ANALYSIS. tent, and CHAPTER VII. NEWFOUNDLAND. 1. Form, ex- 1. 'NEWFOUNDLAND, which was discovered by the Casituation of bot's in 1497, is a large island, in the form of an irregular Newfound land. a. See Map page 504. 2. The shores, surface, in sources, G.c. 3. The cir cumstances that give to the island great value triangle, about 1000 miles in circuit." On the northwest. ern side, the straits of Belleisle, about ten miles in width, separate it from Labrador; and on the southwest it is about fifty miles distant from Cape Breton, leaving a passage of that breadth into the Gulf of St. Lawrence. 2. The shores are generally bold and rugged, the sur ternal re- face mountainous, and the soil barren; yet, notwithstandof the island. ing its scanty internal resources, Newfoundland has formed hitherto, in a commercial view, the most impor tant of all the British possessions in America. The surrounding ocean is rich in treasure. Immense fields of ice, detached from the Arctic shores, and annually floated down to the neighborhood of the island, convey on their surface large herds of seal, from which the advenThe seal and turous seamen draw valuable stores of oil. To the east cod fisheries. the celebrated bank of Newfoundland, composed almost throughout of masses of solid rock, forms an extensive fishing ground of 600 miles in length and 200 in breadth. Here the cod fishery, the most extensive fishery in the world, has for several centuries been constantly increas ing in extent, and yet not the slightest diminution of its fruitfulness has ever been observed.* 4. Newfound land soon after its dis covery. permanent the island. 3. Soon after its discovery, Newfoundland became distinguished for its fisheries, over which the English claimed the right of jurisdiction, although the number of their vessels employed on the coast was for a long time 6. The first less than those of the French or the Spanish. After settlement on several unsuccessful attempts to form a settlement, Mr. Guy, an intelligent merchant of Bristol succeeded in inducing a number of influential persons at court to engage in the undertaking, and in 1610, having been appointed governor of the intended colony, he conveyed thither thirty-nine persons, who constructed a dwelling and storehouse, and formed the first permanent settlement on the island. 1610. 1621. 6. Lord Baltimore's colony. 4. 'In 1621 Sir George Calvert, afterwards Lord Baltimore, the founder of Maryland, established a Catholic *This is not surprising when it is considered that, according to the statement of the cele i naturalist, Lewenhoek, more than nine million eggs have been counted in a single cod NEWFOUNDLAND. 557 1. French settlements. 1692. between the colony in Newfoundland, where he resided a considerable 1660. period. 'In 1660 the French began to form settlements, which they fortified, showing an evident wish to get possession of the whole island. 'In 1692 their works at Placentia were partially destroyed by the English, but in 1696 they twice attacked St. John, and the second time, having gained possession of it, set it on fire. Soon after, they reduced all the English stations but two, but the treaty of Ryswick, in 1697, terminated the contest, and restored every thing to the same state as before the commencement of hostilities. 5. The war of the succession, breaking out in 1702, again exposed the colony to the attacks of the French. In 1705 the British colonists were successfully attacked, and in 1708 St. Johns was surprised and completely destroyed, and the French became masters of every English station but one, on the island. The successes of the English, however, on the continent, enabled them, at the treaty of Utrecht in 1713, to redeem all their losses in this distant quarter, and Louis XIV. was compelled to yield up all his possessions in Newfoundland, but he retained for his subjects the right of erecting huts and fishing stages on particular portions of the coast. 6. In 1729 the colony was withdrawn from its nominal dependence on Nova Scotia, from which period until 1827 the government of the island was administered by naval commanders appointed to cruise on the fishing station, but who returned to England during the winter. Since 1827 the government has been administered by resident governors; and in 1832, at the earnest solicitation of the inhabitants, a representative assembly was granted them. 7. "The present British settlements are in the southeastern part of the island. 'St. John, the capital, is situated on the most eastern part of the coast, and after all its improvements, still bears the aspect of a fishing station. 2 Hostilities English and minated by French,-ter the treaty of Ryswick. 1697. Renewal 1702. and success. of hostilities, of the French. 4. Newfound affected by the land,-how treaty of Utrecht. 1713. 1729. Nova Scotia, quent gov 5. Withdrawal from and subse ernment of the island. 6 The presettlements. 7 St. John, sent British the capital. PART II. HISTORY OF MEXICO. CHAPTER I. ABORIGINAL MEXICO. 1. Indian tribes of America. ginal Mexicans. 3 State of among them. civilization 1. 