QUESTIONS ON THE MAP. NOTE.-As many branches of industry consist in a mere development of the natural resources or capabilities of the regions where they are prosecuted, they show forth, in a striking manner, the physical relations of these regions to man. A reference, therefore, to the principal seats of such branches of industry, as exhibited on the map, will be found useful in the present connection. The following questions, although necessarily incomplete, will suffice to show how the investigation of the subject may be pursued. What fishery is the leading branch of industry in the high northern latitudes ? What valuable fossil remains are obtained in the northern part of Siberia? What does the presence of this fossil together with accompanying relics show? Ans. That northern Siberia, at an earlier geological period, was inhabited by a species of elephant which has since become extinct. The obtaining of what vegetable products near the Arctic Circle, in Norway and Sweden, shows that Western Europe has a mild climate in the high latitudes ? What rich materials for warm clothing are obtained chiefly in the cold regions of North America and Asia? Why are the furs from these regions preferable to those from warmer districts? Ans. Because they are thicker and finer, nature having provided a superior covering to protect the animals of these regions from the cold. Dates.... Diamonds... Ebony.. Emerald Figs.. Flax.. Furs. For its Gamboge. Gold.. What metal, in the New World, is obtained very abundantly from Chile and the vicinity of Lake Superior? What, principally from the western part of the United States? What precious stone from Brazil? yield of what minerals is Great Britain especially distinguished? For what the Ural mountain-region, between Russia and Siberia? For what precious metal is Australia famous ? What material for the manufacture of dress-goods, etc., is most abundantly produced in the southern part of the United States? What rich material for the same purpose is largely produced in the Mediterranean countries of Europe? What other fibrous material is produced in Spain, of the finest quality? For the yield of what fibrous materials is Russia especially noted? In what parts of Asia is silk an important product? In what portion of Africa is wool a noted staple? In what great island is its yield likewise of much importance? In what portion of South America is it a chief staple? What is the general character of the great wool-growing regions? Ans. They are regions of a dry climate, chiefly suited to pastoral employments. What else is generally a principal product of the same regions? Ans. Hides. In what country of South America is coffee produced more abundantly than elsewhere in the world? Of what part of the world is it an indigenous product? Ans. Of the uplands of Eastern Africa. In what archipelago are spices most abundantly obtained? In what peninsula of southern Asia is opium chiefly produced? In what desert does rock-salt abound? How does the dryness of the desert favor the formation of salt beds? Ans. By evaporating the moisture that collects in the hollows, and which brings thither in solution saline matter gathered from the neighboring soil, leaving it behind as the aqueous particles pass off into the atmosphere. Hemp.... Indigo.... called currants. .Egypt, Barbary, Arabia, Persia. Brazil, Borneo, India. Mauritius, Madagascar, Ceylon. Peru. .Turkey, Greece, France, Spain, Italy, North Africa. .Russia, Egypt, Ireland, Netherlands, New South Wales. .British and Russian America, Russia, United States. .Siam, Cambodia. .United States, Australia, India, Russia, Africa, Hungary, Saxony, Equador. .Russia, Italy, Philippine Islands, Brazil, Britain, Egypt, North America. East and West Indies, Guinea. Ipecacuhana... Brazil, South America. Iron.. Lead Lemons. Mace..... Most countries, particularly Britain and the United States. Britain, United States, Germany, Spain. .Syria, Persia, Greece, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Azores, West Indies. Mahogany..... West Indies, Central America. Maple Sugar... Canada, United States. Millet..... Morocco S .Levant, Barbary, Spain, Flanders Mulberry and Silk Worms South Europe, South Asia. Nutmeg....... Moluccas, Sumatra, Penang, Borneo. Oats... Olives....... Opals... Palm Oil.. Pepper.. ...Chiefly grown in latitudes north of Paris, though cultivated