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Accession No. 3244

·THE OXFORD GEOGRAPHIES
EDITED BY A. J. HERBERTSON
THE ELEMENTARY
GEOGRAPHY
VOLUME VI
THE THREE SOUTHERN
CONTINENTS
BY
F. D. HERBERTSON, B.A. (LOND.)
WITH 57 ILLUSTRATIONS
AND 1 COLOURED MAPS
OXFORD
AT THE CLARENDON PRESS
LONDON, EDINBURGH, NEW YORK, TORONTO, AND
MELBOURNE
HENRY FROWDE
1912

·PREFACE This is the last of the continental volumes of the Elementary Geographies. The three southern continents have been treated together, and the writer has tried to bring out and explain the broad resemblances and differences between them. The method of comparisou adds much to the interest of geography, but it is justified also on other grounds. The power to see resemblances between those things which are alike and differences between those things which are different is the basis both of right thought and right action, More harın than good is done by vague comparisons without evidence to support thein. Any useful comparison of the southern continents must recognize the importance of latitude as a factor. Latitude and its meaning are therefore briefly explained in the opening chapters. The writer has also tried to show the close connexion between climate and plant life. This is speci: ally important in the tropies, where plants inust adapt theinselves to alternate wet and dry seasous. Plant geography is largely applier climate, and will interest many chikiren who find statistics of climate and rainfall dull and difficult to remember, In finishing any book a lost of obligations rise to the nd, but in this case they are too many to acknowledged individually. In particular I have to thank Mrs.Collier; Sir Frederick Treves, Bart. ; Dr. J. Scott Keltie, Mr. C. Reginald Enock, the Agents-General for the Australian States; the Royal Colonial Institute; Professors Brunles, Chaix, and do Martonne (for permission to use the desert photograph on j). 51 from the international Atlas photographique des formes du relief terrestre, Geneva, Buissonas et Cie); and the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company (R.M.S.P.) for the use of copyright photographs. Other obligations are acknowledged in the proper place. Oxford, 1912.

·CONTENTS PAGE 7 CILAP. I. PARALLELS OF LATITUDE II. LONGITUDE AND TIVE III. TIE SEASONS EX TROPIA LAND IV. THE FORESTS OF THE WORLD V. TITE GRASSLANDS OF THE WORLD 13 19 27 VI. THE THREE SOUTUERN ('ONTINENTS 33 VII. AFRICA 37 VIII. THE ATLAS COUNTRIES IX. THE SALARA 50 X. EGYPT AND TIE NILE XI. EGYPT 01 XII. THE SUDAN 67 XIII. TIE NIGER AND THE GINEA COAST XIV. THE CONGO AND ITS FORESTS XV. EAST AFRICA ANI) UGANDA 81 86 92 XVI. THE ZAMBEZI XVII. Sortu AFRICA. XVIII. SOME AFRICAN ISLANDS XIX. AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND XX. NATURAL REGIONS OF AUSTRALIA 102 · 103 · 106 XXI. CLIMATE AND VEGETATION OF AUSTRALIA 11.1 . 119 XXII. ANIMALS OF AUSTRALIA XXIII. THE COMMONWEALTIT OF AUSTRALIA . 121 XXIV. NEW ZEALAND) · 131

·iv
CONTENTS
PAGE
· 136
CIIAP.
XXV. SOUTH AMERICA
XXVI. CLIMATES, PLANTS, AND ANIMALS OF SOUTH
AMERICA
139
XXVII. THE ANDES
145
153
XXVIII. THE ANDEAN COUNTRIES
XXIX. VENEZUELA AND THE GUIANA HIGHLANDS
. 163
XX X. BRAZIL .
168
XXXI. TIL PLATE COUNTRIES.
174
INDEX
182

·ILLUSTRATIONS FIGS. PAGE 8 8 23 23 25 25 29 31 39 49 49 51 63 1-7. Determination of Positions 8-10. The Seasons 11. Longitude and Time 12. •Forest of Coco-nut Palms 13. Mangrove Swamp at low tide 14. Field of Pineapple 15. Field of Sugar Cano 16. Savana Landscape 17. Cactus on the Andes 18. The Suez Canal 19. An Oasis Village 20. The Gorge of El Kantarı 21. Constantine 22. Ruined Roman City in the Desert 2:3. A Village in the Sahara 24. Citadel of Cairo 25. The Sphinx and the Pyramids 26. Scrubland of the Egyptian Sudan 27. Savanas of Northern Nigeria . 28. Mombasa. 29. Source of the Nilo 30. Lake Nyasa 31. In the Shire Highlands 32. The Zambezi Falls 33. Majuba 34. The Natal Veld from Majuba . 35. Cape Town and Table Mountain 36. A Rivor in Natal 37. Cliffs of the Murray River 38. In the Blue Mountains 39. A fertile Valley in South Australia 40. An Artesian Well 41. Eucalyptus Trees 69 69 83 83 87 87 89 93 93 99 99 107 109 111 111 117 .

·vi ILLUSTRATIONS Pirita 12:3 12: 125 129 133 FIGS. 42. Sydney Harbour 43. Sheep-Shearing in Australia 44. Wool Sorting and Packing 15. Camels in the Australian Desert 16. A New Zealand Fiori 17. Llamas in the Andes. 48. A Wayfarer in the High Andes 49. Street Scene in Cuzco, Peru 50. Lima Cathedral 51. On the Oroya Line 52. Quito 53. The Harbour of Rio Janeiro 54. Monte Video and the Plate Estuary 55. Plaza in Balia Blanca 56. View of Aconcagua 57. The Iguassu Falls 1.17 .119 151 151 173 173 175 175 ·CHAPTER I PARALLELS OF LATITUDE 1. Position on the Earth. The life of man differs according to the position of his home on the Earth. This affects the heat, the cold, the rain, the plants, the animals, and the kind of work which he does. Position has such important consequences that we must have Nome method for describing it exactly. 2. The Horizon. The Earth is a moving ball, and the schoolroom globe is a model of it. From the top of a hill we see a line which seems to separate carth and sky. This line is called the horizon. From the deck of a ship we see the sea stretching away till it seems to meet the sky on every side. The horizou appears as a circle with the ship as its centre. We do not often see a perfectly circular horizon on land, except from the top of a high hill or tower in the middle of a plain, for houses and trees interrupt our view. The higher we climb the wider is our view and the more nearly circular the horizon. If we climbed high enough we should see the Earth curving away on every side beneath us as a great ball. 3. The Curvature of the Earth. The curvature of the Earth is so small compared with its size that we never notice it. The highest mountains and the deepest seas affect the shape of the Earth as little as the pits on the skin of an orange affect the shape of the orange. Yet though we do not notice that the Earth is currell its curvature has important consequences.

·Р E B B' F G A A' E G G 1. P' 2. 90° Plough 3. North Pole 66;'N 60° 60° 30° Trope 1231 of Cancer 304 N O S N 0 S Equator 0 of Capricorn 231 309 30° Tropic a retic 600 60° 90° South Pole 5. 511, 304 NO N. 90 w 60300 o 30 60° 90 E 90'W 6 7. Figs. 1-7. 1, 2. Rates of Rotation on and within the Earth. 3. The Plouglı anıl Polo Star. 4. Parallels of latitudo drawn for every 30%. 6. The Polar Circles, Tropies, Equator, and Poles. 6. Moridians of longitude drawn for every 80“. 7. The position of Greenwich and New Orleans determined by latitudo and longitude.

·PARALLELS OF LATITUDE 5 zenith of the dome of the sky, 90° from cvery point on the horizon. People living between the equator and the North Pole sce it somewhere between the horizon and the zenith, according to their distance from the equator. They could calculate this distance from the height of the Pole Star, and could show it on a globe by a circle parallel to the equator. Such circles are called parallels of latitude. The equator, where the pole is seen on the horizon, is lat. 0°; and the North Pole, where it is seen in the zenith, is lat. 90°N. The letter N., written after the latitude, shows that the distance is measured north of the Equator. Places where the Pole Star is seen 1° above the northern horizou are in lat. 1' N., and are marked on that parallel on the globe. Places which see the Pole Star 5", 10°, 20°, 40°, 60°, 80% above the horizon, are marked on the parallels of 5", 10", 20°, 40, 60", and 80° N. lat. respectively. In London the Pole Star is between 51° and 52' above the northern horizon, much nearer to the zenith than to the horizou (Fig. 7). A degree is divided into 60 equal parts or minutes, written 60', and each minute into 60 seconds, written 60". The parallels of latitude are drawn for every 30° in Fig. 4. 11. Placo in the southern hemisphere measure their distance south of the equator, and write S. after their latitude. The latitude of the South Pole is 90° S. 12. We might draw as many parallels of latitude as wc like on a very large globe. On school globes they are generally shown for every 5", or 10', or 15, according to the size. As the number given to the parallels increases from the equator to the poles, the latitudes near the equator are often spoken of as low latitudes, while those near the poles are called high latitudes. You sce from the globe that all parallels of latitude have not the same circumference. If you measure with a string you will ·6 PARALLELS OF LATITUDE find that the equator has a greater circunference than any other parallel, and that parallels numbered with any given number have the same circumference whether they are measured north or south of the equator. 13. Latitude and the Position of the Sun. So far we have spoken of latitude only in connexion with the position of the Pole Star. A much more important fact is that on the same parallel of latitude the Sun is seen at the same height at noon on the same day, though this height varies at different times of the year. The latitude of a place can therefore be found from the height of the Sun at noon. This is not so simple as to calculate it from the position of the Pole Star, because the time of year must be taken into account. The fact that the Sun rises to different heights at noon in different latitudes at different times of the year, causes those differences of climate which affect man's life in so many ways. Exercises 1. Point out some facts which suggest that the Earth is not flat but shaped like a ball. Have you noticell any of these yourselves? 2. Give the latitude of the town or village in which you live. 3. On the globe find the latitude of St. Petersburg, London, Paris, Rome, Cairo, Montreal, New York, San Francisco, Quito, Sydnoy, Cape Town, Rio de Janeiro, North Cape, and Capo Horn. 4. Can we fix the position of a place on the globe when wo know its latitude ? Give reasons for your answer. 5. How does difference of latitudo affect the lifo of man on the earth ? Explain your answer by anything you have read in books of travel, mentioning the names of these.

·CILALTER II LONGITUDE AND TIME 14. The Rotating Earth. Think of an orange lying on a table with two pins in it. IIow could we describe their position so that another person could stick two pins in another orange in the same way. It would be difficult, because there are no fixed lines on the oranges to measure from. If the Earth were at rest we should have the same difficulty, and we could neither describe the position of places on its surface, nor show them on the globe. 15. The Earth spins round, or rotates, once in twentyfour hours. The Sun comes into sight, or rises, in the cast, and so we know that the Earth rotates from west to cast. Not only is the Earth rotating as a whole, but every point on its surface and every point within it is rotating too, but at different rates. Fig. 1 shows three parallels of latitude, AA', 113', cc'. A' is greater than BB', and the point A makes a longer daily journey than the point B, and must rotate faster. Similarly, point B makes a longer journey than point (, and rotates faster than B. The farther any point on the Earth's surface is from the equator, the shorter is its daily journey, and the slower its rotation. At the poles there is no rotation at all. At the equator every point rotates through a distance of 25,000 miles a day, or more than 1,000 miles an hour. London, with all its streets and people, is rotating at over 600 miles an hour. We do not feel this movement because we too are moving with the moving Earth. 16. Now look at Fig. 2. The line pp' joins the two poles, which are not rotating at all, and passes through ·March Earth's Axis at right angles to Orbit June Decs > Fig. 8 Imaginary Case. FG 9 Sept? The Seasons March & September: June. December Fig. 10. Earth's Axis inclined to 'Orbit : The Seasons. G-Greenwich Flg. &. The Seasons as they would be if the Carth's axis was it right angles tu its orbit. Figs., 16. The position of the Earth at the dllficrent seasons with axis inclined. XIAMI I W VIT I Noon II V VIII XPMXI 20 Tuesday Monday 180* 150 120 95*60 30°WOE 30° 86º ele 12/0 15/0 180 FIG 11 Time Divisions Date Line where not 180: In a fow cases for political reasons the dato lino divergcs slightly from the meridian. These are shown liy adottat line. Note that in this map the Earth's surface is not shown ax curved, with curve meridians, but ns an unrolled cylinder, with the meridians as straight lines The value of a degree of longitude is greatly exaggerated towards the poles.

·LONGITUDE AND TIME 9 B. 0, which represents the centre of the Earth. Every point in pp', the line which passes through the poles and the Earth's centre, is at rest. This line of no rotation is called the Earth's axis. In Fig. 2, E is a point on the surface of the Earth, and F and G are points within the Earth, and E is farther from u, the Earth's contre, than As the Earth ratates E, on the surface, traces out the circumference of a greater circle than F, a point within the Earth, and F traces out a greater circumference than G. All three take twenty-four hours to one rotation, and therefore E moves faster than F, and F faster than G. 0, the Earth's centre, is on the axis, or line of no rotation. Study Figs. 1 and 2 carefully till you are sure you understand theni. 17. These definitions of pole, equator, and axis refer to the Earth itself, and not merely to the globe. The poles are the two points, and the only two points on the Earth's surface, which are at rest. The equator is the line midway between them where rotation is most rapid. The axis is the line of no rotation, which passes through the poles and the centre of the Earth. 18. Longitude. Many places besides London are 51° 30' N. of the equatot Before we can describe the exact position of a place we must know, not merely which parallel of latitude it is on, but also its position on that parallel cast or west of a given point. This gives us its longitude. 19. Longitude, like latitude, is fixed by astronomical observations. Each point on the rotating Earth has one moment in its day, called noon, when the Sun is highest in heaven. All places on the Earth's surface which are situated on the line joining that place to the two poles have noon at the same second, though the actual height of the Sun above the horizon will vary in different latitudes.

·10 LONGITUDE AND TIME Such a line, joining a given place on the Earth's surface to the two poles, is called a meridian, or line of simultancous noon. Some meridian must be taken as the starting-place, and the longitude of all other places must be measured by their distance cast or west of it. Scientific men have agreed to take the meridian line passing through Greenwich Observatory, near London. 20. The Prime Meridian. The meridian of Greenwich is called the zero or prime meridian, and is numbered 0. The latitude of Greenwich is 51° 27' N., and the position of Greenwich on the Earth's surface is lat. 51° 27' N., long. 0. A point on the equator which has its noon at the same second as Greenwich is in lat. 0°, long. 0". Fig. 7 shows the position of this point and also that of Greenwich. There are 360 meridians of longitude, each divided into minutes and seconds, and of these 180 are reckoned cast from Greenwich and 180 west. The 180th meridian east of Greenwich is also the 180th meridian west of Greenwich, as the globe shows. Fig. 11 shows the hour for other parts of the world which it is noon at Greenwich. 21. When we know the latitude or distance of a place north or south of the equator, and also its longitude or distance east or west of the meridian of Greenwich, we know its exact position on the Earth and can show it on the globe. It is the point where a given parallel of latitude cuts a given meridian of longitude. In Fig. 6 the meridians are drawn for every 30 cast and west of Greenwich. In Fig. 7, G. stands for Greenwich and N.O. for New Orleans, which is in lat. 30°N., long. 90° W. The two dotted lines represent the Earth's axis and the meridian of 180°. 22. Longitude and Time. The Earth rotates through 360° in twenty-four hours, or through 15° in one ·LONGITUDE AND TIME 11 use hour, or through 1° in four minutes. Canterbury, in long. 1° E., has its noon, or high Sun, four minutes earlier than Greenwich; and Oxford, in long. 1' W., has its noon, or high Sun, four minutes later than Greenwich. Both Canterbury and Oxford use Sun time for the cathedral services, which begin in Canterbury nearly ten minutes sooner than in Oxfofd. For all other purposes both Greenwich time, though this is a little later than the actual Sun time at Canterbury and a little carlier than the actual Sun time at Oxford. 23. When it is noon at Greenwich it is 6 p.m. by local time on the meridian of 90° E., which passes near Calcutta, and 6 a.m. on that of 90° W., which passes near New Orleans. On the meridian of 180° it is midnight. Is it midnight to-day or to-morrow? Such questions can only be settled by international agreement. It is the rule for ships going east to count two days of the same name as they cross long. 180", which passes near Hiji, and for ships going west to drop a day. Similar rules are made for changing the hour as we travel east or west. 24. Greenwich time is used in France, but when travellers reach the German frontier they put their watches forward one hour, to the time of 15° E. Coming home they put them back an hour to Greenwich time. Greenwich time is not used in Ireland, and a traveller from London finds his watch is nearly half an hour fast when he reaches Dublin. 25. Globes and Maps. Position can be shown more accurately on curved globes than on flat maps, but maps are easier to carry about. All maps are slightly misleading, but there are various ways of drawing the lines of latitude and longitude on a map so as to make the error as small as possible. The value of a degree of ICLEM, OXOG. V B ·12 LONGITUDE AND TIME latitude never varies, but the value of a degree of longitude diminishes from the equator to the poles. Look at the globe, and satisfy yourselves about this. At the equator a degree of longitude incasures about 69 miles, in London it is about 45 miles, and at the poles all meridians meet. The least correct maps are those drawn on Mercator's projection, for these give a degree of longitude the same value in all latitudes. In other words, they exaggerate the area of sea and land in high latitudes. Exercises 1. State clearly what you understand by the terins pole, equator, parallel of latitude, meridian of longitude. 2. Give tho longitude of the town or village you live in. Do the town clocks use Greenwich time or not? If so, is your real or Sun timo fast or slow by Greenwich time ? Do you know how much? How would you find out? 3. On the globo find the longitude of Alexandria, Delhi, Singapore, Shanghai, Adelaide, Sierra Leono, Rio de Janeiro, Now York, and Chicago. State as nearly as you can what the timo would be at each when it is noon at Greenwich. 4. In going to Switzerland we put our watches on, and in coming home we put them back. Why? 5. What should we do to our watches in going to Dublin from London, and in coming back? Why? 6. Which affects man's life on the Earth most, position in latitudo or position in longitude ? Give full reasons for your answer.

·CILAPTER III TIIE SEASONS IN TROPICAL LANDS 26. The climate and products of the southern continents differ from those of Europe and Asia. This is due partly to the differunt arrangement of sea and land and of high and low land in the southern hemisphere, but more to the latitude of the southern continents. llow, then, does latitude, or clistance from the cquator, affect climate? 27. The Earth's Path round the Sun. In this country we know (i) that some months are warm and others cold ; (ii) that cold months have short days and warm months have long days; and (iii) that the Sun rises higher in the sky in summer than in winter. These differences are due to the way in which the carth revolves round the Sun. 28. The Earth rotates on its axis and revolves round the Sun at the same time, as dancers waltz round a room. This comparison is not altogether good, for the dancers are in an upright position at right angles to the floor, while the axis of the Earth is not at right angles to its orbit or path round the Sun. If the Earth's axis were upright the Sun's rays would always fall on the Earth at right angles to the equator, as in Fig. 8; the days and nights would always be equal in length; the Sun would always be at the same height at any given place all through the year, and there would be no differences of season. Astronomers have discovered that the Earth's axis is inclined in such a way that from March 21 to September 23 the northern hemisphere is tilted towards the Sun and away from the Sun for the other six months. Similarly, the southern hemisphere B 2 ·14 THE SEASONS IN TROPICAL LANDS is tilted away from the Sun from March to September and towards it for the rest of the year. (Figs. 9 any 10.) 29. When the northern hemisphere is tilted towards the Sun it receives more light and hcat than the southern hemisphere and has longer and hotter days. It has its summer while the southern hemisphere, which is tilted away from the Sun, has its 'winter. From September to March, the southern hemisphere has its summer and the northern hemisphere its winter. 30. The Equinoxes. The Sun is highest overhead in this country on June 21, the longest day of the northern hemisphere. The Sun is never vertically overhead in this country, but it is more nearly so then than on any other day in the year. In some latitudes the Sun is overhead at least once a year. At the equator it is vertically overhead twice, on March 21 and on September 23. On both these days the Sun's rays reach both poles and day and night are equal in length all over the world. These are called the equinoxes, or periods of equal night. 31. The Tropics. After March 21 the Sun is seen higher every noon in the northern hemispliere, but in the southern hemisphere people see it lower in the sky every noon. On June 21 people living on lat. 23° 30' N. see the Sun vertically overhead. Its rays then reach 23° 30' farther from the equator than on March 21, and at places within 23° 30' of the North Pole it does not sink below the horizon. The parallel of 23º 30' N. lat. is called the Tropic of Cancer. Tropic means a turning point, and as the Sun rises less high after June 21, men spoke as if it actually turned south. The parallel of 66° 30' N. (90°-23° 30'), within which the Sun does not set at midsummer, is called the North Polar Circle.

·THE SEASONS IN TROPICAL LANDS 15 Corn). 32. After June 21 the Sun rises less high daily in the northern hemisphere, and higher in the southern. It is vertical over the equator at the September equinox, and vertical at lat. 23° 30' S. on December 21, the shortest day of the northern and the longest day of the southern hemisphere. This parallel is called the Tropic of Capri- When the San is vertical at the southern tropic it does not set within the South Polar Circle, lat. 66" 30'S. After December 21 the Sun appears to turn north again, the southern day shortens, the Sun rises less high in the southern and higher in the northern hemisphere, and we look forward again to spring and summer. In Fig. 5 the equator, the tropics, and the polar circles are marked. 33. Differences in the Seasons. Evidently, the seasons differ greatly in different latitudes. At the poles the Sun is above the horizon for six months in the summer of that hemisphere, and is invisible during the winter six months. Within the polar circles there are only two seasons, a cold winter with little or no daylight, and a cool summer with little or no darkness. Between the polar circles and the tropics are the temperate lands, with cold winters and short winter days, and warm summers and long summer days. Night and day differ most in length near the poles and least near the tropics. Within the tropics night and day are always nearly equal in length, and there is no cold season at sea-level. Seasons are distinguished by difference in rainfall and not by any marked difference in heat. At the equator day and night are always equal, and the heat at scalevel differs little throughout the year. 34. Rain and Winds. We know that the air contains water vapour, though we cannot see it. If we spill water on a cloth on a hot day the cloth soon dries, ·16 TIIE SEASONS IN TROPICAL LANDS for the water cvaporates. It is changed into water vapour, and is taken up by the air. The same thing happens more slowly on a cold day. All over the Earth the surface layers of water are evaporating and passing into the air as water vapour, quickly where the air is warm, and slowly where it is cold. Warm dry air not only takes up water vapour more quickly, but it takes up and holds more than cold air. When air, whether hot or cold, has taken up all the water vapour it can hold it is saturated. If saturated air is cooled some of its water vapour is condensed and falls as rain. 35. We know that the Sun's rays heat land and water at different rates. On a hot day a garden path feels liot and a pool of water cool to our bare feet. Land is more quickly heater than water, but it does not keep its heat so long. Water is heated more slowly, but holds its leat longer. These simple facts have much to do with climate. In suunmer the land and the air over the land are hotter in the same latitudes than the sca and the air over the sea. The air over the hot land expands, becomes lighter and rises. This sets up a movement of the whole atmosphere and causes winds. As the hotter air rises, cooler and heavier air is drawn in below at the surface of the Earth to take its place, and we feel this inflowing air as a wind. The cool seabreezes at the seaside in summer are caused in this way. In the hottest part of the day the heated air over the land is rising and cooler air is drawn in from over the cooler sea as a sca-brecze. 36. The wind system of the Earth cannot be explained here, but we can name the prevailing winds in different latitudes. When air ascends or descends vertically a belt of calms is formed. There is a belt of calms at the cquator, where the heated air is always rising. Sailors ·TIIE SEASONS IN TROPICAL LANDS 17 call these the doldrums'. Another belt of calms occurs about lat. 30° in the horse latitudes'. 37. Between these two belts of calms is the region of the trade winds. These are regular winds, caused by cooler air flowing from the poles towards the equator to take the place of the hot ascending air. The trade winds do not blow, due north and due south from the poles to the Equator, but are affected by the rotation of the Earth. They are felt as north-east winds in the northern hemisphere and as south-east winds in the southern liemisphere. They are of great importance to sailing vessels, because they blow all the year round and not merely at certain scasons. They are felt farthest north in the northern suinier, when the belt of greatest heat follows the Sun north wards, and farthest south in the southern summer. 38. On the polar side of the horse-latitude belt of calms westerly winds blow for most of the year. Our own country is in this belt of westerly winds. These are stormy and variable, particularly in winter and near the equinoxes. They blow more strongly in the southern hemisphere than in the northern, especially in the latitudes called the roaring forties.' 39. Wet and Dry Seasons. Near the equator the air is rising into cooler layers of the atmosphere where it cannot hold so much moisture. The surplus falls as rain, and the equatorial belt bas rain at all seasons, but, most at the equinoxes, when the Sun is vertical over the cquator. Summer, when the heated air tends to rise, is the wettest part of the year in most parts of the world. In tropical lands it is the only wet season. The tropical lands have two seasons, a hot wet summer, : called the wet season, and a hot dry winter, called the dry season. Near the equator there are two very wet ·18 THE SEASONS IN TROPICAL LANDS seasons at the equinoxes, and two rather drier ones when the Sun is vertical at the tropics. As the northern summer is the southern winter, the wet season of the northern hemisphere corresponds with the dry season of the summer hemisphere. 40. The trade winds bring little rain at any season, for they are blowing from colder to warmer latitudes, and are taking up moisture. The rain which they bring falls on the eastern side of the continents which they reach first, or else on high mountains which turn them upwards into coller layers of the atmosphere. There are dry deserts in all the southern continents in the trade-wind belt. 41. The westerly winds bring rain at all seasons, especially to the western coasts of the continents which they strike first. They blow in temperate lands, where the seasons are marked by differences in the amount of light and heat received rather than by difference of rainfall. 42. Monsoons. Monsoons are seasonal winds, which blow only at certain times of the year. They are due to the arrangement of sea and land. Eastern and Southcastern Asia, where they blow most strongly, are in the trade-wind belt in winter, and have little rain. As the Sun moves north in summer the great land inasses become intensely heated, and the air above them rises. Air is drawn in from over the cooler sca, forming strong, stormy, wet winds, which are sca-brcezes on a gigantic scale. Their direction is affected by the shape of the lands, but they always bring rain and blow in late summer. In India they blow as the south-west monsooni, in Eastern Asia as the south-cast monsoon, and in Australia as a northerly monsoon. The word monsoon means a scasonal wind.

·THE SEASONS IN TROPICAL LANDS 19 Exercises 1. How are the scasons caused ? Do all parts of the Earth have the same kind of scasons ? 2. Why is Christmas Day generally cold in England and hot in South Africa ? 3. Explain what you understand by the terms tropic. cquinox, trade winds, inonsoons, 'roaring forties'. 4. What are the revailing winds in our own islands ? Wltat effect has this on our climate ? 5. Naine some lands which lie in the track of the roaring forties. Which will be their wettest coast ? 6. Name some lands which lie in the track of the trade winds. Which parts of them will receive least rain ? CHAPTER IV TIIE FORESTS OF TIIE WORLD 43. Grass and Trees. Grass and trees have different advantages and disadvantages in the race for life. Trees need years to become full-grown and produce seeds, while grass ripens in a few weeks. Grass needs less moisture than trees, but has shorter roots, and must find water within a smaller area. Trees, though they need abundant moisture, have long roots, and can draw it from a large area. Sometimes trees are best suited to the soil and climate of a region, and sometimes grass does better. Some parts of the world are too cold or dry for either 44. On a rich well-watered soil plants grow closely and are tall, partly because the soil supplies enough nourishment for quick growth, and partly because every ·20 THE FORESTS OF TIIE WORLD plant tries to overtop its neighbours and get more light and air. On poorer or drier soils they grow far apart and are stunted. 45. Seasonal Changes in Plants. In our own country plants have to live through a long cold winter. During this scason they show few signs of life above ground but their root life goes on. Most of our trees shed their leaves in autunn. Our evergreen trees have leaves specially fitted to bear the cold. Firs and yews have small needle-shaped leaves, while holly has broad, thick, fleshy leaves, with a hard shiny surface to protect the tender fibres below. Firs and yews expose as little leaf surface as possible, while holly makes the exposed surface strong and resistant. Bulbs resist the cold of winter by storing up nourishment in their swollen roots, which protect the growing parts. All these are fanuiliar examples of devices to enable plants to live through il cold winter. 46. Tropical Plants. Within the tropics the seasons differ little in hcat but much in rainfall. Tropical plants must be able to live through a long dry season, when the soil contains little inoisture, and evaporation from the surface of the leaves goes on very first in the hot air. Some tropical plants have long creeping roots, which pierce down to lower wetter layers of soil. Sone have fleshy bulbous roots. Others store water in their trunks and branches, which are often protected by thick bark, and by secretions of gun, resin, or oil. The leaves are protected against evaporation in various ways. Some fall in winter, and those which do not are either much divided and often small and feathery, or else they are strong, varnished, and fleshy. A few trees turn their leaves eilgeways during the hottest part of the day. 47. The Selvas, or Equatorial Forest. Rain falls all the year near the equator, but most heavily at the ·THE FORESTS OF THE WORLD 21 cquinoxes. The sunlight is intensely strong, and the hcat is always great at places less than 3,000 feet high. The hot wet climate is like that of a greenhouse in which palms and orchids are grown. Find the Amazon in South America, and the Congo in Africa, both in the equatorial belt. The basins of these rivers are covered with dense, hot, wet rain-forests, or selvas. Our own woods contain very few ditferent kinds of trees, but the selvas contain an infinite variety of species. The trees are tall and huge in girth, and the forests are really two stories high. A hundred feet or two above! the ground are the great out prea branches, overgrown by a network of Creepers, which have climbed up the tall trunks to spread out their gorgeous blossoms in the blazing sumlight. Plants grow on plants, rooting on cach other's branches, and struggling up towards the sumshine. Brilliant birds and butterflies flit through this upper forest world, which is the home of apes and tree snakes. The lower forest is hot, inoist, inarshy, and dark, for the thick roof of leaves and branches sluuts out both light and air. The air is heavy with the smell of rotting plants, which make the soil deep and rich. The heavy rains feed innumerable streans, which flood the lowlying parts of the forest. In the drier months the streams are the only casy roads through the dense jungle. 48. Such a forest is not a suitable home for either men or animals. Men find little game to hunt, but they fish in the rivers and gather catable and other plants. Rubber is now one of the most useful of these. It is difficult to clear the selvas, for work is exhausting in the hot close depths of the forest, and clearings and roads are overgrown almost as fast as they are made The wandering forest tribes seldom cultivate the same patch for two successive years, but the white settler ·22 THE FORESTS OF THE WORLD clears more thoroughly and weeds his crops of banana, cacao, sugar, spices, and rubber. 49. Mangrove Swamps. The coastal swamps are flooded by the sea at every tide, and the mangrove is the only tree which grows well in them. A mangrove swamp is not a beautiful sight at low tide, for the misshapen stilt-like roots stand high out of the foul mud, on which crabs and reptiles crawl, while oysters cling to the mangrove roots. Deadly fevers are caught in these swanips, yet we cannot but admire the devices by which the mangrove protects itself. Its long unsightly roots give it a firm hold in the mud, and lift the branches and leaves far above the salt water at high tide. Its fleshy, glossy, leathery leaves lose little moisture under the hottest sun, and its soft trunks and branches store water. 50. Tropical Forests. These have a hcavy rainfall in the wet season, and a marked dry season. The trees are less closely set and less tall than in the selvas, and there are fewer species. Most of the trees shed their leaves in the dry season, but both leaves and flowers reappear as if by magic after the first rain. Growth and decay are not so rapid as in the selvas, and the forests are healthier and easier to clear. Among their useful plants are the oil palm, banana, maize, millet, coffee, and many others. The flatter parts are irrigated in the dry season by canals cut from the rivers. 51. Trade.Wind Forests. These are found on the east coast of the continents in the trade-wind belt, between lat. 30' and lat. 40'. Here the summers are hot, the winters mild, and the wet and dry scasons much less marked. In the southern hemisphere subtropical forests cover the better soils of Southern Brazil and the cast coasts of South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand. In Africa, where there is hardly any land within these ·Fig. 19. FOREST OF ('OCO-NUT PALMS.

