ETYMOLOGICAL NOTE. America was named after Vespucius Americanus, a Florentine adventurer, who, though America was really discovered by Columbus, reached the shores of South America in 1499, and published the first account of it on his return to Europe. The great merit is, of course, due to the celebrated Christopher Columbus, a native of Genoa, who sailed across the Atlantic in the service of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain. The first land in America upon which he and his crew (consisting of three almost worn-out vessels and of 120 men) set their foot they called San Salvador (one of the Bahama Islands), or St. Saviour. America is not unfrequently styled the New World, because of its more recent discovery to the inhabitants of the "Old World.” Mexico is said to be so named from Mexitli, the god of war among the Mexicans when first discovered by the Spaniards. Costa Rica signifies rich coast, and was probably so called on account of its great metallic wealth. West Indies (The) were so named by Columbus because he had been travelling in a westerly direction when he discovered them. Colombia received its appellation in honor of Christopher Columbus. Venezuela signifies Little Venice, and was so designated by the Spaniards, who, when they beheld the Indian villages erected on piles in Lake Maracaybo, thought it resembled Venice. Ecuador refers to its position under the equator. Guiana is said to have been so denominated from the Guayanoes, an Indian tribe. Brazil. From the wood of that name produced here; braza being the Portuguese word for burning coal. The honor of having discovered this country (in 1500) is contested between Pedro Alvaraz Cabral and Martin Behem. The first-mentioned traveller gave to Brazil the title of Tierra de Santa Cruz, or the land of the holy cross. Its capital, Rio de Janeiro, implies the river of January. Santiago, which means St. James, was so named in honor of the patron saint of Spain. La Plata received its name from the Rio de la Plata, or river of silver. It is frequently called the Argentine Republic, from the Latin argentum, silver. Buenos Ayres means good air, and was so named by the Spaniards, who (erroneously) believed its air to be very salubrious. Monte Video signifies the hill with the view or prospect, the lighthouse on the mountain here commanding an extensive view. It is derived from the French mont (and that from the Latin mons), a hill, &c., and the Latin video, I see. Magellan's Straits, between Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego, were discovered, in 1520, by, and named after, Ferdinando Magellan, a Portuguese in the service of Spain. (a.) NORTH AMERICA. Russian America.* New Archangel, with a population of about 1000, is the only place in Russian America deserving the name of a TOWN. It is the headquarters of the Russo-American Company, and has an active export trade in fish and peltry with Petropaulovski, in Kamschatka, from which place these commodities find their way to St. Petersburg, The SURFACE consists of a plateau the general height of which is about 3,000 feet. It contains the culminating-point of North America, Mount St. Elias, 17,850 feet high, and Mount Fairweather, 14,783 feet, both of which are extinct volcanoes. The CLIMATE is very humid, more particularly in the south-west and on Sitka Island. NATURAL PRODUCTIONS.-Barley, oats, and rye are raised in small quantities in the Sitka archipelago and the adjacent coast of the mainland; the alder and birch attain the dimensions of shrubs in the interior; and forests of coniferous trees clothe the mountains on the south-east coast. But the value of the country to the Russian government consists in its seal-fishery, and the capture of the various fur-bearing animals, which are prosecuted with great vigour by the Russians along the coasts and upon the adjoining islands. The native tribes sell or barter their furs to the Russian traders at a few forts which the latter have erected at various points along the coast. INHABITANTS.-The natives of Russian America are Esquimaux and Indians, who together amount to about 50,000; the Aleutians number 8,700; and the remainder are Russians. The Esquimaux, who occupy the coasts, live mainly by fishing; the Indians, who are to be found in the interior, support themselves by procuring skins for the Russo-American Company; and the Aleutians are skilful hunters and fishers. Their fragile baidares— a sort of light boat-are composed of the skins of animals drawn tightly over a framework of wood or of fish-bones; and each boat is made to hold one person, who sits in a round hole just fitted to the size of his body. Danish America; or, Greenland. It was TOWNS, ETC.