lattoes and free blacks, and 3000 slaves. The Indians in Honduras are still very numerous.

Towns. GUATEMALA is the capital. It stands on the river Vaccus, near the Barra d' Istapa. Lat. 13 40 N. lon. 90 30 W. It is a large town, containing a university and numerous convents and churches, but we have seen no estimate of its population. It is an archbishopric.

LEON is the capital of Nicaragua, stands on the W. side of the lake of Leon, and is a bishopric.

CIVDAD REAL is in the province of Chiapa. It is delightfully situated in a plain surrounded with mountains, and almost equidistant from the two oceans. It contains a noble cathedral, 3 monasteries, and 1 nunnery.

CHIAPA DE LOS INDOS is the largest Indian town in Guatemala. It lies W. of Civdad Real, and has about 20,000 Indian inhabitants. The number of whites is small. Bartholomew de las Casas, the celebrated apostle of the Indians, was the first bishop of Chiapa. The town contains numerous cloisters and churches.

Productions. This country produces great quantities of chocolate, cochineal, cotton, indigo, honey, some balsam, and woad. The merchandize of the province is generally conveyed to the port of St. Thomas, in the bay of Honduras, to be sent to Europe.

River, Lakes, &c. The river Chiapa is a considerable stream, emptying into the bay of Campeachy. The lakes of Nicaragua and Leon have heretofore been described. The Rio St. Juan is the outlet of the former.

WEST-INDIES.

Situation THE islands, which have received this name, lie between lat. 9 30 and 28° N. and between lon. 59 30 and 85 20 W. Trinidad is at the southern extremity, Barbadoes at the eastern, Marinilla Reef at the northern, and Cuba at the western. Divisions. They are divided into 4 principal groupes.

I. The Bahamas or Lucayas Islands.

These consist of a great number of keys or rocks, and of 14 principal islands, or groupes of islands.

1. Turk's Islands

2. Caicos

3. Inaguas

4. Mayaguana

5. Crooked Island Group

6. Long Island

7. Exuma

1. Cuba

2. Hispaniola

6. Watling's Island

9. Guanahani

10. Eleuthera

11. New-Providence
12. Andros

13. Abaco

14. Great Bahama

II. The Greater Antilles.

3. Jamaica

4. Porto Rico

Names. Columbus called these islands The Indies, supposing that they were really a part of India. After the discovery of India by Vasco de Gama, in 1498, by an eastern course; the India of the ancients and the neighboring islands received the name of the East-Indies; and the India of Columbus, that of the West-Indies. The islands, called by the English The Bahamas, are styled The Lucayas by the Spaniards.

The word Antilles is generally said to be a contraction of antiinsula, or islands opposite to the continent.

Columbus named the Caribbean islands after the Caraibes or Caribbees, the Indians who occupied them when they were discovered. The English sailors give the names of Windward and Leeward islands to the two divisions of this group, in consequence of their relative situation with regard to the trade winds. The Spaniards, however, give the former name to all the Caribbean islands, and the latter to the Greater Antilles.

The Lesser Antilles received their name not of right, but of necessity, as no other had been given to the group.

Discoveries. Columbus discovered the Bahamas and Greater Antilles, in his first voyage, the Caribbean isles in his second, and the Lesser Antilles in his third.

Original Population. The Lucayans possessed the Bahamas; the Arrowauks the Greater Antilles, and probably a part or the whole of Trinidad; and the Caraibes the other Caribbean islands, at the time of their discovery. The Arrowauks, however, were the original occupants of these also.

Religion. A majority of the whites in these islands are Catholics; all those in Cuba, Hispaniola, and Porto Rico are of this de

scription; and a majority in those of the Caribbean islands, which were settled by the French. The church of England is, however, the established religion in all the English islands. The great body of the negroes are still pagans, if they may be said to have any religion at all. In the Spanish islands, they are taught by their masters the Catholic prayers; but they merely learn them by rote. In the English islands, and in those lately belonging to France, they never were taught any thing. One exception ought, however, to be made. The Moravians have for a long period sent missionaries to the English and Danish islands to convert the negroes to Christianity. In spite of the opposition of the colonial assemblies, the persecution and miserable example of the planters, and the extreme degradation of the blacks themselves, the missionaries have met with considerable success. The number of converted negro slaves under the care of the missionaries, in 1787, was as follows:

In Antigua exactly

In St. Christopher, a new mission, about
In Barbadoes and Jamaica

In St. Thomas, St. Croix, and St. John

15,645

Then living in the West-Indies In St. Christopher they have met, since that period, with great success, and the whole number of converted blacks is now far greater. We should not have believed, but on the most irresistible evidence, that the profligate planters, and, if possible more profligate legisla tures, have, in many of the islands made the most decided and successful opposition to the labors of the missionaries.

Governments. The nature of the governments of the Spanish colonies has alrely been explained. In the English islands the government is vested in a governor or captain general, appointed by the crown; in a legislature, consisting of a council appointed by the crown, and of a house of assembly chosen by the freeholders; and in various superior and inferior courts, the judges to which are appointed by the crown. The governor is the Ordinary or judge of probate; and in most islands the sole chancellor; but in some the council, together with the governor, constitute the court of chancery. No bill can become a law in any island without the assent of the governor. After his assent is obtained it is a law till the dissent of the crown is officially signified. If the assent of the crown is once officially procured, no subsequent dissent can afterwards abrogate the law. All laws must be in conformity with the laws of England.

