China-an empire in the east of Asia. Pekin, the capital, is, next to London, the most populous city in the world. The chief exports are tea, silk, and porcelain. The four great tea-ports are Canton, Foochow, Shanghai, and Hankow.

Japan, an insular empire in the Pacific Ocean, lies to the east of Asia.

India or Hindostan, in Asia, belongs almost entirely to Britain. The capital is Calcutta. To the south lies the Island of Ceylon. Assam, formerly part of Burmah, in Further India, now belongs to Britain.

The Dutch, the people of Holland, have always been famous for commercial enterprise.

Arabia, in Asia; Mecca and Mocha are towns in Arabia-the former famous as the birthplace of Mahomet in 571.

Persia, in Asia, north-east of Arabia.

Abyssinia, in Africa, south of Nubia.

Brazil, in the east of South America.

West Indies-islands between North and South America. Many of them, including Jamaica, belong to Britain.

Central America and Mexico, in the south of North America.

Turks, the people of Turkey. Mahometanism, their religion, was founded by Mahomet.

The Continent-the mainland of Europe, as distinguished from the British Islands.

QUESTIONS.

What is the natural drink of mankind? What artificial drinks are used? What are such drinks called? What is tea? Where does it grow? Where is China? Japan? India? Assam? Describe how the leaves of the teaplant are prepared for exportation. What kinds of tea are exported? Distinguish them. What is the finest sort called? Name inferior sorts. Who introduced tea into Europe? When? When was it first known in England? How do the Chinese use it? What are the effects of tea as a beverage? Where is the coffee-plant grown? Where is Ceylon? Persia? Brazil?

Jamaica? What part of the plant is used? What effect has roasting on the beans? From what place is the best coffee brought? Where is Mocha? Describe the effects of coffee as a beverage. What were coffee-houses? When were they first established in London? Why do the Turks use much coffee? What is chicory How is it used? What is the Continent? Where does the cacao-tree grow? Describe its fruit. Where are the West Indies? Mexico and Central America? What are cocoa-nibs? How is chocolate prepared? What are the effects of cocoa as a beverage?

Spell nouns formed by adding -ness to these adjectives-glad, quick, kind, lean, green, open, plain, pale, coarse, fine, busy, happy, heavy, ready, weary, dull, full, shrill, ill, still, small, tall.

DICTATION.

The boy's dulness does not proceed from illness, but from idleness. His paleness is the result of weariness. His readiness in business brings him prosperity and happiness. He wept aloud in the fulness of his joy. The stillness was broken by a cry which startled us by its suddenness and shrillness. The greenness of the grass pleases the

eye.

XLVIII. TO A WATER-FOWL.

A-byss', boundless space.

Cha'fed, vexed; worn by the Mar'ge, margin, edge.

Lo'ne, alone.

Plash'-y, watery.

Pur-su'e, continue.

Shel'-tered, protected.

Sol'-i-ta-ry, lonely.

Zo'ne, region.

WHITHER, midst falling dew,

While glow the heavens with the last steps of day, Far, through the rosy depths, dost thou pursue Thy solitary way?

Vainly the fowler's eye

Might mark thy distant flight to do thee wrong,
As, darkly painted on the crimson sky,
Thy figure floats along.

Seek'st thou the plashy brink

Of weedy lake, or marge of river wide,
Or where the rocky billows rise and sink
On the chafed ocean's side?

There is a Power whose care

Teaches thy way along that pathless coast-
The desert and illimitable air-

Lone wandering, but not lost.

All day thy wings have fanned,
At that far height, the cold thin atmosphere,
Yet stoop not, weary, to the welcome land,
Though the dark night is near.

And soon that toil shall end;

Soon shalt thou find a summer, home, and rest,
And scream among thy fellows; reeds shall bend
Soon o'er thy sheltered nest.

Thou 'rt gone! The abyss of heaven
Hath swallowed up thy form; yet, on my heart
Deeply has sunk the lesson thou hast given,
And shall not soon depart.

He who, from zone to zone,

Guides through the boundless sky thy certain flight, In the long way that I must tread alone

Will lead my steps aright.-Bryant.

Pronounce and distinguish-des'ert, desert', dessert'; whither, whether; fanned, fawned; abyss, abbeys; lesson, lessen; calf, chaff, chafe.

