St. George's and St. David's, with other islands of minor importance, form several bays; and the harbor of St. George is large enough to con tain the whole British navy, but is difficult of ingress and egress, in consequence of the smallness of its entrance. The principal island or main land as it is called, is about 20 miles in length, but it rarely exceeds one and a half in width. In the centre of the island, and on the north side of a beautiful bay, is the town of Hamilton, now the seat of government. The only places fortified are Ireland and St. George's islands, where forts have been lately built, which render the islands almost impregnable. At the former of these is the naval dock-yard, off which there is good anchorage and moorings laid down for 15 or 20 ships of war, though the breakwater is extensive enough to contain a large fleet of the line. There are two other moorings for the navy, viz: Murray's anchorage, near the ferry, and Five Fathom's Hole, off the mouth of St. George's harbor. With the exception of two or three small detachments, the chief military force is stationed at St. George's.

The legislature of the Bermudas consists of a council of eight members and an assembly of thirty six members, each parish electing four of the latter. The executive is vested in a governor, who, with the council, is appointed by the crown. The parliaments, are septennial, but are always newly elected on the accession of a new sovereign. The church establishment is under the surveillance of the bishop of Nova Scotia. Churches and Sunday schools are well endowed, and the attendance of the congregations and scholars are respectable. The school system, adopted by late enactments, is expected to work beneficially on the educational interests of the people, but at present few of the inhabitants can read or write, and a general ignorance and superstition prevail. The condition of the people has been much improved, however, by the establishment of friendly societies which have greatly sustained the welfare of the blacks since their emancipation.

The principal exports from the Bermudas, (the produce and manufactures of the islands,) are arrow root, potatoes, onions, and palmetto and straw hats, in producing which the people excel. They possess some 100 vessels, of from 120 to 150 tons, which are chiefly employed in the trade between the northern colonies and the West Indies. The whale fishery off the islands employs some of the people, and might be profitably carried on by suitable capital; at present it yields little more than 1,000 or 1,200 barrels of oil a year. The waters about the islands and reefs abound in a great variety of fish, but none are cured for exportation. Cattle and sheep are plentiful, and large quantities of poultry are fed for supplying the shipping that call at these islands. All the ordinary products of tropical climates, both animal and vegetable, are produced in abundance. The fruits are various and excellent.

But eight of these islands possess any importance; the others are mere rocks. They began to be settled in 1612, and drew for some time greater attention than their natural advantages justified. During the internal troubles which soon after took place in Great Britain, they became the asylum of many distinguished personages, and among others of the poet Waller, who, by celebrating the felicity of their climate, has spread around them a poetic lustre. Recently they were made the prison of the Irish patriot, Mitchell.

THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

THE United States of America constitute the most celebrated Republic of the world. Among the nations of the earth, it ranks as second only to the greatest powers of Europe. It occupies the most valuable portion of North America, and lies between the parallels of 24° and 49° north latitude, and the meridians of 67° and 125° west longitude. Its greatest width, from east to west, is nearly 3,000 miles, and its greatest depth, from north to south, about 1,700 miles, containing 3,252,684 square miles, including California, Texas, &c. The frontier line of this vast republic extends 10,000 miles; of which 3,500 is sea coast, 1,600 gulf coast, and 1,500 lake coast, as shown in the following authentic table:

Length of the Atlantic coast, from the mouth of the St. Croix to the St. Mary's river,.
Length of the Atlantic coast from St. Mary's river to Cape of Florida,..

Length of Gulf coast from Cape of Florida to the mouth of the Sabine river,...

Length of Gulf coast acquired by the annexation of Texas, from the Sabine to the Rio Grande,..
Length of Pacific coast in California, 970 — in Oregon, 500-Straits of Juan de Fuca, 150,

Total,.......

The areas of the several States of the Union are given in the annexed table, in square miles and acres:

The boundary lines are settled by the following treaties:

The great features of the country have been described in the preceding pages, under the head of America.

