TABLE. Names of places. When settled. By whom. Mexico and other 1521 By the Spaniards. Spanish dominions, Š Quebec, 1608 By the French. Virginia, 1610 By Lord de la War. Newfoundland, June, 1510 By Governor John Guy. New-York New-Jersey, about 1612 By the Dutch. Plymouth, New-Hampshire, North-Carolina, about 1710 By the French. By a number of Palatines from Ger By General Oglethorp. Tennessee, about 1750 By Col. Wood, and others. By Col. Daniel Boon. Vermont, about .Ohio, 1764 { By emigrants from Connecticut, and other parts of New-England. 1787 By the Ohio and other companies. 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 25000 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, ac. cording 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, extendnig 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 on the 6th 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. Dur ing 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 great. est 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 attend-ed with great success. History. It has already been mentioned, that Green. land was discovered and colonized by the Norwegians, about the year 982. This colony bestowed on the coun try 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. LABRADOR AND HUDSON BAY. Situation, Extent, Names. LABRADOR is an extensive territory, lying between the east coast of Hudson Bay and the Atlantic ocean, and extending from 48 to 63 degrees north latitude. The parts on the west and south of the Bay, extending inland to an indeterminate distance, have been denominated New North Wales, and New South Wales. On the north, the bay is bounded by unexplored regions. The whole of these countries, taken collectively, lie be tween 18 and 70 degrees north latitude, 850 miles long, and 750 broad, and are sometimes called by the general name of NEW-BRITAIN; a name, however, which has not been admitted into maps. They are also called the country of the ESQUIMAUX; these people being the native inhabitants of the shores of Hudson bay, Climate. As dismal and frozen as these regions are, they are becoming still more cold and intolerable. It is a singular, but well established fact, that, while other climes are becoming more mild, the northern part of America is becoming more inhospitable. The cold is much more severe, than in the corresponding latitudes on the European continent. Even in latitude 57°, the ice on the rivers is eight feet thick, and brandy coagulates. The rocks burst with a horrible noise, equal to that of heavy artillery, and the splinters are thrown to an amazing distance.. Mock suns and halos are frequent in these northern climates; the sun rises and sets with a large cone of yellowish light. The aurora borealis diffuses a variegated splendor, which equals that of the full moon: and the stars sparkle with a fiery redness. In the shortest day, the sun rises about five minutes after nine, and sets five minutes before three. Face of the Country. The eastern coast is barren, past the efforts of cultivation. The surface is every where uneven, and covered with masses of stone: the vallies are full of lakes, formed of rain and snow, so chilly as to be productive only of a few small trout. The mountains have |