turned and thrown upon the beach, and if it fall behind he will be buried beneath the succeeding wave: yet some of the natives are so expert as to sit, and even to stand upright, upon their board, while it is thus riding in the foam !

'The Genoese', Christopher Columbus, who was a native of Genoa. (See BIOGRAPHICAL OUTLINES, p. 440.)

In

Balboa, Vasco Nuñes de, a native of Castile in Spain, was one of the earliest to explore the West Indies and Central America. He settled on the coast of Darien, where he founded a town. 1513 he crossed the isthmus and discovered the Pacific Ocean. The governor sent out by the Spanish king grew jealous of Balboa's abilities, and caused him to be beheaded in 1517.

The straits.-The Straits of Magellan, between South America and the island of Tierra del Fuego (land of fire) at its southern extremity.

4 Pacif'ic, tranquil; lit. peace-making. [Lat. pax, pacis, peace; facio, I make.]

* Between the tropics, within the torrid zone, the limit of which on the north is the tropic of Cancer, and on the south the tropic of Capricorn. The tropics [Gr. trepo, I turn] are the parallels drawn through the points in the ecliptic at which the sun appears to turn in its course.

P. H. GOSSE.

Polyne'sia, from Gr. polys, many; nēsos, an island.

Tahiti, the chief of the Society Islands.

Hawaii (Hawi'ee, or Owhyhee), the chief of the Sandwich Islands, in the North Pacific. Here Captain Cook was killed by the natives in 1779.

10

Lagoon', a shallow lake; the lake within a coral reef. [It. and Sp. laguna, a marsh: Lat. lacuna, a ditch; from lacus, a lake: Gr. lakkos, a pit or hole.]

"Lee'ward side, the side towards which the wind blows, as the windward is the part from which it blows. [Eng. lee, a sheltered place; Old Eng. hleow.]

12 Brill'iants, diamonds cut so as to make them glitter or twinkle. [Fr. briller, to twinkle.]

13 Per'colate, to filter or strain. [Lat. per-colare, to strain through.]

14 Amphib'ious, capable of living both on land and in water. [Gr. amphi, Archipelago, a sea filled with both; bios, life.}

QUESTIONS.What did the earliest discoverer of the western continent suppose it to be? To what mistake has this given rise? Who was the European discoverer of the Pacific Ocean? In what year did he discover it? Who first sailed over it? Why did he call it "Pacific"? What feature distinguishes it from every other sea? What name is given to the island sea? What does "Polynesia" mean? What is the formation of most of these islands? What is the usual shape of a coral island? What stretches from end to end of the curve? What is the water between it and the island called? In what different stages of formation may coral islands be seen? What means of access is there generally to the lagoons? How is the opening in most cases indicated? What peculiarity of the natives most strikes a stranger? What is their favourite pastime? What apparatus do they use for it? Describe the game. What danger at

tends it?

THE HIMALAYAH.

PART I.

NORTHWARD of the great plain of India, and along its whole extent, towers the sublime mountain region of the Himalayah, ascending gradually till it terminates in a long range of summits wrapped in perpetual snow. There may be traced, for the space of 1000 miles, a continuous line 20,000 feet above the sea; from which, as a base, detached peaks ascend to the additional height of 8000 or 9000 feet. The inhabitant of the burning plain contemplates, not without wonder, this long array of white pinnacles, forming the boundary of the distant horizon. In this progressive ascent, Nature assumes a continually changing aspect; and hence it will be necessary to view in succession the different stages through which she passes.

The Himalayah range, where it touches on the champaign' country, is almost everywhere girt with a peculiar belt or border, called the Tarryai. This term is applied to a plain about twenty miles broad, upon which the waters from the higher regions are poured down in such profusion that the river-beds are unable to contain them. They accordingly overflow, and convert the ground into a species of swamp; which, acted on by the burning rays of a tropical sun, throws up an excessively rank vegetation, whereby the earth is choked rather than covered.

The soil is concealed beneath a mass of dark and

dismal foliage, while long grass and prickly shrubs shoot up so densely and so close as to form an almost impenetrable barrier. It is still more awfully guarded by the pestilential2 vapours exhaling from those dark recesses, which make it, at certain seasons, a region of death. Beneath these melancholy shades, too

the elephant, the tiger, and other wild animals prowl unmolested; while the few human beings who occupy the vicinity present a meagre, dwarfish, and most sickly aspect.

He

On emerging from this dark and deadly plain, and beginning to ascend the lower mountain-stages, the visitor enjoys a much more pleasing scene. passes now through smiling and fruitful valleys, overhung by the most romantic steeps, and covered to a great extent with the noblest forests. Amid trees similar to those which spread their majestic foliage on the banks of the Ganges, various species of the more hardy oak and the pine begin to appear. The prospects obtained from commanding points in these regions consisting in a foreground of smiling and cultured vales, hills behind crowned with natural plantations, steeper and loftier ranges beyond, and in the distance the snow-clad tops of the highest mountain-chain-form a combination of the most sublime and enchanting scenery.

The Himalayah, as it ascends above the picturesque slopes which diversify its lower border, assumes a much bolder and severer aspect. The lofty ridge, the deep valley, the dashing torrent, produce a resemblance to the most elevated portions of the Highlands of Scotland; and Scottish officers, accordingly, who have happened to serve in that remote province, have fancied themselves wandering amid the romantic glens of their native country.

Generally speaking, the character of this mountain-chain is rugged and stern; its ridges rise behind each other in awful array, but they enclose no

rural scenes, nor present any gentle undulations. Their steep sides, sometimes wooded, sometimes presenting vast faces of naked rock, dip down abruptly, forming dark chasms and ravines, at the bottom of which there is only room for the torrent to force its way through rude fragments fallen from the cliffs above.

In consequence of this peculiar structure, these loftier regions of the Himalayah do not present that tranquil grandeur, and those picturesque views, which render the mountain scenery of Europe so enchanting. They are rugged, gloomy, and monotonous. The mighty summits overhang no soft, pastoral valleys, nor wave with varied foliage, nor are reflected in the bosom of still and transparent lakes. The traveller, hemmed in between their steep precipices, sees only the dark grandeur of the chasm through which he winds.

Sometimes, however, on reaching a clear point, he finds himself in possession of a prospect bearing a character of the most awful sublimity. A spot raised almost to an immeasurable height above the plain beneath, proves only the base whence seven or eight successive ranges rise towards heaven, and terminate at length in a line of snowy pinnacles.

Mr. Royle, in his work on the botany of the Himalayah, divides that region, in respect to vegetation, into three zones or belts.

The first he considers as rising to the height of 5000 feet. The general temperature is here lowered, as usual, in proportion to the elevation, yet without the disappearance, to the extent that might be expected,