美国简介

国土及其资源

1.地理与历史。——国家的生存，就像个人的生存那样，主要取决于两个因素：国家或个人在道德和精神方面的特质，以及有没有切实可行的进步机会。一方面，一个软弱而懒散的民族，比如西班牙裔美国人，只会轻微利用种种伟大的自然资源；而另一方面，一个强大而充满活力的民族，比如丹麦人，在冰岛或格陵兰之类的国家和地区也少有建树。在如今由美利坚民族所占有的领土范围内，这个强大的民族找到了其他同样大小的国家所没有的发展机会。塑造美利坚民族的自然环境，以及这个民族的主要特征，就变得像讲故事一样显而易见了。在本章中，对于仁慈的上天赐予加拿大以南、墨西哥以北的北美居民的种种非凡自然资源，我们将会进行简要的描述。如果不了解这一点，学习者去理解美利坚民族的形成和美国联邦政体发展的历史时，就会徒劳无功。

当然，本书这样做，并不是要夸大物质优势和劣势的作用。更何况，蒸汽机应用于交通运输领域，尤其是应用于陆地交通之后，许多自然力量的重要性已经大幅降低了。然而，我们应该记住，蒸汽机只是从1812年战争结束之后，才开始产生出巨大的影响。自此以后，我们才日益克服了种种由距离、山脉以及河道所构成的交通障碍。如今，蒸汽机使得西部牧区的农民也能够接触到世界各地的市场，并且比1820年纽约中部地区的农民要更加容易了。现代的科学发现，只是微弱地影响到了其他的自然力量，比如气候和降水。科学发现已经让人类能够更好地对肥沃的土壤和丰富的矿产资源加以利用了；而通过人工灌溉，贫瘠荒芜的山谷也已变成了果实累累的花园。然而迄今为止，科技还是无法增加干旱地区的降雨量，也无法调节气候，使之变得有利于农业生产。研习历史的学生，都应该注意科学发现在各行各业里的每一项重要应用，因为这种类型的许多科学进步，其影响都超过了政治变革所造成的影响。要是没有发明轧棉机，那么在19世纪初的25年间，和平地废除南部诸州的奴隶制度，也不是不可能的。而另一方面，若是奴隶制度曾经为合众国更多的地区带来了利益，那么这一制度可能就会牢固地确立下来，可能就不会被推翻了。在所有的自然力量中，气候和降水最为重要，因为无论是过于寒冷还是干旱少雨，都会抑制人类活动的发展。

2.Temperature of America and of Europe.—On this page and the following pages are maps showing the lines of equal temperature for Europe and North America.

It will be seen that those portions of Europe which have been the seat of the greatest activity and the abode of the highest civilization are situated between the lines of average annual temperature of forty and seventy degrees. These countries are Norway and Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Great Britain and Ireland, the Netherlands, France, Spain, Portugal, and Italy, —the homes of the races which have colonized the United States. The winter temperature of these lands is between twenty and sixty degrees, and the summer temperature between fifty and eighty degrees—so far as these temperatures are indicated by the lines for February and August.

Turning now to the western side of the Atlantic, it becomes apparent that these conditions are nowhere reproduced with exactness. A glance, however, suffices to show that the United States, as a whole, enjoys substantially the same annual temperature as western Europe as a whole, but the winters are much colder and the summers are much warmer in America than in Europe. A further remarkable fact is also revealed: the annual and the winter temperature lines turn sharply to the south as they approach the American coast and become pinched together. The summer lines, on the other hand, pursue a more direct westerly course, and some of them even trend to the northwestward. The southward trend of the two former sets of lines indicates that the valuable portions of eastern North America are far to the south of the corresponding portions of European lands. For example, the southern end of Greenland and the entrance to Hudson Strait are in the same latitude（sixty degrees north latitude）as the southern end of Sweden, but the winters are very much more severe in the former than in the latter. The cause of the failure of many early colonies is now evident. The old voyagers were ignorant of this great dissimilarity of climatic environment between Europe and America; they expected to find similar conditions prevailing on both sides of the Atlantic. They were further led into a confirmation of their error through the fact that their explorations were made in the summer, when the climatic conditions of the two sides of the North Atlantic most nearly resemble one another. For instance, Weymouth, who visited the coast of Maine in the summer, found a temperature which resembled that of southern France; but the colonists who came over in consequence of his favorable reports found a winter temperature like that of northern Norway.

Furthermore, the charts give average temperatures, and in this way tell only a portion of the story; for the extremes of heat and cold are much greater on the western than on the eastern side of the Atlantic. For example, Savannah has a mean winter temperature not unlike that of Cadiz, in Spain. The actual climate, however, is very different, as there are frosts at Savannah and none at Cadiz. It follows from this that tender trees, like orange trees, will thrive in the vicinity of Cadiz, but will be killed or seriously injured in the country around Savannah.

This difference in the winter temperature of the two sides of the North Atlantic is easily explained: the warm current of the North Atlantic bears the heat of the Gulf of Mexico and the tropical regions of America away from the eastern coast of that continent and gives it to the western coast of Europe. Moreover, the prevailing winds of North America are from west to east, —they are cold in winter and spring, and increase the difference in temperature caused by the action of the ocean currents.

