Part 1 (1/2)

Travels in North Aley

First Day's Instruction

NORTH AMERICA

This division of the great western continent is th; and, in soinally discovered by Europeans, about the conclusion of the fifteenth century; and, a few years afterwards, a party of Spanish adventurers obtained possession of some of the southern districts The inhabitants of these they treated like wild anih which they roamed They expelled the possession of the country in the nan, they appropriated to themselves the choicest and most valuable provinces Numerous other settlements have since been established in different parts of the country; and the native tribes have nearly been exterminated, while the European population and the descendants of Europeans, have so much increased that, in the United States only, there are now more than ten millions of white inhabitants

The _surface_ of the country is extreh the United States, in a direction, froe traverses nearly the whole western regions, from north to south No part of the world is so atered with rivulets, rivers, and lakes, as this Some of the _lakes_ rese, and is an, Erie, Ontario, and Chaable _rivers_ of America are the Mississippi, the Ohio, the Missouri, and the Illinois

Of these the _Mississippi_ flows from the north, and falls into the Gulf of Mexico The _Ohio_ flows into the Mississippi: it extends in a north-easterly direction, and receives fifteen large streaable The _Missouri_ and the _Illinois_ also flow into the Mississippi: and, by means of these several rivers, a commercial intercourse is effected, from the ocean to vast distances into the interior of the country Other important rivers are the _Delaware_ and the _Hudson_, in the United States, and the _St Lawrence_, in Canada

The _bays_ and harbours of North America are numerous, and many of them are well adapted for the reception and protection of shi+ps _Hudson's Bay_ is of greater extent than the whole Baltic sea _Delaware Bay_ is 60 ; and, in some parts, is so wide, that a vessel in the middle of it cannot be seen from either bank _Chesapeak Bay_ extends 270 miles inland The _Bay of Honduras_ is on the south-eastern side of New Spain, and is noted for the trade in logwood and any, which is carried on upon its banks

The _natural productions_ of North America are, in many respects, i which are enumerated no fewer than forty-two different species of oaks

Fruit-trees of various kinds are abundant; and, in etable productions are nu the quadrupeds are enuers, deer, elks of immense size, bisons, bears, wolves, foxes, beavers, porcupines, and opossums The American forests abound in birds; and in those of districts that are distant from the settlerouse are very nueons breed in ht, from one part of the country to another, their numbers darken the air The coasts, bays, and rivers, abound in fish; and various species of reptiles and serpents are known to inhabit the interior of the southern districts A the mountains most of the important metals are found: iron, lead, and copper, are all abundant; and coals are not uncommon

THE UNITED STATES

That part of North Aovernment of the United States, now constitutes one of the htened nations in the world The inhabitants enjoy the advantage of a vast extent of territory, over which the daily increasing population is able, with facility, to expand itself; and h covered with forests, is capable of being cleared, and many parts of it are every day cleared, for the purposes of cultivation

The origin of the United States lish colony in Virginia, about the year 1606 Other English colonies were subsequently forradually increased in strength and prosperity, till, at length, the inhabitants threw off their dependance upon England, and established an independent republican governed by Great Britain, in a treaty signed at Paris on the 30th of November, 1782

The _boundaries_ of the States were determined by this treaty; but, some important acquisitions of territory have since been made In April, 1803, _Louisiana_ was ceded to them by France; and this district, in its most limited extent, includes a surface of country, which, with the exception of Russia, is equal to the whole of Europe _Florida_, by its local position, is connected with the United States: it belonged to Spain, but, in the year 1820, it was annexed to the territories of the republic

Geographical writers have divided the United States into three regions: the _lowlands_ or flat country; the highlands, and the mountains Of these, the first extend froreat rivers The _highlands_ reach from the falls to the foot of the h the whole country, in a direction froth is about 900 miles, and their breadth from 60 to 200 They may be considered as separated into two distinct chains; of which the eastern chain has the name of _Blue Mountains_, and the western is known, at its southern extremity, by the name of _cumberland_ and _Gauley Mountains_, and afterwards by that of the _Alleghany Mountains_ The Alleghanies are about 250 miles distant from the shore of the Atlantic Towards the north there are other eminences, called the _Green Mountains_ and the _White Mountains_ The loftiest summits of the whole are said to be about 7000 feet in perpendicular height above the level of the sea

