part of the isthmus of Panama. The extent from N. to $. is about 4,080 geographic miles, and the greatest breadth from W. to E. about 2,700.

South America presents long ranges of mountains, the most elevated of any on the globe, at least, so far as their elevation has hitherto been accurately determined. The great Cordillera, or chain of the Andes, extends from N. to. S. the whole length of the country, their western slopes. washed by the Pacific ocean; but from them to the Atlantic, on the east, the country presents in general one vast plain. A singularity of this chain of mountains is, that the lofty peaks do not spring from the ordinary level of the country, but from a broad range of plain table land,. itself clevated eight or ten thousand feet above the sea. Chimborazo, the highest peak, situated in S. lat. 1o 30', rises to the height of above 20,000 feet, or nearly four English miles, and, although lying almost under the Equator, is covered with perpetual snow 2,500 feet perpendicularly below the summit. From the N. end of the Andes, a branch, rising in some places to the height of 14,000 feet, lines the northern shores of S. America, disappearing opposite to the island of Trinidad: many of the S. American mountains are volcanie.

In proportion to the elevation and extent of the mountains of S. America, the rivers of that portion of the earth surpass those of other parts for quantity of water and length of course. The great river of the Amazons, or the Maranyon, has its origin in a lake, on the east side of the Andes, in S. lat. 11°, whente, after a circular sweep, it turns to the N W. to N. lat. 5°, where it begins its long eastern course, and opens into the Atlantic, under the Equator, by a mouth divided by low islands into many channels, and so broad, that a considerable way up from the sea the one bank cannot be seen from the other. The tide is perceptible 600 miles from the mouth; and the course of this

cochineal is also the produce of these dominions: it is the female of a very small insect found on a plant, called by the natives nopal, in the West Indies the prickly pear, and by botanists cactus coccinillifera, whose juices and flowers are of a beautiful red colour: The insects are placed on the plants in October, when the periodical rains are over, on the ̧ parts exposed to the sun. Each female affords about a thousand cggs, from which the young insects soon spread over the plant, as no less than six generations are usually produced every year. The insects are scraped from the plants into vessels, where they art dipped in water to kill them, and then dried in the sun: others kill them in an oven; but this method injures the beauty of the colour.

The mineral treasures of the Spanish part of North America are great beyond conception; the fifth part, which belongs to the crown, amounting to about two millions sterling annually. Silver is the principal pro-duct, but gold is also found in abundance. The chief mining station at this time is at Guanajuato, about 100 miles to the northward of the city of Mexico. Tin, lead, and copper, are also discovered in these rich tracts.

No country of equal extent presents so great a number of volcanoes, not fewer than fifty being at present in -existence, besides those now extinct. The most remarkable is that of Orizava, about 60 miles south-east from Mexico, where its snowy summit is visible.

The chief city of Spanish North America is Mexico, singularly situated in a beautiful vale inclosed by mountains, in the neighbourhood of a cluster of lakes, extending ninety miles in circuit. The present town is built in a fenny situation, having been abandoned by the lake which surrounded it, when this country was first discovered. town contains upwards of one hundred churches and chapels, and the population is reckoned to amount to 150,000. Vera Cruz, on the bottom of the gulf of Mexico, is the

The

port

port of the capital with respect to Europe, situated on a sandy barren plain. The harbour, or rather road, is very much exposed to the northern winds; but on a small island, half a mile from the land, is a considerable fort for its protection. Acapulco, 200 miles to the southward of Mexico, on a spacious and well protected haven, is the station of the commerce between the Spanish dominions. in North America and those in the Asiatic islands.

Towards the narrowest part of the isthmus, between the northern and southern parts of this continent, is situated the great lake of Nicaragua, about 170 miles in length, and nearly half as much in breadth: from the east end flows the river St. John, falling into the gulf of Mexico, and navigable for the largest ships up to the lake. The west end of the lake approaches within a dozen miles of the southern ocean, which has suggested the project of opening a spacious canal fit for vessels of burthen, and so procuring a safe and speedy communication between the Atlantic and the Pacific, instead of encountering the dangers and delays of a voyage round the southern extremity of America, or attempting a probably impracticable passage round the northern.