2.美国和欧洲的气温。——本页和后续各页上，都是欧洲和北美洲的等温线地图。

可以看出，欧洲那些人类活动最为频繁的地区和文明程度最高的居住区，都位于年平均气温40度[3]和70度这两条线之间。其中的国家有：挪威、瑞典、丹麦、德国、大不列颠和爱尔兰、荷兰、法国、西班牙、葡萄牙和意大利——这些国家，就是拓殖合众国诸民族的故土。这些地区，冬季气温介于20度到60度之间，而夏季气温则介于50度到80度之间——这些气温，分别是用2月份和8月份的等温线来表示的。

现在让我们转而看一看大西洋的西面。很显然，这些条件在哪个地方都没有准确地重现出来。然而，只需瞥上一眼就足以看出，美国总体上的年度气温与西欧大致相同，但美国的冬季比欧洲的冬季要寒冷得多，而夏季又比欧洲要炎热得多。我们还可以看出一个更加值得注意的事实：年度等温线和冬季等温线在靠近美国海岸的时候，便都是骤转南下，并且开始汇合到一处。另一方面，夏季等温线则较直地向西延伸，有些等温线甚至有向西北方向延伸的趋势。年度等温线和冬季等温线向南延伸的趋势表明，北美东部重要地区所处的位置，远在欧洲大陆上相应重要地区所处的位置以南。例如，格陵兰岛的南端与哈得孙海峡的入口，都跟瑞典南端处于同一纬度（北纬60度），但在冬季，格陵兰岛却要比哈得孙海峡入口寒冷得多。早期很多殖民地无法拓殖下去的原因，现在就很明显了。以前的航海人，对欧洲和美洲气候环境的这种巨大差异一无所知；他们以为，大西洋两岸的气候条件都应该差不多。而他们又多是在夏季开始探险的，此时北大西洋两岸的气候条件彼此最为接近，故这个事实又进一步强化了他们的错觉。比如说，在夏季到达缅因州沿海的韦默斯，发现当地的气温与法国南部的气温很相似；可是，由于他充满溢美之辞的报告而来到此地的殖民者，却发现当地冬季的气温竟然像挪威北部那样寒冷。

此外，图表虽然给出了平均气温，但用这种方法，只说明了部分问题；因为大西洋西岸炎热和寒冷的极端程度，都要比东岸厉害得多。比如，萨凡纳冬季的平均气温跟西班牙的加的斯并无二致。然而，两地的实际天气情况却大不相同，比如在萨凡纳有霜冻而在加的斯则没有。由此可知，诸如橘子树这样娇嫩的树，栽在加的斯附近地区就会生长繁茂，而栽在萨凡纳附近的乡村，就会死掉或是受到严重的摧残。

北大西洋东西两岸冬季气温有着此种差异，原因很容易解释：北大西洋暖流会承载着墨西哥湾和美洲热带地区的热量离开美洲东海岸，并将热量携至欧洲西海岸。此外，北美地区的主要风向是由西向东——在冬、春两季，这种盛行风非常寒冷，从而也加剧了由于洋流运动而导致的气温差异。

3.Temperature of the United States.—The conditions as to currents of air and water on the western coast of the United States resemble those which prevail on the western coast of Europe. A study of the temperature charts discloses the fact that the lines, as they approach the Pacific shore, spread out to a very marked extent. Thus the line of mean annual temperature of forty degrees reaches the Pacific near the sixtieth parallel, fifteen degrees farther north than it leaves the Atlantic. The case is even more marked as to the winter temperature, as the line of thirty degrees leaves western Europe and western America in nearly the same parallel. The summer temperatures of the Pacific slope, however, are on the whole higher than those of western Europe.

In the interior of the two countries the difference is widely marked. A mountain barrier, the Cordilleran system, traverses the American continent from north to south, and effectually prevents the winds of the Pacific slope from moderating the climate of the interior; there is no such mountain barrier in western Europe. The winter lines, on leaving the Pacific coast, trend sharply southward, and the interior of the continent from the one hundredth meridian eastward has practically the same average temperatures as the Atlantic coast region in the same latitudes, but the extremes of temperature are even greater in the interior than on the eastern seaboard. The cold winds from the Cordilleras and from the frozen regions of Canada sweep down from the west and north, and produce great intensity of cold. On the other hand, in the summer time, hot winds frequently blow from the south and raise the temperature to a very high degree. The effects of these cold and warm “waves, ” as they are generally termed, are very great; the mercury is occasionally frozen in Wisconsin and Michigan, and even on the Gulf of Mexico the thermometer at Galveston, Texas, has been known to fall fifty-four degrees in eighteen hours. The hot waves often produce extremely high temperatures, reaching one hundred degrees in Iowa and the neighboring states, and frequently attaining ninety-two and over even on the shores of the Great Lakes, whose waters moderate the heats of summer.Owing to these conditions, the yearly extremes of temperature frequently reach to over ninety degrees, even on the seaboard, and often to one hundred and thirty degrees in the interior, —variations that are unknown in Europe.

The pinching together of the temperature lines in the eastern part of the United States denotes also another peculiarity of the climate. It means that within the comparatively limited area stretching from the St.Lawrence to the Gulf of Mexico, agricultural conditions prevail which in the Old World are associated with regions extending from the North Cape to the Desert of Sahara. This led at the outset to the establishment of many different employments with attendant differences of interests, habits of living, and modes of thought. This fact has exerted its influence by dividing the people of the United States into sections and, to a great extent, has determined the political history of the nation.

3.美国的气温。——美国西部海岸的大气和洋流运动情况，与欧洲西海岸的普遍情况很相似。研究一下气温示意图就可看出，各条等温线在靠近太平洋海岸的时候，就很明显地扩散开来了。因此，40度年平均气温线在太平洋上差不多触及了北纬60度线，比它离开大西洋时的位置要偏北了15度。就冬季气温而言，这种情况甚至更为明显，因为30度等温线离开欧洲西部和美洲西部时，所处位置差不多是在同一纬度。然而在夏季，太平洋斜坡的气温总体上都高于欧洲西部地区的气温。

