GEOGRAPHY, OR THE WORLD WE LIVE IN.

Maori Messenger : Te Karere Maori, Volume I, Issue 8, 1 November 1855, Page 9

GEOGRAPHY, OR THE WORLD WE LIVE IN.

Chapter VI. We have now ended the description of Europe and Asia and Africa, and must begin to describe America. We speak of it last, because it was not known to our forefathers. It was not till the Portuguese were sailing round Africa, on their way to India, that it was discovered. Some people thought the voyage round the Cape of Good Hope was too long, and said it would be better to sail straight to the westward and find a short way to India. Some Portuguese ships had sailed to the west till they reached several little islands. They landed there and named them the Azores. But the man who first discovered America was an Italian named Columbus. He was a sailor, and had for years been up and down from one land to another. His delight was to visit and explore new countries. He had long believed that if he were to sail westward he should reach India. He was laughed at by his friends, but this did not change his opinion. For eight years he lived in Spain, continually urging the king to give him some ships for the voyage. The king at last unwillingly consented, and let Columbus have three small leaky vessels ; they were not bigger than large schooners. These vessels had great oars, or sweeps, for the sailors to use when there should be no wind. He took a great deal of food on board—for who could tell when they might see land. The sailors were very unwilling to go with him. They only agreed to go for fear of the king's displeasure. At last they sailed, and soon landed at the Azores. They had to wait there to repair the ships. As soon as all was finished they sailed due west, no one knew where ; they had only the compass to guide them. The wind was fair day after day. They never had to shift or take in sail. For two weeks they sailed on with this fair wind. Then the sailors got frightened. There was a great quantity of seaweed floating on the top of the water. All round the ship, as far as they could see, the sea was covered with these weeds. The sailors said—"no doubt the sea ends here ; we have come to shallow water, and there are hidden rocks below, and if we try to sail further the ships will strike on these rocks and be dashed to pieces." Columbus, however, was not afraid. He urged the sailors, to go on. They sailed on again—on, on; but still they saw no land. Then the sailors

began to murmui>.again, and said to Columbus—"We must go back. It is now four weeks since we left the Islands. There is no land beyond." Columbus answered—" Let us wait three more days. We will still sail on, and if then we havenot reached land we will return." This they agreed to; and so they sailed on, on, and then they knew they were getting near land Some one saw a carved stick floating on the water. Then a branch of a tree was seen with red berries on it. On the third day, towards evening, they sighted an island. When the day dawned, they landed. They found people on the island, who were very kind and hospitable to the strangers, and gave them kumaras and corn to eat. They were fine looking people; quite naked ; their skins were not black. Their canoes were small, like the Maori tiwai. Columbus went round the island to explore it. When he saw the cotton-tree growing there, and the people wearing gold ornaments, he said to himself, this must be one of the islands oF India. This was, of course, a mistake of his. He sailed from thence to some much larger islands—ti Cuba and Hayti. The natives there also wero very hospitable to him and his men. He soon after sailed back to Europe. They had been seven months and a fortnight away when thev landed in Spain. The king and all his people received them with great joy. They all supposed that he had found a short route to India. Columbus soon sailed again, and many other ships now accompanied his. Some sailed to the islands; some sailed to. the mainland. Some sailed along the seacoast, southwards, till thev reached the narrow isthmus of Panama. The Spaniards landed, and crossed the isthmus, and reached the shore of the Pacific ocean. Great was their delight and wonder at findinjr this new sea. They built a city in the middle of the isthmus and called it Panama. After Columbus's death, when the country had been carefully explored, it was found that it was a new land, and not India as he supposed It was then called America. But the name which Columbus gave to the islands still remains; we call them the «West Indies." When the Spaniards crossed from the islands to the mainland, they landed first in Mexico. It lies to the north of Panama. The Mexican* were tall men, not darker than Maories. Thev were not tatooed. The country was full of people, who were very wealthy. ~The Spaniards found corn growing in Mexico It was first brought from there to Europe and elsewnere. It "is still called " Indian com." Columbus gave it the name. The Mexicans had one very large city, inland, built by the side of! a lake. The Spaniards wondered to see sol many fine houses and huge idol temples there.i Ihe Mexicans were very skilful in carving and weaving, and in other European trades. The religion of this people was verv evil and cruel.