in Syria, Greece, Africa, Spain, Italy Brazil, Ionian Islands. The Azores, Spain, Portugal, China, Italy, Malta, Polynesia, West ...Western Africa, Fernando Po, Brazil, Hindoostan. Pine Apples... Mexico, West Indies, Hindoostan, Polynesia. Plantains, or Bananas... Tropical America (especially in Mexico), Polynesia, East Indies. Platina........Spain, Asiatic Russia, South America. Pomegranates. Persia, South Europe, Tropical Asia, West Indies. Topaz..... Turquoise. Vine... Wheat. Wines... France, Australia, ..South America, India, Egypt, Siberia, Mexico. ...South Europe, Canary Islands, Africa, North America in lat- ..We are in total ignorance where this important grain was first cultivated; some suppose in Northern Africa. It is raised in almost every part of the temperate zones. Little is grown beyond latitude 580 in Europe, but on the Alps it ripens to the height of 3,500 feet above the level of the sea. .Port.-Province of Upper Douro, in Portugal. Sherry.Xeres, near Cadiz, in Spain. Claret.-Bordeaux, in France. Champagne. From a province in France of the same name. Burgundy.--Ditto. Madeira. From the Madeira Islands. Malmsey.--Ditto. Teneriffe.-From the island of Teneriffe. Marsala-Sicily. Cape.-From South Africa. Yams.........Africa, South America, Polynesia, Australia. Russia....... EXPORTS OF COUNTRIES. EUROPE. Timber, deals, tallow, corn, hemp, flax, furs, linseed, hides, leather, pitch, tar, wax, feathers, pearl-ashes. Spain and Nor-Timber, deals, iron, pitch, tar, turpentine, resin, oakway... bark, juniper-berries, and fish. Germany.. Wheat in large quantities from Dantzic; hemp, flax, wool, Denmark........Hogs, rape-seed, fish, and feathers. Spain..... Portugal. Italy... Butter, cheese, spirits, flower roots, madder, hops, lace and linen, clocks, toys, etc. .Wines, brandy, fruits, silks and gloves, perfumery, trinkets, and fancy articles. .Wine, fruits, olive oil, cork, wool. Wine, fruits, cork. Raw and manufactured silks, fruits, olive oil, straw-plait, cheese, maccaroni, vermicelli, sulphur, pumice stone, marble, paper rags. Greece..... Turkey. .Raw silk, dried fruits. ..Leather, raw silks, figs. ASIA. Persia Arabia...... .Silks, carpets, cotton goods, shawls, sugar, rice, dried fruits, leather, drugs, tobacco. ...Coffee, aloes, gums, myrrh, frankincense, perfumes, drugs. Turkey in Asia.....Coffee, carpets, silks, fruits, drugs, opium. Siberia.... .Metals, precious stones, leather, and furs. Kamtchatka....... .Furs and dried fish. Asiatic islands... .Cinnamon, cloves, nutmegs, pepper, ginger, sago, camphor. AFRICA. SOUTH AMERICA Cocoa, coffee, indigo, tobacco. ..Sugar, rum, cotton, coffee, tobacco, indigo, cayenne pepper. ..Cotton, sugar, coffee, tobacco, dye-woods; drugs from the northern provinces; gold and diamonds from the middle; and wheat, hides, and tallow from the southern. .....Gold and silver, hides, beef, and tallow. . Silver, gold, alapaca hair, cinchona, hides, guano. ..Silver, gold, and copper from the northern provinces ; wheat and hemp from the southern. West Indies.......Sugar, coffee, rum, molasses, cotton, pimento, ginger, logwood, mahogany, cocoa, cochineal, cigars. TRADE ROUTES. The navigation of the ocean constitutes an important branch of industry, in which a greater or less number of people of all civilized countries are engaged. The most wealthy and powerful nations are those which have the most extended foreign commerce; as, Great Britain, France, the United States, Holland, Deninark, Sweden, and Russia. Commerce has always been a fruitful source of individual and national prosperity. In former times, maritime pursuits were very slowly conducted. This was owing to the imperfect construction of vessels (which were built more with reference to strength than qualities of fast sailing), and to the prevailing ignorance of the winds and currents of the ocean, and how the mariner might best avail himself of them in steering his vessel from one part of the world to another. The winds and currents of the ocean have formed subjects of the most careful study and research, the results of which have been of the greatest utility to all engaged in navigating the sea. No seaman is qualified to direct the course of a ship who does not know where prevailing winds and currents are to be met with, and how to turn them to the best advantage in prosecuting his voyage. On this subject Captain Basil