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N. AME- 3,000 miles from the sea, if we follow its numerous windRICA. ings, which are so remarkably serpentine and tortuous, that from its junction with the Ohio to New Orleans at Geographi- its mouth, in a direct line, which does not exceed 460 miles, the distance by water is more than 800 miles. The Mississippi has its origin in those parts of North America with which we are least acquainted, toward the W. of the northern United States and Canada; it receives in its course the waters of the Illinois and Ohio, and their various branches from the E. numerous streams which take their rise in the Rocky mountains, and form successively the Missouri, the Arkansaw, and the Red River westward (the latter a mighty stream, which has previously run 735 geographical miles in a direct line, exclusive of its windings), and disembogues itself in the gulf of Mexico, in W. lon. 89°, N. lat. 28°. It generally affords fifteen feet of water, from the mouth of the Missouri to that of the Ohio; but, in time of flushes, a first-rate man-of-war may descend with safety. The mean velocity of its current may be computed to be four miles an hour. Its breadth is various, from one and a half to two miles; its mouth is divided into several channels, which continually change their direction and depth. The Arkansaw has been recently explored by Major Pike, who computes its course, from its junction with the Mississippi, about N. lat. 34°, 10', to the mountains, at 1981 miles, and thence to its source, 192 additional miles. It receives several rivers, navigable for upwards of 100 miles.

Missouri.

The Missouri, which, with its eastern branches, waters five-eighths of the United States, has not only claimed of late to rank as a distinct and equal stream with the Mississippi, but is sometimes described as receiving the latter at their junction. It rises in the Rocky mountains to the N. W. of Louisiana, in N. lat. 45° 24', and reckoning from its most extreme branch, the Jefferson, joins the Mississippi after a course of above 3,000 miles, in W. lon. 90°, and N. lat. 39°, when, forming one mighty stream, they pursue their way conjointly to the gulf of Mexico.

The Ohio, less sublime and majestic in its course than those already noticed, is also less interrupted in its navigation. Its general breadth is about 600 yards; but it varies from 300 in the narrowest to 1,200 in the widest part. The course of the Ohio, from Fort Pitt to its junction with the Mississippi, following all its windings, is, by Morse and other American geographers, computed at 1,188 miles. This river commences at the junction of the Alleghany and Monongahela rivers. It has been described as, beyond competition, the most beautiful river in the world; its meandering course through an immense region of forests; its elegant banks, which afford innumerable delightful situations for cities, villages, and improved farms, with its various other advantages, well entitle it to the name originally given it by the French of "La belle Riviere." Since that period, the Ohio has greatly improved both in beauty and utility. The immense forests which once lined its banks have gradually receded; cultivation smiles along its borders; numerous villages and towns decorate its shores; and it is not extravagant to suppose that the time is not far distant when its entire margin will form one continued series of villages and towns. Vast tracts of fine country have communication with the Ohio, by means of its tributary navigable waters; extraordinary fertility,

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marks the river-bottoms; and the superior excellence N. AM of its navigation has made it the channel through which RIC the various productions of the most extensive and fertile parts of the United States are already sent to market. Geogra At its commencement at Pittsport, or Pittsburg, it takes a N. W. course for about twenty-five miles; then turns gradually to W. S. W.; and having pursued that course for about 500 miles, winds to the S. W. for nearly 160 miles; then turns to the W. for about 260 miles more; thence S. W. for 160, and empties itself into the Mississippi in a S. direction, nearly 1,200 miles below Pittsburg. In times of high freshes, and during the flow of ice and snow from the Alleghany and other mountains, vessels of almost any tonnage may descend this river; it is never so low but that it may be navigated by canoes, and other light craft, not drawing more than twelve inches water. The highest floods are in spring, when the river rises forty-five feet; the lowest are in summer, when it sinks to twelve inches at the bars, ripples, and shoals, where waggons, carts, &c. frequently pass over.

