L I B R i^ I^ Y OV Till'. • Theological Seminary PRINCETON, N. J- Book k/ ' ^ A DONATION ^^^^^^^^f---^^^ ilecrxbcb e> rdX^uU . M^rpUiAJ — *^ V^ <^, v» ^'V^^VVjWTJBIiBOTHAM. AN UI'STORICAl, GEOGRAPHICAL, COMMERCIAL, PHILOSOPHICAL VIEW OF THE UNITED STATES of AMERICA, AND OF THE EUROPEAN SETTLEMENTS IN* AMERICA AND TPiE WEST-INDIES, BY V - ^ W- WINTERBOTHAM. THE FIRST AMERICAN EDITION. WITH ADDITIONS AND CORRECTIONS. / m FOUR VOLUMES. VOL. IV. NEW- YORK; Printed bv TIEBOUT and O'BRIEN ^OK JOHN REID, BooKSH..Ka and Sxaxi^x.k, No. 106, Water.-Str£et. CONTENTS. VOL. IV. TAG?. BISTORT ef the Britijh Settlements in America Upper and Lower Canada Cape-Breton J^Ieiv-Britain No'^a-Scotia St. John Jt^eivfoundland Qreenland ^ Spanijh Dominions in North-America . • 4 JEaJi andWeJi'Florida - • • * ' Loui/iana Mexico, or NeiV'Spain • • • ' View of South-America Spanijh Dominions in South-America Terra Firma - • • ' ' ' ^^ Peru . • • * , i6i Chili ..•••• ^ ,67 Paraguay, or La Plata . * * c . r Observations on the Government, Trade, ^c, oj South-America • • * ' ' Portuguese Settlement in South-America Brafil • • * * * French Peffejfm^ in South-America ■ ■ -■- Cayenne ••'.,'. 21c Dutch Poffeffiom in Scuth-Amerua -^ -^ ,^^ Surinam • • ' * * ^ 221 Aboriginal America » - ' ' ' .^^ Amazonia . • • * I 12 16 3S 43 44 46 117 118 ib. 3^ 171 CONTENTS, Patagonia Weji-India Jflands Britijh We/Undies jfamaica Bar badoes Si. Chrijtopher^s Antigua Grenada DQ7ninica St. Vincent Nevis Montferrat Barbuda Bermudas Spanifi Wejl-Indies French WeJl-Indies Dutch WeJl-lndies Bamjh Weft4ndies Hi/lory of American ^adrupeds —- the Birds of America Reptiks of America Treaties between America and Foreign Nations Indi 'o.ex. JPAGE ib. 242 248 266 271 280 282 284 297 308 325 381 402 409 HISTORY Britifh Settlements in AmerlGa, .i^-<--< ■<•■<.•<-«>■• <-4« ^ >J>..i^">->">">->-— -> SITUAtlON AND EXTENT. -l HE Britifti dominion in America extending over a traft o^ country tailed, for the purpbfe of diftinftion, by the genera! name of Britifh America, comprehends the vaft and unknown Extent of Country, bounded fouth, by the United States of Ame- rica, and the Atlantic ocean ; eaft, by the fame ocean and Davis's Straits, which divide ii from Greenland ; extending north to thd northern limits of the Hudfon*s Bay charter : and weftward to an unknown extent — lying between 42^ 30' and -y^ north lati- tude • dnd between 56*^ and 165^ weft long, from Greenwich 9 and between 25** eaft and 30'' weft long, frdm Philadelphia. It is divided into foUr pro"(''incc5j viz. i. Upper Canada ; — . s. Ltiwer Canada, to which is annexed New Britain, or the iountry lying round Hudfon's Bay^ and the Iftand of Cape Bre- ton ; — 3* New Brunfwick ; — and 4. Nova Scotia, to which is annexed the Ifland of St. John's. — Betides thefe there is the Ifland of Newfoundland, which is governed by the admiral for the time being, and two lieutenant governors, who refide at Placentia nnd St, John's. The troops ftationed at Newfound- land, however, are fubjeft to the orders of the Governor-general of the four Britifti provinces.— Of each of thefe provinces our intention is to enter into a brief defcription, Vol. IV, B 3": GE-N^ERAL DESCRIPTION OF r R O Y I N C E S O F UPPER AND LOWER CANADA, SITUATION, EXTENT, AND BOUNDARIES. - The provinces of Upper and Lower Canada, conflituted by act- of pailiiiTient in .1^.9,1, comprehend the territory heretofore calk-d Canada, or the Province, of Quebec ; fituated between 42^ 30' an'l 50'^ north latitude, and 61'* and 81° we fl longitude froin. London: or 14^ eaft, and 6" weft from Philadelphia. Their length is about fix hundred mlleSj and their breadth five hundred andTifty. Thefe provinces are bounded on the north, by New Britain ; en the eafl;, by the Gulph of St. Lawrence, and part of the Pro- \-ince of New BrunTwicIc ; on the ibuth-eaft and fouth, by the diftrift of Maine, New Hampfliire, Vermont, NcW-York, and the lakes : the wcilcrn boundary is undefined. The Province of Upper Canada is the fame as what is commonly called the Upper Country. It lies north of the great lakes, betweeti the latitudes of 42*^ 30 'and 50'', and is feparated from New York bv the river St. Lawrence, here called the Cataraqui, and the Lnkcs Ontario and Erie. Lower Canada lies on both fides (he river St. Lawrence, be-« tween 61*' and 71^ W. Ion. from London; and 45*^ and 52''' N. lat. and is bounded fouth by New Brunfwick, Maine, New Hampfliire, Y'crmont, and New York ; and weft by Upper Canada. The line whicb divides Upper from Lower Canada commences at a -ftone boundary, on the north bank of the lake St. Francis, at the coVc. weft of Poiiiti: au Bdudct, in the limit between the townfhip of Lanqafler and the Seigneurie of New Longuevil, running along the faid limit in the dlre&ion of. north thirty-four dcffrccs v;cft, to tlic weflernmoft angle of the faid lSei|;ri.eurie of New Longuevil ; thenee along the north-weftcrn boundary of the Selgneuiie of Vahdrcuii, running north, twenty-five degrees eal"^, uiitil "li: feilces the Ottavv'as river ;,toaf€end' the faid river into the lal;:? Tdniircanning •, and from ' the Iread of the faid lake by a lino di-a\Vn due north, until it flrikes the boundary line of Hud- fmrs New Britain. Upper Canada^ t

;trcmcly numerous, and many of them very large and deep. The principal arc, the Ouattauas, St. John's, Seguinay, Defpaires, and Trois Rivieres; but all thcle are Iwal- lowed up by the great river St, Lawrence. This river iffues from the lake Ontario ; and, taking its courle north-eaft, walhes Montreal, where it receives the Ouattauais, and forms many fertile iflands. It continues the fame courte, and meets the tsde upwards of four hundred miles from the fea, where it is navi^ gable for large veflels ; and below Quebec, three hundred and fvvfntv miles from the lea, it becomes fo broad and ib deep, that {hips of the line contributed in the laft war to reduce that city. After receiving in its progrefs innumerable flreams, it at laft falls into the ocean at Cape Rollers, where it is ninety miles broad, and where the cold is intenl'e, and the lea boiftercus. This river is the only one upon which any fetilemcnls of note + ,. 'J iH .ii' are as yet forrned. , A river has been lately furveyed, by the deputy Survey ov- General cf Canada, from its entrance into the Bay of Rcnty, near Carciaraqui, to its iuurce of Ldke St. Clie ; froi?i whicti there is an ealy and fliort porfsge acrofs N. W. to the N. F. angle of I,ake Huron ^ and another that is neither lc)ri« nor dif- ficult, to the ibuthvvard, to the old fettlcment of Toroptp, This iz a Hiort rout from Fort Frontinac to Michillimakkir.ak. PP.INCIPAL TOWNS. <2 u :■: B £ c , ■Quebec is the capital, net only of ^ Lower Canada, but of ail Britih America ; it is fituatcd at the ronilyrnte ef th«-tiVev5 UPPER AND LOWER CANADA, 7 St. Lawrence and St. Charles, or the Little River, about three hundred and twenty miles from the Tea. It is built on a rock, partly of marble, and partly of Hate. The town is di- vided into an upper and lower. The houfes in both are of flone, and built in a tolerable manner. The fortifications are ftrong, though not regular. The town is covered with a regu- lar and beautiful citydel, in which the governor relides. The river, which from the Tea hither is four or five leagues broad, narrows all of a fuddcn to about ». mile wide. The haven, which lies oppofitc the town, is fafe and commodious, and about five fathoms deep. The ha 1 hour is flanked by two baflions, that are raifed twenty-five feet from the ground, which is about the height of the tides at the time of the equinox. From Quebec to Montreal, which is about one hundred and fcventy miles, in failing up the river St. Lawrence, the eye is entertained with beautiful landlcapes, the banks being in many pbices very bold and ftecp, and fhaded with lofty trees. The farms lie pretty tlofe all the way, fcveral gentlemens' houfes, neatly built, ihew themlclves at intervals, and there is all the appearance of a flourifning colony ; but there .re few towns or villages. It is pretty much like the well fetfled parts of Vir- ginia and Maiyland, where the planters arc wholly within themfelves. Many beautiful iflands are interfperfed in the channel of the river, which have an agreeable effe6l upon the eye. After pa ffing the Richelieu iflands, the air becorries fo mild and temperate, that the traveller thinks himfelf tranfported. to another climate ; but this is to be uriderflood only of the fummer months. TROIS RIVIERES. The town called Trois Rivieres, or the Three Rivers, is about half way between Quebec and Montreal, and has its name frem three rivers which join their currents here, and fall into the ti¥tv St. I/awrence. It is much reforted to by feveral na- tions of Indians, who, by means of theie rivers, come hither and trade with the inhabitants in various kinds of furs and fkiTiS. The country is pleafant, and fertile in corn, fruit, &c. and great numbers of handiome houl'es fland on both fides the river. M O N T il E .V L . Montreal fi.anJs on an Ulund in the river St. Lawrence,, which is ten leagues in length, and four in breadth, at the foot of a inountam whicji gives name to it, about half a league from 8 GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF the fouth fhore. While the French had poffeflTion of Canada^ both the city and ifland of Montreal belonged to private pro- prietors, who had improved them lo well, that the whole ifland had become a mod deliglitful fpot, and produced every thing that could adminifter to the conveniencies of life. The citv forms an oblong fqunre, divided by regular and well-formed ftreets ; and when taken by the Englifh the houfes were built in a Very handlome manner ; and every houfe might be feen at one view from the harbour, or from the fouthernmofl: fide of the river, as the hill on the fide of which the town ftands falls gradually to the water. This place is furrounded by a wall and a dryditch ; and its fortifications have beeil much improved by the Jinglifh. Montreal is nearly as large as Quebec, but fincc it fell into the hands of the Englifh it has iuffered much by fires. The principal towns in Upper Canada are Kingfton, on Lake Ontario, Niagara, Ijetween Lake Ontario and Lake Erie^ and Detroit, fituated on the weftern bank of Detroit riverj be- tween Lake Erie and Lake Huron, and nine rhiles below Lake St. Clair.* POPULATION. Upper Canada, though an infant fettlerftent, is faid by fome to contain forty thoufand, by others, only twenty thoufand in- habitants. The truth probably is between them; Lower Ca- nada, in 1784, contained one hundred thirteen thouland and twelve fouls. Both provinces maj^ now contain about one hun- dred and fifty-two thoufand fouls, which number is multiplying, both by natural increafe and by emigrations. RELIGION. About nine tenths of the inhabitants of thcfe provinces arc Roman Catholics, who enjoy under the prefent government thfc fame provifion, rights, and privileges, as were granted them jnt *7 745 ^y ^^^ '"^ '^^ 14th of George III. The reft of the peo-^ pie are Epifco'palians, Prefbyterians, and a icw of ahr.oft all the tlifFerent iec^s of Ghrillians. TRADE. The comrnodities required by th« Canadians from' Europe are, ■wine, or rather rum ; cloths, chiefly coarle ; linen ; and wraught! iron. The Indian trade requires rum, tobacco, a fort of dufHl blankets, guns, powder, bails, and flints, krttles, hatchets, toys, * Niagara and Derroit, though at prefent in poffeflion of the Britifli govci'a. tnent, contrarj to tk^ treaty of ptacj, arc, without any pollibk doubt, both withij the limits of t- . Uuv.cd Stares. UPPER AND LOWER CANADA. 9 and trinkets of all kinds. While the country was in poffeflion of the French, the Indians luppUed them with poultry ; and ihe French had traders, who, like the original inhabitants, tra- verfed the vaft lakes and rivers in canoes, with inctedible induf- try and patience, carrying their goods into the remoteft parts of America, and among nations entirely unknown to us. Thefe again brought the furs, &c. home to them, as the Indians were thereby habituated to trade with them. For this purpote, people from all parts, even from the diflance of one thoufand miles, came to the French fair at Montreal, which began in June, and fometimes lafted three months. On this occafion many folemni- tifes were oblerved, guards were placed, and the governor afli lied to preferve order in fo great and various a concourfc of favage nations. But fometimes great diiorders and tumults happened : and the Indians frequently gave for a dram all that ihey were poffeffed of. It is remarkable, that many of thefe nations a£lu- ally paffed by the then Englifh fettlement of Albany in New- York, and travelled two hundred miles further to Montreal^ though they could have purchased the goods they wanted cheaper at the former. Since Britain became pofleffed of Canada, her trade with that country has generally employed from thirty to forty fhips,. and about four thoufand feamen. The amount of the exports from the province of Quebec, as far back as in the year 1786, was three hundred forty-three thoufand two hundred and fixty-two pounds, nineteen fhjllings and fix-pence. 'Ihe amount of imports in the fams year was thre« hundred twenty-five thoufand one hundred and fixteen pounds. The exports confided of wheat, flour, bifcuit, fl?x- feed, lumber of various kinds, fifh, potafh, oil, ginfeng and other medicinal roots, £ut principally of furs and PELTRIES, to the amount of two hundred eighty-five thou- fand nine hundred and ieventy-leven pounds.* The imports • Should America infift (as no-doubt fiie will) on Great Britain furrcndering the frontier forts, and thole lands and fettlements which fhe has hitherto held in defiance of the moft folemn treaties, there cannot remain a doubt but ninc- tenths of the fur trade, will pafs into the hands of the Americans. This will prove a moft fcverc blow to the Canadian commerce, as well as to the re- venue of Great Britain, while the Americans, grown wile by experience, fend- ing their furs direft to France, Germany, &c. inftead of caufing them to pofs through the hands of Britifli merchants and brokers, will be able to divide an additional profit of from tiiirty to tifty per cent, between tliem- ^io GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF confifled of rum, brandy, molaffes, cofFee, fugar, wines, to- bacco, lalt, chocolate, provifions for the trooos, and dry goods. GOVERNMENT. By the Quebec aft,, paffad by the parliament of Great Britain in the year 1791, lo much of the aft of the 14th of George III. pafled in the year 1774, as relates to the appointment of a council for the government of the province of Quebec, is re- pealed ; and it is enaftcd that there fliall-be within each-of the provinces of Upper and Lower Canada, a LegiflHtive Council, and an AfTcmblv, who, with the content of the Governor, appointed by the King, Ihall have power to make laws. The governor may give or withhold his majefly's affent to bills palled by the leijiflative council and airembly, or referve them for his majrfty's plcafure. Bills referved are to have no force till his rnajcfty's affent is hgnified by the governor, which, to be valid, mull be hgnified within two years from the time the bill is prc- fented to the governor. The governor mufl tranfmit to the fecretary of ftste copies of fuch bills as have been alfented to, •which his Majefty in council may declare his dirallcwance of within two years from the receipt. The Lec^illative Council is to confift of not fewer than feven members for Upper, and fifteen for Lower Canada, to be fum- moned by the Governor, who mufl; be authorized by the King. Such members are to hold their feats for life, unlel's forfeited by four years continual ablence, or by fwearing allegiance to foine foreign power. Ihe rioufe of i^flembly is to confifl of not lefs than fixteen members from Upper, and not lels than fifty from Lower Canada, choien by the freeholders in the fevcral towns and felvrs and the merchants of thofe countries.— A profit which is now exclufively enjoved by Britifh fubjscls, or foreigners refiding in Great Britain, as interme- diate agents ; but, it iTiay be faid, that the icarcity of fpecie in America, and their <^reat demand for Englifh manufaftures, will fecure the fur trade to Great Britain fuch, however, fliould remember, that the rapid progrefs of manufac- tures in tlu: United States, aided by the prefent fpirit of emigration in Europe, will foon lelTcn this demand, and leave the Americans at liberty to carry their ftirs and other articles to a market which will rapidly increafe their fpecie fuffi- cient to enable them to range the European and other markets with that advan- tage which the Britifh merchant has long experienced almofl without a rival — indeed, it is impoffible to confider the rapid advances which America has made lince her independence, without at the fame time being convinced, ti-rat inftead of drawing her fupplies of manufatiured goods from Grtat Britain, flie will, er'c long, become her rival in the molf import-ant articles in almoll every other European market. UPPER AND LOWER CANADA. ii diflrifts. The council and affembly are to be called together at lead once in every year ; and every affembly is to continue four years unlefs fooner dilfolved by the Governor. All queRions are to be decided by a majority of votes of the members preltnt. His Majefly may authorize the Governor to fix the time and place of holding the elcftions, (fubjeft, however, to fuch pro- vifions as^ may hereafter be made by the Legiflature) and to fix the times and places of holding the fefTions of the ailembly, and to prorogue and diffolve the fame whenever he fliall judge it necefluiry. The Governor, together with fuch of the executive council as fhall be appointed by the King, for the affairs of each province, are to be a court of civil jurifdiftion for hearing and determining appeals, fubjeft, however, to fuch appeals from their judgment as heretofore exifted. All lands in Upper Canada are to be granted hereafter in free and common foccage ; and alfo in Lower Canada, when the grantee fhall dellie it, tub- jeft neverthelefs to alterations by aa aft of the Legiflature. Britilh America is fuperintend'ed by an ofHcer ftiled Gover- nor General of the four Britifh provinces in North-America, who, befides other powers, is commander in chief of all the Britilh troops in the four provinces and the go\'ernments attach- ed to them and Newfoundland. , Each of the provinces hc^ve a Lieutenant Governor, who, in the abfence of the Governor General, has all the powers requifite to a chief magiftrate. C 2 12 GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE I:S L AND OF CAPE BRETON; ANNEXED TO THE PaO*VINCE OT LOVVfiR C-i^ADAi SITUATION, EXTENT, &c. The ifland, or rather colleftion of iflaxids, called by the French Les J_f.es de Madam, which lie lo contiguous as that they are commonly called but one, and comprehended under the name of the Ifland of Cape Breton, lies betvveen lat. 45** and 4'jO N. and between 59^ and 60°, W. long, from Lon- don, or 14^ and 15° E. long, from Philadelphia, and about 45 leagues to the eaftward of Halifax. It is about one Hundred miles in length, and fifty in breadth ; and is feparated from Nova Scotia by a narrow fl;rait, called the Gut of Canfo, which is the communication between the Atlantic Ocean, and the Gulph of St. Lawrence, It is furrounded with little fliarp-pointed rocks, feparated from esch other by the waves, above which fome of their tops are vifible. All its harbours are open to the eaft, turning towards the fouth. On the other parts of the coaft there are but a few anchoring places for fmall vefTels, in creeks, or between iflets. The harbour of St. Peter's, at the weft end of the ifland, is a very commodious place for carrying on the fifhery. CLIMATE. Except in the hilly parts, the furface of the country has but little folidity, being every v/here covered with a light mois and with w;ater. The dampnefs of the foil is exhaled in fogs, without rendering the air unwholelome. In other refpefts, the climate is very cold, owing either to the prodigious quantity of lakes, which cover above half the ifland, and remain frozen a long time ; or to the number of forefts, that totally intercept the rays of the fun ; the efFeft of which is befides decreaied by perpetual clouds, HISTORY OF ITS SETTLEMENT, -&e»-- Though fome fiflaermen had long reforted to this ifland evej:js, fumm^r, not more than twenty or thirty had ever fixed there^- Ths Fxench, who took pofl"effion of it in. Augufl: 1713^- were, UPPER AI^D LOWER CANADA. i^ . properly the firft inhabitants. They changed its name into that of Jjle Royale, and fixed upon Fort Dauphin for their principal fettlement. This harbour was two leagues in circumference. The fliips came to the very fhore, and were fheltered from winds. Forefts affording oak lufficient to fortify and build a large city, were near at hand ; the ground appeared lefs barren than in other part?, and the fifhery was more plentiful. This harbour might have been rendered impregnable at -a trifling ex- pence ; but the difficulty of approaching it (a circumftance that had at firft made a ftronger impreflion than the advantages reiult- ing from it) occafioned it to be abandoned, after great labour had been beftowed upon the undertaking. They then turned their views to Louifbourg, the accefs to which was eafier; and con- venience was thus preferred to feeurity : the fortification of Louifbourg, however, was not begun till 1-720. In the year 1714, fome fifhermen, who till then had lived in Newfoundland, fettled in this ifland. It was expefted that their number would loon have been increafed by the Acadians, who were at liberty, from the treaties that had been granted them, to remove with all their effefts, and even to difpofe of their eftates ; but thefe hopes were difappointed. The Acadi- ans chofe rather to retain their poffeflions under the dominion of Britain, than to give them up for any precarious advantage they might derive from their attachment to France. Their place was lupplied by fome diftreffed adventurers from Europe, who came over from time to time to Cape Breton, and the num- ber of inhabitants gradually increafed to four thouland. They were fettled at Louifbourg, Fort Dauphin, Fort Touloufe, Nerucka, and on the coafts where tliey found a proper beach for drying the cod. This ifl.ind was attacked by the Englifh in 1745; and the event is of fo fingular a nature, that it deferves a particular detail. The plan of this firft invafion was laid at Bofton, and New-England bore the exoence of it. A merchant named Peppcrd, who had excited, encouraged, and direfted the enter- prizc, was intrufted with the command of an army of fix thou- sand men, which had been levied for this expedition. Though thefe forces, convoyed by a fquadron from Jamaica^ brought the firft news to Cape Breton of the danger that threat- ened it; though the advantage of a furprife would have fecured the landing without oppofition ; though they had but fix hun- dred regular troops to encounter, and eight hundred "inhabitants haftily'- armed, the fuccefs of the undertaking was ftill prcca- rious» What great exploits, iudced, could be expc£ted -Fi'om a 14 GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF xnilitia fuddenly affembled, who had never feen a fiege or faced an enemy, and were to aft under the direftion of fea-ofEcers only.. Thefc unexperienced troops ftood in need of the affif- tance of feme fortunate incident, which they were indeed favoured with in a fingular manner. The conftruftion and repairs of the fortifications had always been left to the care of the garrilon of Louifbourg. The fol- diers were eager of being employed in thefe works, which they confidered as conducive to their lafety, and as the means of procuring thern a comfortable fubfiftence. When they found that thofe who were to have paid them, appropriated to them- felves the profit of their labours, they demanded juftice. It ■was denied them, and they were determined to affert their light. As fhefe depredations had been fhared between the chief perfons of the colony and the fubaltern officers, the foldiers could obtain no redrels. Their indignation againfh thefe rapacious ex- tortioners rofe to fuch a height, that they defpifed all authority. They had lived in an open rebellion for fix months, when the Bntifh appeared before the place. This was the time to conciliate the minds of both parties, and to unite in the common caufe. Tine Soldiers made the firft advances ; but their commanders miftrufted a generofity of which they themfclves were incapable. It was firmly believed fhst the foldiers were only dcfirous of fallying out, that they might have an opportunity of deferting ; and their own officers kept them in a manner prifoners, till a defence lo ill managed had reduced them to the neceffity of capitulating. The whole ifland fhared the fate of Louifbourg, its only bulwark. This valuable polTeffion, rcflored to France by the treaty of Aix la Chapelle, was again attacked by the Britifli in 1758, and taken. The poffeffion was confirmed to Great Britain by the peace in 1763; fince which the fortifications have been blown up, and the town of Louifbourg diimantled. SOIL, PRODUCTIONS, &c. The inhabitants never applied themfelvcs to agriculture, the foil being unfit for it. They often fowed corn, but it Ifcidom came to maturity ; and when it did thrive fo much as to be worth reaping, it had degenerated io confiderahly, that it was not fit for feed for the next harveft. They have only continued to plant a few pot-herbr- that are tolerably well tailed^,* btitmuft be renewed every year from abroad. The poornefs and fcarcity of paftures has likevvile prevented the increafe of cattle. In a word, the foil of Cape Breton leems cak-ulated' to •^inviteimGlne' but nfhermen. ■ • ; ! ... ., -■.> Upper a nd lower Canada, \^ Tliougii the iiland was entirely covered with fore (Is before it was inhabited, its wood has (carce ever been an obj^ft of trade, A great quantity, however, of ibft wood was found there fit for firing, and fprne that might be ufcd for timber: but the oaTc has always been fcarce, and the fir rvever yielded much refin. TKe peltry trade was a very inconfiderable objeft. It confifted only in the fkins of a few lynxes, elks, mufk-r^ts, wild cats, bears, otters, and foxes both of a red and filvcr-grey colour. Some of thefe were procured from a colony of Mickmac Indians who had fettled on the ifland with the French, and never could raile more than fixty men able to bear arms. The rtlt came from St. John's or the neighbouring continent. Greater advantages mit^ht pofli- bly have been derived from the coal mines, which abound in the ifland. They lie in a horizontal direftion ; and being no move than fix or eight feet below the furface, may be worked without digging deep, or draining off the waters. Notwithftanding the prodigious demand for this coal from New-Enfi.land, from the year 1745 to 1749, thele mines would probably have been for- faken, had not the fhips which were fent out to the French iflnnds wanted ballaft. In one of thefe mines a fire has beea kindled, which could never yet be extinguillied. The people of Cape Breton did not fend all their fifh to Eu- rope, they fent part of it to the French fouthern illands, on board twenty or twenty-five fliips from feventy to one hundred and forty tons burden. Befides the cod, which made at leafl half their cargo, they exported to the other colonies timber,, planks thin oak boards, faked falmon and mackrel, train-oil and fea- coal. All thcle were paid for in fugar and coffee, but chiefly ia 1 urn and molaifes. The ifland could not confume ?11 thele com- modities. Canada took off but a fmall part of the overplus • it was chiefly bought by the people of New-England, who gave ia exchange fruits, vegetables, \vood, brick, and cattle. Tiiis trade of exchange was allowed ; but a fmuggling trade was added to It. carried on in flour, and fait fifh, POPULATION, CPIIEF TOWNS, &c. On this ifland there are about one thoufand inhabitants, w!io have a lieutenant-governor reiident among them, appointed bv the king. The principal towns are Sidney, the caoital, and Louifbourg, Which has the befl haibour in the ifldnd. Tltis ifland ttvay be confidered as the key to Canada. aAd thfe very vallisbie ftfhcry, in its neighbourhood, depends for its pi'otec!''^ tion on the polTcihon of this ifland; as no nation can carry it on wiihejut fomc convenient harbour of flrcngth to fupply and pro- tctl It ; and Louifbourg is the principal one for tlicie pufpbfds. i6 GENERAL DESC R2 PTION OF NEW BRITAIN;- ANNEXED TO THE GOVERNMENT OF LOWER CANAdA, The country lying round Hudfon's Bay, or the country of th« Efquimaux, comprehended Labrador, New North and South Wales, has obtained the general name of New Britain', and is attached to the government of Lower Canada. A lupevin- tendant of trade, appointed by the Governor-General of the four Britifh Provinces, and refponfible to him, refides at Labrador. CLIMATE. The climate, even about Haye's riv'^er, in only lat. 517®, is, during winter, exceflively cold. The fnows begin to fall in Oftober, and continue falling by intervals the whole winter : and, when the froft is moft: rigorous, in form of the fineft fand. The ice on the rivers is eight feet thick. Port wine freezes into a folid mafs ; brandy coagulates. The very breath falls on the blankets of the beds in the form of a hoar froft, and the bed-cloaths often are found frozen to the wall. The fun rifes, in the fhorteft day, five minutes paft nine, and fets five minutes before three. In the longeft day the fun rifes at three, and fets about nine. The ice begins to difappear in May, and hot weather commences about the middle of June, which at times is fo violent as to fcorch the faces of the hunters. Thunder is not frequent, but very violent. But there is a great difference of heat and cold in this vaft extent, which reaches from lat. 50, 40, to lat. 63 north. — During winter the firmament is not without its beauties. Mock funs, halos are not unfrequent ; they are very bright, and richly tinged with all the colours of the rainbow. The fun rifes and fets with a large cone of yellowilh light. The night is enlivened with the Aurora Borea- lis, which fpreads a thoufand different lights and colours over the whole concave of the fky, not to be defaced even bv the Jplendout of the full moon ; and the ftars are of a fiery rednefs. In this feafon it however frequently happens, that the air is fo full of watery vapours, that the fun will be obfcured for fcve- ral weeks together. This is occafioned by the rime, which afcends fiom the open fea water, and being condenfed by the cold, is driven by the wind to a confiderable diftance at times, from forty to fifty miles. The climate is very perceptibly milder in the intei ior, than in t}-ie parts on the fea coaft. The fnow is not half fo deep, nei- N E JV B R 1 T A I N.