PORTUGUESE DOMINIONS IN SOUTH
AMERICA.

AT the time when the kingdom of Portugal was pushing its discoveries and conquests in the East Indies, one of its squadrons was carried by contrary winds to the eastern coast of South America, at a part to which the Spanish navigators had not yet penetrated, and took possession of a large district, now the principal foreign territory belonging to that nation. This is BRAZIL, a country extending on the coast from the 3d degree of north to the 32d of south latitude, and internally to an indefinite distance; forming one of the finest and richest colonies settled in the New World by an European power. Almost every valuable product of Spanish South America is met with in Brazil, which has the additional advantage of lying on the side of the continent opposite to Europe.

Of this wide tract the interior parts are little known, the Portuguese settlements being chiefly on the coast, and upon the Maragnon or river of Amazons. A considerable river, the St. Francisco, runs parallel to the coast for some degrees; and one of longer course, the Tocomantin, unites many of the streams of the back country, and discharges them into the sea not far from the mouth of the Maragnon. Other streams of Brazil flow into the Parana and Paraguay.

Almost all the vegetable products of the tropical regions are to be met with in perfection, native or cultivated, in Brazil. The fruits, in particular, are of numerous kinds and exquisite flavour; and a variety of aromatics presented by nature afford the condiments to food which are so salutary and grateful in the hot climates. Of cabinet and dying woods there are many species. Rice, coffee, chocolate, sugar, cotton, indigo, and tobacco of a remarkably fine flavour, are commodities of exportation. The herds of wild cattle on the banks of the Marag

non and other rivers are not less numerous than those in the Spanish dominions.

The gold-mines of Brazil are said to be as rich as any in South America. They are situated among the mountains inland, some as remote as the sources of the rivers of Paraguay. A gem peculiar to this country is the Brazilian diamond, inferior in brilliancy and clearness to that of Golconda, but still much valued by lapidaries. A particular species of topaz is also among its precious stones.

This fine province is divided into several independent governments, but that of Rio de Janeiro gives to its governor the title of vicerory of the Brazils. The city of St. Sebastian, usually named Rio de Janeiro, after the river on which it is seated, possesses a fine and capacious harbour, and is surrounded by a fertile country, abounding in the necessaries and luxuries of life. It is large and well built, and has a dockyard and naval arsenal, with many public edifices, especially of those devoted to religion. The inhabitants are wealthy, indolent, and much addicted to show and parade. The situation is reckoned unhealthy, on account of the thick forests in the neighbourhood. Negro slaves are numerous in the whole province.

The ancient capital of Brazil was St. Salvador in the bay of All Saints. The other towns are of little consequence ; and the Portuguese settlements are but thinly scattered along the coast. If a more active and intelligent nation were in possession of Brazil, it might be rendered one of the most flourishing and important of the trans-atlantic colonies of Europe.

The natives subsisting in this country live chiefly apart in different tribes between Rio de Janeiro and St. Salvador, and are regarded as irreclaimable savages.

FRENCH POSSESSIONS IN SOUTH
AMERICA.

THE French nation occupies a tract of land on the coast of Guiana, about 240 miles in length, of which the principal place is Cayenne, situated upon a small island, and usually giving name to the whole settlement. The soil of this district is rich, and the climate is favourable to the growth of all the tropical products; but no great advantages have hitherto been derived from this colony to the mother country.

Cayenne itself is in a marshy unwholesome situation, which has proved fatal to many of the victims of the late political convulsions in France, who were punished by transportation thither. The chief articles of export are sugar, cotton, indigo, and that kind of pepper which is commonly called Cayenne pepper.

DUTCH POSSESSIONS IN SOUTH

AMERICA.

THESE are likewise a part of Guiana, and are situated to the north-west of the French territory. They consist of a line of low coast about 350 miles in extent, intersected with numerous slow rivers or creeks, the banks of which are generally highly fertile, but, from the moisture of the soil and heat of the climate, singularly unhealthy. Thick forests overspread the back country, impeding the free circulation of the air, and augmenting its humidity. This description applies to Guiana in general, as far as it is colonized or explored by Europeans. The vegetation of such a soil and climate cannot but be rank; and among many useful and medicinal plants are found some of the most deadly poisons of the vegetable kingdom. Serpents of an enormous size, and other loathsome or noxious reptiles and insects, also abound, to the great enrichment of the naturalist's catalogue, though to the annoyance of the inhabitant and cultivator.

Dutch Guiana is usually called Surinam, the principal settlement being upon the river of that name. The chief town is Paramaibo, a place of considerable traffic. Other settlements are upon the rivers Demarara, Essequibo, Berbice, and Corentin. The industry of the Dutch has rendered them very productive in sugar-cane, cotton, and other articles of West India culture; but their severe treatment of the negro slaves has often driven them to a revolt, attended with much mischief to the plantations. A great proportion of the settlers from Europe, in the pursuit of fortune, dies of the fatal diseases of the country.

Dutch Guiana has lately been conquered by the British, who hold possession of it at present.

THE WEST INDIA ISLANDS.

BEFORE we enter upon the West India Islands properly so called, it will be expedient to describe a small detached group named, from two different discoverers, the BERMUDAS or SOMMER ISLANDS. They lie some degrees east of the coast of North America, about the 32d degree of N. latitude, and are four in number. They are under the English dominion, and have a population of about 9000 persons, white and black. The principal town is St. George, the residence of the governor. The climate is fine; the products are few and of little value. These islands are chiefly inhabited by sea-faring people, who carry on a petty traffic with America and the West Indies.

The central part of the American continent, where the northern portion contracts to a narrow neck before it terminates in the isthmus connecting it with the southern, is fronted by a range of Islands extending from the southern point of East Florida to Guiana, and presenting a convex line to the Atlantic ocean. Within are two distinct expanses of sea; the gulf of Mexico, formed by the shores of North America and the western part of the island of Cuba; and the Caribbean sea, inclosed between the principal range of islands and the coasts of New Spain and of South America. The general appearance of this terraqueous region is as if at some remote period the ocean had made a violent incursion upon the American continent, and had torn away a vast mass of land, leaving in an insular state all the elevated spots which were capable of resisting its fury.

When Columbus made his first voyage westward, with the expectation of coming to the East Indies by a shorter track, these islands lay in his way, and were his first discovery. The prevailing idea of India caused them and the circumja