a. 1. Since the acquisition of Louisiana by the United States in 1803, the government have sent out several expeditions to explore part of the extensive regions between the Mississippi and the Ocean. The first was that at the head of which was Captain Meriwether Lewis, with Captain Clarke. The party entered the Missouri at St. Louis, where it joins the Mississippi, on the 14th of May, 1804, and by the 1st of November reached the Mandan towns, above 1600 miles from St. Louis, in latitude 47° 21' 47" N., and longitude 99° 24′ 45′′ W. from Greenwich. Here they remained till the 7th of April, and during their stay completed, from the information of the Indians, a map of the country between the Mississippi and the Pacific from about latitude 34° to 54° N. They then continued the ascent of the Missouri, till, on the 18th of August, 1805, they reached its extreme navigable point, about 2500 miles from its junction with the Mississippi. Here, leaving the river, they made their way on horseback across the mountains, when they reached a navigable stream, which led them into Lewis river, from which they were carried into the main branch, the Columbia, and procceded down it till, on the 15th November, they reached the Pacific. They remained on this coast till the 27th March, 1806, when they set out on their return, and reached St. Louis on the 23d of September. Meanwhile, in the latter part of 1804, Mr. Dunbar, of Natchez, accompanied by Dr. Hunter, had sailed up the Washita River, which flows from the N.W. into the Red River, a few miles above its junction with the Mississippi, as far as to the hot-springs in its vicinity, in latitude 34° 31' 4" N., longitude 92° 50′ 45" W. A considerable portion of the Red River itself had been before this explored by Dr. Sibley, of Natchitoches. In 1805, Lieutenant, afterwards General, Zebulon Montgomery Pike was despatched by the government on an expedition to explore the upper portion of the Mississippi. He sailed from Port St. Louis on the 9th of August, and after making his way to what were then considered the sources of the river, returned to the same place on the 30th of April, 1806. Soon after his return, Pike was despatched on a second expedition, to explore the country to the south of the Missouri. He left St. Louis on the 15th of July, 1806, and having proceeded up the Missouri till he came to its junction with the Great Osage River, he entered the latter, and explored it nearly to its source. The course of the Great Osage had been before this very imperfectly known. He then crossed the country to the Arkansas, which he explored from about latitude 35° to its source in latitude 42 N., a portion of which no account had been previously given. . The lower part of the Arkansas was, at the same time, explored by a detachment from the main party, conducted by Lieutenant Wilkinson. After leaving the Arkansas, Pike continued his progress to the westward till he came upon the Rio del Norte, in New Mexico, where he was taken prisoner by the Spaniards, and detained for some months. He was, however, at length released, and effected his return to St. Louis by the 1st of July, 1807. In the course of this expedition, besides the results we have already mentioned, the sources of the River Platte, which falls into the Missouri, were discovered, a part of the River Kansas and the Platte was explored, and the general course of the Rio del Norte was ascertained.

In 1819, another expedition was sent out in the same direction, under the conduct of Major Long. This gentleman and his party left Pittsburgh, in Pennsylvania, on the 5th of May, and sailing down the Ohio to its junction with the Mississippi, ascended the latter river as far as St. Louis. They then proceeded along the north side of the valley of the Missouri to Council Bluffs, a position on the Missouri, above the junction of the Platte; here they established their head-quarters, and examined a considerable part of the surrounding country. A detachment was also sent across to Fort Osage and the Konzas village, farther to the south. Another detachment having returned down the Missouri to St. Louis, then ascended the Mississippi as far as to the Des Moines, or De Moyen Rapids, in lat. 40° 20' N.

Meanwhile the main body, proceeding to the west, reached the Pawnee villages on the Loup Fork, a branch of the Platte, from whence directing their route to the south they came upon the Platte, and followed it westward till their further progress was stopped by the Rocky Mountains (about long. 104 V..) from whence it issues. They then took their way in a southerly direction along the base of the mountains, only occasionally ascending the peaks, till they

