OULFS AND BAYS. 
131 
aiitages ot tliosc vast masses of triangular continents, 
'' tncli, like Africa and tke greater part of (South America, 
destitute of gulfs and inland seas. It cannot he 
foubted, that the existence of the Mediteri'anean has been 
Closely connected with the first dawji of human cultivation 
^“'ong the nations of the west, and that the articulated 
ci’Ui of the land, the frequency of its contractions, and the 
^Dcatenation of peninsulas, favoured the civilization of 
Greece, Italy, and perhaps of all Europe westward of the 
J'leridian of the Propontis. In the Kew World the un- 
J^ate^uptedness of the coasts, and the monotony of their 
^ raigbt hues, ai-e most remarkable in Chili and Peru. The 
“Ore of Columbia is more varied, and its spacious gulfs, 
l^oh as that of Paria, Cariaeo, Maracaybo, and Darien, 
j'ere, at the time of the first discovery, better peopled than 
rest, and facilitated the interchange of productions, 
hat shore possesses an incalculable advantage in being 
haslied by the Caribbean Sea, a kind of inland sea with 
® 0 'eral outlets, and the only one pertaining to the New 
P^inent. This basin, whose various shores form portions 
the Dnited States, of the republic of Columbia, of Mexico, 
Several maritime powers of Europe, gives birtli toapecu- 
‘“r. and exclusively American system of trade. The south- 
cast of Asia, with its neighbouring archipelago, and above 
Pi c)f the Mediterranean in the time of tlie 
i®niei;,ji and Greek colonies, prove that the nearness ol 
. Pposite coasts, not havinn; the same productions, and not 
Phahited by nations of dhferent races, exercises a happy 
muence on commercial industry and intellectual cultiva- 
h importance of the inland Caribbean Sea, bounded 
Venezuela on the south, will be further augmented 
(./ progressive increase of population on the banks of 
Mississippi ; for that river, the liio del N’orte, and the 
Q hSu^tena, are the only great navigable streams which the 
aribbean Sea receives.* The depth of the American rivers, 
neir immense branches, and the use of steam-boats, every- 
faeilitated by the proximity of forests, will, to a 
j' ^^‘''^|.G*teut, compensate for the obstacles wWch the uni- 
1.1 ’’’a hue of tlie coasts, and the general configuration ot 
Z'lti oppose to the progress of industry and civili* 
K 2 