·24 THE FORESTS OF THE WORLD the sea. latitudes, they are also found on the slopes of the higher mountains near the equator, a few thousand feet abovo The commonest plants are small palms and bambous and tree ferns, all with much-livided leaves. Laurels, camphor trees, magnolias, and other species have fleshy evergreen leaves. These subtropical forests yield many fine timber trees. Quinine or cinchona is a valuable medicine, and rubber, rice, sugar, and cotton are cultivated in the clearings. Such forests once covered much of Eastern Asia and the South-cast United States. Agriculture is beginning in the cleared subtropical forest-regions of the southern hemisphere. 52, Mediterranean Forests. The lands on both sides of the Mediterranean receive winter rains from the westerly storm winds, which blow farthest towards the equator in winter. In summer they are on the edge of the trade-wind belt, and are dry. The forests which once covered the wetter parts have been cut down and only patches remain. The trees are all fitted to live through a hot dry summer. Most of them are evergreen, and some, e.g. the cork oak, have a thick bark. The small-leaved evergreen olive is a typical tree. It grows wild, but improves when cultivated. Bulbs do well, and the iris, anemone, narcissus, asphodel, and many others grow wild. The hill slopes are terraced and planted with olives, vines, oranges, lemons, almonds, and many other fruits, while ricc, cotton, and maize are grown in the hotter wetter parts. Old clearings are soon covered with a dense scrub of dry strongsmelling shrubs and bushes if they are allowed to go out of cultivation. The Mediterranean forests of the southern continents are being cleared and the Mediterranean plants of the northern continent are being introduced.

·Photograph by Indoru voi d: Inderzool.
Fi. 11. FIELD OF PINEAPPLE.
Photograph by Valentine & Sons,
Fig. 10.
FIELD OF Sugar CANE

·26 THE FORESTS OF THE WORLD 53. Temperate Forests. Our own woods contain oaks, elms, beeches, and other temperate trees, most of which lose their leaves in winter. Nearer the pole firs and birches are the chief forest trees. There are vast temperate forests in the northern hemisphere, and immense areas have been cleared. (Vol. IV.) Cool temperate forests cover the southern part of South America, and the higher slopes of the higher mountains between the tropics. 54. Forest Belts. These different forests do not succeed each other without a break. The selvas pass into the tropical forests, but beyond these are lands which are too dry for forests except on the east coasts of the continents. In this trade-wind region there is a belt of grasslands and deserts.) Beyond these, on the side away from the equator, are the Mediterranean forests. Beyond these there are dry areas in the centre of the continents, and another belt of grasslands is found here between the Mediterranean and temperato forests. On the far side of the temperate forests, in high cold latitudes, neither trees nor grass can grow. Exercises 1. Explain clearly the advantage trees have when (a) they shed their leaves in winter, (b) when they are evergreen. 2. Describe the equatorial rain forest, and explain why it is thinly peopled. 3. How does a dry season affect tho plants of a region : 4. Why have the Mediterranean lands dry summers and wet winters? How does this affect their plants ? 5. Has Britain wet or dry summers and winters? How does this affect our plants ? 6. The belts of forest and grassland are not everywhere of the same breadth. What causes might make them irregular ?

·CHAPTER V THE GRASSLANDS OF TIIE WORLD 55. Tropical Grasslands, or Savanas. These are found on both sides of the hot wet forests. The Spanish conquerors of South America called them savanas, and also campos and laños. Savanas are hot, for they lie between the tropics, and they have a long dry season. In the wet season they receive much less rain than the equatorial belt, or the cast coasts of the continents in the trade-wind belt. The savanas are grasslands thinly dotted with trees, which make the landscape look like a park. Trees are not found on the higher ridges, but may form woods in damper hollows and valleys. As the trees are thinly scattered, each has room to branch freely and many are nobly shaped. The largest is the baobab, which is a water-storing tree. All the savana trees, except the palms, shed their leaves in the dry season. 56. The grasses of the savava are not like those of our own meadows: they are often taller than a man, and many bear feathery heads like the pampas grass. The kind known as elephant grass is very difficult to penetrate, and makes cover for clephants and other game. The savana grasses grow in tufts, and some have water-storing roots. They are dull and dry in colour, and fade to coarse straw in the dry season. This straw protects the roots from the heat and dryness, as moss protects flowers on a flower-pot. 57. Fires are common in the savanas in the dry season. The grass is often burnt off by man, to get a fresh young growth after the rain, or to clear the ground for tilling. These fires help to keep down trees. DIM. GEOG, VI. C ·28 TIIE GRASSLANDS OF THE WORLD 58. The animals of the savana are specially fitted to their home. Some, like the elephant and rhinoceros, are huge beasts, strong enough to push their way through the stoutest grass. The hippopotamus can force its way through the dense reeds of the rivers and swamps. Others, like the antelopes and the great cats, are very nimble, and can leap high over obstructions. The giraffe, with his long neck, can reach the branches of trees, which are his food. All the savana animals are coloured to match the yellowish grass and soil. 59. The savanas, like all grasslands, are suited for the home of nian. It is true that the more dangerous animals must first be killed, but this supplies him with meat, skins, and ivory, for food and trade. The wild animals are replaced by domesticated animals, and cattle-keeping is important in all the savanas. Agriculture is casy in the wet season, but often requires irrigation in the dry scason. 60. Tropical Scrubs. On the east coast of the continents the savana passes into subtropical forest, but in the dry interior trees disappear, and grass is replaced by dry thorny plants, or by fleshy water-storing plants, like the prickly cactus. These regions, where trees and grass are rare and there is more bare soil than plant covering, are called scrub lands. The bare ground is heated in the day and cooled at night, and there is more difference between day and night than between season and scason. There is much scrub land in South America and Africa and Australia. 61. Deserts. Parts of the trade-wind lands are too dry even for scrub plants. These form the deserts of the world, which are largest where the continents are broadest and the distance from the sea greatest. The deserts of the northern hemisphere are larger than those of the

·No text on this page.

·30 THE GRASSLANDS OF THE WORLD southern hemisphere. The largest is in Northern Africa, and is part of a northern belt of desert, which is continued across Asia (vol. vi) and across the western part of North America. The desert of Australia, the largest in the southern hemisphere, is part of a southern belt of deserts which crosses South-west Africa and the west coast of South American 62. The deserts are rainless, though showers may fall once in a few years. Sea mists form on the coastal deserts of South America and South Africa. The surface may be flat, or hilly, and of sand, or stones, or rock, or salt. The sandy deserts would be fertile if they had rain, and hidden sceds often start into life after a shower. Such plants as there are grow far apart, and are either thorny or coarse dust-coloured tufts of grass. The roots go down to great depths in search of water, as was shown when the Suez Canal was cut across the desert. 63. Oases. Deep dry valleys are found in some parts of the desert, but these are empty, except after a storm. Such intermittent torrents cannot be used for irrigation, which would make the desert fertile. In some parts of the North African and Australian desert there are stores of underground water, caused probably by rain which has fallen in wetter regions, and made its way underground. This may gush out as springs, and in some parts it can be reached by deep wells. If water can be brought to the surface the desert changes into a fertile oasis. This may be a mere clump of date palms by a well, or a large irrigated belt containing many villages. Rice, cotton, olives, vines, sugar-cane, maize, millet, tobacco, oranges and many fruits are grown in the larger oases. 64. The desert outside the basis fornis a barrier between the fertile lands on either side. It can be

·l'hotograph by I'meruood & l'uououlle
CACTUS ON THE DRY SLOPES OF THE ANDES.
Fig. 17.

·32 THE GRASSLANDS OF TIIE WORLD crossed only by a few routes, on which the wells must not be too far apart or travellers and their beasts would die of thirst. The camel has been introduced into the deserts of North Africa and Australia. 65. Temperate Grasslands or Steppes. In the interior of the northern continents a belt of grasslands is found between the Mediterranean region of winter rains and the temperate forests. These temperate grasslands are called steppes. They have hot summers, cold winters, and a small rain in summer. Trees do not easily endure this combination of winter cold and scanty rainfall, and seedlings are choked by the rapid growth of grass and bulbs after the spring thaws. All plants wither under the hot summer sum, and except for a few weeks of beauty the steppe is a desolate landscape (vol. iv). It is the home of cattle-breeding peoples, and most of our domesticated animals were introduced from the steppe lands of the Old World. The steppes of the southern continents are small, owing to the absence of broad land masses in temperato latitudes. Steppes are found in South America in the cast between lat. 30° S. and lat. 35° S., and there are poorer steppes in the extreme south. Some steppe land is found in Australia, and in the higher parts of South Africa. Grasslands corresponding to the steppes is found on the higher slopes of high mountains between the tropics. 66. Polar Grasslands. In high latitudes, beyond the northern and southern limits of the temperate forests, neither trees nor grass can grow, except in the most sheltered spots. Mosses and lichens are the only plants, and all are dwarfed. This region is called the tundra (vols. jii, iv). In the southern continents, except in the extreme south of South America, it is only found on the higher slopes of mountains.

·THE TIIREE SOUTHERN CONTINENTS 33 Exercises 1. Explain clearly the difference between a steppe and a savana. 2. How do the steppe animals differ from the savana animals? Has this affected human life in any way? 3. Make a map of the world with the deserts coloured brown. 4. Why are oases found in a desert ? What kinds of plants are most suited to oases ? 5. If you were sleeping in the desert would you require blankets (a) underneath your body, and (6) above it? Explain why. 6. Which is the most difficult barrier to cross, a high mountain range, or a broad desert ? Give your reasons. CHAPTER VI TIIE TIIREE SOUTHERN CONTINENTS 67. Position of the Three Southern Continents. Study carefully on the globe the position of the three southern continents. The equator crosses Africa, nearly in the middle of the continent. Africa is broadest north of the equator, and most of it is in the northern hemisphere. The equator crosses the Asiatic islands of Sumatra and Borneo, and passes just north of New Guinea. New Guinea, Australia, Tasmania, and most of the Pacific islands are in the southern hemisphere. 68. (In the New World the northern tropic crosses Mexico, and passes north of Cuba in the West Indies. Central America, most of the West Indies, and the northern part of South America, lie between the northern tropic and the equator. The southern tropic crosses South America where it begins to taper, and most of ·34 THE THREE SOUTHERN CONTINENTS South America is within the tropics. The Tropic of Cancer crosses Africa about half-way between the Mediterrancan Sea and the equator, and the Tropic of Capricorn passes through the south of Africa and the extreme south of Madagascar. Most of Africa is, therefore, within the tropics. 69. Australia has less land in tropical latitudes than the other two southern continents. The Tropic of Capricorn crosses the centre of the continent. The extreme south of Australia is, roughly, in lat. 40° S., and this parallel also crosses New Zealand. New York, Madrid, Constantinople and Peking aro on or near this parallel of latitude in tho morthern hemisphere. The most southerly point of New Zealand is about lat. 47" S., in latitudes corresponding to that of Basel and Budapest in Central Europe. Most of France, Germany, Russia, and all Britain and Scandinavia, are farther from the equator than any part of Australia or New Zealand. South Africa is nearer the equator than any part of Europe, and its most southerly point is in the latitude of Crete and Cyprus in the Mediterranean, of Teheran in Persia, of Tokyo in Japan, and of California. (Only South America extends into latitudes corresponding with those of Northern Europe. Cape Horn is, roughly, in lat. 56 S., in the latitude of Edinburgh, Copenhagen, Moscow, Kamchatka, and Labrador in Eastern North America in the northern hemisphere. 70. South America has the greatest range of latitude, from that of the equatorial lands to that of Scotland. 71. Land and Water in the Southern Hemi. sphere. The globe shows that in the northern hemisphere the lands are broad and compact, and that the seas are small. Notice the breadth of Eurasia from east to west. The land mass is continued across the New ·THE TIIREE SOUTHERN CONTINENTS 35 World except for the narrow break of Bering Strait. In the southern hemisphere there are great stretches of unbroken ocean. Australia is the only great land mass which is entirely in the southern hemisphere, if we exclude the unknown ice-covered continent which surrounds the South Pole. Both Africa and South America taper rapidly south of the cquator, and the l'acific Ocean is Luroken only by scattered islands. Find on the globe Ilonolulu, in the Sandwich Islands, almost on the Tropic of Cancer, which is nearly caually distant from the shores of Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and North and South America. The northern hemisphere is the hemisphere of land, and the southern hemisphere is the hemisphere of water. 72. Distribution of High and Low Land in the Southern Continents. Turn to the coloured maps at the beginning and end of this book, and see how the continents differ in height and in the distribution of high and low land. If the three southern continents were reduced to a uniform level above the sea, Africa would rise 2,130 ft. above the sea; South America would stand 1,900 ft. above the sea; Australia, though higher than Europe, would stand only 1,150 ft. above the Do not confuse the proportion of high land with the actual height of individual mountains. Many mountains in South America are higher than any in Africa, although the average or mean elevation of the continent is less. 73. In Eurasia the highest land runs from east to west, as a well-marked though broken chain, which is highest about lat. 40° N. in Europe, and between lat. 35" and 30° N. in Asia. In South America i long high mountain chain follows the west coast from north to south East of this are vast plains. Most of Africa is Seil.

·36 TIIE THREE SOUTHERN CONTINENTS a high tableland, rising from the sca in a series of steps or terraces. This arrangement is very well marked south of the equator, but less so in Northern Africa. The western half of Australia is also a tableland, but a much lower one. The centre of Australia consists of lowlands, cut off from the castern seas by high ground, which is continued through Tasmania. The mountains of New Zealand run from north to south, and the largest plains are on the east coast of the South Island. 74. Distance from the Sea. The shape of the three southern continents affects the distance of places from the sea. In Africa, the broadest of the three southern continents, the average distance from the sca is nearly 420 miles. In South America, which is about half the size of Africa, the average distance from the sea is 340 miles. lu Australia, which is less than half the size of South America, it is not quite 220 miles. These figures show how far the climate is likely to be affected by the sea. 75. The Southern Continents compared. The following table gives a number of figures for comparison. They need not be learned. Africa. Australia, South America. 31,280,000 miles 39,000 miles 3,000,000 sq mile 14,000 miles 650,000 sq miles 17,800 sh. miles Area J.cngth of coast Average distance from Seat Average height above the scal 417 mile: 217 miles 312 miles 2,1:30 feet 1,150 feet 1,900 feet ·TIIE THREE SOUTHERN CONTINENTS 37 Exercises 1. Compare the latitudes of the three southern continents. 2. On a map of the world colour those parts of the three southern continents which lie within the tropics. 3. Which of the three souther: continents has the smallest and which has the greatest range of temperature, taking latitudo only into consideration ? Give your reasons. 4. Name all the circumstances which affect climate. 5.' Draw a diagram to show the relative size in millions of miles of tho three southern continents. 6. Which of the southern continents has the longest coastline in proportion to its area? Which has the smallest ? CIIAPTER VII AFRICA 76. Size of Africa. The maps in our atlases are not drawn on the same scale, and are likely to mislead us als to the size of different lands unless we constantly use the globe as well. The map of Europe has a full page, and so has the map of Africa, though Africa is nearly three times as large as Europe. We understand better how large Africa is when we know that the desert of Northern Africa alone is nearly as large as all Europe. Africa is nearly 5,000 miles long from north to south, and almost as broad from cast to west (4,600 miles) at its broadest. Notice that it is not cut up into peninsulas and gulfs like Europe and Asia, so that it has a small coastline for its size. Africa has only about 10,000 miles of coast, while Europe, with one-third of its area, has 20,000 miles of coast.

·38 AFRICA 77. Africa and Eurasia. The coloured map shows that the Isthmus of Suez, 80 miles wide, is the only land connexion between Africa and the rest of the Old World. This isthmus forms a barrier between the Mediterranean and Red Seas, and ships from Europe had long to go round the Cape of Good Ilope to reach the Indian Ocean. 78. The Suez Canal. The Isthmus of Suoz is a desert, and useless as a land route. It is no longer a barrier between two continents, for about fifty years ago the Suez Canal was cut across it. This canal passes through two lakes which fill depressions in the isthmus. Its length is 87 miles, of which 21 miles are lake. It is lighted by powerful electric lights, and can be used by night as well as by day. Ships going to India enter the canal at Port Said, on the Mediterranean Sea, and leave it at Suez, at the head of the Gulf of Suez. The distance from England to Bombay was 11,000 miles round the Cape, but by the canal it is only about half that distance. Sailing ships often go round by the Cape to avoid paying heavy canal tolls, but steamers find it cheaper as well as quicker to pay them and save the distance of over 5,000 miles. 79. The African Straits. Narrow seas separate Africa from Europe and Asia. The Strait The Strait of Gibraltar, leading to the Mediterranean Sea between Spain and Northern Africa, is only 9 miles wide. The strait between Africa and Arabia is 17 miles wide, and is so shallow and dangerous that Arab sailors named it Bab-el-Mandeb, the gate of tears'. Both the Mediterranean and the Red Seas are nearly landlocked, and they are so small in comparison with the surrounding lands that they hardly affect the climate. This is especially true of the long narrow Red Sea. 6

·oou C Ult
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Illvilly
Tin St 2 CANAI
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·40 AFRICA 80. Height of Africa. All the other continents have large lowlands. Africa has none. The land under 600 feet is left white in the coloured map, but it is a mere fringe along the coasts. Nearly all the continent is coloured brown. The light-brown land is under and the dark-brown land is over 3,000 feet high. Compare the area and position of the light brown and darkbrown land. The land over 10,000 feet high has been coloured a still darker shade, but its area is very small. It is well shown in the Oxford Wall Map of Africa. Most of Africa consists of high tablelands or plateaus, which are highest in the south and east. Northern Africa is lower. All the rivers rise in these high plateaus, and form falls and rapids in their steep descent to the coastal lowlands. 81. The Atlas Mountains. These are not tablelands, but form part of a ring of mountains which once enclosed the whole of the Western Mediterranean. They are continued by the inountains of Southern Spain, Sicily, and Italy. These are now separated by sea where the land has sunk. The islands are the higher peaks of the submerged part of this mountain girdle. Earthquakes are common on the mainland and islands of Southern Italy, showing that the crust of the earth is liable to constant changes in this region. 82. The Rift Valleys of Africa. Violent changes have also taken place on the mainland of Africa. Parts of the continent have sunk down, forming deep rifts or depressions, shut in by high plateaus. A glance at the coloured map shows how many lakes there are in Central Africa, and that they differ in shape. Some are almost as broad as they are long, while others are Song and narrow and very like the Red Sea in shape. The largest of the first group is Lake Victoria, which is ·AFRICA 41 as large as Scotland. The longest of the second group is Tanganyika, which is 400 miles long. (ompare its shape with that of Lake Nyasa and the Red Sea. These long narrow lakes fill the deepest parts of two rift valleys which are continued towards the Mediterranean by the rift valleys of the Red Sea, the Dead Sea, and the Jordan Valley. Many volcanoes, both active and extinct, are found along these rifts. Kilimanjaro rises to 19,000 feet, and Kenya to 17,000 feet above the castern rift valley. Both are extinct volcanoes. Ruwenzori, a vast snow-clad volcanic group, towers to nearly 17,000 feet above Lakes Edward and Albert in the western rift valley. There are active and extinct volcanoes ncar Lake Kivu, a smaller lake in the western rift valley. The Abyssinian Highlands, near the northern end of the African rift valleys and west of the Red Sea rift, are also volcanic. 83. Volcanoes of Western Africa. Notice how abruptly the coast of Africa changes its direction about lat. 5° N. Here the volcanic Kamerun peak rises to over 13,000 feet. Many islands off the west coast are also volcanic. 84. African Rivers. Find the longest African rivers on the coloured map, and trace their main streams and tributaries. Compare their direction with the arrangement of high and low ground. The Nile, ('ongo, and Zambezi rise south of the equator, in a high region which has heavy equatorial rains, and carry much water to the sea. The divides between them are little higher than the general level of the platean, and in the wettest months the flooded lakes and swamps are drained to all. 85. All the African rivers flow through regions which have well-marked wet and dry seasons, and their volume varies greatly in different months. The Congo varies ·AFRICA least, for its course is entirely in the equatorial rain belt. The Nile varies most, and its annual floods, on which the fertility of Egypt depends, puzzled the world for thousands of years. In the drier regions of North and South Africa the river-beds contain little water. 86. Natural Regions of Africa. Africa has a tropical climate except in the extreme north and south. Central Africa, however, is very ligh, and the heat is less intense than in the lower deserts to the north. The seasons differ more in rainfall than in heat, and this affects vegetation (chaps. v, vi). The vegetation divisions are more important than any political ones. 87. Political Divisions. France has colonies on the Mediterranean Sea, on the northern margin of the great desert. Italy has a colony on the Red Sca, South of the desert Africa has been divided up between Britain, Germany, France, Belgiuns, and Portugal. Exercises 1. Draw a map of Africa, shading all the land over 3,000 feet. 2. What is a rift valley ? Describe the rift valleys of Africa? Do rift valleys occur in other parts of the world? 3. It has been said that Africa begins south of the Atlas Mountains. Explain what this means. 4. Mark the chief African rivers on a map, and put in their chief tributaries. 5. Make a map to show the political divisions of Africa among the European powers. 6. Explain what has been gained by cutting the Suez Canal. Do you know of any similar barrier to communication? Use the globe in answering this question.

·CHAPTER VIII TIIE ATLAS COUNTRIES 88. The Atlas Countries. Find on the coloured map the State of Morocco, the French colony of Algeria, and the l’rench protectorate of Tunis. (Morocco is bothy an Atlantic and a Mediterranean country, but Algeria and Tunis open only to the Mediterranean. 89. Morocco, Algeria, and Tunis lie in the same latitudes, and consist of three well-marked natural regions. The first includes the fertile valleys along the northern coast, enclosed by the lower ranges of the Atlas. Farther inland are the mountains and tablelands of the High Atlas. Much of this region is steppe. South of the Atlas is the Sahara, the great desert which extends across Northern Africa. The desert is a no man's land, in which thero are no definite political boundaries. There are few European settlers in Morocco, but many French, Spanish, Italians, and Jews live in Algeria and Tunis. The natives are Arabs and Berbers, both belonging to the white race, and Mohammcdan in religion. 90. The Atlas Mountains. The Atlas ranges and plateaus stretch for 1,500 miles, from the Atlantic coast opposite the Canary Islands to Cape Bon on the African side of the Sicilian Strait. In Morocco high parallel ranges run north-cast. There are peaks over 13,000 feet high, and passes over 7,000 feet high, or about as high as the most frequented parts of the Swiss Alps. The highest range, called the Great Atlas, is rarely under 10,000 feet high, and the peaks are always covered with snow. The northern slopes of the Atlas are covered with forests of trees like those of Southern ILLY. O TOG. V1. D ·44 THE ATLAS COUNTRIES Europe, but the slopes facing the Sahara are drier and barer. High plains are enclosed between the ranges. 91. In Algeria the Atlas forms a broad high tableland nearly 100 miles across. This sinks by steep ranges to the Mediterranean on the north and to the Sahara on the south. The northern ranges rum northeast, and form headlands and sheltered bays along the coast. This northern region of valleys and coastal ranges is called the Tell, and contains most of the people and all the towns. The interior consists of tablelands covered with steppe grasses. The rivers rise there and flow north and south, cutting steep ravines and gorges through the bordering ranges. Those which flow to the Sahara are lost in the desert sands. 92. In Tunis the Atlas forms a low broken plateau, with Cape Bon as its seaward end. Fertile coast, steppe interior, and desert succeed each other to the south. 93. Climate. All these lands have what is called a Mediterranean climate. The summer's are hot and the winters mild, and frosts are almost unknown at sea-level. The prevailing westerly winds bring rain in winter, but the summers are dry, for the trade winds then blow as far rth as the Mediterranean. 94. The rivers vary greatly in volume at different Those of Morocco, which rise in the snowy Atlas, are fullest in carly summer, when the snows melt. Much water is drawii off' to irrigate the land, much evaporates under the warm summer sun, and some sinks through the loose sandy river-beds. Very little reaches the sea. The rivers of Algeria and Tunis carry little water in the hottest months. Many flow at the bottom of deep gorges, and are of little use as routes. Such rivers cannot be utilized for irrigation except in their flat lower valleys. seasons.

·PIO 2h1 AG (11
AN (1919 VAL AND 175 GAIDOIS
PG 19
NET
2
Photograph by A G Collier
Fig 20 THE GORGE OF EL KANTARA

·46 TIIE ATLAS COUNTRIES 95. Forests and Cultivated Plants. The northern ranges were once forested with cedars, cork, and other evergreen oaks, mixed with gummy or fleshy plants adapted to a dry summer. Their roots bound the soil together and prevented it from being washed away in the rainy season. Where they have been cut down there is only a thin layer of soil, which holds hardly any moisture. More of these forests remain in Morocco than in Algeria and Tunis, for the Berbers, who are most numerous in Morocco, till the soil, and leave the forests. Farther east Arabs are more numerous, and they prefer the keeping of animals to agriculture. They have destroyed the forests of Algeria and Tanis to get more pasturage for their animals. The French are striving to increase the amount of irrigated land and to improve agriculture. Wheat, maize, millet, hemp, tobacco, oranges, figs, almonds and other fruits are grown. The vine suits the climate so well that Algeria is becoming one of the great wine-producing countries of the world. The carob bean is grown for fodder, and lentils, pease, and haricot beans are important crops. The higher steppes of the interior are covered with alfa or esparto grass, whose strong dry fibres are made into paper. Immense quantities are exported to England. On the desert margin and in the oases the date palm is grown. 96. Animals. The lion, panther, liyena, bcar, jackal, antelope, gazelle, are among the wild animals found in the Atlas. Swarms of locusts often come up with the hot dry south wind, and destroy the crops. These are kept down by birds, and especially by the storks, which fly south to the Mediterranean in winter. The cuckoo and swallow also yinter there. 97. Towns and Routes. Each race and region has its special type of life. The agricultural Berbers live ·TIIE ATLAS COUNTRIES 47 in small fortified villages. The trading Arabs live in the towns, and the wandering Arabs are tent-dwellers who pasture their animals in the steppes and deserts. The Europeans are farmers and merchants, and have their own quarters in the larger towns. Shade is greatly desired in the hot summer, and in the native towns and villages the streets are very narrow. The houses are high and almost windowless, and are painted white for coolness. The richer people have high-walled gardens. Veiled women fetch water in brass or earthen jars from drinking fountains in the small open squares. Goods are sold in covered bazars, or streets of windowless shops. The mosques, or Mohammedan places of worship, are dark and cool, with rounded arches inside, and domes and tall slender minarets outside. The European towns and streets are wider and cleaner, and the walls of the houses are painted white. 98. There are no railways and fow roads in Morocco, but in Algeria the French have made good roails and some railways. The valleys of the Shelif river in Algeria and of the Majerda in Tunis run parallel to the coast, and form a railway route from cast to west. The most important line across the Atlas goes by the gorge of El Kantara to Biskra on the edge of the desert. Great hotels are built among the palm trees and are crowded by tourists in winter. 99. Morocco. Morocco is both fertile and rich in minerals. The people are semi-civilized, and very hostile to Europeans. Their manufactures are remarkable for artistic skill. The wool and hair of animals is woven into carpets and rugs, and the skins are tamned into Morocco leather, which is dyed and richly ornamented. Crops of many kinds are grown where irrigation is possible. All the largest towus are inland near the foot ·TIIE ATLAS COUNTRIES of the Atlas ranges. Fez, Mequinez, and Morocco City are cach the seat of the Sultan's court for a part of the year. Fez lies 1,3300 feet above the sea in sight of the snowy Atlas. The neighbouring bills are terraced and planted with olives, viues, and other fruits, and the surrounding plain is irrigated and cultivated. Silk, leather, and red caps called after the town are mannfactured at Foz. Morocco City lies in a broad irrigated plain shut in by ranges of the Atlas. The largest coast town, Tangier, almost opposite to Gibraltar, is practically a European town with an Arab quarter. Ceuta is a fortified town belonging to Spain. The Atlantic coast has no good harbours. The chief port is Mogador, and farther south is Agadir, which might be made into a harbour. 100. Algeria Algiers, the largest town, is built on a circle of hills round a beautiful bay. The European town is on the lower slopes, and above is the native town, crowned by the ruined capital of the Deys of Algiers. The Algerians carried on piracy in the Mediterraneau until 1830, when the French bombarded Algiers, and began the conquest of Algeria. A few years later they took Constantine, an inland town, which commands all the Tell. It is built on a height above a deep ravine, and has been a great stronghold for more than 2,000 years. All the Tell is covered with ancient ruins, showing that it was once very densely peopled. 101. Tunis, Tunis, the capital, is the second port of Northern Africa, though the harbour is not good. The town is built along the shores of the lagoon of Tunis. It is near the site of ancient Carthage, which, like Tunis, commanded the strait between the vastern and western Mediterranean. Bizertit, north of Tunis, has a magnificent natural harbour.