在两大洲的内陆地区，气温差异则明显地更为巨大。科迪勒拉山系由北向南纵贯美洲大陆，形成了一道高山屏障，使得太平洋斜坡的海风完全无法东进，从而无法调节内陆地区的气候；在欧洲西部，却没有这样的高山屏障。各条冬季等温线一离开太平洋海岸，便向南急转直下，而美洲大陆从西经100度线向东的内陆地区，其平均气温实际上与同纬度的大西洋沿岸地区是一样的，只是内陆地区的极端气温比东部沿海地区要高得多。源自科迪勒拉山系和加拿大严寒地区的寒风，从西、北两个方向横扫南下，从而加剧了严寒的程度。而另一方面，夏季往往又会刮起炎热的南风，使气温升得很高。这种我们通常所称的“寒潮”和“热浪”，带来了巨大的影响；在威斯康星州和密歇根州，温度计经常会冻住，即便是在墨西哥湾地区，得克萨斯州加尔维斯顿的气温也会在18个小时内下降54度，这一点已经是众所周知的了。热浪常常会导致极端高温，使得爱荷华及相邻各州的气温达到100度，并且，就算是在有湖水可以调节夏季高温的五大湖沿岸地区，气温也经常会保持在92度以上。由于这些情况，所以每年的极端高温常常在90度以上，甚至沿海地区也是这样，而内陆地区则经常达到了130度——在欧洲，气温根本就不会这么多变。

在美国东部地区聚合到一起的等温线，还表明了气候的另一种特征。这种聚合，意味着在从圣劳伦斯河延伸到墨西哥湾的这一相对有限的区域内，农业生产的条件优于“旧大陆”上与从挪威北角延伸到撒哈拉沙漠这些区域有关的农业条件。这使得许多不同的行业从一开始就确立了下来，并且不同行业的从业者在兴趣、生活习惯和思维模式方面都有着相应的差异。这一事实已经发挥出了作用，非但将美国人民分成了不同的阶层，而且还在很大程度上左右了美国的政治历史。

4. Rainfall.—The temperature of a country determines its agricultural produce; thus Indian corn demands a good degree of heat, while cotton will not thrive without a greater intensity of heat.Corn, furthermore, is peculiarly sensitive to frosts, and will not mature where they occur early in the autumn.Apples will thrive in a region where the winters are severe, but one touch of frost destroys years of growth of an orange grove. Of equal importance is the amount and distribution of moisture. If the rainfall is excessive, the cotton plant, for example, makes a rank growth, or becomes so choked with weeds that it will not grow at all; but if it does not have abundant moisture, it will not thrive.Corn, on the other hand, absorbs moisture from the air, and will grow in seasons of drought, when other plants inevitably perish.

Experience has convinced observers that an annual rainfall of at least twenty inches is essential to profitable agriculture. It is true that a large number of important food plants, as corn, will thrive on a less amount of moisture provided it is well distributed. Unfortunately, however, as the average rainfall decreases below twenty-five inches, the variation in the precipitation increases out of all proportion to the total amount. A diminution of five inches in any one year would make little difference in a region of thirty inches of average rainfall, but it would be fatal to the year's crops in a region of twenty inches of annual precipitation. In fact, districts of less than twenty inches are essentially pastoral, and cultivation is only certain where the average rainfall is over twenty-five inches; although it is possible, but hazardous, in regions of twenty inches.Districts of from ten to twenty inches of rainfall are suited, as a rule, to pastoral pursuits, but below ten inches vegetation of a valuable sort practically ceases. Indeed, a rainfall of less than fifteen inches makes grazing extremely hazardous. On the other hand, a rainfall much exceeding fifty inches produces a rank growth harmful to most plants suited to the soil and climate of the United States, although a few plants, as rice and the sugar cane, demand an excessive amount of moisture.Regions of over sixty inches of rainfall are suited only to these plants, but cotton will thrive when the rainfall is as much as fifty-five inches, and it demands as much as forty inches.

The influence of the rainfall in limiting human activity is clearly shown in the following table, which should be studied in connection with the maps giving the rainfall and the density of population（pp. 321，406，484，584）.

Herewith is given a map showing the average annual rainfall of the United States. It at once appears that the country east of the one hundredth meridian enjoys an abundant rainfall, which gradually increases as one proceeds to the east and southeast.Extensive failures of crops are rare, although they sometimes occur from a lack of sufficient precipitation during the growing season; failures from an excess of moisture are even more rare.

West of the one hundredth meridian, especially in the summer, the rainfall rapidly decreases toward the west and southwest—the temperature rising as the rainfall declines. In this way are produced large areas of hot and arid lands ill fitted, or not fitted at all, to cultivation, or even to grazing, unless artificial irrigation is resorted to, excepting narrow strips along some of the river valleys. This dryness is due to the action of the high, cold mountains of the Cordilleran system, which induce excessive precipitation on their westward slopes. Indeed, by their extent and position, they condemn one fourth of the continent to sterility. The winters of this region are also longer and more severe than those of the country farther east.

This district of scanty rainfall extends to the coast ranges of the Pacific. The valley lowlands of the Pacific, with the exception of the valley of the Colorado, enjoy, not merely abundant moisture, but high temperature in the river bottoms, which rapidly diminish as the altitude increases. The result of these conditions is a marvelous cultivation; oranges and wheat grow within a comparatively short distance of one another. There are arid districts on the Pacific coast, and the rainfall is not evenly distributed; but the nearness of the rain-bearing mountains makes irrigation comparatively easy. The same system is also applicable to large regions east of the mountains, but the size of the districts requiring irrigation, and the distance of the water supply, make the carrying out of the enterprise exceedingly expensive. The returns from irrigated lands are usually large, and it is to be hoped that means will be found to develop the system in these warm arid regions west of the one hundredth meridian.

