perpendicular sides several hundred feet deep, and but a few feet wide. Some are entirely inaccessible, having neither outlet nor inlet; deep, gloomy cracks descending into the bowels of the earth to an unfathomable depth, even below the bed of the Pacific Ocean. The bottoms are beyond sight; and the echo from the falling stone, fades away before it reaches the ear. In others, the meandering streams are seen thousands of feet below. The cañon of Rio Colorado has been ascertained to be 11,000 feet deep!

The "government" of a territory is created by an act of Congress; and is subordinate to the federal government. As the population of the United States has expanded, new territories have been formed; and then, within a few years after, a new, independent, and sovereign state is admitted into the Union. We will illustrate the case by taking Kansas and Nebraska as examples. In 1854, the Congress of the United States passed a law, permitting the settlement and organisation of these territories, which, up to that time, were occupied by the Indians. The president, immediately thereafter, appointed the governor, secretary, judges, and marshal for each of them. The people rapidly settled on the lands, and established towns. A territorial legislature was organised in each, for the enactment of local laws, conformably to the acts of Congress. When the population of Kansas equalled in number the congressional apportionment (93,423), the people applied to Congress for admission of that territory into the Union as a sovereign and independent state. It was agreed to by Congress. (1861); then the new state was organised under its constitution, and elected its national senators and representatives.

I

While under a territorial government, Kansas had a delegate in Congress, through courtesy; but he had not the privilege of voting. He could speak, and take part in all other proceedings. Nebraska, organised at the same time (1854), continues under a territorial government, the same as New Mexico, Washington, Utah, &c. There is no minimum population required by law, to entitle a territory to be admitted into the Union; nor for the organisation of a territorial government. The necessities of the inhabitants, and the public good, are the considerations with Congress. Oregon was admitted in 1859, with but 52,464. New Mexico has 93,541, and Utah has 40,295 inhabitants; both of which are under territorial governments, and each has a delegate in Congress. When a new state is admitted into the Union, the president's power over that jurisdiction ceases; his governor, judges, and other officers retire, and new officials are elected by the people. Like the youth, in minority he is under his guardian; but on arriving at his majority, he becomes the master of his own destiny.

The Indian territory is under the government of Indian tribes. They have their own legislature; enact all needful municipal laws, and enforce them through their own administrative officials. Their laws are monuments of enlightenment, humanity, and philanthropy.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

This district is situated on the north bank of the Potomac river, and is under the jurisdiction of Congress. The constitution authorises Congress to exercise legislation

over a district of territory not exceeding ten miles square. When it was determined to locate, permanently, the seat of government on the banks of the Potomac, the states of Maryland and Virginia authorised a cession of territory for the purposes of the federal government. In 1788, the state of Maryland passed an act to cede to the government a district of land, ten miles square. In 1789, the state of Virginia passed a similar act. In 1790, Congress accepted of these cessions, and a district was laid out, taking about half from Maryland and about half from Virginia-the lines crossing the Potomac river, so as to include Alexandria in the district. The seat of government was named after WASHINGTON; and the territory, the DISTRICT OF CO

LUMBIA.

The government of the District of Columbia is vested in the Congress of the United States. The charter for the city of Washington permits municipal administration; but Congress is the sole legislative tribunal for the district: the president is the executive; and the judiciary powers are vested in courts established by Congress. The Supreme Court of the United States sits in Washington; but, for the district, there are distinct courts for the trial of all cases of common law and equity; and besides, there is a district federal court. The judges of all these courts are appointed by the president.

CHAPTER III.

The Climate of the States; Sleets in the Mississippi Valley; Tornadoes and Hurricanes; Health in the Southern States; Longevity of the White and Negro Races.

IN the United States there is a greater variety of climate than is to be found in any other equal divisional area of the earth's surface. In general it is salubrious, though at times of extreme heat or cold. The states occupy a wide belt between the torrid zone and the Arctic regions-sufficiently distant from each, however, as not to be within the oppressive heat of the former, and the frosts of the latter. The climate of this great belt between the Atlantic and Pacific, is varied; that is to say, on any given line of latitude-for example, 36° 30′-between the oceans, the degrees of heat and cold are not the same. On the Atlantic coast there is one variety; within the Appalachian mountain range, it is much colder; in the Mississippi valley it is more mild; directly east of the Rocky Mountains, the degree of frost is greater; between the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevada, the winters are very severe; and upon the Pacific coast, there is less cold than occurs in either of the other divisions. These different climatical zones differ one from the other. This line of latitude traverses regions, some of continual green, and others of perpetual snow.

In the states north and east of the Hudson river, the

winters are severe; and in summer there are days of excessive heat. In Boston, and in other parts of the New England states, the thermometer, in winter, frequently ranges between 30° and 40° below zero; and, in summer, between 90° and 100° above zero, in the shade. Sometimes the changes are very sudden, especially upon the coast. The snows are frequent; occasionally the fall reaches twenty inches per day; and when with wind, the drifting is very great, filling up the valleys, railway cuts, and ordinary highways; many times interrupting travel for two and three days. The frost commences early in the autumn, and continues until late in spring. On account of the shortness of summer, and the general sterility of the soil, the northern states produce but limited quantities of agricultural commodities, though the farming in those states is conducted upon the most economical principles. The larger proportion of the inhabitants is engaged in manufactures; and the surplus population, which cannot find employment in any of the industrial pursuits common to those states, migrate to the great west; and hence the decennial census does not show the natural increase of their inhabitants. Along the coast, the east winds are very cold and damp, producing pneumonia and other pulmonary diseases. The people are exceedingly industrious, and their longevity is frequently determined by the degree of their physical exertion. The ice forms upon the lakes and rivers, some twenty inches thick; and it has become a commercial commodity. New England lies in the same latitudes as Spain and Italy, and yet there is a greater degree of cold in these American