'Ar the time of the discovery of America, nearly ANALYSIS. the whole continent was occupied by barbarous and wandering tribes, of whose history little that is authentic can now be learned. The aboriginal Mexicans, however, 2. The Abortdiffered essentially from the great mass of the race to which they apparently belonged. "They had made considerable advances in civilization-were an agricultural people-had built flourishing and populous cities, and were united under a regular system of government. A brief 4. account of their history, of the state of the arts among them, and of their political institutions, national manners, and religion, cannot fail to be interesting and useful, as it will exhibit the human species in a very singular stage of its upward progress from barbarism. 2. "The Toltecas, or Toltecs, are the most ancient Mexican nation of which history and fable combined furnish us any accounts. The symbolical representations, or hieroglyphics, from which their history is obtained, and which were found among the Mexicans, represent that in the year 472 of the Christian era they were expelled from their own country, called Tollan, situated somewhere to the north of Mexico, and that, for some time after, they led a migratory and wandering life; but, at the expiration of 104 years, they reached a place about fifty miles to the eastward of the city of Mexico, where they remained twenty years. Thence they proceeded a short distance westward, where they founded a city, called, from the name of their original country, Tollan, or Tula.* 3. "The Toltecas, during their journeys, were con An account of their history, why interesting. 5. History of from the year founding of the cla the Toltecs, 472 to the Tula. 472. 576. 596. 667. 6. Government of the Toltecs. Whence the present city of Tula, near Mexico, is supposed to have derived its name. Sea Map, p. 569. ANALYSIS. ducted by chiefs; but after their final settlement, in the year 667, their government was changed into a monarchy, 1. Their pros which lasted nearly four centuries. At the expiration of final destrue this time they had increased very considerably in numbers, and had built many cities; but when in the height of their prosperity, almost the whole nation was destroyed by famine and a pestilence. perity, and tion of the nation. 2. Account of this event, as the Mexican hierogly. phics. 4. The hieroglyphical symbols, from which the account derived from of this event is derived, represent, that, at a certain festive ball made by the Toltecas, the Sad Looking Devil appeared to them, of a gigantic size, with immense arms, and, in the midst of their entertainments, embraced and suffocated them; that then he appeared in the form of a child with a putrid head, and brought the plague; and, finally, at the persuasion of the same devil, they abandoned the country Tula, and dispersed themselves among the surrounding nations, where they were well received on account of their superior knowledge and civilization. 3. History of the Chiche government, and alliance roith the Toltecs. 5. About a hundred years after the dispersion of the mecas, their Toltecs, their country was occupied by the Chichemecas, manners, who also came from the north, and were eighteen months on their journey. Although less civilized than the Toltecs, they had a regular form of monarchical government, and were less disgusting in their manners than some of the neighboring nations. They formed an alliance with the remnant of the Toltecs, and intermarried with them; the consequence of which was the introduction of the arts and knowledge of the Toltecas, and a change in the Chi4. The Acol- chemecas, from a hunting to an agricultural people. The Subsequent Chichemecas were soon after joined by the Acolhuans, time of the likewise from the north; after which, the history of the two nations is filled with uninteresting accounts of petty conquests, civil wars, and rebellions, until the appearance of the Aztecs, or Mexicans, also of Indian origin. huans. history to the Aztecs. ings of the Aztecs. 1160. 6. "The latter are represented to have left their own 5. Wander country, a great distance to the north of the Gulf of California, in the year 1160, by the command of one of their deities; and, after wandering fifty-six years, to have arrived at the city of Zumpango,* in the valley of Mexico. 6. Remains of During their journey, they are supposed to have stopped supposed to some time on the banks of the river Gila, or San Francisco, an eastern branch of the Colorado; where may still be found remains of the buildings which they are said to have constructed.† bulldings have been erected by them. On the eastern shore of the lake of the same name. (See Map, p. 569.) 1 The Colorado is the principal stream that enters the head of the Gulf of California. (Sea Map, p. 558.) The locality of the ruins mentioned above is still put down, on Mexican maps, on the south side of the River Gils, in the state of Sonora. They are denoted as "Ruinas de las Casas de los Aztecas," Ruins of the Buildings of the Aztecs. |