- - 17 tKer are the hottefkclays in'fummer fo fviltry. If -a man is frozen in the upper country, it is owing to his not having taken proper Care of himfelf ; whereas upon the fea cpaft, with every ^eceffary precaution, a man will frequently have his nolc. fac'c, or fiiigeis- ends fkinned. The heavens, in cold winter nijht?, do not exhibit that lumi- nous appearance, which, as before remarked, is obfcrvable on the ffea coaft ; nor do the flars fhine with that refulgent luftre. The Aurora Borealis i* not fo common nor fo brilliant ; the Par- helia and Parafeierres are Icfs frequent; and fogs in the winter are unknown. In fliort, the fea coaft: and the upper country will admit of no comparifon : ono is temperate and Ivealthy, the land dry, plcafant, and fertile in fporitaneous productions, and tlie animal creation various and excellent for the lupport of man : in it, a pcrfon who could live retired, might pafs his days with eafe, contenr, and felicity, and if he did not enjoy an uninterrupted ftate of health, it would not be the fault of the air he lived in. On the other hand, the lower country is one endlels hog, where the_ la- vage animals therafelves are fometimes conflantly fvrampt. The finefl; fummer's day will begin with a fcorching heat, and termi- nate with a cold cafterly fea fog. The weather ufually inqidcnt to autumn and midfummer, is experienced in their different ex- tremes during the fliort fpace of twelve hours. The inhabitants frequently fall a prey to the fcverity of the froft. The whole country furnifhes hut one I'pecies of quadruped fit for the lupport of man ; and the Europeans are accurfed with an afilifting epi- demical diforder, which they very emphatically term '■ The Country Diftemper." FACE OF THE COUNTRY, SOIL, &c. As far inland as the Hudfon Bay Company have fettlemcnfs, which is fix hundred miles to the weft of Fort Churchill, at a place called Hudfon lloufe, lat. 53°,"lon. 106^ 27 'W. from Lon- don, is. flat country : nor is it known how far to the eailward the great chain of mountains feen by the navigators from the Pa- cific Ocean branches off. From IMoofe River, or the bottom of tli^ bay, to Cape Churchill, the land is flat, marfhy, and v/ooded with pines, biich, larcii, and willows. The pine trees, which arc ©f different kinds, arebutimall; near the fea-'coalb they gene- rally run knotty, and are unfit to be ufed in the flruftureof good buildiogs. I'he fame may be faid of the juftiper trees, growing in the lame fituation. : . J5;yt on leaving the m»rfhy ground, and retiring inland to t]-,e .-jjfeuthward, the trees are of a more ftately growth ; a^id shout Moofe and Albany Forts, they are found of all diameters. Here D i9 GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF the climate is much more temperate than at York Fort atts who come to the Englifh fettiements to trade, - will neither eat fifh, water-fowl, nor any amphibious anim^al, ' How far the foil of this country may be favourable to the cul-' ture of vegetables, we are not able to advance. Experiments, ■ which fliould be aur principal guide to knowledge in thcie matters^ never having been much made ule of, though we may venture to affert, that many parts would admit of cultivation. The Hudfon's Bay Company fefvants have tried Indian corn and barley, by way of experiment, which came to perfeftion ; potatoes, turnips, ca3%»i, ^ rots, radifhes, onions, Sec. have been lately reared^ aiid found as good as thofc in Canada. ' «^^ The fruits which fpontaneouily flioot up, are not in'Tuch greai** ^rariety in the. wiidcrnefles of Canada, as in the country wc arc fpeaking of. The natives colleft vaft quantities of a kind of wild" .. .cherries and bring them in for iale. The Hudfon's Bay people make an excellent beverage of them, which is grateful to the tafte, and is an excellent antifcorbutic. Raipberries, fkrawberries, currants, cranberries, and an infinity of other kinds are to be found every where. So that a perion, without the help of ait^mu^ nition, may in the fumrner feaion procure a very comfortable fubfiilence, were he bewildered, and alone. Should any one be in this iituation, almoft every pond of water would furnifli him with eggs of ducks, &c. apd every thicket with a latiety of delicious fruit. The eaftern coan; is barren, pad the efforts of cultivation. The furface is every Avhere uneven, and covered with maffe's of ftone ©f an amazing fize. It is a country of -fruitlefs and fright;||*l mountains, fome of an aftoniflring height*j The vallies are full of lakes, formed not from iprings, but rain ■jl'S^ inow, lo chilly as to be produftive of a few fmall trout only. The mountains have bere and there a blighted flirub, or a little mofs. The vallies are full of crooked, flunted trees, pines, fir, birch, and cedars, or rather a Ipecies of the juniper. In latitude 60'* on this coaft, vegetation ceaies. The whole fliore, like that on the weft, is faced with iflands at fomc diftance from land, D 2 2<5 GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF T.hp principal rivers which water this cotintr)', arc the Wager, Monk. Seal, Pockerekefko, Churchill, Nelfon, Hayes, New Severn, Albany, and Mooie rivers, all which empty into Hudfon's and James Bay from the w?{t. The mculhs of all the nvers are filled with ihoals, except Churchill's, in which the largeft fliips may lie ; but ten miles higher the channel is obiLruQied by fand banks. All the -rivers as far as they have been explored, are full of rapids and cataracls, from ten to fixfy feet perpendicular. Down thcfe rivers the Indian traders find a quick paffage ; but their return is a labour of many months. INHABITANTS, QUSTOMS, &c. The inhabitants jfmong the mountains are Indians ; along the coafts, ILfquimaux. The Hudfon's Bay Indians, in all probability, were originally tall, properly proportioned, ftrongly made, and of 'as mmlv an appearance as any people whatever. This, however, . •was before their commerce with Europeans had enervated and de- baied their minds and bodies, by introducing fpirituous liquors among them, and habituating them to fevere couri'es of drinking. They are naturally much addifted to this fatal cuftom ; but when '^-is encouraged and enforced by thofe who call themfelves an en- '•lighrened people, it certainly is not only blameable, but highly qjiminal. Were common fenfe but made uie of to direft the con- duft of thofe who are benefited by the trade carried on with the Indians, fclf-intereit and good policy would teach them to difcou- rage, as much as poffible, a habit fo prejudicial to them, and fatally deftruflive to thefe miferable people. They are generally of a benevolent difpofition, and eafy to be perfuaded by perfons who . underftand their language; but as a mofh uncpnfcionablc gain is got bv trading in fpirits with llrem, it is not to be fuppoied the faftors will ever be induced to put a flop to this unchrillian prac- tice. An Indian v/ill barter away all his furs, nay even leave him- lelf without a rag to cover his nakednefs, in exchange for that vile unwhoiefume ftufF, called Englifh brandy. If by fuch ex- ceiTive intoxication they only irreparably injured their own con^^ ftitutions, and debilitated their race, the confequences, though pernicious, would not be io dreadful as they ufually are ; but during their intoxication not only freili auarrels enfue, old gricv=. ances are alio renewed, and dedth is frequciuly the conlequcnce of former bickerings, which but for this llimulator had been, buried in oblivion. . By thii diabolical commerce the country is impoverished of inhabitants, the trade of courfc imperceptibly declines, and this i;xtenuve fettlement is in a great meafurc prevented from rIvalUng afjiany of our other foreign (ifkablifiiments, N E W B R I T A I N. 21 The natives are however a people of a middle fize, of a cop- per complexion, their featiwes regular and agreeable, an^ fe\v diftorted or deformed perCons are leen among them. V/hen young they have exceflive large bellies, which is to be attributed to the enormous quantity of food they devour ; but as they grow towards puberly this part decreafes to a common fize. Their conftitutions are (Irong and healthy, and their diforders few ; the chief of thefe is the dyfentery, and a violent pairi in the -breaft, which the Englilli call the Country Diflemper. The latter is fuppofed to proceed from the cold air being drawn into ihe lungs ; which impeding the veiTcls from fpreading through- put that organ, hinders the circulation, and renders refpiration extremely painful and diilicult. They feldom live to a great age, but enjoy all tlieir faculties to the laft. In their difpofitions they are mild, affable, and good-natured, when fober ; but when intoxicated they are loft to every focial quality, anddifcover the greateft propenfity to quarrelling, theft, and the worft of vices. V/hen we view the fair fide of their charafters, we find them kind, courteous, and benevolent to each other, relieving the wants and neceiTities of their diftreffed brethren with the greateft good-nature, either by counfel, food, or cloathing. The good eft'efts of this excellent difpofition are frequently experienced by themfelves ; for, as in their mode of life no one knows how foon it may be his own fate to be reduced to the verge of extremity, he lecures for himfelf a return of kindnefs, fliould he experience that vicilTitude. On the other 1 hand they are fly, cunning, and artful to a great degree ; they glory in every fpccics of furacity and artifice, efpecially when the theft or deception has been fo w^ell executed as to efcape deteftion. Their love to their ofisprings is carried to a very gi'eat height. From the ftate of childhood to maturity they fel- dom or never correft their children, allcdging that when they grow up they will know better of themielvcs. Neither is this indulgence made a bad ufe of when refleftion fucceeds the irre- gularities of youth ; on the contrary, fentimcnts of reverence, gratitude, and love, link their afFeftions to the authors of their being ; and they fclJom fail to give the utmoft aftiftance to their aged parents whenever their imbecility requires it. With refpeft to their corporeal abilities, they arc almoft with- out e>;ccption great v.nlkcrs ; they patiently endure cold, hunger, and fatigue ; and bear all misfortunes with admirable fortitude and refignation, whic'i ciiables them bravely to encounter the profpeft of ill, and j "■ idcrs the mind fercne under the prefTure oi advcrfity. As t.'cir countjy abouutls wu]j innumerabrc S2 GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF herds of deer, elks, and buffaloes, they frequently make great flaughter among them ; and upon theTe occafions they have no rcr gard to futurity, or providing for an unfuccefsful day. Whether they happen to be pining under the grafp of pinching neceffity, or enjoying themfelves in all the happinefs of health and plenty, they kill all they can, having an incontrovertible maxim among them, which is, " the more they kill, the more they have to kill :'* and this opinion, though diametrically oppofite to reafon or com- mon feriie, is as pertinacioufly held by them, as his tenets are by the moft bigotted enthufiaft. Indeed, they too frequcutly ftnd it to their coft to be grounded On folly, as they iometimes iuffer ex- treme hunger through it ; nay, many have been ftarved to death, and others have been reduced to the fad neceffity of devouring their own offspring. As a great part of the Faftory provifions confifts of geefc killed by the Indians, the Englifh fupply them with powder and fliot for thisr purpofe, allowing them the value of a beaver ikin for cveiy ten geefe. they kill ; accordingly, after the Indian has got this fupply, he fets off from his tent early in the morning into the inarfhes, where he fets himfelf down, with a degree of patience difficult to be imitated, and being flieltered by a few willows, waits for the geefe. They ffioot them flying, and are fo very dex- terous at this fport, that a good hunter will kill, in times of plenty, fifty or fixty in a day. Few Europeans are able to endure cold, fatigue, hunger, or adverfity in any ffiape, with an equal degree of magnanimity and compofure to that which is familiar to the natives of this countiy. After being out a whole day on a hunt, expofed to the bleakeft winds and moft penetrating cold, and that without the lead thing to latisfy the calls of nature, an Indian comes home, warms himfelf at the fire, fmoaks a few pipes of to- bacco, and then retires to reft, as calm as if in the midft of plenty ; but if he happens to have a family, he cannot always boaft of this equanimity ; when reduced to extremity, his afleftion for them predominates over his philofophy, if it might be fo called,, and it gives way to the moft pungent lorrnw. A belief i;i fome over-ruling invifible power bears a principal •fhare in the charafter of thefe unpoliflied Indians. By this he is itiduced to impute every occurrence of his life to fupernatural eaufes. His good or bad liiccefs in hunting, the welfare of his friends and family, his duration in this mortal ftate, &c. all depend upon the will and pleasure of ibme inviiible agent, whom, he iup- pofes to prefide over all his undertakings^: for inftance, one man will invoke a conipicuous ftur. another a v/olf, one a bear, and tJ E W B R 1 T A 1 N. 23 indther a particular tree ; in which he imagines the Great Being refides, and influences his good or ill fortune in this life. The religious fentiments of thefe people, though confufed, are in fome refpefts juft. They allow that there is a good Being, and they fometimes fing to him ; but not out of fear or adoration, for he is too good, they fay, to hurt them. He is called Kitch-c-man- e-to, or the Great Chief. They further lay, there is an evil Being, who is always plaguing them ; they call him Whit-ti-cs» Of him they are very much in fear, and leldom eat any thing, or drink any brandy, without throwing fome into the fire for IVhit- ti-co. If any misfortune befals them, they fing to him, imploring his mercy ; and when in health and profpeiity d© the fame, to keep him in good humour. Yet, though obfequious fometimes, at others they are angry with him, efpecially when in liquor ; they then run out of their tents, and fire their guns in order t© kill him. They frequently perfuadc themfelves that they fee his track in the mols or fnow, and he is generally defcribed in the moft hideous forms. They believe that both the good and the bad Being have many iervants ; thole of the former inhabiting the air, but thofe of the latter walking on the earth. They have like- wife an opinion that this country was once overflowed ; an opi- nion founded on meeting with many fea fhells far inland. They have no manner of government orfubordination. The fa- ther, or head of a family, owns no fuperior, nor obeys any com- mand. He gives his advice or opinion of things, but at the fame time has no authority to enforce obedience: the youth of his family follow his direftions, but rather from filial affeftion or re- verence, than In confequence of any duty exafted by a fuperior. When fevcral tents or families meet to go to war, or to the Fac- tories to trade, they choofe a leader, but it is only voluntary obedience they pay to the leader lo chofen ; every one is at liber- ty to leave him when he pleafes, and the notion of a commander is quite obliterated as foon as the voyage is over. Merit alone GIVES THE TITLE TO DISTINCTION ; AND THE POSSESSION OF QUALITIES THAT ARE HELD IN ESTEEM IS THE ONLY WETH01> TO OBTAIN RESPECT. Thus a pcrfon who is an experienced hunter ; one who knows the communication between the lakes and rivers ; one who can make long harangues; is a conjuror j or if he has a fatnily ; fuch a man will not fail of being followed by leveral Indians, when they happen to be out in large parties ; they likcwife follow him down to trade at the fettlements ; he is, however, obli^,ed to fecure their attendance upon this occafion by promifes and rewards, as the regard paid to his abilities is of too weak a nature to command fubjefiidn. — ■ 34 GEN£RAL DESCRIPTJO'N OF In war a mutual refentment agairrft their etieinies forms fLeir unioft for perpetrating their revenge. Per/anal courage, patience under hardJhtpSy and a knozi.'icdge of the manners and country of their ad- verfaric.'!, are the qualifications fought afitf in the choice of a I'ader. They follow him, whom they have thus chofen, with fidelity, and execute his piojefts with alacrity; but their obedience does not proceed from any right in the leader to command, tt is folcly founded on his merit, on the affeftion of his followers, and their deft re of fubduing their enemies. Thcfe fentiments aftuate every breaft, and augment the union, while in more civilized nations fuch a compaft is effefted by a flavjfh fubmifiion to military laws ; for as the ioldier has no choice in his commander, it frequently happens that neither his abilities nor his charafter are calculated to gain tlicir efteem. The Indian's method of dividing the time, is by numbering the nights elapled, or to come ; thus, if he be afl^ed how long he has been on his journey, he will anfwer, " f o many nights." From tin's nofturnal divifion, they proceed to the lunar or monthly divifion, reckoning thirteen of thefe in the year, all of which are exprefllve of fome remarkable event or appearance, that happens during that revolution of the moon. Their method of computing numbers is rather abflrufe, as they reckon chiefly by decades ; as follows : — Two tens, three tens, &c. Ten tens, or an hundred tens. A few units over or under, are added or fubflrafted. Thus, thirty-two in their tongue is ex- preffed, by faying three tens and two over, Thofe Indians of whom we have now been treating and of whom the Peltries are obtained, are known by the following names, viz. The Ne-Jteth-azv-a, the AJlnne-poeivc, the Fall, the Suffee, the Black-feet, the Paegaii, and the Blood-Indians. Thefe are the only Indians with which tiie Company trade, and confcquently the only ones whofe manners, cuftoms, &c, are known. The laudable zeal of the Moravian clergy induced them, in the year 1752) to fend mifTionaries from Greenland to this country. Thev fixed on Nelbit's harbour for their fettlement ; but of the firft party, fome of them were killed, and others driven away. In 1764, under the proteftion of the Britifli government, ano- ther attempt was made. The miffionaries were well received by tire Elquimaux, and the miffion goes on with fuccels. A N I iM A L S. The animals of thefe countries are, the moofc deer, fl^gs, rein deer, bears, tygers, bulfaloes, wolves, foxes, beavers, otters, lynxes, martins, fquirrels, ermines, wild cats, and hares. The NEW B R I T A I N, 25 rein deer pafs in vaft herds towards the north in October, fceking the extreme cold. Tlie mnle polar bears rove out at fea, on the floating ice, mod of the winter, and till June ; the femnles lie concealed in the woods, or beneath the hanks of rivers, till March, when they come abroad with their twin cubs, and bend the>r courfe to the fca in fearch of their conlbrts. Several are killed in their paffage ; and thofe that are wounded fliow vaft fury, roar hideoufly, and bite and throw up in the air even their own pro- geny. The females and the young, when not interrupted, con- tinue their way to the fea. In June the males return to fliore, and by Augufh are joined by their conforts, with their cubs, by that time of a confiderable fize. The feathered kindij are, geefe, buftards, ducks, growfe, and all manner of wild fowls. Indeed multitudes of birds retire to this remote country, to Labrador and Newfoundland, from places more remotely fouth, perhaps from the Antilles ; -and fome even of the moft delicate little fpecies. Moft of them, with numbers of aquatic fowls, are feen returning fouthward with their young broods to more favourable climates. The favagcs in fome refpe£ls regulate their months by the appear- ance of birds ; and have their goofe-month, from the vernal ap- pearance of gcefe, from the fouth. All the growfe kind, ravens, cinereous, crows, titmoufc, and Lapland finch, brave the fevereft winter ; and feveral of the falcons and owls feek fhelter in the woods. Of fifli, there are whales, morfes, leals, cod-fifh, and a white fifh, preferable to herrings ; and in their rivers and freflx waters, pike, perch, carp, and trout. All the quadrupdeds of theie countries are clothed with a clofe, foft, warm fur. In lummer there is here, as in other places, a va- riety in the colours of the feveral animals ; when that feafon is over, which holds only for three months, they all affume the li- very of winter, and every fort of beads, and mod of their fowls, are of the colour of the Ihow ; every thing animate and inani- mate is white. This is a furprifing phenomenon. But what is yet more furprifing, and whnt is indeed one of the mod ftriking tilings, that draw the moft inattentive to an admiration of the wifdom and goodnefs of Providence, is, that the dogs and cats from Britain that have been carried into Iludfon's Bay, on the approich of winter have entirely changed then- appearance, and acquired a much longer, fofter, and thicker coat of hair than they had originally. DISCOVERY AND COMMERCE. The knowledge of thefe northern feas and countries v/as owing to a projeft ftartcd in England for the difcovery of a horth-wcft E «6 GENERAL DESCRIPTION 01 paflage to Cliina and the Eaft-Indies, as early as the year 1576. Since then it has been frequently dropped and as off.en I'evived, but never yet compleated ; and from the late voyages of difcovery it feems probable, that no prafticable palT.igc ever can be found, Forbin:ier difcovered the Main of New Britain, of Terra de Labra- dor, and tliole Hieights to which he has given his name. In 1585, John Davis failed fronn Fortfmouth, and viewed that and the more northern conlls, but he feems never to have entered the bay. Captain Hudfon made three voyages on the fame adventure, the firft in 1607, ibe (econd in 1608, and his thiid and laft in i6io. This bold and judicious navigator entered the flreights that lead into the bny kno\¥n by his name, coafted a great part of it, and penetrated to eighty degrees atid a half, into the heart of the frozen zone. His ardour for the difcovery not being abated by the difficuliies ];e ftruggled with in this empire of winter, and v/orld of froft and (now, he fliycd here until the eniuing fpiing, and prepared, in the beginning of 1611, to purfue his difcove- ries ; but his crcvv^, who fuifered equal hardfliips, without ths fame fpirit to fuoport them, mutinied, feized upon him and feven of thnfe who were moft faithful to him, and committed them to the fury of the icy feas in an open boat. Hudfon and his companions were either fwallowed up by the waves, or gain- ing tJie inhofpitable coaft, were deftroyed by the lavages ; but the fliip and the reft of the men returned home. Other attempts towards a dilcovery were made in 1612 and iGS'j ; and a patent for planting the country, with a charter for a company, was obtained in the year 1670. In 1646, Captain Eilis wintered as far north as 57 degrees and a half, and Captain Chriftopher attempted farther difcovcries in 1661. But beilJes thefe voyages, we are indebted to the Hudfon's Bay Company for a journey by land ; whicli throws much additional light on this matter, by ai^ording what may be called deraonllration, how much farther North, at lead In fome parts of their voyage, fliips mufb go, before they can pafs from one fide of America to the other. The northern Indians, who came down to the Compa- ny's fa£lories to trade, had brought to their knowledge a river, which, on account of much copper being found near it, had ob- tained tiie name of the Copper Mine river. The Company being defirous of examining into this matter with prrcifion, di" reeled Mr. Hearne, a young gentleman in their fervice, and who having been brought up for the navy, and ferved in it the war before lafl, was extremely well qualified for the purpofe to proceed over land, under the convoy of thofe Indians, for tjiat river ; which he had orders to furvey, if poffible, quite down to its exit into the fea ; to make oblcrvations for fixing NEW B R I T A 1 N. £7 l\it latitudes and longitudes; and to bring hoaie mips and draw- ings, both of it and the countries through which he fliould pa[t«, Accordingly Mr. Hearne fet out fiom Prince of Wales's Fort, on Churchill river, latitude 58° 47V north, and longi- tude 94*^ n\f weft from Greenwich, on the -yth of Decemoer, 1770. Mr. Hearne on the 13th of July reached the Copper Mine river, and found it all the way, even to its exit into the Tea, incumbered with Ihoals and falls, and emptying itfelf into it over a dry flat of the fhore, the tide being then out, which feemed, by the edges c*f the ice, to rife about twelve or four- teen feet. This rife, on account of tlie falh, will carry it but a very fmall way within the river's mouth, fo that the water ia it has not the lead brackifli tafte. Mr. Hearne is, neverthelcis, fure of the place it emptied itfelf into being the iea, or a branch of it, by the quantity of whalebone and ieal Ikins which the Efquimaux had at their tents ; and alfo by the number of fcals which he faw upon the ice. The fea, at the river'b mouth, was full of iflands and fhoals, as far as he could fee, by the aJliftance of a pocket telefcope : and the ice was not then (J«aly 17'h) broke up, but thawed away only for about three quarters of a mile from the fliore, and for a little way round the ifiand and fhoals which lay off the river's mouth. But he had the moft: extenfive view of the fea when he was about eight miles up the river, from M'hich fiation the extreme parts of it bore N. M''. by W. and N. E. By the time Mr. Hearne had finifhed his furvey of the river, which was about one o'clock in the morning on the 18th, ther« came on a very thick fog and drizzling rain ; and as he had found the river and fea, in every relpecl unlikely to be of any utility, he thougiit it unnecelTary to wait for fair weather, to determine the latitude more exaftly by obfervation : but by the extraordinary care he took in oblerving the courfes and diftances, walking from Cotigecathawhachaga, where he had two very good obfervations, he thinks the latitude may be depended on within 30' at the utmoft. It appears from the map which Mr. Hearne conftrufted of this fingular journey, that the mouth of the Copper Mine river lies in latitude 72*^ N. and longitude 2.^^ W. from Churchill river ; that is, about 119^ W. of Greenwich. Mr, Hearne's journey back from the Copper Mine river to Churchill, Lifted till June 30th, 1772; fo that he was abfent aimoft a year and feven months. The unparalleled hardfliips he luffered, and the efTential fervicc he perfiirmed, have met with a fuitable reward from his mafters. He has been feveral vears governor of Prince of Wales's Fort on Churchill river, where ^c Vv-as taken prifoner by the French in 1782. fi8 GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF Though the' adventurers failed in the original purpofe for which they navigated this bay, their projeft, even in its failure, has been of advantage to England. The vaft countries which furround Hndfua's Bay, as we have already ob(erved, abound with animals, whofe fur and fkins are excellent. In 1670, a charter was granted to a company, which at prefent confill of only fcven perions, for the exclufive trade to this bay, and they have aftcd under it ever hnce M'ith great benefit 10 the privaie men who compofe the company, though comparatively with lit- tle advantage to Great-Britain. Prince Rupert was their firfh Governor; the Duke of Albe- marle, Lord Craven, Lord Arlington, and leveial other noble "perionages, conflituted the firfl committee. The tenor of ^heir charter is as full, ample, and comprehenlive, as words can well make it ; and, as if they fufpctlcd the intrufion of fome adven- turers on tlieir territories, to participate in this valuable trade, the moft fevere penalties, with forfeiture of property, are laid on all thofe, who fhall haunt, frequent, or trade upon their coaAs ;' how far their iuccelfors have been entitled to theie ex- clufive immunities, or how far their confined manner of carry- ing on the trade has proved beneficial to the countr), we fliall endeavour to point out. The- firft traders to thefe parts afted upon principles much UTore laudable and benevolent, than their luccefTors fecm to have been aftuated by. They appear to have had the good of the country at heart ; and to have endeavoured by every equitable means, to render their commerce profitable to the mother coun- try. Their inftrutlions to their faftors were full of fentiments of Chriftianity, and contained dircftions for their ivfing every means in their power, to reclaim the uncivilized Indians from a flatc of barbarilm, and to incidcate in their rude ininds the husnane precepts of the golpcl. They were at the fame time admonifhed to trade with them equitably, and to take no advan- tage of their native funphcity. They were further inftrucled to explore the country, and to reap fuch benefit from 'the loil and produce thereof, as might rcdovuid to the inteiefi: of the Eu- glifh nation, as wdl as contribute to their own emolum.ent. A'nd la^ftly, they were directed to be particularly careful in feeing that the European fcrvants behaved orderly, and lived in fobriety and temperance, obfcrving a proper veneration for the ffeSrVriH^df' God, which was ordered to be collcftively performed it dVeiy fealoirablc opj^ortunity. Thefe were iujunftiors worthy tlie exalted flations and rank in life'bf thofc who had the firft direction of the afitairs of the Company f ^nd rcflcdcd much honour on their charafters, as NEW BRITAIN, 29 men and chrlflians : and had thefe piaile-vvorlhy eftablifliments been adhered to, the country granted them might at this day have been a ^eal advantage to Great-Britain. But ihflead of encouraging the 'trade, by a mild, equitable, and engaging de- portment towards the natives ; — inlleyd of ingratiating them- lelvcs by affability and condeicenfion with a harmlefs people, the Hudfon's Bay Company ule them with undeicrved rigour, cauf- ing them frequently to be beat and maltreated, although they have come Come hundreds of miles in order to barter their fkins, and procure a few neceflarles to guard again ft the fe verity of the approaching winter : owing to this conduft the trade has mate- rially declined of late years. Another reaion why the Company's trade has declined, is 4 want of'lpirit in themfelves, to pufh it on with that vigour the importance of the contefl deferves. The merchants from Canada have been heard to acknowledge, that was the Hudfon's Bay Company to prolecute their inland trade in a fpirited man- ner, they muft be foon obliged, to give up all thoughts of pene- trating into the country ; as from the vicinity of the Company's faftories to the inland parts, they can afford to underfell them in every branch. To explain this emulation between the company and the Canadian traders, it will be neceffaiy to review the ftate of the Company in the year 1773. About that time the Canadian traders from Montreal, actuated by a laudable fpirit of induftry and adventure, and experiencing the pecuniary advantages that refulted from their exertions, had become fo numerous and in- defatigable at the head of the rivers which lead to the Company'^ fettlements, that the trade of the latter was in a great meafure cut off from its ufual channel. The Indians being lupplied with every thing they could wilh for at their own doors, had no longer occaiion, as they hitherto had done, to build canoes, and paddle feveraLhundred miles, for the fake of cultivating a com- merce with the Company ; in which peregrination they were frequently expofed to much danger from hunger ; fo much fo, that at one time leven canoes of upland Indians perifhed on their return to their own country. Ever fince the above period, the Canadian adventurers have annually increafed in the upland country, much to their own emolument, and the great lofs of the Company: who, it may be faid, are fleeping at the edge of the fea, without fpirit, and without vigour or inclination to affert that right, which their exclufive charter, according to their ozvn account, entitles them to. It is true, the Hudfon's Bay Company have at this time a few cflablifl:iments in the interior countrv ; but thefe arc carried on 30 GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF in fuch a languid manner, that their exertions have hitherto proved inadeq^uate to the purpofe of fupplanting their oppo- nents. The Company fignify to their Faftors, that they have an in- diiputable light to all the territories about Hudfon's Bay, not only including the Straits and Bay, with all the rivers, inlets, &c. therein, but likewife to all the countries, lakes, &c. inde- finitely to the weftvvard, explored and unexplored. They therefore ftigmatize the Canadian merchants with the infulting epithets of pedlars, thie\»es, and interlopers ; though the quan- tity of furs imported by themlelves, bears no comparilon to thofe fent from Canada. If this unbounded claim, to which they pretend, be founded upon juflice, wliy, in the name of equity do ihey not affert thefe pretenfions by a proper applica- tion to the Britifli Parliament to remove the induftrlous pedlars, whom they would feem to look upon with iuch ineffable con- tempt, and prevent their any longer encroaching on their ter- ritories ; but the fhock they received from the parliamentary application of th,e patriotic Mr. Dobbs, in the year 1749, has given them a diffcafte to parliamentary inquiries They know the weaknefs of their claim, and the inftability of their preten- fions; it is therefore their interell to hide from an inquifitive but deluded nation, every invefligation which might tend to bring to light the futility of their proceedings. If the Canadian traders can adduce any profit to themfelves by profecuting this inland bufinefs, what are not the Hudfon's Bay Company enabled to do, with every advantage on their fide, would they profecute the trade with vigour ? York Fort at this time has four fubordinate fettlements ; at which fettlements, conjointly, the Company allow one hundred iervants, whofe wages amount to about one thouiand eight hun- dred and iixty pounds per annum ; befides a floop of fixty tons, that makes a voyage once a year between York Fort and Severn Faftories. In the year 1748, the complement of men at that fetttlement was no more th-m twenty-five, whofe wages amounted to four hundred and feventy pounds per annum, and the trade then flood at thiity thoufand fkins one year with another. The other eftablifiimcnts which the Company maintain in the Bay, have iulfered the like proportional change, all decreafing in trade, and bearing additional incumbrances. To exhibit at one view a ftate of their feveral eflablifliments in the Bay at prclcnt, the following table is fubjoined. NEW B R I T A I iV, 31 TABLE. Settlements. Slfuj La N. t ion . Lo. W. 