In the Encyclopaedia, there will be found, in its proper place, a full account of the first discovery of this vast Continent, and of the history, manners and institutions of its native tribes. There, also, will be found, some general views of its physical geography, and of its natural history. In the present article, we propose to exhibit a rapid sketch of the progress which has been made towards its full discovery; confining ourselves, however, chiefly, to those more recent exploratory enterprizes, by which its geography has been in any material degree corrected or illustrated.

I. The sensation excited throughout Europe by the original discovery of America, gave rise among the maritime states to such a spirit of adventure, that in the course of the two succeeding centuries, the eastern, and a considerable part of the western coast was surveyed with tolerable accuracy. But the spirit of enterprise, satisfied with such vast contributions to the stock of geographical knowledge, appears to have languished for a time; and the expeditions of different navigators, who had successfully explored the north west coast of America, were either but imperfectly remembered, or were discredited as fabulous; while, in the absence of any solid discovery, the attention of mankind was occupied with the theory of a great southern Continent, or with the impracticable scheme of a passage to India through some of the inlets on the American coast.

In pursuance of this last project, different expeditions were undertaken during the early part of the last century; and though they all failed as to their original object, they were nevertheless extremely useful, as they led to an accurate survey of the shores of the different bays and inlets, through which there was any possibility of finding this much desired passage. It was owing to views of this sort, that the shores of Hudson's bay were so completely explored; and it was to the same notion of finding out a north west passage to India, that we are indebted for the knowledge which we possess of Baffin's bay. It was partly also with a view to this object, that Mr Hearne was dispatched, in the year 1770, under the orders of the Hudson's Bay Company, into the interior of the country, for the purpose of penetrating by land to the Northern Ocean. Mr Hearne set out in December from Fort Prince of Wales, situate in north latitude 58° 50'; and, after passing in a north-west course through the various tribes, who, without any fixed habitations, spend their miserable lives roving over the dreary deserts and frozen lakes of this immense tract, first added to the known geography of the Globe by this adventurous traveller, he reached Coppermine river on the 13th of July. This river he pursued to its mouth, which he places in the 72° of latitude, and about 25° west longitude, from the Fort from which he took his departure. It was then the 18th of July; and he states, that he viewed the sea at the river's mouth, which was full of islands and shoals, and that, though the season was so far advanced, the ice was not yet broken up, but only thawed about three quarters of a mile from the coast, and a little way round the islands and shoals. The result of this journey determined the northern limits of the American Continent, and set for ever at rest the notion of any passage through the barrier of eternal ice which surrounds its shores.

It was for the purpose of exploring the north west America, coast of America, in search of a passage which might communicate with Hudson's or Baffin's bay, that Captain Cook was dispatched on his third and last voyage, in the year 1776. Having touched at the Cape of Good Hope, and at the various islands situate in the great Southern Ocean, this celebrated navigator did not arrive on the coast of America, till the year 1778. He anchored in Nootka sound on the 29th March; but he was so thwarted by unfavourable winds, that, with the exception of a few projecting headlands and capes, he could obtain no accurate view of the coast, until he reached the latitude of $55^\circ 20'$. About the latitude of $58^\circ$, he discovered an inlet, called by him Cross Sound; which is the last inlet towards the north, on that great extent of broken coast commencing on the north west shores of the American Continent, with the strait, said to have been discovered by a Greek pilot named De Fuca, and of which the reality was long called in question by subsequent navigators.

From the 58th parallel, Cook made an accurate survey of the coast, having explored Prince William's Sound, and the inlet now distinguished by his own name, until he was satisfied that they could lead to no ulterior navigation. He thence coasted along the peninsula of Alaska, and passing through that archipelago which is known by the name of the Aleutian islands, and which has the appearance of being a prolongation of the two opposite Continents, he entered Beering's basin; and advancing to the straits which divide Asia and America, he ascertained with accuracy the relative limits of these two great divisions of the Globe. Coasting along the American shore, and incessantly struggling with shoals and floating mountains of ice, he advanced into the Arctic ocean, as far as the parallel of $70^\circ 44'$, which he reached on the 18th of August. Here his further progress was arrested by a plain of solid ice, which extended from shore to shore; and here, therefore, is the utmost limit of the navigable ocean, betwixt the Continents of America and Asia. It may be remarked, that between Europe and America, the ocean continues navigable to within a few minutes of the 81st parallel, which was the latitude reached by Captain Phipps, in the year 1773, when he attempted to penetrate in this direction towards the east.

It appears, from the researches made by Humboldt in New Mexico, that the north-west coast of America was, at an early period, visited by the Spanish navigators, as far as the 57th degree of north latitude. But the result of these expeditions was studiously concealed by the Spanish government; from an apprehension, that the other nations of Europe would be tempted to form establishments on that coast, and thus to encroach on the exclusive title claimed by Spain to its possession. But when it was found, that, notwithstanding the utmost caution of that power, the maritime states of Europe were proceeding to examine those hitherto unknown shores, various expeditions were fitted out after the year 1774, by the government of Spain for the same purpose. In the course of these expeditions, the Spanish navigators extended their survey from San Carlos de Monterrey, on the coast of California, as far as Cook's Inlet; but their researches, though they determined with great accuracy various insulated points, were very far from affording an exact geographical delineation of the American coast.

Beyond the 58th parallel, the discoveries of Captain Cook are blended with those of the Russians, who, from their vicinity to America, have been enabled in some degree to anticipate the visits of the other European states to the north western part of that continent. To him, however, still belongs the glory of having first ascertained the true bearings of this portion of America; of having determined the limits of the two Continents; and of having at length furnished a key to the interesting problem as to the original population of the New World, formerly the source of so many vain, though ingenious conjectures.

