Page:Description of the four parts of the world (1).pdf/19

19

Of AMERICA IN GENERAL.

MERICA is the South division of the world, and takes its name from one Americus Vespuous, an adventurous Florentine who not many centuries ago first discovered it, and therefore by some it is called the New World. It is bounded on the East by the Atlantic and Virginian Seas, on the West by the Pacific ocean, on the South by the same dividing it from Asia, and on the North its bounds are not known. It is divided into Peninsulas, Mexico, and Peru, and the circumference of the known part computed to be about 3000 miles. The Spaniards have often talked of cutting the Isthmus here to make it join the Streight of Darien, and so shorten the way to China but have never put it into execution.

Of MEXICO or NEW SPAIN

The air temperate and healthful, being refreshed by cool breezes from the