Part 3

The oldest of the four great divisions of the world received its modern designation =Asia= from the Sanskrit _Ushas_, signifying “land of the dawn.” =Africa= traces its origin to the Phœnician _afer_, a black man, and the Sanskrit _ac_, the earth, a country. =Europe= owes its name to the Greek _eurus_, broad, and _op_, to see, or _ops_, the face, in allusion to “the broad face of the earth.” =America= honours the memory of Amerigo Vespucci, the Florentine navigator, who landed on the New Continent south of the Equator, the year after Columbus discovered the northern mainland in 1498. The name of America first appeared in a work published by Waldsemüller at St. Die, in Lorraine, in the year 1507. It is worthy of note that when Columbus landed in America he imagined he had set foot on part of that vast territory east of the Ganges vaguely known as India; therefore he gave the name of =Indians= to the aborigines. This also accounts for the islands in the Caribbean Sea being styled the =West Indies=.

The cradle of the human race bears the name of =Palestine=, or in Hebrew _Palestina_, meaning “the land of strangers,” agreeably to the native word _palash_, to wander. Palestine is usually denominated the =Holy Land=, because it was the scene of the birth, life, and death of the Redeemer. =Asia Minor= is, of course, Lesser Asia.

For the title of =Persia= we are indebted to the Greeks, who gave the name of _Persis_ to the region (of which the capital was _Persipolis_) originally overrun by a wild branch of the Ayrian race called the Parsa, meaning, in the native tongue, “the Tigers” [_see_ PARSEES]. The suffix _ia_, wherever it occurs in a geographical sense, expresses the Celtic for land or territory. Hence, Persia signifies the territory of the Parsa or Parsees; =Arabia=, the country of the Arabs, “men of the desert”; =Abyssinia=, that of the Abassins, or “mixed races”; =Kaffraria=, that of the Kaffirs, or “unbelievers”; and =Ethiopia=, the “land of the blacks,” according to the two Greek words _aithein_, to burn, and _ops_, the face. =India= denotes the country traversed by the =Indus=, or rather the _Hindu_, which name is a Persicized form of the Sanskrit _Sindhu_, “a great river,” rendered _Hindus_ in the Greek. Synonymous with the Celtic suffix just discussed is the Persian _stan_: consequently =Hindustan= signifies the territory traversed by the river _Hindu_, and peopled by the Hindoos; =Turkestan=, the country of the Turks; =Afghanistan=, that of the Afghans; =Beloochistan=, that of the Belooches; and =Kurdestan=, properly =Koordistan=, that of the Koords. The term =China= is a western corruption of Tsina, so called in honour of Tsin, the founder of the great dynasty which commenced in the third century B.C., when a knowledge of this country was first conveyed to the Western nations. It was this Tsin who built the Great Wall of China (or Tsin) to keep out the Barbarians. The Chinese Empire bears the description of the =Celestial Empire= because its early rulers were all celestial deities. =Siberia= is a term indicative of _Siber_, the residence of Kutsheen Khan, the celebrated Tartar prince, recognized as the ancient capital of the Tartars, the ruins of which may still be seen. Here again the Celtic suffix _ia_ has reference to the surrounding territory.

=Russia= constituted the country of the Russ, a tribe who overran it at a very early period. The Russian Empire was founded by Ruric, or Rourik, a Scandinavian chief whose death took place in the year A.D., 879. =Circassia= denotes the country of the Tcherkes, a Tartar tribe who settled in the neighbourhood of the river Terck. The =Crimea= received its name from a small town established in the peninsula by the Kimri, or Cymri, and known to the Greeks as _Kimmerikon_. =Finland= is properly Fenland, “the land of marshes.” =Sweden= is a modern term made up of the Latin _Suedia_, signifying the land of the Suevi, a warlike tribe of the Goths, and the Anglo-Saxon _den_, testifying to its occupation by the Danes. Norway shows the result of a gradual modification of the Anglo-Saxon _Norea_, and the original _Nordoe_, being the Scandinavian for “north island.” It is easy to understand in this connection how the old Norsemen, deterred by the intense cold of the Arctic Sea, took it for granted that the great northern peninsula was surrounded by water, without actually determining the fact. The native name of this country in modern times is _Nordrike_, _i.e._, the north kingdom.