While Captain Cook was engaged in these researches on the north-west coast of America, his sailors availed themselves of the opportunity of entering into an intercourse with the natives; from whom they procured, for European articles of small value, a supply of skins of sea otters and other animals. These being carried to China, were sold at an exorbitant profit; and Captain King, who succeeded Captain Cook in the command of the expedition, was so struck with the favourable opening which appeared to present itself for establishing a lucrative commerce, that his account of the voyage contained the exposition of a plan for a regular trade between the north west coast of America and China. The merchants of Europe, America, and China, tempted by the prospect of enormous profits, were eager to enter into the proposed trade, and the hitherto unknown and uninviting shores of north west America, were now frequented by trading vessels from different quarters of the Globe. In the course of those commercial adventures, various important inlets were discovered in the American coasts, which had unaccountably escaped the researches of the different navigators by whom they had been visited. In consequence of these discoveries, the expectation of finding a north-west passage to India began to revive; and the expeditions of the Greek pilot De Fuca, and of the Spanish Admiral De Fuente, both of which had long been treated as fabulous, were again brought into some degree of repute. With the original accounts of De Fuca's and Fuente's voyages, the most romantic tales had been circulated respecting the extent of coast which they had discovered, and the abundance of gold, pearls, and precious stones to be found in those unknown countries. These embellishments were added, for the purpose, apparently, of amusing the credulity of the age, and of thus attracting a degree of consideration which the mere fact of the discovery of an unknown coast would have hardly secured. But as the tradition, in both cases, was accompanied with such obvious fictions, the reality of the voyages was disbelieved; and, indeed, the whole passed for a mere invention. The reader will find some curious details upon this subject, in the Introduction prefixed by Fleuriou to the account of Marchand's Voyage round the World.

Juan de Fuca, a Greek pilot of the island of Cephalonia, is said to have been dispatched, in 1592, by the Viceroy of Mexico, to examine the west coast of America, for an inlet which might lead to a communication with the Atlantic ocean. When he ar- rived between the 47th and 48th parallels, the land extended to the north east, and presented a large opening, into which he entered, and continued sailing in it for twenty days. He frequently went on shore, where he met with the natives in great numbers, who were clothed in the skins of animals; and finally, the account stated that he reached the Atlantic ocean, and that he returned to Acapulco after an absence of two years, warmly soliciting to be rewarded for his pretended discovery.

The account of the voyage of Admiral de Fuente, which was undertaken in 1640, states, that, being on an expedition of discovery on the west coast of North America, he came, after a prosperous voyage, from the 26th to the 53rd degree of latitude, where, having found an extremely broken coast, he sailed about 260 leagues in crooked channels, and amongst an extensive collection of islands, which he named the Archipelago of St Lazarus. Here, it is said, his ships boats always sailed a mile a-head, to reconnoitre the passage, which was full of shoals, rocks, and sands. The account, besides, contains various details in regard to an extensive inland navigation by means of lakes and rivers; and it is even asserted, that they met a vessel which had come in this way from Boston on the other side of the Continent; but M. Fleuriot contends, that this piece of fiction must have been a spurious addition to the original narrative, as it is explicitly stated in the concluding part of it, that no passage was found which communicates with the Atlantic ocean. If they had met with a vessel from Boston, this of course was a clear proof of the existence of a communication with that ocean.

Although the accounts of these two voyages have been generally regarded as mere fables, the features of this part of the American shore, as they were gradually discovered by the commercial navigators who visited it, from the year 1787, were found to coincide so remarkably with the previous representations contained in the narratives of De Fuca and Fuente, as to afford a strong presumption that they had actually navigated those coasts. It was found, wherever the coast was explored, from about the 48th to nearly the 58th parallel, that it was broken by numerous inlets; and that it was in the latitude of 53, as Fuente had described it, a complete archipelago, full of bays, harbours, intricate channels, and islands. In like manner, one of the trading vessels which visited this coast in 1787, commanded by Captain Berkeley, discovered a large inlet or strait between the 47th and 48th parallels, which is the latitude assigned for De Fuca's inlet in the narrative of his voyage. The same strait was observed in the following year by Captain Duncan, who anchored also in several harbours on the east of Queen Charlotte's islands; and surveying all that portion of coast which lies between the 54th and 51st degrees, found one continued cluster of islands, with numerous bays and passages. In 1789, this coast was visited by Captain Meares, who discovered the strait, and, anchoring in it, sent forward his long boat to make observations. The boat, he observes, sailed near thirty leagues up the strait, and at that distance from the sea, it was about fifteen leagues broad, with a clear horizon stretching towards the east. The boat's crew were there attacked by the barbarous natives, who had entered into a scheme for robbing and murdering them. A desperate conflict ensued, in which Captain Meares's crew, having repulsed the attack, were glad to escape without attempting any farther examination of those inhospitable shores. In the course of this voyage, the account contained in the exploded narrative of De Fuca, as to the coast, and the inhabitants, was found to agree, in several minute circumstances, with the observations of Captain Meares. In particular, a great headland or island described by De Fuca, was recognized; as well as a high pinnacle rock, placed, as he stated it, in the entrance of the inlet. The inhabitants were also found clothed in furs and bears skins; and a remarkable custom related by De Fuca, of binding the children's heads between two boards when young, so as to give to them the form of a sugar loaf, was still observed by Captain Meares, to prevail generally among these savages. The latitude assigned to the inlet by De Fuca and Captain Meares, was not exactly the same; but, the difference was such, as may be easily accounted for by the comparatively imperfect instruments in use among the early navigators. In addition to the preceding information, it was stated by Captain Meares, that the American ship the Washington, Captain Gray, had completely explored this strait, and found that it inclosed a large part of the Continent, communicating at both extremities with the Pacific Ocean. In the chart annexed by Captain Meares to his work, the track of the Washington through this interior sea is even marked. It appears, however, that no such voyage was ever made, Captain Gray, though he examined De Fuca's inlet, having returned by the same channel through which he had entered, without finding its termination.

