the Streights of Magellan whereby he at last entred from the North into the South-Sea And to give you a Description of those Streights I shall tell you in the first place that they are in the 53. Degree of Southern Latitude about 100. Leagues in length with high Hills on both sides always covered with Snow The Passage as it is tedious and unpleasant so it is very dangerous For here the Sea ebbs and flows with a violent swiftness and the very first fall into it is extremely doubtful and hazardous And then it is a Place of that Nature that which way soever a man Steer his Course as I told you before speaking of the Winds he shall be sure to have the Wind against him Besides that the Course of the Water says John Davis is so full of Turnings and Changings and those so violent that when a Ship is entred there is no returning To which add that the Channel is so very deep in some places no less than 300. fadoms that there 's no hope of Anchorage In short it was a whole month viz. from the latter end of October to the end of November before Magellan could be clear of these Narrow Seas From whence he sailed at last to the East-Indies But there he was the year following unfortunately slain And of five Ships that he set out with there was but one by a happy Omen called Victoria that returned to Spain in safety The Commander of that Ship was Sebastian del Cano who after a very long and dangerous Voyage wherein it was thought he had Sailed at least 14000. Leagues had the happiness to bring home the welcome News of his good Success But to return to our Americans they are credibly supposed to descend from the Tartars of Asia For besides that the West side of America is disjoyned from Tartary but by a very small Streight so that there is thence into these Country's a very quick and ready Passage 't is certain the Americans are most like the Tartars of any in the whole course of their Life To which add that the West side of America is far more populous than the East towards Europe or Africk Which argues that those Western Parts were first Inhabited and that from hence the rest was Peopled What remain now is to give you Philalethes first the Division of the Northern America and then that of the Southern both of them according to the present State of those two great Peninsules The Northern America may be fitly divided into these principal Parts Viz. Mexico or New Spain New Mexico Florida Virginia Canada or New France Estotiland Mexico the most Southern the best and most populous Part of all this Peninsule has on the East the Gulf of Mexico and on the West the South Sea The same reaches from the Isthmus of Panama Southward to Rio del Norte in New Mexico Northwestward above 400. Leagues but the breadth of it is not proportionable It is called Mexico from the chief Province of that name as this is from the chief City the whole Kingdom is divided into three great Prefectures or Governments called by the Spaniards Audiencas viz. of Mexico of Guadalajara or New Gallicia and of Guatimala which comprehend several Provinces And as the Gulf borrows its name from hence so the whole Peninsule is sometimes called from it Mexicana This rich Kingdom belongs solely to Spain since the Conquest of it by Ferdinand Cortez Anno 1519. North of this Mexico you will find Nuevo Mexico or the New Mexico bounded Eastward with Florida and Westward with Mare Vermejo which parts it from California Florida ly's full North of the Gulf of Mexico and Carolina is counted part of it lying near the Sea and South of Virginia By Virginia as a general Name I mean all that Sea-Coast Country which reaches North-Eastward from Florida as far as the Gulf or Bay of S. Laurence And so it contains chiefly Virginia properly so called New Sweden the New Netherlands New-England and Acadia Canada or New France ly's on both sides of the River Canada And on the West side you will find the Saguenay a part of New France so called from a River of that name which runs into the Canada Estotiland comprehends those Regions that lie most towards the North and East Bounded Eastward with the main Ocean Northwards with Hudsons Streights Westward with Hudson's Bay and on the South with Canada or New France There is nothing but the Sea-Coast of it discovered The same is also called Terra Corterealis or Corterealis Ora from Corterealis a Portugueze who in the year 1500 left his name unto it It has likewise got the name of Terra de Labrador and now the French call it Nouvelle Bretagne that is New Brittany from a French Province of that name One Thing is Observable concerning this Peninsule that most of the Western Parts as being furthest from Europe are still undiscovered But Northwards you will find some Parts of it bearing the Name of New North-wales New South-Wales and West of these New Denmark The Southern America I divide into these chief Parts Viz. Terra firma Brasil Paraguay Magellanica Chili Peru Amazonia Terra Firma in Spanish Tierra Firme comprehends those Regions which lie most towards the North. As Terra firma properly and specially so called the Governments or Country's of Popayan Cartagena S. Martha Rio de la Hacha and Venezuela the new Realm of Granada Paria Caribana and Guiana All which belong