Hall remarks: "It is one of the chief points of a seaman's duty to know where to find a fair wind, and where to fall in with a favorable current. If we take a globe and trace on it the shortest route by sea to India, and then fancy that such must be the best course to follow, we shall be very much mistaken. And yet this is very much what our ancestors actually did, till time and repeated trials, and multitudinous failures, gradually taught them where to seek for winds, and how to profit by them when found." Map 6 exhibits the tracks usually taken by ships proceeding from New York across the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian oceans. The outward and homeward tracks are distinguished by arrows. ROUTE FROM NEW YORK TO SAN FRANCISCO.-The route marked on the map shows the course taken by vessels which have made the quickest passages between these ports. The pupil will notice that it is not the shortest as regards distance. Between New York and the point where it crosses the equator (on or near the 30th meridian), and also between Cape Horn and San Francisco, it diverges very considerably from a direct line. To understand this route, and others marked on the map, it is necessary for the learner to bear in mind the direction of the prevailing winds as explained in Lesson IV., Part III. From the parallel of about 300 north and south, nearly to the equator, there are two zones of perpetual winds, namely the zone of northeast trade-winds on this side, and of southeast trade-winds on that. Now, a vessel sailing from New York to Cape Horn is necessarily obliged to pass through these zones. Before striking the northeasterly trades, she must make a good deal of easting, that is, proceed to the east; for if this is not done they would, perhaps, carry the vessel too close to the Windward Islands and the northern coast of South America, so that she would find it very difficult to double Cape St. Roque. After crossing the equator, the route extends through the South Atlantic, at no great distance from the eastern coast of South America, passing inside the Falkland Islands. The most difficult part of the route is that which extends from the 50th parallel in the South Atlantic to the same parallel in the Pacific. In this part of the voyage is performed the labor of doubling Cape Horn, a very troublesome operation in consequence of the continuous cold westerly winds which sailors always find there. The best months for doubling the Horn are our winter and summer, excepting July. October appears to be the most unpropitious month for the passage. After reaching the 50th parallel, the California vessel stands far out into the Pacific at a great distance from the coast. This is done to get the southeast trades in their full force, for, it is to be remembered, these winds are considerably impeded by the continent, and are the strongest and steadiest at a distance from shore. On passing the region of calms, near the equator, the zone of the northeast trades is met with, and in crossing this belt, the track, instead of leading directly to San Francisco, continues on still in a northwest direction until the vessel, in about the 35th parallel north latitude, has got beyond the influence of these trades; then easting is made and the port reached. Returning from San Francisco, a vessel pursues a course nearly due south, between the meridians of 1200 and 1250 west longitude, to about the 50th parallel south latitude, where westerly winds are met, which rapidly bear her past Cape Horn into the South Atlantic. Here her course is rather slow and irregular until Cape St. Roque is reached. At the latter point she enters the strong current which sweeps westwardly from the Gulf of Guinea, and flows along the northern coast of South America. (Art. 364, 365.) From the equator to New York the track is very nearly straight. FROM NEW YORK TO PORT PHILIP, AUSTRALIA.