The discovery of a great inlet in this part of the American coast, to which no termination had yet been found, and which had escaped the researches both of Cook and of the Spanish navigators, gave rise to various speculations. Among others, it revived the exploded hope of an existing communication between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. It was imagined, that this inland sea might be connected with some of the great lakes in the interior of North America; that, if no communication actually existed with Hudson's or Baffin's bay, it might not be found a very arduous task, by calling in art and industry to the aid of nature, to effect this great improvement; and at any rate, that the prospect of such an inland navigation as was now opened by the recent discoveries, must be of vast importance to the future commerce and civilization of the American Continent. To ascertain the precise extent of those discoveries, an expedition was fitted out by the British Government, and placed under the orders of Captain Vancouver, (who had sailed twice round the world with Cook); with instructions to survey the west coast of America, from the 30th degree of north latitude to Cook's river. He was particularly directed to examine all the inlets with which he found the coast indented, for the purpose of discovering whether any navigable communication existed with any of the great lakes in the interior; and with this view, Cook's river was also recommended to his careful observation, as it was conjectured, that it might take its rise in some of the inland lakes already known to the Canadian traders. Captain Vancouver set out on his voyage in the end of the year 1790, and, after visiting several of the islands in the Pacific Ocean, he arrived on the coast of America in 1792. Having surveyed the coast from Cape Mendocino, he entered De Fuca's inlet in latitude 48° 23' N., and continuing his course almost directly into the Continent, for nearly 100 miles, he observed that the strait turned to the north west and south east. The southerly branch was found to terminate after a winding course of about ninety miles, in lat. 47° 21' N., long. E. 237° 6', in low and apparently swampy land. The northerly branch was next surveyed by Captain Vancouver, in all its numerous inlets; and after running in a north west direction, generally parallel with the coast, it was found to terminate at length in the Pacific Ocean, in Queen Charlotte's sound, in N. lat. 51° 45', long. 222° 1 E.; cutting off from the Continent that large island, since distinguished by the name of Quadra and Vancouver, the two navigators, the one belonging to Spain, the other to Britain, by whom it was first surveyed. The survey of this strait was conducted with singular perseverance through a course of most perilous navigation; occasioned by the numerous islands and sunken rocks, which in many parts interrupt the passage,—by the rapidity of the current from those interruptions,—and, finally, by the great depth of the channel, which frequently affords no anchorage. In many places, the strait is of an unfathomable depth; and where it was only two miles wide, no bottom was found with 110 fathoms of line. Proceeding northwards, Captain Vancouver completed, amid various perils and fatigues, his laborious survey of that great archipelago, which extends along the American coast, to nearly the 59th parallel, and ends with Cross sound. Every bay was diligently explored, and every inlet traced to its termination. Prince William's sound was next examined, and, lastly, Cook's river, or rather inlet. Captain Cook, when he was advancing into this inlet, found the water grow less salt the farther he penetrated, and he thence concluded it to be the outlet of a large river. Captain Vancouver entered the inlet with his vessel as far as it was navigable; and he afterwards advanced with his boats, until he found the eastern banks gradually unite with those on the western side, in N. lat. 61° 29' E. long. 211° 17'. Thus terminated for ever the long cherished hope of a north west passage to India. Every bay and inlet on the north west coast of America has now been minutely examined; and it has been found, that the Continent, throughout its whole extent, interposes between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, and that beyond its northern limits, a frozen sea presents an impenetrable barrier of ice to the enterprises of navigation.

While Captain Vancouver was engaged in his survey of the American coast, an expedition was fitted out nearly about the same time from Acapulco, under the orders of Don Dionisio Galiano, and Don Cayetano Valdes, for the purpose of surveying De Fuca's inlet, which had already been entered and examined to a certain extent by the Spanish navigators. In the course of this voyage, the Spanish and English American expeditions met. Their respective commanders made a mutual and unreserved communication of their discoveries; they assisted one another in their operations; and the best understanding possible subsisted between them till their separation. The charts drawn up in the course of these expeditions have been all published without reserve; and they contain a most correct delineation of the American coast, from the 45th degree of latitude to Cape Douglas, in the east of Cook's inlet, which, before this period, was but imperfectly known. The coast from the 58th parallel, having been in some parts visited much about the same time by the English, the Spaniards, and the Russians, the same place has frequently received a name from the navigators of each of these nations. From this circumstance some confusion is apt to arise. We are occasionally perplexed by the synonymous appellations of different navigators; and it is only by a minute comparison of their respective charts that this inconvenience can be obviated.

II. While, in the course of three centuries, from its first discovery, the seaward limits of the North American Continent have been thus accurately surveyed, the progress of discovery in the interior has necessarily been much slower. Although numerous perils, no doubt, beset the navigator of an unknown coast, the ocean still presents a more favourable scene of enterprise than the land. An insulated band of travellers, traversing the deserts of an unknown Continent, are exposed to so many causes of destruction from the climate, from fatigue, famine, or the hostility of barbarous tribes, that enterprises of this nature are more unpromising than maritime expeditions; and they have accordingly been less frequently undertaken. Since the first settlement, however, of the European colonists in America, population and improvement have been regularly advancing; and the European inhabitants, gradually extending themselves over a large tract of the country, have now penetrated, more especially in North America, to a great extent into the interior. The rapid increase of population naturally produces an anxiety to inquire into the state of the unexplored country, and to ascertain how far it is adapted to the purposes of civilized life. With this view, several important journeys have of late been undertaken, under the orders of the American government; while, in other parts, individuals have been occasionally prompted by a spirit of adventurous curiosity, or the love of science, to penetrate the unfrequented deserts of the New World. Of these journeys, with their geographical results, we shall endeavour to submit a short abstract to our readers.

The ardour with which the fur trade in Canada began to be prosecuted from about the year 1770, naturally induced the rival adventurers who were engaged in it to advance as far as possible into the interior parts of the country; and it is now affirmed, that their journeys extend from Montreal, in a north-westerly direction, to the astonishing length of nearly 4000 miles. The superintendents, clerks, interpreters, canoe-men, and Indians, by whom this trade is carried on, generally set out, to the number of about two thousand persons, from Montreal, in the beginning of May, and arrive upon Lake Superior about the middle of June. After transacting their business at this station, the different detachments proceed into the interior, for the purpose of collecting furs from the Indian tribes, in exchange for European goods. In conducting this commerce, they pass along a vast succession of dreary lakes and dangerous rivers, interrupted by rapids and carrying-places, which stretch into the interior as far as Fort Chepewyan, on the banks of the Lake of the Hills. Mr Mackenzie, who belonged to the Canada Fur Company, and who, in the course of his commercial business, had been accustomed to encounter all the hardships of this interior navigation, was encouraged, by the experience and knowledge which he had acquired of the country, to undertake a journey across the Continent, with the hope of reaching the Pacific Ocean. He accordingly set out from Fort Chepewyan, on the Lake of the Hills, and passed down the Peace, or Slave River, to the great Slave Lake; the waters of which he found so much incumbered with ice, in the middle of June, that he was obliged to coast round it till he reached its main inlet, towards the north-west, in lat. 61° N. He embarked on this stream, of which, the course being at first westerly, he naturally conceived that it would lead to the Pacific Ocean. It afterwards turned, however, to the north-west, and finally took a northerly course, carrying him forward with a rapid current, not towards the Pacific, but towards the Frozen Ocean. He was warned of his approach to the sea by the action of the tide in the channel, and on the shores; and he was then in lat. 69° N., west long. 134°; about 24 degrees to the westward of the point at which Mr Hearne arrived in 1771.

