Natives. The native Brazilians are about the size of the Europeans, but not so stout. They are subject to fewer distempers, and are long lived. They wear no clothing.

History, &c. The Portuguese discovered this country in the year 1500, but did not plant it till the year 1549, when they took possession of All Saints Bay, and built the city of St. Salvador, which is now the residence of the viceroy and archbishop. The Dutch invaded Brazil in 1623, and subdued the northern provinces; but the Portuguese agreed, 1661, to pay the Dutch 8 tons of gold to relinquish their interest in this country, which was accepted. The Portuguese remained in peaceable possession of all Brazil till about the end of 1762; when the Spanish government of Buenos Ayres, hearing of a war between Portugal and Spain, took, after a month's siege, the Portuguese frontier fortress, called St. Sacrament; but by the treaty of peace, it was restored. In 1807, the regent and royal family of Portugal emigrated to Brazil, where the Portuguese monarchy is now established.

AMAZONIA.

THIS large country has never been perfectly explored by any European nation. It is supposed to be about 1400 miles long, and 900 broad; situated between the equator and 20 degrees south latitude. It is bounded north by Terra Firma, and Guiana; east by Brazil; south by Paraguay; and west by Peru. It receives its name from the river Amazon, which, with its innumerable branches, waters the whole territory.

The air is cooler in this country than could be expected, considering it is situated in the middle of the torrid zone. This is partly owing to the heavy rains, which oc casion the rivers to overflow their banks one half of the year, and partly to the cloudiness of the weather, which obscures the sun a great part of the time he is above the horizon. During the rainy season, the country is subject to dreadful storms of thunder and lightning.

The soil is extremely fertile, producing cocua nuts, pine apples, bananas, plantains, and a great variety of trop

ical fruits; cedar, red wood, pak, ebony, log wood, sugar canes, cotton, potatoes, balsam, honey, &c. The woods abound with tigers, wild boars, and game of various kinds; the rivers and lakes with fish. The crocodiles and water serpents render fishing a dangerous employment. . The natives of Amazonia are of a good stature, have handsome features, long black hair, and copper complexions. They spin and weave cotton cloth, and build their houses with wood and clay, and thatch them with reeds. Their arms are darts and javelins, bows and arrows, with targets of canes or fish skins. The several nations are governed by their chiefs, or caciques.

In reading the history of South-America, it is pleasing to reflect that any part of it has escaped the ravages of European conquerors. Amazonia remains unsubdued; and the original inhabitants still enjoy their native freedom and independence.

PATAGONIA.

THIS country is less known than any other part of South-America. It lies south of Paraguay and Chili, and is bounded east by the Atlantic ocean; south it is divided from Terra del Fuego by the straits of Magellan, leading into the Pacific ocean, which limits it on the west.

The climate is much colder in this country than in the north, under the same parallels of latitude. It is almost impossible to say what the soil would produce, as it is not cultivated by the natives. The northern parts are covered with wood; but, towards the south, there is not a single tree large enough to be of use to mechanics. There are good pastures, which feed incredible numbers of horned cattle and horses.

There are somé rivers and bays on the coast of this country, but they are little known.

Patagonia is inhabited by a variety of Indian tribes, among which, are the Patagons, from whom the country takes its name; the Pampas and the Cossores. They all live upon fish and game, and what the earth produces spontaneously. Their huts are thatched, and, notwithstanding the rigor of the climate, they wear no other

clothes than a mantle made of seal skin, or the skin of some beast, and that they throw off when they are in action. They are exceedingly hardy, brave, and active, making use of their arms, which are bows and arrows headed with flints, with amazing dexterity. They always. bury their dead on the eastern shores, looking towards the country of their fathers. They are supposed to have emigrated originally from Africa.

The Spaniards once built a fort upon the straits of Magellan and left a garrison in it, to prevent any other European nation from passing that way into the Pacific ocean; but most of the men perished by hunger, whence the place obtained the name of Port Famine; since that fatal event, no nation has attempted to plant colonies in Patagonia.

As to the religion or government of the Patagonians, we have no certain information. Some have reported that they believe in invisible powers, both good and evil; and that they pay a tribute of gratitude to the one, and deprecate the wrath and vengeance of the other.

SOUTH-AMERICAN ISLANDS.