'Jrade on Average. Skins. 10 000 1 25,000 5,600 > 7.000 -d ^ 4 2 2 Ships cou- ligned to. 6loops inthe Country. N'o.i Servj 100 40 25 Churchill York Fort 1 Severn Houfe J Albany Fort Moofe Fort "^ Eaftmain j 59 o 57 ^o 56 12 5218 51 28 53 24 94 30 93 00 B857 8518 83 »5 78 50 (lup. tons. 1 of 250 1 I of 2^0 . I of 280 fhip. tons. I of 70 j.i of 60 1 of 70 I of 70 47,600 3 — 780' 4—270 240 The following is the ftandardof trade, by which the Governor or Fa6lor, is ordered by the Company to trade with the natives.* Bcav, Beav. Glafs beads lb. 1 as 2 Orrice lace yd i| a:> 1 China ditto 1 6 Brafs rings No 3 Brafs kettles ^ ^i Files 1 Coarfe cloth yd. 1 ^ 3 Tobacco boxes 1 Blankets No. 1 7 Awl blades 8 Tobacco Brazil lb. f 1 Box barrels 3 Ditto leaf 1 I Hawks bells pr. 12 Ditto Eng. roll 1 1 Sword blades No, 1 Check ihirts No. , I 2 Ice chiffels 1 White ditto I 2 Gun worms 4 Yarn (lockings pr. t 2 Coarfe hats 1 Powder lb. I I Small leather trunks 1 Shot i [ 1 Needles 1 2 Duffels yd. L 2 Hatchets 1 Knives No. . t 1 Brandy gall. 1 Guns I 14 Medals No. 1 2 Combs 1 1 Thimbles 6 Flints i( 3 1 Brafs collars 1 Vermillion lb. 3 16 Fire fteels 3 Piftols No. 1 7 Razors a. Small burning o] 0 0 alfes ] 1 Thread lb. 1 Gartering yd. t i ^ A * This is intended to keep up the appearance of a regular fettled plan of trade; b.ut thongh this farce may be played oft to thoic who have not had the opportunities of knowing the deception, it will not h»\s that cffcfl upftn a perfon any ■(vay acquainted with the bufincfs. 32 GENERAL DESCRIPTION^ OF Notvvithftanding this pretended ftandard is in itfelf fufficicnt- ly hard upon the Indians, and dilcouraging to the trade, yet the faftors, and' the company, in conjunftion. do not think it fo ; for out of this a pernicious overplus trade muft he raifed ; ^\'h^ch. as Mr, Robfon juftly obferves, " is big with iniquity, wnd (Irik- ing at the very root of their trade as a chartered company :" it is intended to augment the emoluments of the gevernor, at the cxpenfe of jufticeand common honefly : it oppreffes the Indian who lives a mod wretched life, and encounters a variety of dif- ficulties, cold, hunger, and fatigue, to procure a few neceffaries for himfelf and indigent family. This overplus trade, as it is called, is carried on in the fol- lowing m.anner; for inftance ; fuppofe an Indian would trade one pound of glafs beads, it is fet down in the flandard at two beaver fkins ; but the confcientious faftor will demand three, or perhaps four beaver fkins for it ; if the Indian alks for a blanket, he muft pay eight beavers ; and if he vwould purchafe a gallon of brandy, he muft give after the rate of eight beaver fkins for it, as it is always one half, and fometimes two-thirds water. The confequence of this griping >vay of trade is in the end very hurtful to themfelves, as the Canadians, in the inte- rior country, underfell them in every article. Before the Canadian merchants purfued the fur trade with fuch diligence as they now do through the lakes, and had pene- trated into the interior parts of Hudlbn's Bay, a great number of Indians ufed annually to come dov/n to the company's lettle- ments to barter their fkins. And though the company have now in a great mealure loft the benefit of this lucrative traffic, it may not be amifs to mention the manner in which Indians prolecute their voyages to the faftories. In the month of March, the upland Indians aftemble on the banks of a particular river or lake, the nomination of which had been agreed on by common confcnt, before they feparatcd for the winter. Here they begin to build their canoej;, which, are generally completed very foon after the river ice breaks. .They then commence their voyage, but without any regularity, ail ftriving to be foremoft ; becaufe thofe who are firft have the beft chance of procuring food. During the voyage, each leader canvaffes, with all manner of art and diligence, for people to join his gang ; influencing fome by prefents, and otiiers by promifes ; for the more canoes he has under his command, the greater he appears at the faftory. Being come near their journey's end. they all put alhore; the women to go in the woods to gather pine-brufli for the bottoms I^ E W B R I T A I N, 33 pf the tents ; while the leaders fnioke together, and regulate the proceffion. This being fettled, they re-evnbark,; and foon after arrive at the faftory. If there is but one captain^ ^is H'tuat^ipi^ is in the center of the canoes ; if. more, they place themfelves on the wings ; and their canoes are diftinguifhed by having a fmall flag haifted on a ftick, and placed in the ftern. When they arrive within a few hundred yards of the fort, they difcharge their fowling-pieces, to compliment the Englifh ; who, in return, falute them by firing two or three fmall dan- non. The leaders leldom concern themfelves with taking out the bundles, but the other men will affift the women. T! . fac- tor being informed that the Indians are arrived, fends the trader to introduce the leaders with their lieutenants, who are ufually their eldeft fons or neareft relations. Chairs are placed for them to fit down on, and pipes, &c. are introduced. During the time the leader is fmoking, he fays very little, but as foon as this is over, he begins to be more talkative ; and fixing his eyes immoveably on the ground, he tells the faftor how many canoes he has brought, what Indians he has feen, afks how the Eng- lifhmen do, and fays he is glad to fee them. After this the governor bids him welcome, tells him he has good goods and plenty, and that he loves the Indians, and will be kind to them. The pipe is by this time removed, and the converfation becomes free. Duri-ng this vifit, the chief is drefl; out at the expenfe of the faftory in the following manner : a coarfe cloth coat, either red or blue, lined with baize, and having regimental cufFs ; and a waiflcoat and breeches of baize, the whole ornamented w;th orris lace. He is alfo prefented with a white or check fliirt ; his {lockings are of yarn, one of them red, the other blue, and tied below the knee with worfled garfers ; his Indian -fhoes arc fometimes put on, but he frequently walks in his ftocking feet ; his hat is coarfe, and bedecked with three oftrich feathers of various colours, and a worfted fafh tied round the crown ; a fmall filk handkerchief is tied round his neck, and this com- pletes, his drefs. The lieutenant is alfo prefented with a coat, but it has no lining; he is likewife provided with a fliirt and cap, not unlike thofe worn by mariners. The guefts being now equipped, bread and prunes are brought and fet before the captain, of which he takes care to fill his pockets, before they are carried out to be fhared in his tent ; a two gallon keg of brandy, with pipes and tobacco for himfelf and followers, are likewife fet before him. He is now jpondufted from- the fort to his tent in the following manner :.. In the fron^ F 34 QL\'ERAL DESCRIPTION 0^ a halberd and enfign are carried ; next a drummer beating a marcli ; then feveral of the faftory fervants bearing the bread, prunes, pipes, tobacco, br;indy, &c. Then comes the captain, walking quite ereft and ftately, {moking his pipe, and convcrfing with the faftur. After tliis follows the lieutenant, or any other friend, who had been admitted into the fort with the leader. They find the tent ready for their reception, and with clean pine-brufh and beaver coats placed for them to fit on. Here the brandy, &c. i* depofited, and the chief gives orders to fome refpeftable perlon to make the ufual diflribution to his comrades. After this the faftor takes his leave, and it is not long before they are all intoxi- c.ited ; when they give loofe to every fpecies of difordcrly tu- mult, fuch as fingirig, crying, fighting, dancing, &c. and fifty to one but fome one is killed before the morniijg. Such are the fad efFcfts of the vile compofition they are furnifhed with, upon thele occafions. After continuing in a ftate of intoxication, bordering on mad- tjels, for two or three days, their mental faculties return by de* grecs, and they prepare themfelves for renewing the league of friendfliip, by fmoking the calimut ; the ceremony of which is as follows ; A pipe made of ftone is filled with Brazil tobacco, mixed with a herb foniething like European box. The ftem of the pipfe is three or four feet long, and decorated with various pieces of lace, bears claws, and eagles talons, and likewile with variegated feathers, the fpoils of the moll beauteous of the fea- thered tribe. The pipe being fixed to the fhem and lighted, tha faftor takes it in both his hands, and with much gravity rifes from his chair, and points the end of the flem to the Eaft, or fun-rifoj then to the Zenith, afterwards to the Weft, and then perpendi- cularly down to the Nadir. After this he takes three or four hearty whiffs, and having done fo, prefents it to the Indian leader, from whorri it is carried round to the whole part)', the women excepted, who are not permitted to fmoke out of the facred pipe. When it is entirely fmoakedout,- the faftor takes it agiin, and having twirled it three or four times over his head^ lays it deliberately on the table ; which being done, all the Indians return him thanks by a kind of fighing out the word Ho. Though the above ceremony made ufe of by the Indians, in fmoking tlie calimut, may appear extremely ridiculous and incom- prchcnfiblc, yet,- when we are made acquainted with their ideas in this refpeft^ the apparent abfurdity of the cuftom will vanifh. By this ceremony they mean to fignify to all perfons concerned, N £ IV B R I T A I X. 35 th&t whilfl tlie (un fhall vifit the dlflFerent parts of the world, and make day and night ; peace, firm friendfhip, and brotherly love, (hall be eftabllfhed between the Englilh and their country, and the fame on their part. By twirling the pipe over the head, they further intend to imply, that all perfons of the two nations, wherefoever they may be, fhall be included in the friendlhip and brotherhood now concluded or renewed. After this ceremony is over, and a further gratification of bread, prunes, &c. is prefented, the leader makes a fpeech, generally to the following purport : " You .told me laft year to bring many Indians to trade, which I proraifed to do ; you fee I have not lied ; here are a great many young men come with me ; uie them kindly, I fay ; let them trade good goods.; let them trade good goods, I (l;y ! We lived hard lafl winter and iiungry, the powder being fhoi t meafure and bad; being fhort meaiure and bad, I fay! Tell yor.r fervants to fill the meafure, and not to put their thumbs within the brim ; take pity on ui, take pity on us, I fay ! We paddle a long way to fee you ; we love the ILngliOi. I.et us trade good black tobacco, moift and hard twifted ; let us fee it before it is opened. Take .pitv on us ; fake pity on us, I fay!' The guns are bad, let us trade light guns, briall in the hand^ and well fhaped, with locks that v>ill not freeze in the winter, and red gun cales. Let the young men have more than meafura of tobacco ; cheap kettles, thick, and high. Give us good mrafure of cloth ; let us fee the old njealure ; do you mind me? The young men prove they love you, by coming fo far to fee you ; take pity, take pity, I fay ; and give them good goods ; they like to drefs and be fine. Do you underfhand me ?" As foon as the captain has finillned his fpeech, he, with his followers, proceed to look at the guns and tobacco ; the former they examine with the inoft minute attention. Whrn this is over they trade their furs promifcuoufly ; the leader being fo far indulged, as to be admitted into the trading room ;,11 the limf^, if he dcfires it. It is evident that the fur and peltry trade might be carried on to a much greater extent, were it not entirely in the hands of this exclufive company, whofe interefled, not to fay iniquitous fpirit, has been the fubjeft of long and juft complaint. It will, we doubt not, feem very myllerious to the generality of people, that the company do not exert themfelvcs to turn the riches of this country to their advantage, when they alone are to reap the benefit of their exertions. People will naturally F 2 *36 GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF be kd' to conclude from their conduct, that what writers have faid on this fubjeft is devoid of truth, and mere chimeras ; but this is for waiit of knowing the peculiar x'iews of the company, their afFctlion for their long foflered monopoly, and that fingu- lar obfcurity which invelopes their whole conftitution, nay, the whole of their merca;ntile tranfaftions. The company do not entertain tlie leaft doubt, but if the country they poffeis was properly explored by perfons of ability, valuable dilcoveries might be made; but this they think may be fo far from redounding to their intereft, that it might have a contrary eileti;, by encouraging adventurers to petition for liberty to partake of thele dilcoverics, and thereby occafion an inveftigatioR to take place, wiiich would probably fhake tho foundation of their charter. This is not all ; as the company coriiifls at prefent but of fcven perfons; this fmall number wijdy think, that as long as they can fhare a comfortable divi- dend, there is no occafion for their embarking in additional e^'penies, in order to profec\ite difcoveries which might tranf- pire to the world, and endanger the whole. The limits of the bay and ftraits comprize a very confiderable extent ; the foil of which, in many parts, is capable of much improvement by agriculture and induftry. The countries abound \vith mod kinds of quadrupeds, &e. whofe fkins are of great value. The numerous inland rivers, lakes, &c. produce fifh of almoft every fpecies ; and in the feas in and about the ftraits, and the norlhern parts of the bay, v/hite and black whales, fea- borfcs, bears, and i'eals, are killed in great numbers by the Efquimaux, whofe implements for this purpofe are exceedingly fimple. What advantage might not then arife to the nation from this branch of tride alone, were it laid open ? If able harpooncrs were fcnt on this employ, with fufiicient afTiftants arnd properly encouraged, greater profits would accrue from this fifheiy, than from all the peltry at prelent imported by the com- pany. Ihe turroundnig country, which at prefent is entirely unknown to us, would, in all likelihood, be the eonfequence of thcfe Teas being more frequented than they arc. And indeed if ever the fovts and fettlements on the American boundary line are lurrendeied according to the treaty of peace, England has no other means in her hands to counterpoiie the fuperior advantages the Americans \viil then pollefs in the fur trade, than to throw the trade to liudion's bay open, and thus d'^ftroy a difgraceful monopoly, or to incorpoiate with it by a new charter the mer- chants trading to Canada, and thus infufe into it a frefh portion N E W B R I T A I N. 3^ of mercantile vigour : by this means an extenfive intercourfe with nations, to which we at prefent are almoft ftrangers, might be opened,- and a country explored whofe refources may equal if not furpafs thofe of the country round Canada, If it be objefted to this, that the vaft quantities of ice in the ftraits muft impede a veffel from making dilcoveries, we anfwer, that many years the ice is fo infignificant in quantity as not to obftruft the palTage of the fhips in the lead ; and in thofe fea- fons when it is thickeft, it is diffolved and difperfed in the ocean long before the return of the (hips in September. Even in the very confined manner in which the company carry on this trade, it is far from being inconfiderable in value, though their fhips feldom ftop but a very fhort time for the purpofe of trading with the Efquimaux ; they employ three fhips annually, which are manned with feventy-five men. The company exports commodities to the value of about ten thoufand pounds, and brin^g home returns to the value of twenty-nine thoufand three hundred and forty pounds, which yield to the revenue about three thoufand feven hundred and thirty-four pounds. This includes the fifhery in Hudfon's bay. That this commerce, fmall as it is, affords immenfe profits to the company, and even fome advantages to Great-Britain in general, cannot be denied ; for the conmiodities exchanged with the Indians for their fkins and furs, are all manufa£luied in Britain ; and as the Indians are not very nice in their choice, fuch things are fent of which there is the greateft plenty, and which, to ule a mercantile phrafe, are drugs. Though the workmanfliip hap- pens to be in many refpefts fo deficient, that no civilized people would take it, it may be admired among the Indians. On the other hand, the Ikins and furs brought home in return afford articles for trading with many nations of Europe to great ad- vantage. Thefe circumflances prove the immenfe benefit that would redound to Britain, by throwing open the trade to Hud- fon's bay, fince even in its prefent reffiained ftate it is fo advan- tageous,* The only attempt made to trade with Labrador, has been direfted towards the fifliery. Great-Britain has no fettle- ment there. The annual produce of the Hflieiy amounts to upwards of forty-nine thoufand pounds. * In May 1782 all the forts and fettlements belonging to the Hudfon's bay company were deftroyed by the French, the damages iullained were rated at ^ve hundred thoufand pouads. ( 33 ) NOVA-SCOTIA; COMPREHENDING THE PSOVIVCE OF N E U'-B RU N' S\V IC K AS'B NOVA-SCO riA. SITUATION, EXTENT, AND BOUNDARIES, , X HESE provinces are fituated between 43^ 30' and ^(j^ north latitude, and 60° and 67'' eaft longitude from London, or 8° and 15° eafl longitude from Philadelphia. Their length is four hun- dred miles, and their breadth three hundred. They are bounded on the north, by the river St. Lawrence ; on the eafl, by the gulf of St. Lawrence, which wafhes its coafts one hundred and ten leagues in extent, from the gut of Canfb, at its entrance into the gulf, to caps Rozier, which forms the iouth part of the river St. Lawrence, and by the gut of Canfo, which divides it from Cape &reton; on the fouth, it is wafhed by the Atlantic ocean, having a Tea coaft of ninety leagues, from cape Canfo, caft, to cape Sables, well:, which forms one part of the entrance into the bay of Fundy, which alfo forms a part of its louthern boun- dary ; weft, by a part of Lower Canada, and the diftrift of Maine. Noiwithftanding the forbidding appearance of this country, it was here that fome of the firft; European fettlements were made. The firfl grant of lands in it was given by James the Firft to his fecretary, Sir William Alexander, from whom it had the name of Nova-Scotia, or New-Scotland ; fince then it has frequently changed hands, from one private proprietor to another, and from the French to the EngliHi nation backward and forward. It was not conFivmed to the Englilh, till the peace of Utrecht, and their defign in acquiring it does not fetm to have arifen fo much from any profpeti of direft profit to be obtained by it, as frorri an ap- prehenfion that the French, by polTefting this province, might have had it in their power to annoy the other Britifti fettlements. Upon this pr'nciple, three thoufand families were tranlported in i-j^g, at the charga of the government, into this country, who built and fettled the town of Halifax. The traft cf country within thefe limits, known by llae name of Nova-Scoti), or New-Scolland, was, in 1784, divided into NOi^A-SCOriA. §i) two provinces, vii. New-Brunfwick, on the north-weft, and Nova-Scotia, on the Ibuth-eaft. The former com-prehends that part of the old province of Nova-Scotia, which lies to the north- ward and weftward of a line drawn from the mouth of the river St. Croix, through the center of the bay of Fundy to bay Verte, and thence into the gulf of St. Lawrence, including all lands within fix leagues of the coaft. The reft is the province of Nova- Scotia, to which is annexed, the ifland of St. John's, which lies north of it, in the gulf of St. Lawrence. SOIL, PRODUCTIONS, &c. During a great part of the year, the atmofphere is clouded 'with thick fog, which renders it unhealthy for the inhabitants ; and four or five mbnths it is intenlely cold. A great part of this country lies in foreft, and the foil, in many parts, is thin and barren. On the banks of the rivers, however, and fome other parts, the foil is very good, producing large crops of Englifli grafs, hemp, and flax : many of the bays, and lalt water riveis, and fome parts of the fea coaft, are bordered with fine trafts of i'alt marfh ; but the inhabitants do not raife provifions enough fox* home confumption. RIVERS, BAYS, LAKES AND CAPES. The rivers which water this country we fhall mention in con* fieftion with the different counties in which they principally flow, a few, however, call for feparate notice. The rivers Rifconge and Nipifiguit run from weft to eaft into Chaleui- and Nipifiguit bays, which communicate witii the gulf of St. Law- rence. The river St. Croix (which is the true St. Croix is yet undetermined) empties into Paffaniaquoddy bay, and forms a part of the boundary between New-Brunfwick atid Maine; St* John's is the largeft river in the province. It empties into the north fide of the bay of Fundy, and is navigable for veffels of nfty tons, fixty miles, and for boats upwards of two hundred miles. This is a common route to Quebec. The banks of this riVerj enriched by the annual frefhetSj are ex';ellent land^ About thirty miles from the mouth of tliis river commences a fine level country, covered with large tiess of timber of various kinds. Mafts, from twenty to thirtv inches in diameter, have been cut on this traft. The tide flows, in this river, eighty or ninety miles. It furnifl-ies th(; inhabitants with falmon, bais, and fturgeon. Near fort Howe, the river fuddenlv narrows, and occafions a fall at certain times of tide, like that at London fridge. 40 GENERAL DESCRIPTION 0 F The coaft of thefe provinces is indented with numerous bays, and commodious harbours. The principal, as you defcend foutherly from the mouth of St. Lawrence river, are Gafpee, Chaleur, Verte, which is feparated from the bay of Fundy by a narrow ifthmus of about eighteen miles wide ; cape and harbour of Canfo, forty leagues eaftward of Halifax. Chedabufto bay about ten leagues north-weft of Canfo. Chebufto bay, on which Hands the town of Halifax. The bay of Fundy, which extends fifty leagues into the country, in which the ebb and flow of the tide is from forty-five to fixty feet. Chenigto bay is at the head of Fundy bay. PafiTamaquoddy bay borders on the diflrift of Maine, and receives the waters of St. Croix river. At the entrance of this bay is an ifland, granted to feveral gentlemen in Liverpool in Lancalhire, who named it Campobello. At a very confiderable expenfe, they attempted to form a fettlement there, but failed. On feveral other iflands in this bay there are fettle- ments made by people from Maflachufetts. Among tjhe lakes in thefe provinces, which are very numerous, and many as yet without names, is Grand lake, in the province of New-Brunf- wick, near St. John's river, about thirty miles long, and eight or ten broad, and in fomc places forty fathoms deep. The principal capes are cape Canfo, on the weft fide of the entrance into Chedabufto bay, and cape Sables, on the eaft fide of the entrance into the bay of Fundy. CIVIL DIVISIONS. Thefe in 1783, were as follows: N 0 V A ~ S C 0 T I A. 41 Counties. TowiiJIiips Wilniot Annapolis, on Annapolis ^Gnnville river. Annapolis Clare Monflion Cumber- Land, at the head of bay ot Fundy Cumberland 1 Sackville f Amherft Hilllboro' Hopcvt'ell SUNBURY, on the river St Jolin's, north r fhoreofbayof Fundy. Conway Gage-Tov^^n Burton St. Ana's WillnioL Newton Maui;Tviile Argyl-; by ahomfeitUd. Riven. Hants, j Windfor on the river I Falmouth Avon. f Newport -j Halifax ^ I London Dtr. ^ I Truro "5 Halifax, I Onflow > Eaftern part of ^Cnlchefler ' Nova-Scotia. [ Lawrence j Southampton J Canfo I J Tinmouth "^ Kings, Cornwallis on the Bafon V of Miner. j Horton Avon or Pigiguit-j All eniptyina; iuu I tlie Avon, and c \- -s St. Croix I Kenetcoo I Cociuigiu JCicaguf-t Cobeguit t ucn cept the lait n.u i- \ blc. 40 iniles f f 60 to. J.. ^ Nav. 40 5 veift:ls o Irifh & Scotch from N. Lng- laud L 7 fett. from Irel. 5 and N. Eng. do. a line town fhip 30 miles in leng. on the ^ bay of Fundy. 7 40 families of 3 AcadiuHs Shebbenaccadie. Boatabk VPitcoudiac Memrcmcoot Percau, fmall Habitant, navig. for vcff. of 40 tons a fmall dillance. . Canaid, navig. for veil, of 160 tons f 3 or 4 miles. Cornwallis, navig. for vcff. of lOO tons 5 miles, for vcff. ot 50 tons 1 miles. Salmon river.* } fett. from N. -\ lett. rrora i\ h Eng. & Yorkf ^ r_». f „ -M } Annapolis, navigable for fliips of any burthen 10 miles — of lOO tons miles ; tide flows 30 miles, pafl'able in boats to within twenty miles ot Horton. fett. from N. of Ire. N. Eng. &. Yorkfliirc. An Lac Marequefh La I'lanche Napan ^Macon Memrcm Pctcoudia Chepodie J Herbert which are navig. 3 01 4 miles for vcireli of 5 tons. thoal rivers. > navigable 4 or 5 miles navigable by boats re its bead, i.i miles. 1 % Argyle OuEENS, Yarmouth louih lide of I Harrington bay of Fundy. (Sable Ifl.) J Liverpool , I New-Dublin u U N F. K B U R C ; I in Maiione v Lunenburg ■ay. C.hrfter J Blandtord fettled from M.illacbufetls, Connefl icut, -J Sec. Scots & Acad. N'cw-Eugland 7. Quakers from S N-«nLucket New- Ell gland }Ir'lb formerly now Germans Germans New-England 3 ianiilies only VSt. John's, already defmribed. None. None. * There are feUlemcnts of Acadians on all thcfc rivers, wlu.ie Un.ks are go''s,d land. ■^2 GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF PRINCIPAL TOWNS. i .':Halifax is the capital of the province of Nova-Scotia. It Hands. on Chebufto bay, commoJioiiny fituated for the fifhery, and has a communication witli other parts of this province and Ncw-Brunlwick by land and water carriage. It has a good harbour, where a Im 11 iquadron of fiiips of war lie during the winter, and in tlie lummer protcfts the fifheiy. The town has an entrenchment, and is flrengthened with forts of timber. It is laid to contain fifteen or hxteen thoufand inha- bitants. SHEi,3URNr. on port Rofeway, near cape Sables, was fup- pofed, ;:i i78_3, to contain fix hundred familits ; fince tha^ time it has becv.'npjlc'^s populous. Guyfborough formerly called Mancheller, lituatsd on Chedabufto bay, about ten leagues north-weft of cape Canfo, contained, in 1783, about two hun- dred and fifty families. Rauv' ^n forty miles from Halifax, has about fixty houl'es.' Annapolis on the caft hdc of Fundy bay, has one of tlie £neft harbours in the world. In other relpefts it is a poor, inconfiderable place. Fredericktown', about ninety miles up St. John's river, is the capital of the province of New-Brunfwick. FORTS. There are fcveral forts in thefe provinces : thefe are fort £dward at Windfor, capable of containing two hundred men i Annapolis, in its prefent ftate, one hundred ; Cumberland, three hundred; fort Howe, on St. John's river, one hundred; befidcs which there are barracks, inclofcd in a ftockade at Cornwallis, for about fifty men. TRADE. The exports from Great-Britain to this country confifi: chiefly of Unen and woollen cloths, and other neceffu'ries for wear, of fiihing tackle, and rigginff, for fliips. The amount of ex- ports, at an average of three years, before the new lettlcments, was about twenty-fix thoufand five hundred pounds. The only articles obtained in excliangc are, timber and the produce of the hOncry, which, at a like average, amounted to thirty- eisjht thoufand pounds. But from the late incrcaie of inhabi- tants, it is fuppc'fcd that they will now ereft law mills, and endeavour to (upply the Weft-India iilands witli lumber of every kind, as well as the produce of the fifhery, which will be a profitable article to both countries. The whole population of NOVA-SCOTIA. 43 H<5Va-Scotia and the iflands adjoining, is eflimated at fifty thou- fand. This eftimate it is fuppofed is confiderably too large. Recent accounts of theCe fettlements reprefent them a& in a declining (late, having great numbers of the houfes built in the new towns uninhabited, and confiderably reduced in value. I N D I A N S, &c. The Indians here are the It'Iicmacks, and the tribe called tha Maicchites. The former inhabit the caftern fhore, between H«ilifax and cape Breton; between Cumberland county and the north-eaft coaft of the province, towards Chalcur bay ; about the heads of the rivers which run through the counties of Hants and King's county ; and between cape Sable and Anna- polis royal. This tribe is fuppofed to have about three hundred fighting men. The Marechites inhabit the river Sr, John, and around Paffamaquoddy bay, are efliniated at ono hundred and forty fighting men ; they are much fuperior in all refpefts to the Micmacks, — The animals are the fame as in the United States.^ though much iefs numerous. ^— ..<..< .<.H<..<..<..