-The track of vessels bound from New York to Australia is the same as that pursued by ships bound for California, until the 20th parallel south latitude is reached. Indeed, all vessels sailing for the South Atlantic, whether their destination be Rio Janeiro, San Francisco, Cape of Good Hope, or Port Philip, are advised to follow about the same course until they have passed the latitude of Cape St. Roque. The following remarks relating to this route are taken from the " Sailing Directions:" "The gold ports of Australia, whether the distance be measured via Cape Horn, or by the way of the Cape of Good Hope, are between The track above described is sometimes departed from, more or less, by vessels bound from New York to San Francisco; but it is the one recommended in the "Sailing Direc tions." It is very nearly the course taken by the ship "Flying Cloud" on the trip she made in 90 days-the quickest passage ever performed between these ports. rope. 12,000 and 13,000 miles from the Atlantic ports of the United States or EuThe best way for vessels in the Australian trade, from Europe or America, via the Atlantic, to go, is by doubling the Cape of Good Hope; and the best way to come is, via Cape Horn; and for this reason, viz.: The prevailing winds in the extra-tropical regions of the southern hemisphere are from the northwest, which of course makes fair winds for the outward bound around the Cape of Good Hope, and fair winds for the homeward bound around Cape Horn. Here, all is plain sailing; vessels homeward bound should steer by the shortest cut for Cape Horn, and the outward bound, after doubling the Cape of Good Hope, should shape their course as direct for the port of destination as the land and winds will permit them."0 Many of the other routes, as marked on the map, appear to be very circuitous, and some of them are actually so; but they are such as the long experience of seamen have found to be the best, and such, too, as would be pursued, without much experience by a commander of a vessel who was The fully acquainted with the regular movements of the air and ocean. limits of this book do not admit of a further explanation of the tracks of vessels. By perusing Lesson XVI., Part II., on the Currents of the Ocean, and also Lesson IV., Part III., on the Permanent Winds, the learner may be able to understand why particular deviations from a direct line are made in the several routes marked on the map. METALLIC PRODUCTIONS. Of the great number of metallic substances found in the earth, the most useful are gold, silver, mercury, tin, copper, zinc, lead, and iron.t Metals are deposited in veins or fissures of rocks, in masses, in beds, and sometimes in gravel and sand. Most of the metals are found in veins; a few, as gold and tin, iron and copper, are disseminated through the rocks, though rarely. The veins are cracks or fissures in rocks, seldom in a straight line, yet they maintain a general direction, and sometimes extend to an unfathomable depth. Metals are peculiar to particular rocks: gold and tin are most plentiful in granite and the rocks lying immediately above it; copper is deposited in various slate formations; lead is found in the mountain-limestone system; iron abounds in the coal strata; and silver occurs in almost all these formations; its ores being frequently combined with those of other metals, especially of lead and cop per. When a mine is opened, a shaft like a well is sunk perpendicularly from the surface of the ground, and from it horizontal galleries are dug at different levels according to the direction of the metallic veins. When mines extend very far in a horizontal direction, it becomes necessary to sink more shafts, which are connected together by horizon-. tal galleries. Shafts are from eight to twelve feet square, and are usu-. ally walled up with timber or stone to prevent the sides from caving in. The water which filtrates through the earth would soon collect into a mine and put a stop to the work, were SHAFT. *This work has been prepared for several years under the direction of the Superintendent of the National Observatory at Washington. It is designed to accompany and Both have been explain the" Wind and Current Charts," issued from the same source. published at 'he expense of the United States Government, and distributed gratuitou-ly to the commanders of all vessels who have pledged themselves to keep a journal of their voyages, and, on their return, to transmit the same to the National Observatory. + Thirty-five metals are now known: they are gold, silver, platinum, copper, lead, tin, iron, zinc, arsenic, bismuth, antimony, nickel, quicksilver, manganese, cadmium, cerium, cobalt, iridium, uranium, chrome, lantanium, molybdenum, columbium, osmium, palladium, pelapium, tantalum, tellurium, rhodium, titanium, vanadium, tungsten, dydynium. ferbium, orbium. |