The Ethiopic or Black race, have the head narrow, and the forehead convex and vaulted; the cheek bones projecting, the nostrils wide, the jaws long, the skull generally thick and heavy. The lips, particularly the upper one, are very thick, the jaws prominent, and the chin retracted The skin of this class, and the iris, are deep black; the hair black and woolly. These characteristics are very uniform. The Ethiopic races inhabit Central and Southern Africa, Australia, and some of the Oceanic islands. The American family approaches the Mongolian. This is fully described in another place. The Malays have the top of the head slightly narrowed, the forehead a little arched, the cheek bones not prominent; the upper jaws a little pushed forward, and the prominence of the parietal bones strongly marked. The face is less narrowed than that of the negro, somewhat advancing in the lower part, when seen in profile; the features are more prominent, the nose full, broad and thick towards the point, or what is called a bottle nose; the skin is tawny; the hair black, soft, curled, and abundant. In this class are comprised all the natives of the islands in the Pacific Ocean: (excepting those already mentioned as belonging to the Ethiopic class ;) likewise the dominant nations of the Indian Archipelago. Such is Blumenbach's classification, which has been very generally adopted. Some naturalists, among whom is Cuvier, reduce the classes to three, considering the Malay to be only a sub-variety of the Caucasian, and the American as a variety of the Mongolian. Others carry the number to eleven or fifteen classes, and not without reason; for all the tribes comprised under each of Blumenbach's five classes, so far from having exactly the same characteristics, really differ in some cases from each other as much as the class under which they are ranged differs from the other classes. All classification, indeed, must be arbitrary; but this branch of science is only in its infancy, and the little progress that has been made in its study, leaves a wide field for the inquiring naturalist. The following table exhibits Hassel's enumeration of the various families of mankind. Though differing materially from his estimate of the world's population, and the statistics of the present day, it will be found useful: 1.-The Caucasian Races. Caucasians, Georgians, &c... 1,118,000 Arabians, Moors, Jews, Abyssinians, Berbers, Armenians, &c..... .54,523,000 143,353,000 Tartar Nations:-Turks, Turcomans, Usbecks, Kirguses, &c... 17,095,000 4,834,000 Arnauts, ..530,000 Sclavonic Nations :-Russians, Croatians, Poles, Lithuanians, &c....... 68,255,000 Teutonic Nations:-Germans, English, Swedes, Dutch, Danes, &c........60,604,000 Latin Nations:-French, Italian, Spanish, Walloons, Wallachians, &c.....75,829,000 Celts, Caledonians, Low Bretons, Basques, &c.... Total..... 10,489,000 436,625,000 The number of languages in which the several nations communicate their ideas is unknown; but, as far as ascertained, there are The various religions professed in the world are, according to Malte Brun: Hassel computes them as follows: Pagans, 561,820,000; Christians, 252,565,000; Mahomedans, 120,000,000; and Jews, 3,930,000. Total, 938,415,000. From these it will be seen, that as yet three-fourths the world is shrouded in paganism and idolatry. With these few general observations, as introductory to the subject upon which it is the purport of this work to relate, we will proceed at once to describe the world in its severalties: first giving a general survey of the physical and political condition of the grand divisions, and then more minutely describing each empire, kingdom, state, &c., separately. 7 AMERICA. THE name of "AMERICA" has been applied to that vast continent, or rather to the two continents connected by the Isthmus of Darien, and the adjacent islands, discovered by Columbus and other adventurers, in the last decade of the 15th century, and which have been progressively explored and settled by European nations, to the present period. The existence of these masses of land were, in all probability, unknown to the ancients, whose "ultima thule" never extended further west than the Canaries. Some passages, however, in both Greek and Latin writers, have been supposed to refer to a knowledge of the actual position of these lands; but it is equally probable that an excited imagination has alone been able to draw an inference of this sort into the question of discovery. There is some probability that the pseudo-historical accounts of the discoveries of the Northmen in the 9th and subsequent centuries, are not altogether fictitious. It is on record that these adventurous navigators, who had, for a long time anterior to these periods, been in the habit of visiting Iceland, discovered, and even planted colonies, and gave names to several districts on the Atlantic coast; and, indeed, it is said, and with some show of truth, that relics of fortifications and works of art, attributed to them, are at this day in existence in the neighborhood of Martha's Vineyard, and Bristol, in Rhode-Island, and are frequently visited by the curious antiquarian. Disease, war, and other calamities, however, swept away these colonies, and all remembrance of their existence was buried in the oblivion of the "dark ages" which succeeded, and overshadowed the intellect of the Christian world. A few ancient Icelandic MSS. alone, which have been lately discovered, tell the brief story of the rise and fall of these primitive settlements. It has been asserted, indeed, that Columbus was acquainted with these discoveries; and, in order to rob that great man of the honor of having given to the world a new continent, his enemies have ruthlessly striven to maintain the assertion. It is improbable, however, that he should have profited by any lights he might have derived from Norwegian or Icelandic sources, in maturing his theory of a counterpoising mass of land in the His own statement of his ideas are a sufficient guarantee that enlightened philosophy alone indicated to him the probability of a continent in the antipodes; and to him alone are we indebted for all the prosperity, happiness and wealth, which