·Photoreal by A. 1. Collier.
Fig. 21. CONSTANTINE.
Photograph by A. G, Collier.
Fig. 22. A RUINED ROMAN CITY IN THE DESERT.

·50 TIIE ATLAS COUNTRIES Exercises 1. Draw a map of Northern Africa, shailing the land over 3,000 feot high. Mark Mogador, Fez, Tangier, Algiers, Tunis, the Majerda river, and Tripoli. 2. Show how the plants of the Atlas countries are suited to the climate. 3. Givo some reasons to explain why the religion of Mohamet has spread all over Northern Africa. 4. Where are the following occupations important, and why--vine-growing, tanning, hotel-keeping, carpetinaking? Answer as fully as you can. CIIAPTER IX TIIE SAHARA 102. The Sahara. The desert of Northern Africa is called the Sahara, from an Arabic word meaning 'a waste' Different parts have names of their own ; e. g. the Libyan desert west of the Nile, or the Nubian desert cast of it. The desert of Arabia is a continuation of the Sahara. 103. The rocks which form the surface of the desert weather much faster than they would do if they were protected by plants. They become intensely lieated during the day and are quickly cooled after sunset. This alternate heating and cooling splinters off fragments which gradually weather down to fine sand. The winds carry away the lighter sand, but the larger heavier fragments are left. Vast tracts of the Sahara consist of stony desert like that shown in the foreground of Fig. 23. The same picture shows how the winds heap the sands up into hills or dunes which in some places

·SE SE
ke
FIG. 23. A VILLAGE IN THE SAHARA.
Notice the sand dunes behind and the stony desert in
the forecround.
Pro. by W. Gouran. i'r the Atlas
Pastronie des Formes de Relief
terrestre Bozeonas et C, General By
permission of Professorx Brenhes, Chai,
and de Nartonne.

·52 TIIE SAHARA are 500 feet high. Sand dunes cover large areas in the Libyan desert and in Morocco and Algiers south of the Atlas. 104. The weathering of the rocks and the action of the wind carves the surface of the desert into heights and hollows. Many hollows are filled by salt lakes and marshes. The most important heights are the Tibesti Ilighlands, which cross the ('entral Sahara. They are nearly 1,000 miles long and rise to 7,000 feet. 105. The Desert Climate. The Sahara lies in the track of the north-east tradle winds. These bring little rain even to the eastern margin. The Atlas Mountains keep) off rainy winds from the Atlantic. The dryness is increased by the great distance of the interior of the desert from any sea. Rain falls on the margin and on the Tibesti and other highlands, but elsewhere months or even years may pass without a shower. The Sahara has been much lowered by weathering, and when it stood higher enough rain may have fallen on the highest parts to feed permanent rivers. Now most of the watercourses, or wadis, are empty except after storms. Then thcy are filled for a short time by fierce torrents, for the water runs off the baked ground instead of sinking through it. The wadis are muister than other parts of the desert, and are often fringed by trees or bushes. Notice that a line of palms fringes a wadi in Fig. 23. 106. The desert sky is cloudless and the heat of the Sun is very great, especially in summer, when the Sun is vertical over tho Tropic of Cancer. The nights are cool or cold. The hot air rises during the day and the shimmering light often forms a mirage in which the traveller seems to see vague shapes of palms or distant villages. The winds are laden with sand, which irritates the eyes and ·TIIE SAIIARA 53 makes blindness common. Many desert dwellers veil their faces to keep the sand out of their nostrils, eyes, and cars. Sometimes a strong wind whirls along so much sand that travellers camot see more than a yard or two before them. Neither man nor beast can stand crect while a sand-storm is raging. 107. llot dry winds blow outwards from the desert. That which blows north is felt as a hot dry south wind as far north as Italy, where it is called the scirocco (pronounced schuirocco). In Egypt it is called the khamsin. The hot dry wind which blows south is felt as a north wind on the Gulf of Guinea, and is there called the harmattan. 108. Plants and Animals. The Sahara is a desert because it is rainless, but water makes it very fertile. In dry countries the soil retains those chemical plantfoods which are washed out of it by rain in wetter lands. Springs gush out along the base of the Atlas and of the Tibesti and other highlands, and these create oases. Where there are no springs deep wells can sometimes be sunk to the underground water which underlies parts of the Sahara. 109. The true desert produces diry thorny gummy plants and coarse dry grass. These are grazed by camels and goats. There are few plants of any kind in the sandy and stony areas. In the oases the date palm is the most important tree. An Arab measures the value of an oasis not by its size but by the number of its date palms. These are planted as thickly as possible, and crops are grown beneath their shade. The date requires abundance of water round its roots, but its sugary fruit is spoiled by a single shower, It is perfectly fitted to live in a region where all the water gushes up from the ground, instead of falling as rain.

·54 TIIE SAHARA Whcat, millet, tobacco, cotton, hemp, and many fruits and vegetables are grown in the larger oases, as well as lucerne for fodder. Water, and not land, is coveted as property in the Sahara. Any one may take as much unirrigated land as he likes for his own, but to steal water is a crime. 110. The desert animals are ta wany and dull in colour like the desert. All are swift and able to live for a long time without water. Camels are the chief source of wealth outside the oases. A she-camel gives enough milk to feed a foal and one person for a year, and a few camels support a whole family. Animals are too valuable to be killed for food, but milk and cheese are caten. In the date season the desert dwellers crowd into the oases to lay in a store of dates for themselves and their camels. 111. Desert Life. The vasis dwellers cultivate the soil, and live a settled life in villages of mud houses surrounded by high mud walls. In the larger vases some villages have handsome mosques and good houses. The desert dwellers follow their animals from pasture to pasture. They live in tents, which can casily be taken down, laid on camels, and set up in another place. The tents are of skins, which are also made into bottles for holding milk or water. Skin bottles can casily be replaced when they are worn out, and they do not break if the camel jolts its load. 112. Trade, Routes, and Towns. The desert produces salt and skins, and the oases yield dates and other cultivated plants. These are carried on camels to the fertile lands north and south of the desert and exchanged for other wares. Caravans from the Mediterrancan bring fruit, manufactured goods, and even such luxuries as tea across the desert. Caravans from the south carry ·THE SAHARA gold dust, ivory, ostrich feathers, and other precious things north to the Mediterranean. A caravan consists of hundreds of merchants or pilgrims with their camels. There is safety in numbers, for the fierce desert tribes often attack and plunder small caravans. The caravan leaders find their way by voticing such landmarks as sand dunes, rocky hills, bushes, or the whitening bones of men and camels. Tripoli, on the Mediterranean, the capital of the State of the same name, is the startingpoint of important caravan routes across the Sahara. 113. Wargla and Turgnrt, both irrigated from deep wells, are the largest oases in the French Sahara. Tafilet, the largest oasis in Morocco, contains many villages, and about 450 sq. miles are planted with date palms. Tafilet dates are exported in large quantities to Europe. Timbuktu, about 1,000 miles south of Tafilet on the edge of the desert, a few miles from the Niger, trades in salt and is an important market. Exercises 1. Describe fully the desert climate. 2. Show how the life of desert-dwellers is well adapted to the conditions of the desert. 3. Explain the text (Luke v. 37), “No man putteth new wine into old bottles, elso the new wine will burst the bottles'. 4. Show how the plants and animals of the desert are specially suited to it. Name the most important plant and the most important animal. Give your reasons. 5. How is trade carried on in the desert ? 6. Write a full description of the illustration on page 51.

·CHAPTER X EGYPT AND THE NILE 114. The Nile. The Nile is 3,500 miles long, and flows for the last 1,500 across a desert. This seems strange, but it is still stranger to find that in this rainless region it overflows its banks every summer and turns a strip of desert first into a lake and then into a garden. We should not have expected to find a great river in the desert, and still less should we have expected it to carry so much water in the driest part of its course. 115. Two facts have to be explained. Ilow is it that the Nile reaches the sea all the year round instead of losing itself in the desert? Serondly, why does it rise 20 or 30 feet in summer? To explain the first, we must find some cause which affects the Nile all the year round. To explain the second, we must find one which acts only during the summer of the northern hemisphere. 116. First, let us see what the coloured map can tell It shows that the Nile rises south of the cquator at a great height. As it flows north it has a long course in the equatorial belt of constant rain, and receives many tributaries in the same wet region. The equatorial rains fall throughout the year and they supply the permanent stream of the Nile. If the Nilo had risen a few degrees farther north it would have had a much shorter course in the wet belt, and would have received fewer tributaries. In all probability it would have reached the sea only during certain months of the year. 117. Next let us see whether the map suggests any explanation of the summer floods. These occur in the northern sunimer, when the sun is nearly vertical over the Tropic of Cancer. This is the rainy season in US.

·EGYPT AND THE NILE 57 tropical lands north of the equator. Has the Nile any large tributaries in the latitudes which have summer rains? If so they might bring in the water which causes the summer floods of the Nile. The map shows that the Nile receives several tributaries in tropical latitudes. Which of these are most likely to cause the summer floods ? Not those which flow through low or flat regions, for they would get rid of their surplus water by overflowing their own banks, and would carry little extra water to the main stream. The tributaries which bring down the flood-waters are most likely to rise in a high region, where the rainfall is heaviest, and to flow in steep narrow valleys where they cannot overflow. The coloured map shows that Abyssinia is the only high region in tropical latitudes north of the equator which is drained to the Nile. We may assume that it is the Abyssinian tributaries which bring down extra water in summer and cause the Nile floods. 118. The Sources of the Nile. Find the sources of the Nile in the coloured map. It rises on the high lake plateau of Central Africa, where Lake Victoria, or the Victoria Nyanza, lies 3,800 feet above the sea. Many rivers flow into Lake Victoria. The Kagera, the longest, is generally taken as the head-stream of the Nile. The Nile leaves Lake Victoria as a broad river nearly half a mile wide, and begins its steep descent to Lake Albert by flinging itself down the Ripon Falls. Lake Albert lies 1,500 feet below Lake Victoria in the western rift valley. It also receives many rivers, all of which feed the Nile. Find Lake Albert on the map, and notice that it receives the waters of Lake Edward, which lies to the south in the same rift valley, 1,000 feet higher. The river which connects the two lakes receives many streams from the snows of Ruwenzori (§ 82).

·58 EGYPT AND THE NILE 119. Gathering up the waters of these mountains, rivers, and lakes, the Nile leaves Lake Albert and descends by falls and rapids to the level savanas of the Egyptian Sudan. There it becomes a sluggish river, choked by floating islands of dense vegetation, which have been torn from its swampy banks. These form the Nile sudd, and are the home of the hippopotamus, the crocodile, and even of hunting and fishing negro tribes. On the left bank the Nile receives a sluggish tributary called the Bahr-el-Ghazel, or Gazelle river, which is also blocked by sudd. Then it widens out to the papyrus swamps of Lake No. The ancient Egyptians used the papyrus instead of paper, and we have taken the name. In the sudd region fishing is the chief occupation of the negro tribes who live along the rivers. 120. The Nile flows for about 1,000 miles across the Sudan to Khartum, on the southern edge of the desert. During this part of its course it receives tributaries which risc in the volcanic Abyssinian Highlands, 6,000 to 8,000 feet above the sea. These bring down an enormous amount of water during the rainy summer season, but in winter they are dry or a mere string of pools. 121. l'ind these flood-bringing Abyssinian tributaries on the map. The first is the Sobat, which enters the Nile 500 miles above Khartum. In the wet season it is almost as large as the Nile. At Khartum the strong, swift, Blue Nile rushes into the main stream, or White Nile, with so strong a current that it pushes back the waters of the more sluggish river. The last Abyssinian tributary is the Atbara, which enters 200 miles below Khartum. After this the Nile receives no more tributaries, for its course is across the desert. 122. The Gift of the Nile. Water is not all that the Abyssinian tributaries give to the Nile. They also ·EGYPT AND THE NILE 59 6 bring down the rich red-brown.mudout of which inhabited Egypt has been built up. The Abyssinian Highlands are volcanic, and the rock waste which the rivers carry is rich in chemical substances which plants require. The quality of the mud which the Nile spreads out over Egypt every year is at least as important as the quantity. It makes Egypt more fertile, acre for acre, than almost any other land. lIerodotus, one of the earliest of travellers, was right when he called Egypt 'the gift of the Nile'. 123. The Cataracts. The Nile has still to fall about 1,000 feet before it reaches the Mediterranean. The imap shows that Khartum is on the same meridian as Cairo, but the Nilo has a very winding course between the two cities. It has cut its valley through the limestones and sandstones of the desert, which forin high cliffs on both sides. Beyond, on the cast, the Nubian Heights rise to 7,000 feet, and cut the Nile off from the Red Sea. The Peninsula of Sinai, which is part of Egypt, is still higher. On the west the Libyan hills are lower and the desert sinks to a depression in which are the Libyan oases. Purple porphyry, milky alabaster, and other beautiful stones are found in this desert. 124. In its course of 1,300 miles between Khartum and Aswan the Nile falls over 800 feet. Its bed is broken by reefy of rock which are bare in the dry season but covered when the Nile is high. These reaches of broken water form what are called the six cataracts, though there are no actual falls. The lowest or First Cataract, which is in Egypt, has a fall of 16 feet in about three miles. Aswan lies at the northern end. The ruins of many temples show that this place, where the upstream navigation of the Nile is first interrupted, was important thousands of years ago. ELES GEOG. VI.

·60 EGYPT AND TIIE NILE 125. The Nile in Egypt. Below Aswan the almost level valley of the Nile forms Upper Egypt. It is from 5 to 10 miles wide and covered with deep alluvial soil. The desert stretches away on either side, beyond the cliffs which shut the valley in. Here and there villages are built on mounds above the flood-level. Groves of palıns, groups of peasants at work and strings of camels are all that break the monotony of the landscape. 126. The Nile Delta, The Nile delta forms Lower Egypt. Most of the Nile water reaches the sea through the Damietta and Rosetta branches, or distributaries. The other distributaries have been choked by the mud which the river brings down, and form lagoons along the coast. West of the delta is the irrigated depression of the Fayum. Exercises 1. Draw a map of the course of the Nile and its trib?? taries, shading the land over 3,000 feet. 2. How do you account for the great length of the Nile? 3. How is its permanent flow supplied ? 4. How are the Nile floods caused ? 5. What did Herodotus mean when he called Egypt "tho gift of the Nile"? 6. Describe what the Nile would have been like if, rising where it does, it had flowed south instead of north, ·CHAPTER XI EGYPT 127. The Seasons in Egypt. Egypt lies north of lat. 22° N., i.e. almost entirely north of the Tropic of Cancer. It has hot summers and warm winters. Very little rain falls except along the Mediterranean coast. The seasons are marked by differences in the height of the Nile, for Egypt depends entirely on the river for its existence. Summer, the hot dry season, when the Nile is lowest, lasts from the beginning of April to the end of July. The season of high Nile lasts from the beginning of August to the end of November. Winter, the coolest season, when most of the land is under crops, lasts from December to the end of March. 128. The Rising of the Nile. As the time draws ncar for the river to rise it is eagerly watched, for the harvests depend on the abundance of flood-water. Gauges to measure the height of the rising river have been set up along the main stream and the tributaries, and the height of the water is telegraphed to Cairo every day. The Sobat comes down in flood earlier than the Blue Nile, and the Blue Nile earlier than the Atbara. The first sign of a rise is seen at Aswan in May, but at Cairo the river does not begin to rise until a month later. The Nile is highest at Aswan in the middle of September, when the rainy season of the northern hemisphere is just over. At Cairo it is highest in the middle of October. After this the water begins to fall. In a poor year, when the Nile rises only about 21 feet, some land remains uncultivated because there is not enough water to reach it. In a good year E 2 ·62 EGYPT the river rises 26 or 27 feet, and there is abundance of water for all the cultivated land. Higher floods may be dangerous. 129. How the Nile Waters are Used. As Egypt is rainless all cultivated land is irrigated from the Nile. Some of the irrigation canals are supplied from the permanent flow of the river, and are full all the year round. They are called summer canals, because they contain water even in the summer when the Nile is lowest. As they must reach the lowest level of the Nile they are cut very deep, and smaller canals branch off from them in all directions. The Fayım, Lower Egypt, and parts of Upper Egypt are irrigated in this way. The rest of the country depends entirely on the flood-waters. The flood canals are much shallower than the summer canaš for they tap the rising river. They contain water onusy during the season of flood. The lands along the river are divided by high banks of earth into enclosures oi basins. The flood-waters are first admitted to the basins nearest the river. When these are flooded to a depth of 4 or 5 feet the water is allowed to pass into basins farther from the river. The whole country looks like a lake, with villages rising above it. The water remains on the land for about six weeks, and at the end of this time it is thoroughly soaked. It is a great advantage to have a frontage on the Nile, and most holdings have a narrow strip along the river and run back a long distance from it. 130. After about six weeks the level of the water in the basins begins to fall and the soaked land is gradually uncovered. The fine mud brought down by the floodwaters forms a layer of fresh soil, and crops are planted in it in October and November. 131. Land which is irrigated all the year round pro- ·Photograph by Under wood & l'aderwood Fig. 24. CITADEL OF CAIRO. Notice the tall minarets and domes characteristic of Mohammedan architecture, and the dress of the people. You will see from it that only one or two are Europeans.

·64 EGYPT cluces two or three crops a year, while lands irrigated by the flood-waters produce only winter crops. Cotton, the most valuable Egyptian crop, can be grown only on land which is irrigated by summer canals, for it needs abundant moisture in May and June when the Nile is lowest and the flood canals are empty. The British rulers of Egypt have spent immense sums to obtain more water for permanent irrigation. A high dam has been built across the river at Aswan to deepen the water behind and form a great reservoir. The water is allowed to pass by sluices into the irrigation canals, and the supply is very carefully regulated according to the height of the river. Another important dam at the head of the delta fills the summer canals of Lower Egypt. The 132. These costly engineering works are a grea. trast to the simple methods practised by the peasury Some of these are as old as Egypt itself, and are used 7 many other parts of the East. A common method is to fix buckets on a revolving wheel, which is turned by an ox or buffalo. Each bucket in turn is dipped into the water, filled, emptied as the wheel rises, and sunk and filled once more. A simpler method still is to fix a bucket to the end of a long pole, which is raised and lowered by hand. 133. Egyptian Crops. Cotton has been grown in Egypt for hundreds and perhaps thousands of years. Its fibre is short but very silky, and mercerized' cotton goods made from it look almost like silk. The secds are crushed for oil, which is used for cooking, for making oil-cake to fatton cattle, and in soap. Sugar, rice, and vegetables are other summer crops. The winter crops are wlicat, maize, millet, clover, pulses or pod-bearing plants (lentils, beans, &c.), flax, onions, and other vegetables. Only winter crops are grown on the basin lands.

·***
Pio'oyi iph by Fivlele Young.
Fig. 25. THE SPHINX AND TAE PYRAMIDS.
Notice how entirely desert the surrounding country is.

·66 EGYPT 134. Occupations of Egypt. Most of the peasants or fellahin are farmers. There are wandering pastoral Arabs on the desert and settled Arabs in the towns. The British fill the most important official posts, and are also engaged in trade. There is a British army of occupation. Many southern Europeans are inerchants and traders in the towns. 135. The larger towns have a native quarter, with mosques, bazars, and narrow streets, and a cleaner but less picturesque European quarter. The natives do beautiful work in silk, metal, and inlaid wood. Among the other industries are the crushing of oil-sceds, flourmilling, sugar-refining, soap-making, brewing, tanning and the making of perfumes from roses. Outside towns the life has changed little for thousands of Egypt is famous for its colossal pyramids and temples, which have been preserved against deca the dry climate. 136. Routes and Towns. Alexandria, on a spit of land between the Mediterranean and the marshes of the delta, is the chief port of Northern Africa. It is connected by canal with the Rosetta mouth, 35 miles to the cast. Port Said, at the Mediterrancan entrance to the Suez Canal, is a port and coaling station, and much more important than Suez, at the Red Sca; and Cairo, the capital, at the head of the delta, is built where routes across the desert from cast and west reach the Nile. The Great Pyramid and the Sphinx are a few miles distant in the descrt. The Nile is the one great natural route, and the larger canals are also navigable. A railway follows the Nile valley to Aswan, which is about 700 miles by rail from Cairo. This will be connected with the Sudan lines ($ 144), and with that being built northwards from Cape Town ($9 189, 206).

·EGYPT
07
Exercises
1. Describo the seasons in Egypt.
2. How are the flood-waters of the Nile used ?
3. How is the permanent flow of tho Nilo used ?
4. Describe the different crops raised in Egypt. With
what other countries would you compare Egypt ?
5. Why is little or no wino male in Egypt?
6. Draw a map showing Alexandria, Aswau, Cairo, Port
Said, and the Sucz Canal.
CHAPTER XII
THE SUDAN
24937. The Sudan. The Sudan, which means the
country of the blacks', lies between the deserts of
Northern Africa and the forests and high plateaus
of Equatorial Africa; that is, between lat. 20" N. and
lat. 10° N. It does not include Abyssinia or the Italian
colony of Eritrea on the Real Sea.
138. Abyssinia. Abyssinia is a half-civilized index
pendent State, professing a corrupt form of Christianity.
The country is a plateau, much of which is 8,000 feet)
high, with volcanic heights rising to 15,000 or 16,000 feet.
In the middle of the country is Lake Tsana (1,200 square
miles), which is drained by the Blue Nile. Abyssinia'
has very heavy summer rains and a fertile volcanic soil.
Coffee, which is a native of the country, is the chief
crop. Some parts of Abyssinia are forested and yield
precious gums, and others are rich in gold. The capital
is Addis Abbeba.

·68 THE SUDAN 139. Climate and Vegetation of the Sudan. The Sudan lies in latitudes which have well-marked wet and dry seasons. The north is dry, but the summer wet season becomes increasingly marked towards the south. The heat is always great. Most of the Sudan is a savana, which passes on the south into the hot wet forests of the Upper Nile, the Congo, the Niger, and other Guinca rivers. 140. In the drier scrub lands of the north Arab shepherds and traders keep camels and goats. Along the rivers the land is irrigated and planted with millet, cotton, indigo, &c. Irrigation requires much labour for a reward in the distant future, and wherever it is prar tised the people rise in civilization. The negro tril the Southern Sudan, where the yam and banan wild, or can be grown with little trouble, are inferior to the grain-growing peoples of the healthier north. 141. Divisions of the Sudan. The Sudan consists of (i) the Egyptian or Eastern Sudan in the Nile basin, administered by Britain ; (ii) the Central Sudan, between the Nile and the Niger, divided between France and Britain ; and (iii) the Western Sudan, most of which is French. 142. The Egyptian Sudan. The Egyptian Sudan extends southwards from Wadi Halfa, at the foot of the Second Cataract of the Nile, to within 350 miles of the equator. It is about a quarter of the size of Europe (1,000,000 square miles), but has only a third of the population of London. It rises on the east to the Abyssinian plateau, and on the south to the lake plateau of Central Africa. The Nile, which flows north across successive belts of forest, savana, swamp, scrub, and desert, links the Southern Sudan with the Mediterranean, ·12 1826. IN DIE DRILR SCRUBLAND OF VIE EGYPIIAN SUDAN. Fig. 27. Drap ELEPIANI SHOT IN THE SAVANAS OF NORTHERN NIGERIA.

·70 TIIE SUDAN In the unhealthy swampy region of the Bahr-el-Ghazel constant care is needed to keep the channel open and free from sudd (3 119). 143. The Egyptian Sudan has little to cxport. The drier forests supply gums and the wetter ones rubber. The lion, rhinoceros, leopard, giraffe, antelope, gazelle, and ostrich are found in the savanas, and the hippopotamus and crocodile in the Nile swamps. Ostrich feathers, hides, and ivory are exported. 144. Khartum, the capital, is built on a tongue of land between the Blue and White Niles, where many routes reach the river: A railway runs by Berber to the great bend of the Nile, and then strikes across thdesert to Wadi Ilalfa. This will some day be conur with Aswan and the Egyptian lines. A branch from Berber to Suakin (Port Sudan), the Red Sea 145. The Central Sudan. Lake Chad, which. no outlet to the sea, lies near the middle of the Centrai Sudan. Its shores bound the French Sudan, which extends to the Senegal, Northern Nigeria (British) and the Kamerun Colony (German). 146. Northern Nigeria. On the coloured map find the Niger and its tributary the Benuc. The most fertile part of the Central Sudan lies between these two rivers, and is British. It was divided formerly among many half-civilized Mohammedan States, of which Hausaland was the largest. The Hausas are a fine race both in body and mind. Like all the tribes of Northern Nigeria they have dark skins, but they have not the projecting lips and the woolly hair of the true negro. They make good soldiers, and at the height of their power controlled many routes across the desert from the Sudan to the Mediterrancan. They are also cayer traders, craftsmen, and tillers of the soil.

·THE SUDAN 71 147. Kano. Kano, the largest town of Northern Nigeria, is one of the great markets of Africa. It is the place where the products which have been bronght south across the desert are exchanged for those which have been brought north from the forests and savanas of the south. Caravans and traders come from all the Mediterranean towns, Lake Chad, and the Guinea and Atlantic coasts. Two great staples are blue Kano cloth and kola nuts. Kano cloth is madle at Kano, of local cotton dyed with local indigo. It clothes millions of people in Northern Africa, and can be bought in every place of any size from Alexandria to Lagos on the Guinea "last. p. The Kola Nut. This grows in the hot wet of the Gold Coast and not in the Sudan. The Which contain the nuts are not unlike a chest- 6 shape. The nuts are packed in baskets, and covered with fresh green leaves to keep them moist. They are used all over the Sudan, and enable men to bear hard work and great fatigue on a scanty diet. By the time they reach the Sudan the cost of carriage has made them very dear. Nuts which cost 5 cowries near the coast from to 250 cowries at Kano, and still more on the shores of Lake Chad. 149. Cotton. Cotton is a native plant in Ilausaland, where it finds exactly the climate it prefers. The summer rains fall between May and September, when cotton needs moisture, and cease just when dry weather is wanted for picking the pods. Much more would be grown if labour could be obtained. Under native rule the ground was tilled by slaves, but imder British rule slavery is not legal. As time goes on Northern Nigeria will supply more and more cotton to the mills of Lancashire, which make cotton goods for our export trade.

·72 TIIE SUDAN 150. British Rule in Northern Nigeria. A handful of British officials administer Northern Nigeria, and their task is not easy. They have to preserve whatever is good in native usage; to introduce new customs and improved methods of cultivation without offending uative prejudices; to build roads, bridges, and railways; to render rivers navigable; and to make the country pay its way. The administrative capital is Zungeru, neur the centre of Northern Nigeria. 151. The Western Sudan. The Western or French Sudan lies between the Sahara and the Guinea forests. The dry north produces thorny plants, and the chief trade is in gums and salts. In the savana region of summer rains clumps of baobabs stand out among lands or cultivated fields. Millet and cotton are round the villages, and cattle and sheep are gri the Futa Jallon Highlands, in which the Niger The chief town is Timbukti (§ 113). The Senegal thu west to the Atlantic, and has St. Louis as its port. Exercises 1. Write a short account of Abyssinia. 2. Describe the occupations of the Egyptian Sudan. 3. Draw a map of the Niger and Northern Nigeria. 4. What are the chief proclucts of Northern Nigeria? Which is likely to be of most value to the Empire ?

·CHAPTER XIII TIIE NIGER AND THE GUINEA COAST 152. The Niger. Find the Nigo on the coloured map and trace its course. It rises in the hot wet equatorial belt in the, Futa Jallon Highlands, less than 150 miles from the sea. Owing to the slope of the land it flows for 1,000 miles away from the Gulf of Guinea through the savana belt, and reaches the edge of the desert near Timbuktu. It then flows east and southcast across the savanas of Northern Nigeria and the hot wet forests of Southern Nigeria. The Benue is its st tributary, and Lokoja, at the confluence, will ? an important place. The Niger forms falls it enters the coastal plain, but is pavigable both and below them. It enters the Gulf of Guinea by www, unhealthy, densely forested delta, in which its distributaries are fringed with mangrove swamps. 153. West African Forests. The Niger forests produce many valuable trees, of which the vil palm is the most important. This tree requires great heat and moisture, and is not found more than 150 miles from the The fruit is not uwlike a pine cone, and contains many nuts' which look like yellow plums. When these are boiled the grease they contain rises to the top and forms palm oil, which is made into soap. The real nut or kernel is something like a walnut, and contains palm kernels, which yield an inferior oil. The kola is) another valuable tree. Rubber grows wild and is also beginning to be cultivated. The plants are tapped in the dry season, which lasts from November to May. Mahogany is one of many beautiful timber trees, and there are many dycwoods. sea.