came to the Arkansas. A detachment being sent up that river, ascended it for about thirty miles, to the spot where it leaves the mountains; while another party descended it to the Mississippi. The main body, meanwhile, directed their way across the country to the south, till, after having travelled about 150 miles, they came to a river, along the valley of which they proceeded for 200 miles, when they were told by some Indians that it was the Red River. But having continued their course for some hundred miles farther in the same direction, they learned that this information was wrong, and that the river was the Canadian, which falls into the Arkansas. Upon this, without making any further attempt to reach the Red River, they directed their steps to Belle Point, on the Arkansas, the place where it had been arranged that their companions who had undertaken the descent of that river should wait for them. They arrived there on the 13th of September, four days after the other party had made their appearance. The whole then set out for Cape Girardeau, on the Mississippi, a short distance to the north of the junction of that river with the Ohio, where they arrived on the 10th of October. In 1823 Major Long, accompanied by Messrs. Say, Keating, and Calhoun, was dispatched by the government on an expedition to the St. Peter's River, which, flowing from the north-west, enters the Mississippi a few miles below the Falls of St. Anthony, in 45° N. lat. Setting out from Washington, the party proceeded by Wheeling, Columbus, and the southern extremity of Lake Michigan to the Missis sippi, which they came upon at Fort Crawford, about 43° N. lat. 91° W. long. From this point they pursued the course of the stream upwards along its right bank to the mouth of the St. Peter's River, which latter they then followed to its source in a small lake called Polecat Lake, in 45° 40' N. lat. 96° 36′ W. long.; the distance from the Mississippi by the route taken being about 500 miles, though only 275 miles in a straight line. Very near the Polecat Lake is Lake Travers, the source of the Red River, which the travellers followed down to Lake Winnepeg, into which it flows. Fort Alexander on this lake, in 50° 46' N. lat. 96° 25' W. long., was the ulti mate limit to which their journey extended. From this point they returned by the Lake of the Woods and Rainy Lake to Fort William on Lake Superior-thence round by the northern border of that lake to its junction with Lake Huron-across the Huron to its south-eastern extremity→ and finally, round the west end and along the south eastern coast of Lake Erie to the Falls of Niagara. The extent of the whole region traversed, or respecting which information was obtained, might be about 1300 miles from E.S.E. to W.N.W., and its average breadth about 450 miles, (See Discoveries made in exploring the Missouri, Red River, and Washita, by Captains Lewis and Clarke, Doctor Sibley, and William Dunbar, Esq., 8vo, Natchez, 1806 Travels to the Source of the Missouri, in 1804, 1805, and 1806, by Captains Lewis and Clarke, 4to., Lond., 1814; Exploratory Travels through the Western Territories of North America; comprising a Voyage from St. Louis on the Mississippi to the Source of the River, and a Journey through the interior of Louisiana and the North-Eastern Provinces of New Spain, performed in 1805, 1806, and 1807, by order of the Government, by Zebulon Mont gomery Pike, Major, 4to., Lond., 1811; Major S. H. Long's Expedition from Pittsburgh to the Rocky Mountains, in 1819 and 1820, by Edwin James, 3 vols. 8vo., Lond., 1823; and Narrative of an Expedition to the Source of St. Peter' River, Lake Winnepeck, &c., compiled from the Notes of Major Long, by W. H. Keating, 2 vols. 8vo. Lond. 1825.)

To these successive expeditions sent out by the govern ment of the United States to the more remote parts of its extensive territory, is to be added that in which Captain Back is at present engaged for the exploration of part of the northern extremity of the continent. The latest intelligence that has been received of this expedition is, that on the 10th of July Captain Back and his party were found by Mr. Simpson, the governor of the Hudson's Bay Company, in excellent health and spirits, at Fort Alexander, a trading station of the Company, on Lake Ouinipigue, (or Winnipeg,) not far from the Red River settlement on the Asse niboin. Here he had been waiting from the 6th for Mr. Simpson, who furnished him with an order on the Company's establishments along the whole line of communication to the Great Slave Lake, for whatever he might want during three years.

b. The Andes, as we have already remarked, is the great mountain system of South America, presenting the longest unbroken range of lofty summits on the globe. Its description will be found under the article ANDES. There is a certain analogy between North and South America as to its mountain-chains. The axis of the two continents, in each case, approaches the western shore much more closely than the eastern, though, as already observed, the Rocky Mountains, which are the true axis of the North American continent, are far removed from the Pacific, compared with

the chain of the Andes. The consequence of this is, that North America possesses an extensive water-system on the Pacific slope, including the great Colorado, the Colombia, and other large rivers; but no considerable stream from the Andes enters the western ocean.