for the most part to Spain Brasil which takes up the most Eastern Parts and does chiefly belong to Portugal is divided into several Capitanias as the Portugueze call them or Prefectures the Principal of which is Capitania de Siara The Rest are of a less compass and bear for the most part the names of their chief places or Principal Rivers As Capitania de Para de Maragnan de Rio grande Parayba Tamaraca Pernambuco Bahia Ilheos Porto Seguro Spiritu Santo Rio Janeiro and S. Vincente But all this is only by the Sea-side the Inland Parts being left I suppose for our Posterity to plant Paraguay ly's South and West of Brasil and doth chiefly belong to the Spaniards It is called Paraguay from the great River of that name otherwise named Rio de la Plata which runs through the midst of it The same is at present divided into Paraguay properly so called Guayra Parana Uraguay the Province of Rio de la Plata Chaco and Tucuman Magellanica ly's South of Paraguay and reaches to the very Streights of Magellan where this Peninsule like Africk draws towards a point not unlike that of a Pyramis This wild Country has the Prospect not only of the Streights aforesaid Southwards but also of the North-Sed Eastward and part of if of the South Sea Westward Chili is a Sea-Coast Country upon the South-Sea West of Magellanica Most part of which and that towards the North is subject to the Crown of Spain Peru a Country famous for
A NEW COSMOGRAPHY OR SURVEY Of the Whole WORLD In Six Ingenious and Comprehensive Discourses With a Previous Discourse being a New Project for bringing up Young Men to Learning Humbly Dedicated to the Honourable HENRY LYTTELTON Esq By GVY MIEGE Gent. LONDON Printed for Thomas Basset at the George in Fleet-street near St. Dunstans Church 1682. ADVERTISEMENT MR. Miege the Author of this Book Teaches Geography both at Home and Abroad with the Use of Globes and Maps This is that Noble Science which gives an Account of the World wherein we live of its several Countrys Mountains Capes Seas Lakes Rivers Towns and Citys Provinces States and Kingdoms A Science without which one cannot he a good Historian or a compleat Statesman and which is no small Ornament to any thing of a Gentleman Therefore it is so Taking beyond Sea but in France especially that there are few Men of any Note or Fortune but are brought up to it And we find by Experience that of all Study's Young Gentlemen are put upon None is so Acceptable and Welcome to 'em and indeed None so fit for Them as the Study of Geography For as it is not only Genteel and Useful but also very Delightful so a short Time with a little Application and Help will serve to conquer it Which makes me Confident 't will be well Relish'd Here especially if it be Seasoned with apposite History The Author lives at his House next to the Nags head in James-street Covent Garden Where he is now preparing for the Press a large English Dictionary of Geography both Ancient and Modern Inriched with History A Work that will be of great Use to all Gentlemen Scholars Merchants Travellers and generally all Lovers either of Geography or History The TABLE The First Discourse Being an Introductory Discourse or a new Project for bringing up Young Men to Learning Page 1. The Second Discourse Of the Heavens and the Stars thereof with a particular Account of the Sun and Moon p. 14. The Third Discourse Of the Air and Meteors p. 35. The Fourth Discourse Of the Terr-Aqueous Globe in General and the Earth in Particular p. 53. The Fifth Discourse Of the Waters p. 76. The Sixth Discourse Of the National Parts of the Earth p. 104. The Seventh Discourse Of the Use of Globes and Maps with their several Circles p. 129. A NEW COSMOGRAPHY OR SURVEY Of the whole World The First Discourse Being an Introductory Discourse or a New Project for bringing up Young Men to Learning PHilalethes What think you Sophronius of the Way used now adays to bring up Youth Sophronius 'T is doubtless an odd kind of way and if Men be out in any Thing 't is in this For 't is undeniably true that Children are brought up like Slaves till they come to the age of fourteen or fifteen years or thereabouts And what for to make them learn against the grain perhaps a mouth-full of Latin For of a hundred Scholars that spend the prime of their Age in this Torture I dare affirm there is not the tenth part that after seven years Apprenticeship can justly boast to have conquered that Language Phil. 'T is true enough and I found it so by my own experience They pester Youth with a pack of hard Words and Rules that confound their Memory and stun their little Intellectuals and all this under the Standart of the Rod. For my part I am quite besotted with it and with much ado shall I come to my self again Sophr. Thus they make of a fine Language the Terrour and the Plague of Youth Who being incapable of apprehending the beauty thereof look upon it as a meer Scare-crow The Reason is because they are put upon it before their Memory be strong enough to retain so many strange words and their Judgement ripe enough to apprehend the abstruse meaning of the Rules For it is not with the Latin Tongue as with Vulgar Languages which are learnt with much less difficulty because usually spoken