his consummate ability and great labors have opened to the embrace of the world. west. This vast double continent forms one of the grand divisions of the world in which we live, and is geographically placed between the meridians of 35° and 170° of west longitude, and between the latitudes of 72° north and 56 south. Its greatest length, from Point Beechy, on the Arctic Sea, by a curve line drawn along the Rocky Mountains and the Cordilleras of the Andes to the extremity of Cape Horn, is about 10,875 miles. The greatest breadth of North America, from Cape St. Louis on the 51st parallel to the Pacific Ocean, is about 3,250 miles; and of South America. from San Roque in Brazil, to Cape Blanco in Peru, about 3,200 miles The narrowest portion is the Isthmus of Darien, which connects the two continents, and at one place, opposite Mandingo Bay, prevents the mingling of the waters of the Pacific Ocean with those of the Caribbean Sea, by a breadth of only 18 miles. The area of America, including the West India Islands, has been variously computed; the best authorities, with whom there is a general acquiescence, state it at about 15,000,000 square miles. This approximate estimate is corroborated by Balbi and Malte-Brun; and the "Encyclopædia Britannica" gives it as follows: North America.... West Indian Islands.. Square Miles. ..7,400,000 150,000 6,500,000 Greenland, and the Islands connected with it, north of Hudson's Straits..900,000 Total...... ..14,950,000 In this estimate Greenland, and the islands in the Arctic Sea, are set down at 900,000 square miles; the extent of these, however, has never been ascertained, nor can a conjecture on this point lay claim to any degree of accuracy. The whole of America is surrounded by the expanse of ocean. On the north, however, the outline of the coast has not been entirely determined; but the discoveries lately made by British explorers, leave no doubt of there being a water communication the whole extent. The Atlantic forms the eastern and south-eastern boundaries; while the western and south-western are washed by the waters of the Pacific. The sea to the north has been termed the Arctic Ocean, and that to the south, on which the extreme of South America rests, has received the name of the Antarctic Ocean. The gigantic scale on which these continents are formed, is their distinguishing feature. The mountains, which traverse it from north to south, are the broadest, and except the Himalaya Mountains in Asia, the most elevated in the world. In South America they attain the altitude of 25,000 feet above the level of the sea. The Amazon and the Missouri rivers are the longest and most capacious; and the lakes in North America, covering thousands of square miles, are unequalled in extent. The vast plains, which spread over two-thirds of these regions, can be likened only to the broad ocean in solitude and grandeur. The cataracts, the bays and gulfs, in vastness, majesty and beauty, surpass all preconception. Every physical object exhibits a magnificence of proportions unknown in other parts of the world. The animal and vegetable kingdoms present the most extraordinary developments, and the most wonderful forms; and the mineral resources of America have been the means of enriching the whole earth with the precious and useful metals. In considering the several portions of these continents, a separate account will be given of each, and a section will be allotted to a description of the islands forming the West Indies or Columbian Archipelago. The several nations, &c., will be treated of in as near a geographical order as convenient. A GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF NORTH AMERICA. NORTH AMERICA, comprising a vast extent of country, lies between the parallels of 720 and 100 north latitude, and between the meridians of 290 and 1700 west longitude from Greenwich. Its greatest length is about 4,000 miles, and its greatest breadth along the 51st parallel is 3,250 miles. The narrowest portion of the continent is the Isthmus of Darien or Panama, which connects North and South America, the breadth of which at one place, opposite Mandingo Bay, is little more than 18 miles. The estimated area of North America is 7,400,000 square miles; in these dimensions are not included Greenland or the Arctic Islands, of which, indeed, the extent is not known. North America is bounded by the Arctic Ocean on the north; by the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico on the east; by the Gulf of Mexico on the south and south-east, and by the Pacific Ocean on the west. There are many islands off the coasts, which belong either to the several native governments or are appropriated as colonies by Europeans. The superficies of North America presents six distinct physical regions; distinguished by peculiar topographical features: First. The narrow region which separates the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea from the Pacific Ocean, traversed through its whole length of 2,500 miles by ranges of mountains, which leave a narrow tract of low land along the sea coasts, while in certain portions of the interior they form elevated table lands. Second. The maritime region, between the Pacific Ocean on the west and the ridge of mountains, which extends from Cape San Lucas in California, northward to the peninsula of Alaska. Third. The elevated region, which forms a sort of table land between the maritime or coast chain above-mentioned on the west, and the Rocky Mountains on the east. In its southern portion it presents the arid salt plains of the Californian desert; between 400 and 45° north latitude it comprises a fertile region, with a mild and humid atmosphere; but, beyond the last mentioned parallel, it is barren and inhospitable. Fourth. The great central vallies of the Missouri and Mississippi, extending from the Rocky Mountains on the west, to the Alleghany or Appalachian Mountains on the east, and from the Gulf of Mexico northward to 45° or 50° north latitude. Between these parallels runs in a waving line the watershed, which divides the basins of the St. Lawrence and the Mississippi from those of the streams that flow to Hudson's Bay and the Arctic |