A Week of Instruction and Amusement Part 5

"Dear mamma," said Anne, "I think I like Elizabeth better than any of the young people I have yet read about, but do you really believe there ever was so good a character?"

_Mrs. Harley._ Certainly, my dear; and I have no doubt but many such are to be found. They must be depraved indeed, who can be wanting in affection to their parents. But I fear we must not comment a great deal on this story at present, or there will not be time to give you some account of _Geography_, which I intend for your study this morning.

_Anne._ I will then, mamma, after dinner, ask you to explain to me a few of the words I did not quite understand.

_Mrs. Harley._ Do, my dear, I shall be happy to give you all the information you desire.

FOURTH LESSON.

_Mrs. Harley._ You know, my dear, what is meant by Geography?

_Anne._ O yes, mamma, Geography is a description of the earth we inhabit.

_Mrs. Harley._ And the earth (which the globe before us represents,) is divided into four parts, viz. Europe, Asia, Africa, and America. The three first are contained in the eastern hemisphere, and are called the old world. America is situated in the western hemisphere, and is called the new world, because discovered in modern times.

_Anne._ Pray, mamma, is not a continent one of the divisions of the land?

_Mrs. Harley._ Yes, my dear; for after we have divided the whole globe into land and water, we again subdivide the land into Continents, Islands, Peninsulas, Isthmusses, and Promontories,--the water into Oceans, Seas, Straits, Gulfs, Bays, Lakes, Rivers, and Creeks.

A Continent is a large tract of land containing several countries which are not separated by seas; as Europe, Asia, Africa, and America.

An Island, is a tract of land entirely surrounded by water, as Britain, Ireland, Sicily, &c.

A Peninsula, is a tract of land almost surrounded by water, and is joined to the main land by an isthmus, as the Morea.

An Isthmus, is a narrow neck of land that joins a peninsula to the continent, as the Isthmus of Corinth.

A Cape or Promontory, is that high part of land which shoots into the sea, and appears to terminate in a point, as the Cape of Good Hope in Africa, Cape Finistere in Spain, &c.

A Sh.o.r.e or Coast, is that land which borders upon the sea.

The Ocean, is that general collection of water which surrounds the whole earth. It is distinguished by the names of the four cardinal points of the world; viz. the northern or icy ocean, which environs the north pole; the western or Atlantic Ocean, which lies between Europe and America, extending to the Equator; the southern or Ethiopic Ocean, which extends from the Equator between Africa and America; and the Eastern or Indian Ocean, which washes the eastern coast of Africa, and the southern coast of Asia. To these have been added by later discoveries the Pacific Ocean, commonly called the Great South Sea, between America and Asia; and the Antarctic Icy Ocean which surrounds the South Pole.

A Sea, is a part of the Ocean, into which we must enter by some strait, and it is almost surrounded by land, as the Mediterranean and Baltic Seas.

A Strait, is a narrow pa.s.sage opening a way into some sea, as the Straits of Gibraltar, the h.e.l.lespont.

A Gulf is a part of an ocean or sea, which runs up considerably into the land, as the Gulf of Venice, the Gulf of Mexico, &c.

A Bay is a smaller kind of gulf, (and is frequently much smaller at the entrance than in the middle) as the Bay of Naples.

A Lake is a collection of water entirely surrounded by land, as the Lake of Geneva, and the Lake of Constance: when no stream flows in or out of it, it is called a pool.

A River is a current or stream, which rises in some elevated land, and flows into the sea, another river, or lake, as the River Thames, the Medway, and the River St. Lawrence.

A Creek, is a small part of the sea or of a river which runs but a little way into the land.

That part of the sea which flows between the sh.o.r.es of an Island and a Continent, is called a Channel, as the English Channel.

This description of the divisions of land and water, I wish you to commit to memory; and I will shew you all the names I have mentioned on the globe, which will give you a more perfect idea of them, than you can acquire by reading only.

_Anne._ Thank you, mamma; but I hope you will tell me a little more of the earth.

_Mrs. Harley._ Willingly, my dear. You have read that after the flood, the world was peopled by Noah's children: Shem and his descendants spread over Asia, Ham over Africa, and j.a.phet over Europe. It is uncertain who were the original inhabitants of America. Europe, though the smallest of the four parts of the world, is much the most populous; and here the arts and sciences are brought to the greatest perfection: it is divided into different countries, of which the following are the princ.i.p.al, though many of them, have undergone great changes during the last few years.

ON THE NORTH.

_Countries._ _Capitals._

1 Norway Bergen 2 Sweden Stockholm 3 Denmark Copenhagen 4 Russia St. Petersburgh

IN THE MIDDLE.

British {England London Dominions 1 {Scotland Edinburgh {Ireland Dublin 2 France Paris 3 Swisserland Bern 4 Netherlands Brussels 5 United Provinces Amsterdam 6 Germany Vienna 7 Bohemia Prague 8 Hungary Presburgh 9 Poland Cracow 10 Prussia Koningsburgh

Note. Berlin, in Germany, was the capital of the king of Prussia's Dominions.

IN THE SOUTH.

1 Spain Madrid 2 Portugal Lisbon 3 Italy Rome 4 Turkey Constantinople

The most considerable Islands of Europe are

Great Britain and Ireland in the Atlantic Ocean,

Iceland in the Northern Ocean,

Sicily, Sardinia, Corsica, Majorca, Minorca, Candia, all in the Mediterranean sea, and the Islands in the Archipelago.

It is now so late my dear, that I must finish my account of Europe to-morrow; good bye, and try to remember what I have already told you.

_CHAPTER VI._

TUESDAY.

_Anne._ You see me earlier than usual this morning, dear mamma; but as I know all the geography you desired me to learn quite perfectly, I hope you will give me leave to read another story.

_Mrs. Harley._ Certainly, my dear: but remember to read very distinctly; make proper pauses; fall your voice at a period, and begin the next sentence in rather a higher tone; aspirate the _H_, excepting in such words as _hour_, _honour_, _heiress_, and a few others where it is silent: and above all, avoid a monotonous manner of reading, for nothing can be more unpleasant to those who are listening to you, than to hear a tale, however interesting in itself, read on in one continued tone: instead of affording any amus.e.m.e.nt, it only induces the persons you are reading to, to wish for a cessation of the unpleasant murmuring noise which offends their ears.

_Anne._ I will attend to what you say, mamma, while I am reading the following story, which is called