183 



There are 400 leagues from Cape Paria to the; 

 western extremity of Veragua ; and 260 from 

 CapeBurica to the mouth of Rio Tumbez. The 

 shore possessed by the republic of Columbia 

 consequently equals in length the coast from 

 Cadiz to Dantzick, or from Ceuta to Jaffa. This 

 immense resource for national industry is com- 

 bined with a degree of cultivation of which 

 the importance has not hitherto been sufficiently 

 recognized. The isthmus of Panama forms a 

 part of the territory of Columbia, and that neck 

 of land, traversed by five roads, and stocked 

 with camels, may one day serve as a portage 

 for the commerce of the world, even though 

 neither the plains of Cupica, the bay of Man- 

 dinga, nor the Rio Chagre, should ever present 

 the possibility of a canal fit for the passage of 

 vessels going from Europe to China*, or from 

 the United States to the north-west coast of 

 America. 



In the course of this work, when considering 

 the influence which the configuration of coun- 

 tries (that is, the elevation and form of their 

 coasts,) exerts in every district on the progress 

 of civilization and the destiny of nations, I have 

 often insisted on the disadvantages of those vast 

 masses of triangular continents, which, like 



* The ancient vice-royalty of Buenos-Ayres extended also 

 along a small portion of the South Sea coast ; but we have 

 seen above (page 170), how desert is this portion, 



