On the northeast, Greenland, Labrador, and the countries around Hudson Bay, present irregular masses, covered with eternal snows.

On the western coast volcanoes have been observed by navigators; and it is believed that one or two have formerly existed in the United States.

In the preceding brief description of the seas, lakes, rivers and mountains of North-America, we have noticed those only, which, from their extent and magnitude, could not be considered as belonging to any one separate divis ion. Those which are confined within the limits of particular states or territories will be described in their proper places.

Productions. When North-America was first visited by Europeans, it might be regarded, except Mexico, as one immense forest, inhabited by wild animals, and by a great number of savage tribes, who subsisted by hunting and fishing. Many of the vegetables and animals were found to be of different species from those of the old world. A vast variety of the pine genus, with other evergreens, composed a large share of the forests, and gave a dark. and gloomy hue to the face of the country. The larger animals of chase were the black bear, the musk ox, the buffalo, the moose or elk, and some other species of deer the smaller kinds, valued chiefly for their fur, were extremely numerous, as they continue to be, where man has not encroached upon their haunts. The beaver, the racoon, varieties of foxes, many species of the weasel genus, innumerable squirrels, the glutton, the porcupine, several. beasts of prey of the cat kind, furnished objects for all the sagacity and activity of the hunter.

History. North America was discovered by John Cabot, a Venetian, who obtained a grant from Henry VII. of England, to discover unknown lands and annex them to the crown. In 1496 he discovered the coast of Labrader, and in 1497 Newfoundland Island, and traversed the coast from thence to Cape Florida.

Other European powers granted patents to navigators, who explored the continent, made settlements, and laid claim to the country by right of discovery.

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The following summary view exhibits the chronological order in which the first permanent settlements were made in North America.

Divisions. In the subsequent description of the NorthAmerican continent, we shall consider it in five separate

grand divisions. And, to preserve, as nearly as possible, a regular geographical transition from one province to another, shall describe them in the following order :

1. RUSSIAN AMERICA, embracing the islands of Spitsbergen, lying N. E. of Greenland; and the Northwest Coast, from Portlock harbor northward.

2. ABORIGINAL AMERICA, or Native Tribes, and unconquered countries, including Greenland, Labrador, and the Northwest Coast.

3. BRITISH AMERICA, including the British Provinces on the Continent, and the islands in the Gulf of St. Law

rence.

4. INDEPENDENT AMERICA, or the United States. 5. SPANISH AMERICA.

RUSSIAN AMERICA.

SPITSBERGEN consists of one large and many smaller islands, lying about 150 miles E. of Greenland. It is a frozen, barren spot, uninhabited, and is a mere resting place for fishermen.

The Northwest Coast, claimed by the Russians, extends from Portlock harbor, between N. lat. 58° and 59° northward about 2500 miles, including the islands on the coast. The number of natives, who professed obedience to the Russian government, in 1784, according to Shelikoff, was 50,000. All the settlements on this coast, contain, according to Hassel, 800 inhabitants.

ABORIGINAL AMERICA.

UNDER this general head, we include all that vast portion of the American continent, which lies north and west of the British Provinces and the territory of the United States, extending northward to the north pole, and westward to the Pacific ocean. Our knowledge of the various nations and tribes inhabiting this immense tract, is not such as to admit of very minute descriptions, or even to pursue a perfect regularity in the arrangement. We shall commence with the northerly parts.

GREENLAND.

UNDER the appellation of Greenland is comprehended an angular tract, the southern point of which, named Cape Farewell, lies in the 60th degree of north latitude. Its two sides, eastern and western, extend to an indeterminate distance northward, and little more than the coasts have ever been explored.

Climate Greenland may, with propriety, be called the empire of continual winter. The cold is so piercing in February and March, that the rocks split. Ice and frost penetrate through the chimneys, without being thawed by the fire in the day time.

Their short summer, which begins in June, and closes in August or September, is very warm but foggy. During the summer, there is no night in the country. Beyond the 66th degree, the sun does not set in the longest days. In winter the days are proportionably short. The northern lights diversify the gloomy winter.

General Appearance and Productions. The land rises into high, rugged peaks, either black and naked, or incrusted with ice and snow. In the southern parts there is a scanty and puny vegetation of trees, shrubs, grass, and plants.

Animals. The quadrupeds are rein-deer, dogs resembling wolves, arctic foxes, white hares, polar bears, and wolverenes. Birds of prey and sea fowl are numerous, and the shores are frequented by the walrus, and several species of seals. These and the fish, constitute the riches of the country, and the chief sustenance of the poor natives.

Inhabitants. The Greenlanders are a branch of the Esquimaux, of small stature, ignorant, superstitious, and squalid, but harmless, and ingenious in the construction of their canoes and fishing utensils. In their light skiffs, made of skins, extended by ribs and covered with a membrane, which draws .close about their bodies, furnished with a nicely constructed dart and line, and clothed in water proof garments, they will paddle

singly to the greatest monsters of the deep, attack, and generally succeed in making them their prey. This life of hardship, however, keeps their numbers small; and the perils of the ocean, and inclemencies of the climate, bring many to an untimely end. The Danish government have a colony of 6100 souls, planted in this country. The natives, in 1743, were estimated at 24,000.

*

Religion. With respect to religion, the Greenlanders are said to believe in the doctrine of the transmigration of souls, and their notions concerning a future state are very singular and romantic. The Moravians and the Danes support missionaries at Lichtenau, New Hernhut and Lichtenfels, in Greenland; and their labors have been attended with great success.

History. It has already been mentioned, that Greenland was discovered and colonized by the Norwegians, about the year 982 This colony bestowed on the country the name of Greenland, which indicates that it appeared a land of verdure to men who were accustomed to northern sterility. They were converted to Christianity by a missionary, sent thither by the celebrated Olaf, the first Norwegian monarch, who embraced the Christian religion.

After flourishing so much as to possess churches and monasteries, and even a cathedral and a succession of bishops, the colony sunk under famine and diseases, and left few traces of its former existence. Navigators and whalemen made occasional visits to the western coasts, and the Danes established a commerce with the natives; but no attempts were made to colonize, till a Lutheran clergyman of Norway, named Egede, inspired by an ardent zeal for communicating the benefits of the Christian religion and civilization to this deserted country, repaired, in 1751, to the western coast, with a few settlers, and employed many years in his pious labors. The cause was taken up by the society of Hernhutters, or Moravians, and afterwards by the Danes, with success; and several settlements have been formed by them, and peopled with converted nations, whose condition has been greatly im proved by their efforts.

*Hassel's Tables.