The result of this expedition sufficiently demonstrated to Mr Mackenzie, that the route to the Pacific must be sought further to the south; and, far from being discouraged by the fatigues and perils which he had encountered in his first journey, he resolved to ascend to the source of the Unijah, or Peace River, in the Rocky Mountains, from which it flows nearly in an easterly direction, joining Slave River, and finally entering Slave Lake from the south. That he might have the whole summer before him, Mr Mackenzie set out from Fort Chepewyan, in the month of October 1792, with the intention of wintering in the remotest establishment of the Company, and of beginning his journey from this advanced station, as early in the spring as the river was navigable. He spent the winter accordingly among a tribe of Chepewyan Indians, and set out upon his adventurous expedition on the 9th May 1793. He arrived, after many difficulties and dangers, at the source of the Unijah, in lat. 54° N. long. 121° W. on the 13th of June. Here he found that he was only a few miles from the Tacoutche or Columbia, which, taking a southerly course, falls into the Pacific, in 46° 10' N. lat. He embarked on this stream, and experienced great difficulties at first, from rapids and falls; but, as the stream enlarged, the navigation became easier, and he followed the course of this river till the 24th of the month, when he was induced, by the information which he received from the natives, to leave it, and to proceed by land directly across the Continent to the sea. In the course of twelve days, during which he was exposed to a variety of fatigues and dangers, he reached another stream, of which the navigation was more practicable; and having procured a canoe, he arrived on the shores of the Pacific Ocean, about the 22nd of July, in lat. 52° 21' N., long. 128° 2' W.; immediately to the southward of the islands which Vancouver has distinguished by the name of Princess Royal's Islands. Mr Mackenzie returned by the same route, and arrived safely at the point from which he set out, on the 24th August 1793.

The journeys of Mr Mackenzie appear to have been conducted with singular perseverance and intrepidity; and they have thrown considerable light on the geography of North America. The countries, indeed, which he traversed, are inhabited by savage tribes, who possess no peculiarity in their character different from other savages; being chiefly occupied with the mere wants of animal life, and having little attention or curiosity to bestow on any thing else. They are fickle besides, and treacherous, but easily deterred from open violence. It was of importance, however, to determine, at particular points, the northern limits of the American Continent, and to mark the course of the rivers which flow through this dreary country into the Frozen Ocean; and the account of the river since known by the name of Mackenzie's River, is in this view a real accession to geography. It is pleasing also to observe the near approach of the sources of the Unijah, or Peace River (which is connected with that great succession of lakes and rivers, terminating in the St Lawrence), and the Tacoutche, or the Columbia, which flows into the Pacific Ocean. In the present desolate state of this part of the American Continent, the vicinity of the various streams which flow in opposite directions into the Atlantic and Pacific, from that great dividing ridge of mountains which intersects the interior almost to the Frozen Ocean, can be of little moment; but, in a different stage of its progress, when these dreary abodes, at present the haunts of savages or of beasts of prey, are filled with industrious inhabitants, the facilities of inland communication which the country derives from the convenient distribution of its lakes and rivers, must be of vast importance to its future improvement.

The expeditions of discovery into the interior of North America, undertaken by order of the government of the United States, have been productive of much interesting information. These are, first, the journey of Major Pike, with a small detachment of troops, to the source of the Mississippi; second, his journey into the interior of Louisiana, for the purpose of exploring the course of several of its subordinate streams; and, third, the remarkable journey of Captains Lewis and Clarke to the source of the Missouri, and afterwards across the Rocky Mountains to the mouth of the Columbia, which flows into the Pacific Ocean.

The source of the Mississippi, and the country through which it takes its course, were but imperfectly known before they were visited by Major Pike. This enterprising officer left Fort St Louis, near the America, junction of the Missouri with the Mississippi, on the 9th August 1805, and was nearly nine months in performing his interesting journey; during which, he laid down, with the greatest accuracy, the course of the Mississippi. He examined its banks, and collected information respecting the barbarous tribes who inhabit the adjacent country. The Mississippi, it appears, is divided near its source into two branches, one of which loses itself in Leech Lake, while the other, which may be termed the upper source of the river, takes its rise in Upper Red Cedar Lake, of which the lat. is $47^\circ 42' 40''$ N. From this point, the distance to some of the head waters, which fall into Hudson's bay, is only about two leagues; the waters of the American continent being, in this manner here, as in other places, admirably disposed for interior navigation and commerce. The Mississippi generally flows from N.W. to S.W., and from its source to its mouth, in the Gulf of Mexico, is estimated to run a course of 2000 miles.

The second expedition of Major Pike was undertaken in the years 1806 and 1807; and was directed into the interior of Louisiana, with a view of examining the course of the various rivers which take their rise in the Rocky Mountains, and, running nearly westward, either fall into the Missouri from the south, before its confluence with the Mississippi, or into the Mississippi, after the two rivers are joined. Within this space four capital streams flow into these rivers; namely, the Kansas and the Osage, which join the Missouri, and the Arkansaw and the Red River, which flow into the Mississippi. The course of these rivers was but very imperfectly known until of late years, when they were surveyed by different parties of discovery, sent out by the Spanish or American governments. Several rivers were seen, indeed, to rise in the Rocky Mountains, which, it was nearly certain, must fall into the Missouri or the Mississippi; and as these last rivers were, in like manner, known to receive several large streams, it was naturally conjectured, that they were the same of which the source had been discovered at so vast a distance in the Rocky Mountains. Humboldt, accordingly, concluded that the river which rises to the north-east of the village of Taos, and which receives the Rio Mora from the vicinity of Santa Fe, is the same river which, in Louisiana, is called the Red River; and recent investigations have proved his conjecture to be right. In the course of Major Pike's expedition, in which the whole party had nearly perished from cold and famine, the Osage river was first surveyed, and was found to run a course of 1500 miles before its junction with the Missouri. The party next proceeded by land across the country to the Arkansaw, which they traced to its source; from which this great river, taking its windings into the account, was estimated, before it joins the Mississippi, to run the enormous length of 2178 miles. During the whole of this space, it may be navigated with boats properly constructed for the purpose, except for about 200 miles after it enters into the mountains. It receives, also, several small rivers, which are navigable for upwards of a hundred miles. From the Arkansaw, the exploring party proceeded northwards, and discovered the sources of America's two streams, which they conjectured to be the headwaters of the Plate and the Yellow-stone rivers.