The largest stream that flows into the Ohio is the Tennes Tennesee river, whose remotest sources are in Virginia, N.lat. 37°, 10'. It runs about 1000 English miles S. and S. S. W., receiving considerable accessions of minor waters on each side, and then turning circuitously northward, blends itself with the Ohio at about 60 miles from the mouth of that river. It is navigable for vessels of large burden to the distance of 250 miles from its junction with the Ohio.

The Alleghany river rises in Pennsylvania, on the Allegh western side of the Alleghany mountains; and after running about 200 miles in a S. W. direction, meets the Monongahela at Pittsburg, and the united streams now form the Ohio. In this course it is increased by many tributary streams. Few rivers exceed the Alleghany for clearness of water and rapidity of current. It seldom fails to mark its course across the mouth of the Monongahela, in the highest freshes or floods, the water of the latter being very muddy, that of the former very clear. In high floods, the junction of these rivers presents a pleasing view; the Monongahela flowing sometimes full of ice, the Alleghany transparent and free. Its banks are delightfully interspersed with cultivated farms and increasing towns. In a course of 80 miles, however, from a place called Envalt's Defeat to Freeport, it is full of eddies, rapids, rocks, and other dangers, to avoid which requires the utmost attention. In some of the ripples the water runs at the rate of ten miles an hour; and a boat will go at the rate of twelve miles, without any other assistance than the steering oar. The waters of this river are recommended by the medical practitioners of Pittsburg, both for the purposes of bathing and of drinking; but the peculiar medicinal qualities of the Alleghany water are, perhaps, more to be attributed to the faith of those who use it, than to any inherent character of superior salubrity.

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The Monongahela river rises at the foot of the Mon Laurel mountain, in Virginia; thence, through various meanderings, passes into Pennsylvania, receiving in its course the Cheat and Yougheogheny rivers, and many smaller streams. It has already been stated that this river unites with the Alleghany at Pittsburg. Twelve or fifteen miles from its mouth, it is about 300 yards wide, and is navigable for boats and small craft, particularly in autumn and spring, when it is

Another principal river of North America, and the most considerable one in the eastern states, is the Connecticut. It rises in the highlands to the S. of New Brunswick, in W. lon. 72°, and N. lat. 45°, 10'. After a lingering course of eight or ten miles, it has four separate falls; and turning W. keeps close under the hills which form the northern boundary of the vale through which it runs. The Amonoosack and Israel rivers, two principal branches of the Connecticut, fall into it from the E. between the latitudes 44° and 45°. Between the towns of Walpole on the E. and Westminster on the W. side of the river, are the Great falls. The whole river, compressed between two rocks, scarcely thirty feet asunder, shoots with amazing rapidity into a broad basin below. Over these falls, a bridge, 160 feet in length, was built in 1784, under which the highest floods may pass without difficulty. This is the first bridge that was ever erected over this noble river. Above Deerfield, in Massachusetts, it receives Deerfield river from the W. and Miller's river from the E.; after which it turns westerly,in a sinuous course, to Fighting falls, and a little after tumbles over Deerfield falls, which are impassible by boats. At Windsor, in this state, it receives Farmington river from the W.; and at Hartford meets the tide. From Hartford it passes on in a crooked course, until it falls into Long island sound, between Saybrook and Lyme. The length of river, in a straight line; is nearly 300 miles. It is from 80 to 100 rods wide, 130 miles from its mouth, where there is a bar of sand, which considerably obstructs its navigation. On this beautiful river, whose banks are peopled almost if not now entirely, to its source, stand numerous well-built

towns.

Charles River has its sources, five or six in number, in the state of Massachusetts, on the S. E. side of Hopkinton and Holliston ridge. The main stream runs N. E. then N. and north-eastwardly, round this ridge, until it mingles with Mother-brook. The river thus formed runs westward, passing over numerous romantic falls. Bending to the N. E. and E. through Watertown and Cambridge, and passing into Boston harbour, it mingles with the waters of the Mystic river at the point of the peninsula of Charlestown. It is navigable for boats to Watertown, seven miles.