Whereas the Latin Tongue as it is used now adays in England especially is in a manner but a Language for Books Phil. What course then my dear Sophronius would you have one to takes Sophr. This in my judgment would be the most proper way After that a young Lad has learnt to Read and Write and that he is pretty well instructed in the fundamental points of the Religion wherein he was born I would have him put upon some easie pleasant and useful Science until his Judgment were ripe for the Latin Tongue Phil. What is that you would have him learn Sophr. The State and History of the World and particularly of his own native Country A thing so easie to learn that it is not at all inconsistent with his tender Years So pleasant and so full of charming Variety that he cannot but be taken with it And withall so useful that he would lay this up as a Treasure to be used in his riper Years Thus I would have him to apply himself to two Things Geography and History Geography that would shew him the Extent of the habitable World it's Continents Islands States and Provinces Towns and Cities its famous Mountains Seas Lakes Rivers and other Curiosities By History he should see the different manner of living amongst Men their several Languages Religions and Governments together with the various Changes and Revolutions of States Phil. Oh! had I but taken this course I should not have been laugh'd at as I was not long since in a Company for confounding by meer Ignorance Swethland with Switzerland I should not be puzzled as I am reading the Gazette to know whether such a Place lies North or South and whither it is in Spain or Moscovy This is not all I am so little acquainted with the publick Concerns of the World that I am quickly mumped when there arises any Discourse of that kind in Company Sophr. Thus it is to be ill brought up in his Youth For my part I cannot conceive how any man that pretends to good Education can be so narrow-Soul'd as to live in this World as if it were all shut up in his Neighbour-hood nor how he can be satisfied if he read either History or Forreign News without some Knowledge of those Places which happen to be there mentioned Phil. The Truth is without it one is but half an Historian and to live in the World without a competent knowledge of the same is properly to see no further than his Nose and not to know whereabouts one is This is I confess my Case and truly I blush at it But if ever I have a Son to bring up I am resolved it shall not be so with him Sophr. Thus where a Young Man has made a considerable Progress both in Geography and History wherein young people take delight I would have him disposed of for the Latin Tongue especially if his Fancy should lead him to it Phil. But can no Expedient be found out to learn it in less time
from those which are in the same condition or from them who being in health do but make sport with the. Sick What Cordial think ye is the smell of Pitch and Tar What Lodging a Hammock hung up in the Air or a close and fusty Cabbin It makes me dry to think of their Salt Vittles and my Teeth as strong as they are tremble with the very Thoughts of cracking a Stone-hard Bisket when I might have a new Roll at home And to digest those hard Vittles what Place is there to walk in A Deck so tossed to and fro that every step one runs the hazard of a fall and of a boisterous rude Sea about ones ears into the Bargain Sophr. What a fine Speech you made now Philalethes I see you can make the worst of any Thing But I am sorry to see you so unmanly and all your Rhetorick serves only to set out your Faint-heartedness I wonder how you dare venture to go along the Streets for the Tiles may chance to tumble upon your head and how can you with a safe conscience walk the length of your Room when who knows but that you may shake the Foundations of the House I see you are in a Fright and therefore let us leave the Sea to take a view of the chief Lakes and Rivers But you must know before-hand Philalethes that some of them are like so many Seas Phil. 'T is no matter Their Name is not so formidable Sophr. What think you then of the Caspian Sea in Asia which in truth is but a Lake but bears the name of Sea by reason of its vast Compass being no lest than 260 Leagues long and at least an 100 broad Phil. This is a fine Lake indeed Sophr. The Greatest we know of Next to which there is another according to Sansons Maps about half the bigness of that called by the name Carantia which he places almost in the heart of the Asian Tartary In Africk you will find the grat Lakes of Zaire and Zaflan In the Northern America the Karegnondi and other Lakes adjoyning to it the length of which is not yet fully discovered And. in the Southern America the great Lake of Parime through the South part of which runs the Equinoctial This is at least 120 Leagues in length and 50 where broadest Our Europe also is stocked with a great many fine Lakes As in Moscovy the Ladoga and the Onega and in Sweden the Wener And about the bigness of these are the Beruan in the Asian Tartary Chiamay in the East Indies the Lakes of Niger Borno and Guarda in Africk Ontorio Eric and the Lake of Nicaragua in the Northern America Lago de los Xarayes Cassipa and