=Britain= was known to the Phœnicians as _Barat-Anac_, or “the land of tin,” as far back as the year 1037 B.C. Some five hundred years afterwards the Island was alluded to by the Romans under the name of Britannia, which subsequently became shortened into Britain. =England= was originally _Engaland_, the land of the Engles, or Angles, who came over from Sleswick, a province of Jutland. Prior to the year 258, which witnessed its invasion by the Scoti, a tribe who inhabited the northern portions of the country now known as Ireland, =Scotland= bore the name of =Caledonia=, literally the hilly country of the Caels, or Gaels. The word Cael, or Gael, is a corruption of _Gadhel_, signifying in the native tongue “a hidden rover”; while Scot, derived from the native _scuite_, means practically the same thing, _i.e._, a wanderer. The Caledonians were the inhabitants of the Highlands, the termination _dun_ expressing the Celtic for a hill, fort, stronghold; the Scots were the invaders from =Scotia=, who appropriated the Hebrides and the Western Islands; whereas the Lowlanders were the Picts, so called from their description by the Romans, _picti_, painted men. These Picts were eventually subdued by the Caledonians and Britons from their respective sides. The Gaelic designation of what is now =Ireland= was _Ierne_, indicative of the “western isle.” Ireland is commonly styled =The Emerald Isle= owing to its fresh verdure.

Wales was originally =Cambria=, so called on account of the Cymri, or Kimri, who peopled it. The modern title of =Wales= was given to this province by the Anglo-Saxons, because they regarded it, in common with Cornwall, as the land of foreigners. Traces of the Wahl or Welsh still present themselves in such names as Wallachia, Walcheren, Walloon, Wallingford, Welshpool, &c. Thus we see that the prenomen _Wahl_, subject to slight modifications in the spelling, denotes any foreign settlement from the Saxon point of view. The Saxons, by the way, whose original settlement is determined by the little kingdom of =Saxony=, derived their name from the _seax_, or short crooked knife with which they armed themselves.

France was known to the Greeks as _Gallatia_, and to the Romans as _Gallia_, afterwards modified into =Gaul=, because it was the territory of the Celtiæ, or Celts. The modern settlers of the country were the Franks, so called from the _franca_, a kind of javelin which they carried, who in the fifth century inhabited the German province of =Franconia=, and, travelling westwards, gradually accomplished the conquest of Gaul. =France=, therefore, signifies the country of the Franks, or, as the Germans call it, _Frankreich_, _i.e._, the Kingdom of the Franks. All the western nations were styled Franks by the Turks and Orientals, and anything brought to them from the west invariably merited a prenomen descriptive of its origin, as, for example, FRANKINCENSE, by which was meant incense brought from the country of the Franks. =Normandy= indicates the coast settlement of the Northmen, or Danes; while =Brittany= comprised the land appropriated by the kings of Britain.

=Germany= was in ancient times known as Tronges, or the country of the Tungri, a Latin word signifying “speakers”; but the Romans afterwards gave it the name of Germanus, which was a Latinized Celtic term meaning “neighbours,” originally bestowed by the Gauls upon the warlike people beyond the Rhine. =Holland= is the modern acceptation of _Ollant_, the Danish for “marshy ground”; whereas =Belgium= denotes the land of the Belgiæ. The fact that the term =Netherlands= is expressive of the low countries need scarcely detain us. =Denmark= is properly Danmark, _i.e._, the territory comprised within the _marc_, or boundary established by Dan, the Scandinavian chieftain. =Jutland= means the land of the Jutes, a family of the Goths who settled in this portion of Denmark. =Prussia= is a corruption of _Borussia_, the country of the Borussi; and =Bohemia=, the country of the Boii, just as =Hungary= was originally inhabited by the Huns, a warlike Asiatic family, who expelled the Goths from this territory in the year 376. These Huns were first heard of in China in the third century B.C. under the name of _Hiong-nu_, meaning “giants.” =Poland= is an inversion of _Land-Pole_, the Slavonic for “men of the plains,” who first overran this territory.

=Servia= was styled by the Romans _Suedia_, the district peopled by the Suevi before they were driven northwards to their final settlement in the territory now called Sweden. =Montenegro= literally indicates “black mountain.” =Bosnia= is the country traversed by the river Bosna; =Moldavia=, that traversed by the Moldau; and =Moravia=, that traversed by the Morava. =Bulgaria= is a modern corruption of _Volgaria_, meaning the country peopled by the Volsci; while =Roumania= was anciently a Roman province. =Turkey= is more correctly written _Turkia_, the country of the Turks. This country also bears the style of the =Ottoman Empire=, in honour of Othman I., who assumed the government of the empire about the year 1300. =Greece= is the modern form of the Latin _Græcia_, from the Greek _Graikoi_, a name originally bestowed upon the inhabitants of Hellas.

