exterior limits by means of 

 small squares traced on transparent paper, or rectifying 

 maps on a large scale. Notwithstanding these precautions, 

 operations of this kind may yield very different results ; first, 

 because the maps used for this purpose may have been con - 

 structed on astronomical data that are not equally precise ; 

 secondly, according as the frontiers are traced conformably 

 to the various pretensions of bordering states ; thirdly, ac- 

 cording as, admitting the legality of the limits, and that 

 they have been astronomically determined with sufficient 

 precision, we exclude from the estimation of the area the 

 countries that are entirely uninhabited, or occupied by savage 

 nations. It may be conceived, that the first cause chiefly 

 affects the superficial measurement, where the frontiers 

 stretch, as for instance in Peru, along the Cordilleras from 

 north to south. Errors in longitude are known to be in 

 general more frequent and greater than those in latitude ; 

 the latter, however, would lead to vary the area of the re- 

 public of Columbia more than 4600 square leagues, if we 

 were to suppose * as heretofore, on the southern frontier of 



* See above, vol. v, p. 414., and note F at the end of 

 die 9th Book, 