<^^ ^ t^>-*->-*->->->- ISLAND OF SAINT JOHN. T> HIS ifland lies in the gulf of St. Lawrence, near the north- ern coaft of the province of Nova-Sfcotia, and is about fixty miles long, and thirty or forty broad. It has fevcral fine rivers, a rich foil, and is plcafantly fituatcd. Chailotte-town is its principal town, and is the refidence of the lieutenant-governor, who is the chief officer on the ifiand. The number of inhabi- tants are eflimated at about five thoufand. Upon the reduftion of cape Breton in 1745, the inhabitants of this ifland, amount- ing to about four thoufand, fubmittcd quietly to the Britiih arms. While the French poffeffcd this ifland, they improved it to lo much advantage, that it was called the granary of Canada which it furnifhed vyith great plenty of corn, as well as beef ^nd pork. It is attached to the province of Nova-Scotia. ( 44 ) NEV/FOUNDLAND ISLAND. EWFOUNDLAND is fituated to the eafl; of the gulf of St. Lawrence, between forty-fix and fifty-two degrees of north latitude, and between fifty-tht»ee and fifty-nine degrees wefh longitude, feparated from Labrador, or New-Britain, by the ftraits of Bellcifle ; and from Canada, by the bay of St. Law- rence ; being five hundi-ed and fifty miles long and two hundred broad. The coafts are extremely fubjeft to fogs, attended with alnioft continual ftorms of fnow and fleet, the fky being ufually overcaft. From the foil of this ifland the Britifli reap no great advaritage, for the cold is long continued and fcvere ; and the fumrnei: heat, though violent, warms it not enough to produce any thing valuable ; for the foil, at leaft in thofe parts of the ifland which have been explored, is rocky and barren ; however, it is watered bv feveral good rivers, and has many large and good harbours. This ifland, whenever the continent fhall come to fail of timber convenient to navigation, which on the fea coalt perhaps will be at no very remote period, it is faid, will alford a large fupply for rnafts, yards, and all forts of lumber for the Weil-India trade. But what at prefcnt it is chiefly valuable for, is the great fifliery of cod carried on upon thofe fhoals, which are called the banks of Newfoundland. Great- Britain and North-America, at the lowed computation, annually employ three thoufand fail of fmall craft in this fifliery ; on board of which, and on fliore to cure and pack the fifh, are upwards of one hundred thoufand hands: fo that this fifliery is not only a valuable branch of trade to the merchant, but a fource of livelihood to fo many thoufands of poor people, and a moft excellent nurferv for feamen. This fifliery is computed to increafe the national fl;ock three hundred thoufand pounds a year in gold and filver, remitted for the cod fold in the north, in Spain, Po'tugnl, Italy, and the I-evant. Tlic plenty of cod^ both on the great bank and the lefl'er ones, which lie to the eaft and fouth call: of this ifland, is inconceiveable ; and not only cod, but Icvcral other fpecies of fifli, are caught there in abun^ dance ; all of which are nearly in an equal plenty along the fliores of Newfoundland. Nova-Scotia, New-England, and the ifle of cape Breton ; and very profitable fifheries are carried on upon all their coafls. NEWFOUNDLAND ISLAND. 45 This ifland, after various cJifputes about the property, was entirely ceded to England by the treaty of Utrecht, in 1713; but the French were left at liberty to dry their nets on the northern fliores of the ifland ; and by the treaty of 1763, they were permitted to fifh in the gulf of St. Lawrence, but with this limitation, that they fhould not approach within three Leagues of any of the coafts belonging to England. The fmall iflands of St. Pierre and Miquelon, fituated to the fouthward of Newfoundland, were alfo ceded to the French, who ftir)ulated to ereft no fortifications on thefe iflands, nor to keep more than fifty foldiers to enforce the police. By the laft treaty of peace, the French are to enjoy the fifheries on the north and on the weft coafts of the ifland; and the inhabitants of the United States are allowed the fame privileges in fifhing as before their independence. The chief towns in Newfoundland are, Pla- centia, Bonavifla, and St. John's : but not above one thoufand families remain here in winter. A finall fquadron of men of war are Cent out every fpring to proteft the fifheries and inhabitants, the admiral of which, for the time being, is governor of the ifland, befides whom there are two lieutenant-governors, one at Placentia, and the other at St. John's. GflNERAL DESCRIPTION GREENLAND. G. 'REENI-AND is a general name by which is now denoted the jA6ft eaflerly parts of America, (Iretching towards tKe north pole, and likewifc fbme iflands northward of the continent of Europe, lying in very high latitudes. The whole of this coun- try was formerly defcribed as belonging to Europe, but from its ■contiguity to, and probable union with the American continent, it appears mo{t proper to be clafied among the countries belong- in^ to th« latter ; we therefore have followed Mr. Morfe, and placed it among the divifiohs of North-America. — It is divided into two parts, viz. Weft and Eaft Greenland, of each we (haU here give a defcription from the beft authorities extant. .4..<..<..<..<..<..«.^ i^ »^ >..>..>.>..>..>.>.._-. WEST GREENLAND.. X HIS country is now laid down, in our lateft maps, as part of the continent of America, though on what authority is not verv clear,* * Whetlier Greenland is an ifiand, has not yet been decided, as no fhip has penetrated higher than the- feventy-eighth degree, on account of the ice. That it is not an ifland, but a part of the American continent, is rendered probable; ifl. Secaufe. Davis' ftraits,- or rather Baiiin's Bay, grows harrower and narrower, towards the feventy-eighth degree north. — ad. Becaufe the cbaft, which in other places is very high towards the fea, grows lower and lower northward. — 3d. Be- caufe the tide, which at cape Farewell, and ?.<; far up as Cockin's found, in the. fixty-fifth degree of latitude, rifcs eighteen feet at the new and full moon, dct c;cafcs to tl-^ northward of Diskc, fo that in the fcyeniisth degree of ^atit^Qf CREEJ^LAND. 4^ • That part of it which the Europeans have any knowledge of is bounded on the weft by BafRn's bay, on the fouth by Davis' flraits, and on the eaft by the notthern part of the At- lantic Ocean. It is a very mountainous country, and fome parts of it fo high that they may be difcerned thirty leagues off at fea. The inland mountains, hills, and rocks are covered with per- petual fnow ; but the low lands on thte fea-fide are clothed \ith verdure in the fummer feafon. The coaft abounds with inlets, bays, and large rivers ; and is furrounded with a vaft number of iflands of difFerent dimenfions. In a great many places, how- ever, on the eaftern coaft efpecially, the fliore is inatceflible by reafon of the floating mountains of ice. The principal river, called Baal, falls into the lea in the fixty-fourth degree of lati- tude, where the firft Daniili lodge was built in lyat ; and has been navigated above forty miles up the country. . Weft Greenland was firft peopled by Europeans in the eighth century. At that time a company of Icelanders, headed by one Erieke Rande, were by accident driven on the coaft. On his re- turn he reprefented the country in fuch a favourable light, that fpm.e families again followed him thither, where they foon be- came a thriving colony, and beftowed on their new habitation, the name of Greenland, or Greenland, on account of its verdant appearance. This colony was converted to Chriftianity by a milFionary from Norway, fent thither by the celebrated Olaf, the firft Norwegian monarch who embraced the Chriftian religion. The Greenland (ettlement continued to increafeand thrive undei his proteftion ; and in a little time the country was provided with many towns, churches, convents, bifhops, &c. under the juril- ditlion of the archbifhop of Drontheim. A confiderable com- merce was carried on between Greenland and Norway; and a regular intercourfe mairitained between the two countries till the year 1406, when the Idft bifliop was fent over. From that time all correfpondcnce was cut off, and all knowledge of Greenland has been buried in oblivion. it rifes little more than eight feet, and prafcably continues to diminilh, till there is no, tide at all. To which may be added the relation of the Greenlanders , ■which however cannot be much depended on, viz. that the ftrait contrafts itfelf fo narrow at laft, that they can go on the ice fo near to the other fide, as to be able to call to the inhabitants, and that they can ftrike a fifh on both fides at once ; but that there runs fuch a (Irong current from the north into the ftrait, that tlicy cannot pafs it. ,"" " Ellis's voyage te Huiyur.'i bay far tkc dif(.vvery of a wrthKijl pajjage. ^8 GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF This ftrange and abrupt ceffation of trade and intercourfe lias been attributed to various caufes ; but the moft probable is the following : The colony, from its firft fettlement, had been har- rafled bv the nalivesj a barbarous and favage people ; agreeing in cuftoms, garb, and appearance, with the Eiquimaux found about Hudfon's bay. This nation, called Schrellings, at length prevailed againft the Iceland fettlcrs who inhabited the weftern diftriO: and exterminated them in the fourteenth century : in- iomuch that when their brethren of the eaftern diftrifi; came to their afliftance, they found nothing alive but fome cattle and flocks of (heep running wild about the country. Perhaps they themfelves afterwards experienced the fame fate, and were to- tally deftroyed by thefe Schrellings, whofe defcendants fliU in- habit the weftern parts of Greenland, and from tradition con- firm this conjefture. They affirm that the houfes and villages, whole ruins ftiU appear, were inhabited by a nation of ftran- gers whom their anceftors deftroyed. There are reaions, how- ever for believing that there may be ftill fome defcendants of the ancient Iceland colony remaining in the eaftern diftrift, though they cannot be vifited by land, on account of the ftupen- dous mountains, perpetually covered with fnow, which divide ihe two parts of Greenland ; while they have been rendered inacceffible by fea, by the vaft quantity of ice driven from Spitzbergen, or Eaft Greenland. One would imagine that there muft have been fome confiderable alteration in the northern parts of the w-orld fince the fifteenth centuiy, fo that the coaft of Greenland is now become almoft totally inacceflible, though formerly vifited with very little difficulty. It is alfo natural to afk, bv what means the people of the eaftern colony furmounted the above-mentioned obftacles when they went to the affiftance of their weftern friends ; how they returned to their own coun- try -, and in what manner hiftorians learned the fuccefs of their expedition ? Concerning all this wc have very little fatisfaftory information. All that can be learned from the moft authentic records is. that Greenland was divided into two diftrifts, called Weft-Bv^d and Eaft-Bygd : th^t the weftern divifion contained four parilhes and one hundred villages ; that the eaftern diftri£i was ftill more fiourifhing, as being nearer to Iceland, fooner fettled, and more frequented by fhipping from Norway. There are alio many accounts, though moft of them romantic and flight-, Iv attefted, which render ii probable that part of the eaftern.. colony ftill fubfifts, who, at fome time or other, may have given the imperfeft relation above mentioned. This colony, in ancient GREENLAND. 49 times, Certainly comprehended twelve extenfive pariflies ; one hundred and ninety villages ; abifhop's fee, and two monafterics. The prefent inhabitants of the weftern diflrifl are entirely igno- rant of this part, from which tiiey are divided by rocks," raoun- . tains» and deferts, and flill more efteGbually by their appreiien- fion : for they believe tne eaftern Green^anders to be a-_eruel, barbarous nation, that dcllioy and eat all ftrangers who fall Into their hands. About a century after all intercourfc between Norway and Greenland hnd ceafed, feveral fhips were lent fuc- ceflively by the kings of Denmark in order to uifcover the caft- ern^4'ftnft .J.hiit all of them mifcarried. Among thefe -adyen-:^ turers, Mogens Heinfon, after having furmountcd many difEcul- ties and dangers, got fight of the land ; which, hov.ever, he couid not approach. At his return he pretended that the fhip was arrefled in the middle of her courfe by certain rocks of ioad- ftorte at the bottom of the Tea, Tiie fame year, 1,576, in which this attempt was made, has been rendered remarkable b^- the voyage of Captain Martin Frobifher, lent upon the fam.e ermnd by Queen Elizabeth. He likewiCe defcried the nnd ; but could not reach it, and therefore returned to England ; vet not before he had failed fixty leagues in the ftrait, which flill retains his name, and landed on feveral ifl.mds, where he had Tome com- munication with the natives. He had likewife taken pofteuion of the country in the name of Queen Elizabeth ; and brought away fome pieces of heavy black (lone, from which the refiners of London extrafted a certain proportion of gold. In the en- fuin? fpring he undertook a fecond voyage, at the head of a fmall fquadron, equipped at the expenfs of the public, entered the ftraits a fecond time ; difcovcied upon an ifland a gold and lilve'r mine ; beflow^d names upon different bsys, iflands, and head- lands; and brought away a lading of ore, together with two natives, a male and female, whom the Enolifli kidnapped. 'Such was the fuccsfs of this voyage, that another armaniciit Was 'fitted out under the aufpices of Admiral Frobiflier, conllil- ing of fifteen fail, including a confiderable number of loldidKfs, miners, fmeltcrs, carpenters, and bakers, to remain all the winter near the-mines in a wo6den fort, the diflerent pieces of which tht!yc4rrifetf'oiit-iH thi; tr^nfports. They met with boiileious •weather, 'impehctrablc fogs, and violent currents upon the co^ilt of- -Grfeentand,* which retarded their operations until the feaion Wdisif^"r ^fl^ant^d; Part of tlieir wooden fort was loft at fea ; arid'the'y-^^d "neither provihon nor fuel fufncient for the winter/. T4ie ^Siiral therefore determined to return with a« much, or*' iaaioas n: . . tr : . . . ^ 50 GENERAL DESCRIPTION OV as lie could procure, of this they obtained large quantities out of a new rniiic, to which they gave the name of the Countels of Siiflcx, They l.kewifc built an houfe of ftone and lime, provid- ed with ovens; and here, with a view to conciliate the afFeftion of the natives, they left 3 quantity of fmall morrice-bells, knives, beads, k)okIr>g-glaffes, leaden piftures, and other toys, together wilh feveriil loaves of bread. They buried the timber of the fort where it could be eafilv found next year ; and fowcd corn, peafc, and other grain, by way of experiment, to know what tiic country would produce. Having taken thefc precautions, they iailcd from thence in the beginning of September; and after a month's flormy paffage, arrived in England : but this noble dcfign was never prolccutcd. Chriftian IV. king of Dcn:nark, being defirous of difcover- ing the old Greenland fettlemcnt, feut three fhips thither, under the command of captain Godflte Lindenow, who is laid to have reached the eaft coalt of Greenland, where he traded with the lavage inhabitants, Itich as they are ftill found in the weflern diftri6^, but faw no figns of a civilized people. Had he aflually landed in the eaftcrn divifijon, he mull have perceived fomc remains of the ancient colonv, even in the ruins of their con- vents and villages, Lindenow kidnapped two of the natives, who were conveyed to Copenhagen ; and the fame cruel fraud \vas pra6J".iied by other two fhips which failed into Davis' flraits,* where they djurovered divers fine harbours, and de- * Nothing can be more iahuman and repugnant to the diflates of common juftice than this praftice of tearing away poor creatures from their country, their families, and conneGiions ; unlefs we fuppofe them altogether deftitute of natural affeftion ; ?n-d that this was not the calc with thofc poor Greenlanders, fonie of whom were brought alive to Copenhagen, appears from the whole tenor of their conduct, upon their firfl capture, and during their confinement in Den- mark. When firfl captivated, they rent the air with their cries and lamentations : tii'y even leaped into the fea ; and, when taken on board, for fome time rffuf- ed all fuftemance. Their eyes were continually turned towards their dear coun- , try, and their faces always bathed in tears. Even the kindnefs of his Danifli majeftv, and the careffes of the court and people, could not alleviate their grief. OW of them wa* perceived to fhed tears always when he faw an infant ir* the rao':fier's arm.s'; a circumflance froni whence it was naturally co'ncluded, that he had left his wife -with a young child in Greenland. Two of them went to fca in their little canoes in hofK: of reaching Greenland; but one of them was retaken. 0:her two made the fame attempt ; but were driven by a ftorm on the coall of Schonen, where they were apprehended by the pealants, and rcconyey- ed L<) Copenhagen. One of them afterwards died of a fever, caught in fifhing pcai'l, during the winter, for the governor of Kolding. The reft' liv('(J"f(^me yerfrs ifi Denmark; but at length, feeing no profpeft of being able to revifit their native Got^lli,ry, they funk into a kind of melancholy diforder, , anj^ exuircd. • GREENLAND, 5» Mghtful meadows covered with verdure. In fome places they are faid to have found a confiderabie quantity of ore, every hundred pounds of which yielded twenty-fix ounces of (ilver. The fame Admiral Lindenow made another voyage to the coaft of Greenlaad in the year 1606, direftini^ his covirfe to the weftward of cape Farewell. He coafted along the flraits of Davis, and having made fome obfervations on ilie face of the country, the harbours and illands, returned to Denmark. Carfhen Richards, being detached with two fhips on the fame tliicovery, defcribed the high lind on the eaftern fide of Greeii- land, but was hindered by tlie ice from approaching the fhore. Other expeditions of the fame nature have been planned and executed with the fame bad fuccefs, under the aufpices of a Danifh .company of merchants. Two fhips returned from tiie weftero pari of Greenland loaded with a kind of yellow faud^ luppofed to contain a large proportion of gold. This being alfayed by the goldfmiths of Copenhagen, was condem.ned ajj ulelefs, and thrown overboard ; but from a fniali quantity of this fand, which was referved as a curioiity, an expert che- mift afterwards extrafted a quantity of pure g-old. The captain, who brought home this adventure, was fo chagrined at his dilappointment, that he died of grief, without having left any direftions concerning the place where the fand had been difco- vered. In the year 1654, Henry Moller, a rich Dane, equips- ped a vefl'el under the command of David de Nelles, who failed to the weft coaft of Greenland, from which he carried off three women of the country. Other efforts have been made, under the encouragement of the Danilh king, for the difcovery and recovery of the old Iceland colony in Grrcenland ; but all of them mifcarried, and people began to look upon lu^'h expe- ditions as wild and chimerical. At length the Greenland com- pany at Bergen in Norw;iy, tranfported a colony to the weftern coaft, about the fixtv-fourth degree of latitude ; nnd thele Norwegians failed in the year 1712, accompanied by the lj.ev..'|| Hans Egede, to whofe care, ability and precifvon, we ovve<||fe beft and moft authentic account of modern Greenland. This gentleman endeavoured to reach the eailern diftrift, hv coafting louthwards, and advanced as far as tlie Staters Promoiitorv : but the Icafon of the year, and continual ftonns, obliged iuin to return i and as he could not even find the flrait oi Frobiflier, he con- cluded, that no fuch place ever cxliled. In the year 17-4, a ihip, being equipped by the company, iailed on this dilcovery, w.iih a' view to land on the eaft fide oppohte to Iceland-, but H - 53 ■ GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF the vaft {ho?ls of ice, which bniricadoed that part of the coaft, rendered this fchems iinpraclicihlc. His Danifh majeftv, in the 3-e3r 1-728, caufed horfes to be trnni'ported to Greenland, in liope that the iettlers might by their means travel over land to the eaftern diflrift ; but the icy iriountains vuere found im- pnfiable. Finally, Lieutenant Richards, in a fliip which had wintered near the new Danilli colony, attempted, in his return to Denmaik, to land on the eaflern fliore ; but all his endea- vours proved aboitivc. Mr. Egede is of opinion, that the onlv prafticable method of reachiup, th.u part of the country, will be to coafl north-about in imall vcllcls, between the great fl.tkes of ice and the Ihore ; as tlie Greenlanders have declared, that the currents continually n-ifhing from the bays and inlets, and running I'outh-weftwards along the fiiore, hin4er the ice from adhering to the land ; fo that there is always a channel open, through which vedels of fmall burden might pafs, efpecially if lodges were built at conve- nient diftances on the fnore, for the convenience and direftion of the adventurers. That part of the country which is now vifited and fettled by the Dnnes and Norwegians, lies between the fixty-fourth and fixiy-eighth degrees of north htitude ; and thus f^irit is laid tho climate is temperate. In the fummer, which continues from the end of M;iy to the middle of September, the weather is warrri and Comfortable, while the wind blows eaflierly ; though even at this time dorms frequently happen, v/hich rage with ineredi- h>le violence ; and the fca coafts are infefted with fogs that are equally difagreeablc and unhealthy^ Near the fhore, and in the bays and inlets, the low land is clothed with the mod charming verdure ; bvit the inland mountains are perpetually covered with ice and fnow. To the northward of the fixty-eighth degree of latitude th.e cold is prodigioully intenfe ; and towards the end. of Auguft ail the coafL is covered with ice, which never thaws till April or May, and lometirncs net till the latter end of June. ^■Pili^Jg can exiubit a more dreadful, and at the fame time a more dazzling, appearance, than thofc prodigious mafies of ice that'i'urround the whole cotR in various forms, reflefting a mul- titude of colours from the lun-beains, and calling to mind the enchanted fcencs cf romance. Such prolpefts they yield in i'jhn weather ; but w'len the wind begins to blow, and (he Vv'a\ cs to rife in vail billows, the violent fliocks of thofe pieces of ice daftiing againll one another, fill the mind with horror. Greenlaad'is'leldom vifited, with 'thunder and lightning, "bat ths GREENLAND. 53 'aurora borealis is very frequent and bright. At the time of new and full moon, the tide rifes and falls upon this coafl about three fathoms ; and it is remarkable, that the fprings and foun- tains on fhore rife and fall with the flux and reflux of the ocean. The foil of Greenland varies like that of all other mountain- ous countries : the hills are very barren, being indeed frozen throughout the whole year; but the valleys and low grounds, efpecially near the fea, are rich and fruitful. The ancient Nor- wegian chronicles inform us, that Greenland formerly produced ^ great number of cattle ; and that confiderable quantities of butter and cheefe were exported to Norway ; and, on account of their peculiar excellency, fet apart for the king's ufe. The fame hiftories inform us, that feme parts of the country yielded excellent wheat ; and that large oaks were found here, which carried acorns as big as apples. Some of thele oaks ftdl remain in the fouthern parts, and in many places the marks of ploughed land are eafily perceived : at prefent, however, the country is deftitute of corn and cattle, though in many places it produces excellent pafture, and, if properly cultivated, would probably yield grain alfo. Mr. Egede fowed fome barley in a bay adjoin- ing to the Danifh colony ; it fprang up fo faft, that by the latter end of July it was in the full ear ; but being nipped by a night froft, it never arrived at maturity. This feed was brought from Bergen, where the fummer is of greater heat and duration than in Greenland ; but in all probability the corri \vhich grows in the northern parts of Norway would alfo thrive here. Turnips and coleworts of an excellent tafte and flavour are alio produced here. The fides of the mountains near the bays are clothed with wild thyme, which difFules its fragrance to a great dillancc. The herb tormentil is very common in this country, and like- ■ wife many others not defcribed by the botanills. Among the fruits of Greenland we number juniper-berries, biue-bcrries, bil-berries and bramble-berries. ^ Greenland is thought to contain many mines of iMtai^ though none of them are wrought. To the louthward of tha Danifli colony are fome appearances of a mine of copper, Mr. ^Igede once received a lump of ore from one of the natives, and here he found calamine of a yellow colour. Ke once fent a confiderable quantity of fand of ^ yellow colour, intei-mixed with flreaks of vermilion, to the Bergen company : they pro- ^bjyfourjd, their account in this prefent ; for they defued ^}i.irn;. 54 GENERAL DESCRI PTION 0 F by a letter, to procure as much of that fand as poffible ; hut he was never able to find the place where he faw the firrt: fpe- cimen. It was one of the fmallell among a great number of iflands, and the mark he had let up was blown down bv a violent ftorm : poffibiy this might be the fame mineral of which Captain Frobiilier brought fo much to England. This country produces rock-cryftals both red and white, and whole moun- tains of the afbeftos or incombuftible flax. Around the colony, whica J- known by the name of Good Hope, they find a kind of ballard rrarble of various colours, which the natives form into bowls, lamps, pots, &c. All that has been faid of the fertility of Gi-eenland, however, muft be underftood only of that part which lies bety/een the fixtieth and fifty-fifth degrees of latitude : the moft northern parts are totally deftitutc of herbs and plants. The wretched inhabitants carnot find grafs in fufficient quantities to (luff into their fhoet to keep their feet warm, but are obliged to buy it from thoie who inhabit the more fouthern parts. The animals which abound moft. in Greenland are, rein-deer, foxes, hares, dogs and white bears. The hares are of a white colour and very fat ; the foxes are of different colours, white, greyifh and blueifh, and fmaller than thofe of Denmark and Norway. The natives keep a grea|; number of dogs, which are large, white or fpeckled, and rough, with ears Handing upright, as is the cafe with all the dogs peculiar to cold cli- mates ; they are timorous and flupid, and neither bay nor bark, but fometimes howl diimally. In the northern parts the natives yoke them in Hedges, which, though heavy laden, they will draw on the ice at the rate of feventy miles iri a fliort winter's day. Thefe poor animals are very ill rewarded for their lervice, being left to provide for themfelves, except when their mafters happen to catch a great number of ieals : on thefe occafions the dogs are regaled with the blood and entrals ; Jt other times they fubfift, like wild beafts, uporj mufcles and henBlE. Here are alio found great numbers of ravens, eagles of a prodigious fize, falcons and other birds of prey ; and likewife a kind of linet, which warbles very meiodioully. Whales, fword-iifli. popoifes, &c. abound on the coafts ; alio Holybur, turbot, cod, haddock, &c. Tlie more dubious aViimals alfo, called mermaids, lea-ferpents and krakens, laid to Be found on the, toad of Norway, are iaid likewife to dwell in thefe Teas. Mr. Egeue aftures us, that in the year 1734, tho fec-ferpent \vaSifepn,oi]F the pevy, J^anilh, colony, and raiie*! ,»/.» headmaft'-hiijii above t!:c kahce ol the water. . GREENLAND. 55 The people who now inhabit the wcftern coaft of Green- land, and who, without doubt, are the delcendants of the ancient Schrellings, who exterminated the firft Iceland colony, bear a near refemblance to the Samoiedes and Laplanders in their perfons, complexions, and way of life : they are fhort, brawny, and inclined to corpulency, with broad faces, flat noies, thick lips, bUck hair and eyes, and a yellowifh tawny complexion: they are for the moft part vigorous and healthy, but remarkably fhort-lived, few of them reaching the grand climafteric, and many dying in their infancy and in the prime of youth : they are fubjeft to a weaknefs in the eyes, occafion- ed by the piercing winds and the gbre of the Inow in the winter-time : the leprofy is known among them but is not con- tagious. Thofe that dwell in the nortlierii parts are miferably tormented with dylenteri»s, rheums, and pulmonary diforderi-, boils and epilepfv. The fmall-pox being impojted among them from Copenhagen in the year 1734, made terrible havoc among thefe poor people, who are utterly deftitute of r.ny knowledore of the medicinal art, and depend entirely for afliftance upon their angekuts or conjurers. In their difpofl- tions the Greenlanders are cold, phlegmatic, indolent and flow of apprehenhon, but very quiet, orderly and good-natured ; they live peaceably together, and have every thing in common, without ftrife, envying or animohty ; they are civil and hofpitable, but flovenly to a degree almoft beyond the Hot- tentots themlelves ; they never wafh themfelves with water, but lick their paws like the cat, and then rub their faces with them. They eat after their dogs without wafhing their diihes •, devour the lice which devour them : and even ligk the fweat which they fcrape off from their faces with their knives. The women wafli themfelves with their own urine, which they imagine makes their hair grow, and in the winter- time go out imme- diately after, to let the liquor freeze upon their ikin. They will often eat their viftuals off the dirty ground, withoutd«ny veffel to hold it in, and devour rotten flefli with the grSRil aridity. In times of Icarcity they will (ubfiu; on pieces of old. lkin,'reeds, fea-wced, and a root called tugloronet, dreilcd with train oil and fat. The dung of rein-deer taken from the inteflines^ the entrails of partridges, and all forts of offals, are courited d'aintics anOong thele favages ; and of the i't:rapling<> of fdals-fkins they make delicate pancskc:;. At f^rfl they could not tafte the Danifh provilions without abhorrence, but no\>- th«y'are become extremely fond of bread and butter, though ^6 GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF they ftill Jetuin an averfion to tobacco and fpirituous liquors .5 in, which particular they differ from qlmofl all favages or> the face of the earth. The Greenlanders commonly content themfelves with one wife', who-is condemned, as among other favage nations, to do ah the drud2;ery, and may be correfted, or even divorced, by the hufband at pleafure. Heroes, however, and extraordinary perfonages, are indulged with a plurality of wives. Their young ■women are generally chaflc and bafliful ; but at fome of their feafts, in the midll of their jollity, a man retires with his neigh- bour's wife behind a curtain made of fkins; and all the guefts, thus coupled, retire in their turns. The women think them- felves happy if an angekut or prophet will thus honour them with his carefies. Thcfe people never marry within the prohiw bited degrees of confanguinity, nor is it counted decent in a couple to marry who have been educated in the fame family. They have a number of ridiculous and fuperflitious cufloms ; among which the two following are the moft remarkable ; — - While a woman is in labour, the goiTips hold a chamber-pot over her head, as a charm to haflcn the delivery. When the child is a year old, the mother licks and fiabbers it all over, to render it, as fbe imagines, more flrong and hardy. All the Greenlanders hitherto known, fpeak the fame language, though different dialefts prevail in different parts of the coun- try: it abounds with double confonants, and is fo guttural, that the pronunciation of many words is not to be learned except by thofe who have been accuftomed to it from their infancy. , Tl\e iettefs C, D, F, Q and X, are not known in their alphabet. Like the North- Americans, and inhabitants of Kamfchatka, they have a areat number of long polyfyllables. Their words, nouris as well as verbs, are infleftcd at the end by var\-ing the termi- nations without the help of articles; but their language being found dcfeftive, they have adopted a good many wor4s,ijFron;i the 'NfflE*vegian dialeft. Notwithflanding the endeavours of ^th'e DHwh miffioj^aries, they have no great reafon to boaft of the ;prt>felytcs they have made of the natives^pf :.Greenla,nd. . Thefc ■fSV^ages pay great deference and relpeft to-; tiic Danes, -whom ia- ;,deed they obey as their mailers, and he?r- the- tiH«hs- of the j.Qhriftian religion expounded without doubting 'the "verTicfty^bf ?lh.rt,lie lea{l,,.in£^\iejpj^ed by what they have heard. They believe in the immortality of the foul, and the exiftcnce of a Ipirit whom ihey call Torngar- C R E E N L A N D. 57 fuck, but of whom they have formed the moft ridiculous notions.