Great light has been thrown on the geography of this part of the country, by the journey of Lewis and Clarke, and from their researches, Major Pike's conjecture as to the Plate appears to have been right; but he has mistaken a subordinate branch of the Yellow-stone River, called by Lewis and Clarke Beghorn river, for the principal stream. Major Pike returning, and proceeding to the south, struck into another stream, which he supposed to be the Red River. But he was met by a party of Spanish troops, who informed him that it was the Rio del Norte; and, being on the Spanish territory, he was made prisoner with his whole party, and carried into New Mexico.

The course held by Major Pike never brought him near the Red River. This river, however, had been previously examined in 1804, in the lower part of its course, to its confluence with the Mississippi, by Mr. Dunbar and Dr. Hunter, who were employed for this purpose by the government of the United States; while it had been explored from its source downwards, for about 230 leagues, by a large body of Spanish cavalry, who set out on this expedition from Santa Fe, in 1806. The course of this river, taking in all its irregular windings, cannot, according to recent observation, be estimated at less than 2000 miles. By the researches of these travellers, we have thus obtained a sufficiently accurate view of the course of the various streams which intersect this part of the American Continent; and it will be found, that all these rivers are so disposed, as greatly to facilitate the progress of cultivation and improvement. The countries visited by the exploring party of Major Pike, were inhabited by savage tribes, who subsist almost entirely by hunting; and the abundance of wild animals of every description to be found in those parts, affords ample encouragement to this mode of life. The borders of the Arkansaw he calls the terrestrial paradise of the wandering savage, on account of the immense herds there to be found, of buffalo, elk, and deer. The antelope is also common; and of the carnivorous animals, the wolf and bear are the most remarkable.

While the interior of Louisiana was, in this manner, so successfully examined, and the course of the various tributary rivers, which either flow into the lower Missouri or Mississippi, was so accurately determined; Captains Lewis and Clarke were entrusted by the American government with the still more important task of exploring the main stream of the Missouri, from its confluence with the Mississippi, to its source; and of afterwards proceeding across the Rocky Mountains to the first navigable river they should meet with, which they were to descend until they should arrive at the Pacific Ocean. They set out with an intrepid band of forty-five followers, mostly American soldiers, from the point of junction between the Missouri and Mississippi, in May 1804; and by the beginning of November, they had nearly ascended about half the course. not plentiful, the abundance of this species of fuel must be of essential importance towards the colonization of the country. The adjacent hills exhibited also, as they advanced, large irregular masses of rocks and stones; some of which, although two hundred feet above the river, seem to have been once subject to its influence, being apparently worn smooth by the agitation of the water. These rocks and stones consist of white and grey granite; a brittle black rock; flint, limestone, freestone; some small specimens of an excellent pebble; and occasionally broken strata of a black-coloured stone, like petrified wood, which makes good whetstones. The country in the neighbourhood abounds with deer, elk, beaver, buffaloes, antelopes, and their followers the wolves, who make great ravages among them. Here also were met the brown and white bear, which were both found to be exceedingly ferocious. With these animals the party had frequent encounters; and though they were all well armed, and expert marksmen, they were often in great danger from this formidable enemy.

Advancing towards the Rocky Mountains, they found the river divided into two branches, and they were much at a loss which to pursue. At length they chose the branch that came from the south; and having ascended for some time, their ears were saluted with a tremendous noise occasioned by the great falls of the Missouri, and which, from the information of the Indians, they knew to be a certain mark that they were on the main stream. Higher up the river, they found it divided into three branches, which they distinguished by the names of the three leading statesmen in America, viz. Jefferson, Gallatin, and Maddison. They ascended the first of these streams, with a view of reaching, by the nearest course across the mountains, some of the smaller branches which join the Columbia, and lead to the Pacific Ocean.

It being necessary to obtain some knowledge of the country through which they were to direct their perilous course, Captain Lewis set out, accompanied by one of the most expert hunters, and two soldiers, along the Jefferson; and having advanced until the river had become so small that they could step across it, they ascended a high ridge towards the west, which forms the dividing ridge between the waters of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Here they began to descend; and they reached a stream of clear water running to the west, which they rightly conjectured must belong to the waters of the Columbia. After various difficulties and uncertainties, they met with an Indian tribe, whom they fortunately persuaded to return with them to their companions at the source of the Missouri. By this tribe they were directed into the proper road across the mountains, which was to the north-west, the course of the Missouri having carried them considerably to the south of the head waters of the Columbia. In travelling this road, they encountered innumerable hardships from famine, occasioned by the scarcity of game, and the great cold in those higher regions, to which they had now penetrated. This part of their journey lasted about seven weeks, from the 18th August to the 7th October; at which period they em- barked in canoes built by themselves on the river Kooskooske. This river they found to be much embarrassed by a succession of dangerous rapids and shoals. These difficulties, however, they encountered with all the alacrity of men accustomed to danger; and, after a hazardous navigation, they descended into Lewis's river, and, sailing down this stream, they reached the Columbia, about 400 miles from its mouth. They came within sight of the ocean about the 7th November, when they were deluged for a time with almost perpetual rains. At this station they remained for the winter, which, as usually happens on the western coast of America, was extremely mild. As soon as the weather permitted, they set out on their return; and having, with great difficulty, succeeded in crossing the ridge of the Rocky Mountains, they arrived at Fort Lewis, on the Mississippi, on the 23rd September; having, in the course of this remarkable journey, travelled over a space of about 9000 miles.

The countries bordering on the Missouri they found inhabited by barbarous tribes, who subsist chiefly by the chace, few or none of them looking to agriculture as any resource. On the western side of the Rocky Mountains, the rivers yielded vast quantities of salmon; and such was the abundance of this fish in the Columbia, that they were caught in any quantity with little trouble. Here the inhabitants draw their chief subsistence from the rivers; and in many parts the salmon were seen, after being cured in a particular manner, built up in large stacks, as a provision for future consumption.