=Austria= is our mode of describing the _Oesterreich_, literally the Eastern Empire, in contradistinction to the Western Empire founded by Charlemagne. =Italy= was so called after Italus, one of the early kings of that country. =Switzerland= is an Anglicized form of the native Schweitz, the name of the three forest cantons whose people asserted their independence of Austria, afterwards applied to the whole country. =Spain= expresses the English of _Hispania_, a designation founded upon the Punic _span_, a rabbit, owing to the number of wild rabbits found in this peninsula by the Carthaginians. The ancient name of the country was _Iberia_, so styled from the Iberi, a tribe who settled in the vicinity of the river Ebro =Portugal= was the _Portus Cale_, literally “the port Cale” of the Romans, the ancient name of the city of Oporto.

=Algiers= is a modified spelling of the Arabic _Al Jezair_, meaning “the peninsula.” =Tunis= was anciently known as Tunentum, the land of the Tunes; =Morocco= signifies the territory of the Moors; and =Barbary= that of the Berbers. The term =Sahara= is Arabic for “desert”; while the =Soudan= denotes, according to the Arabic _Belad-ez-Suden_, the “district of the blacks.” =Egypt= expresses the Hebrew for “the land of oppression,” alluding to the bondage of the Israelites. =Senegambia= was originally so named owing to its situation between the Senegal and Gambia rivers. The =Gold Coast= is that portion of Guinea on the West Coast of Africa where gold is found. =Guinea= is a native West African term meaning “abounding in gold.” In =Zanzibar=, properly written _Zanguebar_, we have an inversion of the Arabic _Ber-ez-Zing_, the “coast of the negroes.” =Zululand= is the country of the Zulus. By the =Transvaal= is meant the territory beyond the river Vaal; just as in Europe the Hungarians call a portion of their country TRANSYLVANIA, from its situation “beyond the wood.” =Natal= received its name from Vasco di Gama because he discovered it on the Feast of the Nativity. The settlements of the Dutch Boers in South Africa are designated the =Orange Free States= from the circumstance that their original settlers were emigrants from the Principality of Orange, in Holland. =Cape Colony= is the British colony in South Africa, so called after the Dutch settlement at Cape Town, which dates from the year 1652. The =Cape of Good Hope=, discovered by Bartholomew de Diaz in 1487, was so named (_Cabo de Bon Esperance_) by John II., King of Portugal, who, finding that Diaz had reached the extremity of Africa, regarded it as a favourable augury for future maritime enterprises.

The most southern point of South America was called Cape Hoorn (or, according to the English, =Cape Horn=) by Schonten, who first rounded it in 1616, after Hoorn, his native place in North Holland. =Patagonia= was so styled by Magellan in accordance with the Spanish word _patagon_, meaning a large, clumsy foot. It was from the fact of seeing the impressions of the large shoes (not, as he imagined, the feet) of the aborigines that he at once concluded the country must be inhabited by giants. =Chili= is a Peruvian word denoting the “land of snow.” =Argentina=, now the =Argentine Republic=, owes its name to the silvery reflection of its rivers. =Brazil= is a Portuguese term derived from _braza_, “a live coal,” relative to the red dye-wood with which the country abounds. =Bolivia= perpetuates the memory of General Simon Bolivar, “the Liberator of Peru.” =Uraguay= and =Paraguay= are both names of rivers; the former meaning “the golden water,” and the latter “the river of waters,” referring to its numerous tributaries. =Peru= likewise received its name from its principal river, the Rio Paro, upon which stands the ancient city of Paruru. The Brazilian term _Para_, however modified, is at all times suggestive of a river. =Pernambuco= means “the mouth of hell,” in allusion to the violent surf always distinguished at the mouth of its chief river. =Ecuador= is Spanish for Equator, so called by virtue of its geographical position. =Columbia= was named in honour of Christopher Columbus. =Venezuela= expresses the Spanish for “Little Venice,” which designation was given to this country owing to the discovery of some Indian villages built upon piles after the manner of the “Silent City” on the Adriatic Sea.