·74 THE NIGER AND THE GUINEA COAST 154. In the forest clearings cotton, indigo, coffee, and other tropical crops are growil. The natives are nicgrocs, who practice cannibalism and many horrible superstitions. The Guinea Coast once supplied many slaves, and in times of famine children are still offered for sale. 155. Railways are only beginning to be built, and there are few roads. Goods are carried by native porters, who march in single file along the narrow forest roads, or by canoes on the many rivers. 156. British Possessions. The British possessions in West Africa are separated from each other by foreign territory. Cambia is entirely surrounded by French possessions. Sierra Leone is cut off from the Gold Coa Colony by Liberia and French West Africa. German Colony of Togoland and the French Prote of Dahomey lie between the Gold Coast and so Nigeria. The coast of all this region is beaten by surf and fringed with mangrove swamps. Inland in dense hot wet forests, intersected by many rivers and creeks. The hot wet climate is very trying to Europeans, especially to Northern Europeans. 157. Gambia. Gambia, which is entered by the fine estuary of the Gambia river, consists of a narrow strip of territory along the banks of the river as far as the foot of the falls by which the river descends to the coastal plain. The colony is the least unhealthy part of West Africa. Large quantities of ground nuts are exported to the soap factories of Marseilles. The capital is Bathurst, with a good harbour. 158. Sierra Leone. Sierra Leone is high in the north, but low, swampy, and unhealthy near the coast. The forests produce rubber, mahogany, ground nuts, and oil palms. Freetown, the capital, with a good harbour, has been made more healthy by draining ·THE NIGER AND THE GUINEA COAST 75 swamps and improving the water supply. Many of the Europeans live on the lion-shaped ridge which gave Sierra Leone its name. 159. A West African Market. A visit to a market always gives à traveller a vivid idea of the life of a people. A traveller saw negro women selling a great varicty of goods in Wreetown market, some of which were native produce and some imported. lle mentions pins, needles, and reels of cotton, which have replaced the thorns and fibres once used; all kinds of small hardware, looking-glasses, heals, cowries, strong-smelling pomatum, shea-butter nuts, ornamental feathers, snuff- 'exes made of nuts and fitted with quills for inhaling muff, and the skins of leopards and monkeys. foods for sale were ground nuts, rice of rather zality, ginger, kola nuts, roasted grond-hog on is, dried bats and sun-dried fish. The fruits invised custard apples, citrons, limes, oranges grown in the moumtains, bananas, half-wild pineapples, mangoes, guavas, and alligator pears. The last tastes something like a filbert, and is eaten with pepper and salt. The vegetables were watercress, onions, beans, yams, garlie, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, and others which are unknown in this country. Plautain or banana paste, puddings of sour maize flour, ginger cakes, and lumps of native bread wrapped in banana leaves were also on sale. Another traveller found a thousand people at a market up country. Among the wares were raw cotton, cotton cloth of native make, cotton yarn dyed with indigo, dried indigo and tobacco leaves, palm nuts, palm oil, and palmkernel oil, iron of native forging, rice, ground-nuts, cooked sweet potatoes, fowls, dried ants, dried rats on skewers, dried fish, native mats and pots, some cattle, sheep, and goats, and a little salt and gunpowder. ELRY GEOG. VI

·76
TIIE NIGER AND THE GUINEA COAST
160. The Gold Coast Colony. This includes the
old negro kingdom of Ashanti. The colony is under
2,000 feet high, densely forested, and unhealthy. In
winter the harmattan wind (§ 107) is very bracing, and
is often called 'the doctor'. The forests are cut up by
many rivers and swamps. In the native clearings
banana, yams, and coco-nut palms are grown. The mud
houses are roofed with branches or stout fibres. On the
coast is Akkra, the capital, and about 150 miles inland
is Kumasi, once the capital of Aslanti.
161. Southern Nigeria is also it densely forested
region, producing rubber and the best oil palms in West
Africa. The capital is lacos, which commands all **
good routes into the interior. A railway has
built inland from Lagos, and is continued
Zungeru in Northern Nigeria ($ 150).
Exercises
1. Draw a map of West Africa, marking the Gambia and
the British possessions. Shade the land over 3,000 feet
high.
2. Name some of the causes which make it difficult to
reach the interior of West Africa.
3. Name the most important products of the West
African forests.
4. Can you suggest why the natives of Northern Nigeria
are more civilized than the natives of Southern Nigeria ?

·CHAPTER XIV THE CONGO AND ITS FORESTS 3 162. The Congo Lands. The third great river of Africa is the Congo. Find it on the coloured map, and notice that it does not form a delta like the Niger but enters the sea by an estuary. The German Kamerun Colony, with the high volcanic peak of that name, and French Congo separates Nigeria from the Congo river: Most of the Congo basin forms the Belgian Congo. Angola, south of the Belgian Congo, is Portuguese. 1.163. The Congo. Trace the course of the Congo coloured map. It rises in the highest part of plateau of East Africa, and has to fall several id feet before it reaches the sea. The colour of jap shows where these falls are most likely to occur. Notice that while the Nile and Niger flow first across forests, next across savanas, and then reach the northern desert, the ('ongo has its entire course through the hot wet forest belt. Flowing through one of the wettest regions in the world, it receives a very large number of tributaries and carries an immense amount of water to the sea. 164. Find Lake Bangweolo on the map. The streanis flowing to this lake form the head-streams of the Congo, which is as large as the Thames at London Bridge when it leaves Lake Bangweolo. It falls rapidly in its course of 100 miles northwards to Lake Mweru (2,100 square miles). After leaving this lake, the Lualaba, a great tributary from the east, carries into the ('ongo the surplus waters of Lake Tanganyika. The Congo leaves the highest part of the lake plateau by Stanley Falls, a series of rapids and falls which extend for 56 miles.

·78 TIE CONGO AND ITS FORESTS 165. The middle Congo is a very different river. Instead of falling rapidly it flows across an immense level region, which is probably the dried-up bed of a vast lake or great inland sea. This is covered with dense hot wet forests, through which innumerable rivers flow to the Congo. Many of these (e.g. the Ubangi) are themselves inimense rivers. The Congo sometimes breaks up into many channels, and sometimes flows as a noble river many miles broad. Its lake-like waters are studded with densely forested islands and swarn with fish. The hippopotamus and the crocodile haunt its waters and banks. After about 1,000 miles the ('ongo widlens out to Stanley Pool, where it is sti” 1,000 feet above the sea. Ilere it ceases to be able, and begins its final rush down the steep of the plateau to the sea. 166. Stanley, the famous explorer of the ('ong describes this descent: "It first precipitates itself wun awful force down a five-mile slope, a succession of leaping waves, which from crest to crest might be about 300 feet apart. Then by a series of mad rapids, separated by short stretches of swift but steady flows, for 75 miles, all of it confined by the towering rock barriers of à gorge from 300 to 600 feet below the level of the cleft land. Then for 88 miles it is tolerably safe to navigation, followed by another 60 miles rush of a distracted river, with roaring cataracts alternating with noisy rapids, through the rocky heart of the hills, until finally the last plunge has been made down the Yellala Falls.” 167. The 110 miles which the Congo has still to flow before reaching the sea are across the low unliealthy coastal plain. Its port is Matadi, at the head of the estuary, which is connected by rail with Leopoldville on Stanley Pool.

·TIIE CONGO AND ITS FORESTS 79 168. Climate of the Congo. The Congo lands have a hot wet equatorial climate, with two wetter and two drier scasons. The southern part of the Congo basin has least rain when the Sun is overhead at the northern tropic, and the northern part has least when the Sun is vertical over the southern tropic. Even in the drier months dense mists are common, and the hot moist climate is very dangerous to Europeans. 169. The Congo Forest. Rubber is more abundant in the ('ongo forest than anywhere else in the world. Teak, ebony, mahogany, and oil palms are also very numerous. Stanley writes of this forest : “Look at the various palms crowding on cach other. Their fibres ake the stoutest hawsers, the strength of which hemp, Manilla fibre, nor jute can match. See it pale green moss draping the tree tops like a That is the orchilla weed, from which a valuable (lye is extracted. The endless lengths of calamus are useful for flooring and verandahs, for sun screens on river voyages, for temporary shelters on open river terraces frequented by fishermen, for fish nets and traps, for field baskets, market hampers, and a host of other useful articles, but especially for the construction of neat strong houses and fancy lattice work. That pale white blossom is the rubber plant. There is a ficus (fig) with fleshy green leaves. Its bark is good for cloth, and its soft spongy fibre for making laper." 170. Peoples of the Congo. Many different tribes live along the Congo and its tributaries. They practise many arts and industries, and are good tillers of the ground, blacksmiths, potters, &c. They build great canoes, rowed by large numbers of rowers, and are skilful boatmen and fishermen. In spite of this they practise cannibalism and horrible fornis of religion.

·80 TIIE CONGO AND ITS FORESTS any 171. The Pygmies. Most of the Congo tribes, whether cannibals or not, are fine well-grown people. It is very different with the dwarf pygmies whom Stanley found in the depths of the great forest. The pygmics are wandering hunters, who never remain long in one place. They have no settled homes, but build shelters in the forest where they happen to find thenselves. They use little bows and arrows, which are sometimes poisoned, and are so small that they casily find cover. They kill a great beast like the clephant by shooting at the eyes, and then overwhelm the blinded giant with showers of tiny arrows. They are also dever fishermen. They know nothing of religion or family relationships, they have no games, the nearly naked, and have no ornaments of kind last is very unusual among ucivilized peops (lelight in decorating their persons. They do ni the ground, but when they want bananas or other vegetable food they go to some village clearing and barter meat in exchange. They have enormous appetites for their size, and a tiny pygmy can cat sixty bananas at a meal. 172. Angola. Angola has a coastline of over 1,000 miles on the Atlantic Ocean. The higher interior is much healthier than the coastal lowlands. The rainy season lasts from October to April, the summer of the southern hemisphere, and during it violent thunderstorms are commonl. The country is partly forest and partly savana. The oil palm grows near the coast, and the baobal) up to a height of 3,500 feet. To the south Angola becomes drier and passes through scrub into desert. Loanda, the capital, is the centre of a coffeegrowing district, and palm oil and rubber are also exported.

·TIIE CONGO AND ITS FORESTS 81 Exercises 1. Draw a map of the Congo and its tributaries, shading land over 3,000 feet high. 2. Describe the Congo forest and its products, 3. What do you know of the Pyginies? Can you explain their backward condition ? 1. Is the Congo a good route to the interior ? Explain your answer fully. CILAPTER XV EAST AFRICA ANT) UGANDA 3. East Africa. East Africa is a high plateau which rises to over 8,000 feet. It is crossed by two deep rift valleys containing long narrow lakes, the western one drained to the Nile and Congo. Above the rift valleys rise dead and dying volcanoes. Find on the map Ruwenzori (16,000 feet), Kilimanjaro (17,000 feet), Kenya (199,000 feet), and the volcanoes round Lake Kivu, nearly 700 miles from the sea. 174. Climate and Products. East Africa is crossed by the equator, and would be the hottest part of Africa if it were not also the highest part. The lowlands are densely forested, but the high plateau has forests only in the valleys. The rest is savana land. The mountains have a series of plant belts varying with the height. Above the tropical forests of their lower slopes are trec ferns and bamboos, with grasslands above. Many native tribes in the savanas keep cattle and live chiefly on milk, but others till the ground and grow ·82 EAST AFRICA AND UGANDA ht bananas and various food plants. The tse-tse fly is one of the scourges of the country. Its bite is fatal to cattle, and men bitten by it often contract the incurable discase of sleeping sickness. The white ant destroys everything not made of metal. All through tropical Africa its ant-hills rise to twice the height of a man. 175. The Uganda Railway. „A line has been built from Mombasa, on an island off the east coast, to Port Florence on Lake Victoria, a distance of about 600 miles. The builders had to face many difficulties, among which were the great height of the country and the great depth of the rift valley, the danger to life from wild animals and disease, and the injury done to the line by tropical rains which washed whole sections away, and white ants which devoured everything neer: to construct it. 176. Mombasa, on a richly forested island, is a pa turesque place, with a long history. The old Arab- Portuguese town, with its fort crowning the coral cliffs, the modern English quarter, and the thatched native huts, are set among palmis framed by a background of deep blue sea. The railway line crosses to the mainland, and is carried across the unhealthy forested lowlands. It th climbs the face or escarpment of the plateau, and for about 50 miles passes throngh a region of porous rock, thinly covered with thorny scrub. Beyond this it reaches the rolling grassy plains of Masailand. The Masai are one of the finest and handsomest of the negro races of Africa, who keep immense herds of cattle on the savanas, and, like all herdsmen, lead a wandering life. War used to be their delight and sport, and their picked warriors were famed for their courage. Masailand is a fine game country, and antelopes, rhinoceroses, elephants, and even lions may be seen from the train. Nairobi, the capital

·More
Pholog ap? I nt is relenic! I' (229, BI
Fig 28 MOMBASA
Notice the tropical paluny
IS) Icil ich 7
18 Bt
Pinnia
Fı: 29. In SOURCE OF TIN NILE
This shows the hi, h 811an i country of Centul Aluca.

·87 EAST AFRICA AND UGANDA of the East African Protectorate, is at present a town of corrugated iron houses, which are neither so picturesque nor so cool as the thatched native houses. From this part of the line on a clear day travellers catch a glimpse of the cone of Kenya, many miles away in German territory. A growing number of white settlers are deroting themselves to agriculture. Coffee (loes well, but the country is too high for cotton. 177. The train climbs to a height of over 7,000 feet, and reaches the edge of the rift valley. This is seen lying far below, and 40 miles away on the other side is the high edge of the plateau which shuts it in on the west. The train descends the forested precipices of the steep escarpment to Lake Naivasha. It crosses the broad valley and then climbs up the steep forested f: of the western escarpment. At last, at a height of u 8,000 feet, it comes out on a rolling grassland which stretches away as far as cye can see. The line descends gradually across savanas, pincwoods, heather moors, tropical forests, and clearings planted with bananas, to Port Florence on Lake Victoria. 178. The Banana in Uganda. The banana is the staff of life among the natives of l ganda. They gather it unripe and steam it in carthen pots covered with its own leaves. Sometimes it is roasted and crushed into meal. The fibres are made into baskets, string, wickerwork, &c., and the leaves take the place of tablecloths. The juice makes a kind of soap, and a pleasant drink is made from the fruit. Fish are caught in the lake, and meat is eaten whenever it can be had. The people formerly dressed in bark cloth which was made by beating wood-pulp thin, but now they are eager for European clothes. They are fond of ornaments, and one traveller a man of fashion wearing a huge empty meatsaw ·EAST AFRICA AND UGANDA 85 extract jar as an carring. Many arts are carried on, and boat-building is one of the most important. The largest canoes will hold a thousand persons. No nails are used in these boats, which are sewn or bound together. The different tribes devote themselves to different occupations. The Baganda till the ground, but the Babina keep cattle and live chiefly on milk. The two look down on each other and seldom intermarry. 179. Uganda, l'anla is mhealthy in the lower forested parts, but lealthy above 5,000 feet. Steamers l'un on the lake. All vegetation is cleared away round the landing places, for it serves as a breeding-place for tse-tse flies and mosquitoes. The capital is Entebbe. 180. German East Africa. German East Africa resembles British East Africa, but is less fertile. The rgest town is Dar-es-Salaam, with a fine harbour. 181. Zanzibar, on a coral island, and Pemba are British. Zanzibar was formerly a centre of Arab power and of the Arab slave trade. Cloves are exported. Exercises 1. Why is East Africa less densely forested than the Congo basin ? Explain fully. 2. Draw a map of the Uganda ruilway, shading land over 3,000 feet. 3. What are the chief drawbacks to the colonization of East Africa and Uganda hy white men ?

·CHAPTER XVI THE ZAMBEZI 182. The Zambezi. On the coloured map find the Zambezi, the only large African river flowing cast, and trace its course. It enters the sea by a large swampy mangrove-covered delta ; but sediment bronght down by the river has choked the mouths of most of the distributaries and the river is difficult to enter, 183. The Shire. In the middle of last century Dr. Livingstone, the famous missionary traveller, made his way through the delta, and at its head, about 100 miles from the sea, he found a great river flowing into the Zambezi from the north. Find this on the coloure: map. It is the Shire, which flows out of Lake Nyasa, the southernmost of the long narrow rift-valley lakes. Dr. Livingstone traced its course and found that it was navigable for over 150 miles. Then, like all African rivers, it was interrupted by rapids and falls in the course of its headlong descent from the high interior to the sea. These falls interrupt navigation for 50 or 60 miles, but above this the Shire again becomes navigable. 184. The Shire Highlands west of the river are one of the healthiest parts of tropical Africa. The climate is tropical, with wet summers and dry winters. Several hundred Europeans have settled there, many of whom are Scotsmen. They grow coffce of the finest quality, tea, cacao, and other tropical plants, and wheat in the cooler parts. The chief town is Blantyre. A railway has been built to connect the navigable reaches of the Shire above and below the falls, and steamers run on Lake Nyasa.

·Biuro the Royal (i ogrtphic Society.
Fig. 30. LAKE NYASA
By permission of the Royal Cicographierel Sociсty.
Fig. 31. IN THE SHIRE HIGHLANDS.

·88 THE ZAMBEZI 185. Nyasaland. The high plateau between Lakes Nyasa and Tanganyika formis Nyasaland. The highest summits rise to 10,000 feet. Nyasaland Nyasaland is a healthy region. The rainy season is from December to March, in the southern summer. The land is then covered withi streams, rivers, pools, and swamps, and roads are impassable. This is true of all parts of tropical Africa at the end of the rainy season. The grass in the savanas grows to a great height, and makes good cover for large game. Showers fall occasionally during April, May, and June, when the dry season begins. The rivers sink, the grass dries up, and the comtry becomes dull and brown). In the dry season the grass is burned off, but springs up again fresh and green after the first rains. In the higher savanas the baobab is the chief tree, but there are many species in the forests which cover the lowlands, 186. The native tribes of Nyasaland are much more civilized than those of the Niger or Congo forests. No doubt this is partly because the climate is healthier and the forest less dense. The land is cleared and worked by the men, and the crops are weeded and gathered by the women, Men also work iron, make clothes, and plait dry fibres of grass into watertight baskets and utensils. Clay pots, on the other hand, are always od by women. Grain is the staple food. It is poumded into flour and eaten with fish, meat, white ants, pepper, or some other relish. In some parts it is made into beer. Round Lake Tanganyika a kind of beer-gruel is the commionest food. 187. Nyasaland has many white settlers, who grow rubber, tobacco, cotton, and other tropical crops. Most of the transport is still done by native porters, but the country is so rich in minerals that it will soon be opener up by railways. The administrative capital is Zumbo.

·Fig. 32. THE ZAMBEZI FALIS Photograph by Wilson Bros.

·20 TIIE ZAMBEZI 188. The Course of the Zambezi. Find the headstreams of the Zambezi in the coloured map, and notice how near they are to the head-streams of the Congo. The colouring of the map shows what kind of ('ourse we may expect the Zambezi to have. It lies too far south to flow through a densely forested basin like the Congo ; but there is a well-marked wet and dry season, to which plants must adapt themselves. We may expect that in its upper course it will pass through large savanas, where cattle-keeping will be important. We see, too, from the map that the river must form a number of falls in its descent to the sea. What we could not have expected from the map is that among these are the most magnificent falls in the world. 189. The Victoria Falls. The Victoria Falls were discovered by Dr. Livingstone in 1851. Above the falls the Zambezi is a magnificent river nearly it mile wide from shore to shore. At the falls it flings itself over a shelf of rock half a mile wide, and falls sheer for 450 feet into a deep narrow gorge shut in by high rock walls, in which its waters liss and boil in terrible beauty. The roar of the water can be heard and the column of spray can be seen for many miles, and the natives give the falls the beautiful name of the Falls of the Sounding Smoke. The constant spray makes the forests on both sides of the river very luxuriant. The line which is being built from the Cape to Cairo is carried across the Zambezi on a fine bridge below the falls. 190. Below the Victoria Falls the river is again broken by rapids, and often flows in wild defiles and gorgos. At other points its banks are low and it floods its banks after the rains. About 350 miles from the sea it forms a last series of falls and descends to the Coastal plain, where it forms a great delta.

·THE ZAMBEZI 91 191. Political Divisions. The Zambezi forms the boundary between Northern and Southern Rhodesia, and between Central and South Africa. Northern Rhodesia is still little known or settled by white men. Much of the country is high, open, and healthy, and well suited for farming and stock-raising. Its mineral wealth is very great, and includes coal, copper, and gold. Wheat, coffee, cotton, and the crops which do well in similar regions are being introduced. 192. Portuguese East Africa has a coastline of about 1,400 miles and the fine harbour of Delagoa Bay. The Zambezi delta divides it into two nearly equal parts. The coastal plains are swampy and unhealthy, but the interior rises to ucarly 9,000 feet. The forest products are important. The chief town is Lourenço Marques, on Delagoa Bay. Beira, also on the coast, is connected with the Rhodesian railway lines. Exercises 1. Draw a map of the Zambezi and its tributaries, and shade the land over 3,000 feet. 2. Compare the course of the Shire and the Zambezi. 3. Describe the different plant-belts of the Zambezi, and the occupations of each. 4. Explain why the rainy season in Nyasaland is from December to March. 5. On any map) inark Blantyre, Zumbo, the Cape-to- Cairo line, Beira, and Delagoa Bay and the lines connecting it with the Cape-to-Cairo line. Use any books or atlases. ELEM. GEOG, VI. G ·CHAPTER XVII SOUTH AFRICA 193. South Africa. South of the Zambezi is the high platean of South Africa, rising by steep terraces from a narrow coastal plain, which is nowhere over 50 miles broad. From below, the high edges of these terraces look like mountain ranges and have different names. They are highest in Natal, where they form the Drakensberg Mountains. A traveller from the coast who wishes to reach the interior must take a railway which climbs stceply froni terrace to terrace till it comes out on the rolling veld, a steppe land broken by flat-topped kopjes (pronounced koppies) of harler rock. 194. Climate. South Africa is almost in the latitude of North Africa, and is a lry region. If the continent were broader South Africa would be a desert like the Sahara. As it is, the Kalahari desert is comparatively small. 195. There is a narked difference between the climate of east and west. The cast is much warmer than the west at sea-level. This is due to a cause which has not been mentioned before. The surface waters of the sea, which are greatly hcated near the equator, become lighter and flow south as the Mozambique current along the east coast of Africa. They warm the winds which blow over them and mako the east coast of Africa warmer than it would otherwise be. This southward set of warm surface water is balanced by an up-welling of cold water nearer the pole, and a cold current flows north along the west coast of South Africa, chilling the winds which blow inland over it. Remember, then, that the ocean, like the air, has a circulation of its own, though it

·Phoingraph by Wilson Bros.
Fig. 33. MAJUBA.
Majula is a flat-topped hill in the Drakonsherg on the frontior of Natal and
the Transvaal. It is shown in the background. Notice the native kraals and
moalio fields in the foreground.
Photograph by Wilson Bros.
Fig. 34, VIEW OVER THE VELD FROM THE SUMMIT OF MAJUBA.
This gives an excellent idea of the rolling veld of Natal. The Transvaal
veld is much flattor.

·94 SOUTH AFRICA cannot be explained here. The Mozambique current makes the coastal plains of Natal warm enough to grow tropical crops. 196. The cast is also wetter than the west. The south-east trade winds strike the high eastern edge of the Drakensberg Mountains and drop their moisture as rain. They pass on to the interior and west as dry winds. 197. Most of South Africa has rain during the hot months, from October to March. These months are almost rainless at Cape Town, to which the westerly winds bring winter rains as in Northern Africa. Olives, vines, oranges, and other Mediterranean fruits are grown round Cape Town. 198. South African Rivers. South Africa is too dry for great rivers like those of tropical Africa. The Orange, the longest (1,200 miles), carries little water to the sea. Both the Orange and the Vaal, its longest tributary, rise in the Drakensberg, and flow west across å dry region. The watercourses which open to them seldom contain water except after storms. All South African rivers come down in flood after rain, for the water runs off the sun-baked ground to the nearest watercourse instead of sinking through the soil. The flooded streams tear away their beds and deepen their valleys very quickly. Such valleys hinder rather than help commumication. In flood they cannot be crossed by the fords or drifts, and when cry they involve a steep descent and ascent. 199. As the Orange flows west through the dry region it loses much water by evaporation and shrinks in size as it nears the sea. It leaves the high plateau by a deep gorge, forming falls as it descends. The Limpopo, which flows first north and then east, rises in ·SOUTH AFRICA. 95 the Witwatersrand, and carries little water. In parts it is a mere string of pools in the dry season, infested by crocodiles. It forms falls as it descends to the coastal plains of Portugese East Africa. One of its tributaries is the Oliphant or Elephant river. 200. South African Plants. South Africa is too dry for trees except.on the hot wet coastal plain of Natal and in the valleys of the tropical south. The Australian encalyptus, with a small, long, narrow leathery leaf, is planted round many farms in the less healthy parts. Nearly all South Africa is a steppe or veld, passing into scrub or desert in the drier west and into savana in the north. The sweet veld produces good grasses all the year round, but the sour veld only in spring. Farmers burn off the dry grass at the end of the dry season. This produces fresh green grass after the rains but keeps down trees. The poorer scrubs are called karroos, from a native word meaning a bare dry place. All the karroo plants are thomy, and the waita-bit thorn is hated by travellers. Still drier is the Kalahari lesert, where men and animals quench their thirst on the fleshy water-storing melons which grow wild. The natives also find water in the roots of many plants. The South African flowers are very beautiful. Heaths are very common and bulbs do well. Large tracts are covered with wild arum lilies, which are called 'pig lilies '. 201. Many tropical plants are grown on the coastal plains of Natal, and in the lower valleys and plains of the north. Mediterranean fruits grow round Cape Town, where the vineyards yield more to the acre than anywhere else in the world. Maize, always called 'mealies ', and Kaffir corn, or millet, which we know as bird-seed, are grown on the plateau.

·96 SOUTH AFRICA 202. South African Animals. South Africa was once densely stocked with game, but this has been destroyed by the white man in the last century. Lions and elephants are seldom seen, though the leopard, or 'tiger', is not uncommon. Jackals are kept from the stock by jackal-proof fences. Sheep are the great wealth of the country. Horses are subject to horse-sickness. Those which recover are said to be seasoned or 'salted'. Cattle plague and the tse-tse fly have cut down the number of cattle. The tse-tse fly prefers the blood of wild animals and is becoming scarcer as game is killed off. Oxen are used to draw waggons on 'trek’, but this mode of travelling is slow and costly. Ostrich farming pays well. The locust and the white ant are both very destructive. 203. People. The white English and Dutch settlers are now united in the South African Union. The English are farmers, engineers, mineowners, and traders. The Dutch Boers are a pastoral people, simple in their habits, indifferent to comfort, and at home in the saddle or with the gun. The finest native races are the Kaffirs and Zulus, who are agricultural and pastoral people. They live in villages of 'kraals' or thatched huts, and their women cultivate 'mealies '. The llottentots, who keep more sheep than cattle, lead a wandering life. The Bushmen are a dwarf people, perhaps related to the Pygmics ($ 171). They hunt game with poisoned arrows, eat frogs, lizards, tortoises, and any kind of animal food, and dig for edible and water-bearing roots. They are very clever at drawing, and their rock-paintings are much admired. Tlic natives everywhere greatly outnumber the whites. 204. Political Divisions. The Union of South Africa includes Cape Colony and Natal on the east coast, ·SOUTII AFRICA 97 and the Orange Free State and the Transvaal in the interior. The poorer, drier interior forms Southern Rhodesia, which includes Bechuanaland, Matabeleland, and Maslionaland. 205. West of British South Africa is the dry region of German South-west Africa. Walfisch, or Whale Bay, the best harbour, is British. 206. The Cape to Cairo Line. This climbs the difficult terraces of the plateau to the karroos and runs across Cape of Good Hope, by Kimberley to Mafeking. From there it goes north by Buluwayo, the Wankie coalfields, the l'ictoria Falls, and the mining district of Broken Hill into the Congo Free State. Branch lines go to the coast (i) through Johannesburg and the coulfields of the Transvaal and Natal to Durban; and (ii) through Johannesburg and Pretoria to Delagoa Bay. North of Buluwayo a line goes by Salisbury, the capital of Rhodesia, to Beim (192). 207. Cape Colony. (ape Colony is about twice the size of the l'uited Kingdom. It has a long coastline, which extends from the Orange River to Natal, but has few good harbour's. Find on the map the ports of Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, and East London. The two last are exposed to the force of the south-east gales, and ships have to lie off shore and land their passengers by tugs. The coastal plain is narrow and the interior rises very abruptly. This made it difficult for settlement to spread inland. 208. Cape Town is finely situated on a magnificent bay at the foot of Table Mountain (3,600 feet), which falls by lofty sandstone precipices to the woods below. There are many beautiful ravines or kloofs (English 'clefts'), which contain exquisite flowers. Cape Town has Houses of Parliament, an observatory and a university, ·98 SOUTII AFRICA and is one of the capitals of South Africa. To the north is the Dutch-looking town of Paarl, and the famous vineyards of Constantia. Kimberley, near the borders of the Orange Free State, is the great diamond town of South Africa. In the east the chief inland town is Grahamstown, with a university. 209. Sheep-farming is an important industry in Cape Colony, and the merino sheep does well. The wool does not fetch so high a price as Australian wool, because it is less carefully sorted. This is due to the scarcity of labour, for where coloured men are employed white men will not do work which they think menial. Angora goats supply mohair, which is made into rugs. Cattle are kept, but give little milk in a dry climate, and goats' milk is commonly used. Iides are exported from Port Elizabeth for tanning into leather. Ostrich-farming is also very important. 210. Natal. Natal rises from a hot wet coastal plain, with a tropical climate, to the highest ranges of the Drakensberg. Here the Tugela river flings itself down by a sheer fall of 1,800 feet. The highest points are Champagne Castle (12,000 feet), and Mont aux Sources, where many streams rise (11,000 feet). Majuba, famous in history, is about 7,000 feet high. The rivers are too swift to be navigable, and the roads are almost impassable after rains. On the coastal plain grow palms, mangroves, bananas, bamboos, coffee (the national drink of South Africa), rice, cotton, ginger, sugar, pineapples, tobacco, and many other tropical crops. Thousands of Indian coolie labourers work in the plantations. Sheep and cattle are grazed in the higher parts. There are coalfields in the north round Newcastle and Dundee. The capital is Pietermaritzburg, and the chief port is Durban.