The Rio de la Plata flows in a great central valley, running from north to south, which may be compared with the valley of the Mississippi, while the Amazon is the great drain of the low lands that stretch from the Andes to the Atlantic, and may be compared with the St. Lawrence of

appears to the eye like one dead level, without wood, without a stone, almost without water, in parts covered, during summer, with thistles taller than a man, in other parts clothed with rich grass, which furnishes food for innumerable herds of wild cattle. The enormous pampas of Patagonia, Buenos Ayres, and the more northern province of Tucuman, have been stated, at a guess, to be four times the area of France; and, perhaps, the estimate is not excessive. From the mouth of the Rio de la Plata, the continent of America narrows southward through 20° of latitude, the greater part of it being a country yet little known to Europeans. From about 40% of S. latitude, the country called Patagonia commences on the east coast: though not without some rivers, it appears to have none that run far into the interior; and it is hardly probable that it will offer many inducements for the white man to attempt to establish himself among a warlike race, whose climate and whose soil afford no great encouragement to European settlement. This mighty peninsula of South America, whose northern limits are warmed by the perpetual heats of the tropics, terminates, like the northern portion of the continent, though in a much lower latitude, in a region generally represented as cold and barren. In summer, however, when the north winds blow, the temperature of the island of Tierra del Fuego is moderate; and in some parts of the Straits of Magalhaens vegetation is very active. The Fuchsia and Veronica were found growing in the straits, in the lat. 54° south, and in full flower within a very short distance of the base of a mountain, covered for two-thirds down with snow, and with the temperature at 36°. (Captain King.) But the winds from the south sometimes bring cold even in summer, and the highest mountains, though not more than four or five thousand feet above the sea-level, are covered with snow in summer. A race of men inhabits the islands of Tierra del Fuego, different from those of the higher continent, whose place in the scale of intellectual power is somewhat analogous to the ungenial nature of the southern parts of their islands.

It appears from Captain King's brief remarks on the geography of the Patagonian regions, (Journal Lond. Geog. Soc.,) that the immense pampas of Buenos Ayres probably extend south to the eastern banks of the Ancon sin Salida, and the northern shores of the Otway and Skyring waters. For east of the Ancon sin Salida, and north of the Skyring and Otway waters, no hills are seen; the general nature of the Patagonian coast, from the Rio de la Plata to the entrance of Magalhaen's Strait, is comparatively low, and, as far as we know, it bears the general character of the pampas. It is then probable, that from the wide levels of the Orinoco to the Otway water, a man might travel without crossing a single mountain.

The phenomenon of earthquakes is now exhibited in South America with more activity than in any other quarter of the world; nor is North America free from them, though their sphere of action appears to be, perhaps, more limited, and their effects less terrible. The great earthquake which, on March 26, 1812, laid Caracas and La Guayra in ruins, was felt near New Madrid on the Mississippi, where its effects were only less disastrous because the place was less populous. The forest near New Madrid presented, for some years afterwards, a singular scene of confusion; the trees standing inclined in every direction, and many having their trunks and branches broken.' (Long's Exped. to the Rocky Mountains, iii., p. 184.) These concussions, which are very common about New Madrid, are felt, it is said, from New Orleans to the mouth of the Missouri, and from the settlements on the Red River and the Washita to the Falls of Ohio. They are felt also in the Appalachian system and on the Atlantic slope, though we know of no instance in which any damage has been done. But in South America, earthquakes are matters of ordinary occurrence, though, we believe, they are always within the more immediate sphere of the greater Cordilleras and the detached branch along the northern coast of Venezuela. On the eastern coast of America they seldom occur. It is asserted, that where thunder and lightning are common in South America, as at Potosi, earthquakes are unknown; while at Lima, where thunder and lightning seldom occur, earthquakes are an ordinary occurrence. Whether this generalization is really a safe one may perhaps be doubted, till it is confirmed by further observation.

The climate of South America necessarily varies with the extent of latitude which the continent traverses. The lati

