A. The continent of America is composed of two great peninsulas connected by a neck of land about 60 miles over, called the isthmus of Darien or Panama. These taken together extend from N. to S. about 8,000 miles, and are of very unequal breadth. Q. When, and by whom was America first discovered? A. In the year 1492, by Christopher Columbus, a native of Genoa. He left Palas in Spain, on the 3d of August, with three small ships, fitted out for him by Isabella, queen of Castile, and after a perilous voyage of 33 days, landed on one of the Bahama Islands, where the astonished natives, simple, naked, timorous and inoffensive, received and treated him and his companions, as beings of a superior order, and of celestial origin. Columbus afterwards visited several other islands of the same group; and, in directing his course southerly, he fell in with Cuba and Hispaniola, which he found not only inhabited by a humane, hospitable people, but abounding in all the necessaries and comforts of life. Q. Did Columbus ever return again to Spain? A. Yes, and was received with unbounded applause and treated with the greatest respect. He visited America again several times, and extended his discoveries greatly to the emolument of the Spanish crown; but the ungrateful Ferdinand after the death of his queen Isabella, who was the friend and patroness of Columbus, suffered him to waste the evening of his days injured and oppressed. He died at Valadolid,the capital of Castile, in the 59th year of his age, A. D. 1506. Q. Whence What are the manners of the inhabitants? A. In general they are gross, ignorant and lazy. They love only good cheer and their pleasures. They are extremely jealous of their wives, and cruel to their slaves. Q. What are the chief kingdoms of Africa? A. Egypt, Barbary, Morocco, Zaara, or the great Desert, Negroland, Ethiopia, and Guinea, where ships go yearly to purchase slaves. Q Are the islands of Africa considerable? A Yes; but the following are the principal ones, Madagascar, the largest, called also St. Lawrence, the inhabitants black, wild, savage, naked, and under no particular governor; the small islands of Cape Verd, the Canary islands, the Madeiras, noted for excellent wines, the Guinea isles, and the isles Ascension and St. Helena, with others of lesser note in the Ethiopic sea. Q. What character have the people? A. The inhabitants are for the most part tawny, and in some parts quite black; they have been always gross idolators, worshipping the stars, fire, and planets; they are accused of feeding on human flesh. LESSON XVII. OF AMERICA. [As every thing which respects America must be impor tant to the rising generation, we take the liberty of copying the following from a work lately published at Philadelphia, entitled, Polite Learning,'-notwithstanding we have already mentioned some short account, a little similar.] Q. GIVE me some account of America ? A. The. A. The continent of America is composed of two great peninsulas connected by a neck of land about 60 miles over, called the isthmus of Darien or Panama. These taken together extend from N. to S. about 8,000 miles, and are of very unequal breadth. Q. When, and by whom was America first discovered? A. In the year 1492, by Christopher Columbus, a native of Genoa. He left Palas in Spain, on the 3d of August, with three small ships, fitted out for him by Isabella, queen of Castile, and after a perilous voyage of 33 days, landed on one of the Bahama Islands, where the astonished natives, simple, naked, timorous and inoffensive, received and treated him and his companions, as beings of a superior order, and of celestial origin. Columbus afterwards visited several other islands of the same group; and, in directing his course southerly, he fell in with Cuba and Hispaniola, which he found not only inhabited by a humane, hospitable people, but abounding in all the necessaries and comforts of life. Q. Did Columbus ever return again to Spain? A. Yes, and was received with unbounded applause and treated with the greatest respect. He visited America again several times, and extended his discoveries greatly to the emolument of the Spanish crown; but the ungrateful Ferdinand after the death of his queen Isabella, who was the friend and patroness of Columbus, suffered him to waste the evening of his days injured and oppressed. He died at Valadolid, the capital of Castile, in the 59th year of his age, A. D. 1506. Q. Whence Q. Whence does America take its name? A. From Americus Vespusius, a Florentine, who, among a multitude of other adventurers, was drawn from the shores of Europe to the new world, in quest of riches. He sailed to the southern continent, wrote a history of his voyage, and had the address thereby to give his name to half the globe. Q. When, and by whom was North America first discovered? A. In the year 1496, by John Cabot,and more fully in the following year by himself, together with his son Sebastian, both sailing, for the purposes of discovery, in the employ of Henry VII. of England. Q Did not the Spaniards early plant coloniesin some of the West Indian islands? A. Yes, in several of them, soon after their discovery; and thence by cunning, conquest, and cruelty, they, after a few years, extended their authority to, and established themselves in many extensive and fertile regions, both of North and South America. Q. Who were the principal agents in these conquests and establishments? A. Ferdinando Cortes, and Francisco Pizarro, (two monsters of cruelty) and by their instrumentality vast multitudes of innocent natives perished in the flames, by the sword, and other means. Cortes subdued the Mexicans between the years 1518 and 1522, and Pizarro, about the year 1595, conquered Peru, and founded the city of Lima. Q. Whence is it supposed that America was first peopled? A. From A. From the north east part of Asia, but at what time is very uncertain: It must, however, have been many hundred years before Columbus's discovery, as Mexico, Peru, and the West Indies were all, at that time, found to be very populous. OF NORTH AMERICA. Q. Give me the length, breadth, and bounda ries of North America? A. It is nearly 5,000 miles long, and from 1 to 3 thousand broad; bounded E. by the Atlantic, W. by the Pacific, N. by the Northern occan, and S. by the Gulph of Mexico and S. America. Q. What are its grand divisions? A. They are; 1st. The British colonies on the north; 2d. The United States, in the middle, and, 3d. The Spanish Provinces on the South and West; beside extensive regions of unexplored country lying to the N. and N. W. of the United States and inhabited by numerous tribes of Indians, of whom we know but little. BRITISH COLONIES. Upper Canada Kingston. New Britain, a lean cold country, including Hudson's Bay, and Esquemaux, with New North and South Wales. * Quebec is situated upon the St. Lawrence river, contains about 10 thousand inhabitants, is the capital of all British America, and residence of the Governor General These countries are valuable, chiefly for their fisheries, fur trade, and lumber. LESSON |