All climates, from tropical to frigid,
are included within the continent, but the want of satisfactory watersheds
renders it peculiarly liable to long droughts and sudden floods.
The absence of those broad, outward signs of the changing seasons
which mark the pageant of the year in the old world is probably
a greater disadvantage than we are apt to suspect. Here, too,
have existed hardly any of the conditions which obtained in older communities
where great literature arose. There is no glamour of old Romance
about our early history, no shading off from the actual
into a dim region of myth and fable; our beginnings are clearly defined
and of an eminently prosaic character. The early settlers were engaged
in a hand-to-hand struggle with nature, and in the establishment
of the primitive industries. Their strenuous pioneering days
were followed by the feverish excitement of the gold period and a consequent
rapid expansion of all industries. Business and politics have afforded
ready roads to success, and have absorbed the energies of the best intellects.
Pages:
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30