To the northward of the lake of Nicaragua lies the coast of Honduras, well known for its abundance in mahogany and logwood.

WEST INDIA ISLANDS.-The mouth of the great gulf of Mexico, inclosed between N. and S. America, is shut in by a long chain of islands of various sizes; begin ning at the N. W. extremity, and proceeding to the S. E; their names are the following, viz. the Lucaya or Bahama islands, Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola, Porto Rico, the Virgin isles, the Caribees, comprehending St. Croix, St. Martin, St. Eustatia, St. Christopher or by abbreviation St. Kitts, Antigua, Monserrat, Guadaloupe and Grandetorre, Marie-galante, Dominica, Martinique, St. Lucia, Barbadoes,

Bellavista, in the neighbourhood. Cuzco, formerly the residence of the native sovereigns of the country, stands in the midst of the lofty Andes.

Cbili. This is a long narrow tract, reaching southwards from Peru to S. lat. 40°, hemmed in between the Pacific and the Andes. The Spaniards claim only so much of this country as reaches to the river Biobio, in lat. 37°, the remainder being in the hands of the natives, a race differing in many points from the other original inhabitants of S. America. The chief towns of the Spanish part are St. Jago, in the interior, and Conception, on the coast.

La Plata. This very extensive country, called also the Viceroyalty of Buenos Ayres, from the name of the capital, occupies all the heart of S. America from the chain of the Andes to the Portuguese dominions and the Atlantic oc

It reaches from S. lat 14° to 38°, or about 1500 miles, and the breadth is about 720 miles, being divided into thirty provinces. The capital, Buenos Ayres, so called from the excellence of the air it enjoys, is situated on the southern shore of the great river La Plata, there upwards of 20 miles across. The town is large and regularly built, with a population of 40,000 souls. The harbour is only an open road, so that vessels usually remain at Montevideo, lower down on the opposite side of the river, commanding a fine bay. The most celebrated town, however of this portion of America is Potosi, lying in a barren mountainous tract, in S. lat. 19°. 40', amongst the eastern slopes of the Andes: but by means of rivers in the neighbourhood a water communication is established with Buenos Ayres. Potosi was founded in 1545, and the mountain where it stands has ever since furnished to Europe a quantity equal to one million sterling annually of fine silver.

Amongst the natural productions of Spanish S. America may be reckoned the quinquina, or Jesuit's bark, also sar

saparilla,

saparilla, rhubarb, jalap, sassafras, guayacum: the chocoJate tree grows chiefly in Peru, the fruit resembles a cucumber, containing the nuts, covered with a very sweet skin: wanilla, which enters into the composition of chocolate in Europe, is found in the same country. The minerals, mext to those of New Spain, are the most valuable in the world, particularly in silver; while some parts are distinguished for vast quantities of the purest gold: mines of copper, tin, and lead, are also worked. The celebrated Vicunya, or Vigogna wool, is procured from a species of small camel of which there are other sorts, called llama, or liama, guanaco, paco, &c.; the paco, which is the largest, is frequently employed as a beast of burthern in PeTu, carrying a load of one hundred and a half. The tiger, or jaguar, of Paraguay, is amongst the largest of the species: but the puma, or lion, is proportionally inferior in size to that of the old continent. The hippopotamus is found in the great rivers; and the condor, a species of vulture, is no stranger in the mountains; some have been measured sixteen feet across the wings when extended.

PORTUGUESE DOMINIONS. These form one great triangle, having its vertex on the sea coast, in S. lat. 33°. the castern side is washed by the Atlantic ocean, the western is bounded by the Spanish dominions, and the northern side, or the base, is formed by the river of Amazons, French Guiana, and the Atlantic. The extent from S. to N. is about 2,100 miles, and the breadth, at the base, is nearly as much. This widely extended country, generally known by the name of Brasil, is subdivided inte upwards of twenty provinces; but the whole is in a great measure unknown to Europeans, the Portuguese having ne little more than form some establishments on the coast.

The principal town of all these provinces was formerly San Salvador, on the Bahia de todos os Santos (bay of Al