·ME
w ..
Photograph by Wilson Bre
Fig. 35. CAPE TOWN AND TABLE MOUNTAIN.
Photograph by Tilson Bros.
Fig. 36. A RIVER IN NATAL.
This shows how all African rivers descend from the high
plateau to the coastal plain.

·100 SOUTII AFRICA 211. The Orange Free State. The Orange Free State is as large as England, but contains only as many people as a second-rate English town. It is a dry region, well suited for sheep- and cattle-breeding. The best part is on the borders of Basutoland, the Switzerland of South Africa'. All the towns, and even Bloemfontein the capital, are small. 212. The Transvaal. The Transvaal, or land beyond the Vaal, is a high tableland west of the Drakensberg. It consists of the high velol, over 4,000 feet high, the middle veld, and the low bush veld. The bare, healthy, high vele pastures sheej), and the middle veld suits cattle and maize. The better-watered bush veld is whealthy and ravaged by fever and the tse-tse Hy. Coffee, silgar, tobacco, and other tropical crops are grown in the lowlands. 213. The Transvaal towns are all small. Pretoria, the capital, is on the high veld. The only large town is Johannesburg, at the foot of the Witwatersrand, one of the richest gold-mining districts in the world. Johannesburg, with a population of nearly a quarter of a million, lies in a bare, scorched, windy country, where water is scarce and sand-storms are common. ('oal found at Vereeniging in the Southern Transvaal, and elsewhere. 214. Rhodesia. From From Mafeking the continental line runs across the dry region of Bechuanaland, where the high hills of the white ant are commoner than signs of human life. Much of Bechuanaland consists of the uninhabited Kalahari desert, the home of a few wandering natives. In Matabeleland is Buluwayo, at the foot of the picturesque Matoppo llills, the burial-place of (Secil Rhodes, the founder of Rhodesia. In Mashonaland is Salisbury, the capital.

·SOUTIL AFRICA 101 215. Notice that Buluwayo is very nearly on the Tropic of Cancer, so that except at a considerable height Rhodesia is not very suitable for white nuen. Fortunately, much of it is over 5,000 feet high. The dryness of the extreme south gives place in the north to a tropical climate with alternate wet and dry seasons. The soil is fertile, and much of the land makes fine prasture. Sheep, cattle, horses, and pigs do well. The natives grow pumpkins, mealies, Kaffir corn which they make into porridge and beer iš 186); and rice docs well in the lower swampy districts. White settlers grow wheat, barley, oats, maize, and an immense variety of delicious fruits. In the lower hotter parts coffee, cotton, and tobacco are grOWT). The whole of Rhodesia is rich in goldl, coal, and other minerals, but labour is scarce. Exercises 1. Draw a map of South Africa, marking the Orange, Vaal, and Limpopo rivers, Bloemfontein, Buluwayo, Cape Town, Durban, Johannesburg, Kimberley, Mafeking, Pie termaritzburg, Port Elizabeth. Pretoria, Salisbury. 2. Explain fully why the cast of South Africa is hotter and wetter than the west. 3. With what parts of Northern Africa woull you compare South Africa ? Give your reasons fully. 4. Describe fully the South African veld. 5. Write short accounts of the life of (ul) the English settlers in Johannesburg, (b) the Boer fariners, (c) the Kaffirs, and (v1) the Bushmen. Explain any differences. 6. Write short accounts of (a) South-west Cape Colony, (6) Natal, (c) the Transvall, showing how the difference of climate affects them. Compare them with those parts of Africa which seem to you to be most like them.

·CHAPTER XVIII SOME AFRICAN ISLANDS 216. The Atlantic Islands. The globe shows that several groups of small islands lie in the Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of Africa. Find the Azores (Portuguese), more than 1,000 miles west of Portugal; Madeira (Portuguese), and the Canary Islands (Spanish), between the Azores and the African coast; and the Cape Verde Islands (Portuguese), clue west of Cape Verde. All are picturesque, mountainous, volcanic islands, with a warm eqnable climate and a rich vegetation. The highest point is the peak of Teneriffe in the Canaries, which is over 12,000 feet. Bananas, sugar, vines, and tropical fruits are grown, and Madeira and the Canaries produce good wines. The chief towns are Funchal in Madeira, and Las Palmas in Grand Canary, both ports of call for South African liners. 217. Islands in the Indian Ocean. Find Madagascar (French), in the Indian Ocean. It is one of the largest islands in the world, and more than twice the size of France. The cast coast, which rises steeply from the sea, receives much rain from the trade winds, and is dlensely forested. The centre is a high plateau, forming a savana, like Rhodesia in the same latitudes. The west coast is lower and drier. Madagascar produces all tropical plants and exports rubber. The capital is Antananarivo, on the plateau. Réunion (French) and Mauritius (British) are volcanic islands cast of Madagascar. They have a hot wet climate and are covered with tropical forest. Sugar is grown in the clearings.

·CHAPTER XIX - AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND 218. Australia Australia (3,000,000 square miles) is the smallest of the continents. The other two southern continents, Africa and South America, are inuch alike in shape, for both are broad in the north and very narrow in the south. At first sight Australia is very unlike them, but compare its shape with that of Africa north of the Gulf of Guinca and Cape Guardafui. If you make a tracing of both and put one over another you will see that they are not very ulike after all. Both are broad compact land masses, with regular unbroken coasts. Their position is also very similar. The coast of Northern Africa is roughly in lat. 37" N. and the Guinea coast in lat. 5° N. The northernmost point of Australia is very nearly 10° S. lat., and the southernmost point about 390 S. Thus, North Africa and Australia are alike both in veneral shape and in latitude. The chief difference is that one is north and the other south of the Equator, so that one has its summer while the other has its winter. The height of both is also very much the same, as the coloured maps show. With so many important resemblances we should expect Australia to resemble North Africa in many other ways. The interior of North Africa is a desert, partly because of its latitude and partly because of its great distance from the sea. We should expect to find a great desert in the centre of Australia for the same reasons, The southern part of North Africa lies between the tropics, and has a tropical climate with hot wet summers and warm dry winters. We should expect the same thing ·104 AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND in North Australia, which lies in almost the same latitudes. No part of Australia is so near the Equator as the Guinea Coast, and the hot wet forests will be smaller than in Africa. The North African coast has a Mediterranean climate, with cool winters and winter rains. We should expect a similar Mediterranean region with winter rains in the same latitudes of the south coast of Australia. 219. Now compare Australia with South Africa. The parallel 10° S. lat. cuts the northern end of Lako Nyasa, and the most southerly point of South Africa is about lat. 35° S. Australia and South Africa differ very little in latitude, and as both lie south of the Equator their winters and summers fall in the same months. There is, however, a marked difference, both in shape and in height. Australia is very broad from cast to west, while South Africa is narrow. Secondly, South Africa is much higher, and likely therefore to have more rain, especially in the high east. Allowing for these differences, the climate and vegetation of Australia are like those of South Africa. The tropical lands of Angola, Portuguese East Africa, and Natal, the deserts of German South-west Africa and Bechuanaland, and the Mediterranean region round Cape Town are all represented in Australia. These resemblances we can explain by natural laws. The fact that both South Africa and Australia are rich in gold is a resemblance for which it is harder to account. 220. A Contrast. There is one striking contrast between Australia and South Africa. Australia is drier, and freer from fever and other discases. This fits it to be a white man's country. All through Africa, south of the Sahara, the whites are a mere handful among millions of blacks. In Australia the natives are now ·AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND 105 a handful in comparison with the whites, most of whom are of British origin. Slavery and forced labour have been used in Africa so long that white men think it degrading to do any work formerly clone by slaves. The Australians do not believe in coloured labour, and though Pacific Islanders were once employed on the tropical plantations of Queensland the custon is ccasiny. The Japanese and Chinese, who carry on laundries, market-gardening, and other trades, are also discouraged as settlers. Tropical Australia is developing more slowly than it would do with coloured labour, but there is much to be said for the Australian view. 221. New Guinea. New Guinea is a large island north of Australia. The strait between them is called Torres Strait. New Guinea is divided between Britain, Germany, and Holland. The interior is mountainous, forested, and little explored. The pearl fisheries of Torres Strait are inportant. Exercises 1. Draw a map of Australia, shading the land over 1,500 feet. 2. Draw the maps of Australia and Africa described in $ 219. 3. How far do you think that Australia can be compared with Africa in latitude, climate, and physical features ? 4. Which parts of Australia would you expect to be most thickly peopled, and why? 5. What occupations would you expect to pay hest in Australia, and why? 6. If you have any relatives in Australia write a letter from one of them, describing his home and work.

·CHAPTER XX NATURAL REGIONS OF AUSTRALIA 222. Political Divisions. Australia is divided politically into Queensland, New South Wales, and Victoria on the cast, South Australia and West Australia. These are united with the island colony of Tasmania to form the Commonwealth of Australia. New South Wales is the oldest colony. Botany Bay was settled in 1788, and Sydney ou l'ort Jackson soon after. 223. Natural Divisions. Look at the coloured map and see where the highest and lowest land are found. The coastal plains are narrow, and the only large areas of land under 600 feet is in the basin of the Murray-Darling and round Lake Eyre. The land over 3,000 feet is nearly all along the east coast. This reminds us of the position of the highest land in South Africa ; but the Drakensberg Mountains are 4,000 feet higher than the highest land in Eastern Australia. In both countries the castern heights lie in the track of the prevailing winds and receive most of the rain, so that the interior is drier than it would be if the east were lower. Threequarters of Australia is between 600 and 1,500 feet high. The natural divisionsare:(i) the Eastern Ilighlands, (ii)the Central Lowlands, and (iii) the Western Tableland. 224. The Eastern Highlands. The eastern coastal plain, which was settled first, is very narrow. Behind it riscs what looks like a range of high mountains, but is the edge of a high platcau. The rivers have cut out deep valleys in the plateau, and covered the coastal ·11.kv. Udext VI. II By per 43:10, of the South ofislitecter! Heitl, Fig. 37. THE MCT:RAY RIVER IN SOUTII AUSTRALIA. Xotice the scarcity of trees in this dry region. The cliffs are quite bare, but trees grow at the water's edge. Notice, too, how well the arrangement of rock layers is seen where rivers cut gorges in dry regions.

·108 NATURAL REGIONS OF AUSTRALIA plain with alluvial soil. The western slopes are less cut np by river action, except in the south, where the tributaries of the Murray- Darling flow in deep wild gorges to the Central Lowlands. 225. The Eastern Ilighlands form the Queensland Highlands, the New South Wales llighlands, and the Victoria Highlands, and lave many local names. The New South Wales Highlands behind Sydney are called the Blue Mountains, from their colour on the sky line. The coastal plain round Sydney was soon occupied, and explorers began to seek a way across the Blue Mountains. Valley after valley was followed, but no good passes were found. The valleys grew deeper and deeper, and the heads were shut in by huge precipices, down which the rivers fell as waterfalls. These gorges are cut so deeply into the plateau that the railways which run from south to north are carried along the highest part of the Eastern Ilighlands, west of the end of these great valleys. The highest part of the Eastern Highlands is Mount Kosciusko (7,000 feet) in New South Wales, 10 miles from the frontier of Victoria. llere the Murray rises in the wild gorge known as the Gates of the Murray. 226. The Queensland Highlands are equally rugged along their castern margin, but they slope more gently to the west. They reach 5,500 feet in the Bellenden Ker Mountains, south of Cape York Peninsula. South of this they are about 300 miles wide from east to west. The rivers which flow cast are short, swift, and very liable to floods. Many flow to good harbours. Their upper tributaries often enter them at right angles, through valleys out ont along lines of softer rock. Find the Burdekin, the Fitzroy River, and the Dawson River, in a rich coal district. In New South Wales find the Hunter River, which also flows through a coalfield.

·Photoempl. by W1l3012 Erns. Fig. 38. IX THE BLUE MOUNTAINS. This shows why it was so difficult to find routes up the valleys, which are all shut in ly high cliffs.

·110 NATURAL REGIONS OF AUSTRALIA 227. In the south of New South Wales and Victoria the Eastern Ilighlands are called the Australian Alps, and Kosciusko and other high points are often covered with snow. The highest part of the Victoria Ilighlands is over 6,000 feet high. The castern slopes are drained by short rivers, and the western slopes by tributaries of the Murray. 228. The Eastern Highlands are rich in minerals. The most valuable is gold, which is found throughcut their length. (opper and coal are also abundant. 229. The Central Lowlands. The ('entral Lowlands lie west of the Eastern Highlands, and stretch from the Gulf of (arpentaria to the south coast. The Gulf of (arpentaria is a submergeil part of this lowland. Notice the broad coastal plain which surrounds it. The land rises to the south and sinks again to the stony plains round Lake Kyre, and to the plains of the Murray- Darling 230. The Artesian Area. The region between the Gulf of Carpentaria and the Nurrumbidyee is sometimes called the artesian area. It is about 1,200 miles from north to south and 300 miles from east to west. It consixty of sandstone, through which water passes casily. There are great stores of underground water, which can be reached by sinking deep wells. The deepest is over 5,000 feet deep. So great is the pressure on the imprisoned water that when released it rises to the surface and forms a flowing well. Compare this with the Sahara (ch. ix). The water contains many minerals, and is used for watering stock between South Australia and Queensland, along the Great Stock Route. 231. The Lake Eyre Region forms a basin of inland drainage, with no outlet to the sea. Compare Lake Chad in the Sudan. The shores of the lake are about

·By joernesscon with South lextric Coolemmel.
A l'URILE VALLEY Y Sort AUSTRALIA.
lis. 39.
...
By puernession of the lioycel colonul Institute,
Fig. 40. AN ARTESIAN WELL.
Notice how the water is forced up and low away across the scru, lani.co

·112 NATURAL REGIONS OF AUSTRALIA 40 fect below sea-level, but it was once a great freshwater lake, drained to Spencer Gulf. Its size has been reduced by the great craporation under the hot cloudless sky, and by the sediment carried into it by rivers from the western slopes of the Queensland Highlands. The Barcoo, or ('ooper's ('reek, is the longest of these. They are dry for a great part of the year, but after heavy rains they come down in Hood, heavily loaded with sediment. ('ompare the floods and sediment of the Abyssinian tributaries of the Nile ($$ 121, 122). The whole Lake Eyre region is very dry, and there are stony plains, called giblers, where hardly a plant can live. 232. The Murray-Darling. The Murray-Darling is the only long river of Justralia, but it carries little water to the sea, and many of its tributaries are mere strings of pools when they are not in flood ( 120). If we take the Darling as the main stream, and the Condamine as its longest tributary, the total length is 3,800 miles. The Condamine rises in the Queensland Ilighlands, about 80 miles from the coast. It receives many tributaries from the New England and Liverpool Ranges of New South Wales, the most important being the Macquarie. The Murray receives most of its waters from the Australian Alps, where both the Murrumbidyec and the Murray rise. These have a heavy rain and snowfall, and the Murray never ruins dry. After its union with the Darling the river loses much water by evaporation as it crosses a dry region to Lake Alexandrina, through which it reaches the Southern Ocean. 233. The Western Tableland. The Western Tableland lies west of the Central Lowlands. Except on the Pronounce g hard.

·NATURAL REGIONS OF AUSTRALLI 113 narrow coastal plain it is a dry region, passing into desert. It consists of sandy or stony plains, and of thorny scrub in the better parts. The many lakes shown on the map are all salt. The whole region may be compared with the Sahara of North Africa. Notice in the coloured map that all the rivers flow from the edge of the plateau across a narrow coastal plain to the sea. Find the Mac-Domell Ranges, almost in the centre of the continent. There the country is less dry, and the rivers flowing to Lake Eyre sometimes carry water. 234. Gold is found in many parts of the tableland and its coastal plains. Several important fields are in the desert ($ 262). In spite of its mineral wealth and its vast size --it contains more than half the continent--the Western Tableland contains only a quarter of a million people. All Western Australia and most of Southern Australia are in this desert region, which measures about 1,000 miles from cast to west and about 600 miles from north to south. Exercises 1. Draw a map of Australia, showing the political divisions and marking the capital of each State. Insert also the Tropic of Capricorn. 2. Describe the Eastern Highlands of Australia. 3. What is meant by the artesian area of Australia ? Is tliere any part of Africa with which you could compare it? 4. Draw a map of the course of the Murray-Darling, inarking any towns you think important: 5. Why is the western tableland of Australia so thinly peopled ? With what part of Africa would you compare it?

·CHAPTER XXI CLIMATE AND VEGETATION OF AUSTRALIA 235. Climate depends, as we know, partly on latitude, which affects the prevailing winds, partly on the size of the land and the distance of the interior from the sea, and partly on the position of the highest land. Whereever the highest land lies in the track of the prevailing winds it receives most of the moisture brought by these winds, which pass on als dry winds. In our own country, where the prevailing winds blow from the west or southwest, the west receives licavy rain and the cast is dry. In South Africa and Australia the prevailing winds blow from the cast, and in both the high castern heights take the moisture out of the winds and make the interior drier than if the highest land has been on the west. 236. Climate of Australia. In learning the geography of Asia (Vol. IV, ch. xv) we spoke of monsoon winds and their causes. We saw that they were winds which blew in summer from the cooler scals to the overheated lands. The northern part of Eastern Australia receives heavy summer rains from the monsoon which blows south from the surrounding occan. It also receives rain in winter from the south-castern trade winds, which blow farther north as the Sun moves towards the cquator. Consequently, the coastal plains of Queensland have rain all the year round, but most in summer. Farther south is the belt of trade winds, which part with their rain on the Eastern Iliyhlands and blow over Central and Western Australia as dry winds. The extreme south has winter rains, brought by the westerly storm winds, which blow farthest north in winter. In summer this region is in the dry trade-wind belt.

·CLIMATE ANI) VEGETATION OF AUSTRALIA 115 237. There is, then, the same difference between the rainfall of East and West Australia as there is between the cast and west of South Africa, but it is more marked because Australia is much broader from east to west. The greater part of Australia west of longitude 1:35" W. is almost rainless, and such rain as there is falls in violent Stormus. 238. Heat. In Australia, December and January are the hottest months. The temperature in the coastal plains is as high as that of the coastal plains of South Africa. The summer heat of the interior is still greater. The sky is cloudless, and the heat is reflected from the bare stones and sands of the desert. (aptain Sturt, who explored the Australian desert, found that a match caught fire if dropped on the hot sands. The summers and winters are cooler in the southern part of New Zealand and New South Wales, which are iu more temperate latitudes. In the higher parts of this region the winters are cold, and frosts occur. The winter nights are also very cool in the desert. 239. Australian Plants. Australia consists of several different regions: (i) the tropical coasts, with at hot warm climate and abundant rain; (ii) the tropical savanas of the interior, where the dry season is well marked ; (iii) the sub-tropical coasts, with a moderate rainfall, chiefly in summer; (iv) the Mediterranean region, with warnı dry summers and winter rains ; (v) the interior, with little or no rain ; (vi) the coastal plains of the west, with a scanty rainfall. Only the first region has an abundant rainfall. 240. When Australia was discovered the tropical lowlands were covered with dense tropical forests of palms, cedars, tree fers, orchids, bananas, bamboos, pineapple, brcad-fruit, and all tropical fruits. Tobach' is ·116 CLIMATE AND VEGETATION OF AUSTRALIA indigo, wild ginger, pepper, nutmeg, and spices grew wild. There is an Australian baobab, smaller than that of Africa (3 55). The commonest Australian tree is the cucalyptus, or gum tree ($ 200). It has sinall, dry, leathery leaves, which droop edgeways in the hot summer, so that the sun does not shine full on them. The cucalyptus secretes a strong-smelling oil which we all know. This helps to prevent the loss of moisture by evaporation. It is a hardy tree, and makes a region healthy. It has been introduced into the fever districts of Africa (Ş 200), and into many healthy but dry districts, because it suits a dry climate well ($:372). Some species become giants in the wetter parts of Australia, e.g. the jarrah and kauri of the southern corner of Western Australia. These trees arc 300 or 400 feet high, and their indestructible wood is in demand all over the world for street paving. Giant eucalyptus trees also grow in the Mediterrancan forests of Southern Victoria. Another common tree is the acacia, or wattle, with its feathery leaves, and yellow flowers not unlike a laburnum. 241. The grass lands or savanas of Australia lie west of the Eastern Tighlands, and form the Darling Downs of Queensland and New South Wales. They are one of the finest grazing countries in the world, and much land is fit for growing wheat and fruit ($ 383). 242. The savanas pass into scrub in the drier west. Thousands of square nules in Victoria and the south of South Australia are covered with mallce, a dwarf eucalyptus. The dense brigalow scrub consists of dwarf acacia bushes, and is so thick that a way must be cut through it. The mulga scrub, so dreaded by explorers, is a sharp spiny plant, growing in low bushes. The spinifex, which is still more formidable, has stiff swordlike leaves, which make bleeding wounds on the lege of

·B1
rig 41 ILMU I'rris
notice the eucalyptus tires in the background mul the il sence oflununess in the isyu
loss shade than mot Inglish trees
IhVeluh

·118 CLIMATE AND VEGETATION OF AUSTRALIA animals or men. None of these are of any rise for pasture, though the natives find water in the malleo roots. The only valuable scrub is the saltbusl, which covers vast tracts of low-lying country. It resists long periods of drought, long after grass has withered, and sheep eat it greedily. 243. Cultivated Plants. Very little of Australia is well-fitted for agriculture. The plains of the north coast have a tropical climate, but are little cultivated at present. They would produce many tropical crops, but white labour is scarce, and it is doubtful if white men could work hard in the tropical climate. The tropical plains of North-east Quecusland have been cleared of tropical forest, and brought under cultivation. Coloured labour was used for the work, but is now discouraged. Sugar, one of the most important crops, is largely grown in the river bottoms. In the fertile plains of Western Queensland and New South Wales fruit and wheat are grown under irrigation. The Riverina district of New South Wales is extremely fertile, and will be rendered more so by the damming of the Murrumbidgee. A great dam, 200 feet ligli, will hold back the flood-waters of the river and form a huge artificial lake. This will be used in the same way as the waters of the Nile stored up above the Aswan dam ($ 1:31). The Mildura region, at the confluence of the Murray and Darling, has also been made fertile by irrigation. Wheat is grown in Victoria, and some of the finest wheat in the world is produced in the peninsulas of South Australia. In the Mediterranean climate of Victoria and parts of South Australia vineyards do well, and Australian wines are exported. Exercises (see p. 120).

·CIIAPTER XXII ANIMALS OF AUSTRALIA 244, Native Animals. When Australia was first explored at the end of the eighteenth century it contained many animals which exist nowhere else in the world. The largest, the kangaroo, carries its young ones in a skin pouch, as do the possum and many others. It jumps, instead of walking, and has a kind of upright position. Among other strange creatures were a three-eyed lizard, and a fish which had lungs instead of gills. The birds were remarkable for their beauty of colour. One of the most lovely is the lyre bird, so called from the form of its tail. The winyless emu is a kind of ostrich. 245. The white settlers have introduced all the domesticated animals of the Old World, including the camel, which is used in the desert (see Fig. 45). There are now about 90 million sheep, 11 million cattle, and 2 million horses. The numbers vary, for in the dry years at the beginning of this century millions of animals clied for want of food and water. Sheep are bred both for wool and mutton, and are kept on the drier grass lands and in the saltbush country. A dry climate improves the quality of the wool, and prevents foot rot and other diseases. New South Wales produces as many sheep as all the rest of the continent. 246. Cattle stand heat better than the thick-woolled sheep, but they need more moisture. Dairy cattle need moister pastures than those bred for beef. Cattle are most numerous in Queensland, and all the chief dairy districts are on the coastal plain. The export of butter to Europe began in 1890 and is now a very important instry. The frozen mcat trade began in 1880 and is ·120 ANIMALS OF AUSTRALIA also growing. Hides, tallow, and glue are other impor tant animal products. 247. Along with his useful animals man las introduced vermin. The rabbit cats pasture which is needed by sheep. Thousands of miles of rabbit-proof netting have been put up at the great cost of several million pounds. In the season rabbit-trapping causes a labour famine on many sheep farms. The skins are sent to Britaiu to be (lyed and made up into expensive furs, and frozen rabbits are exported. 248. Products of Australia. L'util 1850) Australia was almost entirely a pastoral country, though some wheat was grown in South Australia. The discovery of gold in the Ballarat Ilighlands of Victoria in 1851 and 1852 led to a rush of settlers. Many gold finds lave since been made; and though wool is by far the most valuable export, yold is the second. Next comes wheat, butter, copper, silver-lear and tin. Frozen meat, tallow, sheep-skins, and rabbit-skins follow. Exercises 1. Draw a plant map of Australia, cross-shading tlie forests, slanting the shading on the grasslands, clotting the scrub lands, and leaving the deserts white. 2. Show how the Australian plants are fitted to bear the Australian climates. is. Name the chief cultivated plants of Australia, and say where each is important. 4. Name some peculiarities of the animals of Australia. 5. Are the plant or animal products of Australia the more valuable? Why?

·CHAPTER XXIII THE COMMONWEALTII OF AUSTRALIA 249. Natural Regions of Queensland. Queensland consists of three regions, each with its special industries. The first is the eastern coastal plain, from 20 to 100 miles wide. The rivers which cross it are often flooded and have covered the plain with fine alluvial soil. They form bars at their mouths, but good harbours can be made. This plain was once covered by tropical forests, which producerl coco-mt and other palms, and such timber trees as the Moreton Bay pine and the cedar. Saw-mills were built by the rivers, and clearing was both quick and profitable. The cleared land is now planted with cotton, sugar, and other tropical crops. There are also dairy-farming districts, meat factories, &c. The second is the highland region, which is rich in gold, copper, coal, &c. The third is the western pastoral tableland, which sinks to the Central Lowlands. It's fine pastures feed millions of sheep and cattle. The boring of wells in the artesian area has increased the land available for sheep and stock farming ($ 230). Wool and meat are sent to the coastal ports. The Darling Downs, round the Coudamine River, have a fertile volcanic soil, and are becoming agricultural. Wheat and fruits are the chief products. 250. Brisbane, the capital, on the Brisbane River, 25 miles from where it enters Moreton Bay, is the largest town. The other towns are chiefly small ports. Ipswich, an inland town, a few miles from Brisbane, is the outlet for a rich farming country and has some manufactures. Maryborough is the outlet for a district which grows maize, the largest Queensland crop according to acreage, potatoes, bananas, sugar, oranges and ·122 THE COMMONWEALTII OF AUSTRALIA dekin sugar other tropical plants. Rockhampton is the outlet for the rich Fitzroy valley district. Mackay, about 600 miles north of Brisbane, is the centre of the sugar district, but bananas, coffee, and coconuts are also grown. Stock-raising is also important in the neighbourhood, and both gold and coal are found. Townsville, nearly 900 miles north of Brisbane, is the port of the Burdistricts. Among inland towns are Mount Morgan, with gold and copper mines, and Charters Towers, the centre of the largest Queensland goldfield, both in the highlands. In the pastoral west are the small towns such as Toowoomba, on the Darling Downs. Ipswich is a coal-mining and a manufacturing town near Brisbane. 251. The Great Barrier Reef. The coral insect lives in warm shallow tropical seas, and builds up islands and coral reefs. The Great Barrier Reef, built of coral, fringes the coast of Queensland for 1,200 miles. Calm scas studded with coral islands separate it from the mainland. 252. New South Wales. This, like Queensland, consists of plain, highlands, and western tableland and plain. Oranges are the chief fruit crop, and wheat covers the largest acreage. The coastal plains are broadest in the Ilunter River valley. The industries are agriculture, timber-cutting, coal-mining and dairy farining. Sugar, maize, bananas, and pineapples are grown in the hotter north. The llunter coalfield is the largest in the southern hemisphere. The highlands are rich in gold and coal. Cattle do well in the south, and sheep in the north. T'in is found in the New England Ilighlands, and gold round Bathurst. 253. The westein tableland and plains are a fine pastoral country, and much land, especially in Riverina, is planted with wheat. The silver-lead mines of Broken llill are the most productive in the world.

·OD PRIX
T
P},{cgra? h?u ?
B 05
Fig 42
SYDNEY HARBOUR

·124 THE COMMONWEALTII OF AUSTRALIA 254. Sydney, the capital, on the magnificent harbour of Port Jackson, is almost in the centre of the coast. The population is over half a million, or one-eighth of the population of Australia Coal is found all round the town and under Sydney itself. Much fruit is grown in the neighbourhood. 100 miles north is Newcastle, the chief coal port, at the mouth of the Ilunter. The Illawarra district, south of Sydney, where the highlands reach the sea, is a dairy-farming district, producing butter which is frozen and exported. Goulburi), on the main line from Sydney to Melbourne, produces maize and other cereals, butter, cheese, and bacon. Bathurst, on the Macquarie, in the highland region, is in a mining, farming, and pastoral district. Farther west is Albury, on the Murray, the frontier station between New South Wales and Victoria. Passengers change trains here, as the railways of the two States have different gauges. The Murray is navigable up to Albury in good seasons. Broken llill, over 900 miles from Sydney, is most easily reached through Melbourne and Adelaide. The other towns are small market centres. 255. Victoria. Victoria, the smallest of the Australian States, is the most thickly peopled. It occupies the south-eastern corner of the continent, and is separated from New South Wales by the Murray. Port Phillip, which forms Melbourne harbour, is the finest of many good harbours. Broadly speaking, it may be compared with Cape Colony (ch. xvii) and Argentina (ch. xxxi). 256. Victoria is crossed from east to west by the Australian Alps, which are over 6,000 feet high. The forests contain giant cucalyptus trees, exceeding 400 feet. South of the highlands is what is the Great Valley of Victoria, which is separated from the other by

·hy gemessen the South usiaan GuLucil.
Fig. 43.
SHEEP SWEARING IN AUSTRALIA.
In the sharing season experienced shearers travel from run to
run, niin saat it herepill it few minutes,
1
-
By perm? 9810n of the South Australien Gorunment.
Fig. 44. WooL SURTING AND I'ACKING.