* The Angekuts, who arc fuppofcd to be his immc- * The firft niinionarics among the Greeiila:id£rs entertained a doiibf whether they had any conception of a Divine Being, as thg|iy:iad no word in their lan- guage by which to defignate him. When they were afkcd who inade the heaven and earth, and all vifible things? their anfwer was — " We know not; or, ■we do not know him ; or, it muft have been fomc mighty perfon : or, things always have been as they are, and will always remain to." But when they un- derftood their lang.uage better, they found they had fome vague notioiis^coiv- cerning the foul and fpirits, and were felicitous about the ftate after death. It was evident alio that they had fome faint conceptions of a Divine Being. They believe in the doftrine of the tranfmigration of fouls — that the foul is a fpiritual effence quite different from the body — that it needs no corporeal nourifhnaent — that it furvives the body, and lives in a future better ftate, whic^i they believe will never end. But they have very different ideas of this itate, }J!any place their Elyfium in the abyffes of the ocean, or the bowels oi the earth, and think the deep cavities of the rocks are avenues leading to ir. There dwells Torngarfuck and his mother ; there a joyous fummer is perpetuai, and a ihining fun is obfcured by no night; there is the limpid ftrcara, and abundance of foWls, fifhes, rein-deer, and their beloved feals, and thefe are all to be caught without toil, nay, they are even found in a great kettle boiling alive. But to thefe delightful feats none muft approach but thofc who have been dex- trous and diligent at their work, (for this is their grand idea of virtue) that have performed great exploits, and have mattered many whale.s and feals, have undergone great hardfhips, have been drowned in the lea, or died in cliildbod. The difembodied fpirit does not enter dancing into the Elyfian fields, but mult fpend five whole days, fome fay longer, in Aiding down a rugged rock, which is thereby fmeared with blood and gore. Thofe unfortunate fouls which are obliged to perform this rough journey in the cold winter, or in boiftcrous wea- ther, are peculiar objefts of their pity, becaufe they may be calily dcftroyed on the road, which deflruftion they call the fecond death, and dcfcribe it as a perfeft extinftion, and this, to them, is the moll dreadful confideration. There- fore during thefe five days or more, the furviving relations muft abftain from certain meats, and from all noify work, except the neceil'ary fifbing, that the ioul may not be difturbed or perifh in its perilous paffage. From all which, it is plain, that the Grcenlanaers, ftupid as they have been reprefented, hayp in idea that the good will be rewarded, and the bad punilhed, and that they con- ceive a horror at the thought of the entire annihilation of the foul. Others have their paradife among the celeftial bodies, and they imagine tlieir flight thither fo eafy and rapid, that the foul refts the fame evening in the man- fion of the moon, who was a Greenlander, and there it can dance and play at ball with the reft of the fouUi for they think tbe -northern lights to be che daaire of fporfive fouls. The fouls in this paradife are pl^ed in tents round a vaft lake abounding wi{)i fifh and' fowl. When this lake oveirtlows it rains on the ciHh; but fnoyld'tihe dam once break, ther.e would be £ g-?i^eral, deluji;:-. o8 GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF diate miniflers, differ concerning the principles of his exiftencej fome affirming that he is without form or fhape ; others, that he 1Bas the fhapc of a bear ; others, that he has a large human body xvith Giiiy one arm: while others affirm, that he is no larger than a manV^fiogcr, with many other abfurdities of a fimilar kind. They haye alfin peculiar kind of mythology, by which they believe all the elements to be full of fpirits, from among which every one of their prophets is fupplied with a familiar which they name Torngack, and who is always ready when iummcned to his alTi (lance. * The Grecnlandcrs are employed all the year round either in fifliing or hunting. At fea they purfue the whales, morfes, leals, fifli for eating, and iea fowl. On fhore they hunt the rein-deer in dilfcrcnt parts of the country: they drive thefe animals, which feed in large herds, into a narrow circle or de- nie, wh'jre they are cafily flain with arrows. Their bow is made of fir-tree, wound about with the twifled fmews of ani- mals ; the firing is compoled of the fame fluff, or of fcal fkin ; the arrow is a good fajhom in length, pointed with a bearded ifon, or a fharp bone ; but thofe with which they kill birds are blunt, tliat thev may hot tear the flefh. Sea fowls they kill ■with lances, which ihcy threw to a great diftance with lurpriiing dexterity. Their manner of catching whales is quite different, from that praftifcd by the Europeans: about fifty perfons, men and women, fct out in one long boat, which is called a kone boat^ from kone a " woman," becaufe it is rowed by females only. When they find a whale, they flrike him with harpoons, to which arc faftcncd with long lines fome feal fkins blown up like blad- ders. TJicIe, by floating on the furface, not only difccver the b.ick of the whale, but hinder him from diving under water for any length of time. They continue to puriue hira until he Iv.lcb fti ength, when they pierce him with ipcars and lances till he expires. On this occafion they are clad in their fpring coats, corififling of one piece, with gloves, bonts, and caps made of fcal Win fo clolely laced and fewed that they keep cut water. The -wifer Grcenlanders, who confider the foul as a fpiritual immaterial ef- fcnoe, laugh at all this, and fay, it there (hould be fuch a material, luxuriant paradife, wlicre iouls could entertain themfelves with hunting, dill it can only tndure for a time; afterwards the fouls will certainly be conveyed to the peace- ful manlions : but they know not what their food or employinent will be. Oa the'otherhand, they place their hell in the I'ubterraneous regions, which are de- void of light and heat, and filled with perpetual terror and anxiety. T^ig^Jaft forV of people lead a regalar life, and refrain from every thing they think is rvif.'--^' ' '■"■"■■-■ GREENLAND. 59 TThus accoutred, they leap into the fea, and begin to fllo^ofF the fat, even under water, before the whale is dead. They hr>ve many different ways of killing feals ; namely, by ftiiking, them "with a fmall harpoon equipped alfo with an air bag; by watch- ing them when they come to breathe at the air-holes in, the ice, and ftriking them with fpears ; by approaching them in tii,€ dif- guife of their own fpecies, that is, covered with a feal flvin, creeping upon the ice, and moving the head from fide to fide as the fea Is are accuftomed to 6.0. By this flratagem the Greeny lander moves towards the uii(urpe6lirig feil, and kills him with a fpear. The Greenlanders angle with lines made of whalebone cut very fmall, by means of winch they fuccecd wonderfully. The Greenland canoe, like that ufed in Nova-Zembla and Ilud- fon's bay, is about three fathoms in length, pointed at both ends, and three quarters of a yard in breadth'; it is cbmpofcd of thin rafts faftened together with the finews of animals. It is covered with drelTed feal-(k.ins both below and above, in fuch a manner that only a circular hole is left in the middle, large enough to admit the body of one rnan. Into this the Greenlander thrufts himfelf up to the waift, and fallens the fkin fo tight about him that no water can enter. Thus iecured, and armed with a pad- dle broad at both ends, he will venture out to fea In the mod ftormy weather fo catch feals and fea-fovl; and if he is overfet, he can eafily raife himfelf by means of his paddle. A Green- iander in one of thefe canoes, which was brousjht with him to Copenhagen, outftripped a pinnace of fixteen oars, manned • with choice mariners. The kone boai is made of the (ame ma- terials, but more durable, and fo large thjt it will contiin fifty perfons with all their tackle, baggrige and provifions : fhe is fitted with a maft, which carries a triangular hiil made of the infembranies anid entrails of feals, and is m^naiied without the hdp'of braces and bowlings: thele kones are fl:it-hottomeu, and fofrietimes fixty feet in length. The men think it beneath thein to take charge of them, and therefore they are left to tlie con- duct' of the women, who indeed are obliged to do all tJie drudgery,,,^.inqvi,}d.!r)^ even the building and repairing their houfes, -while the men employ themlelves wholly in preparing their hunting "implements and hlhing tackle. Thl^ cou'nt*}-y' i^"but thinly inhabited.* In the winter time the-;'people. dwell in huts b-ailt of flone or turf; on the one * Mofl of the Grccnlanders live to the fouthv.-:rd of the f:xty-fccond degree of north latitude, or as the inhabitants arc wont to lay, in the fouth; but no I £ Co C E XE R AL DESC R TPTION' 0 F fvde arc the windows, covered with the ficins of feals or rein- deer. Several rimilies live in one of thefe houfes, poflefling earh a fcparate apartment, before, which is a hearth with a great lamp pl;)ced on a trevit, over which hangs their kettle ; above is^aracU or fhelf.Gn. which, their wet clothes are dried. They burn.traiji oil in their lamps, and for a wick they ufe a kind fi^ JTjoQi^'^yhich f.illv anrvvcrs the purpofc. Thefe lamps are rot pjil^^.f^f!icient to boil their viftuals, but likewife produce lurh a Jicat, that the wliole hnufe is like a bagnio. The door is very low,, that as liitlc cold air as poflTible may be admitted. The },.o.ure v,:!thii^.is lined with old flcins, and furrounded with benches f'.)r the convcnicncy of flrangers. In the fummcr time they dwell i:, tents ni.ide of long poles fixed in a conical form, cover- ed in.thc infidc \vith deer fkins, and on the outfidc with ieals fkins, drcfled- fo as that tiie rain cannot pierce them. Y. A S T G Pv E E N L A N D. ^ L'lft-Q-reenland was for a long time confidered as a part of tl)c continent of Weft Greenland, but is now difcoverevi to be STii affemblige of ifjnnds lying between 'j6<-> 46' and 80^ 30' "^ r.orth laii^tude, and between g° and 20*' of eafl longitude. It wasdircovered by Sir Hugh Willoughby in the year 1553, ^^^o Cijne(J it Grgfeilind, liippofing it to be a part of the weftern ionffnent. In 15,95, it was again vifued by William Bjrentz and ]nhrt Corneiius, tvvjo Dutchmen, who pretended to be the ^iginaj Gi,fc*oycrerSj and c:.llcd the country Spitzbergen, or |.urop?acs livr; th^r;, fo that tbrfc part^s ar-^ bi:t littV* knov,'n. The European fftlp^ifs have fi^ed thenifelves to thn nortl^iwaid of the fixty-fccond degree of ■'■?C- fai^or., who livc^ many yars in the country, and wliofe accuracy, as f;ir ^;j(ht? fuhj?"^ will admit, niay be depended on, found, in the compafi of forty ,]^«g«fsj ;T«r!iicli -was the civcle of his dfalings, nine hundred and fifty-feven /."".nttant r"rid-'nts, t>'~rid"s occafioiial vifitors. This part of Greenland is the Vi'.ol} populous, except Difk.o bay, which is the bcft place for trade, and the r')u"i1iertf^ar;s. lii other places, an individual may tr:ivcl fixty miles and not 'j.'iiect- •w'Wli V'-finglr p"r!on. Snppofc, however, that the country is inhabited '^T'~rhDr'lp>i¥n fv?y?Ty' f)4i"iy Ip^l^es, the a"'nouut would be ten thou.fund. , The aboYC-^rncn- ■iioncd fafl'ir, thinks, that there arc not more than fc^ven thoufand, becaufe there -fir. :i.Or. V.,; .ic,^ irri.. ■ • - • ■ ' ^ ar,' fo mTOy d^inft places. He affrrrs, indeed, that the native Grecnlandcrs, in ^V?*^^-''^''"^""^'--'^' to thlrry thou find ; aud'^vi^'hcn he mad. = his firft Calculation iq -\iy4S-' tbel-ff= Ver*' ftfli' twvrity thoufand^ cbnfo<]ivently, fnice that timeythsit -iiaasbOT'J'ws'diaiiiBilhed at icaft oivc-!-aJf'. ' ' ' '" GREENLAND. 6t Sharp Mountains, from the many fharp pointed and rocky mountains with which it abounds. They alledged, that the coaft dilcovered by Sir Hugh Willoughby was fome other coun- try ; which accordingly the Hollanders delineated on their maps and charts by the name of Willoughby Land ; whereas i-a faft no fuch land ever exifted ; and long before the voyage of thefe Dutchmen, Stephen Barrows, an Englifh ftiipmafler, had coafted along a defolate country from north latitude 78® to 80^ 1 1 ', which was undoubtedly Spitzbergen. The fea in the neighbourhood of the iflands of Spitzbergen abounds very much with whales, and is the common refort of the vvhale-fi{hing fhips from different countries, and the country itfelf is frequently vifited by thefe fhips ; but till the late voyage of the Hon. Capt. Phipps, by order of his Majefty, the fituation of it was erroneoufly laid down. It was imagined that the land ftretched to the northward as far as 82° of north latitude ; but Capt. Phipps found the moft northerly point of land, called Seven Iflands, not to exceed 80" 30' of latitude. Towards the caft he faw other lands lying at a diftance, fo that Spitzbergen plainly appeared to be furrounded by water on that fide, and not joined to the continent of Afia, as former navigators had fuppofed. The north and weft coafts alfo he explored, but was prevented by the ice from failing fo far to the northward as he wifhed. The coaft appeared neither habitable nor acceflible ; it is formed of high, barren, black rocks, without the leaft marks of vegetation ; in many places bare and pointed, in others covered with fnow, appearing even above the clouds. The valleys between the high cliffs were filled with fnow and ice. " This profpeft," fays Capt. rhipps, *' would have fuggefted the idea of perpetual winter, had not the mildnels of the weather, the fmooth water, bright fun-fliine, and conftant day-light, given a ch^erfulnefs and novelty to the whole of this romantic fcene." The current ran along this coaft half a knot an hour, north. The height of one mountain feen here was found, by geometrical menfura- tipn,, to be at one time one thoufand five hundred and three .|"^et-^d a half, at another one thoufand five hundred and three feet and eight-tenths. By a baronjeter conftrufted after De Luc's method, the height was found to be one thoufand five hundred ari.d eighty-eight feet and a half. On this occafion Capt. Phipps has the following remarks ; " I cannot account for the great dif- ference between the geometrical meafure and the barometrical - according to M. De Luc's calculation, which amounts to eighty- four feet feven inches. I have no reafon to doubt the accu- 6^ GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF racy of Dr. Irving's obfcrvations, which were made with great care. As to the geometrical meafure, the agreement of fo many iriangles, each of which rnuft. have difcovered even the Imalleft ^rror, is the moft fatisfaftory proof of its correftnefs. Since !fiy return, 1 have tried both the theodolite and barometer, to difcover whether there was any fault in either, and find them, upon trial, as I had always done before, very accurate." There is good anchorage in Schmeerenhurgh harbour, lying' in north latitude -74? 44^, eaft longitude cj** 50' 45'/, in thirteen fathoms, fandy bottom, not far from the fhore, and well fhel- fered from all winds. Clofe to this harbour is \n ifland called Amfterdam Iflmd, where the Dutch ufcd formerly to boll their whale oil ; and the remains of fome conveniency erefted by them for that purpofe are flill vifible. The Dutch fhips ftill refort to this place for the latter fealon of the whale fifhery. — The ilone about this place is chiefly a kind of marble, which dil- folves eafily in the marine acid. There were no appearance of minerals of any klnd^ nor any figns of ancient or modern vol- canoes. No infe£ts, nor any fpecies of reptiles were leen, not even the common earth worm. There were no fprings or rivers, but great plenty of water was produced from the inow which fnclted on the mountains. The moft remarkable views which thefe dreary regions pre- sent, are thofe called Icebergs. They are large bodies of ice filing the valleys between the high mountains : their face to- wards the fea is nearly perpendicular, and of a very lively licrht green colour. One was about three hundred feet high, with a c.^fcade of water iffuing from it. The black mountains on each fide, the white fnow, and greenifh coloured ice, compoled a very beautiful and romantic pifture. Large pieces frequently broke off from the icebergs, and fell with great noiie into the water : one piece was oblerved to have floated out into the bay, and grounded in tweoty-four fathoms ; it was fifty feet high above the furface of the water, and of the fame beautiful colour with the iceberg from which it had feparated. Thefe ifiands are totally uninhabited, though it doth not. ap- pear but that human creatures could fubRft on them, nptwith- flanding their vicinity to the pole. Eight 'Englifli failors, who were accidentally left here by a wii?le-hfliing Inip, furvivcd tlic winter, and were brought home next leafon. The Dutch then attempted to fettle a colony on Amfterdam ifland above men- tioned, but all the people periflied, not through the feverity of the climate, but of the fcurvy, owing to the want of thofe GREENLAND. 63 remedies which are now happily difcovered, and which are found to be fo effeftual in preventing and curing that dreadful diieaie. The late account alfo of fix Ruffian failors, who {laid four years in this inhofpitable country, affords a decifive proof that a colony might be fettled oil Eaft-Greenland, provided the doing fo could anfvver any good purpofe. A Greenland company was formed in London in the year 1693. A joint ftock of forty thoufand pounds was by flrtute to be raifed by fublcribers, who were incorporated for fourteen years from the firfl day of Oftober in that year ; and the com- pany to ule the trade of catching whales, &c. to and from Greenland, and the Greenland leas ; they may make bye-laws for the government of the perfons employed in their fhips, &c. Stat. 4 & 5 W. III. cap, I'y. This company was farther en- couraged by parliament in 1696; but partly by unfkilful ma- nagement, and partly by real lolfes, it was under a necellity of entirely breaking up, before the expiration of the term affigned to it, ending in i'jo']. But any perfon who will adventure to Greenland for whale-fifhing, has all privileges granted to the Greenland company, by 1 Anne, cap. 16. and thus the trade was again laid open. Any fubjefts may import whale-fins, oil, &c. of fifh caught in the Greenland feas, without paying any cuftoms, &c. Stat. 10 Geo. I. cap. 16. And fhips employed in the Greenland fifhery are to be of fuch burden, provided with boats, fo many men, fifbing lines, harping irons, &c, and be licenfed to proceed ; and on tlieir return are paid twenty fliillings per ton bounty, for whale-fins, &c. imported ; 6 Geo. II. cap. 33. The bounty was afterwards increafed, but has been lately diminiflied, and fince this diminution the trade has increafed. ( 64 ) HISTORY OF THE SPANISH DOMINIONS NORTH-AMERICA, — ■«-<"«44* ^ •>»">'•>- EAST AND WEST-FLORIDA, SITUATION, BOUNDARY AND EXTENT. E, ny whik it remained i» tlie hands of the SpatflwdfeV was founded. In i^8^> 'this place ■^frafS' :«ken and ""pifl»g^'4>y*- Sir .Francis Drake;- It^ m^WW^tfes-theiiam.*" fate ia Vol. IV, K 66 GE^^'ERAL D ESCRI PTIO N 0 ^ 1665, being taken and plundered by Captain Davis, and a body of buccaneers. In 1702, an attempt was made upon it by Colo" nel More, governor of Carolina. He fet out with five hundred Ehglifh and {'even hundred Indians ; and having reached St, Au- guflinc, he befie'^ed it for three months, at the expiration of which, the Spaniards having fent fome fliips to the relief of the place, he was obliged to retire. In 1740, another attempt was made by General Oglethorpe ; but he being outwitted by the Spanifh governor, was forced to raife the fiege with lofs, and Florida continued in the hands of the Spaniards till the year 3763, v/hen it was ceded by treaty to Great-Britain. During the laft war it was again reduced by his Catholic l^Tajelly, and was guaranteed to the crown of Spain at the peace. Among the rivers that fiow through this territory, and fall into the Atlantic Tea, St. John's and Indian rivers arc the prin- cipal. St. John's river rifes in or near a large fwamp, in the heart of Eaft-Florida, and purfucs a northern courfe in a broad , navigable ftream, which, in feveral places, fpreads into bioad bays or lakes. Lake George, which is only a dilatation of the tiver, is a beautiful piece of water, generally about fifteen miles broad, and from fifteen to twenty feet deep. It is ornamented with feveral charming iflands, one of which is an orange grove, interfperfed with magnolias and palm trees. Near Long Lake, \vhich is two miles long and four wide, and which communicates with St. John's river by a fmall creek, is a vafi fountain of warm., or rather hot minei-al water, ifiTuing from a high bank on the river : it boils up with great force, forming immediately a vafh circular bafon, capacious enough for feveral fhallops to ride in, and runs with rapidity into the river, at three or four hundred yards diftance : the water is perfeftly clear, and the prodigious number and variety of fifh in it, while fwimming many feet deep, appear as plainly as though lying on the table before your eyes : the water has a difagrceable tafle, and fmells like bilge water. This river enters into the Allantic, north of St, Augulline. — Indian river riles a fhort diftance from the fea coaft, and runs from north to fouth, forming a kind of inland palfage for many miles alonff the coaft. — Seguana, Apalachicola, Chatahatchi, Ef- cambia, Mobile, Pafcagoula, and Pearl rivers, all rife in Georgia^ and run foutherly into the gulph of Mexico. There are, in this territory, a great variety of foils. The eaftern part of it, near and about St. Auguftine, is far the moll unfruitful ; yet even here two crops of ^Indian corn are pro- duced. The banks of the rivers which water the Floridas, and the parts contiguous; are of a iuperior qualityj and well adapted to EAST AND WEST'FLORIDA. 67 the culture of rice and corn, while the more interior country, which is high and pleafant, abounds with wood of almoft every kind ; particularly white and red oak, live oak, laurel magnolia, pine, hiccory, cyprefs, red and white cedar. The live Oaks, though not tall, contain a prodigious quantity of timber: the trunk is generally from twelve to twenty feet in circumference, and rifes ten or twelve feet from the earth, and then branches into four or five great limbs, which grow in nearly a horizontal direftion, forming a gentle curve. " I have ftepped," lays Bar- tram,* " above fifty paces, on a Ilraight line, from the trunk of one of thefe trees to the extremity of the limbs." They are ever green, and the wood almoft incorruptible. They bear a great quantity of fmall acorns, which are agreeable food, when roafted, and from which the Indians extratt a fweet oil, which they ule in cooking homminy and rice. The laurel magnolia is the moft beautiful among the trees of the foreft, and is ufually one hundred feet high, thougli fome are much higher. The trunk is perfcftly ereft, rifing in the form of a beautiful column, and fupporting a head like an obtule cone. The flowers are on the extremities of the branches ; are large, white, and expanded like a roie, and are the largefl and moft complete of any yet known ; when fully expanded, they are from Ox to nine inches diameter, and have a moft delicious fragrance. The cyprefs is the largeft of the American trees, " I have feen trunKs of thefe trees," (ays Bartram, " that would meafure eight, ten, and twelve feet in diameter, for forty and fifty feet ftraight fhaft." The trunks make excellent fhingles, boards, and other timber ; and when hollowed, make durable and convenient canoes, " When the planters fell thefe mighty trees, they raife a ftage around them, as high as to reach above the buttreffes ; on this ftage eight or ten negroes aicend with their axes, and fall to work round its trunk." The intervals between the hilly part of this country are ex- tremely rich, and produce fpontaneoufly the fruits and vegeta- bles that are comm.on to Georgia and the Cnrolinas. But this country is rendered valuable in a peculiar manner by its exten- five ranges for cattle, St, Auguftine, the capital of Eaft-Floridn, is fituated on the fea coaft, latitude 29*^ 45' ; is of an oblong figure, and interl'efted by four ftreels, which cut each other at right angles. The town is fortified with baftions, and inclofed with a ditcli : it is like- wife defanded by a caftle, called fort St. Tohn. which is w^ll ! * Travels, page 8g. K 2 68 GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF appointed as to ordnance. The north and fouth breakers, at the entrance of the harbour, form two channels, whofe bars have eight feet water. The principal town in Weft-Florida is Penfacola, latitude 30^ gsA It lies along the beach, and like St. Auguftine, is of an oblong form. The water approaches to tlie town except for fmall veffcls, are obflru£led by a . low and fandy fhore. The bay, however, on which the t9wn flands, forms a very commodious harbour, and veffels may ride there fecure from every wind. The exports from this town, confilting of fltins, logwood, dying ftufF, and filver dollars, amounted, while in the pofleffion of the Britifli, on an ax'crage, to fixty-three thoufand pounds, annually ; the average value of imports, for three years, frcm Great-Britain, was ninety-fcvcn thouland pounds^ ( 69 ) LOUISIANA. L< LOUISIANA is bounded by the MlfTiffipp;, on the eafl; ; by the gulf of Mexico, on the fouth ; by New-Mexico, on the weft ; and runs indefinitely nortli. Under the French government Louifiana included both fides of the Mifliflippi, from Its mouth to the Illinois, and back from the river, eaft and weft indefinitely. The Miffiffippi, on which the fine countr)' of Louifiana is fituated, was firft difcovered by Ferdinand de Soto, in 1541. Monfieur de la Salle was the firft who traverfed it. He, in the year 1682, having pafTed down to the mouth of the MilTinippi, and furveyed the adjacent country returned to Canada, from whence he took paffage to France. From the flattering accounts which he gave of the country, and from the confcquential advantages that would accrue from fettling a colony in thofe parts, Louis XIV. was induced to eftabliflr a company for the purpofe. Accordingly a fquadron of four vefTels, amply provided with men and provifions, under the command of Monfieur de la Salle, embarked with an inten- tion of fettling near the mouth of the Miflinippi ; but he unin- tentionally failed a hundred leagues to the weftward of it, where he attempted to cftablifh a colony ; but through the unfavourablenefs of the climate, moft of his men miferably periftied, and he himlelf was villainoufly murdered, not long after, by two of his own men. Monfieur Ibherville fucceeded him in his laudable attempts. Fie, after two fuccelsful voy- ages, died while preparing for a third. Crozat fucceeded him ; and in 1712, the king gave him Louifiana. This grant con- tinued but a fhort time after the death of Louis XIV. In 1763, Louifiana was ceded to the king of Spain, to whom it now belongs. This country is interfered by a number of fine rivers, among which are the St. Francis, which empties into the Miffiffippi at Kappas Old Fort, navigable about two hundred and fifty or three hundred miles ; its courfc is nearly parallel with the M'^tHippij and irom twenty to thirty miles diftant from it > 70 GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF the Natchitoches, which empties into the Miffinippi above Point Coupee ; the Adayes or Mexicano river, emptying into the gulph of Mexico ; and the river Rouge, on which, it is well known, are as rich filver mines as any in Mexico. This is fuppolcd to be one principal realon why the exclufive navigation of the MifTiffippi has been fo much infilled on by Spain. Louifiana is agreeably fituated between the extremes of heat and cold ; its climate varies as it extends towards the north. The fouthern parts, lying within the reach of the refreifhing breezes from the fea, are not fcorched like thofe under the fame latitudes in Africa ; and its northern regions are colder than thofe of Europe under the fame parallels, with a wholefome fcrene air. To judge of the produce to be expefted from the foil of Louifiana, we fhould turn our Teyes to Egypt, Arabia, Felix, Perfia, India, China, and Japan, all lying in correfpond- ing latitudes. Of thefe, China alone has a tolerable govern- ment ; and yet it mufl be acknowledged, they all are, or have been famous for their riches and fertility. From the favour- ablenefs of the climate, two annual crops of Indian corn may be produced ; and the foil, with little cultivation, would furnifh grain of every kind in the greateft abundance. The timber is as fine as any in the world, and the quantities of live oak, afh, mulberry, walnut, cherry, cyprefs, and cedar, are aflo- rifliing. The neighbourhood of the Mifliffippi, bcfides, fur- nifhes the richeft fruits in great variety ; the loil is particularly adapted to hemp, flax, and tobacco ; and indigo is at this time a ftaple commodity, which commonly yields the planter three or. four cuttings a year. In a word, whatever is rich and rare in the mofk defirable climates in Europe, feems to be the fpon- taneous produftion of this delightful country. The MifTiflippi and the neighbouring lakes furniih in great plenty feveral forts of fiOi, particularly perch, pike, (lurgeon, and eels. In the northern part of Louifiana, forty-five miles below the mouth of the Ohio river, on the weft bank of the MifTifiTippi, ? fettlement is commenced, conduftcd by Colonel Morgan, of New-Jerfey, under the patronage of the Spanifh king. The foot on which the city is propoied to be built, is called New- Madrid, after the capital of Spain, and is in north latitude 36° 30' The lisTiits of the new city of Madrid are to extend four miles fouth, and two miles weft from the river, fo as to crofs, a beautiful, living, deep lake, of the pureft fpring water, one L 0 U I S I A N A. 71 hunJrccl yards wide, and feveral miles in length, emptying iticlf, by a conflant rypid narrow dream, through the center of the city. The banks of this lake, which is called St. Annis, are high, beautiful, and pleafant ; the waters deep, clear, and fvveet ; the bottom a clear fand, free from woods, fhrubs or other vegetables, and well flored with fiih. On each fide of this delightful lake flreets are laid out, one hun- dred feet wide, and a road is to be continued round it of the fame breadth ; and the trees are dire6led to be preferved for ever for the health and pleafure of the citizens. A ftreet one hijndred and twenty feet wide, on the banks of the Miffiirippi, is laid out, and the trees are direfted to be preferved for the fame purpofe. Twelve acres, in a central part of the city, are to be refcrved in like manner, to be ornamented, regulated and improved by the mngifhacy of the city for public walks ; and forty half acre lots for other public ules j and one lot of twelve acres for the king's ule. New-Madrid, from its local fituation and adventitious pri- vileges, is in a profpeft of being the great emporium of the weflern country, unlefs the free navigation of the Mifliflippi {hould be opened to the United States : and even fhould this deftred event take place, which probably will not without a rupture with Spain, this muft be a place of trade. For here will naturally center the immenfe quantities of produce that will be borne down the Illinois, the MiirifTippi, the Ohio, and their various branches ; and if .the carriers can find as good a market for tlieir cargoes here, as at New-Orleans or the Weft- Indies, and can procure the articles they defire, they will gladly fave themfelves the difficulties and dangers of navigating the long MilliPappi. The countr)' in the vicinity of this intended city is repre- fented as excellent, in many parts beyond defcription. The na- tural growth confifls of mulberry, locuft, faffafias, walnut, hic- corv, oak, afli, dog-wood, &c. with one or more grape vines running up almoft every tree ; the grapes yield, from experi- ment, good red wine, in plenty and with little labour. In lome of the low grounds grow large cyprefs trees. The country is interfperfed with prairies, and now and then a cane patch of one hundred, and fome of one thoufand acres. Thefe prairies have no trees on them, but are fertile in grals, flowering plants, ftraW- berries, &c. and, when cultivated, produce good crops of wheat, barley, Indian coin, flax, hemp, and tobacco, and are eafily tilled. The climate is faid to be favourable for health, and to the culture of fruits of various kinds, and particularly for garden nz GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF vegetables. Iron and lead mines, and (alt fprings, it is afferted, are found in fuch plenty as to afford an abundant fupply of ihefe neceffary articles. The banks of the MifTiffippi, for many leagues in extent, commencing about twenty miles above the mouth of Ohio, are a continued chain of lime-Hone. A fine trail of high, rich, level land, S. W. by W. and N. W. of New-Madrid, about twenty-five miles wide, extends quite to the river St. Francis. It has been fuppofed by fome, that all fettlers who go beyond the Miffiffippi, will be for ever loft to the United States. There is, we believe, little danger of this, provided they are not pro- voked to withdraw their friendfhip. The emigrants will be made up of the citizens of the United States. They will carry along with them their manners and culhoms, their habits of govern- ment, religion and education ; and as they are to be indulged with religious freedom, and with the privilege of making their own laws, and of condufting education upon their own plans, thefe American habits will undoubtedly be cherifhed ; if To, they will be Americans in faft, while they are nominally the fub- je61s pf Spain. It is true, Spain will draw a revenue from them, but in return they will enjoy peculiar commercial advantages, the benefit of which will be experienced by the United States, and perhaps be an ample compenfation for the lofs of lo many citizen^ as may migrate thither. In fhort, this fettlement, if conducted with judgment and prudence, might be mutually ferviceable both to Spain and the United States; it might prevent jealoufies ; leffen national prejudices; promote religious toleration; prefervc har- mony, and be a medium of trade reciprocally advantageous. But it is well known that empire has been travelling from eaft to weft. Probably her laft and broadeft feat will be America. There the fciences and arts of civilized life are to receive their highefl: improvements: there civil and religious liberty are to flourifh, unchecked by the cruel hand of civil or ecclefiaftical tyranny : there genius, aided by all the improvements of former ages, is to be exerted in humanizing mankind, in expanding and enriching their minds with religious and philofophical know- ledge, and in planning and executing a form of government, which will involve all the excellencies of former governments, with as [ew of their defefts as is confiflent with the imperfec- tion of human affairs, and which v/ill be calculated to protccl: and unite, in a manner conuftent with the natural rights of man- kind, the largcfl empire that ever exiffed. Elevated with theic LOUISIANA. 