The most remarkable of the American eagles is the bald eagle; he feeds principally on fish, but carries off lambs, pigs, &c. He is occasionally met with from a very high northern latitude to the borders of the torrid zone, but chiefly in the vicinity of the sea, and along the shores and cliffs of lakes and large rivers. Formed by nature for bearing the severest cold; feeding equally upon the produce of the sea and the land; possessing powers of flight, capable of outstripping even the tempests themselves; and from the ethereal height to which he soars, looking abroad at one glance on an immeasurable expanse of forests, fields, lakes, and ocean deep below him, he appears indifferent to the change of seasons, as in a few moments, he can pass from summer to winter, from the lower to the higher regions of the atmosphere, the abode of eternal cold, and thence descend at will to the torrid or the Arctic regions. He is therefore found at all seasons in the countries he inhabits, but prefers such places as have been mentioned above, from the great partiality he has for fish. His character is fierce, daring, and tyrannical, and he is unawed by anything but man. The turkey is a native of America, and is yet abundant in the wild state, in the western parts of the United States. Berries, insects, reptiles, nuts, and corn form its food.

The buzzard or turkey buzzard is very numerous over a great part of the continent. It is of the vulture family, and in warm climates is very useful in destroying putrid carcasses.

The black vulture or carrion crow of the Southern States somewhat resembles the buzzard, but is more familiar with man, and is often to be seen sauntering about the streets, and sunning itself on the houses of towns and villages.

The quail, which is called partridge at the south, differs from both the partridge and quail of Europe; it being smaller than the former, and larger than the latter. Quails frequent the forest, and are most numerous in the vicinity of well cultivated plantations, where there is plenty of grain. In winter they approach the barns, and sometimes mingle with the poultry. At this time great numbers of them are taken in traps. This interesting and beautiful bird is found from Canada to Honduras.

Among the various species of grouse, the most remarkable are the pinnated grouse or heath hen, which inhabits the open plains of the west, feeding on berries, and the ruffed grouse, which is called partridge in New England, and pheasant in the south. It prefers the woods, is seldom found in coveys of more than four or five together, and more usually in pairs, or single. The male makes a peculiar noise called drumming, by striking short quick strokes with its stiffened wings.

Of the owls the great horned owl is most worthy of notice. He preys on young rabbits, squirrels, and small birds, and his favorite residence is in the dark solitudes of wooded swamps, where, as soon as evening comes on, he begins his melancholy hooting.

The mocking bird, which is found from New England to Brazil, is famous for his powers of imitation, as well as for the boldness, fullness and variety of his natural note. The squeak of a hurt chicken, the barking of a dog, the mewing of a cat, the creaking of a wheel, with all sorts of notes of all sorts of birds, follow each other in rapid succession from his little throat. The cat-bird, which, like the

mocking bird, is a species of thrush, has some of his powers of imitation.

The humming-bird, which has no song, is, however, admired for the brilliancy of his plumage, and the courage which animates his tiny form. He feeds on insects and the honey of flowers. While feeding he generally remains poised in the air, supporting himself by the rapid motion of his wings, which produces the humming noise, whence the name is derived.

The various kinds of water-birds are numerous on the shores and rivers of North America, and the vast forests, wide plains, and gloomy swamps are peopled, each with its peculiar tribes.

The most gigantic of reptiles, the cayman or alligator, belonging to the crocodile family, is found in the rivers of some of the Southern States, and of Mexico. It grows to the length of from 15 to 20 feet, and is covered with thick bullet-proof scales. In the water alligators move with great rapidity, but on land their motions are slow and awkward. They utter a loud roar, and feed upon fish, carrion, and such small quadrupeds as come within their reach. The females make their nests in the neighborhood of each other, and defend their young with great courage. Their nests are built of mud and grass, in a conical form, about four feet high, and contain from 100 to 200 eggs, about the size of those of the hen. The alligator is very ferocious, and where he has not learned from experience the danger of the conflict, even attacks man.

Of the three hundred known species of serpents, the greater part inhabit the tropical regions; but few species, and those mostly harmless, are found in cold climates, and of the whole number of species, not more than fifty or sixty are venomous. The rattlesnake, the copper head, and the elaps fulvius are the principal venomous serpents of North America. The hog-nosed snake, the black snake, the chain snake, the coach-whip snake, the water snake, the striped or garter snake, the green snake, the pine snake, which is often eight feet long, and is sometimes tamed and kept about houses, &c., are all harmless. What is called the glass snake in the Southern States, on account of its extreme brittleness, is a species of lizard.