They offered men as sacrifices to their Gods. The walls of their temples were all stained with human blood. Some of the Spaniards tried to teach them- to worship the true God. But the Mexicans did not readily listen to them. The Spaniards, behaved so cruelly to their menof the Spaniards went northwards as far as California. There was no gold then found there. Others sailed from Panama, southwards, along the shores of the Pacific ocean, till thev reached Peru. They found a gentle, mild people Hving there, who received the strangers in a most friendly manner. They thought these strangers must be gods. They had never seen ships or horses, or men with white skins before. There were an immense number of inhabitants in Peru. The soil- of Peru is not good. Hardly any rain ever falls there. It was only through the industry of the people that there was abundance of food. They dug trenches in all directions to bring water from the rivers to their plantations ; and they used to fetch the dung of sea fowls from rocks far out to sea. to enrich the dry soil. The people of Peru had manv verv good laws. No one was allowed to be idle. There were ofheers appointed to divide out the land, that every man might have enough to grow food on for himself, his wife and his children. The strong, were expected to provide food for the old men and women and for the sick. The Peruvians were very careful that all the food grown- in one year should not be used up and wasted. Some portion was always stored up; and so if a. year of scarcity came, there was still enough left for the people to live on. The Spaniard's found many new animals in Peru. _ One, called the Llama, is verv like the camel in. appearance, only smaller. It is of great use there for it can climb the steepest hills. Peru is a very mountainous country; carts cannot be used ; and the Llama is trained to carry all packages. Its wool is very soft and fino, and is woven into cloth. There is a great deal of gold and silver in Peru. The religion of the people was not so evil as that of the Mexicans. They worshipped the sun. They had kings to rule over them, and supposed that these were descended from the sun, —that they were his children^ The Spaniards did not settle down peaceably in Peru. They thought of nothing but how to get gold; and this greediness for gold led to wars and to slaughter of the Peruvians. At last, peace was made, and since then the two races have lived on there together. Some of the Spaniards travelled further southwards till they reached Chili. Chili has a very fertile soil: wheat, and vines, and oil, "row abundantly there. The Spaniards brought" the seed with them. And they brought also cows and horses from Europe, which soon multiplied in the land. The chief town in Chili is on the

sea coast. Valparaiso. To the south of Chili the land narrows in. The name of this part is Patagonia. It is very cold there and the people are wretch idly poor. They live chiefly on fish. Their clothes are mostly skins of the seal and of beasts. The Spaniards settled in Peru and Chili. Their towns aud villages lie along the shores of the Pacific. There is a great chain of mountains running from North to South—from Panama to Cape Horn—which prevent their spreading over the country to the eastward. These mountains are the Andes. They are very high—much higher than Tongariro. Some of them have volcanoes; and there are often violent earthquakes both in Peru and Chili. To the east of these countries lies a large tract of country called Brazil. It is very fruitful and is watered by many rivers. Three of these are very large. The Orinoco which runs northwards. The largest of all, the Amazon runs eastwards. And the La Plata runs southwards to the sea. These, rivers all rise in the Andes. The interior of Brazil is covered with thick forests. These forests are full of wild animals and monkeys and beautiful pairots. The rivers swarm with lizards and a kind of crocodile like, those in Egypt. The native peoplelive inland in the woods spoken of On the sea coast are many Portuguese towns When th« people of Portugal heard that the Spaniards hal settled in Mexico and in Peru and in other parts, soma thought they would also go and settle in other parts of America. So they came to Brazil and brought the coffee bush and the sugar cane and rice and cotton and planted them there. All these grow now in great abundance. On the south of Brazil are great plains uninhabited. Here are immense herds of wild cattle. The Portuguese brought cows into the country and they have multiplied all over the land. There is Gold in Brazil it is washed down by the floods from the mountains. And a great deal of iron and salt is found there. It is dug from mines. The chief town of Brazil is Rioj Janeiro. '