Taunton River rises in the Blue mountains, forming the principal drain of the country lying E. of those mountains. Its course is about 50 miles from N. E. to S. W.; and is navigable for vessels to Taunton. It finally empties into Narragauset bay, at Tiverton. The rivers Concord, Mystic, Medford, Ipswich, and many others, contribute to the beauty and commercial interests of Massachusetts.

To the state of New York belongs the noble stream called Hudson River, and frequently North River. It rises in a mountainous country, between the lakes Ontario and Champlain. In its course, south-easterly, it approaches within six or eight miles of lake George; then, after a short course E., turns southerly, and receives the Sacondago from the S. W. within a few miles of the Mohawk river. The course of the river thence to

New York, where it empties itself into York bay, is N. AMERICA. almost uniformly S. Its whole length is about 250 miles.

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The banks of Hudson, or North river, especially on the Geographi western side, as far as the highlands extend, are chiefly rocky cliffs. The passage through the highlands, which is sixteen or eighteen miles, affords a wild romantic scene. In this narrow pass, on each side of which the mountains tower to a great height, the wind, if there be any, is collected and compressed, and blows continually as through a bellows; vessels, in passing through it, are often compelled to lower their sails. The bed of this river, which is deep and smooth to an astonishing distance, through a hilly, rocky country, and even through ridges of some of the highest mountains in the United States, must undoubtedly have been produced by some mighty convulsion of nature. The tide flows a few miles above Albany; to which place it is navigable for sloops of eighty tons, and for ships to Hudson. About 60 miles above New York the water becomes fresh, and is stored with fish of various kinds. The advantages which this river affords to the inland trade of the state, and those which, by means of the lakes, it renders to the trade with Canada, are very great. These have been considerably enhanced since the invention of steam-boats, of which there are several, of amazing size, on this river, on which that memorable invention was first successfully tried, in the year 1807. Some of them, though equal in length to a ship of the line, travel through the Narrows, and along the whole course of this river from New York to Albany, at the rate of seven or eight miles an hour, against wind and tide. The distance, it is said, has been run down the stream in seventeen hours; formerly an uncertain voyage of three or four days, or even a week or two, according to the state of the winds and tides. The average time is twenty-four hours. Ferry-boats, propelled by steam, and so constructed that carriages drive in and out at pleasure, may be observed at every large town on this fine river. These convenient vehicles are likely to supersede the use of bridges on navigable waters. They are, in fact, a sort of flying-bridge, with this advantage over the numerous and costly structures of that kind which now span the broad surface of the Susquehannah, in the interior. of Pennsylvania-they do not require such expensive repairs; they may be secured from the effects of sudden floods; and, what is of far more importance, they present no obstruction to navigation. The growing population of the fertile lands upon the northern branches of the Hudson must annually increase the amazing wealth that is conveyed by its waters to New York. In almost every point of view, this river is one of the greatest utility in the United States.

The Onondago river rises in a lake of the same Onondago. name, and, running westerly, falls into lake Ontario, at Oswego. With the exception of a fall, which occasions a portage of twenty yards, this river is navigable for boats from its mouth to the head of the lake; thence batteaux go up Wood creek, almost to Fort Stanwix, whence there is a portage of a mile to Mohawk river. Towards the head waters of this river salmon are caught in great quantities.

The Mohawk river rises to the northward of Fort Mohawk. Stanwix, about eight miles from Sable river, a water of lake Ontario, and runs southerly 20 miles to the fort; then eastward 110 miles, and, after receiving

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N. AME- many tributary streams, falls into North river, by three RICA. mouths, opposite to the cities of Lausinburg and Troy, from seven to ten miles N. of Albany. This is a very Geographi- fine river, and is navigable for boats nearly the whole of its course. Its banks were formerly thickly settled with Indians, but now cultivation and civilization have rendered its course a busy scene of mercantile pursuit and increasing population.

