Ans. It is a description of the surface of the Earth. 2. What is the surface of the Earth? A. It is the part on which we live. 3. How is the surface of the Earth divided? A. Into land and water. 4. How much of the earth's surface is Land? A. About one-fourth part: the remainder is water. On the map of the World, No. 1., in the Atlas, you will see that there is a great deal more water than land on the earth. The coloured part shows the land; the rest is water. B (9) 5. How much more water than land is there on the Earth? A. There is at least three times more water than land. 6. What is the name given to the chief part of the water on the sur face of the earth? A. It is called the Sea, or Ocean. 7. Is the water of the Ocean salt or fresh? A. It is salt. 8. How does the Ocean appear? A. It appears blue and boundless, like the sky. 9. How wide is it? A. In some places, 10,000 miles wide; in others, 3000 and 4000, so that ships may sail for weeks, and even months, without coming to land. 10. In what way does the Ocean benefit mankind? A. It furnishes an abode for innumerable fishes, which are the means of supplying millions of mankind with food and employment: besides this, the ocean renders intercourse between distant countries easy and rapid. 11. For what purpose do ships sail on the Ocean? A. They carry the productions of our own country to other parts of the world, and bring back in return things that are useful to us. 12. What do our ships take to other countries? A. They take cotton, flour, tobacco, rice, and many other articles. 13. What do they bring back in return? A. From some countries, they bring woollen, cotton, and silk goods, which are useful to us for clothing; from some, coffee and sugar; and from others, gold and silver. 2 14. What is the trade carried on in ships called? A. It is called Commerce, and is highly useful to mankind. 15. How is it useful? A. It gives employment to vast numbers of men; and by it we become acquainted with other parts of the Earth. 16. In what other way does the Ocean benefit mankind? A. The vapour or fog which rises from the ocean, forms rain, which waters the earth, and fills our springs and rivers. 17. What else may be observed of the Ocean? A. Its saltness prevents it from becoming corrupt, and the constant agitation of its waters, by the winds, preserves it from the extremes of heat and cold. This shows how wisely God has created all things. 18. How is the Ocean divided? A. Into five great parts, likewise called Oceans. 19. Which are the five Oceans? A. They are the Northern, Southern, Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans. 20. What other names have some of the Oceans? A. The Northern is often called the Arctic, and the Southern, the Antarctic Ocean; and the Pacific Ocean is sometimes called the South Sea. 21. Into what other parts is the water divided? A. Into Seas, Archipelagoes,* Bays, Gulfs, Sounds, Straits, Channels, Lakes, and Rivers. 22. What is a Sea? A. It is a collection of water, smaller than an ocean, and * Archipelagoes, pronounced Ar-ke-pel-a-goes. surrounded by land, as the Mediterranean Sea, the Black Sea, &c. 23. What is an Archipelago? A. It is a sea filled with islands, as the Grecian Archipel ago, east of Greece, or the West Indies, which is sometimes called the Columbian Archipelago. 24. What is a Gulf or Bay? A. It is a part of the Sea, extending into the land, as the Gulf of Mexico, Hudson's Bay. 25. What is a Strait? A. It is a narrow passage, connecting different bodies of water, as the Strait of Gibraltar, &c. 26. What is a Sound? A. It is a small sea, so shallow that its depth may be measured by a line dropped from the surface to the bottom, as Long Island Sound, 27. What is a Channel? A. It is a pas sage of water, wider than a Strait, A Harbour. 28. What is a Harbour or Haven? as the English Channel. A. It is a small bay, where vessels may remain at anchor in safety. A. It is a collection of water, surrounded by land, as Lake Superior, Lake Winnipeg, or the Lake of Geneva, in Switzerland. 30. Where are the largest Lakes to be found? A. In North America: they are so wide and deep, that the largest ships may sail on them. 31. Is the water of lakes salt or fresh? A. Lakes are both salt and fresh: of the latter, the largest s Lake Superior. 32. Which is the largest salt lake? A. The Caspian Lake, or sea, in Asia. Salt lakes, when large, are commonly called seas, as the Sea of Aral, the Dead Sea, &c. 33. How do lakes discharge their waters? A. Fresh-water lakes generally discharge their waters through a river into the ocean; but salt lakes have seldom any outlet. A. A stream of fresh water, running from springs or from akes, into the ocean, as the Mississippi, the Amazon, &c. 35. How are rivers formed? A. By numerous small branches, flowing from mountains or hills. 36. What are the small branches of rivers called? A. Brooks and creeks. 37. What is the place where a river empties into the sea called? A. Its mouth; and where it rises, its source or head. |