DICTATION.

The lion roams through the desert. Why should he desert_his friends? We had almonds and raisins to dessert. Whither dost thou fly? I shall go, whether he comes or not. The trees are fanned by the gentle breeze. The lion fawned upon him like a dog. The fowler fell into the fearful abyss. There are many fine abbeys in England. Get this lesson by heart. That flaw will lessen its value. The cow and her calf are among the chaff in the barn.

"It fell upon a raw and gusty day,

The troubled Tiber chafing with his shores."

XLIX. THE DISCOVERY OF AMERICA (1492).

Ad'-mi-ral, commander (of a

fleet).

Ap-pa'r-ent, evident.

As'-pect, appearance.
Con-vin'ced, persuaded.
Cu'-ri-ous-ly, strangely.
De-struc'-tion, ruin.
Dis-pel'led, dispersed.
Due, directly.

For-giv'e-ness, pardon.
Im-pa'-tient-ly, uneasily.

In-tent'-ly, eagerly

Mu'-ti-ny, rebellion.
Mys'-ter-y, obscurity.

Pen'-sion, yearly allowance.

Re'-cent-ly, lately.

Soothe, calm, quiet.

Spec-ta'-tors, on-lookers.

Sub-si'd-ed, sank, fell.

Tim'-id, fearing.

Van'-ished, disappeared.
Ver'-dant, green.

[CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS, the discoverer of America, was born at Genoa about the year 1435. He was sent to sea at the age of fourteen, and made several voyages under a hardy captain, who was a distant relative of his own. Several reasons led him to believe that, by sailing directly westward across the Atlantic, he should in due time reach the eastern shores of Asia. He tried for a long time in vain to convince the princes and rulers of Europe of the truth of this opinion, and to persuade them to furnish him with a ship and crew, that he might make the voyage himself, and decide the question. At last, Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain agreed to equip for him three vessels-the Pinta, Nina, and Santa Maria-and with these he set sail from the port of Palos. The difficulties of the voyage are narrated in the following lesson. The first land reached by him was a small island, one of the Bahamas, to which he gave the name of San Salvador. On his return to Spain, he was received with joy, and rewarded with the highest honours. He died on the 20th of May, 1506.]

Ar day-break, on the third of August, 1492, amid the prayers and good wishes of a vast crowd of spectators, Columbus set sail from Palos, in Andalusia, and steered directly for the Canary Islands. Day by day he wrote down what happened; and this book, in his own handwriting, is still preserved in the city of Madrid.

It was soon apparent that his vessels were utterly unfit for a long voyage. They had scarcely left port when the Pinta was found to be in distress. The rudder had broken loose; but the captain, Martin Pinzon, was an able seaman, and soon made it fast with cords. With some difficulty the little fleet reached the Canaries, where the ships were examined and repaired.

Columbus then directed his course westward into the unknown ocean. As day after day passed without any

signs of land, the crews became disheartened, and it needed all their brave leader's patience and skill to keep them to their duty. He tried to soothe and occupy their minds with hopes of new scenes and wonders and riches in the seas before them; but they were now beginning to regard him as a madman or a dreamer, and they would not be comforted. They seemed to have taken leave of Behind them was everything that is

the world for ever.

dear to the heart of man-country, family, and friends; and before them all was mystery and peril. In their despair many of the rough seamen shed tears, and some broke out into loud lamentations.

As they sailed on, however, the signs of approaching land seemed to grow more certain, and their hopes rose. Birds began to appear in flocks, making towards the south-west. Up to this time Columbus had been steering due west; but now he determined to alter his course, and follow the flight of the birds. They proceeded in this new direction for thirty days, without seeing anything except sea and sky; and the hopes of the sailors subsided faster than they had risen. Fear again filled every heart, and impatience, rage, and despair were visible on every countenance. The wind now blew steadily from the east, but this only increased their alarm. They began to think that in these regions the wind might always blow from the same quarter, and that they should never again be able to return to their native land.

The spirit of mutiny soon became general. Officers and crews alike began to murmur against the admiral, and a plot was formed to throw him into the sea, and turn back. Columbus was aware of all this discontent and bad feeling, and, though it grieved him much, he bore it all in patience, and tried to reason with his timid com