Vickipedia

AMERICA, british. From the small beginnings specified in the general article above, British A., in the proper sense of the words, is now, in mere extent, at least equal to the American republic, and vastly superior to any other state in the western hemisphere�occupying, as it does, a breadth of about 90� of long, and stretching, with more or less interruption over a length of 120�. Besides touching, actually or virtually, every considerable power on the continent, England, in the new world as in the old, commands nearly every turning-point in navigation and commerce. In cooperation with Ireland, Newfoundland has linked together the two continents by submarine telegraph. Again, with the gulf and river of St. Lawrence as its main artery, British A., in its ordinary acceptation, comprising Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and the Canadas, confederated in one ‘Dominion,’ has received from nature an advantage in respect of the western mule winch even the energy of Pennsylvania and New York cannot counterbalance; Halifax, the Bermudas, and the Bahamas, are so many guardians of the gulf-stream, freighted as it is with the exports of half a continent. Jamaica forms the first link of a chain which girds the Caribbean Sea; Trinidad fronts the Orinoco, which is connected by the Cassiquiare with the Amazon; Western Guiana also, as already mentioned under another head, finds, up the Essequibo, its own communication with the ‘King of Waters;’ and, lastly, on the Atlantic side, the Falklands, with their Port Egmont, flank alike the river Plate and the Strait of Magellan. Round, again, in the Pacific, British A. exerts an influence, which is perhaps relatively greater. At the upper extremity of a coast which is, as a whole, singularly deficient in harbors, British Columbia, with its breastwork of islands from Vancouver’s upwards, and its succession of indentations, bids fair, more especially with its inexhaustible supplies of magnificent timber, to form an admirable base of operations for sustaining the maritime greatness of Britain.