tude, however, is only one of the causes of the variations of temperature. The extensive and lofty mountain-chain, the highest peaks of which are covered with eternal snow, and the great height of the plateaus, added to the steep descents and great depths of the valleys that belong to the system of the Andes, necessarily produce a great variety of temperature within small distances. The Andes have a curious effect on the distribution of rain in South America. The wide plains on the cast are deluged, within the tropics, by the heavy periodical rains from November to May, but the narrow margin between the Cordilleras and the Pacific is almost entirely without rain, at least within the tropics. It is said, however, that this phenomenon is confined to those parts where the mountains come near to the Ocean. In Chili, the north-west winds bring abundance of rain. As to temperature, that of Caracas is in winter, maximum of Fahrenheit 76°, minimum 52°; in summer, maximum 85°, minimum 69°. Chili, also, though bordering upon the torrid zone, never feels the extremity of heat. At Lima, the thermometer varies from 61° to 84°. On the eastern parts of the continent, viz., Buenos Ayres and Monte Video, the weather is wetter, and in the winter months is often boisterous and the air cool, whilst in summer the heat is very great and the thunder-storms often tremendous. The mean temperature of Tierra del Fuego, for the autumnal period of February, March, and April, is 47°; and for the three following months, the winter period, it is 31°. The extensive pampas produce in the dry season an effect not unlike that of the kamsin in the arid regions of Africa and the Arabian desert. In St. Jago del Estero, in the province of the same name, a hot wind has been felt in the summer month of December, which blisters the skin and face, scorches the leaves, and shrivels the bark of trees. (See Temple's Travels in Peru, ii., p. 484.) b. 1. Much new information respecting parts both of the western coast and of the interior of South America, was obtained about the middle of the last century, from the expeditions sent out thither by France and Spain to measure an arc of the meridian. The French expedition was put under the command of Godin, Bouguer, and De la Condamine; and the Spanish, which was to co-operate with it, under that of Don Jorge Juan, and Don Antonio de Ulloa. Both left Europe in the spring of 1735, and the two parties met, as had been arranged, at Carthagena in the course of the summer. It was nearly ten years before their return home; soon after which, ample accounts of their operations and of all they had seen and learned were published in Spanish by Ulloa, and in French both by Bouguer and De la Condamine. Ulloa's book has been translated into English, and the third edition was published at London in 2 vols., 8vo., in 1772, with additions by Mr. John Adams of Waltham Abbey, who had resided many years in South America. It was by far the fullest account of the Province of Quito and the neighbouring districts which had then appeared. Ulloa and his companions had visited in person nearly every part of that province; and they had, besides, been exceedingly industrious in collecting infor mation from all who had any to give. Ulloa, besides crossing the isthmus of Panama, and exploring the greater part of the coast from Panama down to Conception, in Chili, had repeatedly made the journey from Guayaquil to Quito, and had traversed in various directions a great part of the country to the south and north-east of that town.

De la Condamine published the account of the adventures of himself and his associates, first under the title of Relation Abrégée d'un Voyage fait dans l'Intérieur de l'Amérique Méridionale, 8vo., Paris, 1745, being the report read before the Academy of Sciences; and afterwards more at length under the title of Journal du Voyage fuit par Ordre du Roi à l'Equateur, 4to., Paris, 1751. Prefixed to the last-mentioned work is a map of Quito on a large scale, drawn by D'Anville under the direction of the author. In addition to much information respecting the interior of the province of Quito, the French academicians brought home the first complete account that had been given of the course of the Amazons, which they had descended from Quebrada de Chuchunga to its mouth, a distance of a thousand leagues. They ascertained in particular that this river was connected with the Orinoco by the Rio Negro, one of its large northern affluents, a fact which, till then, had been doubted or denied.

But the geography of the upper regions of these two rivers has been recently more completely elucidated by Humboldt

and Bonpland, whose examination of this part of South America began in 1799, and did not terminate till 1804. In these five years, after having examined the coast from Cumana to Caraccas, and made various excursions in the neighbourhood of both towns, they penetrated across the great plains to the Rio Apure, down which they sailed to its junction with the Orinoco. They then ascended the Orinoco by its principal branch till they reached the village of San Fernando de Atabipo, at its confluence with the Atabipo and the Guaviare, near lat. 4° N. From this point they sailed up the Atabipo to the mouth of the Rio Temi, which latter they ascended as far as to its junction with the Tuamini, and then to the village of San Antonio de Javita. Here they were detained for some days till their boat was carried across the land to the Pimichin, a tributary of the Rio Negro. Entering the Pimichin, they descended it till it brought them into the Rio Negro, down which they sailed till they reached the mission of San Carlos, a short distance below the mouth of the Cassiquiari channel, by which the Orinoco communicates with the Rio Negro, and through that, as has just been mentioned, with the Amazons. They afterwards returned up the river to the mouth of the Cassiquiari, along which they proceeded to the point of its junction with the Orinoco at Esmeralda, having for the first time completely traced the connexion between the Amazons and the latter. From Esmeralda they sailed down the Orinoco to Angostura, thus retracing part of their former voyage, but also following the river over a much larger portion of its course. From Angostura they proceeded across the country to New Barcelona on the coast. After a visit to Cuba they again returned to the continent, and having landed at the town of Carthagena, proceeded to the Rio Magdalena, which they ascended as far as it was navigable. On leaving the Magdalena they pursued their route to Popayan and Quito, and penetrated southwards as far as Lima, in the course of their journey crossing the Cordillera of the Andes no fewer than five times, and obtaining much new information respecting the upper portions of the river of the Amazons, a part of one of the branches of which they descended, having entered it at a point considerably higher than that where De la Condamine had begun his voyage. From Lima they went by sea to Guayaquil, and thence in the same manner to Acapulco in New Spain. The examination of the town and vicinity of Mexico and the other parts of that interesting region concluded their researches in America, in the course of which, besides large and important accessions to natural history, antiquities, and various other branches of knowledge, the geographical positions that had been determined amounted to nearly seven hundred.

