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ruled it with admirable firmness, vigour, and wisdom. assassinated by a fanatic at the instigation of the Jesuits. 57. (1) Ettrick's western fall.-The river Ettrick flows through the south of Selkirkshire and empties itself into the Tweed. The hilly district through which it flows is known as Ettrick Forest. Ettrick Pen is a lofty hill on the borders of Selkirkshire and Dumfriesshire, near the source of the Ettrick river.

(2) Gala.-A small river which rises in Edinburghshire, forms for some distance the boundary between Selkirkshire and Roxburghshire, and empties itself into the Tweed, not far from its confluence with the Ettrick.

63. (1) Winnipeg.-The capital of Manitoba, a fertile province in the centre of British North America, about 400 miles west of Lake Superior. The Province is being colonized and brought under cultivation, and Winnipeg is extending itself so rapidly that before many years have passed it will probably be the largest town in the whole dominion of Canada.

(2) Laurentian.-Belonging to the basin of the river St. Lawrence.

64. (1) The Ottawa.-A river which joins the St. Lawrence a little above Montreal. The town of Ottawa, the nominal capital of the Dominion, is on its banks.

(2) Thunder Bay.-A bay on the north-west of Lake Superior. The rivers and lakes which are enumerated on p. 64 form an almost unbroken line of water communication between Thunder Bay and Winnipeg.

(3) The Thousand Islands of the St. Lawrence.-The St. Lawrence, where it issues from Lake Ontario, is called, on account of its width and the number of islands that stud its surface, the Lake of the Thousand Isles.

36. (1) The Red River and the Assineboine.

These two

rivers, the latter flowing eastward and the former northward, meet at the town of Winnipeg, and flow into the lake of the same name, the waters of which are carried off by the Nelson River into Hudson's Bay.

(2) The Saskatchewan.-The two rivers which bear this name flow eastward from the Rocky Mountains, mingle their waters about 300 miles from Lake Winnipeg, and enter that lake at its north-west corner.

(3) The Athabasca and Mackenzie rivers.-The Athabasca flows northward into the lake of the same name. The waters of the lake are drained by the Slave River into the Great Slave Lake, from the western extremity of which issues the Mackenzie river, which flows in a north-west direction into the Arctic Ocean.

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(4) The Fraser River.-Rises in the Rocky Mountains, and flows southward through British Columbia into the channel which separates Vancouver's Island from the mainland. The Thompson river is one of its tributaries.

68. (1) Thou art the Iris.-The Iris of Greek mythology was a messenger of the gods. Hence the name was applied to the rainbow, supposed to be a messenger of peace from heaven to earth.

(2) The Muses of Greek mythology were nine sister goddesses, revered as the patrons of art, literature, music, and science. 79. (1) Yarrow visited. The river Yarrow rises on the borders of Dumfriesshire, flows in an open pastoral valley through Selkirkshire, and joins the Ettrick near the town of Selkirk, a few miles above the point where the joint stream empties itself into the Tweed.

(2) Saint Mary's Lake.-A lake formed by the Yarrow in its upper course.

80. The Flower of Yarrow Vale.-The tragic death of a betrothed

loyer in the waters of Yarrow is celebrated in many ballads. The use of the word flower in this passage is not uncommon in Border minstrelsy. In the beautiful Lament for Flodden, the men of Ettrick who fell in battle are spoken of as 'The Flowers of the Forest.'

82. The River Dove.--A beautiful river which rises in the wild hills

near Buxton, forms the boundary between Staffordshire and Derbyshire, flowing on its way through one gorge of surpassing loveliness, and joining the Trent a few miles below Burton. 83. My Father Walton.-Cotton, the writer of this passage, was the adopted son of Izaak Walton, author of the Complete Angler (see Biographical Notes).

89. Victoria.-A town in Vancouver's Island,-the capital of British Columbia.

91. The Cascade Range.--A range of mountains in the west of North America, which run parallel to the Pacific Ocean at a distance of about 150 miles from the sea-coast.

93. The site of Venice.-The cluster of islands on which Venice stands was first colonized (in the 5th century A.D.) by refugees from Padua, who, driven from their homes by the Huns, sought shelter in the marshy lagoon between the mouths of the Adige and the Piave, trusting to the muddy shallows to protect them from invasion by land, and to the intricacy of the water channels to protect them from hostile fleets. The colony grew apace, and in the Middle Ages Venice was the wealthiest and most important commercial city in the world, and ruled an empire which extended over a large part of south-eastern Europe.

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95. (1) The Brenta.-A river which rises in the Tyrol and flows through the Venetian provinces into the Gulf of Venice.

(2) The Port of the Lido.-Formerly the chief entrance from the sea into the lagoon of Venice. Through it all the great merchantmen of the Venetian Republic used to pass direct into the city.

98. (1) Friuli.-Formerly the name of a district in the extreme northeast of Italy.

(2) Iris.-The Iris of Greek mythology was a messenger of the gods. Hence the name was applied to the rainbow, which was supposed to be a messenger of peace from heaven to earth.

(3) Meek Dian's Crest.-The moon. Diana (Artemis in Greek mythology) was the twin sister of Apollo the sun-god. She herself was regarded as the goddess of the moon, and as such is represented as bearing a crescent on her brow.

(4) The far Rhætian Hill. The Rhætian Alps form the northern boundary of Lombardy, which they separate from Switzerland. The ridge is continued into the Tyrol.

(5) The deep-eyed Brenta.—(See note (1) to p. 95.)

99. The Stream seen by Mirza.-The Vision of Mirza, by Addison, is here referred to. (See Reader for Standard V. pp. 278-283.)