The Delaware, &c.

New Pisca taqua.

Columbia.

Macken

&c.

The Delaware, the Susquehannah, Tyoga, Seneca, Genesse, and the N. E. branch of the Alleghany river, all belong to the state of New York; and such is the intersection of the whole state, by the various branches of these and other rivers, that there are few places, throughout its whole extent, that are more than fifteen or twenty miles from a navigable stream.

The river Savannah divides the state of Georgia from South Carolina, and pursues a course nearly from N. W. to S. E. The freshes of this river will sometimes rise from thirty to forty feet perpendicular above the actual level of the stream.

The New Piscataqua, having four extensive branches, all of them navigable for small vessels, furnishes the commencement of a line, which, drawn from its northern head, until it meets the boundary of the province of Quebec, divides New Hampshire from the province of Maine. The Merrimak, remarkable for two considerable falls, Amaskaeg, and Pantucket, bears that name from its mouth to the confluence of the Pernigewasset and Winipisiskee rivers, which unite in about lat. 43°, 30'. The first of these rivers forms the only port of New Hampshire. Great Bay spreads out from Piscataqua river, between Portsmouth and Exeter.

Columbia River is the principal stream that has been explored on the N. W. coast of America. It is called, by the Indians, Tacoutche-Tesse, and is formed by innumerable streams from the Rocky mountains, rising between the 43° and 53° of N. lat. The principal stream has a course of 700 British miles to the ocean, which it enters at N. lat. 46°.

Mackenzie's River is another noble stream, which has zie's river, lately become known to geographers. It was originally explored by Mr. Mackenzie, in 1789; and is first called the Unjiga, or Peace River, which flows from the neighbourhood of the Rocky mountains, in about lat. 56°, into the Lake of the hills, and afterwards under the name of the Slave river, proceeds in a N. W. direction to the Slave lake, whence it issues by the name of Mackenzie's river, to what he has marked as the Arctic ocean, in W. lon. 135°, and N. lat. 69°, 14', after a course of 1,700 miles.

Copper-mine River is only worth noticing in the same direction, as traced by Mr. Hearne, in 1771, to another supposed point of the Arctic ocean, in 113° W. lon. and upon about the same parallel on the mouth of Mackenzie's river.

Each of these streams, thus generally described, to give the reader some impression of the chief features of this continent (and some of them being peculiar to no single district), will again receive our attention in their alphabetical places.

CATARACTS.-Some of the chief wonders of this western hemisphere are found in its cataracts, or falls, which do not consist of single streams precipitated from bill to vale in picturesque beauty, as in the Alps, but of whole rivers tossed from broken mountains into Cataracts of immense basins below. The first in magnitude are Niagara. The Cataracts of Niagara, in Lower Canada, between

the lakes Erie and Ontario, distant about eighteen N. A miles from the town of Niagara, and situate upon a RICA river of the same name. These falls may be regarded as presenting one of the most interesting of all the Geograp phenomena in the natural world. "At Queenston," cat dete says Lieutenant Hall," seven miles from the falls, their sound, united with the rushing of the river, is distinctly heard. At the distance of about a mile, a white cloud, hovering over the trees, indicates their situation: it is not, however, until the road emerges from a close country into the space of open ground immediately in their vicinity, that the white volumes of foam are seen, as if boiling up from a sulphureous gulph. Here a foot-path turns from the road, towards a wooded cliff. The rapids are beheld on the right, rushing, for the space of a mile, like a tempestuous sea. A narrow tract descends about sixty feet down the cliff, and continues across a plashy meadow, through a copse, encumbered with masses of limestone; extricated from which, I found myself on the Table Rock, at the very point where the river precipitates itself into the abyss. The rapid motion of the waters, the stunning noise, the mountain clouds, almost persuade the startled senses, that the rock itself is tottering, and on the point of rolling down into the gulf, which swallows up the mass of descending waters. I bent over it, to mark the clouds rolling white beneath me, as in an inverted sky, illumined by a most brilliant rainbow,-one of those features of softness which Nature delights to pencil amid her wildest scenes, tempering her awfulness with beauty, and making her very terrors lovely.