4.降水。——一个国家的气温，决定了其农业生产；例如，玉米需要充足的热量，而棉花若是没有更大的热量强度，就无法茁壮成长。此外，玉米尤其易受霜冻影响，倘若早秋出现霜冻，玉米就无法成熟。苹果在冬季严寒的地区也会生长得很好，可小小一场霜冻，就会毁掉一片成长了数年的橘园。同样重要的，还有降水量和降水的分布情况。比方说，如果降水量过多，棉花要么会生长过于茂盛，要么就会由于杂草丛生而完全无法生长；可如果没有充足的水分，棉花也是无法茁壮成长的。从另一方面来看，玉米却能吸收空气中的水分，所以在其他植物必定枯死的干旱季节，玉米也可以生长。

根据观测所得的经验，人们已经确定，年降水量至少要有20英寸（1英寸约合2.54厘米），才能让农业产生出效益来。确实，如果分配均匀的话，许许多多像玉米这样的重要农作物，在降水量低于这一数值的时候也会茁壮成长。然而，可惜的是，如果平均降水量减至25英寸以下，那么降水变化就会大增，完全与总降水量不成比例了。在一个年降水量为30英寸的地区，任何一年减少5英寸的降水，都不会产生太大的影响；但在一个年降水量只有20英寸的地区，这种减少却会毁灭性地影响到当年的收成。事实上，年降水量低于20英寸的地区，基本上都是牧区，只有在年平均降水量超过25英寸的地方，农耕收成才有把握；虽说在年降水量只有20英寸的地区也可以进行耕种，但收成却只有靠运气了。一般来说，降水量为10到20英寸的地区合适于发展牧业，但若是降水量低于10英寸的话，许多重要的植被几乎都是生长不了的。事实上，低于15英寸的降雨量，也会让牧业面临极大的风险。而另一方面，尽管有一些作物（比如水稻和甘蔗）需要过量的水分，但倘若降水量超过50英寸太多的话，就会让绝大多数适于在美国这种土壤和气候条件下生长的作物长势过于蓬勃，从而危及作物自身。降水量超过60英寸的地区，只适合于种植水稻和甘蔗这样的作物，不过，在降雨量多达55英寸的时候，棉花的长势就会很好，因为至少需要40英寸的降水量才能种植棉花。

下面这张表格，清楚地说明了降水量在制约人类活动方面所带来的影响，我们应当将它与各个降水图和人口密度图结合起来进行研究。

同样，下面还给出了美国的年平均降雨量图。我们马上就能看出，西经100度线以东的地区降水丰富，并且降水量还向东部和东南部逐渐增加。这些地区虽说由于生长季节降水不足而偶有歉收，但农作物大范围歉收的情况很少见；而由于降水过多而导致歉收的情况，就更为罕见了。

而西经100度线以西，尤其是在夏季，降水量则向西部和西南部迅速减少——随着降水量下降，气温则会上升。这样一来，除了一些河谷沿岸的狭长地带，就出现了大面积的炎热和干旱地区，除非依靠人工灌溉，否则这些地区就不太适合或者根本不适于耕种，甚至也不适于放牧。这种干旱，是科迪勒拉山系那些高耸而寒冷的山脉所造成的，该山系还使得这些山脉的西坡降水量普遍都过多。事实上，正是由于这些山脉的长度和位置，北美大陆的1/4才成了不毛之地。这一地区的冬季，也比更远的东部地区要更加漫长、更加寒冷。

这片降雨稀少的地区，一直延伸到了太平洋沿岸的各条山脉。太平洋沿岸的河谷低地，除了科罗拉多大峡谷，不仅有着丰沛的雨水，而且河边滩涂的气温都很高，但气温随着海拔的增加而会迅速降低。这些条件，使得这些地方的农业生产非常发达；柑橘和小麦，可以种植在相对不远的地区。太平洋沿岸也有干旱地区，这些地区的降水分布很不均匀；不过，由于紧挨着降水丰富的山脉，所以灌溉相对来说还是比较容易的。虽说太平洋沿岸山脉以东的大片地区也是这样，但由于需要灌溉的地区面积广大，浇灌距离又远，因此灌溉起来花费会极为巨大。灌区土地的收益通常都很可观，所以人们都希望，在西经100度线以西这些炎热干旱的地区，也能找出这样的灌溉办法来。

5.Land Configuration of North America.—Students of influence of history and geography have long been agreed that, within land config certain limitations as to rainfall and temperature, the physical formation of a country, the character of its soils, and the extent and variety of its mineral deposits exercise a decisive influence on the life of the people which inhabits it. To insure the best development, a country must offer easy access to the outer world. This is especially true of new regions, which require to be colonized from Europe. North America, especially that portion occupied by the eastern half of the United States, offers every inducement to the voyager to reach its shores. The lowlying Alleghany system, which protected the colonies from the savage aborigines of the interior, has proved to be easily surmountable by the railroad of modern times.

Before the days of steam, the Mississippi basin was practically inaccessible to colonists. Many writers speak of the Mississippi and the St.Lawrence as the keys or gateways to the continent. In a limited military sense this is true; but only in a limited sense. The St.Lawrence empties into the Atlantic far to the north, where the winters are severe. Its lower valley is very narrow and is beyond the home of Indian corn, the American food stuff, whose easy culture and great returns made colonization farther south comparatively easy. The lower St.Lawrence is in reality a fiordlike arm of the sea, and is navigable—though with peril—by seagoing ships. At Montreal, the seagoing vessel is stopped by a rocky barrier—the Lachine Rapids. It was easy for the Indian trader or the soldier to evade this and other obstacles to the interior; but it was practically impossible for the colonist to transport his family, implements, and supplies to fertile regions on the southern shores of the Great Lakes.Besides, the St.Lawrence is frozen over for one half of the year, and ice closes the lakes to navigation for nearly an equal period. The Mississippi is not frozen except in its northern portion, and its course is not barred by rocks for thousands of miles; but it offered no less insuperable obstacles to the colonists in its tireless current, winding course, and recurring shallows.Above New Orleans or Baton Rouge it is practically unnavigable by seagoing sailing ships. Moreover, the banks of the lower Mississippi are generally low and swampy and offer no inducement to the settler. It is only at a distance of eight hundred miles from the sea that they become inviting to agriculturists; and it was impossible for the colonist before the days of steam, to transport his family and household supplies so far against the current of the mighty stream. The real gateway to the interior was from the Atlantic seaboard of the United States, through the passes of the Alleghanies or around the southern extremity of that mountain system.