Few countries can boast a greater general fertility of _soil_ than North Aher lands consists, for the most part, of a brown loamy earth, and a yellowish sandy clay Marine shells, and other substances, in a fossil state, are found at the depth of eighteen or twenty feet below the surface of the ground Some of these are of very extraordinary description In the year 1712, several bones and teeth of a vast nondescript quadruped, were dug up at Albany in the state of New York By the ignorant inhabitants these were considered to be the reantic human bodies In 1799 the bones of other individuals of this animal, which has since been denominated the _Mastodon_ or _Around, in the vicinity of Newburgh, on the river Hudson Induced by the hope of being able to obtain a perfect skeleton, a Mr Peale, of Philadelphia, purchased these bones, with the right of digging for others He was indefatigable in his exertions, but was unable, for some time, to procure any more He made an atteh, where an entire set of ribs was found, but unaccompanied by any other remains In anotherthe rest a complete under jaw, and upper part of the head Froments that he obtained, he was enabled to form two skeletons One of these, under the name of mammoth, was exhibited in London, about a year afterwards Its height at the shoulder was eleven feet; its whole length was fifteen feet; and its weight about one thousand pounds This skeleton was furnished with large and curved ivory tusks, different in shape from those of an elephant, but si up, from the depth of only four feet, in the town of _Goshen_, near Chester The tusks of this were ion so extensive as the United States, there eneral, the heat of summer and the cold of winter are more intense, and the transitions, from the one to the other, are more sudden than in the old continent The predominant winds are from the west; and the severest cold is felt frorees of latitude, the same parallel as the south of France, the winters are very severe During winter, the ice of the rivers is sufficiently strong to bear the passage of horses and waggons; and snow is so abundant, as to adia the winters are mild South Carolina is subject to immoderate heat, to trehtning

The United States are usually classed in three divisions: the northern, the eneral appellation of _New England_: they are Massachusetts, New Hampshi+re, Vermont, Connecticut, and Rhode Island The _middle states_ are New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Indiana The _southern states_ are Maryland, Virginia, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tenessee, and Louisiana

Besides these, the United States claiovernment of the _territories_ of the Illinois, Alabama, and Mississippi By a public ordinance, passed in the year 1787, a territory cannot be admitted into the American Union, until its population amounts to 60,000 free inhabitants In the ular provisional forovernovernor, who is appointed by the president and congress of the United States; and who is invested with extensive powers, for protection of the interests of the States, and the observance of a strict faith towards the Indians, in the exchange of coovernment_ of the United States is denominated a ”Federal Republic” Each state has a constitution for the ement of its own internal affairs; and, by the federal constitution, they are all forislative power is vested in a _congress_ of delegates froress is divided into two distinct bodies, the _senate_ and the _house of representatives_ The members of the latter are elected every two years, by the people; and the senators are elected every six years, by the state legislatures A senator e, an inhabitant of the state in which he is elected, and must have been nine years a citizen of the United States: the present nuht The executive power is vested in a _president_, who is chosen every four years In the election both of ress, and of the president of the United States, it is asserted, that there is , andaddresses of the defeated parties, these are, perhaps, as often made a subject of complaint and reproach, as they are in those of defeated candidates for the representation of counties or boroughs in the British House of Coovernment; and the president, when there, lives in a house destined for his use, and furnished at the expense of the nation His annual salary is 25,000 dollars, about 5600 sterling

The president, in virtue of his office, is commander-in-chief of the army and navy of the United States, and also of the militia, whenever it is called into actual service He is empowered to make treaties, to appoint aes of the supreme court, and all military and other officers whose appointments are not otherwise provided for by the law

The _national council_ is composed of the President and Vice President; and the heads of the treasury, war, navy, and post-office establishment

The _inhabitants_ of the United States (says Mr Warden[1]) have not that unifors to ancient nations, upon whom, time and the stability of institutions, have ieneral physiognolish, Irish, Germans, Scotch, French, and Swiss, all retain some characteristic of their ancient country

The account given by Mr Birkbeck is somewhat different from this He asserts that, as far as he had an opportunity of judging, the native inhabitants of the towns areli six feet They are seen in pantaloons and Wellington boots; eitherup and doith their hands in their pockets, or seated in chairs poised on the hind feet, and the backs rested against the walls If a hundred Americans, of any class, were to seat theentleman) would shuffle their chairs to the true distance, and then throw thereat similarity of tall, relaxed forms, with consistent dress and dehtliness of ress aenerality of either sex; but the , and their consequent intercourse with strangers, have greatly the advantage, in theinfore and town, as he passed along, he observed groups of young able-bodied ers of Europe This love of indolence, where labour is so profitable, is a strange affection If these people be asked why they so e in it, they answer, that ”they live in freedolish”

In the interior of the United States, and in the back settlements, _land_ overnment, at very low rates The price of uncleared land, or of land covered with trees, and not yet in a state fit for cultivation, is, in many instances, as low as two dollars an acre The public lands are divided into townshi+ps of six miles square; each of which is subdivided into thirty-six sections, of one mile square, or 640 acres; and these are usually offered for sale, in quarter sections, of 160 acres The purchase money may be paid by four equal instalments; the first within forty days, and the others within two, three, and four years after the completion of the purchase