The United States are intersected by two principal ranges of mountains, the Alleghany and the Rocky mountains. The Alleghany mountains in

the east, run nearly parallel with the Atlantic coast, from Georgia, throug. Tennessee, Virginia, and Pennsylvania to New York. The Rocky mountains in the west, run across the territory nearly parallel with the coast of the Pacific ocean, at the distance from it of several hundred miles. The Alleghany mountains run in separate, and somewhat parallel ridges, with a breadth of from 60 to 120 miles, and at a distance from the sea coast of from 80 to 250 miles, and terminate in the Catskill mountains east of Hudson river, though some would extend them to the White mountains in New Hampshire. The general height of the Alleghany mountains is nowhere above 2,000 or 3,000 feet above the level of the ocean, and not more than one half of that above the adjacent country. The highest peak in this range is Black mountain, in the west part of North Carolina, which is 6,476 feet high. Round Top, the highest peak in the Catskill mountains, is 3,804 feet. The Rocky mountains may be regarded as a part of the great chain of the Cordilleras, and extend from Mexico to the 70° north latitude, running at an average distance of 600 miles from the Pacific ocean, with a general height of about 8,000 or 9,000 feet above the level of the sea, but not more than 5,000 feet above the level of their base. Some of their elevated peaks rise to the height of 10,000 or 12,000 feet. The Green mountains, a minor range, commence near New Haven, in Connecticut, and run through that state, Massachusetts, and Vermont, to the borders of Canada. Mansfield mountain, the highest peak in the chain, in a township of the same name in Vermont, is 4,280 feet high. The White mountains in New Hampshire are very elevated, the highest peak, Mount Washington, is 6,428 feet high. West of lake Champlain, in the State of New York, are the Adirondack mountains, the highest peak of which, Mount Marcy, is 5,460 feet high.

West of the Rocky mountains, the rivers generally flow west to the Pacific, the principal of which is the Columbia. The rivers between the Rocky and Alleghany mountains, are the Mississippi and its numerous tributaries, which flow into the gulf of Mexico, with the exception of a few of the smaller class which flow into the northern lakes. East of the Alleghany mountains the rivers flow into the Atlantic. The following are the principal rivers which flow into the Atlantic, with about their length in miles: Penobscot, 250; Kennebec, 200; Androscoggin, 170; Saco, 160; Merrimac, 200; Connecticut, 410; Hudson, 324; Delaware, 300; Susquehanna, 450; Potomac, 500; James, 500; Roanoke, 400; Cape Fear, 350; Pedee, 450; Santee, 450; Savannah, 500; Alatamaha, 400; St. Johns, 300. The following rivers flow into the gulf of Mexico: Appalachicola, 500; Alabama, 600; Tombigbee, 450; Mississippi, 3,000. The following are tributaries of the Mississippi: Red, 1,500; Arkansas, 2,150; White, 1,200; Missouri, before its junction, 3,180; Kansas, 1,100; Platte, 1,600; Osage, 500; Yellowstone, 1,100; Ohio, 1,350; Illinois, 500; Des Moines, 800; Tennessee, 900; Cumberland, 600; Wabash, 500. The following rivers are west of the Rocky mountains: Columbia, 1,500; Multnomah, 900; Lewis, 900; Clarks, 600; Sacramento, Bueneventura, Colorado, and Gila. The above mostly include their remote sources.

The two largest lakes, that lie wholly within the United States, are Michigan and Champlain. But the great lakes, Superior, Huron, Erie, and Ontario, are one half in the United States, the boundary between the United States and Canada passing through the middle of them. The fol

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lowing is an authentic tabular statement of the extent of these fresh water seas, as represented in a report of the State Geologist of Michigan:

Lake Champlain, lying between Vermont and New York, is 128 miles long, and from 1 to 16 miles wide, and discharges its waters through the Sorel into the St. Lawrence. It is computed that the lakes contain above 14,000 cubic miles of water; a quantity more than five-sevenths of all the fresh water on the earth. The extent of country drained by the lakes, from the northwestern angle of Superior to the St. Lawrence, (including also the area of the lakes themselves, 85,180,) is estimated at 335,515 ¿quare miles.

