inlets occur which afford safe anchorage, and along the Pacific the coast is lined with numerous islets, cliffs, and rocks. It is supposed that Desolation does not constitute one island, but is intersected by several channels.

west.

South of King Charles' Southland there are several large islands, which are separated from it by a strait nearly 120 miles in length, and from a quarter of a mile to a mile wide. It is called Beagle Channel, and extends nearly in a strait line east and The largest islands south of this strait are Hoste and Navarin. Hoste, the most western, is separated from Navarin by Ponsonby Strait. It is more than 70 miles long, and the mean width exceeds 36 miles. Though rocky and high, it does not appear to attain to a great elevation. Along Beagle Channel it is well wooded, but the southern shores are generally bare, and are indented by deep inlets. Navarin Island is about 40 miles long and 20 wide it resembles Hoste Island, but contains more level tracts along the shores. South of Hoste Island is a group of smaller islands, the most southern of which is Horn Island, a rocky mass without vegetation. Cape Horn, its most southern point, is considered the most southern extremity of America.

East of the eastern extremity of King Charles' Southland, and divided from it by the Strait of Le Maire, which is about 20 miles wide, lies the island called Staten Land, which is about 38 miles long. The shores being indented by deep inlets, the width varies between half a mile and four miles. It is high and rocky, but in some parts covered with stunted trees. Along the northern shores there are several good harbours, which are visited by sealers: the largest and safest is that of St. John, near the eastern extremity.

The climate of the level portion of King Charles' Southland resembles that of the plains of Patagonia, being extremely dry and cold. The climate of the mountainous part and the lesser islands is quite different. Western and south-western winds prevail there all the year round, and, whilst they blow, the air is charged with moisture, and rains are frequent and sometimes of long duration. This circumstance prevents any great degree of heat or cold. The mean temperature of the summer on the Strait of Magalhaens is 50°, and that of the winter 33°. In winter the thermometer sometimes descends to 12°. The frosts, however, do not last long, and it is thought that they are not so severe nor so long as in England: the heat in summer is still less sensible.

The Patagonian Islands extend from the western extremity of the Strait of Magalhaens, 53° S. lat., to Cape Tres Montes, 47° S. lat., along the western coast of South America: they strongly resemble in character the opposite coast. Near the opening of the Strait of Magalhaens there is an extensive group of islands, called Adelaide Archipelago. Farther north is Hanover Island, which is nearly 70 miles long, though it may possibly consist of several islands. The Archipelago de Madre

de Dios is separated by the Gulf of Trinidad from Wellington Island. Wellington Island is more than 150 miles long, and in some places 60 miles wide it is divided from the continent by Mesier Channel, which varies in width from two miles to 400 yards. Between Wellington Island and Cape Tres Montes is the Archipelago of the Guaianeco Islands. All these islands are rocky, and high; but, though the mountains rise with a steep acclivity from the shores, they seem not to attain a great elevation, none of their summits probably exceeding 2000 feet above the sea level. The coast which fronts the Pacific is bare, being almost continually washed by rains, and beaten by strong winds; but those parts which lie opposite the American Continent are wooded, and in some places the trees are high, and of vigorous growth.

The Falkland Islands lie in the Atlantic between 51° and 53° S. lat., and extend from near 57° almost to 62° W. long. They occupy about 9000 square miles, and thus exceed by 1000 square miles the area of Wales. The number of islands is about 200; but only two are of considerable size: these two are called respectively East and West Falkland, and are separated from one another by Falkland Sound. The shores are low, but rocky. The greater part of the islands consists of low, barren hills, sloping down towards the broken ground on the rocky, surfbeaten shores. On the west coast of West Falkland there are some high precipitous cliffs. The average height of the western island is greater than that of the eastern, although the highest hills seem to be in the latter, where a ridge runs across the island near its centre: its highest part, called Wickham Mountains, is 1300 or 1400 feet above the sea. The surface of the islands, which is generally undulating, seems to consist of moorland and black bog; but in many places it is a solid sand-clay soil, covered by a thin layer of vegetable mould, which produces shrubby bushes, and a coarse grass, that affords ample nourishment for cattle. Many valleys have a good deep soil. The southern half of East Falkland is low and level, and produces abundance of excellent herbage. There are no trees; but brushwood grows plentifully in the valleys to the height of three or four feet, and is used as fire-wood. Peat is inexhaustible, and makes good fuel. Some Europeans settled here in the last century, and when they abandoned their settlements, they left behind them cattle, horses, pigs, goats, and rabbits, all which animals have greatly increased. The number of wild cattle is stated to amount to 12,000, and that of horses to 4000. The cattle are of very large size, their hides weighing from 60 to 80 pounds each. The horses are not much larger than the Shetland ponies. The only indigenous quadruped is a peculiar species of fox, resembling a wolf. Sea-elephants and seals, both hair and fur-seals, are still numerous, though not so abundant as formerly, having been much destroyed by the whale-ships, which have made these islands their head-quarters during the last thirty years. Whales frequent the surrounding seas at particular seasons. Fish are very abundant, especially a kind of bass, which

