Ho; and the mountains where these rise, are the Uralian, the Gauts, those of Caucasus Taurus, and Thibet. 343. British India, or countries governed by England in India, are those immense and fertile districts watered by the Ganges called Bengal, of which Calcutta is the capital; nearly the whole of the coasts of the peninsula of India; and the island of Ceylon. Where sacred Ganges pours along the plain, Scorch with dry heat, or drench with floods of rain: 344. China is at once the most ancient, the most extensive, the most populous, and best regulated empire in the world. In it are more than 300 millions of people; and its laws and government have subsisted, with very slight changes, for upwards of 3,000 years. 345. It is covered with canals, and every acre of its soil is cultivated. To secure it from invasion, it is separated from Tartary by a wall 1,500 miles long, and so thick, that five horsemen may every where ride abreast on it; yet the Tartars conquered China about 150 years ago, and still retain its government. 346. The chief cities of China are, Pekin, Nankin, and Canton, each of which contains more inhabitants than London, and they are rather more extensive. Canton is the only port where foreigners are allowed to trade; and from hence, the English and Americans bring teas and other Chinese commodities for the supply of Europe and America. 347. The Birman empire, of which the capitals are Ava and Pegu, separates China from India. Persia, celebrated in ancient history, has for many years been torn in pieces by civil wars. Arabia is famous for the exploits of Mahomet; and for the still wandering character of its inhabitants. O'er Arabia's desert sands The patient camel walks: On her cool and shady hills, Coffee-shrubs and tam'rinds grow: Down the fruitful dells below. Thick hung with dates the spreading palm Locusts oft, a living cloud, Hover in the darken'd air; Down falls the swain with trembling haste; Pitch their tents and wander free; Poor-yet blessed with liberty. 348. The land of Canaan, now called Syria, has been for four centuries in the hands of the Turks; and, like other parts of their empire, has become almost a desert. Jerusalem, Bethlehem, and the places recorded in the Old and New Testaments, are now supported chiefly by pilgrims from Catholic countries, and there are still chapels for their reception. 349. The following is a summary of the great divisions of Asia: 350. AFRICA is that quarter of the world which lies, for the chief part, within the torrid zone; and is, consequently, burnt up by extreme heat, which engenders also ferocious wild beasts, and every kind of noxious reptiles. It is therefore unhealthy; and in every respect unfavorable to the civilization of man. 351. In ancient times, it was the site of Carthagethe rival of Rome, and for ages the mistress of the commerce of the world; and through all history, Egypt has been famous as the nursery of the sciences, and the emporium of commerce. At present, Carthage lies in ruins; and Egypt is a prey to civil anarchy. 352. The northern coasts are inhabited by the Moors, at whose head is the despotic emperor of Morocco. The piratical states of Algiers, Tunis and Tripoli, are also on these coasts. At present, the cape of Good Hope, the southern promontory, and an English settlement, is the only part of Africa adapted to the enjoyment of man. 353. From the northern coasts to the Cape of Good Hope, the whole of this immense continent is inhabited by innumerable tribes or nations of Blacks; many of them in a state of absolute barbarism, and few possesssing any considerable degree of civilization. 354. The chief rivers of Africa are,-the Nile, the Niger, and the Senegal. The mountains are those of Atlas and the Moon. The islands are-Madagascar the Cape Verd, and the delightful Canaries, in one of which is the lofty Peak of Teneriffe. 355. The following is a survey of those parts of Africa which are perfectly formed: Population. Nations. Chief Cities. Abyssinia, Gondar, Egypt, Cairo, Morocco, Morocco, States of Barbary, Savage Tribes, 2 millions. 356. Till the discovery of the powers of the mag netie needle, navigators dared not to venture out of sight of land; but about 200 years after that discovery, Columbus, a Genoese, aware that the earth was round, conceived, that if he sailed from Europe westward, he should in time arrive at the East Indies, without having to sail around Africa. 357. He sailed accordingly from Cadiz, in the autumn of the year 1492, across the Atlantic; and, on the morning of the 12th of October, one of his anxious and mutinous crew spied land; not the East Indies, but Cat Island, one of the Bahamas, and part of a new world, till then unknown to the other three quarters. 358. In fact, Columbus could not reach the Indies. in this direction; because the immense continent of America intervened from the North Pole almost to the South. America, and all its islands, were found, at this time, to be peopled by the race described in Art. 324; and among them were established the two extensive and populous empires of Mexico and Peru. 359. Unhappily these empires, and many other parts. of this new world, abounded in gold and silver; and, as the inhabitants knew not the use of gunpowder, and the rapacity of the Spaniards had no bounds, they destroyed nearly thirty millions of the natives, in a few years, to get possession of their riches. 360. The bloody successes of the Spaniards, however, led other European nations to embark in the same enterprise; and, within a century, the Portuguese established themselves in the Brazils, the English in Virginia, and the French in Canada. Soon after, the fine islands called the West Indies, were successively colonized by different powers, for the sake of their produce in sugar, rum, and other tropical luxuries. 361. At length, in 1776, the populous English colonies in North America declared themselves independent; and, after a bloody contest of seven years, they were recognised as a new empire, under the title |