objects in this country, are the Pyramids, near Grand Cairo, and the remains of the ancient temples and tombs, at Thebes, and elsewhere in Upper Egypt. Barbary, occupies the northern border of Africa, from Egypt to the Atlantic Ocean; and comprehends the states of Tripoli, in the east; Tunis and Algiers, central; and Morocco, in the west; besides the region called Biledulgerid, or Beled-el-Jerid, south of the Atlas Mountains. The name of Moors, derived from the ancient Mauritania, belongs properly to the people of Morocco; but is often applied to the people of Barbary generally. Tripoli, is the Tripolitana of the Romans; and includes Barca, the ancient Libya, on the east; and Fezzan, the great oasis, to the south; both of which are tributary to Tripoli proper. Libya comprehended Cyrenaica, along the coast, so named from its chief city, Cyrene. The present cities of Tripoli, are, besides Cyrene, Tripoli, the capital; Derne, in Barca; and Mourzouk in Fezzan. The Pacha of Tripoli, is still tributary to Turkey. Tunis, is the country of ancient Carthage; to which the name Africa was originally confined. Its chief city and capital is Tunis, near the site of Carthage, and east of ancient Utica. The Bey of Tunis is also tributary to the Turkish Sultan. Algiers comprehends the ancient Numidia, and part of Mauritania. Its chief cities are Algiers, the capital; Constantine and Bona, in the east; and Oran, in the west. Algiers was recently conquered by France, and is now a French colony, held by military force. Morocco, the ancient Mauritania, includes Fez, in the north; Tafilet, in the east; and Suse, in the south-west; all of which were formerly independent, but are now tributary to the Moorish emperor. The chief cities of this small empire, are, Morocco, the capital; Fez and Mequinez, in the north; and Mogadore, on the western coast. The emperor is a despotic and independent sovereign; whose political strength is said to be declining. Biledulgerid or Bled-el-Jereed, so named from its being the land of the date palm tree, lies south of Algiers and Tunis; extending to the great desert. Tuggurt, is one of its chief towns; but the inhabitants are principally roving Arabs. Sahara, or Zaara, often called the Great Desert, extends from the Atlantic Ocean, to the borders of Egypt and Nubia, including Fezzan, and other oases, or fertile spots, like islands, in an ocean of sand. The part of it east of Fezzan, is called the Libyan Desert, and the whole was anciently called Deserta Libyæ Interioris. It is nearly 3000 miles long, and 1,000 wide; and is inhabited only by tribes of wandering Arabs, who travel over it in caravans, on camels ; living partly by merchandize, and partly by plunder. Nubia, is a part of the ancient Ethiopia, like Egypt, partly watered by the Nile, and partly a sandy desert. It comprehends the petty kingdoms of Dongola, in the north, and Sennaar, in the south; each deriving its name from its capital city. The northern part of Nubia is said to be subject to Egypt. Abyssinia, is also a part of ancient Ethiopia; the southern and western boundaries of which were undefined. Abyssinia contains the eastern sources of the Nile; and the Bahr-el-Abiad or main source may be regarded as its western boundary. This country was formerly united under one government; but now comprises three independent states; Amhara, in the north-west; Tigre, in the north-east; and Shoa Efat, in the south. Gondar, the former capital, is now the capital of Amhara; and Adowa, is that of Tigre; but Shoa Efat, has no large town, and has been partly subdued, by the savage Gallas, from the south. The religion of Abyssinia, is nominally the Christian; but very much corrupted. § 2. We now come to that part of Africa, which is inhabited almost exclusively by the Negro race; and shall commence with the portion next south of Sahara, a part of which has been penetrated, by the Arabs, and exhibits some traces of their language and religion. Nigritia or Negroland, extends from Senegambia on the west, to Nubia and Abyssinia on the east; the central and western portions being also known by the name of Soudan. It comprises a large number of petty kingdoms or states; some of which are Bergoo, Darfur, Kordofan, and Fertit, in the east; Darkulla, Bornou, Mandara, Houssa, and Yarriba, central; Timbuctoo, (or Tombuctoo), Bambarra, and Kaarta, in the west. Among the cities, are Kemmoo, in Kaarta; Sego, in Bambarra; Timbuctoo, in Timbuctoo; Soccatoo, or Sackatoo, in Houssa; Bornou, in Bornou; Wara, in Bergoo; and Cobbe, in Darfur. The Niger is the chief river, running first eastward, then southward into the Gulf of Guinea. The more eastern tribes are professed Mohamedans, and slightly civilized; but the Fellatahs, in the central part, are barbarous and warlike. Under the name of Western Africa, we comprehend all the countries on the western coast, from Sahara to the tropic of Capricorn. This is the region in which the Slave Trade has mostly prevailed; a horrid traffic, which philanthropy has not yet been able fully to suppress though much has already been done by the establishment of enlightened and well governed