The expedition of Captains Lewis and Clarke, whether we consider the singular perseverance, courage, and address, with which it was conducted, or the important information to which it has led, may be undoubtedly regarded as one of the most memorable exploratory enterprises of which any nation has to boast. The chart which they have laid down of the course of the Missouri, with its subordinate streams, has filled up an immense chasm in the geography of North America, which may now be considered as complete in all its great features; namely, the direction of its mountains, and the course of its chief rivers. The researches of future travellers must therefore be limited to the subordinate task of filling up the details of the picture, of which the general outline has been already so boldly and successfully sketched. This, however, must be the work of time. At present, our knowledge of the interior of North America seems to be sufficient for every useful purpose; and it is only when population and improvement have made greater progress, that a more exact survey of the country will be required.

III. In South America, although the country may be said to be merely skirted with an exterior border of cultivation and improvement, the interior has been explored with considerable success. The immense rivers, with the innumerable tributary streams, which flow through the country in all directions, afford great facilities for traversing those vast regions; and it is no doubt in a great measure to this inland navigation that we are indebted for the geographical knowledge which we possess, imperfect as it is, of this portion of the American Continent. In Africa, a difference of climate, and a difference also in the configuration of ground, has given rise to a different disposition of its rivers. The Nile holds its solitary course through parched and burning deserts, where no rain ever falls, and where, for more than a thousand miles, not a single stream arises to pour its waters into the main channel. The water, on the contrary, which falls on the American Continent, seeks its way to the ocean through many different channels; and all the great rivers, until they fall into the ocean, are joined, in their course, by a variety of capital streams; all of which, communicating either by means of the main channel, or by its tributary waters, with a vast space of inland country, diffuse throughout the Continent all the advantages of a maritime boundary, and afford facilities for exploring the interior, which could not otherwise exist.

The Spaniards, ever since their first settlement in America, have been chiefly intent on the aggrandizement of their power and influence, and on the extension of their authority as widely as possible among the native tribes. For this purpose, they seem occasionally to have employed persuasion and address, and, at other times, to have had recourse to violence. In the latter case, troops were employed to take possession of a certain district; a particular space was then assigned for the villages of the native inhabitants, to which it was understood they were afterwards to be confined. Here they were gradually subjected to a system of magistracy and police, and they were afterwards reduced under a mild species of servitude, for the benefit of their conquerors. In general, the Indians were forced tamely to submit to this injustice; but, in some cases, they rather chose, after a violent struggle, to retire into the interior; from whence, under the influence of a just resentment against their oppressors, they continued to make incursions into the Spanish territories. The frontier which divides those hostile classes of inhabitants is in this manner the scene of a constant and inveterate war; and the Europeans are only secured against the irruption of the native tribes, by the imposing aspect of a strong military force.

Against this system of conquest the ecclesiastics always remonstrated, with laudable and becoming zeal; and they have uniformly recommended, that the improvement of the native Americans should rather be attempted by policy than by arms. Their humane counsels have so far prevailed, that, in later times, the Spaniards, in their attempts to civilize the native Indians, seem to have trusted almost entirely to conciliation. Missions or settlements have been established in different parts under the authority of ecclesiastics, and a few soldiers have generally accompanied the infant colony, to repel aggression, but not to offer violence. They to whom the administration of these settlements is committed, are directed to gain over the Indians by gentle means to habits of civilization,—to make distributions among them of provisions, iron, or of such implements of industry as may enable them to better their condition,—and gradually to inure them to the restraints, by making them duly sensible of the various advantages, of social life. It is also accounted of great importance, that they should be converted to the Christian faith at the same time that they are instructed in all useful and necessary arts. How far this system, so full of enlightened humanity, is likely to succeed on any great scale, is a question of some difficulty. Azara, in his instructive account of the Spanish settlements in Paraguay, depreciates the services of the ecclesiastics in that part of the Continent. The Indians are so inveterately attached to their habits of barbarism, that force, he seems to think, is absolutely necessary to bring them under the yoke of civilization. It is seldom, he insists, that the savage has any attention to bestow on futurity. He is generally swayed by present objects; and hence the superior advantages of civilization, though they are continually displayed before him, have no effect in withdrawing him from the habits of his wandering and unsettled life. This is no doubt true; and it proves the difficulty, but certainly not the impossibility, of succeeding in the benevolent task undertaken by the Spanish missionaries. There is a very striking account, in the narrative of Vancouver's voyages, of the state of the Spanish missions on the coast of California; and the fine picture which is there exhibited of the reverence and attachment of the Indian population to their pastor, and of his unbounded ascendancy over them, evinces such a spirit of docility and affection in this simple people, as plainly shews that, under a wise system of management, they are capable of civilization; and that, though the existing generation were to remain in their original barbarism, the rising generation at least might be trained to agriculture, and to those other arts by which life is supplied with its most necessary comforts. We cannot, indeed, readily admit, that injustice is in any case the most perfect instrument of policy, or that there is no other way of guiding and controlling the human mind but by violence and cruelty.

With a view of extending civilization among the native tribes, various expeditions have from time to time been undertaken into the interior by the Spanish missionaries. Of these the latest and most remarkable appear to be, first, the voyage of Father Sobriela on the river Guallaga; and, second, the voyages of Father Girval on the great river Amazons.

