The second section is taken, almost entirely, from Part II. of the original series. The only important addition is the diagram, to illustrate the suggested experiment on p. 229. I hope that no teacher will think these chapters too hard now that they are assigned to the upper classes of a school. I do not think these subjects can be made much easier if they are to be really understood; and every good teacher will, I suppose, agree that, if they are not understood, the time spent on them is wasted. Even to Standard III., I am glad to know, earnest teachers have in many instances succeeded in making them intelligible and interesting. THE AUTHOR. PART V. SECTION I. I. THE WATER- WESTERN SECTION. 2. We have now to look at Europe, the con tinent with which we have most to do. Here we shall find it best to see the main lines of the waterpartings first. So let us send for our old balloon. We left it, I think, on the Cheviots, where we took our view of Flodden Field.' 3. But what shall be our starting-point? Look at the map for a moment. The first glance will tell you that the great mountain chains run east and west, not-as in Great Britain-north and south. A second look, and you will see that there are one or two chains which break this rule-the Scandinavian in the north, the Apennines in the south, the Ural in the far east. And, of course, there are smaller ranges scattered in every direction. But, on the whole, the rule is, east and west. Our starting-point must, therefore, be in the west, in Spain or Portugal; say at Cape Finisterre, in the north-west of Spain. This name Finisterre, it is worth while to tell you, means exactly the same as our own Land's End, the end or farthest point of the land. Here, then, in the far west, we start for a long flight—a great deal longer and higher than those over the Pennines or the Grampians— to trace the main line of water-parting in the continent of Europe. 4. Our first stage, as we may call it, is due east, 1 See Geography Reading Book, Part III., pp. 104, 174. |