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344 Old-time Schools and School-books
The first two paragraphs quoted come under the heading " New Holland." This was the accepted name of Australia until the middle of the nineteenth century. The Dutch discovered the continent in 1616, but its size and shape were only vaguely known until Captain Cook explored most of the coast in 1770.
Some suppose that this extensive region, when more thoroughly investigated, will be found to consist of two, three or more vast islands, intersected by narrow seas.
Inhabitants. The black bushy beards of the men and the bone or reed which they thrust through the cartilage of the nose gives them a disgusting appearance ; which is not improved by the practice of rubbing fish oil into their skins as a protection from the air and moskitos ; so that in hot weather the stench is intolerable. The women are marked by the loss of the two first joints of the little finger of the left hand; as they are supposed to be in the way when they coil their fishing lines.
Manners and Customs in the United States. Travellers have observed a want of urbanity, particularly in Philadelphia ; and in all the capital cities, an eager pursuit of wealth, by adventurous speculations in commerce, by land-jobbing, banks, insurance offices, and lotteries. The multiplication of inns, taverns and dram shops, is an obvious national evil that calls loudly for legislative interference; for in no country are they more numerous or more universally baneful. Schools are spread everywhere through the well-settled parts of the country, yet the domestic regulation of children and youth is not duly regarded.
Language. The English language is the general one of the union, and is cultivated with great assiduity in all the principal cities and towns. All the classical authors in the English language have been reprinted in America, many |
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