The Pacific coast is less inaccessible. The Golden Gate leads to the great lowland valley of the Sacramento and the San Joaquin; the Columbia affords access to fertile valleys, and Puget Sound opens up another region to the colonist; but a dangerous bar guards the mouth of the Columbia, and the entrance to San Francisco Bay is so masked by mountains, that early explorers did not even suspect its existence. The Pacific slope, moreover, was far removed from the colonizing centers of Europe, and its first settlers came, as a matter of fact, overland from Mexico, and not by water from Europe. A thousand miles of rugged valleys and stupendous mountains separates this region from the Mississippi basin. We will now examine the three geographical divisions of the United States more in detail.

5.北美洲的地形。——研究历史学和地理学的学者长期以来都一致认为，在一定的降水和气温限度之内，一个国家的自然地形、土壤特点、矿产资源的多少和种类，都对该国居民的生活有着决定性的影响。为了保证最充分地发展起来，国家必须提供通往外部世界所需的便利条件。对于新开辟出来的、仍需欧洲人来拓殖的那些地区来说，则尤其如此。北美大陆，尤其是美国东部一半国土所在的区域，有着无穷的吸引力，使得人们漂洋过海，踏上这片土地。阿利根尼山脉地势较低，虽说保护着诸殖民地，使它们不致受到内陆地区那些野蛮土著的骚扰，但最终却被现代的铁路轻而易举地征服了。

在发明蒸汽机之前，殖民者几乎根本无法抵达密西西比河流域。很多作家在谈到密西西比河与圣劳伦斯河时，都把它们称作通往美洲大陆的钥匙或大门。从狭义的军事意义上来看，这种看法是正确的；不过，我们只能从有限的意义上来这么看。圣劳伦斯河在遥远的北方注入大西洋，那里有着严寒的冬季。该河的下游流域非常狭窄，而且不再能种植玉米；玉米是美国的主要粮食作物，既容易种植，收成又很不错，从而使得拓殖南方那些更远的地区变得相对容易了。实际上，圣劳伦斯河的下游就像是大海的一处峡湾，虽说危险，但海船也可航行。在蒙特利尔，远洋船只被一道艰险的屏障所阻挡了；这道屏障，便是所谓的“拉欣急流”。印第安商人或士兵要避开这一屏障或其他障碍进入内陆地区很容易；但对于殖民者来说，要把家人、用具和生活用品都运送到五大湖区南岸那些肥沃之地去，这几乎是不可能做到的。此外，圣劳伦斯河还有半年的封冻期，而冰雪也会使得五大湖区在半年的时间里无法通航。密西西比河除其北段以外都不会封冻，而其几千英里的航道也没有岩石的阻隔；不过，此河湍流不息、航道曲折，还有着许多的浅滩，也给殖民者带来了诸多难以逾越的障碍。在新奥尔良或者巴吞鲁日上游，远洋帆船几乎都无法通航。况且，密西西比河下游河岸普遍来说地势低洼、沼泽密布，所以对殖民者没什么吸引力。只有距海800英里（1英里约合1.6千米）之外的密西西比河沿岸，才能吸引农民前去耕作；但是，在发明蒸汽机之前的时代，要逆着这条大河的洪流将家人和家居用品运送如此之远的距离，殖民者根本就不可能做到。通往内陆地区的真正途径，就是从合众国濒临大西洋的沿岸地区出发，经由阿利根尼山脉的诸多山口，或者绕经该山系的南端前往。

太平洋沿岸则没有那么难以通行。金门海峡通往萨克拉门托河与圣华金河的下游大河谷；哥伦比亚河能够通往土壤肥沃的河谷，而普吉特湾也向殖民者敞开了通往另一地区的大门；不过，哥伦比亚河河口有一处危险的沙洲，而旧金山湾的入口又被群山遮挡得严严实实，使得早期的探险者甚至都不知道有这样一个入口。此外，太平洋沿岸斜坡地区并非欧洲人殖民的中心；事实上，首批来到这一区域的殖民者是从墨西哥经由陆路而来，并不是从欧洲经由水路而来的。1000英里崎岖不平的峡谷和众多巨大的山脉，将这一地区与密西西比河流域分隔开来了。下面，我们就将更加详细地来审视一下美国的三个地理区域。

6. The Atlantic Seaboard.—This section extends from the water parting which divides the rivers falling into the Atlantic from those flowing into the Mississippi and St.Lawrence. It is about four hundred miles wide and two thousand miles long. It possesses sufficient rainfall, and a range of temperature such as is found on the other side of the Atlantic from the North Cape in Europe to Cape de Verde on the western coast of Africa, or from north of the Arctic Circle to south of the Tropic of Cancer. It is protected on the west by the Appalachian Mountain system, which extends from outside the limits of the United States to central Alabama. Never more than four hundred miles in width, it is divided into sections lengthwise by fertile valleys more than six hundred miles in length, extending southward from New Jersey to North Carolina. The western range（sometimes called the old Appalachian chain）seldom rises to more than five thousand feet, and is generally tillable throughout. The eastern range（usually termed the Alleghanies）is higher, and interspersed in all directions with fertile valleys.

