1. What is Geography? 2. What is the surface of the Earth? A. The outside part. 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. On the map of the World, No. 1., in the Atlas, the pupil 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. (7) 5. How much more water than land is there on the Earth? A. There is at least three times as much. 6. What is the name given to the chief part of the water on the surface of the Earth? A. 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. Blue and boundless, like the sky. 9. How wide is it? A. In some places, 10,000 miles; 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 is the abode of innumerable fishes, which supply millions of men with food: besides this, the ocean renders intercourse between distant countries easy and rapid. 11. For what purpose do ships sail on the Ocean? A. For the purpose of interchanging the productions of different parts of the earth, and conveying travellers from one point to another. 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, spices and teas. 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 arises 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. 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; 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. A body of water, smaller than an ocean, and nearly * Archipelagoes, pronounced Ar-ke-pel-a-goes. B surrounded by land, as the Mediterranean Sea, the Black Sea, &c. 23. What is an Archipelago? A. A sea interspersed with many islands, as the Grecian Archipelago, east of Greece, or the West Indies, which is sometimes called the Columbian Archipelago. 24. What is a Gulf or Bay? A. body of water extending into the land, as the Gulf of Mexico, Green Bay. 25. What is a Strait? A. A narrow passage, connecting different bodies of water, as the Straits of Gibraltar, and Davis's Straits. 26 What is a Sound? A. A passage of water, so shallow that its depth may measured, as Long Island Sound, and Pamlico Sound. A Harbour be 27. What is a Chan nel? A. A passage of water, wider than a Strait, as the English Channel. 28. What is a Harbour? A. A bay or inlet of the sea, where vessels may anchor in safety. The terms harbour, haven, and port, are synonymous. 29. What is a Lake? A. A body 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 is 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, and the Dead Sea.* 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. By small streams flowing from mountains or hills 36. What are the small streams called? A. Brooks, creeks, rivulets, &c. 37. What is the place where a river empties into the sea called? A. Its mouth; the place where it rises is called its source or head. 38. What is the channel of a river? A. The place through which it flows. *The largest of the salt lakes, that is not called a sea, is the Great Salt lake of Upper California, explored by Captain Frémont; it is 180 miles in circuit. |