Highroads of Geography Part 13

Lesson 12.

1. With a pair of scissors cut out a square of paper. Fold it into two; then into four; then into eight, and lastly into sixteen. Open out the paper. If the whole square stands for the size of India, one of the small squares will stand for the size of our land.

[Ill.u.s.tration: {Punkah}]

2. Copy this drawing of a punkah. What is the use of a punkah?

3. Suppose you forget to water your plants, what happens? Suppose you water them too much, what happens?

Lesson 13.

1. Write out and learn: _A mountain is land which rises high above the level of the country round about it. A row of mountains joined together by high ground is called a mountain range or chain._

2. Write out the following:--"Some mountains may be called water savings banks. The rain freezes as it falls and becomes snow. On very high mountains this snow never melts. It gets deeper and deeper, and the lower part turns into ice. This ice creeps slowly down the mountain side until it comes into air that is warm enough to melt it. The water which flows away from the ice forms a river. Many large rivers begin in melting ice-fields."

3. Describe the picture on page 55 {Ill.u.s.tration of a town on the Ganges}.

Lesson 14.

[Ill.u.s.tration: {Palanquin}]

1. Make a copy of this little drawing. It shows you a palanquin--that is, a box carried on poles. Rich ladies are carried from place to place in India in palanquins of this kind.

2. Compare the life of a rich Indian girl with that of our girls.

3. "They sang 'G.o.d Save the King' for me." Who is their king? Have the people of India ever seen him?

Lesson 15.

1. Describe the picture on page 61 {Ill.u.s.tration ent.i.tled "An Indian Rajah"}.

2. Describe an elephant. Of what use is he?

3. Tell me what you know of tigers. How are tigers hunted?

Lesson 16.

1. In what way does a Burmese girl differ from an Indian girl?

2. Copy the drawing of a Burmese girl on page 66 {Ill.u.s.tration of Burmese woman with an umbrella}.

3. Write out the following: "The Burmese alphabet is very hard to learn.

Dull boys often take a year to learn it. In the monks' schools the lazy boys are sometimes punished by being made to carry the hard-working boys on their backs up and down the schoolroom."

Lesson 17.

1. What is the difference between Burmese football and British football?

2. Describe the picture on page 68 {Ill.u.s.tration of boys playing Burmese football}.

3. Write out the following: "Rice is a gra.s.s on which many seeds grow.

These seeds are eaten. Rice will only grow in wet ground. The fields are flooded with water, and then the rice-shoots are planted. The fields must be kept flooded until the rice is ripe. In India, men sometimes gather the rice in small boats."

Lesson 18.

[Ill.u.s.tration: {Rickshaw}]

1. Copy this little drawing of a rickshaw.

2. Write out the following: "Tea is the name given to the dried leaves and young shoots of the tea-plant. This plant is a large evergreen shrub. It grows on the hillsides of Ceylon, and in many other places in the East. When the leaves are picked, they are spread out in trays until they wither; then they are rolled. Wet cloths are next placed over the leaves, and they are put in a cool dark place, until they rot a little.

The leaves are then dried over a fire, and after cooling are packed in air-tight chests. They are then sent to our country."

3. Describe the picture on page 75 {Ill.u.s.tration ent.i.tled "Ceylon Girls Playing the Tom-Tom"}.

Lesson 19.

1. Old cities have walls round them. Why were these walls built? Why are they of no use now?

[Ill.u.s.tration: {Chinese wheelbarrow}]

2. Copy this drawing of a Chinese wheelbarrow.

3. Why do the Chinese paint an eye on the bows of their boats?

Lesson 20.

1. Describe the picture on page 78 {Ill.u.s.tration ent.i.tled "A Chinese Street"}.

2. Say what you know about a Chinese school.

3. How can you tell a Chinaman when you see him?

Lesson 21.

1. Describe the picture on page 88 {Ill.u.s.tration ent.i.tled "A Rich Chinaman's House"}.

2. In what ways do Chinese girls differ from British girls?

3. Write out the following: "The Great Wall of China is the longest wall in the world. It was built about two thousand years ago, and was meant to shut out the wild tribes which were then trying to conquer China. The wall is more than twice as long as the island of Great Britain. It is built of stone and earth, and is so broad that four horses can be driven on it abreast. The wall is now in ruins."