The most important breaks in this long chain are those between the Hudson and the St. Lawrence by Lake Champlain, and between the Hudson and the Great Lakes by the valley of the Mohawk. The most important river of this region is the Hudson, which is really a fiordlike arm of the sea or a tidal river. For more than one half of its length, it lies between precipitous banks, and the influence of the sea is felt even above the mouth of the Mohawk. The low elevation of these breaks in the Alleghanies can be best understood, perhaps, from the statement that a rise in the sea level of one hundred and fifty-two feet would convert all the country east of the Hudson and Lake Champlain into an island, and a similar rise of four hundred feet would separate from the continent all that tract included between the St.Lawrence, the lower Hudson, the Mohawk, and the Atlantic. This fiordlike arm of the sea and the Mohawk valley were plainly devised by nature to facilitate communication between the fertile lands of the Ohio valley and the sea.Other passes, as Cumberland Gap, lead over the Alleghanies, but none have these easy grades. The seaport which controls the commerce of the Hudson is necessarily the greatest commercial center of the Atlantic seacoast.

The region extending from the Alleghanies to the sea is on the whole of remarkable fertility—not more than twelve thousand square miles of it is untillable. Near the coast are salt marshes, at present of slight use, but reclaimable.Between the mountain crest and the low-lying sea area, there is a sudden break in the continuity of the plain. This point is usually marked by falls in the rivers, which furnish, from Virginia northward, unrivaled water power for the turning of the machinery of mills. The whole region is well forested and suitable to the growth of wheat, corn, tobacco, and cotton. It contains some of the richest coal fields and beds of iron in the world, and is accessible to the sea in a manner comparable with no other land save western Europe. Everywhere splendid harbors, sheltered inland bays, and navigable rivers laid open the country to the seventeenth and eighteenth century colonist, and, in our own day, afford innumerable outlets for the staple products of the country.Great as are the natural advantages of the Atlantic slope, those offered by the Mississippi basin are even greater.

6.大西洋沿岸地区。——这一地区，由将注入大西洋的诸条河流与流入密西西比河、圣劳伦斯河的诸条河流隔开的分水岭开始延伸，宽约400英里，长约2000英里。本地区拥有充沛的降水，其气温范围同大西洋东岸从欧洲北角直到非洲西海岸佛得角，或者说从北极圈以北到北回归线以南的气温范围相同。其西面有阿巴拉契亚山系护卫，该山系由美国境外一直延伸到了亚拉巴马州的中部。本地区的宽度始终都在400英里以内，并且被一些肥沃的河谷纵向分成了几段；各段都超过了600英里，从新泽西州往南，一直延伸到了北卡罗来纳州。西部山脉（有时也称老阿巴拉契亚山脉）的海拔很少超过5000英尺（1英尺约合30.5厘米），并且通常全都适宜耕作。而东部山脉（通常称为阿利根尼山脉）则海拔较高，而且各个方向上都零散地分布着土壤肥沃的河谷。

这条漫长的山脉上，最重要的缺口就是哈得孙河与圣劳伦斯河之间的尚普兰湖，以及哈得孙河与五大湖区之间的莫霍克河谷。而这一地区最重要的河流则是哈得孙河，它实际上像是峡湾的一侧，或者说是一条潮汐河。该河长度的一半多，两岸均是险峻的河滩，并且即便是到了莫霍克河河口上游，也仍然能够感受到海洋的影响。阿利根尼山脉中这两处缺口的海拔都很低；要很好地理解这一点，不妨假设说海平面上升152英尺，那么哈得孙河与尚普兰湖以东的整个美国就会变成一个岛屿，而若是海平面上升400英尺的话，就会把圣劳伦斯河、哈得孙河下游、莫霍克河与大西洋围成的这片区域同整个北美大陆分隔开来。这条像峡湾一侧的哈得孙河，连同莫霍克河流域，显然是大自然为了让俄亥俄河流域的肥沃土地与海洋之间的交通变得便捷而造就的。其他的山隘，比如坎伯兰山口，虽说都是越过阿利根尼山脉，但坡度都没有如此平缓。因此，控制着哈得孙河上贸易的那座海港，必然就会成为大西洋沿岸最大的贸易中心了。

从阿利根尼山脉延伸至海的这片区域，总体上来说是极其肥沃的——只有不到1.2万平方英里（1平方英里约合2.59平方千米）的面积不适于耕作。近海地区都是盐碱地，虽说当时还没怎么利用起来，但这些盐碱地都是可以改良的。在陡峭的山峰与低洼的沿海地区之间，连绵的平原上突然出现了一条断裂带。这个断裂点，通常是以诸条河流的瀑布为标记，它们从弗吉尼亚向北而去，为各个工厂的机器运转提供了无与伦比的水力资源。整个地区植被丰富，适于种植小麦、玉米、烟草和棉花。这一地区还有着世界上最为富饶的一些煤田和铁矿矿床，并且可以直通海上；除了西欧之外，没有哪处大陆比这里的交通更便捷了。处处都有优良的海港、隐蔽的内陆港湾和可以航行的河流，它们都在欢迎着17、18世纪的殖民者来到这个国家，并且如今还为美国提供了无数种供出口的主要产品。虽说大西洋沿岸斜坡具有的自然优势如此了不起，但密西西比河流域所具有的优势，却要更加巨大。

7. The Mississippi Basin.—This section extends from the crest of the Alleghanies to the crest of the eastern division of the Cordilleran system, or the Rocky Mountains, as they are usually termed. It contains not far from one million square miles of land, nearly all of which is suitable to the uses of man. It is a nearly level area, sloping gently from the west and the east to the center, and from the north to the Gulf of Mexico. It is for the most part a table-land, varying from six thousand to three hundred feet above the sea level, trenched by flood-plain valleys along the paths of the principal rivers. With the exception of the flood plain of the Mississippi below the thirty-sixth parallel, the river bottoms are narrow, and the whole basin is free from the diseases and dangers of low-lying countries, to a degree equaled by no other very great river. A better idea of its vast dimensions may be gathered from the statement that the distance from the Gulf of Mexico to the mouth of the Ohio is eleven hundred miles, and from that point to Pittsburgh is fully one thousand miles more.