The tide is that of eternity, which is spanned by the bridge of human life.

100. (1) The Lord Mayor's Procession.—A procession in state of the Lord Mayor through the streets of London, on Lord Mayor's day, the 9th of November.

(2) The hollow valley of Bagdad.—The Vision of Mirza is again referred to. The vision is supposed to have been seen from one of the high hills of Bagdad (a town on the river Tigris in the south-east of Turkey in Asia).

(3) The Edda.—There are two works which bear this name,— (i) The Edda of Saemund.-A collection of Scandinavian songs in which the exploits of the gods and heroes of the Norse mythology are celebrated. Most of the songs were composed between the 6th and 8th centuries A.D.

(ii) The Snorro Edda.-A prose work of much later date. It also treats of the myths of the gods, but from a more critical point of view.

101. (1) The Wetterhorn.

- One of the grandest, though not one of the highest, of the snow mountains of the Bernese Oberland (a mountain district in the south of the Canton of Berne). It occupies the north-east corner of the central range. On its northern side, where it faces the lower country, it rises in a tremendous wall of precipices to a height of over 8000 feet

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above the green pastures of the Grindelwald valley, and over 12,000 feet above the level of the sea.

(2) The Weisshorn-One of the highest mountains in Switzerland. Its dazzling pyramid of snow makes it one of the most conspicuous of the Pennine Alps (a chain of magnificent mountains in the Canton Valais, south of the upper valley of the Rhone).

(3) Mont Blanc.-The highest mountain in the Alps. It stands just beyond the south-western point of Switzerland, its summit forming part of the boundary between Italy (Piedmont) and France (Savoy).

(4) Monte Rosa.-The second highest mountain in the Alps. It stands on the boundary line between Italy (Piedmont) and Switzerland (Canton Valais).

(5) Grindelwald.—A village in the north of the Oberland, about sixteen miles from Interlachen. The Grindelwald valley is celebrated for the grandeur of its scenery. Its southern boundary is formed by the stupendous precipices of three mountains-the Wetterhorn, the Mettenberg, and the Eiger.

104. (1) The Jura.-A range of mountains partly in the west of Switzerland, and partly in the east of France (departments of Jura and Doubs). Their highest points are considerably below the level of perpetual snow.

(2) The Black Forest.-A range of mountains in Southern Germany (Grand Duchy of Baden), running northward from the Swiss Alps, and parallel to the river Rhine. The dark appearance of the pine woods which clothe their sides has given rise to the name.

(3) Stonehenge.—A remarkable structure on Salisbury Plain, consisting of circles of large rough-hewn, upright stones.

(4) The Matterhorn.-One of the loftiest and most precipitous mountains in Switzerland. Like Monte Rosa it belongs to the chain of the Pennine Alps, and stands on the Italian frontier. For the last 6000 feet of its height it rises in a seemingly inaccessible horn of naked rock, so steep that it is for the most part bare of snow.

(5) The Rigi (or Righi).—An isolated mountain between the lakes of Lucerne and Zug. From its summit a magnificent view of the snow mountains may be obtained on a clear day.

(6) The Faulhorn.—A mountain about 8000 feet high, about halfway between the Wetterhorn and the Lake of Brienz. Like the Rigi, it commands a magnificent view of the snow-clad mountains of the Oberland.

105. (1) The Eiger, Mönch, and Jungfrau.-Three of the highest and most conspicuous mountains in the Oberland.

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(2) The Vale of Chamouni.-A valley watered by the River Arve, and bounded on the south-west by the great mountain chain of Mont Blanc. The Arveiron breaks forth from one of the glaciers of that chain, and after a short and impetuous course falls into the Arve. 111. (1) The Geysirs.-Geysirs (or Geysers) are hot springs and wells which are subject to periodical eruptions, and which are doubtless connected with volcanic forces at work below the surface of the earth. The best known group is that which Lord Dufferin describes in his Letters from High Latitudes. It is about seventy miles from Reykjavik, the capital of Iceland, and not far from the volcano of Hecla. The geysers in the Yellowstone region (the 'public park' of the United States, in the upper basin of the Missouri) are probably the most wonderful group in the world.

(2) The Fisherman's Genie.—According to one of those Eastern stories called The Arabian Nights' Entertainment, a fisherman caught a copper vase in his net and drew it ashore. He set it down before him, and while he was looking at it a thick smoke came out of it, which gradually collected itself into a solid body and took the form of a genie (an imaginary being supposed to be intermediate between men and angels, and capable of assuming any shape).

113. The Grotto Azzuro of Capri.-The Grotta Azzura (not Grotto

Azzuro), or Blue Grotto of Capri, is a remarkable cavern entered from the sea by a very narrow entrance, but inside of magnificent proportions and beautiful colouring.

115. Enceladus.-One of the giants, a race of monstrous beings who made an attempt upon Heaven, but were defeated by the gods aided by Hercules (the great legendary hero of Greece, famous for his strength and courage) and buried beneath volcanoes. Enceladus was imprisoned under Mount Etna, and the frequent eruptions of the mountain were supposed to be caused by his attempts to free himself from its weight. 116. Eruption of Mount Vesuvius.-The eruption described in this passage is that which took place in the year 79 A.D., and destroyed the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum. This was the first recorded eruption. Since then there have been 60 great and

numerous smaller ones.

123. The island of Jan Mayen.-An island in the Arctic Ocean, lying between Iceland and Spitzbergen. Mount Beerenberg is a conical volcano nearly 7000 feet high.

124. The first fires of the New Hemisphere.-'As the evening darkened, Columbus took his station on the top of the castle or cabin on the high poop of his vessel, ranging his eye along the

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