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AMERICA.

Geographical and Statistical Description.

THE states which constituted the American republic on the ratification of the treaty of peace with Great Britain, in September, 1783, were the following:-New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. These states, in their fullest extent, comprise eighteen degrees of latitude, and thirty-three degrees of longitude; being about 1250 miles in length, and 1040 in breadth reaching from 31 deg. to 49 deg. north, and from 51 deg. to 84 deg. west from Greenwich.-But as the Americans had at that time fixed their meridian at Philadelphia, the extent and longitude from that city is from 8 deg. east to 24 deg. west.-Since the removal of congress from Philadelphia to Washington, in the year 1800, the meridian of the United States has been fixed at the latter city.

The principal geographer to the American Government has computed, that the surface contained within the boundaries so described, is 1,000,000 of square miles, which comprehends 640 millions of acres; and he computes that of these, fifty-one millions are water, or about 2-25ths of the whole.-The land, therefore, within the United States at their separation from the mother country, amounted to 589 millions of acres; about 3-5ths of which is comprised in the thirteen original states; the remaining 220 millions, which lie west of the northern and middle states, and north-west of the river Ohio, extending to the Mississippi River, with an extensive region south of the Ohio, originally ceded to the Union by North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia, were intended by congress to be divided into

ten new states; to be called Washington, Mesopotamia, Pesilippi, Michigania, Illinois, Chersonesus, Saratoga, Sylvania, Assenipi, and Polopotamia.

At the present time (1818) the United States, in which is included the whole of Louisiana as it existed under France and Spain, extends from east to west 2700 miles, and from north to south 1650; comprehending an area of 2,379,350 square miles, or 1,522,784,000 acres.-The population of the last census, 1810, was 7,239,903; being less than three persons to each square mile of territory, so that to every inhabitant there is nearly 200 acres of land. But to enable the reader, at one view, to form a correct judgment upon this important branch of political economy, the following table is subjoined :

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It appears from the foregoing statement, that were the whole of the United States only as well inhabited as Pennsylvania, they would contain above thirty-eight millions of people; with a population equal to Connecticut, nearly 143 millions; equal to England, upwards of 430 millions; and equal to Italy, they would contain more than 528 millions of human beings. Supposing the population to increase in the small ratio as it has done during the last hundred years, the result would be nearly as follows:

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So that according to this ratio, the whole country would be equally populous with Pennsylvania, about the year 1863.-About 1905, it would equal Connecticut; and in 1914, it would be as populous as England is at present.

Situation and Boundaries.-The United States are situated between 25 deg. 50 min. and 49 deg. 37 min. north latitude; and between 10 deg. east, and 48 deg. 20 min. west longitude from the city of Washington.They are bounded on the east by the Atlantic Ocean and the British province of New Brunswick; on the north, by Lower and Upper Canada, and the large unsettled country to the westward of those provinces; on the west, by the Pacific Ocean; on the south-west, by the Spanish internal provinces and the river Del Norte; and on the south, by the gulfs of Mexico and Florida.

Rivers and Lakes.-The head waters of the great river St. Lawrence are situated round lake Superior, which is navigable throughout its whole extent.-From this lake the water flows through the straits of St. Mary into lake Huron, from whence it issues, by the straits of that name, about forty miles in length, when it again expands itself into a beautiful lake, called St. Clare.From lake St. Clare the river falls into lake Erie, by the straits of Detroit, a passage of about thirty miles in extent. At the east end of Erie, delightfully situated, stands the town of Buffalo on the one side, and fort Erie on the other; and between them this vast body of water, from lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, and Erie, issues as clear as crystal, and by a rapid course runs towards lake Ontario, through the passage called the Niagara River.-About five miles below lake Erie, the stream is divided by Grand Island, below which is Navy Island; here the river expands to a considerable breadth, immediately above the falls of Niagara, where it is threequarters of a mile wide.-This is probably the greatest cataract in the world, and well deserves the attention of the curious as there are many readers who may not have seen an account of this great natural curiosity, the following description of it is copied from a late traveller, of undoubted veracity.

"At fort Chippeway, three miles above the falls, the bed of the river becomes very rocky, and the waters are violently agitated by passing over successive rapids; so

that were a boat by any accident to be carried further down than Chippeway, nothing could prevent it from being dashed to pieces long before it could reach the falls. -With such astonishing violence do the waves break on the rocks, that the mere sight of them from the top of the banks makes the spectator shudder.-To go to this island, it is necessary to set off at some distance above Chippeway, where the current is even, and to keep exactly in the middle of the river, the whole way thither; if the boats are suffered to get out of their course ever so little, either to the right or left, it would be impossible to stem the current, and bring them again into it; they would be irresistibly carried toward the falls, and destruction must inevitably follow.-In returning from the island, there is still more difficulty and danger than in going to it. As the river approaches the falls, it forces its way among the rocks with redoubled impetuosity; at at last, coming to the brink of the tremendous precipice, it tumbles headlong to the bottom, without meeting with any interruption in its descent.-Just at the precipice the river takes a considerable bend to the right, and the line of the cataracts, instead of extending from bank to bank in the shortest direction, runs obliquely across; so that the width of the river is not so great as that of the falls.-The most stupendous of these is that on the British side of the river, commonly called the Horse-shoe Fall, from its bearing some resemblance to the shape of a horse-shoe. The height of this is only 142 feet, whereas the other two are each 160 feet high; but to its inferior height it is indebted principally for its grandeur; the precipice, and of course the bed of the river above it, being so much lower at the one side than at the other, by far the greater part of the water finds its way to the lower side, and rushes down with much more velocity at that side than it does at the opposite, as the rapids above the precipice are strongest there. It is from the centre of the Horse-shoe Fall that arises that prodigious cloud of mist, which may be seen at so great

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a distance. The extent of this amazing fall can only be ascertained by the eye; the general opinion of those who have most frequently viewed it, is, that it cannot be less than 600 yards in circumference. The island which separates it from the next fall, is supposed to be about 350 yards wide; the second fall is about five yards in breadth; the next island about thirty yards; and the third, known by the name of Fort Schloper Fall, from being situated towards the side of the river on which that fort stands, is judged to measure at least as much as the large island. The whole extent of the precipice, therefore, including the islands, is, according to this computation, 1335 yards.-This is certainly not an exaggerated statement.-Some have supposed, that the line of the falls altogether exceeds an English mile.-The quantity of water carried down these falls is prodigious; it will be found to amount to 670,255 tons per minute!

Below the falls of Niagara, the river runs with a very rapid course for nine miles, through a deep chasm. The land on each side lowers a little above the level of the river at Queenstown and Lewistown. From this point it is navigable to Lake Ontario, distant seven miles. The river issues from Lake Ontario through a great number of islands, situated between Kingston and Sackett's Harbour. It now assumes the name of St. Lawrence; though it is frequently known, from the lake to Montreal, by the name of Cadaraqui. In its progress, at the distance of 150 miles from Kingston, it expands into a considerable lake called St. Francis, and soon after reaches the British settlement of Montreal, where it receives the Utawas, or Grand River, which forms the boundary between the two Canadas. Below Montreal it receives the Richelieu, or Sorel River, from Lake Champlain, and successively the St. Francis, St. Maurice, and Chaudiere. A short distance below the last-mentioned river stands the important city of Quebec. Here the river, though 400 miles from the sea, is five or six miles wide, and a hundred feet deep; below Quebec it is divided

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