Measured by the amount of water contributed to the The Ohio main stream, the Ohio is the largest affluent of the Mississippi. A common misconception is to regard the Ohio valley as including only the portion north of the river, probably because of the situation of the state of Ohio. In reality, the valley of the Tennessee is as much a part of the Ohio basin as the valley of the Alleghany. This basin is the richest single division of the continent: the temperature is practically the same as that of the Atlantic slope; the rainfall is abundant; the soil is fertile and admirably suited to the production of corn and wheat, and the mineral resources are exceedingly rich. This basin was forest-clad at the coming of the whites, but there were large spaces of cleared land which could be at once utilized by the settler.

West of the Wabash, one of the tributaries of the Ohio, The prairies, there were no trees except in the river bottoms. This was owing to the Indian practice of burning the grass to provide fresh fields for the buffaloes or bisons. There is nothing in the natural condition of this treeless region as far west as the one hundredth meridian to prevent the growth of trees, and already they are springing up around the homesteads of the dwellers in those districts. West of the one hundredth meridian, until the slopes of the Rockies are reached, the rainfall is too scanty for tree life, and this is true of the Great Basin between the Rocky Mountains proper and the Cascade and Sierra Nevada ranges. This treeless region from the Wabash to the one hundredth meridian, including the valley of the upper Mississippi and the Missouri, is admirably fertile and suited to the growth of corn and wheat, the latter in the northern portion. The winters are severe, the summers are often excessively hot, and the rainfall is sometimes not sufficient for the growing plants. Taking everything into consideration, however, this district is the best wheat and corn country in the world. There are also large deposits of coal, and most valuable mines of iron, copper, lead, and zinc.

The soil of the lower Mississippi valley is exceedingly fertile, the rainfall is abundant, —often excessive, —and the climate is suited to the growth of plants which require a good deal of moisture, as cotton and the sugar cane. The flood plain has been subdued by the erection of dikes, known locally as levees, and only about six thousand square miles of this fertile region is too swampy for redemption, except at great cost. Taken altogether, and weighing the advantages and disadvantages, it may safely be said that there is no other land of its size on the earth's surface so admirably suited to the purposes of man as the basin of the Mississippi.

7.密西西比河流域。——这一地区，由阿利根尼山脉的山脊延伸至科迪勒拉山系东段山脊，通常又称洛基山脉。本地区面积大约100万平方英里，几乎所有土地都适合于人类来加以利用。这一区域几乎是一马平川，从西、东两个方向往中心地带并从北往墨西哥湾缓缓倾斜。大部分地区都是台地，海拔从6000英尺到300英尺不等，其间夹杂着沿主要河流形成的漫滩河谷。除了位于北纬36度以南的那片冲积平原，密西西比河的河床都很狭窄，因此整个流域没有低洼国家常常发生的那些瘟疫和危险；在这一点上，没有哪条大河可与之匹敌。自墨西哥湾至俄亥俄河河口的距离是1100英里，而从彼处到匹兹堡的距离则足足有1000多英里；理解了这一点，就可以更好地想象出这一地区面积的广袤了。

从注入主河道的水量来看，俄亥俄河是密西西比河最大的一条支流。很可能是因为俄亥俄州的位置，人们才普遍误以为俄亥俄河流域只包括该河的北部。事实上，田纳西河流域与阿利根尼河流域一样，也是俄亥俄河流域的一部分。俄亥俄河流域是美洲大陆上最为富庶的一个地区：这里的气温与大西洋沿岸斜坡的气温几乎是一样的；降水丰富；土壤肥沃，非常适合种植玉米和小麦，还有着极其丰富的矿藏。虽说在白人到来之初，这一流域还是森林密布，但其时也已经有了大片大片的开垦地，殖民者抵达后就可以进行耕作。

沃巴什河是俄亥俄河的支流之一，其西面除了一些河床，别的地方看不到树木。这种情况，是由于印第安人有焚烧草地、好让水牛或野牛有新牧场的习惯而造成的。这片远至西经100度线以西的无树区域，并不存在什么制约树木生长的自然条件，并且在那些地区殖民者所建立的农场中，本来就已经长有树木。而西经100度线以西，直至洛基山脉山坡的这一区域，降水量则太少，使得树木无法生长；而夹在洛基山脉、喀斯喀特山脉和内华达山脉之间的大盆地，正是属于这种情况。这片由沃巴什河延伸至西经100度线，其中还包括了密西西比河和密苏里河上游流域的无树地带，土壤非常肥沃，适于种植玉米和小麦（小麦适于在这一地带的北部种植）。这里冬季十分寒冷，夏季则常常酷热，并且降水量有时还不足以种植作物。然而，整体来看，这一地区仍是世界上最适合种植小麦和玉米的地方。这一地区还有着储量巨大的煤炭以及铁、铜、铅、锌等极其重要的矿产资源。

在密西西比河流域的下游，土壤非常肥沃，并且降水十分丰沛——时常还会降水过多——因此这里的气候适宜种植需要大量水分的作物，比如棉花和甘蔗。由于修筑了堤坝（当地人称之为防洪堤），因此洪泛区不再扩大，使得这处膏腴之地上，只有大约6000平方英里的面积属于沼泽地而无法进行改良耕作，除非人们付出极大的代价。总的来看并且权衡利弊之后，我们完全可以说，世界上再也没有另一处同样面积的土地，能够像密西西比河流域那样无比适合于人类来进行生产和生活了。

8. The Cordilleran Region.—The Cordilleran system occupies the whole of the United States west of the one hundred and fifth meridian, with the exception of the upper valley of the Missouri and the valley lowlands of the Pacific slope. It is fully one thousand miles wide on the forty-second parallel. The mineral resources of this district are great and varied; they comprise gold, silver, copper, lead, tin, iron ores, and coal. The climate is exceedingly healthy; but it is too dry for agriculture, except by irrigation, which has yielded large returns wherever tried. The Great Basin in the interior has an altitude of four thousand feet and over; its excessive dryness renders portions of it unfit even for pasturage.