colonies, on this benighted coast. Senegambia, so named from its two principal rivers, the Senegal and Gambia, is the land of the Jaloffs, or Yoloffs, in the north; the Foulahs, (or Foolahs), in the south; and the Mandingoes, in the interior; which races are intermediate between the Moors and Negroes. Sierra Leone, in the south, is a British colony, and an asylum for Negroes liberated from slave-ships. Freetown, is its capital. The French have settlements at St. Louis, near the mouth of the Senegal; and the Portuguese, at the mouth of Rio Grande, a small river in the central part. The Upper Guinea, called also Guinea, or the coast of Guinea, extends along the coast, eastward, to the mouths of the Niger; and includes the colony of Liberia, in the west; with the negro states of Ashantee, and Dahomey, in the centre; and Benin, in the east. Grain Coast, belongs to Liberia; the Ivory and Gold Coasts, to Ashantee; and the Slave Coast, to the more eastern states. Liberia is settled by emancipated slaves, under the direction of the American Colonization Society, and now contains 5000 colonists, besides 30,000 natives, whose situation is rapidly improving, under its republican government, and Christian institutions. Its capital is Monrovia. The chief town of Ashantee, is Coomassie; that of Dahomey, ૨ is Abomey; and Benin has a capital bearing its own name. The British have some settlements on this coast. Lower Guinea, may be considered as extending from the eastern mouth of the Niger, to the tropic of Capricorn, along the western coast of Africa. It includes the negro states of Biafra and Calbongas, in the north; Loango, Congo, Angola, and Benguela, more central; and Cimbebas, which is partly a desert, in the south. It has the Crystal mountains in the east; and the Congo, or Zaire, is its largest river. Loango and Benguela, have capitals of their own name; that of Congo, is St. Salvador, or Banza Congo; and the Portuguese occupy Loando, in Angola, for the purchase of slaves. The religion of both Upper and Lower Guinea, is paganism; the governments are despotic; and the people very degraded. The climate of the preceding parts of Africa is intensely hot, and in many places unhealthy to Europeans; but the productions are numerous; including the baobab, a kind of bread-tree; and among the animals of this region are the lion, tiger, elephant, rhinoceros, hippopotamus, giraffe, zebra, and ostrich. § 3. We proceed next to the more southern and eastern parts of Africa; commencing with Ethiopia; of which we can only say, that it is a vast region, extending from the Jibbel-el-Kumri, or Mountains of the Moon, on the north, to the tropic of Capricorn on the south; but it is, as yet, almost entirely unknown to the civilized world. Cazembe, is said to be a considerable state in its southern part. The name South Africa, is applied to that part of Africa which lies south of the tropic of Capricorn: including the British Colony of the Cape, in the south; the country of the Hottentots, in the middle and west; and Caffraria and Bushuana, in the east. Its chief river is the Orange, running westward, through the Hottentot region. The chief towns are, Cape Town, in the Cape Colony; and Lattakoo, and Kurreechane, in Boshuana. The Cape Colony was first settled by the Dutch, but taken by the English in 1795, and again in 1806. The Hottentots, including the Damaras, Namaquas, and Bushmen, are an extremely barbarous and degraded people. South Africa is the coolest, and perhaps the most healthy portion, which has yet been explored, of this quarter of the globe. Eastern Africa, may be considered as extending from the tropic of Capricorn, or Delagoa Bay, northward to the strait of Babelmandel; and it may be divided into the coast of Mozambique; and that of Zanguebar; the latter including Ajan. The inhabitants are mostly of the African race; governed by petty chiefs; and many of them profess the Mohamedan religion. The Coast of Mozambique, extending north to Cape Delgado, includes the small states of Inhambane, Sofala, Mocaranga, and Mosambique, on the coast; and Monomotapa, in the interior. The Cuama, or Zambeze, is its principal river; and its chief towns are, Inhambane, Sofala, Quilimane, and Mosambique, all of which are subject to the Portuguese. The Maravis, and the Borroras, are the principal' tribes, scattered through the interior. The Coast of Zanguebar, extends northward from Mozambique; and includes the states of Quiloa and Mombas, in the south; and Melinda and Magadoxa, in the north. All of these states are named from their chief towns; but Magadoxa, is the chief place of trade, supplying ivory, myrrh, and frankincense. The name Somaulia, may be applied to the remaining eastern coast of Africa, extending from Magadoxa to Cape Guardafui, and thence to Abyssinia. It comprises Ajan, in the south-east: and Berbora, and Adel, in the north and north-west. Berbora, is so named from its chief town; and Zeyla, in Adel, on the straits of Babelmandel, is also a place of trade. The Somaulies, on the coast, and the Gallas, in the interior, are the leading native tribes; in a very savage state. § 