Titicaca in the Southern America I pass by the Lakes of Constance and Geneva of Ilmen in Moscovy the Dead Sea in Palestine and a great many other of good note in all Parts of the World Which though they be lookt upon as great Lakes if compared to those of the lesser sort yet are much inferiour to the foresaid in bigness And as Lakes differ in Bigness so they do in Figure For some are Round some Long and others Oval Phil. Is their Water sweet or not Sophr. It is sweet for the most part But there are some indeed whose Water is Salt as the Caspian Sea aforesaid and the Dead Sea in Palestine And this must be either by some secret Intercourse they have with the Sea or else by some Salt Springs thereby these Lakes are fed One Thing Philalethes is remarkable about the Lake Leman otherwise called the Lake of Geneva which is about 16 Leagues in length and 4 broad where it is broadest That whereas both Lakes and Rivers do generally decrease in Summer-time this Lake swells most in the heat of that Season And the chief reason they give for 't is the Thawing of the Snow which comes down into it from several parts of the Alps. Phil. But how came the Dead Sea in Palestine by that name Sophr. 'T is thought it came to be called Sea by reason of its Length and Saltness being about 70. miles long and 16. broad and furnishing with Salt the whole Country But it is called the Dead Sea in Latin Mare Mortuum either because it has no visible Efflux or because no living Creature is nourished in it by reason of the bituminous savour it sendeth forth from whence it has been called Asphaltis and Asphaltites Near this Lake it was that stood once the infamous City's of Sodom and Gomorrah before they were consumed with Fire and Brimstone Now you must know that many Rivers spring from Lakes and that Lakes are fed with Rivers So that there is a great and perpetual Intercourse betwixt Lakes and Rovers Phil. I am now pretty well acquainted with Lakes and I would gladly know what you have to say about the Rivers Sophr. The Principal Rivers of Europe are in Spain the Douro Tajo Guadiana Guadalquivir and Ebro in France la Loire la Seine le Rhone la Garonne in Italy the Po in Germany the Danube the Rhine the Elb the Oder and the Wesel in Poland the Nieper and the Duna in Moscovy Volga Tanais Duina In Asia there is the Euphrates in the Turks Dominions Indus Ganges and Menan in the East-Indies Kiang and Hoang in China Ghammas according to Sanson Oby and the Volga aforesaid in Tartary In Africk you will find Nilus Nubia Niger Zaire Zambeze Zambere and Rio de Spiritu Santo or the Holy-Ghost River In the Northern America the Canada or St. Laurences Rives Chucagua and Rio del Norto or the North River And in the Southern the Orenoque the Amazone Rio de la Plata Rio Parana and Rio Desaguadero Amongst which the Amazone is a most prodigious River and the greatest of the Known World Now there is this common amongst Rivers I mean their Windings and Turnings whereby the Land is most conveniently watred and irrigated And the great Rivers which are only to be found in Continents swell into their bigness by the continual Influx of lesser Rivers that empty themselves into them as they run down their Channels towards the Sea the general Rendezvous of all Rivers From whence it comes to pass most commonly that further a River runs from its Spring the larger it grows still Again as some Rivers are remarkable for their Length and Breadth so there are some of a notable Swiftness as the Rhone the Rhine and Danube in Europe the Euphrates and Tigris in Asia the Zaire in Africk the Saguenay a River of New France in the Northern America and the Amazone in the Southern Amongst which the Saguenay though but a mean River is reported to be of so strong a Current that it suffers not the Sea to flow up its Channel so deep that in many places it attains to a 100. fathoms And which is observable the same is narrower at the Influx of it into the great Canada than it is at the very head A Thing quite contrary
and Asia and the greatest part of the Northern America and in the Southern a small part of Africk and almost one half of the Southern America besides what has been discovered of Terra Australis Phil. Now for the Frigid Zones Sophr. These are also one Northern the other Southern And they both lie in the utmost Parts of the World the Northern betwixt the Arctick Circle and the Arctick Pole and the Southern betwixt the Antarctick Circle and the Antarctick Pole So that each of them contains 23. Degrees and a half which comes to 470. Geometrical Leagues or 1340. miles And they are called Frigid or Over-cold because being extreamly remote from the Course of the Sun through the Zodiack they partake but a little of its heat and have Its beams but oblique and without any reflection For which Reason and because of their constant Darkness in Winter-time for several Months the Ancient Geographers and Historians could not imagine these Zones to be at all Inhabited no more than the Torrid for its exceeding Heat But it proves a Mistake though 't is confessed as to the Northern Frigid Zone which is partly known to us that it is but thinly Peopled In which Zone part of Norway and Lapland in Europe is situate some