Still further additions to the geography of South America may soon be expected from M. Bonpland, who, having gone out to Buenos Ayres in 1818, two years after undertook a journey to Paraguay, where he was seized and detained by orders of Francia, who had acquired an absolute authority in the province. He has recently, however, obtained his liberty, and is said to have now returned to France. From the opportunities of observation which he has had, we may expect a large addition to our knowledge of the hydrography of the Rio de la Plata, and the natural history of this portion of South America.

In 1817, when the Archduchess of Austria was married to Don Pedro, then Crown Prince of Brazil, Dr. Joh. Bapt. Von Spix, and Dr. C. F. Phil. Von Martius, were sent out in the train of the princess by the King of Bavaria, with instructions to explore some portion of that region of South America. Having landed at Rio de Janeiro, these travellers, after some time, proceeded to the city of San Paulo in the interior, from which they directed their course northwards to Villa Rica, having visited on the way the royal iron-foundries at San João de Ypanema. From Villa Rica they made an excursion to the Coroados Indians on the Rio Xipotó, and also ascended the mountain of Itacolumi in the neighbourhood of the town. They then, after some other excursions, went to the island of St. Louis, and there putting on board ship, arrived after a voyage of six days at Para, near the mouth of the Amazons. From this point they travelled along the bank of the river as far as to Pauxis, five hundred miles up the country, from whence pursuing their route in the same direction, they at length reached the mouth of the Rio Negro. Martius then proceeded up the Japura, till he reached the base of the mountain Arascoara; while Spix, following the main stream crossed successively the Jurua, the Juratry, and the

Iça, and penetrated to Tabatiaga, the last Portuguese settlement, at the mouth of the Jupary. On meeting again, the two returned together down the Amazons to Para. Their explorations, therefore, may be shortly described as having extended in one direction from the 24th degree of south latitude to the equator, and in the other from the mouth of the Amazons to the frontiers of Peru. Spix and Martius brought home extensive and valuable collections in natural history, which have been deposited in a building at Munich, called the Brazilian Museum, erected expressly for their reception.

A great part of the precious metals used in the world are brought from America, and, with the exception of the Mexican mines, almost all from the southern continent. Gold is found in New Granada, Peru, Chili, La Plata, and Brazil, and in North Carolina; and diamonds have been for some time a part of the Brazilian exports. The silver mines in Peru are very rich, and in Chili there are mines of silver, lead, and sulphur; those of copper are still more abundant. There are mines of iron, sulphur, antimony, tin, lead, copper, and quicksilver, in Brazil, but the pursuit of the precious metals appears to have diverted attention from other mining speculations. America also sends to Europe pearls and other precious stones. (See Maltebrun's Geography; Humboldt's Travels, &c.)

The following statement, from a parliamentary paper, exhibits a remarkable decrease in the supply of the precious metals drawn from America.

Gold and Silver Mines.-Statement of the value sterling of gold and silver raised in each of the several minifig countries of America and Russia, in the two periods of twenty years from 1790 to 1809 inclusive, and from 1810 to 1829 inclusive; derived from the returns of British consular agents.

General Abstract, from 1790 to 1809

V. THE MAN OF AMERICA. The native Americans constitute, at the present day, by their physical characters, not less than by their languages, a race different from those known before the discovery of America. The following. general description of them has been given. The natives of this part of the world are, in general, of a robust frame and a well-proportioned figure. Their complexion is of bronze, or reddish-copper hue-rusty-coloured, as it were, and not unlike cinnamon. Their hair is black, long, coarse, and shining, but not thickly set on the head. Their beard is thin, and grows in tufts. Their forehead is low, and their eyes are lengthened out, with the outer angles turned up towards the temples: the eyebrows high, the cheek bones prominent; the nose a little flattened, but well marked; the lips extended, and their teeth closely set and pointed. In their mouth there is an expression of sweetness, which forms a contrast with the harsh character of their countenance. Their head is of a square shape, and their face is broad, without being flat, and tapers towards the chin. Their features, viewed in profile, are prominent, and deeply sculptured. They have a high chest, massy