Possessors. Cuba, the eastern part of St. Domingo, and Porto Rico, together with a few islets among the Virgin islands, belong to Spain; the western part of St. Domingo is independent; Sweden claims St. Bartholomew; Margaritta belongs to the republic of Venezuela; several of the Lesser Antilles are uninhabited and unclaimed. The Bahamas, Jamaica, the Lecward islands, with the trifling exception already made, all the Windward islands, and Bonair, Curracoa, and Aruba belong to the English. It is proper, however, to remark that the Danes lately possessed St. Thomas,

St. John, Santa Cruz and their dependencies; the Dutch, St. Eus statius, Saba, Curracoa, Bonair, and Aruba; and the French, Gaudaloupe, Martinico, St. Lucia, and Tobago: and that these islands. are now, in common language, respectively called the Danish, Dutch, and French West-India islands.

Inhabitants. The present inhabitants of these islands are the natives the whites, and the blacks. The whites are of two descrip. tions, Europeans and creoles. The creoles are whites born in the West-Indies. The blacks are of two descriptions; free people of color and slaves. The free people of color include all the mixed, and most of the genuine blacks, in the Spanish colonies; most of the first, and a few of the last, in the English; and but a small portion of both in the French. The slaves constitute the great majority of the inhabitants in all the islands, except the Spanish. The appearance and character of the slaves depends much on the district in Africa from which they are brought. As to the treatment of the slaves the Spanish code is the most mild and equitable. The African institution has lately turned the attention of parliament to the cruelty of the English slave code, and to the fiend like tortures inflicted by many of the planters. We hope most sincerely, that the evils arising from both will soon be in a good degree remedied.

Climate and Seasons. Edwards divides the West-Indian year into four seasons of very different length. The spring commences with the month of May. The first periodical rains set in about the middle of the month. They continue about a fortnight. The thermometer, in this month averages 75 degrees, and commonly fails 6 or 8 immediately after every diurnal rain. Summer commences about the first of June. The weather becomes dry, settled, and salutary; not a cloud is to be seen; ard the sky shines with serene brightness. The heat is very great in the morning, till about 10; when the sea breeze sets in, and blows with force and regularity from the S. E. till late in the evening. The medium heat is now 80°, and the mercury is seldom above 85° or below 75°. During the latter part of the summer, which may be considered as lasting till the latter part of September, coolness and comfort are sought in vain; instead of a regular breeze from the sea, there are faint breezes and calms alternately; and the thermometer occasionally rises above 90°. The rains commence in the beginning of October. The heavens pour down cataracts, and the earth is deluged. These violent rains last through the greater part of of November. The hurricane season comprises the months of August, September, and October. About the first of December, a considerable change is perceived in the temperature of the air; and a new season commences, which lasts to the end of April. The weather becomes steadily serene and pleasant, and the temperature cool and delightful. This lasts till the month of May, and is, to the sick and the aged, the climate of paradise.

Agriculture. Sugar is the capital object, of agricultural attention in these islands. The three next in importance are cotton, indgo, and coffee; and after them cacao, ginger, allspice, arnotto, alocs, pimento, cloves, and cinnamon. Maize, yams, and sweet po

tatoes, are also extensively raised in the field for home consump

tion.

Sugar is a native of America, for it was found in the Greater Antilles by Columbus; and the Caraibes had it in their own island's before they were planted by Europeans.

BAHAMAS.

Extent. THESE islands lie between lat. 20° and 27° N. and between lon. 69° and 80° W. They stretch from the bank of the Nativity in the S. E. to Marinilla Reef in the N. W. upwards of 900 miles.

Situation. They lie directly N. of the Greater Antilles, and are separated from Cuba by the Old Bahama channel. The gulf of Florida, or the New Bahama channel separates them from the E. coast of East-Florida. Through this channel the gulf stream passes.

sau.

History. Columbus discovered Guanahani, one of this group of islands, on the 12th of October, 1492; and New-Providence, the most important in the group, on the 17th of the same month. In 1667, Charles II. granted all the Bahamas to the duke of Albemarle and 5 others, proprietors of Carolina. In 1672, the first settlement was commenced in the island of New-Providence, and called NasThe islands, soon after, became the resort of pirates; and the regular inhabitants suffered severely, and for a long time, from their attacks, and those of the Spaniards. The celebrated Black Beard, alias John Teach, was their leader. He was killed off the coast of North-Carolina, Nov. 22, 1718. The islands were soon cleared of pirates, and a permanent settlement made at Nassau, under governor Rogers. The town was fortified in 1740. Early in the American war, the town was taken by the Americans, but speedily abandoned. The Spaniards took it again in 1781, but it was retaken by col. Deveaux, with about 70 troops, though garri soned by 700. Since that time, all the islands have been in the hands of the English.

Original Population. The aborigines were called Lucayans. When first discovered they were about 40,000 in number. Columbus and his men were welcomed by them, with kindness and hospitality. Scarcely 20 years had elapsed, however, before the Spaniards transported them all, by force or artifice, to Hispaniola, to dig in the mines. Some few effected their escape from that isl and, though many were frustrated in the design.

Government. These islands are all under a governor general, appointed by the crown. He is commander of the militia; institutes and determines the sessions of the legislature; and possesses a negative on their proceedings. His income is nearly 3000l. ster ling.

Population. The inhabitants are of two descriptions, the resi dents and the wreckers. From the loose data furnished by the subsequent account of the several islands, we are induced to believe