The gulf of Mexico, on the south of the United States, is a large branch of the Atlantic ocean, and receives the waters of the Mississippi valley. The soil of New England is generally rocky and rough, better adapted o grazing than to grain. The valley of the Connecticut, and some parts of Maine are exceptions to this remark. The low country on the Atlantic coast is generally light and sandy, not very fertile except on the margins of the rivers. The hilly country back of this is generally fertile. The soil generally in the valley of the Mississippi has great fertility. But toward the Rocky mountains it becomes sterile. The country beyond the Rocky mountains, with some exceptions, is but moderately fertile.

Beef, pork, butter, and cheese, are the principal productions of the eastern states, though a great amount of wool is raised, and various grains for home consumption. Wheat is the staple for the middle states. In the northern portion of the southern states, wheat and tobacco are chiefly cultivated; and in the low country at the south, cotton, rice, and sugar are extensively raised. The western states are the granary of the United States, and indeed of the world, and it is scarcely possible to set bounds to the bread stuffs which they are capable of producing.

Among the mineral treasures of the United States, iron ore, coal, and limestone are very extensive. The anthracite coal of Pennsylvania is inexhaustible, and the bituminous coal farther west is equally abundant. The lead region of Missouri, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Iowa, is probably the finest in the world. Gold is found in large quantities in California, and to a considerable extent in Virginia, North Carolina, and Georgia, and marble and gypsum are very abundant. Copper abounds in the northwestern states and along the shores of lake Superior; vast boulders of copper, some tons in weight, have been found in the Wisconsin region; and such has been the activity of mining operations of late years, that the market has been almost entirely supplied from the west. The lake Superior copper mines are represented as being in a flourishing state:

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The climate of the United States has great variety, extending as it does
through more than 20 degree of latitude, with a great variety in the ele-
vation of its surface. In the northern part it is subject to great extremes
of heat and cold, but is generally healthy. The Atlantic coast south of
New Jersey, and the borders of the gulf of Mexico, have an unhealthy
climate from July to November. Back from the sea coast, the elevated
country is generally healthy, as are the western states, with the exception
of some low and marshy portions.

COMMERCE. In its commerce, the United States is the second country
on the globe, being inferior only to Great Britain. It has attained an
amazing magnitude; there is no part of the world that is not visited by
American vessels; and the foreign and coasting trade, and the inland trade
carried on over an unequaled extent of natural and artificial lines of com-
munication, are all on an equal scale.

The domestic commerce may be divided into three branches: 1. That
which is carried on coastwise, up the bays and large rivers, and on the
great lakes, by schooners, sloops and steamboats. 2. That which is carried
on chiefly in steamboats, but partly in rude flat-bottom boats on the affluents
of the Mississippi. 3. The overland trade between the Western and At-
lantic States, in hogs, horses, cattle and mules, amounts to several millions
of dollars annually. The four maritime States of New England and the
States of New York, Pennsylvania and Maryland, are the most devoted to
navigation, foreign and coastwise. In endurance, management, and skill
in naval architecture, the Americans may challenge the world.

No part of the world presents such an extensive river commerce.
Steam vessels, a grand improvement first introduced in America, ply on all
the principal lakes and rivers. Neither the States nor individuals have
been slow in improving and extending the natural advantages of the coun-
try; and the spirit with which they have undertaken, and the perseverance
they have shown in executing the most magnificent plans, have shed a lustre
on the American name. The great land-locked bays of the coast have been
connected by canals, and the eastern and western waters have been united
by several channels, which either turn the Alleghanies, or surmount their
summits. The waters of the great lakes and the Mississippi have been
connected at various points, and the obstacles in the navigation of the most
important rivers have been overcome by removing the bars, ledges, and
rafts, which obstructed their channels, or by side-cuts, locks and dams.
These great works give life to manufactures; invigorate and create internal
trade; promote agriculture, and develop the mining industry of the country.
The amount of capital employed in foreign and domestic commerce is
estimated at 500,000,000 dollars.

COMMERCE AND NAVIGATION.

Whole number of American vessels entered during the year ending June 30th, 1849.
Whole number of foreign vessels entered.....

11,208

8,992

20.200

11,466

8,847

20,313

Total, 109,047
Total, 89,684
Total, 112,771
Total, 92,283