part of Tartary in Asia and Terra Borealis Thus much for the eight principal Circles and the Use of them Now let us take a view of those inferiour Circles which are called Meridians and Parallels The Meridians or Circles of Longitude are those Lines which like the great Meridian go round the Globe from one Pole to the other And the Parallels or Circles of Latitude are those which cross the Globe on both sides of the Aequator You may suppose if you please as many of either sort as there are Degrees But lest the Names of Places and Country's should be darkned with so many Lines therefore in Globes and Maps these Circles do commonly lie at ten Degrees distance of each other And as by the Meridians you may find out the longitude of any Place in a Globe or Map so by the Paralles you may know the Latitude Phil. How so Sophronius Sophr. The Longitude you 'll find thus with a pair of Compasses First set one foot of your Compass in the place the Longitude whereof you desire to know and the other in the next Meridian to it whether it be on the right hand or the left From thence draw down your Compasses following still that Meridian till you come to the Aequator and there mark upon what Degree of the Aequator the foot of your Compasses which was upon the Place do's rest Then see upon the Aequator how many Degrees that is distant from the first Meridian and that is the true Longitude of the Place Phil. But then one must be ruled right or wrong by the great Meridian that 's set down in the Globe or Map Sophr. If you dont like it 't is but adding or bating the number of Degrees which makes the difference The Latitude is to be taken thus First set one foot of your Compasses upon the Place of which you design to take the Latitude and the other upon the next Parallel whether above or beneath Then draw your Compasses from that Place following still that Parallel till you come to the Meridian which is marked with the Degrees of Latitude and mark upon what Degree the foot of your Compasses which you did draw from the Place doth rest That you will find to be the true Latitude of the Place And of that Latitude are all Places Parallel to that how far soever they lie asunder East and West From what is said 't is to be concluded that all Places just under the great Meridian have no Longitude and those under the Aequator no Latitude Phil. I apprehend you Now I desire to know what is the meaning of Climates Sophr. A Clime or Climate is such a Space of the Terr-Aqueous Globe as is included betwixt two Parallels Phi. How many Climes then do you reckon Sophr. The Ancient reckoned but fourteen that is seven in the Northern and as many in the Southern Latitude Those in the Northern Latitude they called by the name of some famous City Island River or Hill through which the middle Parallel of the Climate passeth As 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And the Southern Climes opposite to those they called by the same Names by putting only before them the Particle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. But to those fourteen Climes some Geographers have added two more some five and others ten Phil. What is the Use of those Climes Sophr. To find out how long is the longest Day in any Place whatsoever For you must know that the longest Day under the Aequator is equal with the night that is 12. hours of Day and as many of Night But the further you go from the Aequator either Northwards or Southwards the longest Day is longer by half an hour in every Clime till they come to the length of 24 hours that is without any night Which length attained they increase no more by hours but by Months till they come to the length of half a year which is just under the Poles But this Division of the Earth into Climes is not generally approved of and that for these two Reasons First because it is as easie to find out the Length of Days for any Place as to find out the Climates and secondly because of their vast Inequality Therefore if we must divide the Terr-aqueous Globe into Climes the best way will be to divide each Latitude into nine Climes and so each Clime shall equally consist of ten Degrees Thus the Situation of any Place will be presently found out by the Degrees of Latitude As for Exemple Paris Rome and Venice being situate betwixt 40 and 50 Degrees of Northern Latitude shall be counted in the fifth Climate London and Amsterdam betwixt 50 and 60 in the sixth Clime Phil. But then how shall one find out the Length of Days Sophr. By the Degrees of Latitude without any more ado as you have it in the following Table Where by the 30 Minutes you must understand half an hour For as a Degree so is an Hour divided into 60 Minutes A Table shewing the Length of Days by the Degrees of Latitude Latitude Longest Day Deg. Min. Hours Min. 8 34 12 30 16 43 13 00 23 10 13 30 30 47 14 00 36 30 14 30 41 22 15 00 45 29 15 30 49 21 16 00 51 58 16 30 54 29 17 00 56 37 17 30 58 26 18 00 59 59 18 30 61 18 19 00 62 25 19 30 63 22 20 00 64 06 20 30 64 49 21 00 65 21 21 30 65 47 22 00 66 06 22 30 66 20 23 00 66 28 23 30 66 31 24 00 Now from 66 Degrees 31 Minutes to the Pole it self set at 90 Degrees we must account by the Months As Latitude  Deg. Min. Months 67 15 1