GEOGRAPHY.

Sect. I. DEFINITIONS.

1. OCEAN. The great mass of water on the surface of the globe is called the ocean, or the sea. And the chief divisions of that mass of water are called oceans: as the Indian Ocean. Smaller divisions are called seas: as the Mediterranean Sea. 2. GULF. A part of the sea running into the land as the Gulf of Mexico.

3. BAY. A gulf with a wide mouth: as the Bay of Biscay.

4. STRAITS. A narrow passage of water (between two shores) connecting two bodies of water: as the Straits of Gibraltar.

5. CONTINENT. The largest divisions of the land-surface of the globe are called continents. Smaller divisions are called countries. Countries are sometimes called, according to their forms of government, empires (as Russia), kingdoms (as Spain), or republics (as Switzerland); and are divided into provinces, states, or counties. Thus Normandy is a province of France; Pennsylvania is one of the United States; Kent is a county of England.

6. MOUNTAIN. An elevated portion of the earth's surface, higher than a hill. This elevated portion may sometimes be conical, but is more frequently lengthened out when it forms

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a mountain-range or mountain-chain: as the chain of the Alps. The highest points in a chain are the peaks; and the lowest point of the chain between two peaks is called a saddle.

7. VOLCANO. A conical mountain which at times throws out steam, mud, burning ashes, and streams of lava (that is, molten rock), or some or other of these. The conical mountain often grows in size by its own erupted products; but sometimes it is itself blown away, wholly or partially, by the violence of its explosions.

8. PLAIN. A tract of country level or at least having no marked elevations or depressions: thus in Salisbury Plain are many steep small hills. A plain at a considerable elevation above the sea is called a plateau or table-land.

The

9. RIVER. A stream of fresh water, rising inland at some elevation, and flowing down usually into the sea. point where it falls into the sea is called its mouth.

The right bank of a river is that which is on the right hand of a person travelling from its source to its mouth. Thus the city of London is on the left bank of the Thames, Surrey is on its right bank.

The smaller streams that fall into a river are called its affluents or tributaries. Thus the Cherwell is a tributary of the Thames.

10. BASIN. The tract of land that is drained by a river is called its basin. Thus the area, all the drainage from which passes through London Bridge, forms the basin of the Thames.

11. WATERSHED. The boundary between two basins. This boundary may often be the ridge or crest of a mountain range. Thus the highest crest of the Alps is the watershed which separates the basin of the Po from that of the Rhone. But the watershed between two great river basins is sometimes not perceptibly elevated: such is the watershed between the Mississippi and the Red River.

The word wasserscheide is German for waterparting; in English it is common to write for it watershed.

12. ESTUARY. The mouth of a river, especially when it is wide so that the tide of salt water can run up it, is called