73 profpefts, which are not merely the vifions of fancy, we can- not but anticipate. the period, as not far diftantj when the Ame- firan empire will cotrtpreLiend millions of fouls weft of the Mifliiffippi. J^-idging upon probable grounds, the MilTiffippi was never deflgned as the wcftein boundary of the American empire. The God of Nature never intended that lome of the beft part of his earth Ihould be inhabited by the fuhjcfts of a ' monarch four thoufand miles from them. And we mny ven- ture to predift, thatj when the rights of mankind fhall be more fully known, and the knowledge of them is faft increafing both in Europe and America, the power of European potentates Vill be confined to Europe, and their prefent American domi- nions become, like the United States, free, fovereign, and inde- pendent empires. It feerns to depend on a timely adoption of a wife and liberal policy on the part of Spain, whether or not there fhall be a fpee- dy revolution in her American colonies. It is afTerted by the beft informed on the fubjeft, that there are not a hundred Spa- tiifh families in all Louifiana and Weft-Florida ; the bulk of inhabitants are French people, who are inimical to the Spani- ards, and emigrants from the United States, and a few Englifh, Scots, Dutch, and Irifh. This was the cafe in 1791 : and as all emigrations to this country have fince been, and will proba- bly in future be, from the United States, and thele emigrations are numerous, the time will foon come, when the Anglo Ame- ricans in this country will far exceed the number of all other nations. The wretched policy of New-Orleans, unlefs changed, will haften a revolution in the Spanifli colonies. So long as the go- vernor can di£};ate laws and difpenfe with them at his pleafure, and create monopolies in trade for his own and his favourites' advantage, as is now the cafe, there fan be no ftability in the commerce of this pbce. The cxclufive right, even of lupply- ing the market with frefh beef, pork, veal, mutton, is monopo- lized. No farmer or planter is allowed to kill his own beef, fwine, calf, or fheeps and lend it to market ; he muft fell it to the king's butcher, as he is called, at the price he is pleafed to give •, and this man retails it out at a certain price agreed upon by the governor, in juft fuch pieces as he thinks proper, through a window or grate. Afk for a roafting piece, and he will give you a fliin or brifket of beef ; point to the piece you v/ant and he w^ill tell you it is engaged to your fupenor. From fimilar condu6l, turkies now fell for four or five dollars a piece, which L 14 GENERAL DESCRIPTION OP under the French government, were in abundance for half a dollar. The monopoly of flour is, if poffible, on flill a worfe footing for the inhabitant ; and the tobacco infpeftion yet more flifcou raging to the planter. The governor, or tht crown,. as it is call'd, niufl haVe an undefined advantage in every thing* Hence all are ripe for a revolution the moment one fhall offer with prf)fpcft of being fupported, whether it fhall come from the United States^ England, France, or internally from the in- habitants. It is faid to have been the fixed refolution of the Britifh mi-- niftry to feize on New-Oi leans, in the iirfl inftance, in cafe a rupture with Spain had t>ken place, as a nccelfary pfelude to an arttack on the Spanifh polIcflTions in the Wefl-Indies and on the main. For this purpole every bend of the river, every bay and harbour on the coafl, have been furveycd and founded with the utmofl cxaftncfs, and all of them are better known to the Britifb than to the Spaniards themfelvKS. Whilft the United States were engaged in tlie revolution ■war ngainft England, the Spaniards attacked and poffeffed them- feives of all the Englifli pofts and fettlements on the MiflTifrippi, from the Iberville up to the Yazoos river, including the Nat- chez country ; and by virtue of this conquefk are now peopling and governing an extent of country three degrees north of the United States' louth boundary,- and claiming authority which no treaties v?arrant. This alone will probably be deemed fuf- ficient caufe for the United States to join with any other power againft Spain, the firfi; opportunity, as they conceive thefe terri- tories belong to them by treaty. In fuch cafe, the Kentucky fountry alone could, in one week, raife a iufficient force to con-\ quer all the Spanifli pofTefhons on the MillifTippx ; whil'ft one thoufand men would be equal to defend the whole country of New-0:leans and Louiftarfe from any enemy approaching it by fea. The greater a hoftile fleet entering the Mifliffippi, the greater a^nd more certain would be their deftruftion, if oppofetj by men of knowledge and relblution.,* * The following extraft of a letter from a gentleman at I^cw-Orlcans, dated- September, 1790, contains much ufclul infoi'mation, rn confirmation of the above : I " WbcQ I left you and my other friends at BahimoFc, lafiyear, f promifed (o write to you by every opportunity, and to communicate to you every in- oimalion which I could derive from my cxcurfion to the Oliio, down thK LOUISIANA. 75 New-Orleans {lands on the eaft fide of the M'lflTiffippi, one hundred and five miles from its mouth, in latitude 30 2 north. In the beginning of the year 1787 it contained about beautiful ftream, during my ftay at Kentucky and the wcftern polls, my vifit to the Illinois and the different fettlements on the Miffiflippi, from thence down to New-Orleans. " As I have devoted more than twelve months in making this tour, with the dcterrainatisn to judge for myfelf, and to give you and my other friends in- formation to be depended upon, regarding the climate, foil, natural produce tions, population, and other advantages and difadvaiH'igeS) which you may de- pend on finding in the country I have palled through, I cannot, within the nar» row bounds of this letter, comply with my intention, and your wifli, out 1 muft beg of you to reft fatisfied with what followa : • »♦**»»♦»«*•*»»***♦**** «« Nearly oppfite to Louifville is a ftockade fort, garrifoncd by two compa- nies of the firft United States regiment. Wiiat ufe this pod is of, I never could learn.— -It is a mere hofpital in the fummer feafon, and the grave of brave men, who might be ufcfully employed elfewhere. Fort Harmar is as remarkably healthful ; fo is the New-England feitlement at Mufkingum ; and I thmk tna Miami fettlement will be heahhful when the people have the comforts of good living about them ; at prcfent they are the pooreft among the poor emigrants to this country, and not the beil managers. Below the tails on the weft fide, is a vjiiferablc fettlement, called Clarkefville, frequently flooded, and coinpofcd of a people who cannot better themfelves at prefcnt, or I fuppofc they would not continue here. From thence I made an excurfion by land to Poft Vincent, dii- • tant about one hundred miles : the fon here is garrifoned by two companies, at great expcnfc, but little ufe. Not liking the country ow account of the many hoftile neighbouring Indians, Ihaftcned out of it, and went with a paityof French- men to Kaikaikias, in the Iljirjois country, and vifited Prairie des Rochers, St. Phillip's, Belle Fontaine, and Kahokia ; from whence making up a party to purfue fome hoftile Kukapoos, and fleering due eaft, we fell on the head waters •f the Kafkafkia river, which we cx-offed at iome diftance. This is a delig^ful country ! On our return to Kahokia, I crofted over to St. Louis, on the 6pa!iin-i fide, but I did not proceed far iato the country ; what I did fee I did not like, and therefore bought a canoe and went down the Milfiffippi to St. Genevieve and the Saline. Not being pleafed with thefe places, nor the country around, I embraced the company of fome French hunters and traders going towards the St. Francis river, in a fouth-weft dire£lion from St. Genevieve. After travelling thirty miles nearly, I came to a fwcet country ; here meeting with fome Shawa- nefe Indians going to I'Ance la Graifc, and New-Madrid, I made them a f'mall prefcnt, and engaged them to efcort me there, which they did through a country fine and beautiful beyond defcription ; variegated by fmall hills, beautiful tim- ber, and extenfivc plains of luxuriant foil. Here the Spaniards are building a handfome fort, to encourage the fettlement by Americans, on a plan of Colonel Morgan's, of Ncw-Jerfey, which, had it been purfued, as propofed by him, would have made this the firll in all the wcftern country ; but they have de- viated from it, fo much as to difcourage the fettlement, and many have left it. The banks of the MifTifTippi overflow above and below the town, but ih.c coun- try bask from the river is incomparably beautiful aud fiiic. I laade c to'ui- b^^ck 76 GENERAL DESCRIPTION &c. one thoufand one hundred houfes, feven-eights of which were confumed by fire in the fpace of five hours, on the 19th of March, lySS. It is now rebuilt. Its advantages for trade are very great. Situated on a noble river, in a fertile and healthy country, within a week's fail of Mexico by fea,' and as near to the Britifh, French, and Spanifli Weft-India iflands^ with a moral certainty qf its becoming the general receptacle for the produce of that extenfive and valuable country, on the Miflsfiip'pi 3nd Ohio ; theie circumftances are fufHcient to en- fure its future growth and commercial importance. The greater part of the white inhabitants are Romaii Catho- lics ; they are governed by a viceroy from Spain •, the number of inhabitants is unknown. to the river St. Francis, diflant about twenty-eight or thirty miles, and returned \>y anoiher route more fouthward, to my great fati^faftion. Expreffing to fome of the people, at New-Madrid, iny furprife at Coionel S***'s account of this country, I was told that he never went one hundred yards back from the river, either on the Ohio or MiffilTippi, except once, and that was at rAftce la Graife, tvhcrc a horfe was provided for him, and he rode fifteen or twenty miles, and returned fo enraptured with the country, that hp would not lillen to the propof^ ed fettlement of New-Madrid being fixed at any other place ; and he aftually ap- plied to Colonel Morgan for forty fuiveys, moft of which were executed ; and he entered into obligations for fetilements thereon ; but the Colonel refufing to grant him three hundred acres of the town lots, for a farm, as it would be in- jurious to other applicants of equal merit, S*** fwore he would do every thing in his power to injure Morgan and the fettlement; which it feems he has endea- voured to do, to the ruin, however, of his own reputation. I am fatisfied that the failure of this fettlement is only owing to a narrow policy in the Spanifh government, or to a deviation from their firft plan, and not from the caufea rec^feiited by its enemies. This is the, country, of aH others, I have feen^ which I would wilh to fettle in, had Colonel Morgan's plan been adopted, or carried into execution ; and thoufands among the heft people of the wcllern country would already have been fettled here. "Why it was not, I knov/ not ; but i am told jealoufy of his fuccefs was the caufe. " After continiiing two months in this delightful country, I proceeded to the Natchez, which has already become a confiderable fettlement, and is now under the government of Don Gayofo, a man greatly beloved ; but the Spanifh government, though I think it liberal at prefent, will not long agree with American ides of liberty and juftice ; and a revolution is now in embryo, which a linail tnaitcr will blow to a flame; and Ntw-Orleans itfelf will be at the iiiercy of new fubjcfts, if joined by a handful of the KeiUufky people. ( n ) MEXICO, on NEW-SPAIN. M. -EXICO is fituatcd betv/een 9^ and 4(5° north-latitude, and 18" and 50° weft-longitude. Its length is two thoufand one hundred miles, and breadth one thoufand fix hundred. It is bounded on the north, by unknown regions ; on the eaft, by Louifiana and' the gulph of Mexico ; on the fouth by the ifthmus of Darien, which feparates it from Terra Firma iri South- America ; and on the weft, by the Pacific Ocean. This vaft country is divided into three grand divifions, viz, J, Old-Mexico. 2. New-Mexico Proper. 3. Cali- fornia, lying on the weft, and a peninfula. OLD-MEXICO. The ancient kingdom of Mexico, properly fo called, was divided into feveral provinces, of which the vale of Mexico itfelf was the fineft in every refpeft. This vale is furroundcd by verdant mountains, meafuring upwards of one hundred and twenty miles in circumference at their bafe, A great part of it is occupied by two lakes, the upper one of frefh water, but the lower one brackifh, communicating with the former by means of a canal. All the water running from the mountains is coUefted in this lower lake, on account of its being in the bottom of the valley ; hence it was ready, when fweiled by extraordinary rain, to overflow the city of Mexico. This delightful region contained the three imperial cities of Mexico, Acolhuacan, and Tlacopan ; belides forty others, with innume- rable villages and hamlets ; but the moft confiderable of thefe, according to Clavigero, now fcarcely retain one twentieth part of their former magnificence. The principal inland provinces to the northward were the Otomies ; to the fouth-weft the Malatzincas and Cuillatecas ; to the fouth the Tlahuicas and Cohuixcas ; to the fouth-eaft, after the ftates of Itzocan, Jauh- tepac, Quauhquecollon, Atlixco, Tehuacan, and others, were the great provinces of the Mixtecas, the Zapotecas, and the Chiapanccas ; towards the eaft were the provinces of Tepayacac, the Popolocas. and Totonacas, The maritime provinces on the 78 GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF Mexican gulf were Coatzacualco and Cuetlachtlan, called by the Spaniards Cotafla. On the Pacific Ocean were thofe of Coliman, ZacatoUan, Tototepec, Teauantepec, and Zoconochco, The province of the Otomies began in the northern part of the vale of Mexico, extending through the mountains to the north, to the diflance of ninety miles from the city of Mexico; the principal cities being Tollan, or Tula, Xilote.pec : the latter made the capital of the country by the Spaniards. Beyond the fettlements of the Otomies, the country for more than a thou- fand miles in extent was inhabited only by barbarous and wan- dering favag«s. The Malatzinca province contained the valley of Tolocan, and all the country from Taximaroa to the frontier of the king- dom of Michuacan. The valley of Tolocan is upwards of forty miles long from foutli-eaft to north-weft, and thirty in breadth, where broadeft. Its principal city, named alio Tolocan is fjtuated at the foot of a high mountain covered with fnow^, thirty miles diftant from Mexico. The country of the Cuitlatecas extended from ncrth-eaft to fouth-weft, upwards of two hundred miles, extending as far as t}ie Pacific Ocean. Their capital was named Mexcaltepec, once a great and populous city, fituated upon the lea coaft, but of which the ruins are now fcarcely vifible. That of the flahuicas was named Quauhnahuac, and fituated about forty miles to the fouthward of Mexico. I'he province extended almoft fixty miles fouthward, commencing from the fouthern mountains of the vale of Mexico. The country of the Cohuixcas extended on the fouthward as far as the Pacific Ocean, through tJQat part where at preient the port and city of Acapulco lie. It was divided into the ftates of Tzompanco, Chilapan, Tlapan, and Tiftla ; the latter a very i' >* and unwholeiome country. To this province belonged a place na.ncd Tlachco, celcbrdted for its filver mines. The proyuicc ^f the Mixiccas extended from Acatlan, a place djilant about ouc hundred and twenty miles from Mexico, *s far as the Pacifip Oce-iii towards the louthcaft. The inha- i*>itants carjied on a coniiderable conimeicf, aii>i had leveral wcU-inhabited cities and villages. To the eafl of the Mixiecas were the Zapotecas, 10 called, from their capital Teoizapotlan. In their diftrift was the valley of Huaxyacap, now Ojxuca, or ^Guaxaca. The prr,vir.ce of M.iz-itlan lay to the northward of the Mix- tecas ; and to the northwiird and eaftward of the Zapotecas was Ch:'Ti^!"»-''U hav'rg ihcir capitals of the la.:.e na.T.c with their MEXICO, OR NEW-SPAIN, ^g provinces. The Chiapaneeas, Zoqui, and Queleni, were ths lad of the Mexican provinces towards the fouth-eaft. On the fide of the moantain Popocatepec, and around it, lay feveral ftates of which the moft confiderable were Cholallan and Huexotzinco. Thefe two having, with the afliftance of the Tlafcalans, fhaken off the Mexican yoke, re-eftabliflied theix former aviftocratical gcvernment. The Cholulans pofTeffed a fmall hamlet called Cuitlaxcoapan, in the place where the Spaniards afterwards founded the city of Angelopoli, which i» the fecond in New-Spain. To the eaftward of Cholula lay a confiderable flate named Tepeyacae ; and beyond that the Popolocas, whofe principal eitics were Tecamachaleo and Quechoiac. To the l©uthvvard of the Popolocas was the ftate of Tahuacan^ bordering upoa the country of the Mixtecas ; to the eaft, the maritime pro- vince of Ctietlachllan ; »nd to the north, the Totonacas. The extent of this province was one hundred and fifty mil-es, begin- ning from the frontier of Zacatlan, a ftate diftant about eighty- miles from the courts, and terminating in the gulf of Mexico, Befides the capital, named Mizquihuacan, this country had the beautiful city of Chemp©allan, fituated on the coaft of the g^ulf, remarkable for being that by which the Spaniards entered the Mexican empire-. CoHman wss the moft northerly of the province on the Pacific Ocean ; the capital, named alfo Coliman, being in lati- tude 19, longitude 2'^° 2.'. Towards th« fouth-eafl was the province of Zacotlan, with its capital of the fame name ; then tame the coaft of the Cuitlatecas ; after it that of the Cohuxi- Cans, in Which was the celebrsited port, of Acapulco, Th"e Jopi bordered on the Cohuixca coail ; and adjoining to that the Mixteca country, now called Xicayan ; next to that was the large province of Tecuantepec i and laftly, that of Xocho- nocheo. Tliis proX'ince, the moft foutherly of the Mexican emprre, tvas bounded on the eaft and fouth-eaft by the country of Xochitepec, which did not belong to Mexico ; on the weft by Tecuantepec ; and on the fouth by the ocean. The capital, tailed alio Xoconochco, was fituated between tv.^o rivers, in 14 degrees ef latitude, and 28"' 3' of longitude. On the Mexican gulf there were, befides the country of Totonecas, the provinces of Cuetlachtlan and Coatzacuajco ; the latter bounded on the eaft by the States of Tabafco, and the peninfula of Yucatan. The pro'vince of Cuetlachtlan comprehended aJl the coaft between ^o GENERAL DESCRIPTION OP river Alvarado and Antigua, where the province of the Toto- necas began. The climate of this vaft country varies much according to ths iituation t)f its defferent parts. The maratime places are hot^ unhealthy, and moift ; the heat being fo great as to caufe peo- ple to Iweat even in the month of January. This heat is fup- pofed to be owing to the flatnefs of the coafts, and the accumula- tion of fand upon them. Tlie moifture arifes from the vaft eva- poration from the fea, as well as from the great torrants of wa- ter defcending from the mountains. The lands which lie in the neighbourhood of high mountains^ the tops of which arc al- ways covered with fnow, muft of neceffity be cold ; and Clavi- gero informs us, that he has been on a mountain not more than twenty-five miles diftant from the city of Mexico, V/here there was white froft and ice even in the dog day. " All the other inland countries," fays the fame author, " where the greateft population prevailedj enjoy a climate fo mild and benign, that they neither feel the rigour of winter nor the heat of lummer. It is true, in many of the countries, there is frequently white froft in the three months of December, January, and February, and fometimes even it fnows ; but the fmall inconvenience which fuch cold occafions, continues only till the riling fun : no other fire than his rays is necelTary to give warmth in winter; no other relief is wanted in the feafon of heat but the fhade : the fame clothing which covers men in the dog-days, defends them in January, and the animals fleep all the year under the open fky. " This mildnefs and agreeablenefs of climate under the torrid zone is the effeft of feveral natural caufes entirely unknown to the ancients, who did not believe it to be inhabited, and not well underftood by fome moderns, by whom it is believed unfa- vourable to thofe who live in it. The purity of the atmofpherc, the fmaller obliquity of the folar raySj and the longer ftay of this luminary above the horizon in winter, in comparilon of ether regions farther removed from the equator, concur to leffen the cold, and to prevent all that horror which disfigures the face of nature in other climes. During tint feafon a lerene fky and the natural delights of the country are enjoyed j whereas under the frigid, and even for the moft part under the temper- ate zones, the clouds rob man of the profpeft of heaven, and the fnow buries the beautiful produftions of the earth. No lefs caufes combine to temper the heat of fummer. The plenti- fy) ihowers which frequently water the earth after mid-day, ME X IC 0, 0 R NEJV.S PAI N. Bi Irom April or May, to September or Oftober ; the higb moun- tains, continually loaded with fnow, fcattered here and there through the country of Anahuac ; the cold winds which breathe From them in that lealon; and the Ihorter flay of the fun above the horizon, compared with the circumftances of the temperate zone, transform the climes of thofe happy countries into a cool and cheerful fpring. But the agreeablencfs of the climate is coun>terbalanced by thunder ftorms, which are fiiequent in lum- mer, particularly in the neighbourhood of the mountain of 11a!- cala ; and by earthquakes, which are at all times felt, though with lels danger than terror. Storms of hail are neither more frequent nor more levere than in Europe," One undoubted inconvenience which Mexico has, is that or volcanoes^ of which Clavigero enumerates five. One named by the Spaniards Volcon d'Orizaba, is higher than the peak of TenerifFe, according to the account of the Jeiuit Tallundier, who meafured them both. It began to fend foith fmoke in the year 154,5, and continued burning for twenty years, but has not diicovered any fymptoms of eruption fincc that time. It is of a conical figure, and by reafon of its great height, miy be feerx at fifty leagues diftance. The top is always covered with fnow, but the lower part with woods, of pine and other valuable tim- ber. It is about ninety miles to the eaftward of the capital. Two other mountains, named Popocatepec and IztnccihuatI, which lie near each other^ at the diftance of thirty-three miles to the fouth-caPc of Mexico, arc likewife furprilingly higli. Cla- vigero fuppofes the former to be higher than the highefl of the Alps, confidcring the elevated groi^nd on which the bale of it flands; It has a crater more than half a mile wide ; from which, in the time of tlie Mexican kings, great quantities of fmoke and flame iffued. In the laffc century it frequently threw out great fhowers of alhes upon the adjacent places ; but in this century hardly any imoak has been obferved. This mountain is named by the Spaniards Volcan, and the otiier Sierra Nevada ; the l.-itter has alfo fojnetimes emitted flames. Both of them have their tops always covered with fnow in fuch quantities, that the malTes which fall down upon the neighbouring rocks fupply the cities of Mexico, Gelopoli, Cholula, and all the adjacent country to the diftance of forty miles, with that commodity, of which the coniumption is fo great, that in 1746 the impoft upon what was conftimed in the city of Mexico, amounted to fifteen thou- sand two hundred and twelve Mexican crowns. ; fame years after, M S2 GE-NERAL DESCRIPTION OF it amounted to twenty thoufand, and is now in all probabiiriy a great deal more. Bcfides thefe there are the two mountains of Cohman and Tochtlan, both of whicli have occafionally emitted fiimcs. Clavigero does not include in tiie lift of Mexican volcanoes, either tliofe of Nicaragua or Cuatimaja, becaufe thcfe countries were not fubjeft to the Mexican love- reigns. Thefe of Guatimala fometimcs break forth in a moft furious manner*, and in the year 1773 entirely deftroycd that beautiful city. The Niearaguan volcano, called Juruyo was only a fmall hill before the year 1760. In that year, however, on the 29th of September, it began to burn with furious ex- plofions, ruining entirely the fugar work, and the neighbouring village of Guacana : and from that time continued to emit fire and burning rocks in fuch q^uantities, that the erupteci matters in fix years had formed themrel\es into three high mountains^ nearly fix miles m circumference. During the time of the firit eruption^ the afhcs were carried as far as the city of Ouerctaro, one hundred and fifty miles diftant from the volcano ; and at Valladolidy diftant fxxty miles from it, the fhower was fo abundant, that the people were obliged to fweep the houfe yards two or three times a day, Bcfides thefe volcanoes, there are others in Mexico of a very remarkal)le height. The great chain of mountains called the Andes, are continued through the iflhmus of Panama, and through all Mexico, until they are loft in the unknown jnountains of tlie north. The moft confrderable of th:£ chain is known in MeKico by the name of Sierra Mjd)ey particularly in Cinalo and Tarahumara, provinces no Icfs^ than one thoufand two hundred miles diftant from the ca- pital. Mexico is well watered by very confiderable rivers, though rone of them are comparable to thofc of S«>ul;h-America, Some of thele run into the gulf of Mexico, and others into the Pac-fic Ocean, The Alvarado has its principal fource amorg the mor.ntains of the Zapotecas, and difcharges itlelf by three navigable mouths in the PV'Jcxican gulf, at the diftauce of thirty miles from Vera Cruz. The Coatzocualco rifcs among the mountains of the Mixtecas, and empties itfclf into the gulf near the country of Onohualco, The river Chiapan, which likewile runs into this gulf, rifes among the mountains which feparate the diftrift of Chiapan from that of Guatimala. Tl c Spaninrds- call this river Tabafco, by which name they alfo called that traft of land which unites Yucatan to the Mexican- MEXICO, OR NEW-SPAIA\ §3 continent. It waa alfo lliJlilhtion, though undoubtedly of an inferior quality ; nor do they regard the loi's of the trees, which are very abundant ; the ancient Mexicans were wont to extraft it alfo by decoction. The firft parcel of this balfam brought from Mexico to Rome was fold at one hundred ducats per ounce, and was, by the apoftolic fee, declared to be matter fit for chrihn, though different from that of Mecca, as Acofta and all other writers on this fubjeft obfervc. An oil is alfo drawn from the fruit of this tree fimilar in tafte and fmell to that of the bitter aimond, but more acrimonious. From two other trees, named the huaconex and maripenda, an oil was extrafted equivalent to the balfam : the former is a tree of a moderate height, the wood of which is aromatic, and fo hard, that it will keep frefh for feveral years, though buried under the earth : the leaves are fmall and yellow, the flowers likewife fmall and white, and the fruit fimilar to that of the laurel. The oil was diflilied from the bark of the tree, after breaking itj and keeping it three days in fpring water, and then drying it in the fun : the leaves likewife aflorded an agreeable oil by dif- tilla'tion. The maripenda is a fhrub with lauceolated leaves, the fruit of a red colour when ripe, and refembling the grape. The oil is extrafted by boiling the branches with a mixture of Ibme of the fruit. The trees producing liquid amber, the liquid ftorax of the Mexicans) is of a large fize, the leaves fimilar to thofe of the maple, indented, white in one part and dark in the other, ' difpofed of in .threes } the fruit is thorny and round, but polygonous, witli the furface and the angles yellow ; the bark of the tree partly green and partly tawny. By inrilions in the trunk they extract that valuable fubflance named liquid amber, and the oil of the fame name, which is ftill more valuable. Liquid amber is likewife obtained from a decoc- tion of the branches, but it is inferior to that obtained from the trunk. The name copalli in Mexico is generic, and common to all the rehns, but elpecially iigniftes thofe made ufe of for incenfe» There are ten Ipecies of thefe trees yielding refins of this kind, the principal of which is that