"There is a ladder about half a mile below the Table Rock, by which I descended the cliff, to reach the foot of the fall. Mr. Weld has detailed the impediments and difficulties of this approach, and M. Volney confesses they were such as to overcome his exertions to surmount them. A few years, however, have made a great change; the present dangers and difficulties may be easily enumerated. The first is, the ordinary hazard every one runs who goes up or down a ladder; this is a very good one of thirty steps, or about forty feet; from thence the path is a rough one, over the fragments and masses of rock which have gradually crumbled, or been forcibly riven from the cliff, and which cover a broad declining space, from its base to the river brink. The only risk in this part of the pilgrimage, is that of a broken shin from a false step. The path grows smooth as it advances to the fall, so that the undivided attention may be given to this imposing spectacle. I felt a sensation of awe as I drew near it, like that caused by the first cannon on the morning of battle. I passed from sunshine into gloom and tempest: the spray beat down in a heavy rain; a violent wind rushed from behind the sheet of water it was difficult to respire, and, for a moment, it seemed temerity to encounter the convulsive workings of the elements, and intrude into the dark dwel lings of their power: but the danger is in appearance only; it is possible to penetrate but a few steps behind the curtain, and in these few, there is no hazard; the footing is good, and the space sufficiently broad and free: there is not even a necessity for a guide; two eyes amply suffice to point out all that is to be seen, or avoided."

Travels in Canada, 1817.

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The most stupendous of these cataracts is that on the British, or north-western side of the river Niagara, which, from its resemblance to the shape of a horsehi- shoe, has received the appellation of "the Great, or Horse-shoe fall;" but this name is no longer strictly applicable. It has become an acute angle, and the alteration is estimated at about eighteen feet in thirty years. The height of this fall is 142 feet. But the two others (for there are three falls, owing to the circumstance of small islands dividing the river Niagara into three collateral branches) are each about 160 feet in height. The largest has been reckoned at about 600 yards in circumference. The width of the island, which separates the "Great Fall" from the next in magnitude, is estimated at about 350 yards. The second fall is said to be only five yards wide. The next island may be estimated at about thirty yards in size; and the third, commonly called the "Fort Schloper Fall," is about 350 yards. According to these calculations, the islands being included, the entire extent of the precipice is 1,335 yards in width. It is supposed that the water carried down these falls amounts to no less a quantity than 670,255 tons per minute. A kind of white foam surrounds the bottom of " Fort Schloper Fall," and rises up in volumes from the rocks: it does not, however, as at the Horse Shoe fall, ascend above in the form of a cloud of smoke and mist, but the spray is so abundant that it descends like rain upon the opposite bank of the river. The whirlpools and eddies immediately below, are so dangerous as to render the navigation completely impracticable for six miles. The river Niagara, above the falls, however, is navigable by boats and canoes as far as Fort Chippaway, which is about three or four English miles from them. But, on appreaching nearer, the waters are in such a state of agitation, as to require the boat or canoe to be kept in the middle of the stream, and, without skilful management, would inevitably dash it to destruction. The middle of September is considered as the most pleasant time of the year for the examination of these celebrated falls, the surrounding forests being richly variegated with the autumnal colouring. At this season the traveller is not exposed to the danger of meeting with noxious reptiles and insects of the country, which completely disappear in the chilly nights. St. Anthony's Falls, in the river Missisippi, are situated about ten miles from the mouth of the river St. Pierre, which joins the Missisippi from the W. These falls were first discovered by Louis Hennipin, in the year 1680, and received their present name from that traveller, who was the first European ever seen by the natives in these parts. The river falls perpendicularly above thirty feet, and is about 250 yards in width. The rapids, which are below, in the space of about 300 yards, render the descent apparently greater when it is viewed at any considerable distance. These falls are so peculiarly situated as to be approachable without any obstruction from a hill or precipice, and the whole surrounding scenery is singularly pleasing.

