year. In a second voyage he discovered many
more of the West India islands; and in a third
he attained the great object of his ambition, by
discovering the southern division of the conti-
nent, near the mouth of the Orinoco. Amongst
the crowd of new adventurers who now followed
from all parts of Europe, was one Americus Ves-
pucius, a Florentine, who, with much art, and
some degree of elegance, drew up an amusing
history of his voyage, in which he insinuated
that he first discovered what is commonly called
the continent of the New World. This being
published and read with admiration, the country
was from him called America, though it is now
well understood that Columbus was the first dis-
coverer. The celebrity of Columbus and Ameri-
cus Vespucius soon resounded throughout all Eu-
rope, inspiring numbers of adventurers to witness
the fruits of their discoveries. Among the rest,
Giovanni Gabota (Anglicised Cabot) a Venetian,
and his three sons, under the auspices of Henry
VII. of England, sailed from Bristol, in 1497, and
discovered the coast of Labrador as the 57th deg.
of N. lat.

On a second voyage, in the following year, in
a ship, furnished by the king, accompanied by
four small barques provisioned by the merchants
of Bristol, under the direction of Giovanni’s
second son, Sebastian, (who had been born in
Bristol, hence the claim of the northern division
of the western hemisphere having been discovered
by an Englishman.) they discovered the island
of Newfoundland in N. lat. about 47, and coasted
southward as far as Florida. Cabot made a third
voyage to Newfoundland in 1502. In 1519 a
body of Spaniards, under the command of Cortez,
landed at Vera Cruz, and discovered the populous
district of Mexico. In 1524 the French sent an
expedition, which traversed the coast from the
lat. of 28. to 50. N. France, Spain, and England
each sent successive expeditions to North Ameri-
ca, and made attempts to establish settlements ;
but so unsuccessfully, it is believed, that at
the commencement of the 17th century, not a
single European remained north of Mexico. In
1608 renewed efforts were made by England ;
since when, the extent, features, population, and
productions of the whole of the W. hemisphere
have progress!/ely been developed to Europe.
America, or the western hemisphere, is subdivi-
ded by nature into two grand divisions, north and
south ; very distinct in character and feature.

America, North, extends from the polar regions
to the 15th deg. of N. lat., the more northern
part, as far as lat. 50., extending from about the
56th to the 130th deg. of W. long, and at lat. 65.
as far west as 168. of long. From the 50th to the
30tli deg. of lat. the country assumes a very com-
pact form, extending at the north from about the
62nd to the 124th deg. of long, gradually con-
verging southerly, and at lat. 30. extending only
from about the 81st to the 115 deg. of long, at
about the 30th deg. of N. lat. The great gulf of
Mexico bounds the land, from about the 80th to
the 97th deg. of long, the land converging into a
promontory of about 10 deg. at the north, extend-
ing S. to the chain which unites the northern
with the grand southern division, gradually con-
verging in long, to about 1 deg. only, in N. lat.
15. and in W. long. 95. The superficies of the
first of these three divisions of the N. W. hemis-
phere, cannot be stated with any degree of accu-
racy, owing to the unknown boundaries on the
side of the polar regions. Jfie central part con-
tains a superficies of about 2,700,000 sq. miles,
and the promontory about 110,000 sq. miles. The
extreme length of the grand northern division, in
a straight, unbroken line, from the mouth of the
Copper-mine River which runs S. to N. into the
Icy Sea, in lat. 70, to Acapulco, in lat. 17, is
about 3,200 miles, and the extreme breadth, from
the mouth of the Penobscot river which falls into
the Atlantic Ocean in N. lat. 44. 24. AV. long. 68.

45. to the mouth of Columbia river which falls
into the North Pacific Ocean in N. lat 46. AV.
long. 124. the distance is about 2,500. The north-
ern part of this grand division of the western
hemisphere is indented by Hudson's Bay, which
extends from the line of the Arctic circle, to the
51st deg. of N. lat. and in its extreme breadth,
from the 78th to the 95th deg. of W. long. It is
also intersected by a chain of fresh water lakes of
vast extent. Athapescow, and the Slave Lake,
(the latter of great extent,) discharging their
waters into the Icy Sea, Winnipeg, and several
of lesser extent and note discharge their waters
into Hudson’s Bay, whilst Superior, Michigan,
Huron, Erie, Ontario, and Champlain, between
the latitudes of 42. and 48. N. discharge their
waters by the great river St. Lawrence into the
gulf of St. Lawrence, in the lat. of 50. N. and W.
long, about 65. the western extremity of lake
Superior being in long, about S2. Innumerable
streams of water intersect the country in all
directions, and form themselves into noble rivers,
several of which run into Hudson’s Bay, whilst
those south of the great chain of lakes and the
St. Lawrence, run a course from N. to S. or S. E
falling into the Atlantic Ocean. Taking them in
order from N. to S. the most prominent are St.
John’s, the Penobscot, Kennebec, Androscoggin,
Piscataqua, Merrimack, Connecticut, the Hudson,
or North river, Delaware, Susquehannah, Poto-
mac, Rappahanock, James river, Roane ke, San-
tee, and Savannah. All these rivers have their
source E. of a chain of mountains; called the
Apalachian, running parallel with the Atlantic
coast, from about the 34th to the 43rd deg. of N.
lat. and 2 to 300 miles from the ocean. South of
the 34th deg. of lat. the Apalachicola, Alabama,
Tombigbee, and some other rivers of less note, run
a course due S. falling into the Gulf of Mexico.
West of the Apalachian mountains, innumerable
other streams have their source, forming another
collection of noble rivers, the most important of
which are the Ohio, and Tennessee, running from
E. to W. the Missouri, Kansas, and Arkansas,
and the Red river, running from W. to E. all of
which fall into one grand channel, called the
Mississippi, which has its source about the 47th
deg. of N. lat. running a course nearly due S. fal-
ling into the Gulf of Mexico in lat. 29. 5. N. and

89. 8. W. long. The Rio del Norte, or Rio Bravo,
another noble river, has its source westward of
the Arkansas and Red rivers, in N. lat. about 42
and falls into the Gulf of Mexico in N. lat. 26.
W. long. 97. 25. On the western coast, the Co-
lumbia, and Colorado, are the only rivers of im
portance, and they are not considerable; the first
falls into the Pacific Ocean in N. lat. about 45.
and the other into the Gulf of California in N.
lat. about 32. A ridge of mountains runs paral-
lel with the western coast, the whole extent of
the north division, from the point of the promon-
tory S. in lat. of 70. N. bearing west from the
95tb to the 122nd or 123rd of long, and about 10
deg. from the western coast or shore of the Pacific
Ocean; this ridge which seems to be a continua-