from which the copal is got, fo well known in medicine and Varnifhes. A great quantity of this was made ufe of by the ancient Mexicans, and is flill ufed for hinilar purpofes by the Spaniards. The tecopalli, or tepecopalli, is a refin fimilar to the incenfe of Arabia, which diflils from a tree o^ moderate fize that grows N 90 GENERAL DESCRIPTION 01^ in the mountains, having a fruit like an acorn, and containing the nut inveloned in a mucilage, within which' there is a fmall Tterrial ufefiiT in medicine. The miz(:]'.mr,' or mezquite, is a fpecies of true acacia, and the gum diilllling from it is faid to be the. true gum ara, bic : It is a thbrhy 'flirub, Vi'ih branches irregularly difpofedy tiie leaves fiTriall, thin, and pinnated; the flowers being like thofe of the birch tree : the fruits are fweet and eatable, con-* taining a feed, of which the barbarous Chichemecas were wont to m-'ke a kind of pafte that ferved them for bread. The wood is exceedingly hard and heavy, and the trees are as common in Mexico as oaks are in Europe, particularly on hills in the tem- |)er2te countries. Of the elaflic gum, v^^hich is found in plenty in Mexico, the natives w'ere in ufe to make foot-bails, which, though heavy, Ivve a better fpring than thofe filled with air. At prefcnt they ^'^arnifh with it their hats, cloaks, boots and great ' coats,'' in "a manner fimilar to what is done in Europe with \vsx, and by ■Vvhich means ihey are rendered all water proof. Clavigero laments, that the natural hiftory of vegetables in Mexico is very little known, and that of animals no better. The firft Spaniards, fays he, who gave them nameSj were more fkilful in the art of war than in the ftudy of nature. Inftead of retaining the terms which would have been moft proper, thev denominated many animals tygers, wolves, beais, dogs, fquirrels, Sec. althougli they were very different in kind, merely from fome refemblance in the colour of their fkin, their figure, or fome fimilarity in habits and difpofition. The quadrupeds found in Mexico at the arrival of the Spaniards, were lions, tygers, wild cats, bears, wolves, foxes, the common flags, white flags, bucks, wild goats, badgers, pole-cats, weafels, martins, f'f"^^lSpain, Iti' rrianr other points, he alfo controverts the opinions of this celebrated naturalift, who will not allow the lion, tyger or rabbit, to be riatives of America* MEXICO, OR NEW-S PAIN. 91 The animals which are common to Mexico, with the other parts of the continent, are, the Mexican hog, the moufele, the opofTum, the armadillo, the techichi, a fmall animal relembhng a dog, which being perfeftly dumb, gave occaTion to a report, that the Mexican dogs could not bark. The fiefli of this animal was eat by them, and was efteemed agreeable and nouiifhing food. After the conqueft of Mexico, the Spaniards having neither large cattle nor flieep, provided their markets with this qua- ^druped, by which me^ns the fpecies foon came to be extintl, jthough it had been very numerous-. The land-fquirrel is veiy numerous in the kingdom of Michuacan, has great elegance of form, and is extremely graceful in its movement ; but it can- not be tamed, and bites moll furiouily every perfon who ap- proaches it. Befides thefe, there are fea-lions, raccoons, and that voracious animal named the tapir. There are likewife great numbers of monkeys of many different kinds, Tome of which have heads re^ fembling thofe of dogs ; fome of them are ftrong and fierce^ equalling a man in ftature when they ftand upright. Among the animals peculiar to Mexico, is one named by Clavlgero coynto, which appears to have been inaccurately defcrfbcd by natural hiftorians, fome making it one fpecies and fome another. The tlalcojotl, or tlalcoyoto, is about the fize of a middling dog, and in Clavigero's opinion, is the largefk animal that lives under the earth. The tepeizuintli, or a m«un- tain-dog, though it is but of the fize of a Imall dog, is lo bold ".that it attacks deer, and fometimes kills them. Another animal, larger than the two foregoing, is called the xoloitzcuintli ; fome of thefe are no lefs than four feet in length : it has a face like j^ .the dog, but tufks like the wolf, with ereft ears, the neck grols, and the tail long : it is entirely deflitute of hair, except only the fnout, where there are fome thick crooked briftles : the ^^iwhole body is covered with a fmooth, foft, aflicoloured flcin, .fpotted partly with black and tawny. This fpecies of animals, . as well as the two former, are almofl; totally extinft. A Lyn- cean academician, named Giovanni Fabri, has endeavoured to ,, prove, that the xoloitzcuintli is the fame with the wolf of ; Mpxico ; but this is denied by Clavigero. An animal called ocotochtli, a kind of wild cat, is remarka- ble more for the fabulous account of it, than for any Angular prQgerty,with which it is really endowed. According to Dr. Hernandez, when this creature takes any prey, it covers it N ? 92 GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF with leaves, and afterwards mounting on fome neighbouring tree, it begins howling to invite other animals to eat its prey, being itfelf, always the laft to eat, becaufe the poifon of its tongue is fo flrong, that if it ate firft the prey would be infeft- ed,-.and other animals which eat of it would die. To the f© muft be added a curious animal of the mole kind, which is called tozan, or tuza ; it is about the fize of an European mole, but very different otherwife.* The birds are fo numerous, and of fuch various appearances and qualities, that Mexico has been called the country of birds as Africa is of quadrupeds. Though Hernandez palTes over a great number of fpecies, he yet delcribes above two hundred peculiar to the country. He allows to the eagles and hawks of Mexico a fuperiority over thofe of Europe ; and the falcons of this country were formerly efteemed fo excellent, that, by the dcfire of Philip II. an hundred of them were ient every year over to Spain. The largefl, the moft beautiful, and the moft valuable kind of eagles is called by the Mexicans itzquauhili, and will purfue not only the larger kind of birds, but quadrupeds, and even men. The aquatic birds are very numerous and of great variety : there are at leaft twenty Ipecies of ducks, a vaft number of geefe, with Several kinds of herons, great number of fwans, quails, water-rails, divers, king's fifhers, pelicaps, &c. The multitude of ducks is fometimes fo great, that they cover the fields, and appear at a diftance like flocks of flieep. Some of the herons and egrets are perfeftly white, fome afh-colour- ed : others have the plumage of the body white, while the neck, with the tops and upper part of the wings, and part of the tail, are enlivened with a bright fcarlet, or beau- tiful blue. There are a great number of birds valuable on account of their plumage, which was made ufe of by the Mexicans in their excellent Mofaic works, an art which feems now to be totally loftk Peacocks have been carried from the old contiirent to Mexico :. but not being attended to, have propagated very ;: llowly. The birds remarkable for their fong are likewilel;?. very numerous; among which that called the cci"itzorvitl,\>.£ by Europeans the mocking-bird, is the moft remarkable, on ■ account of its counterfeiuiig naturtilly the notes of all other* it hears. ;;' ,,.■>. I'-C- *'For *pQfc particular account of ihcfe animals fee HiHory of (Quadrupeds .,; annexed. MEXICO, OR }^'EW-SPAIN. 93 Mexico, like all other American countries, abourrds with reptiles, many of them of an enormous fizc. The crocodiles are not lefs to be dreaded than thofe of Africa or Afia ; and there are likewife fome of thoie monflrous ferpents met witlx^ in the Eaft-Indies and in South-America, though happily the Ipecies of thofe terrible creatures leems to be nearly extinft^ as they are feldom to be found but in fome lolitary wood, or other remote place. There are great numbers of lizards, fome of which the people fuppofe to be poifonous ; but others think this opinion ill-founded. There are feveral kinds of poifonous ' ferpents, of which the rattle-fnake is one. The cenocoatl is another poifonous ferpent, and remarkable for having a lumi- nous appearance in the dark ; by which, as by the rattle in the tail of the former, travellers are warned to avoid it. Among the harmlefs fnakes is a very beautiful one about a foot in length, and of the thicknefs of the little finger ; it appears to take great pleafure in the fociety of ants, infomuch that it will accompany thefe infefts upon their expeditions, and leturn with them to their ufual neft ; it is called both by the Mexicans and Spaniards the " mother of the ants ;" but Clavigero fup- ' pofes, that all the attachment which the fnake fhews to the fint-hills proceeds from its living on the ants themfelvcs. The ancient Mexicans were wont to take delight in keeping an harmlefs green fnake, which they catched in the fields, and which, when well fed, would grow to the length of five or fix feet. It was generally kept in a tub, which it never left but to receive food from the hand of its mailer ; and this it would take either iriOunted on his fhoulder or coiled about his legs. The aquatic animals are innumerable. Clavigero mentions a fpecies ot frogs fo laige that a fingle one will weigh a pound, and which are excellent food. Of fifh proper for food, he fays, that he has counted upwards of one hundred fpecies, without,.t3lviiig in the turtle, crab, lobfler, or any other crufta- ceous animal. Of flying and other minute infefts the number is prodi- gioufly great. There are a variety of beetles ; fome of a green colour make a great noife in flying, on which account children are fond of them. There are great numbers of fliining beetles, which make a., delightful appearance at night, as well as the < luminous flies which abound in the country. There are fix kinds of bees and four kinds of wafps ; of which laft, one eoUefts wax and honey of a very Iweet tafte : another is cal- led the; %'ahderihg wafp, from its frequent change of abode; 9.4 GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF and in confequcnce of thf-fe changes, it is conftantly employed in coJ)e£iing materials for its habitations. There is alfo a black iiornet with a red tail, the fting of which-is fo large and ftrong, that it will not only penetrate a fngar-cane, but even the trunk of a tree. The lake of Mexico abounds with a kind of flv, the eggs or which are depofited upon the flags and rufhes in fuch q^aantities as to form large maffes ; thefe are collefted by the fiihcrmen, and carried to market for fale :' they are eaten by both Mexicans and Spaniards, and have much the fame tafte as the cavijire of fifh : the Mexicans eat alfo the flies themfelves, ground and made up \\'ith falt-petre. There are abundance of gnats in the moift places and lakes, but the capital, though fuuated upon a lake, h entirely free from them. There are other flies whicli make no lioife in their flight, but caufe a vio- lent itching l;y their bite, and if the part be fcratched, an open wound IS apt to enfue. The butterflies are in vaft numbers, and. their wings glow with colours far fuperior to thofe of Europe ; the figures of f(ime of them are given by Hernandez, feut notWithftanding its beauties and advantages, Mexico is lubjcft to the dreadful devaftations of locufts, which fometimes ^ccaflon.the moft deflruftive famines. There are fome of the worm.s of Mexico made ufe of by the inhabitants as food, others are poifonous. There are great numbers of fcolopendrce and fcorpions, lome of the former growing to an immenfe fize. Hernandez fays, that he has feen iom^ Q,f them two feet long and two inches thick. The fcor^ pipns a,re ypvy numerous, and in the hot parts of the country their poifon is fo fl;rong as to kill children, and give terrible pain to adults. Their fling is moft dangerous during thofe hours of the d:v in which the fun is hocteft. In the province of ^^liehuacim is a lingular fpecies of ant, larger than the common ione, with a greyifn body and black head ; «m its hinder part is a little bag full of a Iweet lubftance, of which children are very fond : the Mexicans luppole this to be a kind of honey collefted by the infeft; hut Clavigero thinks it miher is its eggs. There is a mil'chicvous kind of tick, which in the hot countries abounds among the gra(s : from thence it . e^Cdy .gets upon the clothes, and from them upon tlic flcin ; there it fixes with fuch force, from the particular figure of its feet^ that it can (carecly be got off: at firft it fcems nothing but a fmalli black ^P?cl^,, but .jn, a fliort time enlarges to luch a degree, from the blood which it fucks, that it equals the fize oi a bean, and then aflfumcs a leaden colour. Oviedo lays, that the beft and MEXICO, 0 R NE IV-SP A IN. g^ fcfeft n-ietTiod of getting fpeedily lid of it is by anointing the part with oil, and then fcraping it with a knife. If it is not fpeedily removed, a wound is made fimilar to' inat'wKicTi the nigera or chegoe makes. The following infcfts were eaten by the ancient Mexicans : i. The atelepitz, a m-ardi beetle, re- • ferntli^ig in fhape and fi.ze the flyaig beetles, having fotft^' f?£t. and covered with a hard fhell. 2. The atopinan, a marfh grafs- hopper of a dark colour and great lize, being not lefs than fix inches long and two broad. 3. The ahuihuitla^ a worm which inhabits the Mexican Like, four inches long, and of the thick- nefs of a goofe quill, of a tawny colour on the upper part of the body, and white upon the under part ; it flings with its tail, which is hard and poifonous* 4. The ocuiliztac, a black maifli-worm, which becomes white on being roafted. Among the curious produftions of the aniraal kind to be met with in this country, Clavigero mentions a kind of zoophytes, wbich he faw in the year 1751, in a houfe in the country, about ten miles from Angelopoli, towards the fouth-eaft : they were three or four inches long, and had four very {lender feet, with two antenna; ; but their body was nothing more than the fibres of the leaves, of the fame fliape, fize and colour, witji thofe of the other leaves of the trees upon which thefe creatures were found. Gemelli defcribes another kind of thefe zoophytes which are found in Manilla. Mexico produces alio filk-worms ; and the manufafture of filk might be carried on to great advantage, were it not prohi- bited for fome political reafons. Befides the common filk, there is another found in the woods, very white, foft and ftrong. It grows on the trees in feveral maritime places, particularly in dry lea Ion s : unlets by por>r people, however, this filk is not turned to any ufe, partly from inattention to their interefts, but >• chiefly," fays Clavigcro, " to the obftruftions which would be thrown in the way of any one who fnould attempt a trade of that kind. We know from Cortcs's letters to Charles V. that filk ufed to be fold in the Mexican markets : and fome pic- tures are flill preferved, done by the ancient Mexicans upon a paper made of filk." Cochineal is one of the mod valuable products of Mexico, and great care is taken to rear the inletl in different parts; but the beft is that which comes from the province of Mizteca: fome have reckoned, that more than two thoufand five hundred bagi^icrf^^oichineal are -fent «V«ry yea'r frotii'Miztdci' to Spain ; 96 GENERAL DESCRIPTION OP and the trade in that article carried on by the city of Oaxaca is computed at two hundred thoufand crowns value. Though Mexico was originally inhabited by a number of different nations, yet all of them refembled each other pretty much, not only in charafter, but in external appearance. " They generally rather exceed," fays Clavigero, " than fall under the middle fize, and are well-proportioned in all their limbs : they have good complexions, narrow foreheads, black eyes, clean, firm, white and regular teeth ; thick, black, coarfe, gloffy hair ; thin beards, and generally no hair upon their legs, thighs and arms, their fkin being of an olive colour. There is fcarcely a nation on earth in which there are fewer perfons deformed : and it would be more difhcult to find a fingle hump- backed, lame or fquint-eyed man among a thoufand Mexicans, than among an hundred of any otlier nation. The unpleafant- nefs of their colour, the fmallnefs of their foreheads, the thinnefs of their beards, and the coarfenefs of their hair, are fo far compenfated by the regularity and fine proportion of their limbs, that they can neither be called very beautiful nor the contrary, but feem to hold a middle place between the extremes : their appearance neither engages nor difgufts ; but among the young women of Mexico there are many very beau- tiful and fair, whole beauty is at the fame time rendered more winning by the natural fweetnefs of their manner of fpeaking, and by the pleafantnefs and natural modefty of thfir whole behaviour. Their fenfes are very acute, efpecially that of fight, which they enjoy unimpaired to the latefh age. Their conftitutions are found and their health robuft : they are en- tirely free of many diforders which are common among the Spaniards ; but of the epidemical difeafes to which their coun- try is occafionally fubjeft they are generally the viftims : with them thefe difeafes begin, and with them they end. One never perceives in a Mexican that ftinking breath which is occa- fioned in other people by the corruption of the humours or indigeftion : their conftitutions are phlegmatic ; but the pitui- tous evacuations from their heads are very fcanty, and they feldom fpit. They become grey-headed and bald earlier than the Spaniards ; and although moft of them die with acute difeafes, it is not very uncommon among them to attain the age of an hundred. They are now, and ever have been, moderate in eating, but their palTion for ftrong liquors is carried to the greateft exccfs : formerly they were kept within bounds by the feverity of the laws, but now that theie liquors M'E ,\ I C 0, OR NE W- S P A I N, 9 7 g're 'become fo common, and drunkennefs is unpunifhci^, one-half bf 'the' people fecm to have loft their fenfes ; and.this, tr-gctheii: with the poor manner in wliich they live, cxpof«?d to all; the baneful nnpreffions of difeafe, and dellitute of tlie means of cor- I'etlint them,, is undoubtedly the principal caufe ot tlic h.i'/oj iv^'ich'is mi'ade amoncr them by epidemical dilordcrS. • ' ■" Many perfons allow the Mexicans to poffcfs a great' talent^ 6f 'imUritidn, but deny them that of inventixm ; a vulgar errorj^- wlfi'cn is_ cphtradifted by the ancient hiftory of*, tnat" pcopfe. Th'e'iPmiirfd^ are affcfted by the fame variety bf oaftion's vvitk tJ-rbfe bf ether nations, but not to an equal degree • the Mexicani' feldbm exhibit thole franfports of anger, or frenzies of love, ■ivlii'ch'^r'e' fb cofTimon in other countries. They are flow in tlieii' motioiis, ahd fHev^' a v^^onderful tenacity and ftcaJinefs in thofs, Works vvhich require time and long-continued attention. They are "liioft patient of injury and hardfhip, and where tKey .fufpeft tio evil intention, are moft grateful for any kindnefs fhewn; but fome Spaniards, who cannot diftinguifli patience from infenfi- b'ility, noi: diflruft from ingratitude, fay proverbially, that the, Indians are alike infenfible to injuries or benefits. That habitual diftruft which thej' entertain of all who arc not of their nation, prompts them often to lye and betray ; fo that good faith cer- tainly has not been refpefted among them fo much as it deferves. They aJ-e by nature tacituin, ferious and auftere, and fnew more anxiety to punifli crimes than to reward virtue. " Generofuy and perfeft dlfintereflednefs aj-e the principal features of their chara£?:er. Gold, with the Mexicans, lias not that value Which it enjoys elfewhere. They feem to give with- out reluftance what has coft ihem the utmofl labour to acquire. The negleft of felfifh interefts, with the diflike which they bear to their rulers, and confequently their averfion to perform the! {afks impofed by them, leem to have been the only grounds ol" that much exaggerated indolence with which the Americans have been charged; and, after all, there is no let of people in that Country who labour nioiCj or whofe labour is more neceffarv. The refpeft'pald by the young people to the old, and by chil- dren to their parents, feem to be feelings that are born with them. Pa;f nts are veiy fond of their children ; but the aiFeftion which hufljands bear to iheir wives is certainly lefs than that which wives bear to- their hufbands ; find it i^ very, common for the mei) to icve their neighbour s wives better than theif o 58 CF.NERAL DESCRIPTION Ot " Courage aiid cowardice feem alternately fo to afFe^ their tninds, that it is often difficult to determine whether the one or the other predominntes : they meet dangers with intrepidity •tvhen they proceed from natural caufes, but are eaftly terrified fcy the f^ern look of a Spaniard. That ftupid indifference about death and eternity, which many authors have thought inherent in the cha rafter of every American, is peculiar only to thofe" who are yet fo rude and uninformed as to have no idea of a future flatc." Thus much with rcfpef^ to the general charafter of the Mexicans ; but Cfavigero obfervcs, that " the modern Mexi- cans are not in all refpefts fimilar to the ancient, as the Greeks of thefe days have little refemblance to thofc who lived in the times of Flato and Pericles. The antient Pvlexicans fhewed more -fire, and were more fenlible to the impreiTions of honour ; theV were more intrepid, more nimble, more aftive, more induftrious ; but they were at the fame time more fuperftitious and cruel." The principal inhabitants of Mexico, in modern times, ar^ Spaniards fent thither by the court, to fill the ports of govern- tnent. "^ They are obliged, like thofe in the mother country who afpire to any ccclefiaftical, civil or military employments* lo prove, that there have been neither heretics, Jews, Mahom- medans, nor any perfon in their family who have been called before the inquifition for four generations. Merchants who are deflrous of going to Mexico, as well as to other pnrts of America, without becoming colonif^s, are compelled to obferve! the lame forms : they are alfo obliged to fwear that they have; three hundred palms of merchandile, their own property, in the fleet in which they embark, and that they will not Carry their wives with them. On thefe abfurd conditions they be-' ccrriP the principal agents of the European commerce with the Jpdics, Though their charter is only to continue three years and a little longer for countries more remote, it is of great importance. To them alone belongs the right of felling, as commillioners, the major part of the cargOj If thefe laws were obiervcd, the merchants flationed in the new world would be confined to difpofe of what they have received on their own account. The prcdilcftion \^ hich the adrniniflratioTi has for Spaniards born in Europe, has reduced the Spanifh Creoles to acquiclce in fubordinate ftations. The defcendants of the companions of Cortes, and of thoie wlio caime after them, being conflantly excluded from all places of honour or of Iruft that were anv MEXICO, OR NEWS P A IN. 99 way confiderable, have feen the gradual decay of the power that fupported their fathers. The habit of being obliged to bear that unjuft contempt with which they have been treated, has at lid made them become really contemptible. They have totally loft, in the vices which originate from indolence, from the h^at of the clinjate, and from a fuperfluous enjoyment of all things, that jfirmnefs and that fort of pride which have ever cliarafterifed their nation. A barbarous luxury, fhameful pLeafures, and ro- mantic intrigues, have enervated all the vigour of their minds, and fupefflition hath completed the ruin of their virtues. Blindly devoted to priefls too ignorant to enlighten them by their in- itruftions, too depraved to edify them by their example, and too mercenary to attend to both thefe duties of their funftion, they have no attachment to any part of their religion but that which enfeebles the mind, and have neglcfted what might have centric buted to reftify their morals. The Meftees, who conftitute the third order of citizens, are Jield in ftill greater contempt. It is well known that the court of Madrid, in order to replenifh a part of that dreadful vacancy which the avarice and cruelty of the conquerors had occafioned, and to regain the confidence of thofc who had ef- caped their fury, encouraged as much as pofTible the marriage of Spaniards with Indian v^omen : thefe alliances, which be- came pre'.ty common throughout all America, were particularly frequent in Mexico, wlaere the women had more underftanding and were more agreeable than in other places. The Creoles transferred to this mixed progeny the contemptuous flight they received from the Europeans. Their condition, equivocal at ft: ft, in procels of time was fiyed between the whites and the blacks. Thefe blacks are not very numerous in Mexico. As the ne- tive.s are more intelligent, more robuft and more induihrious, than ,thofe of the other colonies, they have hardly introduced any Africans except fuch as were required either to indulge the caprice, or perform the domeftic lervjce of rich people. Thefe flaves, who are much beloved by their mailers, on whom they abfolutely depend, who purchafed them at an extravagant price, and who make them the minifters of their plcafures, take advantage of the high favour they enjoy to opprefs the Mexicans: they alfume oyer thele men, wlio are called //-ee, a^i aicendency which keeps up an implacabje hatred between the t,wo nations. The law has fludied to encourage this averfion. by taking effcaual mealures to p-cvent all cor^ncQAon bciwcLni O 2 leo GENEP^AL DESCRIPTION OF them;v' Negroes are piohibitcd from having any amorous cor- relpondence with the Indians ; the men on pain of being mutikted ; the women, of being feverely punifned. Gn all thefe accounts, the Africans, who in other fettlements are enemies tc Europeans, are in the Spanifii Indies their war.m •frieiidsi, .1 ■': Authority hts no need of this iuppoit, at leafl in Mexico, iv'her< .population is no longer what it was formerly. The firli Jiilloiians, and thofe who copied them, have recorded, that the ,$j,.:niards found there ten millions of fouls. This is fup- pofed to have been the exaggerated account of conquerors, to exalt' ;iiie, nidgniiicence of their triumph ; and it vv-as adoptedj without examination, with fo much the more readinefs, as it rendered them the more odious. We need only trace with attention (.lie progrels of thofe ruffians who at firft delolated thefe fine countries, in order to be convinced that they had not (uccceded in multiplying men at Mexico and the adjacent parts, but by depopulating tl.e center of the empire t and that the pro^' vinces which are remote from the capital, differed in nothing from the other deferts of South and North- America. It is ricking a great conceuion, to allow that the population of Mexico lias only been exaggerated . one-half, for it does not now much exceed two millions. It is generally believed, that the f.ift conquerors maffacred the Indians out of wantonnefs, and that even the priefts incited them to thefe a£ls of ferocity. Undoubtedly thefe inhuman foluiers frequently filed blood without even an apparent motive ; and certainly their fanatic miflionaries did not cppof'c thefe barbarities as they ought to have done. This was not, however, the rc^l caufe, the principal 'fource of the depopulation "of Mexico ; it was the work of a flow tyranny, and of that avarice wliich exafted from its wretched inhabitants more rigorous toil than was compatible with their conftitution and the clniiatc. This oppreffion was coeval with the conqucfl of the country. All the lands were divided between tlie crown,- '^h^ tom- pan,ions of Cortes, and the grandees or minifters wHd were mod in favour at the court of Spain. The Mexicans, appoint- ed to the royal domains, were deftincd* to public labours, which originally were confiderable. The lot of thbffe who were employtd on the eftates of individuals vi'as -'flPlT iriore wretched: all groaned under a dreadful yoke ; they;Were ill kd, they had no wages given them, and fervices were required of llicm, uiKler which the moft robuft n;en would have funk : MEXICO, OR NEW-SPAIN. i©t their misfortunes excited the compaffion of Bartholomew dc las Cafas. This man, fo famous in the annals of the new world, had accompanied his father in the firft voyage made by Columbus, The mildnefs and fimplicity of the Indians affcfted him fo ftrongly, that he made himfejf an ecclefiailic, in order to devote his labours to their converfion ; but this foon became j:he leaft of his attention. As he was more a man than a prieft, he felt more for the cruellies exercifed againft them than for their fuperftitions. He was continually hurrying from one hemifphere to the other, in order to comfort the people for whom he had conceived an attachment, or to foften their tyrants. This conduft, which made him idolized by the one, and dreadr ed by the otlier, had not the fuccefs he expefted. The hope of ftrikmg awe, by a charafter revered smong the Spaniards, determined him to accept the bifliopric of Chiapa in Mexico. When he was convinced that this dignity was an infufiicient .barrier againft that avarice and cruelty which he endeavoured to check, he abdicated it. It was then that this courageous, firm, difintcrefted man, accufed his country before the tribunal of the whole univerfe. In his account of the tyranny of the Spaniards in America, he accufes them of having deftroyed fifteen millions of the Indians. They ventured to find fault with the acrimony of his flile, but no one convifted him of exaggeration. His writings, which indicate the amiable turn of his difpohtion, and the fublimity of his fentiments, have ftamped a dilgrace upon his barbarous countrymen, which time hath not, nor never will efface. ' The court of Madrid, awakened by the reprefentations of the virtuous Las Cafas, and by the indignation of the whole xvorld, became fenfible at lafl, that the tyranny it permitted was Repugnant to religion, to humanity, and to policy, and refolved to break the chains of the JTexicans. Their liberty was now only conftrained by the fole condition, that they fhould not quit the territory where they were fettled. This precaution pwed its origin to the fear that was entertained of their going to join the wandering favages to the north and fouth of the empire. With their liberty their lands ought alio to have been reftored to them, but this was not done. This injuftice compelled them to work folely for their opprefTors. It was only decreed, that the Spaniards, in whofe fervice they laboured, Pnould ftipulate to keep them well, and pay them to the amount of five pounds i^ve fhillings a year, ie2 GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF From thefe profits the tribute impofed by government was (uh^ trafted, together with four fhillings and four-pence ha-lf-penny for an inflitution, which is aflonifhing the conquerors fhould Jiave thought of eftablifhing. This was a fund let apart in each community, and appropriated to the relief of fuch Indians as were decayed or indilpofed, and to their fupport under private or public calamities. The diftribution of this fund was committed to their caciques, Thefe were not the defccndants of thofc whom they found in the country at the time of the conqueft;. The Spaniards chofe them from among thofe Indians who appeared the moft attached to their interefts, and v/ere under no appreheriQon at making thefe dignities hereditary. Their authority was limited to the fupporting the police in their diftrift, which in general extended eight or ten leagues, to the collctting the tribute of thofe In- dians who laboured on their own account, that of the others being ftopt by the mailers whom they lerved, and to the pre- venting their flight by keeping them always under their infpec- tion, and not fuffering them to contraft any engagemeot without their confent. As a reward of their fervices, thefe magi Urates obtained from government a propertj'. They were permitted to take out of the co^mmon ilock two-pence half-penn^/ annually, for every Indian under their jurifdiftion. At laft they were empowered to get their fields cultivated by fuch young men as were not yet fubjeft to the poll-tax : and to employ girls till the time of their marriage, in iuch occupations as were adapted to thsir fex, without allowing them any ialary except their main- tenance, Thefe inllitvitions, which totally changed th« condition of the Indians in Mexico, irritated the Spaniards to a degree not to be conceived. Their pride would not iuffer them to confider the Americans as free men, nor would their avarice permit thenj to pay for labour which hitherto had coft them nothing. They i^mployed themfelve.s fuccefhvely, or in combination, craft, re- inonitrances, and violence, to elfeft the fubverfion of an arrange- ment which lo fhrongly contradifted their warmcfl pafliohs ; but iheir eftorts were ineffetlual. Las Cafas had railed up for his beloved Indians proteftois who fecondcd his dcHgn -with zeal ^^.d warmth. The Mexicans themfelves finding a fupport, im- peached their oppreilors before the tiibunals, and even the tri- nunals that were either weak or in the intereft of the court, J hey carried their reiolution fo far, as even unanimoufly Mexico, or ne iv. s pain. lag to refufe to work for thofe who had treated any of their coun- trymen with injuflice. This mutual agreement, more than any 6ther circumftance, gave folidity to the regulations which had beert decreed : the other, prefcribed by the laws, was gradually eftabliflicd. There was no longer any regular iyilem of oppref- fion, but merely feveral of thoi'e particular vexations which a vanquiflied people, who have loll their government^ can hardly avoid from thoie who have lubdued it. Thefe clandcftine afts of injuftice did not prevent the Mexi- cans from recovering, from time to time, certain detached por- tions of that immenfe territory of ivhich their fathers had been delpoiIed» They purchafed them of the royal domain^ or of the great proprietors. It was not their labour which enabled them to make thefe acquifitions ; for this they were indebted to the iiappinefs of having difcovered, fome of tUem, mines, others, trealures, which had been concealed at the time of the conqueft^ The greateft number derived their refources from the priefts and inonks. to whom the)' owed their exiflence. Even thofe v»^ho experienced a forturie lefs propitious, pro- cured for themfelves, by the lole profits of their pay^ more con- Vcnif;nce than they had enjoyed before they underwent a foreign ■yoi^C^;, We fhould be very much deceived if we fnould judgs pf the ancient profpcrity of the inhabitants of Mexico by what has been laid by different writers of its emperor* its court, its capital, and the governors of its provinces* Defpotifm had there produced thofe fatal effefts which it produces every where. The whole ftate Was facrificed to the caprices, pleafures, and magnificence, of a fmall number of perfons. The government drew confiderabie advantages from the rnines ■which it caufed to be worked, and ftill greater from thofe whicli were in the hands of individuals. The fait works greatly added to its revenue. Thofe who followed agriculture, at the time of harvefl; paid a kind of a third of all the produce of the lands, whether they belonged to them as their own property, or whe- ther tliey were only the farmers of them. Men who lived by the chace, fifhermen, potters, and all mechanics, paid the fame proportion of their induf^ry every month. Even the poor were taxed at certain fixed contributions, which their labour or their alms might put them in a condition to pay< The Mexicans are now lefs unhapp ; European fruits, corn and cattle, have rendered their food more wholeibme, 'agreeablf'. 