Beyond the easternmost of the three ridges of Andes, which run in a direction nearly north and south, through the province of Peru, immense plains stretch out, to the extent of nearly 8000 square leagues, and so level, that they have been compared to the ocean. They lie between the river Ucayale and the Guallaga, which bound them to the east and west, while to the north they are bounded by the river Amazons. These vast plains, which have been denominated by the missionaries Pampas del Sacramento, are shaded with forests of eternal verdure, which form a delicious perspective; they contain also abundance of lakes and rivers, the isles and borders of which are inhabited by tribes greatly diversified in their manners and habits. Rain and thunder are frequent, and for some hours of the day thick fogs always rest on the tall trees. The thickness of the woods prevents the rain from penetrating, and the warmth and moisture give birth to innumerable insects and reptiles. Many of the rarest vegetable products are found in those regions: balsams, oils, gums, resins, incense, cinnamon—superior in strength to that of Ceylon, but not so valuable, on account of a disagreeable juice which it transudes:—cocoa, cascarilla, and excellent spiceries are abundant. But, notwithstanding its valuable produce, and the inviting aspect of its evergreen forests, the warmth and humidity of the climate render the country so unhealthy, that few among the native tribes are said to live beyond fifty years of age. This vast region was first discovered about the year 1726; and several missions appear to have been established, all of which were, however, afterwards abandoned. As this territory was considered by the Spanish government to be of extreme importance, Father Sobriela was dispatched in 1790 to explore the course of the river Guallaga, its western boundary. This river rises in south latitude 10° 57', and, after a course of about 400 miles, falls into the Amazons. He set out in July for the city of Guanuco, near the source of the Guallaga, where he spent some time in visiting the Indians; to whom, along with his spiritual doctrines, he gave lessons in agriculture, and the necessary implements of iron, by which those lessons were to be reduced to practice. Having embarked on the Guallaga, he descended the stream, and safely passed several rapids. At the rapid of Aguirre the chains of mountains join on either side, and form the Ponquilo—a term borrowed from the language of Peru, signifying a door; and which is generally applied to those narrow and tremendous outlets where the rivers burst from the mountains. This passage forms a sort of gate, where the traveller passes as it were from one world into another, the whole aspect of nature having undergone a complete change; vast plains clothed with eternal verdure, and extending as far as the eye can reach, now succeeding to the lofty summits of the Andes lost in the clouds, and buried in perpetual snow. After passing the mountains, the Guallaga begins to spread, and rolls its majestic stream along the plain, which is now so large as to be navigable both day and night; while its banks, covered with lofty palms, and trees of every leaf, are enlivened by numerous birds of the richest plumage, and most diversified song. The scene is rendered still more interesting by the prospect of numerous trading canoes sailing up and down the river; while the crews of others are employed in gathering the cocoa-nuts produced in those immense forests, or the honey made by diminutive bees, which lodge their treasure in hollow trunks. The banks of the Guallaga are infested by innumerable swarms of mosquitoes, by which the inhabitants are cruelly tormented; and by that still more formidable animal the cayman or alligator, which grows here to an enormous size, and is seen lurking about in search of its prey. Father Sobriela, having passed the missionary village of Yurimaguas (where he saw the Indian method of catching the tiger or jaguar, in a kind of trap formed of stakes), arrived at Laguna, the capital of the province of Maynas, situate in 5° 14' south latitude, on a lake, which, by a narrow channel, enters the Guallaga from the east. This settlement is not above thirty miles from the confluence of the Guallaga with the main channel of the Amazons. It is the residence of the President of the missions, who is assisted by a Lieutenant-governor. The number of Christians is 8895, with nineteen Curates, and a Superior of the missions. Great care is taken to train the Indians to industry and to habits of morality; and the benevolent efforts of the ecclesiastics have so far succeeded, that the natives unite, with their ordinary employments of hunting and fishing, the cultivation of little fields of rice and sugar-canes. The villages of this province trade with each other, and with Quito, and Lamas, in salted fish, chocolate, wax, and vegetable candles, being the fruit of a tree, which, when lighted, presents both wax and wick; and the reformation which has been thus brought about in the habits of the native tribes, must be chiefly ascribed to the address, prudence, and indefatigable zeal of the Spanish missionaries, and to the benevolent principles upon which they proceed.

In 1791 the viceroy of Peru received an order to extend and secure the labours of the missionaries; and Father Girval was in consequence instructed to survey the great river Ucayale, which falls into the Amazons from the south, and which may be considered indeed as the main stream, as its course is longer, and as it also contains a larger body of water. In the course of three successive voyages, undertaken in 1791 and 1794, this enterprising missionary ascended the Ucayale, which he explored to its confluence with the Pachitea. Having two canoes with fourteen Omaguan Indians, robust and dexterous rowers, he made great progress, frequently meeting with fleets of canoes filled with the natives, whom he always contrived either to soothe or to escape. The Guallaga and the Ucayale, which bound on the west and east the immense plains known under the name of Pampas del Sacramento, hold a parallel course at the distance of between 300 or 400 miles, until they fall into the Amazons; and it was an object of Father Girval's expedition, to discover whether there existed any navigable streams by which a communication might be opened across the country between these two rivers. After sixteen days navigation, he reached the Manoa, which falls into the Ucayale from the west; and, notwithstanding the rapidity of its stream, he proceeded to ascend it, expecting that it might either conduct him to the Guallaga, or to some of its tributary streams. Being obliged, however, to proceed partly by land, he found the road exceedingly difficult and dangerous on account of the precipices and thick woods; and having discovered a large river, which he supposed to be the Guallaga, but which afterwards proved to be the Manoa, the river he had previously ascended, he returned to the Ucayale; and, embarking on its stream, he arrived on the Amazons, and, ascending this river, he reached the mission of the Maynas on the Guallaga, after an absence of four months.

Father Girval proceeded on his second voyage in 1791. He entered the Ucayale on the 14th November, unaccompanied by any soldier or white person. The natives received him with great cordiality, though he was afraid of encountering the Casibos on the eastern shore, reputed the most ferocious tribe in those regions. But those whom he chiefly met in this part of the river, belonged to the tribe of the Comibos, who are more peaceable and humane, and, who generally, with their rude flutes, make signals of hospitality and peace. They navigate the river in large canoes, from sixteen to twenty yards in length, which they will employ a whole year in hollowing out of a single tree. This they accomplish by means of sharp stones and fire. The canoes of the Paros, another tribe of native Indians, afterwards began to make their appearance; and father Girval proceeded up the river, accompanied by a bark and sixty canoes of friendly savages. Arrived at the river Manoa, he immediately began, in consequence of the orders of the viceroy, to inquire for the beautiful bird called the Carbuncle, which is said to be about half a yard in height, of a most exquisite plumage; while its breast is also finely spotted. He was informed, that it was known to the Piro tribe, who inhabit the upper banks of the Ucayale. The next object of inquiry was, whether any of the tributary streams of the Guallaga and the Ucayale, approached so near each other as to facilitate the communication between the principal streams; and this point, so important to the future civilization of the country, was established by this second journey of father Girval. It was found that, from the Manoa, which enters the Ucayale from the west, the distance to the Chipurana, which enters the Guallaga from the east, is not great. A party of ten men and two women, being accordingly dispatched in this direction, reached the head waters of the Chipurana, after dragging their canoes over the land, which is here a beautiful plain, only one day; and embarking on this stream, they soon entered the Guallaga, which they descended to its junction with the Amazons, after a journey of fifteen days.