CANALS. The rivers and lakes of North America Canals. are in many places connected together by CANALS, which furnish an artificial assistance to the communication established in other instances by Nature. The principal interior canals, which have been already completed in the United States, are, the Middlesex Canal, uniting the waters of the Merrimak river with the harbour of Boston; and the canal Carondelet extending from Bayou St. John to the fortifications or ditch of New Orleans, and opening an inland communication with lake Pontchartrain.

On the 17th of April, 1816, and the 15th of April, 1817, the state legislature of New York passed acts appropriating funds for opening navigable communications between the lakes Erie and Champlain and the Atlantic ocean, by means of canals connected with the Hudson river. This magnificent undertaking is already begun, and promises to make effectual progress under the auspices of Governor Clinton. We have before us, at this moment, the official report of the canal commissioners; but the extent and the capabilities of these works will be noticed at greater length, when we come to speak of the physical resources of the United States.

DESERTS.-North America does not furnish any of Deserts. those vast sandy deserts which occur with such frequency, and spread to such an extent in Africa and Asia; for even in the most torrid regions of this continent there is so great an exuberance of water, as to be considered, by some writers, as a sufficient proof of the theory of its having recently emerged.

CLIMATE.-America exhibits every variety of cli- Cllmate. mate, every kind of soil, and almost every species of natural produce which the earth affords, besides many animal and vegetable productions peculiar to this quarter of the globe. Stretching through the whole width of the five zones, she feels the heat and cold of two summers and two winters every year. The heat of summer and the cold of winter are more intense than in most parts of Europe. Fahrenheit's thermometer, near Hudson's bay, sometimes rises in July to 85°, and sinks in January to 45° below zero. The severest cold is from the N.W.; but the predominant winds are from the W. The middle provinces are remarkable for the variations of weather and the rapidity of its transitions.

It has been thought that, speaking generally, the climate both of North and South America may be stated to be colder than, considering its position on the globe, might be expected; to this a variety of causes contribute. Among these may be reckoned, with regard to the latter, the form of that continent,' which is exceedingly contracted in breadth in its approach towards cape Horn; so that for considerably more than one-third northwards of that extremity, it is very narrow in comparison with the other divisions, and the consequence of this tapering is an exposure to the winds which blow over that immense extent of ocean, which stretches on either side, and southward to the

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N. AME- Antarctic circle. Very much to the southward it is remarkable of these seas, that cold is prevalent to a greater degree than in similar parellels in the north, Geographi owing, doubtless, chiefly to the superior frigidity of the polar regions, whence the winds acquire their severity. This remark, however, must be considered as restricted in its application to the high latitudes. M. Humboldt states, that this difference is not perceptible between the tropics, and very little so as far as the 35th and 40th degrees of latitude. On the west ern side of America, it is said, that generally the climate is more temperate and warm than on the eastern, which is to be attributed to the ridge of mountains forming a barrier against the colder winds that assail the more exposed countries, and occasioning those of a milder kind, and more adapted to the climate, to diffuse their warmth and influence.

Another cause conducing to the effect we have noticed, is the existence of mountains of such prodigious altitude and extent; and which, though in some parts especially, they may form a shelter from the inclement winds, that would otherwise sweep over a considerable portion of the western side of the continent, contribute, nevertheless, in another point of view, to the general predominance of cold. The eternal snows which are collected on their summits, must necessarily refrigirate the atmosphere, and diminish the degree of the temperature.

