and near the western edge are the Sierra Nevada, Cascade, and Sierra Madre ranges.

The highlands of Central America and the West Indies form no part of the Rocky Mountain system, but belong to a separate system whose ranges trend from east to

west.

Most of the mountains in the western highland are lofty and rugged, with many snow-capped peaks. Some of the peaks are active volcanoes, and many parts of the highland are shaken by earthquakes.

The Appalachian highland occupies a narrow belt in eastern North America, stretching from the Gulf of St. Lawrence almost to the Gulf of Mexico. It is composed of a low, broken plateau, bordered on the east by a series of long, low, even-topped mountain ranges, which are roughly parallel and often inclose broad, fertile valleys. The average elevation is about half a mile; but Mount Mitchell in the south and Mount Washington in the north are about a mile and a quarter high.

The Laurentian plateau, the oldest portion of North America, lies in the extreme northeast. Its surface is less than half a mile high.

The central lowland, stretching from the Arctic Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico, is in general very smooth and level. Its southern half forms one of the richest agricultural regions in the

world.

Drainage. The drainage systems of North America may be named from its five important slopes, viz., the Arctic, Hudson Bay, Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico, and Pacific.

Most of the rivers flowing into the Arctic are small, but the chief river, the Mackenzie, is more than 2000 miles in length.

The Nelson-Saskatchewan system, together with many smaller rivers, drains the land sloping to Hudson Bay.

The St. Lawrence is the largest river of the Atlantic slope. This river, forming the outlet of Lake Ontario, flows in a northeastward direction into the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Its upper course, as of most of the other rivers of the Atlantic slope, is characterized by rapids, and its lower course by an estuary.

The Gulf slope is drained by many rivers, the chief of which are the Mississippi-Missouri and its tributaries, and the Rio Grande. The former is the longest river in the world, and its basin occupies nearly one seventh of all North America. It is a great highway of trade.

There are many short streams flowing down the steep slopes bordering the Pacific Ocean; but three large rivers the Yukon, the Columbia, and the Colorado - have their sources in the Rocky Mountains, and cut their way through the highlands to the Pacific. Parts of the plateau region east of the Sierra Nevada and Sierra Madre have no outlet to the ocean but form regions of interior drainage. The streams in these regions flow into salt lakes or lose themselves in the soil.

canoes.

The most important lakes in North America are Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario, which comprise the largest connected area of fresh water on the globe, and which are known as the Great Lakes.

The Glacial Epoch. - Thousands America was colder than at present. division more snow fell each year than was melted, and it accumulated until it formed a "continental glacier," which buried all that part of the

are always hot and often unhealthful. The climate of the islands in this belt is tempered by the trade winds, and that of the continental masses by the high altitude. Rainfall. In the extreme south the equatorial rain belt brings almost daily rains from May to November. Most of the rainfall of the central belt is caused by the

slowly outward in all directions from the highland north of St. Lawrence River, scraping off the soil from the ground beneath, and digging out many basins in the rock. When this glacier finally melted away and disappeared, the rocky material, gravel, and sand which it was carrying were left as a thick irregular coating of glacial drift covering the region, and as a line of moraines or irregular gravel hills, which extends from Cape Cod westward and northwestward to the sources of the Saskatchewan River. This line of moraines marks the southern extent of the great glacier. After the disappearance of the ice, the depressions in the surface of the glacial drift and the rock basins made by the glacier filled with water, making this the great lake region of North America.

Climate. North America presents many varieties of

climate.

The northern and northeastern parts are excessively cold in the long winter. The drift of the Arctic waters sweeping southward along the northeastern coast causes it to be ice-locked for three fourths of the year, and the cold winds blowing unimpeded over the vast level areas of the north make the land almost uninhabitable.

The central belt has a temperate climate, varying from warm temperate in the south to cold temperate in the north. Throughout this belt North America is affected by cyclones which often bring great and sudden changes of temperature. On the Pacific coast, however, the climate is always temperate, because the prevailing winds blow from

the ocean.

The southern part of North America lies in the hot belt, and its lowlands

from west to east.

On the Pacific coast the rainfall is in some places periodical, most of the rains occurring in the winter, while the summers are drier. Many parts of the plateau lying between the Rocky Mountains on the east and the Sierra Nevada and Cascade Mountains on the west are arid and have great changes of temperature.

The northern part of North America has less than ten inches of rainfall annually, most of which falls as snow.

The eastern and western coasts are in contrast with respect to the amount of rainfall. On the Atlantic coast the rainfall decreases as we proceed northward, while on the Pacific coast it increases. Thus Florida

has 80 inches, the region about Chesapeake Bay 40, Nova Scotia 25, and Greenland 4; while on the Pacific coast, Lower California has 4, Cape Mendocino 35, and southern Alaska 100 inches.

In the central part of the great lowland the surface consists of glacial drift, forming low hills interspersed with swamps. After drainage, these lands make excellent farms adapted to the growth of corn, wheat, oats, potatoes, and hay.

In the highland regions most of the soils originate

Along the slopes of the Cascade, Sierra Nevada, and other ranges near the Pacific coast, where the rainfall is abundant, the forests are comparatively dense. The chief trees are the firs, redwoods, and cedars, some of which attain a height of 400 feet and a diameter of 10 to 30 feet. In the valley of the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence are valuable forests of white pine, north of which the forests consist largely of spruce, larch, aspen, poplar, and fir.