THE FALKLAND ISLES lie near the straits of Magellan, a little to the northeast of the utmost extremity of SouthAmerica, between 51° and 53° S. lat. and between 21° and 25° of E. lon. They were discovered by Sir Richard Hawkins, in 1594; the chief of the two islands, he called HAWKINS' MAIDENLAND, in honor of queen Elizabeth. The soil of these Islands is bad, and the shores are beat by perpetual storms. A British settlement was made here, of which they were soon after dispossessed by the Spaniards, 1770. The Spaniards now send criminals from their settlements on the continent, to these inhospi table shores.

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TERRA DEL FUEGO, or Land of Fire, lies at the Southern extremity of South-America, is separated from the main on the north, by the straits of Magellan, and contains about 42,000 square miles. It consists of several islands, which receive this name on account of the vast fires and smoke which the first discoverers of them per

ceived. The island of Staten Land lies on the east of the principal island. They are all barren and mountainous ; but there have been found several sorts of trees and plants, and a variety of birds on the lower grounds and islands, that are sheltered by the hills. Here are found winter's bark, and a species of arbutus, which has a very well tasted red fruit, of the size of small cherries. Plenty of celery is found in some places, and the rocks are covered with very fine muscles. A species of duck is here met with; also geese and falcons. The natives are of a middle stature, with broad, flat faces, high cheeks, and flat noses. They are clothed in the skins of seals. The villages consist of a few miserable huts, in the form of a sugar loaf. The only food seems to be shell fish. Though these countries are only in latitude 56 degrees. south, they are colder than Lapland in 70 degrees north.

GEORGIA. To the eastward of Terra del Fuego, in latitude 54 degrees south, and about 39° 30′ east longitude is a cluster of barren islands, called SOUTHERN GEORGIA. One of them is between 50 and 60 leagues in length, It is a dismal region, the land of ice. The vales are destitute of shrubs; coarse grass, burnet, and linchen are the only vegetables.

CHILOE, 150 miles long, and 21 broad, is separated from the coast of Chili by a narrow sea, forming a bay. It is between 42 and 44 degrees south latitude. The island produces all necessary provisions. Ambergris, in great quantities, is found on the coast. It has an indifferent fort, called Chocas. Castro, the chief town, stands between two brooks, with a small castle, which commands the harbor. The houses are few and scattered.

JUAN FERNANDES is situated in the Pacific ocean, 390 leagues west of the continent, latitude 33 degrees south, longitude 4 degrees west. It is supposed to have been inhabited by a Spaniard, whose name it retains, although long since abandoned by him and his nation. It is more remarkable for having been the residence of Alexander Selkirk, a Scotchman, whose life and adventures furnished materials for the celebrated novel of Robinson Crusoe. The harbor is in Cumberland bay, on the north side of the island. It is represented, by those who have visited it, as an earthly paradise. On the southwest is a small isle,

called GOAT ISLAND, and a rock, called MONKEY KEY, almost contiguous to it.

MASSAFUERO, called by the Spaniards the Lesser Juan Fernandes, lies 22 leagues west by south of the last mentioned island; on the north side is good anchorage for shipping.

WEST-INDIES.

IN that immense gulf, which flows between North and South-America, lies a multitude of islands, which at the time of their first discovery, were called the West-India islands, on the supposition that they extended so as to form a connection with those of the East-Indies. The fallacy of the supposition was soon discovered; but the name is still retained, to prevent confusion in geographical accounts of the islands. They lie in the form of a semicircle and stretch almost from the coast of Florida to the mouth of the river Oronoko, in South-America.

The climate in all the West-India islands is nearly the same, allowing for those accidental differences which the several situations and qualities of the lands themselves produce. As they lie within the tropics, and the sun goes quite over their heads, they would be continually subjected to an extreme and intolerable heat, if the trade winds did not blow in upon them from the sea, and refresh the air, in such a manner, as to enable them to attend their concerns, even under the meridian sun.. On the other hand, as the night advances, a brecze begins to be per ceived, which blows smartly from the land, as it were from the centre, towards the sea, to all points of the compass at once.

The rains make the only distinction of seasons in the West-Indies; the trees are always green. They have no cold, no frost, no snows the storms of hail are, however, very violent when they happen.

The grand staple commodity of the West-Indies is su gar. The juice of the sugar cane is the most lively, excellent, and the least cloying sweet in nature.

. The islands of the West Indies are generally distributed by navigators, into four clusters, called the BAHAMAS

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