In estimating the causes of the comparative coolness we have mentioned, the very considerable elevation of the surface of this continent must not be overlooked. That the mean temperature of any place is materially affected by its elevation, has been ascertained by unquestionable experiments, and for a reason which is sufficiently obvious. Between the higher and lower parts of the atmosphere, a perpetual intercommunication is carried on, the warm columns of air ascending from the surface whence they have received their heat, and a proportionable column, or stream, descending from the upper regions. The space in which this vertical interchange takes place being several thousand times smaller than the range of the horizontal currents which connect the equator with the poles, an equilibrium is produced, and the same absolute quantity of heat exists at every height in the atmosphere. But the capacity of air is affected by its density, otherwise an uniform temperature would prevail throughout the vertical column; and the power of containing heat, increasing as the density is diminished, the temperature of the higher regions of the atmosphere is reduced in proportion; so that the temperature at any given elevation, is in the inverse ratio of the capacity for retaining heat in the air of such density. Hence we have a formula for expressing the diminution of temperature in the perpendicular ascent, and though the gradation is not precisely uniform, owing to certain. local peculiarities and influences, the decrease is more rapid in the superior regions.

There is yet another consideration which has been very fully elucidated by some writers, with regard to the North American continent, and which is also applicable to the Southern division The uncultivated state of a country is believed considerably to affect the climate, and in both regions immense tracts remain wholly uncleared, being covered with forests, marshes, and mountains. Some very interesting estimates have been made from actual experiment by Mr. Williams,

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in North America, which fully illustrate this subject. N. AзE By clearing the land of its forests, and exposing the RICA. earth to the sun, its heat, at the depth of ten inches below the surface, was ten or twelve degrees greater Geograph than that of the uncleared parts, which must, of course, influence the superincumbent atmosphere, so that both the earth and air experience an increased temperature of ten oreleven degrees in the cultivated districts. And it is well known, that the climate of the United States has materially improved since they have been under the hands of the diligent agriculturists, who have, from time to time, within these few years, settled in every direction. Mr. Williams suggests, with very great probability, that an amelioration of the climate of Europe has taken place from a similar cause. Many of the great rivers which were formerly frozen over during winter, now continue their course, unchecked to any considerable degree, by the severity of the cold. The Euxine sea, which the Roman writers assure us was anciently often covered with ice, at this period exhibits no such appearances; and consequently the improvement of the European climate, by about fifteen or sixteen degrees, may be attributed to the progress of cul tivation.

MINERALS. In the Apalachian mountains very dis- Minerals tinct strata are found. The central, or highest, is granite; the next schistose, and the exterior belts calcareous. The granite is again divided into felspar, pellucid or bluish quartz, and black mica. The schistose, although, in other regions, it is generally metalliferous, here yields copper ore only; but in Canada it contains lead, and, as some have attested, silver. The limestone, according to Mr. Pennant, contains petrifactions, particularly the cornu ammonis, a small shell of the scallop kind, and several species of corals.

In the primitive calcareous rock are likewise found veins of granite, and sometimes whole banks of it. From its situation, it is obvious that it must have been contemporary in its deposition with the original rock. Near Philadelphia, tale lies in large quantities, instead of mica. Hornblende, quartz, and marble, are deposited in veins like minerals. The granite mountains in America, unlike those of any other region, approach nearest the sea, but the rocks at a distance are chiefly calcareous, and breccia and argillaceous schistus sometimes are deposited over the red primitive limestone. Calcareous rocks guard and surround the lakes of Upper Canada; whilst from Montreal to the sea, the granite is the chief component. At the island of St. Helena, on the coast of Carolina, the mountains are chiefly of granite; and in the mountain of Beloeil is found much black schorl. The black slate mentioned by the Duc de Rochefoucault, is the same as the black schistose limestone of Kalm, a Swedish traveller and a most skilful naturalist. Grey granite and schorls compose the rock of Quebec, and from the quartz crystals which were found there, this rock is sometimes called the Rock of diamonds. In this neighbourhood limestone and granite are intermingled; the slaty stone strikes out through the unpaved streets of Quebec to the frequent annoyance of the traveller; but the grey granite stone of the vicinity has furnished many noble buildings, of late years, to the town. The bank of Newfoundland has been considered as a rock of granite, covered with sand. In the vicinity of Boston and New York a soft granite is found in rocks, in