There are several species of rattlesnake, which differ in size; they derive their name from the rattle contained in the tail and composed of a number of little bones, which move against each other when the tail is agitated. The number of these rattles or bells increases with age, an additional one being formed at every casting of the skin. The snake has two hollow fangs in the upper jaw, through which the poison is emitted into the wound, when the animal bites. The food of the rattlesnake is birds, squirrels, hare, rats, and reptiles.

9. Indians. The natives of America consist of two distinct races. To the first belong the Esquimaux, who inhabit Greenland, Labrador, the shores of Hudson's Bay, and the Arctic ocean. Although known under different names, and spread over a wide extent of country, they all speak the same language, and, like the Malays of the eastern continent, they live only along the sea coast. They are of a smaller stature than the other American aborigines, and are more lively and loquacious; their hair is straight and black, but their skin is white. They are ignorant, superstitious, and extremely filthy; living in a region

where the soil is frozen during nine months in a year, they cannot rely upon the vegetable productions of the earth for subsistence, and as they have no domestic animals but dogs, hunting and fishing are almost their sole resource.

It is in the management of their canoes, and the stratagems by which they take the seal, the walrus, or the whale, that they display their highest exertions of intellect. Their dress is of skin; and their houses are tents of skins, or huts of snow and ice.

The second race is dispersed over the rest of the American continent, and is composed of numerous tribes, speaking different languages, yet evidently sprung from the same original stock. They are larger, more warlike, and more taciturn than the Esquimaux, from whom they also differ in the color of their skin, which is of a coppery tinge. The greater part of these nations were found by the Europeans, and still continue, in a state of barbarism. Armed with bows and arrows, warclubs, lances, and tomahawks; even in the preparation of these simple weapons, they made no use of metal or of metallic instruments; without domestic animals or settled habitations, rarely cultivating the ground, and then only in a rude manner, they wandered from place to place, subsisting by the chase or by fishing, and living in temporary tents or lodges of mats or skins, or in huts composed of the branches of trees, owning no property and following no regular occupation. The men, who despised labor, passed the time not consumed in hunting or in war, in stupid inaction, while the labor was all done by the women. They lived collected in small bands or tribes, several of whom were often united under a common chief or leader, rather for the purpose of defence or making war against their neighbors, than for the objects of civil government. Many of these tribes have become extinct since the whites have occupied the great forest, through which they hunted; others have in some degree modified their primitive habits, and even adopted the arts of civilized life, while others, occupying the greater part of the immense regions west of the Mississippi, and those north of the Canadas, retain the customs of their ancestors. An examination of their languages has shown them to consist of several great families or nations, each comprising numerous kindred tribes.

1. The Algonquin or Chippeway nation is spread over all the northern part of the continent, east of the Rocky Mountains. Among the various tribes of this family, are the Knistenaux or Crees, in the region of Slave lake, the Saskashawan, and Hudson's Bay; the Micmacs, in the British Provinces; the Chippeways, around Lake Superior; the Ottawas, in Michigan Territory, to which tribe the celebrated Pontiac belonged; the Pottawatomies, of the same region; the Sacs and Foxes, or Saukis and Ottogamis, who have lately been obliged to confine themselves to the west of the Mississippi; and the Shawnees, Kickapoos, Menomonies, Miamis and Delawares, of the same region. The Mohegans and Abenaquis, who formerly inhabited the Middle and Eastern States, belonged also to this family.

II. The Wyandot or Huron family included the confederacy called the Iroquois or Six Nations, comprising the Mohawks, Senecas, Onondagos, Oneidas, Cayugas, and Tuscaroras, and the Wyandots. The Six Nations resided on the St. Lawrence, and some of them still remain in New York and Canada. The last remnants of the Mohegans have been incorporated with them.

III. The Southern or Floridian family comprised the Cherokees, Creeks, Chickasaws, Choctaws, Seminoles, and Natchez. The last mentioned, now extinct, resided on the Mississippi, and had attained a much higher degree of civilization than their neighbors. The others, with the exception of the Cherokees, have been removed from their former habitations in Mississippi, Alabaina, Georgia, and Florida, to Arkansaw Territory.