104 CENEllAL DESCRlPTIOls' G F and abundant. Their houfes are better built, better difpofed, and better furnifhed. Shoes, drawers, fliirts, a garment of wool or cotton, a ruff, and a hat, conftitute their drels. The dignity tvhich it has been agreed to annex to tliefc enjoyments, has mad^ them belter economiils, and more laborious. This cafe, hbweverj is far from being uhiverlal ; it is even very uncommon in the vicinity of the mines, towns, and great roads, where tyranny fcldom fleeps ; but we often find it with fatisfaftion in remote Dartt, where the Spaniards arc not numerous, and where they have in fome meafurc become Mexicans. The empioymenls of this people are very various ; the moft inlelligcnt, and thofe who are in ealy circumftances, devote tliemlelves to the moft neccllary and moft uleful manufaftures, which are diiperled through the whole empire. The moft beau- tiful manufuftures are ellablilhed among the people of Tlafcal ; their old capit.il. and (he new one, which is called Angelos, are (he center of tliis induftry'; here they manufofture cloth that is pretty fine, cnticofes that have an agreeable appearance, certairi flight lilks, good hats, gold lace, embroidery, lace, glades, and a gi'Cat deal of hard-ware. The care of flocks afForcis a maintenance to fome Mexicans, whom fortune or nature have not called to more diflinguifhed employments. Arherica, at the time it was dilcovered, had nei- ther hogs, fhecp, oxen, horfes, nor even any domeftic animal. Columbus can icd fome of thefe ufeful animals to St. Domingo, from whence they were generally difperfcd, and at Mexico more than any other place ; thefe have multiplied prodigioufly. I'hey count their horned cattle by thoufands, whofe fliins are becpmd an objcft of confidcrable exportation. The horfes are degene- rated, but the quality is compenlated by the number. Hog'S laid is here fubflitutcd for butter. Sheep's wool is drj', coarlcj and bad, as it is every where between the tro|)ic?. The vine and olive tree have experienced the fame degene- racy : the cultivation of them v/as at firfl: prohibited, with a view of leaving, a free market for the commodities of the mother couatry. Iri 1706, pejniiflloa was given to the Jefuits, and a little afterwards to the Alarquis Del Valle, a defcendant from Corte?, to cultivate ihem ; the attempts have not proved fuc- cclsful. The trials, indeed, that have been ma<3e^ have not been abandoned, but no pcrlon has folicitcd the liberty of followin'g aQ^fx.a;npl(e whitii-. did. not promile any great cmolumems.— v ic ■>::.■ io-.^ ^,?.' i'-v MEXICO, OR NEVi.SP AIN, 103 Other cultures have been more fuccefsful ; cotton, fugar, filk, cocoa, tobacco, and European corn, have all thriven in Come degree. The Spaniards are encouraged to prolecute the labours \vh*ch thefe cultures require, from the h;tppy circuni- ftance of their having difcovered iron mines, which were en- tirely unknown to the Mexicans, as well as fome mines of^ a kind of copper that is hard enough to fcrve for implements of hulbandry ; all thefe articles, however, for want of men and induftry, are merely cbnfumed within the country. There is only the vanilla, indigo, and cochineal, which make a part of the trade of Mexico with other nations. N E W - M E X I C O. New-Mexico is fo called, becaufe of its being difcovered later than Old-Mexico ; is bounded on the north by high moun- tains, beyond which is a country altogethet linknou'n ; by Louifiana on the eaft ; by New-Spain on the fouth ; and on the weft by the gulph of California, and the Rio Colorado : extend- ing, it is faid, above one hundred miles from Ciift to weil, and about nine hundred from fouth to north; but the twerxT tieth part oF the country within thefe limits is neither culti- vated nor inhabited, either by Spaniards or Indians. As it lies in the midft of the t'cmpcrate zone, the climate, in general, is very pleafant ; the lummers, though very warm, are neither fultry nor unwholefome ; and the 'winters, though pretty fliarp, are far from being infupportable, and, for the moll part, clear and healthy. The greateft encomiums are laviflied on the fertility of the' foil, the richnefs of the mines, and the variety of valuable commodities produced in this country. It is faid to be beauti- fully divcrfified with fields, meadows, rifing grounds, and rivers; abounding with fruit and timber trees, tuii^uoifes, eme- ralds, and other precious ftbnesj mines of gold and filver, a great variety of wild and tame cattle, fifh and fowls. Upon the whole, we may fafeiy affirm, that New-Mexico is among the pleafanteft, rfeheft, and moft plentiful countries in Ame- rica, or any other part of the world. There are few great or navigable ri\H;rs in it : the moft confiderable are, the Rio Solado, and Rio del None, which, with feveral fmaller ftreams, fait into the gulph of Mexico. On the coaft of the gulph are divers bays, ports, and creeks, which might be eafily convert- ed into excellent harbours, if the Spaniards u'erc poffeffed of any portion of th;.t commercial fpirit which animates the other joaaritunc nations af Europe. P 136 GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF The Spanifh writers tell us, that New-Mexico is inhabiteti by a great vaiiety of Indian nations or tribes, totally uncon-' ncfted witli e;ich oilier- but the principal are the Apaches, a brave, warlike, reiblute people, fond of liberty, and the inveterate enemies oT tyranny and opprcfTion. About the clofe of the laf£ century, thinking themfelves aggrieved by the Spanifh government, they made a general infurreftion, and did a greaJ deal of mifehief, but were at laft. obliged to fubmit, and have fmce been curbed by flronger garrilonr. Moft of the R^.tives are now Chriflians. When the Spaniards firfh entered this country, they found the natives well clothed, their lands cultivated, their villages neaf, and their houfes built with ftone. Their flock? alfo were numerous, and they lived more comfortably than mod of the other favages of America. Asr ^o religion, they weie idol.iters, and worfhipped the lun and moon ; but whether (hey offered liumiin iacrilices, we are not " lufficiently informed. As to the number of the provinces of this^ country, we can advance nothing certain ; foir.e writers making them only five,' others fen, fifteen, twenty, and twenty-five, but adding no delcription^ either of them, or the towns contained in therri,- excepting the capital, Santa Fe, whicli we are told Hands itiear the foarce of the Rio del Norte, in 30® nortli latitude, and about one hundred and thirty leagues from the gulph ; that it is a weli-bailt, haihdfomcy rich town, and the Icat of the bilhop, fuffragan of fvlcxico, aS well as the governor of the province, who is lubordinate to the viceroy of Mexico, ov New- Spain. CALIFORNIA. California is the mofl: northerly of all the Spanllh dominions on the continent of America, is iomctimes diftinguifhed by the name of NcW-Albjon, and the Iflas Carabiras ; but the mof^ ancient appellation is California, a word probably owing to foine accident, or to lorne words fpoken by the Indians and milunderllood b)' tiie Spaniai'ds. For a long time California was thought to be an iHand, but Father Caino, a German Jeluit, dilcovered it to be a peninlula joining to the coaft of New-Mexico, and the fouthern parts of America. This peniufula extends from Cape St. Scbaftian, lying in north lati- tude 43O 30', to Cape St. Lucar, which lies in north latitude 22°- 32'. 'It is divided from New-Mexico by the gulph, or, as'iomfe call' it, the lake of California, or VermilUoh lea, on the eiift ; oh the north, by that part of the continent of North- MEXICO, OR NEW- SPA IN. i©7_ America which is leafl: known ; and on the M'eft and fouth, by the Pacific Ocean or great South fen. The coafts, efpecially towards the Vermillion fea, nre covered with inhabited ifl.inds, on fome of which the Jefuits have eftabliflied lettl^nents, luch as Sr. Clement, Pajcaros, St. Anne, Cedars, fo called from the great number of thefe trees it produces, St, JoCeph, and a mul- titude of others. But the iQands bed known, are three lying oiF cape St. Lucar, towards tlie Mexican coaft. Thei'e are called Les Tres Marias, '* the three Maries." They are but imali, have good wood and water, fait pits, and abundance of game; therefore the Engliflt and French pirates have fometimes win- tered there, when bound on cruizes in the South Sea5. As California lies altogether within the temperate zone, the natives are neither chilled with cold nor fcorched with heat; and, indeed, the improvements in agriculture made by the J,e- fuits, afford flrong proofs of the excellency of the cliianate. In ibme places the air is extremely hot and dry, and the earth wild, rugged, arwi barren. In a country ftretching about eight iiun- d'.ed miles in length, there niuft be a conliderable variation of ioil and climate ; and, indeed, we find, from good authority, that California produces fome of the mod beautiful lawns, as well as many of the mod inhofpitable defarts in the univerfe. Upon the whole, although California is rather rough and craggy, we are affured by the Jeiuit Vinegas, and other good writers, that with due culture, it furnifhes every necelTary and conveniency of life ; and that even where the atmofphere is hotted, vapours rihng from the fea, and difperfed by plealant breezes, render it of a moderate temperature. The peninfuld of California is now docked with all forts af domedic animals known in Spain and Mexico. Horles, mules, alfes, oxen, flieep, hogs, goats, and all other quadrupeds im- ported, thrive and increafe in this country. Among the native animals is a Ipecies of deer, of the fize of a young heifer, and greatly refembling it in fhape ; the head is like that of a deer, and the horns thick and crooked like thole of a ram. The hooJ of the animal is large, round, and cloven, the fkin fpottecl, but the hair thinner, and the tail Iharper than tliat of a deer. Its flefh is greatly edeemed. There is anotlier animal peculiar to this country, larger and more bulky than a {heep, but grently reiembling it in figure, and, like it, covered with a fine black or white wool. The fielh of the animal is nourifhing and delicious, and happily for the natives, is io abundant, thai rjothihg more is required than the trouble of hiintir>|r a^ ti^etc aaiinals wander about in droves in the foreds 2nd oil tla^ji^G;ij(i^- P 3 io8 GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF tains. Father Torquemado defcribes a Creature which he calls & fpecies of L^rge bear, fomething like a buffalo, of the fize of a fteer, and nearly of the figure of a ft?g ; its hair is a quarter of a yard in leogth, its neck long and aukward, and on its fore- head are horns branched like thole of a Ciag. Tlie tail is a. yard in length, and half a yard in breadth, and the hoofs cloven like thoie of an ox. With regard to birds, we have but an impctfecl: .iccount ; only, in general, Father Venegas tells us, th.it the coalt is plentifully ftored with peacocks, buftards, geefc, crducs, and inoli of the birds common in other parts of the Avotld. The quantity of fifh which refort to tliefe coafts arc incredible. S--lrnon, turbot, barbel, (kate, mackerel, &c. arc caught here with very little trouble ; together with pearl oyf- ters, common oyfters, lobllers, and a variety of exquifite fhell fifh. Plenty of turtle are alio caught on the coafts. On the bouth lea coalls are fome fheli filh peculiar to it, and perhaps the moll beautiful in the world; their luftre furpaffing that of the fineft pearl, and darting their rays through a tranfparent Varnifli of an elegant vivid blue, like the lapis lauzuli. The fame of California for pearls loon drew forth great numbers of adventurers, who fearched every part of the gulph, and are ftrll employed in that work, notwlthftanding fafhion has greatly diniinifiicd the value of this elegant natural produftion. Father Torquemadp oblerves,- that the fea of California affords very .rich pearl fiflieries, and' that the hoflias, or beds of oyller.<, «ny be leen in three or four fathoms water, alaioft as plain as it they were on the (urface. The extremity of the penirifula towards cape St. Lucar is more level, temperate, and fertile than the other parts, and cbnicquentiy more woody. In the more diftant parts, even to the fartliiift miffions on the eaft coalb, no large timber ha,^h yet been dlfcovered. A fpecies of manna is found in this counxfy, 'wliich, according to the accounts of the Jeluits, has all the Tweet nif Is of refined fugar without its whitenels. The natives firmly believe that the juice drops frcm heaven. The Californians are well made, and very ftrong ; they aie Yxtrcvhely pufiUaniraous, inconiiant, flnpid, and even irdenl:- blkC, and feem defcrving of the character given to the Indians in "general. Before the Europeans penetrated into Caliiornia, the nail v*ts had no forjn of religion. The iniflionaries, indeed, tdll us manv tales concerir.nig -them, but they To. evi- dently bear tnc marks of forgerv,' a.vnotlabc worth repeatirifg. Each nal'iou was then an aiicmbiiiige.'of . Icveral, coUaggs.ir.orc .>r Icls'^Minerdus, thai" \vt£i=e 4i-iniaUv:3Uy': iiwufcdQiJ»uy(?4v9y ii^lii- MEXICO.Ofi-HEW^SPAIN.. jog gnces, but without any chief.. They were ^ftrangers.even to filial obedience. No kind of drefs was ufed b)' the menj but the women made ule uf fome covering, and \yere even fond of ornamenting themfelves with pearls and fuch other trinkets as the coiiniry afford^. What moftly diiplayed; their ingenuity was the conflruftion of their fifhing nets, which are faid by the Jefuits to have even exceeded irj goodnefs thofe made in Europe ; they were made by the women, of a coarfe kind of flax procur- ed from lome plants which grow there. Their houfes were built of branches and leaves of trees ; nay, manv of them were only inclofures of earth and ftone, raifed half a yard high-, without any covering, and even thefc were fo Imall, that they could not ftretch themfelves at length in them. In winter they dwelt under ground, in cave§ either natural or artificial. In 1526, Ferdinand Cortes having reduced and fettled Mexico, attempted the conquefl of California, but was obliged to return, without even taking a lurvey of the coun- try, a report of his death having difpofed the Mexicans to general infurreftion. Some other attempts were made by the officers of Cortes, but thefe were alfo unfuccefsful, and this valuable coaft was long neglefted by the Spaniards, who, to this day, have but one fettlemcnt upon it. In 1595, a galleon was fent to make difcoveries on the CaUforniai^i fhore, but the veffel was unfortunately loft. . Seven years, after, the Count de Monteroy, then viceroy of NewrSpain, fent Sebaftian Bifcayno on the fame dehgn with two fhips and a tender, but he made no difcovery of importance. lu 1684, the Marquis de Laguna, alfo viceroy of New-Spain, dilpatched two fhips with a tender to make difcoveries on the lake of California ; he returned with an indifferent account, but was among the firft that afferted that California was not an illand, which was afterwards confirmed by Father Caino, as Already related. In iGg-y, the Spaniards being difcouraged by their lolfes and difappointments, the Jel'uits folicited and obtain- ed permilTion to undertake the conqueft of California. They arrived among the lavages v/ith curiofities that might amuie them, corn for their food, and clothes for which they could not but perceive the neceflity. The hatred thcle people bore the Spanifh name, could not iupport itfelf againft thefe demcnftra- tions of benevolence. They teflified their acknowledgments as much as their want of feafibility and their inconflancy \vouId permit them. Thefe faults were partly overcome by the religious inftitutors, who puilucd their projefl with a degref^.,;^f .vyarmth ' and i'efolulion peculiar to the iucielv. Thev made them- tio GEXERAL DESCRIPTION OF (elves carpenters, malons, weavers, and hufbandmen ; and bv thefe means fucceeded in imparting knowledge, and in fome rneafure a tafte for the ufeful arts, to this lavage people, who have been all fuccefTively formed into one body. In 1745, they compofed forty-three villages, fepa^ ,ted from each other hy the barrennefs of the foil and the want of water. The in- habitants of thefe fmall villages fubfifh principally on corn and pulle, which tV^y cultivate, and on the fruits and domeftic ani- »n-ils of -Europe, the breeding of which lad is an objcft of con^ tinu.'.l attention. The Indians have each their field, and the property of what they reap ; but fuch is their want of fore- fight, that they would fquander in a day what they had gathered, if the ipifTionary did not take upon himlelf to diftribute it to them as they flood in need of it. They manufafture fome coarle Jluffs, and the nccellaries they are in want of arc purchafed M'ith pearls, and with wine nearly rclembling that of Madeira, which thev fell to the Mexicans and to the galleons, and which experience hath Ihown the neoelTity of prohibiting in Califor- nia. . A few laws, wliich are very fjmple, are fulHcient to re- gulate this rifing fhate. In order to inforce them, the miflionary cho<)feis the mod intelligent perfon of the village, who is em- powered to whip and imprifon, the only punifliments of which they have any knowledge. In all California, there are only two garrilons, each confiding of thirty men, and a loldier with every niiilionaiy ; thefe troops were chofen by the legiflators, though they are paid bv the government. Were the court of Madrid to pufh their intereft with half the zeal of the Jeiuirs, California might become one of the molt valuable of their acquifilions, oji account of the pearls and other valuable articles (jf commeice which the country contains. At prelent, the little Spanifh town nc?.\' cape Sr. Lucar, is made ule of for no other purpole than as a place of lefrefliment for the Manilla fhips, and the head rehdence of the miffionaries. GOVERNMF.NT, COMMERCE, ^ inV the earth of the garden; Upon this foundation they lay the lifcht bufhes which float on the lake, and overfpread the mud and'dirt which they draw up from the bottom of the lak*/^ Iheir i-egiilar figure is quadrangular •- their length and brecdtW ' variouSj but generally about eight rods long and three wide ; and their elevation from the furface of the water is lefs than a?" foot. Thefc were the firfl fields that the Mexicans owned aftt^*'''' the foundation of Mexico; there th-ey firfl: cultivated the maize, gre^t pepper, and other plants neccilary for their fup- port. From the indull;:v of the people thefc fields foon became njumerous. At prefent they cultivate flnwers and every fort of garden herbs upon them. Every day of the year, at fun-rifej ' innumerable vefTels or boats, loaded with various kinds of flow- ej's and -herbs which are cultivated in thefe gardens, are feen arriving by the canal at the great market place of Mexico. All plants thrive in them furprifingly ; the mud of the lake makcS a very rich foil, vvhich requires no water from the clouds. In the largeft; gardens there is commonly a little tree, and a little hut to flielter the cultivator, and defend him from the fain or the fun* When the owner of a garden, or the Chinampa, as he is called, wilhes to change his fituation, to get out of a bad neighbourhood, or to come nearer to his family, he gets into his little boat, and by his own ftrength alone, if the garden is finall, or with the anifl,ance of others, if it is large, condufts it wherever he pleafes, with the little tree and hut iipon'^ib That part of the ifiand whers thefe floating gardens are, is "a place of delightful recreation, v/here the fenies receive the hiahefl; poifible gratification. The buildings, which are of ftone, arc coriVerileht, and trfc public edifices, efpecially the churclies, are magnificentj and the city has the appearance of immenfe wealth. ' ' , '■[','" The trade of Mexico confifl^s of three great branches^' Which ; CKtend over the whole world. It carries on a traffic with' Eu- -! rooe, by La Vera Cruz, fituated on the gulph of Mexico, on rthe North fea ; with the Eaft-Indies, by Acapulco on the South ieas, two hundred and ten miles fouth-wefl; of Mexico; and . with South-America, by the fame port. Thefe two fea ports, '-"Vera Cruz and Acapulco, are admirahlv well fituated for the ■ ." ■ , . -' . . . ; ' . .- ■ _ -:;.', rjT: {'..i^ eomtpercial jpurpoufcs, to which, tjipy were applied, _It^.i.s,by means of the former that Mexico pours her wealth over the Me XICO, 0 R N£ W.SP A IN, 113 ■Whole world, and receives in return the numberlefs luxuries and neeeffaries which Europe affords her. To this port the fleet from Cadiz, called the Flota, confiding of thtee man of war, as a convoy, and fourteen large merchant fliips, annually arrives about the beginning of November. Its cargo confirts of almoftj every commodity and manufafture of Europe ; and there" are few nations but have more concern in it than the Spaniards, who fend out little except wine and oil. The profit of thefe, with the freight and commififion to the merchants, and duty to the king, is all the advantage which Spain derives from the Ame,ricart commerce. When all the goods are landed and difpo'ed of at Ea Vera Cruz, the fleet takes in the plate, precious ftoncs, and other commodities for Europe. Some time in M^y they are ready to depart. From La Vera Cruz they lail to the Havannah, in the ifle of Cuba, which is the rendezvous where they meet the galleons, another fleet which carries on the trade of Terra Firma by Carthag.ena, and of Peru by Panama and Porto Bello, When all are colle^ed and provided with a convoy necelTary for their fafety, they fleer for Old-Spain. Acapulco is the fea pcxt by which the communication is kept up between the different parts of the Spanifh empire in America^ and the Eafl-Indies. About the month of December, the great galleon, attended by a large fhip as a convoy, which make the only communication between the Philippines and Mexico, annu- ally arrive here. The cargoes of thefe fhips (for the convoy^ though in a clandefline manner, likewife carries goods) conftft of all the rich commodities and manufaftures of the eafl. At the fame time the annual fhip from Lima, the capital of Peruj comes 10, and is computed to bring not lefs than two millions of pieces of eight in filver, befides quick-filver, and other valuable commodities, to be laid out in the purehaie of the galleons car- gpeS4 Several other fhips, frorfi different parts of Chili and ^eru,^ meet upon the fame occafion. A great fair, in which the commodities of ail parts of the world ate bartered for one ano- thejr, la lis- thirty days. The galleon then prepares for her Voy- age, loaded with filver and fuch European goods as have been Jihought necefTarvi The Spaniards, thougli this trade be carried if)n entirely through their hands, and in the very heart of their dominions, are comparatively but I'mall gainers by it. For 28 they allmv the Dutch, Great-Britain, and other commercial ftates, to furnifh the greater part of the cargo of the flota, fo the Spa- nilh injiabitants of the Piiilippines, tainted with the indoltnce "which^ ruined ^th^i'r ^European anceflors, permit the Chinefe ii^ GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF merchants to furnifh the greater part of the cargo of tfttf galle6n.' Notwithftanding what has been faid of Vera Gruz arwi Acapulco, the city of Mexico, the capital of the empire, ought td be confidered as the center of commerce in this part of the Worid ; for Ijere the principal merchants rcfide, and the greatetl partof tKe bulinefs is negociatcd. The Eafl-India goods from Acapulco, and the European from V^era Cruz, alio pais lluought this city. " Hither all the gold and filver come to be coined, heie tTie king's fifth is depofited, and here are wrought all thofe utenfils and ornaments in plate, which are every year fcnt into Europe* The empire of Mexico was finally iubdued by Cortes, in the year 1521. Montezuma was at that time emperor of Mexi^ CO. In the courfe of the war, he was treacberoufty taken by Cortes, and held as a priloner. During the imprifonmcnt of MoritGzumaj Cortes and his army had made repeated attacks On his' fubj'.'fts, but without fuccels. Cortes was now deter-" mined, as his lall relource, to try what efFetl the interpofition of Montezuma might have to foothe or overawe his fubjetb^ This unfortunate prince, at the mercy of the treacherous Spani- ards, and reduced to the fad neceflTity of becoming the inflru- mcht of his o\¥n diigrace, and of the flaveiy of his fuhjefts,! advanced to the battlements in his royal robes, in all the pomp in which he ufed to appear on folcmn occafions. At fight of their fovereign, whom they had long been ^ccilflomcd 10 honour, and almoft tp^ revere as a god, the weapons dropped frotii tK^ir' hai^ds. Cilery tongue was irlent, all bowed their beads, arid many pirollrated themlelves on the ground. Mon- tezuma addrelled them with every argument that could mitigate their rage, or perfuade them from hoUilities. When he ended his diicourl'e, "a fuJlen murmur of difapprobation ran through the crowd ; to this fucceeded reproaches and threats ; and their fury fifing in a moment, they violently poured in whole flights of aifoM's and vottiea of flones upon their unhappy monarch, two of the arrows ilruck him in hib body, which* with the blow of a Hone on his temple, put an end to his life, Gujftirnoxin luct^dcd Montezuma, and maintained a vigorous oppofitiont againft the aifa-jlts of Cortes ; but he, like his predeceffor5''%#f(^t' ^"* a noble Uefcnce, was forced to lubmit, and his capital was Wrtlf-''^" ed from him by Cartes and his followers. The exultation sf the Spaniards, on accompli^ing th^ . arduous enteiprile, was at fixft exceflive. But this was quickly wjn, damped". b)^.|;JjiS ctucl dilappointment of thole languine hope^jtr^o? ME X ICO, OR NE W- SPA IN". 1 15 which had animated Uiem amjdft fo many hardfliips and dangers. inftead of inexhauftible wealth which they expefted from becoming mafters of Montezuma's treafures, and the ornatnept^ of fo many temples, their rapacioufnefs could colteft only an inconfiderable booty amidfh ruins and delblation.* Guatimozin, aware of his impending fate, had ordered what remained of the- riches araafed by his anceftors to be thrown into the lake. The Indian auxiliaries, while the Spaniards were engaged in conflift with the enemy, had carried off the moft valuable part of the fpoil. The fum to be divided among the conquerors was fo fijiall, that many of them difdained to accept of 'the pittance which fell to their fhare, and all murmured and exclaimed ; fome againft Cortes and his confidents, whom liiey fufpcfted of having fecretly appropriated to their own ufe a large portion of the riches which would have been brought into the common fk>ck ; others againft Guatimozin, whom they accufed of obfti- nacy, in refufjng to difcover the place where he had hidden his treafure. Arguments, intreaties, and promifes, were employed . in order to foothe them, but with fo little efTeft, that Cortes, from folicitude to check the growing fpirit of dilcontent, gave way to a deed which flained the glory of all his great aftions. Without regarding the former dignity of Guatimozin, or feeling any reverence for thofe virtues which he had difplayed, he fubjefted the uahappy monarch, together with his chief favour- ite, to torture, in order to force from them a difcovery of .the royal treafures, which it was fuppofed they had concealed. Guatimozin bore whatever the refined cruelty of his tormentors could inflift, with the invincible fortitude of an American warrior. His fellow-fufferer, overcome by the violence of the anguifh, turned a dejefted eye towards his mafter, which feem- ed to implore his permiffion to reveal all he knew. But the high-fpirited prince, darting on him a look of authority min- gled with fcorn, checked his weaknefs, by afk-ing, " Am I now repofing on a bed of flowers ?" Overawed by the reproach, he perlevered in his dutiful filence, and expired. Corte>, afhamed of a fcene fo horrid, relcued the royal vi£li;n from the hands of his torturers, and prolonged a life relcrved foi- new indignities and fuffcrinffs. * Tlie goltf and filver, according to C