Page:History of Columbus (1).pdf/20

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AMERICA-BOUNDARIES, EXTENT, &c.

supposed to be surrounded on all sides by the ocean, stretching in an extensive range through every inhabited latitude in the world. It may convey a general idea of its situation, with regard to Europe, to say, that New Britain lies nearly parallel with Great Britain; that Newfoundland, the Bay of St Lawrence, and Cape Breton, lie opposite to France; Nova Scotia and New England are on a parallel with the Bay of Biscay; and New York and Pennsylvania are opposite to Spain and Portugal.

This vast continent is washed by the two great oceans; being bounded on the E. by the Atlantic, which divides it from Europe and Africa; and on the W. by the Pacific, or Great South Sea, which separates it from Asia. It extends from Cape Horn, its most southern extremity, in latitude 56° S. to the North Pole; and spreads between the 40th degree E. and the 100th W. longitude from Philadelphia; and from the 35th to the 136th degree W. longitude from London. It is nearly 10,000 miles in length from N. to S. Its average breadth, from E. to W., is about 1400 or 1500 miles; but at its broadest part it measures 3690 miles. This extensive continent lies between the Pacific Ocean on the W., and the Atlantic on the E. It is said to contain upwards of 14,000,000 square miles.

As America lies in both hemispheres, it possesses all the varieties of soil, climate, and productions, which the earth affords. It stretches through all the five zones, and has two summers as well as two winters in the year. The most remarkable difference between the New and Old World, is the general predominance of cold throughout the whole extent of