is salted and exported to the River Plata and Rio de Janeiro. Waterfowl and waders abound in the pools and small lakes, which are numerous in the lower grounds. Wheat grows, but it has not yet been ascertained if it will come to maturity. Fruit does not ripen. Potatoes, turnips, carrots, cabbages, lettuce, and other esculent plants, grow well. The climate is extremely boisterous. The winds are variable, seldom quiet while the sun is above the horizon, and sometimes very violent. During the summer a calm day is an extraordinary event. The nights are less windy than the days. In winter there is not generally so much wind as in summer, and in the former season the weather, though colder, is more settled, and considerably drier. During the winter the winds are chiefly from the north-west, and in summer they are more frequently south-west. Rain occurs frequently all the year round; but it does not fall for any considerable time. The sky is almost always covered with clouds, and a sunny day is a rare occurrence: in other respects the climate is temperate. In winter the thermometer usually ranges between 30° and 50°, and in summer between 40° and 65°. For many years it has only once been observed as low as 22° in the shade, and once only has it been observed to rise above 80°. Ice, an inch in thickness, has not been seen snow seldom lies upon the low lands, or at any period exceeds two inches in depth. Excellent harbours, easy of access, and affording good shelter with the best holding ground, abound among these islands the most extensive are Berkeley Sound on East Falkland, and Port Egmont in West Falkland. The French formed a settlement at Port Louis, in Berkeley Sound, in 1764, and the English made one in Port Egmont in 1765. The French ceded their settlement, in 1767, to the Spaniards, who, in 1770, expelled the English from Port Egmont; but soon afterwards restored it. The English abandoned their settlement in 1774; but the Spaniards maintained theirs to the beginning of this century, when they also withdrew from it. In 1820, Buenos Ayres took possession of these islands; but the English asserted their rights, and, in 1833, the Buenos-Ayrians left the island on the arrival of an English ship of war. Since that time the Falkland Islands have been considered a British possession, and a small settlement is maintained at Port Louis. Whaling and sealing vessels frequently visit this harbour.

POLITICAL DIVISIONS OF SOUTH AMERICA.

Ar the beginning of the present century nearly the whole of South America was divided between the Spanish and the Portuguese; the Dutch and French had some small settlements on the north-eastern coast. But the most southern part of South America, which lies south of 36° on the eastern, and of 42° on the western coast, had not been permanently settled by any European nation. The Spanish colonies obtained their independence by a hard and protracted struggle (from 1810 to 1824), with the mother country, and they now constitute

six larger, and sixteen smaller republics. The larger are Venezuela, New Granada, Ecuador, Perù, Bolivia, and Chile. The smaller are comprehended under the name of the Provinces of La Plata, or the Argentine Republic; they are Buenos Ayres, Uraguay, Entre Rios, Corrientes, Missiones, Paraguay, Salta, Tucuman, Catamarca, Santiago, Rioja, Cordova, S. Juan, Mendoza, S. Luis and Santa Fé. The Portuguese colonies got rid of the dominion of Portugal by a series of political changes, which occurred in 1821 and 1822, and nearly without bloodshed; these colonies now form a constitutional government under the name of the empire of Brazil. A part of the Dutch colonies was ceded to the English in 1814, and thus South America is at present politically distributed into the following divisions, the area of which is added, according to a rough estimate:

Square Miles.
400,000

380,000

315,000

485,000

380,000

130,000

75,000

70,000

32,000

20,000

7,500

90,000

600,000*

25 The English, Dutch, and French colonies in

Guayana

2,800,000

The whole surface of South America is about 6,214,500

It is not possible to give even a rough estimate of the area of the republics from 13 to 22, as a large part of them consists of desert tracts, in which no exact boundary has been fixed. In the number of square miles given are included the Gran Chaco, and the countries between 36° S. lat. and the Cusu Leubu River, west of 62° W. long., which are not yet settled by Europeans, and are entirely in possession of the native tribes.

533

I. VENEZUELA.

1. Situation, Extent, Boundaries. 2. Surface and Soil, Mountains and Plains, Rivers and Lakes. 3. Climate and Productions. 4. Inhabitants and Population. 5. Political divisions and Towns. 6. Manufactures and Commerce. 7. History and Government.

1. VENEZUELA Occupies the greater part of the northern shores of South America, and the adjacent countries. Near the parallel of 9° N. lat. it extends from east to west, from Punta Barima, 60° W. long., to the Mountains of Ocaña, 73° 30' W. long., 900 miles in length. The greatest width is in the meridian of Cape Codera (66° 15′ W. long) where it extends from the boundary line of Brazil 1° to 10° 40' N. lat., or more than 660 miles from south to north. But its most northern point, Punta Gallina, is in 12° 25' N. lat.

On the east, it borders on British Guayana, and on that part of the Brazilian Province of Rio Negro, which comprehends the basin of the Rio Branco. The boundary-line between Venezuela and the British possessions has never been determined, and that which separates the republic from Brazil, runs through countries which are almost unknown. The line of separation is north of 1° N. lat. on the banks of the Guaïnia, or Rio Negro, between S. Carlos del Rio Negro and S. José de Marabitanos. New Granada is west of Venezuela. On the south, the boundary between these republics begins at a point, about 50 miles west of S. Carlos, and thence it runs due north, cutting the Rio Negro a little above Maroa, and proceeding to the Orinoco, where that river turns northward, at the mouth of the Rio Atabapo. The Orinoco constitutes the boundary as far as its confluence with the Rio Meta. The boundary then runs along the Meta to about 70° 45', whence it passes north-west between Arauco and Guadualito to the Apuré River, which it traverses between the confluences of the rivers Nula and Orivante. Dividing the basins of these two rivers, it passes over the elevated ridge of the Eastern Andes of New Granada, at the Páramo of Porquera, east of La Grita. It then turns westward, follows the course of the river Tachira, a confluent of the Zulia, and leaving it above the town of S. Faustino, runs westward to the Mountains of Ocaña, which it strikes south of the source of the Rio Catatumbo. It then runs northward again, along the elevated tract which encloses the Lake of Maracaybo on the west, terminating on the shores of the Caribbean Sea, at the mouth of the Rio Calancala, a little east of the Rio de la Hacha. The northern boundary of Venezuela is the Caribbean Sea, which forms the wide Gulf of Venezuela, between the peninsulas of Goahiros and Paraguana, and farther east the Gulf of Triste and that of Cariaco, the latter of which is separated from the open sea by the