IV. The Sioux or Dahcotahs are a numerous family, inhabiting the region to the west of the Mississippi, on the Missouri, Platte, and Arkansaw. One tribe of this family, the Winnebagos, formerly resided near lake Michigan, but they have lately been obliged to retire to the northwest of the Wisconsin. The other tribes are the Dahcotahs, living about the Upper Mississippi; the Hohays or Assiniboins, further north; the Omawhaws, near the Platte; the Mandans on the Missouri, further north; the Kansas, on the river of the same name; the Osages, further south; the Ioways, the Otoes, the Missouris, the Quapaws, &c. Several of these tribes are more civilized and peaceable than the more eastern nations.

v. The Pawnee family are a fierce and warlike people, consisting of several tribes, who have learned how to manage the horse which has become numerous in those regions. The principal tribes are the Pawnees, the Arrapahoes, and the Cumanches, who roam through the regions on the Platte, the Arkansaw, and Norte.

VI. Of the Columbian family, on the west of the Rocky Mountains little is known. There are many tribes, known under the names of Flatheads, Shoshonees, Esheloots, &c.

VII. The great Mexican family comprises the Aztecs, Toltecs, and Tarascos of Mechoacan; these nations had established civil governments, practised the useful arts, and built cities at the time of the conquest of the country by the Spaniards. Many remnants of their works survive, and have already been described. Their descendants are incorporated, to a considerable degree, with the Spanish population.

XLIX. WEST INDIES.

1. Situation and Divisions. Between the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean Sea, and the Atlantic Ocean, lies a group of islands called the West Indies, extending from 10° to 28° N. Lat. It is composed of several clusters, known under the names of the Bahamas, the Greater Antilles (the four large islands, Cuba, Hayti, Porto Rico, and Jamaica), the Lesser Antilles, and the Caribbee islands.

2. Climate. The climate of these islands is for a great part of the year mild and pleasant, the heat being in some measure moderated by the uniform length of the nights, and by refreshing sea breezes. The seasons are divided between the wet and the dry; the former, occurring in May and October, are of short continuance, and during the rest of the year the sky is clear, and the nights are remarkable for their brilliancy.

3. Productions. The West Indies abound in all the productions of warm climates; the fruits are oranges, lemons, pine-apples, bananas, plantains, &c.; manioc, yams, maize, &c., with sugar, guava, cocoa, cotton, coffee, indigo, tobacco, &c., furnish important articles of food or

of commerce.

The forests contain mahogany, lignumvitæ, ironwood, and other woods useful in the arts.

4. Hurricanes. In the interval between the months of August and October, the islands are visited by those terrible storms, called hurricanes, to which the regions of the torrid zone are liable. They begin in various ways, and are in general preceded by a profound calm; this is soon followed by a chaos of warring elements, lightning and thunder, rain, hail, and impetuous blasts of wind, which move with a swiftness exceeding that of a cannon ball. Corn, vines, forests, and houses are swept away before their violence, which, however, is but of short duration. These tempests are supposed to be of electric origin, and they serve in the hands of Providence the benevolent purpose of purifying the atmosphere.

5. Inhabitants. The native races of these islands are now extinct; when first discovered by the Spaniards, they were inhabited by two distinct nations; the Arrowauks, a mild and peaceful people, who had made some advances in civilisation, occupied the Bahamas and the Great Antilles; and the Caribs, a fierce and warlike race, inhabited the more southerly isles. At a later period many of the islands have at different times belonged to different European nations, and in some of them there is a strange mixture of people and languages. All except Hayti still belong to European powers, and contain a large proportion of negro slaves. The whites are either Europeans, or Creoles, that is, descendants of Europeans, and form but comparatively a small part of the population. The different mixed races are numerous,

By an act of the British Parliament, passed in the year 1833, provision is made for the perpetual abolition of slavery in the British colonies. The act provides that all children of slaves born after the passing of the law, or at that time of six years of age and under, shall be immediately free, or shall be bound as apprentices to their former masters, the males to the age of 26 years, and the females to that of 20 years. The adults are to be set free after an apprenticeship of six years, beginning in August 1834, during which one fourth of their time is to be at their own disposal, and the civil disabilities, to which they were subjected as slaves, are to cease.

6. Bahamas. The Bahama or Lucayas islands are a group of islands lying to the southeast of Florida, from which they are separated by the Florida channel. They extend from 21° to 28° N. Lat., and from 71° to 80° W. Lon., and consist of about 650 islands and keys. The principal islands or groups, in passing from the southern to the northern extremity, arc the following; viz.

These islands belong to Great Britain, and have a population of about 16,500, including 9,268 slaves, and 3,000 free blacks. Nassau, the capital, is a flourishing town on the island of Providence, with 5,000 inhabitants. The salt ponds of Turk's Islands supply great quantities of salt, which is obtained by evaporation.

7. Bermudas. To the northeast of the Bahamas, lie the Bermudas, a group of small islands of difficult access, and visited by terrible storms, which though not strictly belonging to the West Indies may be