6. The African Islands, are numerous, but subject mostly to European powers. Madagascar, the largest, is inhabited by Arabs, Malays, and Negroes; and divided into several small states. Tananarivou, the capital of Imerina, in the central part, is probably the largest town. Of the adjacent islands, Mauritius, on the east, and the Almirante, and Seychelle Islands, to the north-east, belong to Great Britain; but Bourbon, near Mauritius, belongs to France. That part of the Indian Ocean, which surrounds these islands, is known as the Ethiopian Archipelago. Of the islands west of Africa, the Canaries belong to Spain; Santa Cruz, on Teneriffe, being their chief town. The Azores or Western Islands, the Madeiras, the Cape Verdes, St. Matthews, and Ascension, belong to Portugal; and St. Helena, to the British. CHAPTER IV. NORTH AMERICAN GEOGRAPHY. NORTH America, colonized chiefly by the English, and Spaniards, now ranks next to Europe, in civilization, science, and improvements. It was unknown to the civilized world, until comparatively recent times. Greenland, was discovered by the Icelanders, as early as A. D. 982; and either Newfoundland or New England, appears to have been discovered by Biorn, (or Bjorn), a Norwegian, in 1002, under the name of Vinland, or wine-land. It is also supposed that the brothers Zeno, (the Zeni), of Venice, discovered the same region, which they called Estotiland, in 1390; but still, the existence of a western continent was not believed in, by the civilized world, until Christopher Columbus, of Genoa, under Spanish patronage, discovered Guanahani, since called St. Salvador, or Cat Island, one of the Bahamas, in 1492. In the same year, he discovered Cuba and St. Domingo: in his second voyage, Jamaica; and in his third voyage, in 1497, he discovered Trinidad, and the contiguous coast of South America; of which we are again to speak. In the year last mentioned, 1497, John Cabot, and his son Sebastian, sent by Henry VII. of England, in search of a north-west passage to India, discovered Nova Scotia and Newfoundland; and the latter, in a second voyage in 1498, coasted southward as far as Florida. In 1513, Balboa or Balbao, crossing the Isthmus of Darien, discovered the Pacific Ocean, and thus ascertained that America was separated from Asia. Florida was explored by Ponce de Leon, in 1512; and Mexico by Cortez, in 1519. The attempt to discover a north-west passage to India, was repeated, in 1576, by Frobisher, who discovered Frobisher's Straits; in 1585, by Capt. John Davis, who discovered Davis' Straits; in 1610, by Capt. Henry Hudson, who discovered Hudson's Straits and Bay; in 1616, by Capt. Baffin, who discovered Baffin's Bay, and Cumberland Island, now Prince William's Land; and more recently, in 1818, by Capt. Ross, who penetrated Lancaster's Sound; and again in 1819, by Lieut. Parry, who wintered at Melville Island, and whose progress in that direction has not since been surpassed. The expedition of Parry and Lyon to the northern part of Hudson's Bay, in 1821-3, was unsuccessful. Meanwhile, the Spaniards under Cortez discovered California, in 1536; and the North West coast, which is said to have been visited by Mendana, in 1595, was explored by Carteret, in 1767; by Cook, in 1778; and by Vancouver, about 1794. In 1771, Mr. Hearne discovered the Arctic Ocean at a point south of Melville Island; and in 1789, Mackenzie, who first crossed the Rocky Mountains and reached the Pacific by land, discovered Mackenzie's River, and the sea at its mouth. Sir John Franklin and Dr. Richardson, in 1826, explored the northern coast of America, from Bathurst Inlet, and Hearne's discoveries, westward to those of Mackenzie; and thence westward to Point Beechey. Messrs. Dease and Simpson, in 1837, completed the exploration from Point Beechey to Behring's Straits; and in 1839, they explored the coast eastward, from Bathurst Inlet, to Cape Britannia, (Lat. 68° 4′ N.; Lon. 94° 35′ W.), near which their progress was interrupted by the lateness of the season. It is now rendered nearly certain that Greenland, and the North Georgian Islands, are separated from the continent of America, though closely contiguous to it. Of numerous expeditions to the central parts of North America, we have no farther room to speak. The following is the nearest estimate which we can make of the extent and population of the countries of North America. Countries. Sq. Miles. Greenland...... 600,000.. Inhabitants. Countries. Sq. Miles. Inhabitants. ..1,550,000.. 8,000,000 Russian America 500,000.. 50,000 Central America 200,000.. 2,000,000 .8,535,000 34,800,000 Of these divisions we proceed to treat, commencing at the north. § 1. The Northern Division of North America, is mostly cold, barren, and thinly inhabited. It is valuable to the civilized world chiefly on account of the Fur trade, carried on by the whites with the Indians. In this division we include Greenland; though it is now almost certain that the region, so named, does not belong to the continent of America, but is only to be regarded as a large contiguous island. Greenland belongs to Denmark; but it is of very little value. |