·126 THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA the mountains of the Otway Peninsula and of Southern Gippsland, east and west of the great break made by Port Phillip. The southern slopes of the Victoria Highlands arc drained by short rivers, which cross the fertile and beautiful Gippsland district to the sea. The northern slopes are drained to the Murray. West of about long. 145º E. the rivers run dry or end in salt marshes or swamps. Large districts in this dry region are covered with mallee scrub, which is so dense that the land has to be cleared by teams of oxen. When cleared it makes fine wheat land. 257. Sheep farming is the chief occupation, and Victoria produces the finest merino wool in the world. In early days settlers or squatters took up enormous tracts of unoccupied land, and kept huge flocks with comparatively little labour. To-day labour is more abundant and markets are open in Europe. It now pays better to cut up the big sheep runs in the wetter districts into smaller dairy farms. The milk is collected and manufactured hy co-operative dairies, where the best machinery can be used. The butter industry pays so well that the forests of Southern Gippsland are rapidly being cleared to make room for more dairy farms. Gold ranks next to wool. The Victoria Ilighlands are rich in gold, and some of the earliest and richest discoveries were made round Ballarat and Bendigo. The warm dry climato suits wheat, and the flour milled from it is equal to Hungarian flour. All kinds of fruit are grown, including oranges, lemons, and apples. The Mediterranean climate of warm summers and winter rains brings the vine to perfection ($ 201). The vineyards are planted on the sunny slopes, which in the southern hemisphere face the north, and not the south as in this country.

·THE COMMONWEALTII OF AUSTRALIA 127 258. Melbourne, the capital, has a population of over half a million, and ranks with Sydney. It is a great port, with growing manufactures, and is a large, handsome, and well-built city. Geelong, the second port, exports tho wool and wheat produced on the western plains. Ballarat, 100 miles from Melbourne, in the chief gold-mining centre, and mines have been carried down to over 4,000 fect. Bendigo, 75 miles from Melbourne, is less important than it was in the last century. 259. Tasmania. The mountainous island colony of Tasmania is separated from Victoria by Bass Strait. It is a fragment of the Eastern Highlands of Australia, and rises to over 5,000 feet. Its mountain, lake, and gorge scenery are very beautiful. The Tamar is the chief river flowing to Bass Straits. Find the latitude of Tasmania on the globe. It lies in the roaring forties', where the westerly winds blow with great strength (838). Much rain falls on the west, but the cast is dry. The forests are very dense in the west, but drought is not uncommon in the east. The highlands are rich in copper, lead, silver, coal, and iron. Fruit growing is important. In spring we can buy large juicy Tasmanian apples which have been exported in a frozen state. Pears, peaches, plums, and cherries are also grown). The capital is llobart, at the foot of Mount Wellington, among soine of the finest scenery in Australia. Launc'eston, the chief commercial town), on the Tamar, is a busy port in a fruit-growing and tin-smelting district. 260. South Australia. This is the second of the colonies in size. The Northern Territory belongs to the Commonwealth of Australia. The coastal plains of Arnhein Land and the Gulf of Carpentaria have a tropical climate, and would produce tropical crops if lalt ir were to be had. Farther south the country is ·128 TILE COMMONWEALTII OF AUSTRALIA a vast desert, forming part of the dry Western Tableland. Palmerston on Port Darwin, with a fine harbour, is the centre of pearl and pearl-shell fisheries. 261. The greater part of South Australia proper is also desert. Find on the coloured map the riſt valley of South Australia, formed by the salt lakes and swamps of Lake Torrens and the submerger Spencer Gulf. This separates ihe Western Tableland from the South Australian Highlands. These rise steeply above the rift valley on the west, and fall steeply to the plains of the Murray and Lake Eyre. Settlement and agriculture arc confined to the region round Spencer Gulf. Fine wheat is grown in the southern peninsulas, and sheep farming is also important. Mining is less important than in the other colonies. The only large town is Adelaide, the capital. Alcaide is finely situated within sight of an amphitheatre of hills, but has less than a quarter of the population of Sylney or Melbourne, 262. West Australia. West Australia, the largest colony, contains one-third of Australia, but less than a quarter of a million of people. It consists of a tableland, with narrow coastal plains. These are fertile in the north but are as yet hardly settled. The few towns are either goldfields or ports. The pearl and pearl-shell fisheries are important. The plains along the west coast are rather dry, except in the south-west, which has more rain. The hard jarrah and karri eucalyptus trees of the south-west forests are used for harbour piles, railway sleepers, wood paving, &c. Gold is the chief product of West Australia. In 1892 this was discovered in the desert, 350 miles from the coast. It is probably abundant all through the desert, but whether it can be worked depends on whether water can be carried to the diggings. Water is pump ·By pe?.2GPIOR the counseln Guernment. Fig. 45. Team OF CAMELS CARRYING WATEB TANKS THROUGH THE NORTHERN DESERT OF SOutu AUSTRALIA ·130 THE COMMONWEALTII OF ALSTRALIA Kalgurlic and Coolgardie through pipes for over 300 miles. Kalgurlie, the chief town of the Coolgardio goldfield, the famous 'Golden Mile', contains some of the most famous gold mines in the world. It is strange to find every convenience of life in this mushroom city, planted down in the midst of the desert, but connected by rail with Perth, the capital, on the Swan River. The port is Freemantle, at the mouth of the Swan River. Geraldton, the largest town north of Perth, is the outlet for the Yalgoo goldfield of the northern desert. It exports gold, copper, lead, and some wool and sandal wood. Albany is the southern port. Exorcises 1. Write a short account of Queensland, with a map showing the most important rivers and towns. 2. Compare New South Wales with (a) Queensland an (1) any part of Africa which seems to you like it. 3. Compare Victoria and South Africa, especially with regard to climate and proclucts. 4. With what part of Europe would you compare Tasmania? What are the chief natural advantages of Tas- Inania ? 5. Compare South and West Australia.

·CHAPTER XXIV NEW ZEALAND 263. Position. Find New Zealand on the globe, and write down its latitudes, It consists of a number of islands. The two largest are North Island and South Island, which are separated by Cook Strait. This is less than 20 miles across at its narrowest, and has some good harbours, South of South Island is the small Stewart Island. Find Auckland in the coloured map in the north of North Island, and Dunedin in the south of South Island. These two cities are 600 miles apart, so that the total length of New Zealand is not very different from that of Great Britain, which measures 600 miles from John o' (roats' House to Land's End. 264. (ape Van Diemen, in the north of North Island, is nearly in lat. :34" X South Cape, in the south of Stewart Island, is nearly in lat. 17° S. Notice then that New Zealand is farther from the cquator than any part of South Africa, and quite outside the tropics. Part of it is in the latitude of Victoria and Tasmania in the southern hemisphere, and of Italy in the northern hemisphere. Notice how its shape and situation affect its climate. While Australia is a broad compact land mass, New Zealand is a long narrow island belt, fully exposed to the influence of the sea and of the storms which rage in the roaring forties' ($$ 38, 259). No part is far from the sea, and the temperate climate has no extremes of temperature. Look at the coloured map, and you will see that most of it is high. This also helps to reduce temperature and make it cool for the latitude.

·132 NEW ZEALAND 265. The coloured map shows that the sea has cut deeply into the land, especially in the north of North Island and south of South Island. This gives New Zealand many fine harbours. Strong currents run round the islands and heap up the river sediment into bars at the mouth of the rivers. The cliffs are generally high and rugged, especially on the west, and rise out of deep seas. Notice the fiord coasts of the south-west of South Island. llere the sea has drowned the valleys which run inland between the mountain ranges, and turned them into deep fiords shut in between high richlywooded mountain walls. The scenery of these fiords reminds us of Norway or the West of Scotland. 266. Climate. We know that latitude is only one of the causes which affect climate, and that height above the sea and the influence of prevailing winds are both important. The climate of New Zealand is much more temperate than it would be if it were part of the mainland of Australia. The North Island has a warmer summer than South Island, but near Auckland the olive, orange, lemon, and fig do as well as in Italy. Palms are not uncommon, and parts of the northern coast are fringed with mangrove swamps. Allover North Island azaleas and camellias flower out of doors ($ 51). South Island has a climate much inore like that of our own country. 267. The coloured map shows that in New Zealand, unlike Australia and South Africa, the highest land is in the west. As New Zealand lics in the roaring forties' it is in the track of the strong westerly winds, which often blow as hurricanes. These westerly winds bring a very heavy rainfall to the high west coast, but the east is much drier. Most of New Zealand is forested, except in the eastern plains of South Island.

·---
WY
Photograph by Underrool & Underwood.
Fig. 46. A NEW ZEALAND FIOND.
Notice that some of tho mountains shutting in this fiord (Milford Suuud)
aro high enough for perpetual snow.

·13-1 NEW ZEALAND scenes. 268. Mountains, Rivers, and Lakes. North and South Island have very different scenery. The coloured map shows that both are mountainous, and the momtains are really one chain, broken by Cook and Foveaux Straits. North Island has volcanoes, mud volcanoes, hot lakes and springs, and geysers which throw up columns of boiling water and make strange volcanic Mount Egmont, one of many extinct volcanoes, on a promontory of North Island, riscs to over 8,000 feet, and is one of the most beautiful yolcanic cones in the world. South Island has scenery not unlike that of the Italian Alps. The mountains are called the New Zealand or Southern Alps, and have great glaciers, long narrow valley lakes, rushing streams and waterfalls, and dark forests. The highest peak is Aorangi, often called Mount Cook (over 12,000 feet). Some of the finest scenery is on the south-west coast, where glaciers descend to the forest line, and deep winding fiords pierce far into the mountains. 269. The New Zealand Alps sink on the cast to the dry level Canterbury plains of fine grass lands. They are nearly 160 miles long and about 30 broad, and open to good harbours. There are few other large plains. 270. Plants, Animals, and Occupations. New Zealand, with its ample ruin, is a forest country, except in the eastern plains. The Kauri pine yields strong timber and valuable gum. In North Island, fossil kauri yum, from forests long since dead, is dug out of the ground. The red and white pine yield good tiinber, and the eucalyptus is common. Tree ferns grow to the height of 60 feet, and there are beautiful flowers. The landscape is as varied as that of Australia is monotonous. Oranges, -lemons, and Mediterranean plants are in North Island, and English fruits in South WI) Id.

·NEW ZEALAND) 135 In the grass lands is grown the valuable New Zealand flax. There were few native animals wlien New Zealand was settled last century, but domesticated animals have now been introduced (§ 24+). 271. New Zealand is a young country, and the occupations are still simple. As population grows manufactures will develop, for New Zealand has many natural advantages. Coal is abundant, and the swift mountain rivers provide inexhaustible water-power for making electricity. 272. The Canterbury plains will always be a sheepfarming country, producing both wool and mutton. The export of frozen Canterbury lamb is a very important industry. The making of butter and cheese, the preparation and export of hides, tanning, and the manufacture of boots and shoes, are growing occupations. 273. There are only four towns of any size. These are Auckland, in North Island, on a magnificent harbour ; Wellington, on Cook Sound, the capital ; Christchureli, an inland town on the ('anterbury Plains; and Dunedin, in the plains of South Island. Exercises 1. Draw a map of New Zealand, marking the chief towns and rivers. 2. New Zealand is often called the antipodes of Britain ? What does this mean? Is it true? How would you word the comparison yourself 3. Describe the climate of New Zealand, an compare it with that of Australia. 4. Namo the chief occupations of New Zealand. State where each is carried on, and why.

·CHAPTER XXV SOUTH AMERICA 274. ize of South America. South America, with an area of 7,000,000 square miles, is midway in size between Australia (3,000,000 square miles) and Africa (11,000,000 square miles). 275. Comparison with the other Southern Continents. South America is very like Africa in shape, but this is unimportant in comparison with the difference in latitude. Look out on the globe the latitudes which bound the two continents. The parallel of 10° N. lat. only just cuts the north coast of South America, but it crosses the broadest part of Africa, Nearly all South America lies south of it in hotter latitudes, and half of Africa lies north of it in cooler latitudes. Notice next that South America is broadest between the equator and 20° S. lat., but that Africa narrows in these latitudes. This again is a very important difference. Notice once more that South America stretches much farther towards the pole than Africa, into latitudes corresponding with those of Southern Scotland, while the extreme south of Africa is nearly in the latitude of the Plate River in South America. 276. The coloured map will show us other important differences. In Africa the highest land is ncar the equator, but in South America most of the equatorial region is under 600 feet. Notice, too, how differently the high land is arranged. Africa is a plateau, like Australia, with a high interior rising steeply from narrow coastal plains. In South America the great mass of the continent is low, except along the Atlantic and Pacific margins. As in North America, we find a belt c ·SOUTH AMERICA 137 lands fringing the Atlantic coast, and a belt of very high mountains rising steeply from the Pacific coast, and running the entire length of the continent. 277. The arrangement of high and low land reminds ) us of Africa and Australia. In all three continents the castern edge is higher than the interior. This affects the amount of rain which falls in the interior, and the size and position of the forests, savanas, and steppes. 278. The resemblances between South America and the two other southern continents are not so close as they would be if they lay more ncarly in the same latitudes, and had their high and low land arranged on the same general plan. Notice, however, one striking likeness between South America and Africa. (In cach continent a huge river flows through the hot wet equatorial belt, a little south of the equator, and nearly parallel to it. Owing to the position of the higher land the Amazon flows east in South America, while the Congo flows west in Africa, but this is not of great consequence. Both rivers are fed by the equatorial rains and carry an enormous volume of water out to sea. There is also some resemblance between the position of the Orinoco in South America and of the Niger in Africa. Both enter the sea in almost the same latitudes. 279. There is also a general similarity in the way in which the waters of the ocean circulate. The warm current which flows from the equatorial seas along the cast coast of South America may be compared with the warni current which flows along the castern coast of Africa. A cool current from the polar waters, caused in the same way as the cool currents off the west coasts of Africa and Australia, flows along the west coast of South America, northwards from the shores of Chile. lled the llumboldt current. ] ·138 SOUTH AMERICA 280. Natural Divisions of South America. The coloured map shows that South America consists of four well-marked regions : (i) the high Andes in the west, fringing the Pacific coast; (ii) the lowlands of the Ori- 110CO, Amazon, and Plate rivers ; (iii) the Eastern Highlands, divided into the Guiana Highlands in the north and the Brazilian Ilighlands in the south ; and (iv) the narrow tableland of Patagonia in the south. 281. Political Divisions. South America was conquered and civilized by the Spanish and Portuguese adventurers of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. These conquerors found a highly civilized race living in the high healthy plateaus of the Andes, and even the most ignorant of the wandering forest tribes were less degraded than some of the African forest negroes. The Spanish conquest of South America has left a lasting mark on the civilization of the continent. The Spanish rulers were driven out by descendants of the original conquerors at the beginning of last century, and what had been Spanish and Portuguese colonies became republics, with the exception of two small French and British colonies. The traveller in South America is constantly reminded of Europe, and particularly of Spain, and Spanislı is the almost universal language. 282. Find on the map the Andean republics of Colombia, named after Columbus; Ecuador, so called because the equator crosses it; Peru, Bolivia, and Chile. All of these consist chiefly of mountains and high plateaus, and all but Bolivia have a coastline on the Pacific. On the north or Caribbean coast are Venezuela and the Guianas. On the cast are the huge republics of Brazil and Argentina, and the smaller ones of Uruguay and Paraguay. Paraguay, like Bolivia, has no seahnard.

·SOUTII AMERICA 139 Exercises 1. Draw a map of South America, marking the chief rivers and shading the land over 3,000 feet. 2. Draw a map of South America, showing the political (livisions. 3. Draw a map of South America, shading the land between the tropics. 4. How far can you compare South America withi (a) Africa and (b) Australia? 5. What are the natural divisions of South America (a) according to latitude, anel (b) according to height: 0. Compare the rivers of South America and Africa. 7. Draw a map of South America, showing the three longest rivers. CHAPTER XXVI CLIMATE, PLANTS, AND ANIMALS OF SOUTII AMERICA 283. Temperature. Find the Tropic of Capricorn on the globe and on the coloured map. It crosses the north of Chile, Bolivia, Paraguay, and the south of Brazil. The Chilean city of Antofagasta, and Rio Janeiro, the capital of Brazil, are both almost on it. Most of South America lies within the tropics, and has a hot climate all the year round at sca-level. Rain falls most abundantly in the equatorial belt, but elsewhere the wet and dry seasons are well marked. In the high Andes many different climates are experienced at different heights in 'atitudes. Except in the north the seasons are th site of those in this country. GEOG. VI K ·140 CLIMATE, PLANTS, AND ANIMALS 284. The inhabitants of the Andean lands clistinguish three regions, according to the height. These are well marked except in the Southern Andes. The ticrra caliente, up to about 3,000 feet, is the ho belt, where only tropical plants can be grown ; e.g. the coco-nut palm, banana, rubber, cacao, sugar, and rice. The tiorra templada, or temperate belt, between 3,000 feet and 6,000 or 7,000 feet, produces all the plants of warm temperate lands, and the tierra frin, or cool belt, those of cool temperate lands. Above about 8,500 feet are the cold bleak parcanos, where vegetation gradually disappears, and still higher are snowfields and glaciers. 285. Rainfall. The rainfall of South America depends partly on the latitude and partly on the height of the land. Within 5° of the equator the air is intensely heated by the hot land, and is always rising. As it rises into higher cooler layers of the atmosphere it parts with its moisture as rain. The two wettest periods are at the quinoxes, when the Sun is overhead at the equator. Then the rivers are flooded, and overflow the low-lying country, which is densely forested. 286. North and south of this belt are the llaños with a hot wet summer and a warm dry winter. The northeast trade winds bring heavy summer rains to the Guiana Highlands and the coast of the Caribbean Sea, where the forests are very dense. The interior has less rain, and is a savana land. The east coast of Brazil receives rain from the south-cast trade winds, especially between October and April, and is forested. The interior receives much less rain and is savana. 287. The south-cast winds reach the eastern slopes of the Andes and are forced upwards into cooler regions of air. The result is that the eastern slopes of th les have a very heavy rainfall and are densely ked ·OF SOUTH AMERICA 141 ($ 307). The western slopes have a scanty rainfall, and not nearly so rich a plant life. 288. Outside the trade-wiud belt this state of things is reversed. South of about 35" S. lat. the prevailing winds blow from the west and strike the western slopes of the Andes first. These are densely forested, but the eastern slopes are much barer. Patagonia, which lies cast of the Andes, in the belt of prevailing westerlies, is a dry steppe region. 289. This distinction is important and must be remembered. In the equatorial belt both slopes of the Andes and the lowlands cast of them receive abundant rains and are densely forested. We may compare this region with the Congo basin of Africa South of 5" S. lat. the western slopes of the Andes receive little rain and part of the west coast is a lesert. South of lat. 35º S. the western slopes are wet and forested, and the eastern slopes and lowlands are dry. 290. Three things are characteristic of the climate and plant life of South America : (i) the great variety of climates and products in the ligh Andes; (ii) the vast extent and density of the equatorial forest; and (iii) the great arca of the savanas in the lands which receive summer rains only. 291. The Selvas of South America. The forests of the Amazon and its tributaries are even more dense than those of the Congo. Men may travel for weeks or months in these great forests and know only a fraction of them. The whole Amazon lowland is cut up by great rivers, to which flow innumerable streams, and in the wettest months all are swollen into lakes. This dense forest, where rivers are the only roads, is little fitted to be home of cither man or beast. The Indian pushes Hout canoe, rudely made out of a hollowed log, the streams, to catch fish and turtle, and to hunt ·140 CLIMATE, PLANTS, AND ANIMALS 284. The inhabitants of the Andean lands distinguish three regions, according to the height. These are well marked except in the Southern Andes. The ticrra caliente, up to about 3,000 feet, is the ho belt, where only tropical plants can be grown; c.g. the coco-nut palm, banana, rubber, cacao, sugar, and rice. The ticrra templada, or temperate belt, between 3,000 feet and 0,000 or 7,000 feet, produces all the plants of warm temperate lands, and the ticrra fria, or cool belt, those of cool temperate lands. Above about 8,500 feet are the cold bleak parcamos, where vegetation gradually disappears, and still higher are snowfields and glaciers. 285. Rainfall. The rainfall of South America (depends partly on the latitude and partly on the height of the land. Within 5° of the equator the air is intensely heated by the hot land, and is always rising. As it rises into higher cooler layers of the atmosphere it parts with its moisture as rain. The two wettest periods are at the cquinoxes, when the Sun is overhead at the equator. Then the rivers are flooded, and overflow the low-lying country, which is densely forested. 286. North and south of this belt are the llaños with a hot wet summer and a warm dry inter. The northcast trade winds bring heavy summer rains to the Guiana Highlands and the coast of the Caribbean Sea, where the forests are very dense. The interior las less rain, and is a savana land. The cast coast of Brazil receives rain from the south-cast trade winds, especially between October and April, and is forested. The interior receives much less rain and is savana. 287. The south-cast winds reach the castern slopes of the Andes and are forced upwards into cooler regions of air. The result is that the castern slopes of th les have a very heavy rainfall and are densely ted ·OF SOUTH AMERICA 171 (§ 307). The western slopes have a scanty rainfall, and not nearly so rich a plant life. 288. Outside the trade-wind belt this state of things is reversed. South of about 35" S. lat. the prevailing winds blow from the west, and strike the western slopes of the Andes first. These are densely forested, but the eastern slopes are much barer. Patagonia, which lies cast of the Andes, in the belt of prevailing westerlies, is a dry steppe region. 289. This distinction is important and must be remembered. In the equatorial belt both slopes of the Andes and the lowlands east of them receive abundant rains and are densely forested. We may compare this region with the Congo basin of Africa. South of 5° S. lat. the western slopes of the Andes receive little rain and part of the west coast is it desert. South of lat. 35" S. the western slopes are wet and forested, and the castern slopes and lowlands are dry. 290. Three things are characteristic of the climate and plant life of South America : (i) the great variety of climates and products in the high Andes ; (ii) the vast extent and density of the equatorial forest; and (iii) the great arca of the savanas in the lands which receive summer rains only. 291. The Selvas of South America. The forests of the Amazon and its tributaries are even more dense than those of the Congo. Men may travel for weeks or months in these great forests and know only a fraction of them. The whole Amazon lowland is cut up by great rivers, to which flow innumerable streams, and in the wettest months all are swollen into lakes. This dense forest, where rivers are the only roads, is little fitted to 16. *** home of either man or beast. The Indian pushes Pout canoe, rudely made out of a hollowed log, alining the streams, to catch fish and turtle, and to hunt ·142 CLINATE, PLANTS, AND ANIMALS Away for turtle eggs. Alligators sun themselves on the banks, but there are few other signs of life. The monkeys, parrots, and other forest creatures live high overhead, in the upper branches. It is only along the banks of the rivers, which make a break in the solid mass of trees, that the beauty of the forest can be seen. On the rivers themselves are the splendid blooms of the Victoria regia lily, and of other richly coloured water-lilies. from the rivers the forest depths are dark and gloomy, and flowers are seldom seen, for these grow high above. 292. This forest is so difficult to penetrate that its great wealth is hardly used. The rubber collector is busy, but rubber is only one of a thousand valuable plants. There are magnificent timber trees, beautiful in colour and strong in grain, but they cannot be cut down and sent to market because of the cost of labour. Every kind of fruit and tropical crop could be grown if clearing and settlement were less difficult. There are clearings round a few river ports, but elsewhere this vast region is a land of plants and not of men. 293. The Savanas. The savanas, or tropical grasslands of the Orinoco, are called llanos. They consist of good grass, with belts of forest along the rivers. Palms are abundant in the moister parts. These savanas are small compared with the pampas of Argentina. The pampas fascinate those who know them in the same way as the steppes of Asia, or the veld of South Africa. For about 200 miles from the coast the land is covered with clover or with huge thistles of exquisite beauty. There are great tracts of pampas grass, that plant which we grow in our gardens for its feathery head. Elsewhere there are boundless plains of grass, which change in colour with the season " pampas are a land of green and gold, with pa. fof richly-flowering plants, when rain first falls on the ·OF SOUTII AMERICA 143 thirsty land. These gay colours change to dull brown as the dry season comes on. 294. Some South American Plants. Only a few of the more important plants of South America can be named. Rubber is gathered all through the forest region of the Eastern Andles. The chinchona tree, from which quinine is madle, is invaluable as a remedy against fever. It has been introduced from South America into the less healthy parts of other tropical lands. A plant much prized by the Indians in coca, which like the African kola, enables them to bear great fatigue on a scanty diet. The potato, which is now grown all over the world, was not known till the Spaniards discovered South America, nor was maize nor tobacco. Maté, a plant which grows wild in Paraguay, takes the place of tea. Many plants have been introduced from other lands. ('oftce does as well in Brazil as in the best parts of Africa, and cacao is also grown). ('acao is a tender plant, and must be shielded from a strong sun. The seedlings are planted under the shade of forest trees, and do well on the lower slopes of the Andes. Sugar is an important crop round the Caribbean Sea and in Eastern Brazil. Rice and cotton are also grown. 295. The rolling pampas, like the prairies of North America, can easily be ploughed and reaped by machinery. The wetter parts of them are being turned into great wheat lands. These are golden with their harvest when the prairies of North America are held in the grip of frost. 296. Some South American Animals. Alligators and turtles haunt the forest rivers, and snakes are common. Apes and many other tree animals live in the fots. Neither the lion, tiger, mor elephant is found, jaguar and puma, both great cats, are common.

·111 CLIMATE, PLANTS, AND ANIMALS The birds include the humming-bird and many parrots. The turkey is a native of South America. The great condor, a native of the Andes, sails high in the air above the valleys. The locust (SS 96, 202, 307) and the mosquito are as much dreaded as in Africa. 297. The llama, a kind of ox, with a thick woolly coat which protects him against the cold, is a native of the high Andes. Like the yak of Tibet the llama is used as a bcast of burden at great heights. The wool is very soft, and used for making clothing. The vicuña and the alpaca, both natives of the Andes, produce valuable wool and hair. The Spanish conquerors introduced horses and cattle into the savanas, where they now number many millions. NOTE ON PRONUNCIATION Most of the geographical terms used in South America are Spanish. The letter n has two sounds: when written n, as in savana, it has almost the English sound ; when written 1, as in cañon, it has a nasal sound, not unlike the English ny. Cañon is pronounced and often written canyou. Exercisos 1. Explain clearly the climate belts of the Andes. What does each produce? 2. Explain the fact that in some latitudes the western slopes of the Andes are the wettest, and in others the eastern. 3. Compare the Congo and Amazon basins, 4. Describe the pamjias of Argentina. With what other parts of the world would you compare them, and why? 5. Show how South America has enriched the world with new plants and animals.

·CHAPTER XXVII TIE ANDES 298. The Andes. The Andes, one of the longest and highest mountain chains in the world, border the entire length of the Pacific coast. They consist of many parallel ranges, and are several hundred miles broad at their broadest. The coastal plain which lies between them and the Pacific is nowhere 100 miles wide. The seas off this coast are very deep and many changes have taken place here in the Earth's crust. As we should expect, there are many active volcanoes, and earthquakes are common. 299. In Colombia and Ecuador the Andes form three main ranges. These are separated by the wild deep gorges of the Magdalena, which flows north to the (aribbean Sea, and its tributary, the Cauca. These three ranges unite near the equator, but spread out again to the south. They are called the west or coastal ranges; the main or Pacific ranges; and the castern ranges. 300. The coastal ranges are separated from the main or Pacific ranges by valleys, which are fertile in the rainy belt but deserts in Southern Ecuador and Peru. In Southern Chile the westerly winds bring abundant rains, and the valley of Chile, between the coastal and the Pacific ranges, is very fertile. Still farther south the coastal ranges are partly submerged, and form an island fringe along the much-indented coast. 301. The Main Chain of the Andes. The highest peaks of the Andes are in the main chain. Cotopaxi, the highest active volcano in the world, and the still higher yt Chimborazo, are in the Ecuador Andes, almost ·146 THE ANDES on the equator. A climber who was camping on ('himborazo saw an eruption of Cotopaxi: More or less smoke mingled with steam was always issuing from the crater of Cotopaxi, and rolled out in a leisurely way. It was difficult to believe that it could be a very dangerous volcano. Yet we ourselves witnessed from a distance of 65 miles an eruption of ash which was shot up 20,000 feet into the air. It poured out in such a volume that even at that great distance it was as dark as twilight soon after midday. But Cotopaxi has done worse than that, and what are most feared are the floods which roll away from it after the greatest explosions'. These are caused by the melting of the Snows which cover its high conc. 302. The Plateaus of the Andes. Many high plateaus are enclosed between the main chain and the castern ranges. Those of Bogota in Colombia, of Quito in Ecuador, and of Bolivia, are surrounded by high peaks. The climate is healthy, and the soil is fertile. The heat is great during the hours of sunlight, but it is very cold at night. Wood is scarce, and the Indians burn the droppings of llamas. Yak droppings are used in the same way in Tibet (Vol. IV). People keep themselves warm by wearing ponchos. The poncho is a warm blanket, made of llama, or vicuña wool, with a hole through which the head is pnt. 303. In Bolivia the Andes are 500 miles broad but farther south they narrow. The highest peak in the Andes is Aconcagua (23,000 feet), in the Chilean Andes. Its shows tower above the Cumbre or Uspallata Pass (12,800 fect), which leads from the valley of Chile to Argentina. High as this pass is, it is lower than any others for several hundred miles north of it. It luas always been an inportant route between east and

·Pidginpollent bon, che ha Hul soam Puchet comply
LLAMAS CARRYING ORE IN THE HIGH ANDES.
Fig. 47.
+
Photograph by Underwood & Underwood
Fig. 48. A WAYFARER IN THE HIGH ANDES.
Notice the snow poak in the mountain background, the line of
hign along a stream, the barrenness of the country away from
myside shrine, aud the poncho worn by the traveller.