The term =Panama= is Caribbean, indicative of the mud fish that abound in the waters on both sides of the isthmus. =Costa Rica= is literal Spanish for “rich coast”; while =Honduras= signifies, in the same tongue, “deep water.” The name of =Nicaragua= was first given by Gil Gonzales de Arila in 1521 to the great lake situated in the region now called after it, in consequence of his friendly reception by the _Cacique_, a Haytian term for a chief, whose own name was Nicaro, of a tribe of West Indians, with whom he fell in on the borders of the lake referred to. The =Mosquito Coast= owes its name to the troublesome insects (Spanish _mosca_, from the Latin _musca_, a fly) which infest this neighbourhood. =Yutacan= is a compound Indian word meaning “What do you say?” which was the only answer the Spaniards could obtain from the natives to their inquiries concerning a description of the country. =Quatemala= is a European rendering of the Mexican _quahtemali_, signifying “a decayed log of wood”; so called by the Mexican Indians who accompanied Alvarado into this region, because they found an old worm-eaten tree near the ancient palace of the Kings, or _Kachiquel_, which was thought to be the centre of the country.

=Mexico= denotes the place or seat of Mexitli, the Aztec God of War. The name of =California=, derived from the two Spanish words, _Caliente Fornalla_, _i.e._, “hot furnace,” was given by Cortez in the year 1535 to the peninsula now known as Old or Lower California, of which he was the discoverer, on account of its hot climate. =British Columbia= is the only portion of North America that retains the name of the discoverer of the New World; but originally the whole of the territory now comprised in the United States bore the designation of =Columbia= in honour of Christopher Columbus. The term =Canada= is Indian, indicative of a “collection of huts”; =Manitoba= traces its origin from Manitou, the Indian appellation of “The Great Spirit.” =Ontario= comes from the native _Onontac_, “the village on the mountain,” and chief seat of the Onondagas; while =Quebec= is an Algonquin term signifying “take care of the rock.” =Labrador= was originally denominated _Tierra Labrador_, the Spanish for “cultivated land,” as distinguished from the non-fertile though moss-covered =Greenland=. =New Brunswick=, colonized in 1785, received its name in compliment to the House of Brunswick. =Nova Scotia=, otherwise New Scotland, was so called by Sir William Alexander, a Scotsman who obtained a grant of this colony from James I. in 1621. =Florida= was named by Ponce de Leon in accordance with the day of its discovery, to wit, Easter Sunday, which in the Spanish language is styled _Pascua Florida_.

The first British settlement in North America was claimed by Sir Walter Raleigh on the 13th of July, 1584, in the name of Queen Elizabeth, and called =Virginia= in her honour. =Maryland= was so denominated by Lord Baltimore (who gave the name of =Baltimore= to a neighbouring State), in honour of Henrietta Maria, Queen of Charles I. =Pennsylvania= denotes the colony founded “in the wood” by William Penn, the son of Admiral Penn, in 1681. This is usually alluded to as the KEYSTONE STATE, from its relative position to the other States. =Georgia= was named after George II., in whose reign this state was colonized; and =Carolina= (North and South) after Carolus II., the Latinized style of Charles II., by whom this state was granted to eight of his favourites. =Louisiana= was so called by M. de la Sale in the year 1682, in honour of Louis XIV. of France; while =Maine= and =New Orleans= received the names of existing French provinces. The title of =New Hampshire= was given to the state granted to him in 1629 by John Mason, in compliment to his native county in England; =New Jersey= complimented the scene of action whereon Sir George Carterat distinguished himself in the defence of Jersey Island against the Parliamentary forces in 1664; and =New York= (State) was denominated in honour of James, Duke of York, afterwards James II. [For =Michigan= see the great lake of the same name.] =Indiana= derived its name from the great number of Indians found here. =Alabama= in the native tongue, signifies “Here we rest”; =Nebraska= means “water valley”; =Ohio= is “beautiful”; =Massachusetts=, “about the great hills”; =Wisconsin=, “wild rushing channel”; =Kansas=, “smoky water”; =Tennessee=, “river of the great bend”; =Kentucky=, “at the head of a river”; =Mississippi=, “great and long river”; =Missouri=, “muddy river”; and =Minnesota=, “white water.” =Arkansas= conveys the same meaning as Kansas, with the addition of the French prefix _arc_, a bow. =Illinois= is a compound of the Indian _illum_, men, and the French suffix _oix_, a tribe. =Oregon= received its name from the Spanish _oregano_, wild majoram, which grows in abundance on this portion of the Pacific shore. =Texas= means “the place of protection,” in reference to the fact that a colony of French refugees were afforded protection here by General Lallemont in 1817; =Vermont= is, more correctly, _Verd Mont_, so called in testimony to the verdure-clad mountains which traverse this state; =Colorado= expresses the Spanish for “coloured,” alluding to its coloured ranges; while =Nevada= is Spanish for “snowy,” indicative of the character of its mountain ridges, the _Sierra Nevada_. =Connecticut= presents itself in the native Indian form _Quinnitukut_, meaning “the country of the long river”; =Iowa= is a French corruption of a Sioux term, signifying “drowsy,” or “the sleepy ones,” applied to the Pahoja, or Gray-snow tribe; =Astoria= was founded by John Jacob Astor, of New York, as a fur-trading station in the year 1811; and =Delaware= received its name from Thomas West, Lord de La Warre, Governor of Virginia, who visited the bay in 1610, and died on board his vessel at its mouth.

