Home Geography for Primary Grades Part 8

The vapor is turned into clouds, which fall in rain or snow.

The rain forms rivers, which flow back again into the sea.

Thus the water is always going round and round in its long and curious journey--up to the clouds in vapor, down in rain, back in streams to the place it started from.

LESSON XXIII.

THE RIVER.

"Oh, tell me, pretty river, Whence do thy waters flow?

And whither art thou roaming, So smoothly and so slow?"

"My birthplace was the mountain, My nurse the April showers; My cradle was a fountain, O'er-curtained by wild flowers.

"One morn I ran away, A madcap, noisy rill; And many a prank that day I played adown the hill!

"And then 'mid meadowy banks, I flirted with the flowers, That stooped with glowing lips To woo me to their bowers.

"But these bright scenes are o'er, And darkly flows my wave; I hear the ocean's roar-- And there must be my grave!"

Where have you seen a river like the one spoken of in the poem? Are rivers born? What is meant by "My nurse the April showers"? "I flirted with the flowers"? Explain the last stanza.

LESSON XXIV.

A MAP

A drawing made to show a room, or a house; or the school-yard, or even a village, is called a plan.

Drawings which represent land and water are called maps. You may learn from maps where the countries, and mountains, and rivers, and cities are that you have seen. It also shows how far places are from one another.

Here is a map showing mountains and rivers. The many short lines facing each other represent mountains. To show the very high part of the mountains, the lines are drawn close to each other, making that part of the map look dark. The line winding about, like the stream itself, represents a river. The line, as you see, is made thicker and thicker toward its mouth. From this you may know that the river itself becomes broader and broader as it flows toward the sea.

But you must not think that the crooked line on the map is a river, or the lines which face each other are mountains. If you do, you will learn very little of geography. When you look at these lines, you must _think_ of the real things which they stand for--the lofty mountains, with their covering of forests, and with long, narrow valleys between them; the winding, gently flowing river, bearing boats upon its waters.

LESSON XXV.

FORMS OF LAND AND WATER.

You all know what a pond is. Is there a pond near where you live? Did you ever fish in it? Did you ever walk round it?

When a stream, on its way to the ocean, flows into a basin or hollow in the land, the water spreads out and fills it. A hollow in the land filled with water is called a _lake_, or, if it be quite small, a _pond_.

What is a lake made of? What is round it? Suppose some one who never saw a lake were to ask you what a lake is, what would you say?

What do we find in lakes? Would you not like to sail on a lake?

In the hollows among mountains are great numbers of beautiful lakes. In their clear waters may be seen the mountains, the forests, and the sky, as in a looking-gla.s.s. At night the moon and stars may be seen below you as plainly as above.

Here is a picture of a pretty lake in a valley.

[Ill.u.s.tration: A PRETTY LAKE IN A VALLEY.]

You see a river flowing from the hills beyond. Into what is it flowing?

The river that lets the water _into_ the lake is called an _inlet_.

You see another river that lets the water _out_ of the lake. This river we call the _outlet_ of the lake.

Make a lake on your molding-board, or in the sand near your home.

Represent its inlet and outlet.

Out in the lake is a little piece of land round which the waters play.

We could not go to this land without crossing the water; the water is on all sides of it. Such a little piece of land is called an _island_.

Did you ever read the story of Robinson Crusoe? You will remember that he went up a hill in search of water. When he got to the top of the hill, he saw that he was on an island. How did he know?

Have you ever seen an island? What island was it? Could you sail round it? What was on every side of it? What grew on it? What is an island?

If there is a brook or lake near your home, how can you make an island?

Opposite is a picture of a river and a lake. Make a map of the same river and lake on your slate. Notice how the coast or sh.o.r.e of the lake bends in and out.

_Write the following_:

A lake is water surrounded by land.

The land near the water of a lake is called its sh.o.r.e.

An island is a little piece of land surrounded by water.

LESSON XXVI.

MORE ABOUT FORMS OF LAND AND WATER.

[Ill.u.s.tration: PICTURE OF A PENINSULA.]

An island, as we have learned, is a piece of land with water all round it. Now, sometimes we see a piece of land that has water _nearly_ all round it. This form of land is called a _peninsula_. The word peninsula means _almost an island_.