In a subsequent voyage, undertaken in the year 1794, father Girval ascended the Ucayale for about 600 miles, to its junction with the Pachitea. He found the river flowing in a gentle current, and abounding with fish, while animals of chace swarmed upon its shores. The savage tribes were generally pacific, and seemed to speak different dialects of the same language. Besides hunting and fishing, they cultivate a few herbs, particularly the Yuca, from which they extract an intoxicating drink; they also gather cotton, which serves them for the slight clothing which they wear, and they use axes of copper. They seem to be very dextrous at extracting an active poison from noxious plants; and so great is their confidence in the deadly power which it gives to their arms, that they will awake the fury, and await the attack of the fiercest tiger. They laugh when he prepares to spring, and, aiming at him the fatal shaft, the arrow flies, and he is dead. War is their ruling passion, and they are almost continually engaged in hostility with the neighbouring tribes.

The interior navigable communications which have been disclosed by the journeys of those adventurous missionaries, may be of considerable importance to the commerce of South America. The sources of the Rio Guallaga, are not above two or three days' journey from Lima, which may thus open an intercourse, not only with the whole in- terior of the country, but even with Europe. The productions of Peru may be carried down the great rivers Ucayale or the Guallaga, to the mouth of the Amazons, and from thence to Europe, in the space of five or six weeks; while it would require four months to reach the same point by doubling Cape Horn. But where the waters of an immense Continent, in their course to the sea, pass through the territories of different nations, political arrangements are frequently necessary to secure the advantages of nature. The Amazons, for about one thousand miles of its course, is in the power of the Portuguese; and Portugal has refused to the Spaniards the free navigation of this important river; although the cultivation of those extensive regions, situated on the eastern declivity of the Andes, and the prosperity of their inhabitants, depend, in a great measure, on the possession of this valuable privilege. It is to be hoped, however, that more liberal views will prevail; and that, in the present era of increasing improvement, the Portuguese government will not persist in imposing such a pernicious and useless restriction on the commerce of a great Continent.

The latest, and by far the most interesting journey, which has been undertaken into the interior of America, is that of Baron de Humboldt, a Prussian gentleman; who having, by a long course of study, instructed himself in all those important branches of knowledge, both moral and physical, necessary to form an accomplished traveller, set out, under the impulse of his own ardent genius, and love of science, to explore the wonders which nature has so profusely displayed in the interesting regions of the new world. He was accompanied by M. Bonpland, who, to indefatigable zeal, joined extensive acquisitions in science; and those two travellers arrived, in July 1799, at the port of Cumana, in South America. They employed the remainder of the year in visiting the coasts of Paria, the missions of the Indian Chaymas, the province of New Andalusia (a country liable to the most frightful earthquakes, and of which the climate, though the hottest, is perhaps one of the most salubrious in the world), New Barcelona, Venezuela, and Spanish Guiana. In the beginning of the year 1800, leaving the Caracas, they went to visit the beautiful valleys of Aragua; and, proceeding southwards from Porto Cabello, they crossed the immense plains of Cabo Boza, the Apure, and the Orinoco. They next traversed the Llanos, a desert similar to those in Africa, wholly without vegetation, and where, by the operation of a vertical sun upon the sand, the horizon everywhere exhibits the well-known illusion of the distant sea. The country is here such an uniform level, that, for a space of 2000 square leagues, the inequality of the ground does not exceed five inches. The heat is excessive; the thermometer, in the shade, rising by the reverberation of the sun's rays, to 110 and 115 degrees of Fahrenheit's scale. The parched earth conceals crocodiles and serpents, which lie in a state of torpor, till they are called into life and activity by the periodical torrents which, for a time, deluge those barren regions. Humboldt and his companion travelled whole days in this pathless expanse, without meeting with a single shrub, or with one solitary dwelling, to refresh the eye. At St Fernando d'Apure, they commenced a most fatiguing navigation of 1000 marine leagues, which they performed in canoes, laying down an accurate chart of the country through which they proceeded. They descended the stream of the Apure, which falls into the Orinoco, at the 7th degree of latitude; and, remounting the last river, they reached the confluence of the Guaviari, after passing the celebrated cataracts of Mapures and Atures. They afterwards ascended several rivers of interior note; and from the mission of Sarita, they travelled over-land to the sources of the Rio Negro; which Condamine saw at its point of junction with the Amazons, and which he designates a sea of smooth water. About thirty Indians carried their canoes through lofty forests, to the creek of Pemichin. By this rivulet, they entered the Rio Negro, which they descended to Fort-Charles. From this station, ascending the river Cassiquari, they reached the Orinoco; and from thence they proceeded to the volcano of Daida, and to the mission of Esmeralda, near the sources of the last mentioned river. These sources they were prevented from reaching by the Guanicas, a pigmy race, of a fair complexion, but exceedingly warlike and ferocious. From the mission of Esmeralda, Humboldt and his companion descended the Orinoco to its mouth; and, in the course of this painful navigation, they were exposed to sufferings of every sort. They were in want both of food and shelter; and, during the night, they were exposed to the periodical rains, which fell in torrents. If they went a-shore to seek shelter or subsistence in the woods, they were tormented by the muskitoes, and by other loathsome insects; if they ventured to bathe their parched limbs in the stream, they were in danger of being devoured by the crocodile; or of being attacked by a small species of voracious crab; and, in addition to all these evils, they were exposed to the unhealthy exhalations of a moist climate under a burning sun.

Having escaped these various dangers, they returned to Cumana, where, after remaining for some months, they set sail for Cuba; and returning from this island to Carthagena, they successively visited the cities of Quito, Santa Fe, Lima, Guayaquil; and, proceeding to the province of New Mexico, they staid in that country for about a year; from whence they returned to France, by the way of North America.

Those illustrious travellers have been since engaged in communicating to the world the result of their inquiries, which are of such extent, that they embrace every object connected either with nature or with society. The works which they have already published abound in the most valuable details, relative to the political institutions of the country, the manners of the people, and the state of the economical arts; while they contain besides much curious information, of great importance to general science. Of these various and interesting details, we shall endeavour to present our readers with an abstract, under the articles to which they more particularly relate; and, in the meantime, it may be added, that the researches of Humboldt have tended to correct many prevailing errors in the geography of America; as he has accurately fixed the position of nearly

UNITED STATES OF. A view of the recent history of these Republics, of their statistics, and political relations, shall be given under the head UNITED STATES.