=Lake Superior= denotes the uppermost and chief of the five great lakes of North America. =Lake Erie= is the Lake of the “Wild Cat,” the name given to a fierce tribe of Indians exterminated by the Iroquois. =Lake Huron= owes its name to the French word _hure_, a head of hair; in reference to the Wyandots, whom the French settlers designated Hurons owing to their profusion of hair. =Lake Ontario= bears the denomination of the Canadian territory already discussed. =Niagara=, or rather, to give it its full name, _Oni-aw-garah_, expresses the West Indian for “the thunder of waters.” =Lake Michigan= signifies in the native tongue “a weir for fish”; and =Lake Winnipeg=, “lake of the turbid water.” The =Great Bear Lake= is indebted for its name to its northern situation [_see_ ARCTIC OCEAN]; and the =Great Salt Lake=, to the saline character of its waters.

Having disposed of the different countries, let us now consider the nomenclature of the principal seas and islands.

The =Arctic Ocean= received its name pursuant to the Greek _arktos_, a bear, on account of the northern constellations of the Great and Little Bear. The =Antarctic Ocean= denotes the ocean _anti_, against, or opposite to, the Arctic Ocean. The =Atlantic Ocean=, known to the Greeks by the name of _Atlantikos pelagos_, was originally so called from the Isle of Atlantes, which both Plato and Homer imagined to be situated beyond the Straits of Gibraltar. The =Pacific Ocean= was so named by Magellan, owing to its calm and pacific character, in striking contrast to his tempestuous passage through the Straits of Magellan, from which he emerged November 27, 1520. The =Caribbean Sea= washes the territory of the Caribbs, whose name means “cruel men.” The =Mediterranean Sea= expresses the Latin (_medius_, middle, and _terra_, earth) for the sea between two continents, viz., Europe and Africa. The =Adriatic Sea= indicates the Sea of Adrian or Hadrian. The =Baltic Sea= denotes, in accordance with the Swedish _bält_, a strait, a sea full of belts, or straits. The =North Sea=, the =German Ocean=, the =Indian Ocean=, and the =Irish Sea=, are names indicative of the positions of these respective seas. The =White Sea= is so called from its proximity to sterile regions of snow and ice; the =Black Sea=, because it abounds with black rocks; the =Red Sea=, on account of the red soil which forms its bottom; the =Green Sea=, owing to a strip of green always discernible along the Arabian shore; the =Yellow Sea=, from the immense quantity of alluvial soil continually poured into it by the Yang-tse-Kiang river; and the =Dead Sea=, because no fish of any kind has ever been found in its waters. The =Caspian Sea= preserves the name of the Caspii, a tribe who originally formed a settlement on its shores. The =Sea of Marmora= owes its designation to a small island at its western extremity which has long been famous for its marble (Latin _marmor_) quarries. The =Gulf Stream= is a warm current of water that issues from the mouth of the Amazon, immediately under the Equator, and after traversing the coast of South America, the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico, and the coast of the United States, makes its way across the Atlantic directly for the British Isles, raising the temperature of the water through which it passes. The =Horse Latitudes=, situated between the trade winds and the westerly winds of higher latitudes, and distinguished for tedious calms, received this name because it was in this portion of the Atlantic the old navigators often threw overboard the horses which they had undertaken to transport to the West Indies. The southern banks of the West India Islands, and the water extending for some distance into the Caribbean Sea, were formerly known as the =Spanish Main=, from the fact that the Spaniards confined their buccaneering enterprises to this locality.