South of the Great Lakes and east of the Mississippi the forests are chiefly of deciduous trees-oak, maple, walnut, hickory, ash, and chestnut -but in the southeastern part of the United States, where the climate is very moist, are forests of the long-leafed pine and the cypress.

The forests of southern North America are tropical, and are made up chiefly of palms, tree ferns, mahogany, rosewood, logwood, Brazil wood, and many vines and parasitic plants.

Prairies. Between the Missouri River and the Rocky Mountains, there is hardly sufficient rainfall for the growth of trees, and in consequence most of this region is characterized by grassy prairies, with growths of trees only in the moist lands along the streams.

Barren Lands. The arid parts of the interior plateau, between the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevada, have plants peculiar to desert conditions. Most of them have small leaves, thorny stems, and a thick, tough bark which retains the sap even when the atmosphere is most arid.

The Barren Grounds of the Arctic shores are covered during the short summer with a thick growth of mosses and lichens. In winter they are a vast expanse of snow and ice, with here and there a dwarf birch or willow peeping above the snow.

glutton. There, too, are found the wapiti or "American elk," caribou, moose, and many deer.

The deciduous forest region is noted for its deer, black bears, lynxes, foxes, skunks, weasels, raccoons, and opossums, and in former times for its pumas and wolves.

In the western mountains are found the terrible grizzly bear, the wary bighorn, and the mountain goat.

The grassy prairies at one time fed numerous herds of bisons or buffaloes and many prong-horned antelopes. This region was also favorable to the burrowing animals, such as the marmots, gophers, and prairie dogs, and over its surface prairie wolves and coyotes once hunted in great packs.

North America has many snakes, few of which are venomous. The most noted poisonous snakes are the rattlesnake, the copperhead, and the moccasin. The alligator is still found in the rivers and swamps about the Gulf of Mexico.

There are many species of birds in North America. Wild turkeys, buzzards, orioles, mocking birds, and bluejays, quail, and grouse are

peculiar to this life region. But in its thrushes, warblers, sparrows, hawks, and owls North American life closely resembles that of Eurasia. People. Most of the people now living in North America belong to the Aryan branch of the white race and speak the English language.

The people of North America are not equally distributed over its surface. Most of them live in the mild temperate belt and in the highlands of the hot belt. The density of population depends mainly upon the natural resources, upon the kind of industry, and upon the nearness to markets.

When white men first visited North America they found it sparsely inhabited by tribes of the yellow race, called Indians by the discoverer Columbus.

These people lived in

all parts of the grand division, but few of them had settled homes or permanent towns. They were either savages or barbarians, and emigrated from one good hunting or fishing ground to another.

A few tribes, as the Aztecs of Mexico and Mayas of Yucatan, had barely reached civilization. These people had many permanent towns called Pueblos, built of stone or of sun-dried clay.

MUSK OX.

The French made settlements in the valley of the St. Lawrence. They also explored the region about the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River, and established many trading posts among the Indians, with whom they intermarried to some extent. After several wars, Canada was ceded by France to Great Britain, under whose control it has remained to the present time.

The central part of North America, now called the United States, was settled mainly by English people, who built up thirteen colonies along the Atlantic coast. Later, immigrants from every country of Europe came

here to live, and the settled region gradually spread westward to the Pacific.

The only people not influenced by the European settlement of America are the Eskimos of the Arctic coast. These people are so remote from the centers of civilization, the climate of their region is so severe, and its resources so limited, that they live the same simple life that they have lived for perhaps thousands of years.

Political Divisions. - North America comprises the following main political divisions: Canada and Alaska in the north, the United States in the center, and Mexico and the Central American states in the south. Greenland and Iceland in the northeast and many of the West Indies islands belong to European countries.

Text Questions. - Describe the situation of North America. How does it compare in size with the other grand divisions? Compare and describe the northern, eastern, and western coasts. What are the two great slopes of North America? What highland forms the great divide between them? What is the general height of the Rocky Mountain highland? How does the height of the Appalachian highland compare with it? Where is the central lowland crossed by a low divide? Describe the Laurentian plateau. How many great drainage systems of North America are there? Give a general description of the rivers of each. Give an account of the origin of the numerous lakes in the northern part of the country.

Compare the eastern and western coasts of North America in temperature and rainfall. What is the cause of the excessive rainfall in the Gulf region? Where are the best agricultural lands of North America? Describe the soil in the southern part of the central lowland; in the central part; in the highland region. Where are the forests of North America? Describe the forests in each region. Describe the plants of the Barren Grounds of the Arctic shores. What are the chief native animals of North America? What animals are peculiar to the western mountains? Give an account of the natives whom the early explorers found in America. Give an account of the early Spanish, French, and English settlements in North America. Where is population now the densest in North America?

GRIZZLY BEAR.

Name the countries of North America.

mountain group are in the central lowland? What plain is east of the Appalachian Mountains?

Mississippi; two of the Missouri; one of the Arkansas; two eastern branches of the Mississippi. Name one northern and three southern branches of the Ohio. What river flows to the Gulf of Mexico along the southwest boundary of the What river flows into the Gulf of California? United States? What five What river flows to the Pacific in the northwestern part of the United States? Name the longest branch of the Columbia. What lake is in the Great Basin?

What four bays and two sounds are on the Atlantic coast? What river flows into New York Bay? into Albemarle Sound? What three rivers flow into Chesapeake Bay? great lakes are in the central lowland? What river drains them? Into what does it flow? What great river flows south to the Gulf of Mexico? Name three western branches of the