·148 THE ANDES 304. The Southern Andes. South of Aconcagua the Andes narrow and few peaks are over 10,000 fect. The coast is fringed with islands and deeply cut with winding fiords, like those of Norway or New Zealand. The rainfall is very heavy, and violent sales often rage. 305. The Forests of the Andes. The highest slopes of the Andes are too high for trees, but in the north the castern slopes are densely forested ($ 287). This forms the montuña region of Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru, where rubber and chinchona are the most important plants. The castern ranges are cut by deep gorges and valleys through which rage the upper waters of great rivers which flow cast to the Amazon and Plate. The forests of the Southern Andes consist of temperate trees, and are most abundant on the western slopes. 306. The Montaña of the Eastern Andes. traveller writes thus of the Eastern Andes and the montana : 'It is here that the majestic beauty of the Andes is fully realized. Masses of dark moimtains rise for thousands of feet, their bases washed by foaming torrents, and their summits terminating in sharp peaks or ridges. The lower slopes are covered with dense vegetation, and the green tints are often varied by masses of gorgeous flowers. Above the forest the grassy slopes are brightened by the yellow of calceolarias, and the rich purple of other flowers. As the ravines are descended the delicate pink and white of the chinchona blossoms begins to dot the hillsides. White sheets of foam rush down the polished sides of the precipice and seem to plunge into a bed of flowers and ferns. Everywhere the roar of falling water is heard. As the ravines open out wider views come into sight, and the illimitablo plain stretches away in one mbroken forest, its green tints changing to faint blue on the horizon ·THE ANDES 149 307. Mineral Wealth. The Andes are very rich in minerals, particularly in silver and gold. The Spanish conquerors obtained enormous amounts of treasure from the mines. One of the richest silver mines is at Pasco, near the source of the great Iluallaga River, which is one of the feeders of the Amazon. Another is at Potosi. 3 Wh vekt Photograph by Indoruo011 € Under nooit Fig. 49. STREET SCENE IN Cuzco, PERU. Notice the Spanish houses, showing Moorish influence, built on foundations of Inca masonry. 308. Ancient Civilization of the Andes. The Spanish conquerors found a civilized race in the high plateaus. These were the Incas. Every year the enperor turned a furrow with a golden plough, to show that the prosperity of a nation depends on agriculture. as were skilful workers in metal. For their ·150 THE ANDES weapons and tools they used a mixture of tin and copper which took as sharp an edge as steel. The sccret of making this has long been lost. They had terraced, planted, and irrigated the mountain slopes, and built great bridges over the deep ravines that pierce the mountains. Their walls and temples were the admiration of the Spanish conquerors. They were built of gigantic blocks of stone, so perfectly fitted without the use of mortar that not even a knife blade could be thrust between them. How these were built remains one of the wonders of the world. 309. Railways in the Andes. There are a few fiue cities on the Andes to-day, but they are probably less imposing than the ancient Inca cities. The great monuments of modern skill are the Andean railways. The scarcity of labour and of wood, and the difficulty of working hard and sometimes cycn of breathing at great heights, made the building of them extremely difficult. 310. In Peru a line has been built froin Lima by Oroya to Pasco and carried across a pass 15,650 feet high. The scenery is perhaps the finest in the world. Lines run through Mollendo and Antofogasta from the Pacific coast to Lake Titicaca, on the Bolivian plateau. A trans-continental line now unites the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans, and tunnels under the Uspallata Pass at a height of 10,300 feet. The route over the top of the pass is still used in summer, but is closed by snow in winter. On the summit of the pass, on the frontier between Chile and Argentina, is a colossal statue of the Christ of the Andes, put up at the end of the last war. Much traffic is still carried by mules and llamas, a slower but cheaper method than carriage by mountain railways. 311. A Railway Journey in the Andeş. A traveller from Mollendo to La Paz, the capital of I

·.
A
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Photograph lent by C. Reginald knock, Esq.
Fig. 50. LIMA CATHEDRAL.
W NA
Photograph lent by C. Reginald Enock, Esq.
Fig. 51. ON THE OROYA LINE.
Notice that the line is here above the tree limit.

·152 THE ANDES passes first through the rainless coastal region, where prickly cactus, which look like organ pipes, are almost the only plants. About 100 miles from the coast the climb begins and in 20 miles the line climbs 3,000 feet, with towering peaks on one side and yawning gulfs on the other. The line is often carried along the edge of precipices which fall thousands of feet to ravines below. At a height of abont 7,000 feet a river valley widens into a broad plain, which is green with maize, or Indian corn, barley, potatoes, and alfalfa or lucerne. In this plain is Arequipa, with many churches and a fine cathedral, at the foot of the great volcanic cone of El Misti (20,000 feet). The railway reachest its highest point at the top of a pass which is 14,660 feet high. The pass is free from snow in summer, but magnificent snow-peaks rise around. Even the hardy cactus camot live at that height, and the only plants are a dry grass and a kind of resinous moss. Sheep, llamas, alpacas, and vicuñas, manage to live on this poor pasture, and scamper away as the train appears. 312. After this the line descends 2,000 feet to reach Lake Titicaca, which is partly in Peru and partly in Bolivia. The shores of the lake are cultivated and the surrounding slopes are terraced. La Paz is about 60 miles from the Bolivian side of the lake. The line crosses the moLCE or plateau of Bolivia, which contains about 10,000 square miles. Iligh mountains shut it in, and the little mud villages are surrounded by cultivated land, which the peasants still till with crooked sticks instead of ploughs. At last the city of La Paz comes in sight, lying 1,200 feet below the level of the plateau in a deep depression ($ 330).

·TIIE ANDES 153 Exercises 1. Explain why the high plateaus of the Andes are more densely ]meopled than the coastal plains. Illustrate this by a comparison with Africa. 2. Describe the mineral wealth of the Andes. 3. What do you know of the railways which climb the Andes? 4. How far is it an advantage and how far is it a disadvantage to be an Andean country? 5. Give the meaning of the Spanish geographical terms used. 0. Write a full description of the illustratioris in this chapter. CIIAPTER XXVIII THE ANDEAN COUNTRIES 313. Colombia. Find Colombia on the coloured map and notice its good situation, with a coastline on both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. This will be a greater advantage when the Panama Canal is finished. 314. Most of Colombia is over 6,000 feet high, and crossed by ranges of the Andes which rise to three times that height. These fall steeply on the west to the Pacific coastal plain. In the cast they sink to the grasslands of the Orinoco and the forests of the Amazon. The whole country is cut by deep river valleys, which make communication very difficult. All the rivers fall steeply in their upper courses, but some are navigable in their lower courses. Find the Magdalena, which con- ·154 TIIE ANDEAN COUNTRIES nects the high plateaus with the Caribbean Sea. It rises at a height of about 13,000 feet and falls half of that distance in less than 40 miles. After that it falls less swiftly, and there are navigable reaches between the different falls which interrupt it. For the last 200 miles it is a broad and noble river. Its chief tributary, the Cauca, another route to the best-peopled part of the country, also flows first in wild defiles, and then becomes navigable. Notice how many rivers flow cast to the Orinoco and the Amazon. 315. The coastal plains are very hot, and are thinly peopled. The higli plateaus of the tierra templarla and tierru fria are healthier and better peopled. Most parts of the country have a very heavy rainfall and are forested. The driest part is in the lee of the Eastern Andes, where there are llaños or savanas. 316. Colombia has great natural wealth. Its forests are still little explored, but they produce rubber, chinchona, mahogany, and many other valuable plants. Agriculture is backward, but coffee, cacao, sugar', tobacco, &c., are grown in the clearings in the ticrra caliente. Wheat and potatoes are grown up to 8,000 feet. Cattle are kept in the castern Haños. The minerals include gold, silver, copper, coal, and asphalt. Fine emeralds are also found. 317. In spite of its natural wealth Colombia is neither well peopled nor highly civilized. This is partly due to the difficulty of communication. Roads are difficult to mako, and still more difficult to keep up in the rainy Most of them are very bad. There are few good bridges across the innumerable ravines and hardly any railways. Secondly, labour is scarce, dear, and bad. The mass of the people have more Indian than white blood and little education. season.

·THE ANDEAN COUNTRIES 155 Samne lanc. 318. The west coast is thinly peopled. The chief port is Buenaventura, a small place. On the Caribbean coast is Cartagena, with a fine harbour, and the growing ports of Barranquilla and Sabanilla at the mouth of the Magdalena. The capital is Bogotá, which lies on the castern edge of a high fertile plateau drained to the Magdalena. This plateau is about 70 miles long and about half as wide, and contains over 2,000 square miles of fertile soil. Bogotá is finely situated at the foot of two high peaks, each of which is crowned by a cathedral. The streets rise in tiers up the slopes, and from the summit there is a fine view over Central Colombia. 319. Ecuador. Find Ecuador on the coloured map, and notice the Gulf of Guayaquil with the port of the It is the outlet for the fertile valley of the Guayas river, the chief navigable river of the country. Guayaquil is the centre of the cacao plantations of Ecuador. About one-third of all the chocolate used in the world is exported from Guayaquil, 320. The interior resembles ('olombia. It consists of the ranges, valleys, and plateaus of the Andes, which sink on the east to the forested Amazon basin. Ecuador was part of the empire of the Incas. Then, as now, most of the people lived on high plateaus, 8,000 feet above the sea. Agriculture is backward, except round Guayaquil, and the only manufacture of importance is Panama hats. The forest tribes of the Amazon are little more civilized than the Pygmies of the Congo forest. 321. Quito. The capital in Quito), on the equator. It is built on a high platean, over 9,1700 feet above the 'The city is picturesque in the extreme, with its white walls, red-tiled roofs, and crowds of Indians in bright-hued ponchos and broail- brimmed hats, with llamas, oxen and other beasts of burden passing ceasesca. . DEOG. VI. 1 ·156 THE ANDEAN COUNTRIES lessly through the streets.' Quito was once the northern centre of the Inca power. 322. Peru. South of the Gulf of Guayaquil the Pacific coast is a desert as far south as Valparaiso in Chile. Find these places on the coloured map and compare their latitudes with those of the Sahara and of the South African desert. In Peru the coastal desert is from 20 to 80 miles wide, and is covered with bare sand dunes. Hardly a plant is seen, except where a river issues from the Andes and supplies water for irrigation. Then the monotonous desert is broken by a ribbon of green orchards and cultivated lands. Sugar and cotton are the chief crops, but rice, maize, vines, olives, lucerne, or alfalfa (3 376), and ramic, or China grass, which has a very strong fibre, are grown. 323. The Andes form a very different region, which is called in Peru the sierra. Here high mountain ranges rise to over 20,000 feet, enclosing high plateaus, called puna, and there are fertile valleys and wild gorges. Wherever there is natural pasture, or alfalfa can be grown in the valley, there are flocks of llamas and vicuñas, tended by Indians, clad in gay ponchos. 324. In the Eastern Andes great rivers rise near the Pacific coast and flow castward for over 3,000 miles to the Atlantic. After their first wild downward rush they become navigable, and as population grows will become great highways of trade. In the coloured map find the Marañon, which rises on the far side of the Eastern Andes in a small lake near the mining town of Cerro de Pasco. It flows through the Eastern Andes in wild ravines, and unites with the Huallaga to form the main stream of the Amazon. The Huallaga also rises near Pasco and follows a similar course. Find also the Ucayali, which flows parallel to the Huallaga

·--
MAI
Photograph by I'muerzol a l'rulerrool
52. QUITO.
Quito lies among the high Andes of Ecuador, almost on tho equator. Notice
the snow-clad peaks, the ruvine of the river, and the poncho or blanket worn
by the man in the foreground.

·158 TIIE ANDEAN COUNTRIES and Marañon. Yotice carefully the direction of these three rivers, for it shows how the ranges of the Eastern Andes run. The tributaries which rise on the castern slopes of the Andes follow a different direction, as the map shows. 325. Mining is very important in the sierra region. Many silver mines are worked at a level higher than that of Mont Blanc. The famous silverand copper mines of Pasco are connected with Lima by the line through Oroya. This line will be extended to Cuzco (Fig. 49), the southern capital of the Incas. Puño, on Lake Titicaca, is a mining centre, and the starting-place for steamers on Lake Titicaca. These connect with the line to La Paz. 326. The third region of Peru is the montaña or forest region of the Eastern Andes and Amazon basin. Iquitos, a river port on the Amazon, is the centre of the Peru rubber traile. Agriculture is beginning in the higher valleys of the montana region, where sugar, coffee, cacao, cocoa, tobacco, and many fruits succeed. 327. Lima, the capital, a few miles from the coast, was built by Pizarro, the Spanish conqueror of Peru. Its port is Callao. The country round Lima is irrigated by the waters of the river Rimac. The city is built of adobe, or sun-dried muud bricks, covered with plaster. The streets are straight and cross at right angles, as in most South American cities. Many open to squares, with statnes, trees, and fountains. The finest contains the cathedral, the most imposing building in Lima. Arequipa, finely built of stone, with many churches, is separated from the coast by a desert 60 miles broad. It is finely placed in a fertile plain at the foot of El Misti (§ 311). 328. Bolivia. Bolivia resembles l'eru, but lost its coastal possessions in the wars of 1883. Owing to its ·THE ANDEAN COUNTRIES 159 height and mineral wealth it has been called the Mexico of South America. Much of it consists of a high plateau, 12,000 feet high. The highest peaks, Illimani and Sorata, are nearly 22,000 feet high. The rich silver mines of Potosi became proverbial, but Bolivia also produces tin, copper, and other minerals. 329. The chief occupations of Bolivia are mining, the keeping of animals on the puña, and the forest industries in the montaña, which is drained to the Amazon. Agriculture only just supplies the wants of a scanty population. The puna is the home of the potato, which forms almost the only food of the Indians living round Lake Titicaca. The native boats on Lake Titicaca are male of plaited straw, with plaited grass sails, because of the scarcity of wood. 330. Steamers on Lake Titicaca, which lies 12,500 feet above the sea, comect the capital, La Paz, with the lines from Peru. There is also a line to Lake Titicaca from the Chilean port of Antofagasta. "La Paz lies along the immer sides of a rocky amphitheatre, a panorama of red roofs and blue and white buildings, with many churches, and groups of willow and eucalyptus." 331. Chil Find Chile on the coloured map and note the latitucles within which it lies. They correspond to the latitudes of the Canary Islands and Elinburgh respectively. Punta Arevas, the port of Magellan Strait, is 1,600 miles south of Cape Town. Chile therefore has a much greater range of climate than any South African country. It is nearly 2,000 miles long, and less than 100 miles broad, except in the north and south where it broadens out to 250 miles. 332. Notice the broken coastline south of lat. 40° S. Southern Chile was covered with an ice sheet in the distant Ice Age (vol. I, ch. i). Iluge glaciers then ·160 THE ANDEAN COUNTRIES reached the sea and carved out very deep valleys. When the climate became warmer they melted, and the sea filled their deserted valleys. These drowned valleys now form fiords like those of Norway. Notice the islands of Chiloe and other islands off the coast. Probably the land has sunk, and these islands are part of a submerger coastal range. Find the island of Tierra del Fuego, which is cut off from the mainland by Magellan Strait; and Cape Horn, the most southerly point of South America, on an island to the south. ('ompare Southern Chile with Northern Norway. 333. With such a range of latitude (hile would have many different climates even if it were flat. Remember, however, that it contains the highest peak of the Andes, Aconcagua. It consists of a coastal plain, with a coastal range, which is subnerged in the south; of a central valley between this and the main chain of the Andes; and of the high Andes. The mountains are rich in gold, silver, copper, and other metals. Chile supplies inost of the copper smelted on the South Wales coalfield. 334. Climate of Chile. The northern part of Chile is in the rainless trade-wind belt, and forms the desert of Atacama. South of lat. 35 S. the prevailing winds blow from the south-west and bring rain. The rainfall of Southern Chile is very heavy and the forests are very dense. The cold Humboldt (urrent makes the climate cold for the latitude, and the Chilean coast is cooler than the Atlantic coast in the same latitudes ($S 195, 279). 335. The Desert of Atacama. We have seen that in a dry climate the fertilizing elements are not washed out of the soil as they are in wet countries ($ 108). The Atacama desert is so dry that the bodies of the animals which die on the trail become dried or mummified. In ·THE ANDEAN COUNTRIES 161 manure. many parts of the Atacama desert there are vast deposits of nitrates, or Chile saltpctre, a valuable artificial It is strange that this desert, where hardly a blasle of green is seen, supplies abundantly what is needed to give back fertility to the worn-out soils of other lands. The richest nitrate fields are some distance from the sea, beyond the coastal range, and 3,000 feet or more above sea-level. Food and water have to be carried by rail. We may compare this with the difficulties of provisioning the golilfields in the desert of Western Australia ($ 262). The nitrate ports are Iquique (supplied with water by canal from the Andes), Antofagasta, and Coquimbo. The latter is the centre of a copper region. 336. The Central Valley of Chile. The long narrow central valley of (hile is about 30 miles wide. The rivers from the mountains which enclose it have covered it with deep alluvial soil, and supply water for irrigating it. All Mediterranean plants do well. We may compare it with the Tell region of Algiers ($91), or the ('alifornian Valley (Vol.V). Wheat and barley are grown for export. The largest town is Santiago, the capital of Chile, at the foot of spurs of the Andes, a fine city with beautifully laid out suburbs. Tle port is Valparaiso ("The Vale of Paradise"), a name to compare with Cape Verde in Africa, where the desert coast also ends. It is the terminus of the transcontinental line ($ 310). 337. Southern Chile is a land of forests with cattle ranches in the clearings. Timber is wanted all over the world, and as the forests of one land are destroyed those of others increase in value. ('huile has a great source of wealth in these magnificent forests. In the cold, wet, bleak south, sheep-breeding is carried on, and whalers and sealers sail to the southern seas. Punta Arenas exports wool, hides, tallow, ostrich feathers, fox skins, ·162 THE ANDEAN COUNTRIES and rugs of guanaco and vicuña wool. It will become a coaling station, obtaining coal from Chile, Britain, and Australia. 338. People and Civilization. (hile, with much more land in temperate latitudes, is more advanced than the other Andean countries. The educated classes are of almost pure Spanish blood, but the lower classes are more Indian than Spanish. (hile hay encouraged emigrants in recent years. Those from Southern Europe find a suitable climate and occupations in the central valley or in the mining districts. German settlers in Southern Chile are clearing forests, keeping stock, and introducing tanning and other industries. Exercises 1. Write a short account of the advantages aul disadvantages of Colombia. Why is it a backwaril country? 2. Compare Ecuador and Colombia. 3. Draw a mapof Peru, marking the chief rivers and towns. 4. Describe the different regions and climates of ('lile. 5. Write a short account of the desert of Atacama, and compare it with any region like it. 6. What are the chief occupations of Chile, and where is each carried on Why? 7. Draw a inap of Chile and Boliviit, marking the chief towns and railways.

·CHAPTER XXIX VENEZUELA AND TIIE GUIANA JIIGHLANDS 339. The South American Lowlands. The coloured map of South America shows that there is a inarked difference between the Andean countries and the rest of South America. The Andean countries lave narrow coastal plains and high mountain-virt plateaus, but all the other South American countries have vast lowlands watered by great rivers. 340. The northern mainland of South America was discovered by Columbus. While still far from the coast he noticed, as travellers still do to-day, that the milky waters of a great river, loader with sediment, were pouring into the blue salt water. This showed him that at last he was near a continent, for the river was too great to flow from any island. It was, in fact, the outward wash of the great Orinoco, which like all tropical rivers carries an immense volume of water to the sea, and is heavily loaded with sediment, especially in the rainy season. Find the Orinoco on the colo and notice that it enters the sea by a great delta, opposite the West Indian Island of Trinidad. 341. The coloured map shows the ('entral Lowlands of South America. This consists of (i) the Orinoco Lowland, with the lowlands of the Essequibo in British Guiana, separated by the Guiana Highlands from (ii) the Amazon Lowland. The western edge of this forms the montaña of the Andean countries, but most of it is in Brazil. The Brazilian Ilighlands separate the Amazon Lowlands from (iii) the lowlands of the Plate River, which form Paraguay, Uruguay, and Argentina. crl map, ·16+ VENEZUELA AND THE 342. The Guiana Highlands. Find these on the map). Notice that they are in the hot wet belt and must receive a very heavy rainfall. They are densely forested, and the many rivers which rise there fall too swiftly to be used as routes. The Guiana Highlands rise to 11,000 feet in the highest part, and to 8,000 feet in the great table mountain of Roraima. They are known to be rich in gold, but the comtry is so difficult to penetrate that it is still largely unexplored. 343. The Orinoco. The Orinoco rises in the southwest part of the Guiana Ilighlands. After falling rapidly, but still at no great distance from its source, it divides, at a height of about 1,000 feet above the sea, into two branches. One of these, the ('assiquiare, flows south into the Rio Negro, a tributary of the Amazon, which it enters after a course of 250 miles. The other forms the main stream of the Orinoco, and flows in the opposite direction round the western and northern base of the Guiana Highlands to the sea. The distance in a straight line between its source and mouth is about 500 miles, but its winding course gives it a length of over 15,000 miles. 344. The Orinoco flows through three very unlike regions : (i) the hot wet forests of its upper course ; (ii) the grassy llaños of its middle and lower course ; and (iii) the mangrove swamps of the coastal belt. During its descent to the sea it forms two series of step-like rapids, which are about 35 miles apart. It is navigable for about 500 miles above the first set of falls, and for nearly 900 miles below the second. It carries inost water between April and October, and is highest in July and August, when it floods the low-lying lands. It receives short swift tributaries froin the Guiana Ilighlands, and long slow navigable rivers from the more ·GUIANA HIGIILANDS 165 distant Andes. Find on the map the Guaviare and the Meta, the most important of the latter. The port of the Orinoco is Ciudad Bolivar, over 200 miles from the sea, where the river narrows at the head of tidal navigation. 345. The Climate of the Orinoco. Notice in the map that the Orivoco lowland widens from the sea inland. The rainfall is much less in the lowlands than in the highlands. The lowlands have a well-marked dry season, and are savanas, with patches of dense forest in the valleys of the rivers which cross them. They support millions of horses and cattle, but in the dry season, when the grass withers and the streams are low, these suffer greatly from both hunger and thirst. 346. Venezuela. Venezuela, in spite of its natural advantages of climate, soil, and situation, is one of the backward countries of South America. It consists of (i) the Andean region, in the west; (ii) the llanos or savanas of the Orinoco ; and (ii) the Guiana Highlands. The Andean region continues the Andes of Colombia. It has dense forests up to a height of about 10,000 feet, with grasslands above bleak paramos. Still higher the valleys are slowly being cleared, and coffee, sugar, cacao, maize and other tropical plants are grown in the tierra caliente up to a height of about 5,000 feet. Beans, potatoes, and barley can be grown to 8,000 feet in the tierra templada and tierra fiia. 347. The llaños of Venezuela stretch away to the horizon apparently as level plains, but in reality they rise to the highlands and mountains which shut them in. They are dotted with belts of forest, in which palms are common. There is hardly any agriculture, but stock-keeping is very important. 348. The Coast Lands. The rivers which descend to the sea have built up lowlands along parts of the ·1.66 VENEZUELA ANI) TIIT coast. The lake or lagoon of Maracaibo is being slowly filled up by river sediment. East of this the (aribbean coast is mountainous, with fair harbours. Carcas and Valencia are in the centre of a coffee and cacao region. The caco and chocolate of Venezuela are equal in quality to that produced in Ecuador. The capital, Caracas, is about 6 miles inland as the crow flies, but the railway which connects it with La Guayra, its port, is over 20 miles long, and climbs it pass 5,000 to 6,000 feet high. A wide view is seen from the highest point of the line, which is described by Lady Brassey in the Voyage of the Sunbeam : 'On either side la Guayra and Caracas were visible far below in the two valleys at our feet. It was an extraordinary view, embracing many hundreds of square miles, and stretching far away into Venezuela. Surrounded by plantations of sugar cane, which made an oasis in the plain, ('aracas looked the very type of a South American town, laid out in square blocks, with streets all running at right angles, of low, white, one-storied, stone-walled, red-roofed houses, exactly the colour of the suutounding carth and mountains. An occasional church or public building rose above the otherwise flat surface of the capital of Venezuela.' 349. The Guianas. British, Dutch, and French Guiana are the only European possessions in South America, with the exception of the Falkland Islands (375). Find them in the map. British Guiana, which is as large as the United Kingdom, lies east of the delta of the Orinoco. Notice that British Guiana lies between lat. 9" N. and lat. 1° S. The north has a wellmarked dry season, which does not suit forest trees, and is a savana land. The coast is fringed with mangrove swamps. British Guiana consists of (i) the low alluvial ·GUIANA HIGHLANDS 167 plain, about 20 miles broad, built up by the Essequibo and other rivers; (ii) the llanos; and (iii) the forested south. 350. Most of the people live in the low coastal belt. The Dutch, who first colonized it, reclaimed this lowlying river-built land, as they reclaimer Holland, by building dykes, cutting canals, and pumping out the water. British Guiana is really a tropical Holland. Sugar is grown and made into rum and molasses. Much was formerly exported as brown Demerara sugar. As population grows, and the land is cleared and opened up with roads and railways, British Guiana will become more valuable than it is now, but it will never be a very healthy country for white men except in the higher parts. The capital in Georgetown, a garden city, set among palms and sugar plantations, on the right lank of the Demerara river. Duteh Guiana (capital Paramaribo), and French Guiana (capital Cayenne), are very similar. Exercises 1. Draw a map of the Orinoco, Venezuela, and the Guianas, marking Ciudad Bolivar, Georgetown, and Cayenne. 2. Write a short description of the different natural ons of Venezuela, noting the plants and occupations. 3. Write a short account of British Guiana, and show its value to the empire. 4. How does Dutch Guiana resemble Holland ? 5. Explain why most of the Orinoco basin is a savana and not a forest land.

·CHAPTER XXX BRAZIL 351. Brazil. Find Brazil on the coloured map. It consists of over twenty States and contains about half of South America. It is larger than Australia and nearly as large as Europe. About two-thirds of Brazil consists of the Amazon Lowlands and about a quarter of the Brazilian Ilighlands. 352. Brazilian Highlands and Lowlands. The Brazilian Highlande form a plateau from 2,000 to 3,000 feet high, crossed by ranges which rise to 11,000 feet near the sea. The broadest part of the plateau forms the almost uninhabited State of Matto Grosso, which extends to the Bolivian frontier, and the better-peopled States of Goyaz and Minas Geraes. The last is the most thickly peopled part of Brazil, chiefly because it is rich in minerals. The longest river is the San Francisco, which flows north to a large coastal lowland. Tributaries also flow to the Amazon and Plate rivers. The lowlands are the densely forested Arazon lowlands, and the Plate lowlands, which are savanas. 353. Climate of Brazil. Brazil lies between lat. 5° N. and lat. 33° S. Most of it is between the tropics, and the broadest and lowest part is in the equatorial belt. We know from this that the climate will be hot all the year round, except on the highlands, where the increased height will reduce the temperature. In thie highest parts frosts are not uncommon. 354. The Amazon Lowlands lie in the belt of equatorial rains and are one of the wettest regions in the world. The largest tributaries of the Amazon come from the south, and carry most water between December and June, ·BRAZIL 169 in the southern summer. The Rio Negro and the other northern tributaries are fed by the rains and melting snows in the summer months of the northern hemisphere. During their food season the Amazon tributaries are swollen into great lakes and much of the forest is under water. A traveller speaks of palms 200 feet high rooting under floods 60 feet deep). 355. The rest of Brazil is in the trade-wind belt and the amount of rain depends on the lie of the higher ground. The slopes exposed to the trade winds receive heavy rains and are forested. The drier regions in the lee of these higher wetter parts are savanas. The savanas of Brazil are called campos, and differ little from the llanos of the Orinoco or the savanas of Central Africa. 356. The Amazon. Find the Amazon on the coloured map, and if possible compare this with the Oxford Wall Map of South America. The main stream of the Amazon rises less than 100 miles from the Pacific coast, and has a course of over 3,000 miles across the broadest part of the continent. At least thirty of its tributaries would rank as great rivers, and each is a great river, itself receiving many tributaries. If we reckon the navigable waters of the Amazon and its tributaries at 10,000 miles, it is probably less than the truth. For the last 250 miles it is never less than 50 miles across, and at its mouth, where a great sandbank or island divides it into two channels, it is 250 miles from bank to bauk. The immense volume of fresh water which it discharges can be traced far out to sea ($ 340). 357. Look out the most important tributaries on the map. Those from Colombia and Ecuador flow east. Find the Rio Negro, or Black River, which is connected with the Orinoco by the Cassiquiare ($ 343). The great ·170) BRAZIL river port of Manaos is at its confluence. The headlstreams of the Amazon (§ 32+), the Marañon, the Huallaga, and the Ucayali, How north in parallel valleys between the ranges of the Eastern Andes before they turn east to the Atlantic. Find also the Madeira, which flows to the Amazon from the south. Its tributaries stretch out like the fingers of a great hand and drain a vast area of the castern ranges. Below its confluence the Amazon receives many long tributaries from tho Brazilian Highlands. Many of these rise near tributaries of the Plate River, and the two rivers are connected during the rainy season. Find the 'Tocandins River, which flows to the Amazon estuary. The southern channel of the Amazon estuary is called the Para River, and on it is the rubber and vanilla port of Para, or Belem. 358. All these rivers have their falls and their navigable reaches, their rainy seasons and their times of flood, which are not those of the main stream. This reminds us of the tributaries of the Nile ($ 128). 359. The Amazon Forests. The Amazon forests have already been described. Two kinds of life go on in them. The forest Indians are wandering fishermen. Fish, turtle, and turtle eggs are their chief food, and they do not use nets, but shoot fish with bows and arrows. They build huts of bark where they make a halt. Sometimes they leave the women there long enough for them to sow and reap a little manioc. Thus agriculture begins. 360. The white or half-breed traders and settlers are chiefly engaged in the rubber trade. Some collect the supplies obtained by the forest Indians, and others live in the river ports and send rubber and other goods up and down stream. There is little agriculture as yet in the Amazon basin except round these river towns.