-Godthaab, in South Greenland, is the oldest station. founded, in 1723, by the Moravian missionary, Hans Egede, and its name implies good hope. Godthaab is the residence of the governor of South Greenland. Egedes-minde, in North Greenland, signifies the place built in memory of Egede. It is the principal station in North Greenland, and is the residence of the Danish governor of that division. Godhavn, on the southern point of Disco Island, is the centre of the most important fishery, off which the last letters received from Sir John Franklin and his crews were written. Good coal occurs here, and upon the neighbouring coasts. *The Russo-American Company, incorporated, in 1799, for fishing and for hunting furbearing animals, have fifty ships of various sizes engaged in the collection and conveyance of peltry; in addition to two frigates and two corvettes maintained by Russia. The constitution and privileges of Russian America very much resemble those of the Hudson's Bay Company in British America. Uppernavik, in lat. 72° 50′, is the most northerly permanent little town in the world. SURFACE.--Generally high, rocky, and barren. It is one of the most desolate and inhospitable regions on the face of the globe, devoid of animal life throughout the greater part of its extent, and incapable of supporting it. The higher portions of the country are covered with perpetual snow; the glaciers often reach to the sea-shore; and the interior is supposed to be one vast field of ice. CLIMATE.--The difference between the extremes of temperature in Greenland is probably without a parallel. The sea freezes in January, and the cold is so severe that the inhabitants are obliged to live in holes underground, which they cover with turf; while the thermometer in July stands at 84° Fahr. even in the shade. NATURAL PRODUCTIONS.-The vegetation chiefly consists of grasses and lichens in the north, and of a few scattered birches, alders, and willows in the south, where, also, small quantities of corn, potatoes, and kitchen vegetables are raised. Of the minerals to be found in Danish America, the only one worth mentioning is copper ore, which has been recently discovered, in lat 70° N., in Disco Island. INHABITANTS. The natives, who are called Esquimaux, and are allied to the Mongolian family, are characterised by a short squat stature and dark skin. They subsist principally on seals and whale-blubber, and are clothed in skins. COMMERCE is carried on with Denmark by the aid of about a dozen vessels, which annually export about 3,600 tons of seal-oil, 4,300 of whale-oil, 37,000 seal-skins, 29,000 fox-skins, 18,000 rein-deer skins, and 19,000 lbs. of eider-down. The imports comprise wheat, coffee, sugar, brandy, tobacco, firewood, &c. British North America. * (1) HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY TERRITORY; OR, NEW BRITAIN. This vast territory is divided by the Hudson Sea and the Rocky Mountains into three large provinces: Columbia (embracing British Columbia, Vancouver's Island, and Queen Charlotte Island) in the west; Rupert's + Land in the centre; and Labrador in the east. Victoria, the capital of Vancouver's Island, is the residence of the British governor, and is a rising place. Nain, the principal place in Labrador, and one of the settlements of the Moravian missionaries, is the oldest town in that division of the Hudson's Bay Territory, having been founded in 1771. Rupert's Land, which lies between the Hudson Sea and the Rocky Mountains, and which is by far the largest (2,600,000 square miles) and most important division of New Britain, embraces three great natural subdivisions, which the Company have further marked out into twenty districts. * Vancouver's Island was so called from the celebrated navigator of that name, George Vancouver, who was a captain in the British navy when he first surveyed the shores. + So named from the original charter having been granted, in 1670, under the auspices of Prince Rupert. The Hudson's Bay Company was established in the reign of Charles II. for the purpose of prosecuting the trade in furs. The lands included in the original grant to the Company were declared to include all territories within the limits watered by rivers falling into Hudson's Bay. This comprehensive grant was extended by the union of that body with the North-west Company, in 1821, since which time it has exercised a sort of territorial authority over the whole region between the coasts of Labrador and the Pacific. These subdivisions and districts, with the principal forts in each, are as follow: Forts, &c. Good Hope Norman Franklin Churchill Chippewayan Liard Red River...... YORK NOTES ON THE PRINCIPAL FORTS. FOR WHAT NOTED. One of the most northern of the Company's factories; the Pinus Albus, Has a mean annual temperature of 14° below freezing point, a Was founded, in 1813, by the Earl of Selkirk, and has a population |