The Pacific coast district includes the valley lowlands of the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers and of the Columbia and Willamette rivers. The temperature of Southern California is singularly uniform, but in the lowland valley of the Sacramento and San Joaquin the heat is often oppressive. No rain falls in the summer, but the annual rainfall on the whole is abundant, and the country admirably suited to irrigation.Almost any crop can be grown, as wheat, oranges, olives. The mineral resources are great, with the exception of iron; gold, especially, is abundant.

The valley of the lower Columbia enjoys a uniform temperature and abundant moisture; indeed, in places the rainfall is excessive and the climate more nearly resembles that of England than does that of any other portion of America. The soil is deep and fertile, and the forest covering admirable and of great value.Little has been done as yet to develop its mineral resources. The drawback to the use of this splendid region has been the dangerous bar at the mouth of the Columbia, but recently the channel has been deepened to admit the largest vessels.

8.科迪勒拉地区。——科迪勒拉山系占据了西经105度线以西的整个美国，只有密苏里河上游流域和太平洋沿岸斜坡的河谷低地不在其中。这一地区在北纬42度处的宽度，足足达到了1000英里。这一区域蕴含着巨大而丰富多样的矿产资源，其中包括金、银、铜、铅、锡、铁矿石和煤炭。气候也非常宜人；但对于农业来说，这种气候太过干燥，只有进行灌溉才能进行耕作，而凡是进行灌溉的地区，农业生产都带来了巨大的收益。地处内陆的大盆地，海拔有4000多英尺；因为气候过于干旱，所以其中有些地区连畜牧业也不适宜发展。

太平洋沿岸地区包括了萨克拉门托河与圣华金河的河谷低地，以及哥伦比亚河与威拉米特河的河谷低地。虽说南加利福尼亚的气温非常均衡，但是在萨克拉门托河与圣华金河的低地河谷，气温却常常高得令人难以忍受。这儿夏季无雨，但年降水量总体来说还是很丰沛的，因此该地区非常适合灌溉耕作。几乎所有作物，比如小麦、柑橘和橄榄，都可在这儿种植。除了铁矿，其他矿产资源的蕴藏量都很巨大；黄金的蕴藏量则尤为丰富。

哥伦比亚河下游流域有着均衡的气温和丰富的雨水；事实上，有些地方还降水过多，并且气候更像英国，而不像美国的其他地区。这一地区的土壤层厚而肥沃，森林覆盖率高且有着巨大的价值。迄今为止，开发这一地区矿藏的工作仍没有开展起来。妨碍人们来开发这片膏腴之地的，是位于哥伦比亚河河口的那处危险的沙洲；不过，最近河道已经加深，使得大型船舶也能够通过了。

9.Adaptability of the Continent.—The agricultural and the mining regions are interspersed in such a manner that the greater portion of the country is suited to varied occupations, which are necessary to give the best results in race

development. The climate is also suited to the European stocks. Formerly, it was the habit of foreign writers to depict the American as a thin, lanky man quite inferior physically to his European progenitor, and predictions were made as to the greater deterioration of the race in the future. The application of scientific methods to the elucidation of this problem has dispelled this as well as other delusions of a less critical age.

During the Civil War, the late Dr. B.A.Gould, a man of the highest scientific attainments, measured thousands of soldiers in the Union armies. These were drawn from all portions of the country, and included men whose ancestors had lived on the soil for generations, and also included thousands of recent immigrants from Great Britain, Ireland, and Germany. The results of this long and arduous series of observations were embodied in a remarkable book, from which the following table has been compiled.

It will be seen that the American, instead of being the tall, thin-chested, and light-weighted man he is always depicted as being, is practically as heavy and as stout as his progenitors; he is slightly taller, but only slightly. Furthermore, it is susceptible of proof that the American is longer-lived than his European cousins and fully as able as they to bear fatigue and wounds.

When one considers all these things, —the climate and the rainfall of the United States, its physical configuration, its adaptability to the service of civilized man, its fertile soils and magnificent water powers, its inexhaustible mineral resources, and the effect of this environment on the physical body—one must admit that the European race has gained by its transfer from its ancient home to the soil of the United States.

9.美洲大陆的适宜性。——由于农耕区和矿产区散布全国各地，所以在美国大部分地区，人们都可以从事各种各样的职业，而这一点，正是一个民族要得到最佳发展所必须具备的条件。美洲大陆的气候，同样也适宜于来自欧洲的殖民者。以前，外国作家都习惯于将美国人描述为一个身体单瘦、体格远不如其欧洲祖先的民族，并且还预言说，将来这个民族还会发生更大的退化。而用科学方法对这个问题加以阐释之后，这一问题，连同人们在非关键时期所产生的其他错误看法，便都一一消除了。

在美国内战期间，已故的B.A.古尔德[4]博士这位有着最高科学造诣的人，曾经对联邦军队中成千上万的士兵进行过测量。这些士兵来自全国各地，其中既有祖先世代都生活在这片土地上的人，也有许多不久前刚从英国、爱尔兰和德国移民过来的人。进行了一系列耗时长久而又费尽艰辛的观察之后，他便用一部非比寻常的著作阐述了观察的结果，下面这张表格正是从该书中汇编而成的。

可以看出，美国人并非像人们一直描述的那样身高胸瘪、体重很轻，而是差不多像其祖先那样块头很大、身体结实；虽说身材要稍高一点儿，但高出不多。此外，也有证据表明，美国人比欧洲人要长寿，并且完全能够像欧洲人那样去承受劳累和伤痛。

考虑了所有这些方面——美国的天气和降水情况、地形、对于文明人从事生产生活的适宜性、肥沃的土壤和巨大丰富的水力资源、取之不竭的矿产资源，以及这种环境对人体的影响——之后，我们就必须承认，这个源自欧洲的民族，因为从古老的家园迁移到美国这片土地上而获益匪浅。