·BRAZIL 171 Most of the rubber finally reaches Para, which is built on alluvial soil, on the edge of the forest. 361. Occupations of the Brazilian Highlands. There is a great contrast between the Amazon basin, with a slope of less than an inch to the milo in Brazil, and the Brazilian Highlands These vary greatly in height, soil, rainfall, and plants. The chief occupations are agriculture, cattle-keeping in the campos, and mining. Brazilian diamonds, though valuable, are less fine than those of South Africa. 362. The cultivated plants of Brazil are many, but coffee is the most important. All the products of the tierra caliente and the tierra tempılada can be grown at suitable heights. Railways have been built to connect the coffee plantations with the ports. 363. The Plate Basin. Most of Southern Brazil lies in the Plate basin, which is a savana, except in the wetter parts. Cattle-breeding is very important, and much coffee is grown round São l'aolo. This region may be compared to Nyasaland. 364. A Coffee Plantation. In Southern Brazil coffee is planted on hill slopes which have been cleared of forest, for forests show that there is a sufficient rainfall. The plants are set in rows, with some food-crop, such as maize or manioc, between. ('offee requires heat, moisture, good drainage, and careful weeding. The trees bear in their third or fourth year and soon become very productive. Coffee is a strong-growing plant, and exhausts the rather scanty soil of the hill-sides in about twenty-five years. The plant is in bloom for about eight months, and is covered with fruit at various stages. In Brazil three crops are gathered in a year, and the quality depends partly on careful cultivation, and partly on the way in which it is prepared for market. . ELIM. FOG VI. M ·172 BRAZIL 365. The coffee berries are gathered in November, and at this busy season even children help. Each berry contains two beans, surrounded by pulp, which is removed by machinery. The beans are then dried, and their immer and outer shells are removed, and they are packed in bags and sent to the ports. 366. 'A coffee plantation', writes a traveller, 'is a little world in itself. There are smithies and workshops, machines for preparing manioc, a saw-mill, a cornmill, a sugar-cane mill, and a still where the juice of the cane is made into rum. There is also a brick-kili and a pottery 367. Population and Towns. Only the eastern part of Brazil is yet developed, and more population is needed. The educated Brazilians are of Spanish descent, but the lower classes have much Iudian and negro blood. Many Italians have settled in the warmer parts of the eastern provinces, and there are prosperous German colonies in the more temperate lands of Southern Brazil. Compare this with Chile ($ 338). 368. The Amazon river-ports have already been mentioned. There are no large inland towns. Find on the map Pernambuco, exporting sugar and cotton, and Bahia the second harbour of Brazil. Bahia is in a very fertile region, where sugar, tobacco, and other tropical crops are grown. Find Rio de Janeiro, commonly called Rio, the capital of Brazil and the largest city in the southern hemisphere, with ncarly a million people. It is beautifully situated on a fine bay, framed by the Organ Mountains, which reach 7,000 feet. The botanic gardens are the most famous in the world, and the city contains many fine buildings of the Spanish-American type. Rio has an immense trade with all parts of the world. Farther south is Santos, the chief coffee port.

·Fig. 53. TE ILARBOUR OF Rio JANEIRO.
het
VILLE
24h ry
l'ig. 51.
MONTE VIDEO AND TIIE PLATE ISTUARY.
From Phologrzepla lent by the R.A.S.P.C.
PLAZA IN BAINA BLANCA,
Fig. 55.

·174 BRAZIL Exercises 1. Draw a map of Brazil, sharing the land over 3,000 feet and marking the chief towns and rivers. 2. With what parts of Africa and Australia, if any, would you compare Brazil ? 3. Draw a map of the Amazon and its tributaries, marking the names of the latter. 4. Whatare the chief cultivated plants of Brazil ? Whero is each important, and why ? ! 5. Explain wly Brazil is thinly people. What are its chief natural disadvantages ? CHAPTER XXXI THE PLATE COUNTRIES 369. Hind on the coloured map the Republies of Paraguay, Uruguay, and Argentina, all drained to the l'late estuary. The map shows that the Brazilian Highlands extend into Uruguay. Argentina is mostly lowland, but rises in the west to the Eastern Andes, which form part of the boundary with Chile, and on the south to the dry infertile table-land of Patagonia. 370. Trace on the map the rivers which flow to the Plate estuary. The Paraguay flows almost one south from the central part of the Brazilian Highlands, and unites with the Pilcomayo, a long river from the Andes. The imited river receives the Parana from the castern highlands of Brazil, and long tributaries from the Andes. Find the Uruguay, which separates Argentina from Uruguay, and flows to the Plate estuary.

·FO, . PIWO AONTAGU..
Aconcagna is the highest mountain on the continut.
the frontier between Chile and Argentina.
It is on
From l'hotopohybuilt by the R.M. S 7.C.
Fig. 57. The IgnaSSU FALLS.
These are on a tributary of the Panama River on the frontier
between Brazil and Argentina.

·176 TIIE PLATE COUNTRIES 371. Climate and Plants. The map shows that only the northern part of the Plate basin has a tropical climate. This is forested and little known or settled. Its forests produce much valuable timber, including the quebracho or 'break-akc' tree. It is an evergreen tree, growing to the height of 50 feet or more. Its timber is very hard, as we should expect from the name, and has been largely used for sleepers on the Argentine railways. It also yields extracts which are much used in medicine. 372. Argentina, like Chile, has many climates, varying from that of Northern Africa to that of Scotland. In the Andes the temperature depends on height as well as on latitude. 373. Argentina has a rather dry climate, especially in the belt of westerly winds ($ 288). Its lowlands form treeless pampas. In the last few years poplars, willows, and the Australian encalyptus have been planted to supply timber and shade for stock. The pampas, sometimes called the Camp (from the Spanish word campo, a plain) have a quiet beauty of their own. There are herds of cattle, flocks of sheep, the yellow of the corn, and the vivid blue of the linseed flower. Intermixed with these is the green and russet of the maize, the purple of the alfalfa flower, and the natural verdure of the Camp. Each of these contributes something toward the growing prosperity of Argentina. 374. Stock-raising on the Pampas. All the domesticated animals of Europe do well in Argentina. Cattle and horses number many millions. They are tended by mounted shepherds of Indian blood, who are called gauchos. These men hate the settled life of the towns, and are only at home in the saddle on the wide pampas. We may compare them with the Boers of South Africa and the cowboys of the North American 6 ·THE PLATE COUNTRIES 177 prairies. Before railways were made they wore gaily coloured ponchos and a special dress, but as civilization spreads these picturesque old-world fashions disappear. Ilorses are in demand for our own and other European armies. The dairy industries are growing and butter is exported (248). Millions of cattle are slaughtered every year in the Atlantic ports of the l'ampas. Some of their flesh is chilled "for export, and some is sulldricd or ‘jerked', for use in South America. The hides and tallow are of great value. 375. Sheep are important all through the pampas, but especially in Patagonia. They are also kept in the Falkland Islands (British), which lie cast of Patagonia. Wool is an important and growing export, as it is from Australia and New Zealand in the same latitudes (S$ 209, 248, 257). Ostrich-farming is also becoming important. The South American ostrich does not produce such valuable feathers as the South African ostrich, which has been introduced into Argentina ($ 209). 376. The Cultivated Pampas. Four plants are nained in § 373 as giving colour to the landscape. The first is wheat; this is a grass, and it can be grown in most of the grasslands of the world. Argentina grows more wheat every year. Its vast level wheatfields are ploughed, sown, and reaped by machinery, as the North American wheatfields are. Maize is also a profitable crop, but it suffers greatly from the ravages of locusts. Alfalfa was introduced into Argentina about twenty years ago and is now largely grown for fodder. It is a plant well suited to a dry climate, for it has very long roots which yo down to great depths in search of water. Alfalfa grows to the height of three feet or more and yields three or four crops a year. Before one crop is cut and dried the green shoots of the next are alrearly sprouting.

·178 THE PLATE (OUNTRIES 377. The Argentine Locust. All the crier parts of the southern continents suffer from locusts, and Argentina does so too. The force of their numbers is extraordinary', writes a traveller. They will settle on the boughs of large trees, layer on layer, till the limbs bend and crack beneath their weight. One may see the fronts of railway engines, carriages, and trucks, which have passed through a swarm of locusts, thickly coated with their bodies. It would be casier to stay a cloud in the sky than to interfere with a flight of locusts. Even the wingless youngsters possess unswerving determination, and will go the length of forcing their way across rivers. Plunging their little bodies in the water, they battle across, emerging on the other side a mile or so down stream, with a trifling loss of a few thousands or millions of their number. Locusts commonly appear just before the maize harvest is ready. Linseed has then been gathered and the wheat ear is already hard, but maize still has large juicy leaves and soft green ears. lui a few hours a swarm of locusts will eat a whole plantation of maize bare, leaving only the bare stalks to show that life was once there. Locusts are greedily eaten by ostriches and poultry, but when hens eat them their eggs are unfit for human food for some time. 378. The Far West. Find Mendoza on the colourer mal). It lies at the base of the Andes, on the transcontinental line between Buenos Aires and Valparaiso, in Chile ($ 310). Mendoza is a vine-growing centre. The vine, like the date palm, likes water at its roots and warm sunny air round its fruit. The Mendoza district is irrigatel by streams from the Andes and numberless canals intersect the vineyards. The vines are often grown up tree trunks and over lattice work connecting them. Under these conditions every kind ·TIIE PLATE COUNTRIES 179 of grape comes to perfection. Much wine is made, and during the vintage season special grape-trains are run to all parts of the country. Fruits of all kinds are grown, and the peach is as common as the apple in this country. Millions of acres are planted with poplars, which fetch a high price in the treeless pampas. 379. Railways and Towns of Argentina. Railways can easily be built across the level pampas, and the most productive districts are comected with the larger towns by a network of lines. The chief centre is Buenos Aires, the capital and port of Argentina. It is built on flat ground, and has miles of docks on the muddy Plate river. The city contains a million people and does an enormous trade in meat, cattle, wheat, and wool. Bahia Blanca, in Southern Argentina, the naval station and arsenal, is growing into a great port which will be the outlet for the rich lands of Southern Argentina. The river port of Rosario is the second city of Argentina and can be reached by ocean-going steamers. Next follow in order of size (ordoba, the largest city of Central Argentina ; Tucuman, in the north, in a district which grows sugar, maize, and tobacco; La Plata, a port on the estuary below Buenos Aires; and Mendoza. 380. Uruguay. Uruguay is an undulating country with grassy plains and more woods and trees than Argentina. The cattle are larger than those of Argentina and produce finer hides. The sheep are smaller and yield poorer wool. The chief industries of Uruguay are the slaughtering of cattle, the jerking' of beef, much of which is sent to Brazil, the canning of tongues and corned beef for the European market, the making of meat extracts, and the working up of the refuse into many useful products. Nothing is wasted, and even the bones and blood are turned into fertilizers. Fray Bentos ·180 TIIE PLATE COUNTRIES is the centre of the meat-extract industry, and Paysandu is noted for ox-tongues and corned beef. Monte Video, on the Plate estuary, is the capital and the chief port. 381. Paraguay, Paraguay is a land of forests crossed by great rivers. It produces valuable timber, rubber, dye-woods, drugs, and other tropical plants. Sugar, maize, and tobacco are cultivated. Maté, or Paragnay tea, is drunk all over South America, and is said to cure fatigue at once. The capital is Ascuncion, on the larguay. 382. Conclusion. We have now seen bow the southern continents resemble rach other and how they differ. South America is the richest of them all. At first it was valued only for its precious metals, but now we know that these are the least part of its wealth. The plants which its tropical forests produce are in demand all over the world. They will increase in value as men learn how to stamp ont tropical diseases. temperate lands will long help to feed the world. In this, South America resembles Australia and New Zealand, but it has much more land in temperato latitules. Wool, wheat, and moat are what these lands add to the world's store of wealth. 383. One more point should be noticed. The southern continents learn from cach other and from the Old World lands in the same latitudes. The domestic animals of the Old World have been introduced into the grasslands of the New World. The camel is used in the African and Australian desert as it is in the Arabian desert. The South African ostrich has found a home in South America. The same is true of plants. The vine has spread from the Mediterranean to the shores of South Africa and Australia and to the base of the Andes. Wheat has been planted in all the grasslands, and maize ·TIIE PLATE COUNTRIES 181 has been bronght from South America into the warm temperate lands of the Old World. The potato has spread from the high Andean plateans to every part of the world, and coffee has been transplanted from the Abyssinian highlands to the ticrra caliente of South America. Tobacco, a South American weed, has become a world-wide luxury. These are but a few examples of the way in which the whole world is bound together. Let us not forget this when we look at the lines of latitude on our globes and maps. Exercises 1. Draw a majof the Plate countries, shading the land over 3,000 feet and marking the chief rivers and towns. 2. Divide the Plate countries into natural regions, and compare them with similar regions in any part of the Worll. 3. What are the chief industries of the pampas? With what region of («) North America, (1) Asia, (~) Africa, () Australia would you compare them? Is the reason for the comparison the same in all cases ? 1. Describe the various industries which grow out of cattle-breeding in the Plate countries. 5. Where is the locust a pest outside Argentina ? 6. Describe the irrigated area at the base of the Andes. What special avantages does it possess? 7. Draw a map of the transcontinental line which crosses South America. 8. How will South America be affected by the opening of the Panama canal ? 9. What are the chief undeveloped resources of South America ? 10. How do you explain the relatively small population of South America ? How could it be increase?? 11. Make any comparisons you think useful between South America and Africa. 12. Make any comparisons you think useful between South Amcrica and Australia.

·INDEX 38; (References are lo puges, not sections) Abyssinia, 67; high-, Artesian area of Aus. Bendigo, 127. lands of, 41, 57, 58. tralia, 110, 121. Benue, R., 70, 73. Aconcagua, Mt., 146. Aslanti, 70. Berber, 70. Addis Abbeba, 67. Aswan, 59, 61, 66, 70; Biskra, 47. Adelaide, 128. clan, 64. Bizerta, 48. Africa, size of, 37; Atacama, desert of, Blantyre, 86. isthmuses of, 160-1. Bloemfontein, 100. straits of, 38 ; height Atbara, R., 58, 61. Blue Mountains, 108. of, 40; rift valleys of, Atlas countries, 43-9; Blue Nile, 67. 40 ; volcanoes of, 40; forests of, 46; moun- Boers, 96. lakes of, 40-1 ; rivers tains of, 41; rivers Bogota, 116, 155. of, 41-2; political of, 44 ; animals of, Bolivia, 146, 158-9. divisions of, 42; re 46; towns and routes, Brazil, 168-72. gional geography of, 46; regional geogra- Brazilian highlands, 43-102. phy, 47-9. 168. Africa, South. (Sec Atlas, Mts., 40, 43-4. Brisbane, 121. Soutli Africa.) Auckland, 131, 135. British East Africa, Agadir, 48. Australia, 103-30); size 81-5. Akkra, 76. and position of, 103 ; Broken Hill, 97, 122, Albert, L., 41, 57. comparison of with 124. Alexandria, 66. Africa, 103-5, 106, 112, Buenos Aires, 79. Alfa grass, 46. 113; political divisions Buluwayo, 97, 100, 101. Alfalfin, 156, 176, 177. of, 106; natural re- Bushmen, 96. Algeria, 48. gions of, 106-13 ; high- Burdekin, R., 108. Alps (Australian), 110; lands of, 106 10; low- (New Zealand), 124. lands of, 110-12; arte-Cacao, 143, 155. Amazon, R., 148, 149, sian region of, 110; Cairo, 61, 60. 156-8, 169-70; forests rivers of, 112; table- Calms, 17. of, 141 -2, 170-2. lands of, 113; climate Camels, 54, 128. America, South. (See of,, 114-15; plants Campos, 169. South America.) and animals of, 115- Canary Is., 102. Andes, Mts., 141-62; 20; regional geogra- Canterbury Plains, climate of, 140; ranges phy of, 121-30. 134. of, 144-6; high pla- Azores, Is., 102. Cape-to-Cairo line, 66, teaus of, 146-8; forests 90, 97. of, 148; minerals of, Balia, 172. Cape Colony, 97-8. 149; ancient civiliza- Bahia Blanca, 179. Cape Town, 77-8. tion uf, 149-50 ; rail. Bahr-el-Ghazel, R., 58. Cape Verde Is., 102. ways of, 150-2; coun- Ballarat, 127. Caracas, 166. tries of, 153-62. Bananas in Uganda, Caravan trade, 54, 50, Angola, 80. 84. 71. Antananarivo, 102. Bangweolo, L., 77. Cartagena, 155. Antofagasta, 139, 150, Basutoland, 100. Cassiquiare, R., 164, 159, 161. Bathurst (Gambia), 74. 169. Avrangi, Mt., 134. Bechuanaland, 97, 100. Canca, R., 143. Arequita, 158. Beira, 91. Cayenne, 167.

·INDEX 183 Chaul, L., 70, 71. hara, 50-5; of South | French West Africa, Chile, 159-62. America, 100-1, 136. 74. Chimborazo), Mt., 145. Diamonds, 98, 171. Funchal, 102. Chinchona, 143, 146. Drakensberg, Mts., Futi Jallon High- Christchurch, 135. 94, 98. ands, 72, 73. Climate, 13-8; effects Dry seasons, 17-8. of on plants, 19-32; Dunedin, 131, 135 Gainbia, R., 74. of Amazon, 168-9; of Durban, 97, 98. Gauchos, 176. Andes, 143; of Atlas Geelong, 127 countries, 44; of Aus- Georgetown), 167. tralia, 114-15; of Bra. Earth, the, 1; curva- Geraldton, 130. zil, 168; of British ture of, 1-3; orbit of, German East Africa, East Africa, 81; of 18; rogation of, 7-9; 85. Cong», 79 ; of Egypt, revolution of, 13. 18. Gerinan Southwest 61-2; of Nysaland, Ecuador, 155. East London, 97. Africa, 97. 88; of Orinoco, 105 : Gippsland, 126. of i'late, 176 ; Of Rh-Edward, L., 41, 57. Globes, 11-12. (lesin, 101; of South Egmont, Mi., 134. Africa, 92–4 ; of South Egypt, 513–liti"; " gift of Gold, 67, 91, 100, 101, the Nile', 58-9; seit- 122, 126, 127, 128, 130, America, 136-41. sous in, 61-2; irriga- Gold Coast, 76. 149, 164. Coal, 97, 98, 100, 101, tion of, 61 4; crops Golden Mile, tho, 130. 108, 122, 124, 161. 61; occupations | Goulbourn, 124, Cocil, 1.13. ('offee, 80, 85, 86, 91. of, 66; routes and Grasslands, area of, 98, 143, 171-2. towns of, 66. Colombia, 153 5. Entebbe, 85. 43; tropical, 27-8; Condamine, R., 112. Equinox, 14. temperate, 32; polar, 32. Congo, R., 77-80; Essiquibo, 163. Great Barrier Reef, course of, 17-8; di Eucalyptus, 116, 118, 1:22 mate of, 75 ; forests of, 124, 176. Greenwich time, 11. 79; peoples of, 79-80. Evaporation, 16. ('onstantine, 48. Guayaquil, 157. Eyre, I., 110-12, 1:28. Guiana, 166-7. Coolgardio, 130. Guna llighlands, 164. Copper, 160. Fayım, 60, 62, 63. Guinea Coast and Coquimbo, 161. FC2, 48. lands, 73-6. Cordoba, 179. Fiorels, 132, 159, 160. Cotopaxi, Mt., 147, 146. Fitzroy, R., 108. Harmattan wind, 53 Cotton, 64, 71 2, 91. Forests, 19-20; equa- 76. Cuzco, 158. torial, 20-2; Mediter- Hansaland, 70. ranean, 24; temper- Hobart, 127. ate, 126 ; sub-tropical, Horizon, 1. Dahomey, 74. 22-4; tropical, 22; Huallaga, R., 149, 15ti, Danietta, 60. of Abyssinia, 67; of 170. Dar-es-Salaam, 83. Amazon, 141-2, 170-2; Hunboldt current, 137, Darling, R., 112. of Atlas, 46 ; of Co- 160. Darling Downs, 121. lombia, 154; of Congo, Hunter, R., 108. Dato palnı, 53, 55. 777-9; of New Zea- Dawson, R., 108. land, 134; of Orinoco, Illimani, Mt., 159. Delagoa Bay, 191, 197. 164, 165; of Plate Incas, 149-50. Desert, 28 32; of Afri- River, 176; of Queens- Iquique, 16). ca, 50-5, 95 ; vf Aus- land, 121; of West Iquitos, 158. tralia, 113, 128; of Africa, 73. Irrigation in Andes, Atacama, 100-1; of Fray Bentos, 179. 150, 152, 156, 161; in Kalahari, 95 ; of Su-Fremantle, 130. Argentina, 178; in ·18+ INDEX 48; Atlas countries, 44; Majuba, 98. climate of, 132; fiord in Australia, 110, 118; Manaos, 170. coast of, 132 ; monuin Egypt, 02-4. Mangrove swamps, 2.. tains, rivers, and lakes Mars, 11-12; scale of, of, 131; sleep-farming Johannesburg, 97, 100. 87. in, 134, 135; minerals Marañon, R., 170. of, 135 ; towns of, 135. Kaflirs, 96. Maryborough, 121. Niger, R., 70, 73 6. ager, R., 57. Masailand, 82. Nigeria, 70-1, 76. Kalahari Desert, 92, Mashonaland, 57, 100. Nile, R., 56-66 ; course 95, 10M). Matabeleland, 97, 100. of, 56-8; floods of, 58- Kalgurli, 130. Matadi, 78. 9, 61; sudd, 158; cata- Kano, 71. Mate, 143, 180. racts of, 59; in rela- Karroos, the, 15. Mauritius, 10% tionto Egypt, 58-9, 60, Kauri pine, 134. 'Mealies', 95. 01.0; deltil, 60. Keny, Mt., 11, 81, 84. Meat industries, 119, Nitrate fields of Chile, Khartum, 58, 70. 121, 135, 177, 179. 161. Kilimanjar, Mt., 41, Mediterranean climato No, L., 68. 81. and plants, 24, 46, Nubia, 50, 59. Kimberley, 97. in Argentina, Nyasa, L., 41, 86, 88. Kivu, L., 81. 178; in Atlas coun- Nyasaland, 88. Kola nuts, 71, 73. tries, 43-9; in Aus- Kosciusko), Mt., 108, tralia, 118, 126; in Oases, 30. 110. Chile, 101; in New Oil palm, 7:3. Kumasi, 76. Zealand, 134 ; in Orange, R., 94. South Africa, 94, 95, Orange Free State, 97, La Guayra, 166. Melbourne, 124, 127. 100. La Paz, 150, 152, 159. Mendoza, 178, 179. Orinoco), 153, 163-5. La Plata, 179. Mequinez, 48. Oroya, 150, 158. Lagos, 70. Meridians of longi. Ostriches, 96-8, 176-7. Latitude, 3-6. tude, 9-12 Las Palmas, 102. Mildura, 118. Para, 170-1 ; R., 170. Leopoldville, 78. Mogador, 48. l'araguay, 150. Liberia, 74. Mollendo, 150. Paramaribo, 167. Libya, 50, 59. Mombasa, 82. Parana, R., 174. Lima, 150, 158. Monsoons, 18, 114. Pasco), 149, 150, 156, Llamas, 136, 144, 146, Montana region, 146. 158. 150. Monte Video, 179. Pemba, 8. Llanos, 154, 165. Morocco, 47-8; city, Pernambuco, 172. Loanda, 80. 48. Perth, 130. Local time, 11. Mozambique current, Peru, 156-8. Locusts, 46, 96, 178. 9.1, Pictermaritzburg, 98. Lokoja, 73. Murray, R., 108, 110, Pilcomayo, R., 174. Longitude, 9-11. 112. Plants, 19 32; aclapt- Lourenço Marquez, 9]. ed to different Nairobi, 82. gions, 19 32; sensonal Mackay, 121. Naivasha, Is., 84. changes in, 20. Macquarie, R., 112. Natal, 94, 97, 98. P'late Countries, 174- Madagascar, 102. Negro, R., 169. 181. Malleira, Is., 102; R., Newcastlo (Natal), 98 ; Plate River, 170, 171, 170. (N.S.W.), 124. 174. Mafeking, 97. Now Guinea, 105. Polo Star, 2-5. Magdalena, R., 145. New South Wales, 120-Port Elizabeth, 97. 153. 4; highlands, 108. Port Florenco, 84. Majorda, R., 47. New Zealand, 131-5;l Port Said, 66. re- ·INDEX 185 ca, 91. Port Sudan, 70. São Paolo, 174, 102-7; Amazon and Portuguese East Afri. Savanas, 27; animals Plate countries of, of, 28; in Australii, 168-81. Potato, 143, 159. 116; Brazil, 169 : South Australia, 127-8. Potosi, 149, 159. Congo basin, 77; List Southern continents, Pretoria, 97, 100. Africa, 82; New Zeit. 1-181 ; position of, 333- I'revailing winds, 16- land, 134, 135 ; Nyast-4; land and sea in, 34- 17. land, 88; Plate lasin, 5; high and low land Primo meridian, 10. 170 -7; Orinoco basin, in, 35 6; distance from Puno, 158. 16.5 ; South Africa, 84; sca in, 36; regional Punta Arenas, 159, 161. South Americir, 142; geography of, 37–181. lygmies, 80. Sudan, 68. Steppes, 32. Pyramids, 06. Scrublaills, 28 ; in Stanley Falls, 77; Pool, Australia, 116; South 78. Queensland, 120-122 ; Africa, 95; Sudan, 68. Suukiu, 70. highlands, 108. Sca, heating and cool. Suan, 58, 67-72 ; cli- Quito, 146, 155. ing of, 16. mato and plants of, Seasons, 13-18; eflect 68; animals of, 68; Rabbits in Australiis, of on plants, 20; wet Egyptian Sudani, 08- 120. and cry, 17-18. 70; Central Sudan, Rain, 15. Selvas, 20. 2. 70-2; French Sudan, Réunion, 102. Senegal, 70, 72. 70.72; cotton in, 71- Rholesin, 91, 97, 100, Sheep-farmig, in Ar 2; traile in, 71, Rift valleys of Africa, gentina, 177; Austral Suiki, 58. 40.--), ST, 84. lia, 125, 126; South Suez (anal, 66. idio de Janeiro), 139, Africa, 98. :... 119 121,1-13, 107. 17. Shelif, R., 17 Strom, 124. Ripon Falls, 57. Shire, So; Highlands, Riverina, 118, 122. 80. Tatilet, 5.7. Roaring Forties', 17, Sierra Leone, 74. Tinganyika, L., 41, 77, 132. Sinai l'ennsula, 59. S8. Rocklampton, 1:2. Silver mines, 149, 155, Tangier, 18. Rosario, 179. 159. Tasmania, 127. Rosetti, 60, 66. Sobal, R., 58, 61. Tell(Algeria), 41, 18. Rotation of the Eartlı, Sorati, 1.399. Teneritle, 102. 13 18. South Africa, 92-101 ; Timbuktu, 57, 72. Rubber, 72, 79, 102, 142, height of, 6:2; clmate Time: 10-11. 146, 158, 172. of, 92 4; rivers of, 94 Tin, 159. Ruwenzori, 41, 57, 81. -5; plants of, 95; Titicacat, L., 150, 152, animals of, 91; ; peoples 158, 159. Saharn, 50-5; climate of.96 7; political livi Trade Winds, 7, 18. of,50 3; plants of, 533 ;sjons of, 71m. Trans-Andeanline, 150. animals of, 53 4; oases South Anierica, 136- Transvaal, 97, 100. of, 53-4 ; (late-palms 181; comparison of Tripoli, 56. in, 53; camels in, 51; with Africa and Aus- Tropies, 14; plants of, lifo in, 54; trade, tralia, 131-7; natural 20; forests of, 22. routes, and towns of, divisions of, 138; poli. Tucumun, 179. 54-5. tical divisions of, 138; Tugela, R., 98. St. Louis, 72. climato and plants of, Tundra, 32. Salisbury, 97, 100. 139-43; animals of, Tunis, 18. Sält, 55. 143 4; Andles of, 145- Turgurt, 55. Sau Francisco, 168. 52; Andean coun- Tse-tse fly, 67, 82, 87, Santiago, 161. tries of, 153-62; Ci- 96, 100. Santos, 172. ribbean countries of, Tobacco, 181.

·186
INDEX
Tocantins, R. 170. Venezuela, 165. Wet seasons, 17-18.
Torres Strait 122. Victoria, 124-6; High- Whent, 143.
Townsville, 122. lands, 108.
White ants, 82, 96, 100,
Victoria Falls, 90; L., Whito Nile, 58, 61.
Ucayali, R., 156, 170. 40), 57, 84.
Winds, 15-17.
Uganda, 82-7.
Volcanoes, 40, 134, 144- Wool, 98, 119.
Uruguay, 179; R., 174. 8.
Uspallata Pass, 146,
Yellala Falls, 78.
150.
Wadı Halfa, 68, 70.
Wargla, 55.
Zambezi, 80, 90-1.
Vanl, R., 94.
Wellington, 135. Zanzibar, 85.
Valencia, 166.
West African life, 75. Zero meridian, 10).
Velıl, 95, 100.
West Australiib, 128-30. Zulus, 96.
Vegetation, distribu-Westerly winds, 17, Zumbo, 88.
tion of, 19-32.
ungeru, 72, 76.
18.
Oxford : Printed at the Clarendon Press by Horace Hart, M.A.

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