,transcriber's ,note3 ,descriptions of illustrations which have no captions and of page references are found in curly brackets4 ,illustration3 ,that's where ,daddy is6 7,from the painting by ,j4 ,snowman47 ,,the ,,royal ,,school ,,series ,highroads of ,geography ,illustrated by ,masterpieces of the following artists3--,j4,m4,w4 ,turner1 ,f4 ,goodall1 ,e4,a4 ,hornel1 ,talbot ,kelly1 ,w4 ,simpson1 ,edgar ,h4 ,fisher1 ,j4,f4 ,lewis1 ,t4,h4 ,liddell1 ,cyrus ,cuneo1 c4 ,introductory ,book--,round the ,world with ,father #aiaf ,,contents4 #a4 ,good-bye to ,father1 #b4 ,a ,letter from ,france1 #c4 ,in ,paris1 #d4 ,on the ,way to ,egypt1 #e4 ,a ,letter from ,egypt1 #f4 ,children of ,egypt1 #g4 ,through the ,canal1 #h4 ,amongst the ,arabs4--,i41 #i4 ,amongst the ,arabs4--,,ii41 #aj4 ,a ,letter from ,india1 #aa4 ,in the ,streets1 #ab4 ,our ,indian ,cousin1 #ac4 ,in the ,garden1 #ad4 ,indian ,boys and ,girls1 #ae4 ,elephants and ,tigers1 #af4 ,a ,letter from ,burma4--,i41 #ag4 ,a ,letter from ,burma4--,,ii41 #ah4 ,a ,letter from ,ceylon1 #ai4 ,a ,letter from ,china1 #bj4 ,chinese ,boys and ,girls1 #ba4 ,hair1 ,fingers1 and ,toes1 #bb4 ,a ,letter from ,japan1 #bc4 ,jap ,children1 #bd4 ,a ,letter from ,canada1 #be4 ,children of ,canada1 #bf4 ,the ,red ,men1 #bg4 ,the ,eskimos4 #bh4 ,father's ,last ,letter1 #bi4 ,home ,again1 ,,exercises1 ,,introductory ,,book4 ,i4 ,,good-,,bye ,,to ,,father4 #a4 ,father kissed us and said1 ,good-bye1 dears4 ,be good children1 and help mother as much as you can4 ,the year will soon pass away4 ,what a merry time we will have when ,i come back again6 #b4 ,father kissed mother1 and then stepped into the train4 ,the guard blew his whistle1 and the train began to move4 ,we waved good-bye until it was out of sight4 ,illustration3 ,children waving good-bye to their father as the train pulls away #c4 ,then we all began to cry--even ,tom1 who thinks himself such a man4 ,it was so lonely without father4 #d4 ,tom was the first to dry his eyes4 ,he turned to me and said1 ,stop that crying4 ,you are the eldest1 and you ought to know better4 #e4 ,he made mother take his arm1 just as father used to do4 ,then he began to whistle1 to show that he did not care a bit4 ,all the way home he tried to make jokes4 #f4 ,as soon as we had taken off our coats and hats1 ,tom called us into the sitting-room4 ,look here1 he said3 we're going to have no glum faces in this house4 ,we must be bright and cheerful1 or mother will fret4 ,you know father wouldn't like that4 ,illustration3 ,children in the sitting-room #g4 ,we said that we would do our best4 ,so off we went to help mother to make the beds and to dust the rooms4 ,while we were doing this we quite forgot to be sad4 #h4 ,after tea we went into father's room and looked at the globe4 ,i'm going to follow father right round the world1 said ,tom4 ,please show me which way he is going4 ,mother did so4 #i4 ,by this time next week1 she said1 we shall have the first of many long letters from father4 ,i am sure we shall enjoy reading them4 ,he will tell us about the far-off lands which he is going to see4 #aj4 ,that will be grand1 ,i said4 ,i hope he will tell us lots about the children4 ,i want to know what they look like1 what they wear1 and what games they play4 #aa4 ,tom said he would rather not hear about children4 ,he wanted to hear about savages and tigers and shipwrecks1 and things like that4 ,illustration3 ,postman delivering a letter #ab4 ,a week later the postman brought us father's first letter4 ,how eager we were to hear it6 ,mother had to read it for us two or three times4 #ac4 ,every week for many weeks the postman brought us letters from father4 ,when he handed us a letter he used to say1 ,i'm glad to see that your daddy is all right so far4 #ad4 ,this book is made up of father's letters from abroad4 ,i hope you will enjoy them as much as we did4 99 99 99 99 99 #b4 ,a ,,letter ,,from ,,france4 #a4 ,,my ,,dear ,,children1--,i am writing this letter in a large seaport of the south of ,france4 ,to-morrow ,i shall go on board the big ship which is to take me to ,egypt4 #b4 ,let me tell you about my travels so far4 ,the train in which ,i left our town took me to ,london4 ,next day another train took me to a small town on the seashore4 #c4 ,about twenty miles of sea lie between this town and ,france4 ,at once ,i went on board the small steamer which was to take me across4 ,the sea was smooth and the sun was shining4 ,illustration3 ,the ,white ,cliffs of ,dover4 7,from the picture by ,j4 ,m4 ,w4 ,turner1 ,r4,a47 #d4 ,i stood on the deck looking at the white cliffs of dear old ,england4 ,when ,i could see them no longer ,i found that we were not far from ,france4 #e4 ,in about an hour we reached a ,french town which in olden days belonged to us4 ,the steamer sailed right up to the railway station4 #f4 ,i had something to eat1 and then took my place in the train4 ,soon we were speeding towards ,paris1 the chief town of ,france4 #g4 ,i looked out of the window most of the time4 ,we ran through many meadows and cornfields4 ,here and there ,i saw rows of poplar trees between the fields4 #h4 ,now and then we crossed rivers with barges on them4 ,on and on we went1 past farmhouses and little villages1 each with its church4 ,the ,french villages look brighter than ours4 ,i think this is because the houses are painted in gay colours4 #i4 ,i saw many men1 women1 and children working in the fields4 ,all of them wore wooden shoes4 ,most of the men and boys were dressed in blue blouses4 ,illustration3 ,people working in a field #aj4 ,there was a little ,french boy in my carriage4 ,he wore a black blouse with a belt4 ,his stockings were short1 and did not come up to his knickerbockers4 ,he was rather pale1 and his legs were very thin4 #aa4 ,the boy was about ,tom's age4 ,he sat still1 and held his father's hand all the way4 ,i don't think ,tom would have done this2 he thinks himself too much of a man4 #ab4 ,after a time we crossed a broad river1 and came to the dull1 dark station of a large city4 ,as we left it1 ,i saw the tall spire of one of the grandest churches in all the world4 #ac4 ,on we went1 past farms and villages and small towns1 until at last we reached ,paris4 99 99 99 99 99 #c4 ,,in ,,paris4 ,illustration3 ,in the ,gardens4 7,from the picture by ,cyrus ,cuneo1 ,r4,i47 #a4 ,paris is a very grand and beautiful city4 ,the ,french people say that ,france is a great garden4 ,they also say that the finest flowers in this garden make up the nosegay which we call ,paris4 #b4 ,a great river runs through ,paris4 ,all day long you can see little steamboats darting to and fro on the river1 like swallows4 ,near to the river are some beautiful gardens4 ,illustration3 ,view of ,paris #c4 ,i sat in these gardens1 at a little table under the trees4 ,as ,i sat there a man walked up the path4 ,at once ,i heard a great chirping and a flutter of wings4 ,illustration3 ,a man with birds #d4 ,all the birds in the garden flocked to him4 ,they seemed to know him as an old friend4 ,some perched on his shoulders and some on his hat4 ,one bold little fellow tried to get into his pocket4 ,it was a pretty sight to see him feeding the birds4 #e4 ,in the gardens there were many nurses carrying babies4 ,these nurses were very gay indeed4 ,they wore gray cloaks and white caps1 with broad silk ribbons hanging down their backs4 #f4 ,some of the older children were playing ball1 but they did not play very well4 ,until a few years ago ,french boys had few outdoor games4 ,now they are learning to play tennis and football4 #g4 ,french boys are always clean and neatly dressed1 however poor they may be4 ,they think more about lessons than our boys do4 ,their school hours are much longer than ours4 #h4 ,french girls have not so much freedom as our girls4 ,a grown-up person takes them to school and brings them home again4 ,their mothers do not allow them to go for walks by themselves4 ,i wonder how ,kate and ,may would like this4 #i4 ,some day ,i must take you to see ,paris4 ,you would love to ramble through its streets4 ,many of them are planted with trees4 ,under these trees you may see men and women sitting at little tables4 ,they eat and drink while a band plays merry tunes4 ,illustration3 ,people at a table1 being waited on #aj4 ,you would be sure to notice that the ,french people have very good manners4 ,when a ,frenchman enters or leaves a shop he raises his hat and bows4 ,a ,frenchman is always polite1 and he always tries to please you4 #aa4 ,i cannot now write anything more about ,paris4 ,i should like to tell you about its beautiful buildings and its fine shops1 but ,i have no more time to spare4 #ab4 ,i hope you are all doing your best to make mother happy4 ,i am very well2 ,i hope you are well too4--,your loving ,,father4 99 99 99 99 99 #d4 ,,on ,,the ,,way ,,to ,,egypt4 #a4 ,,my ,,dear ,,children1--,i am writing this letter on board the big ship which is taking me to ,egypt4 ,let me tell you what ,i have seen and done since ,i left ,paris4 #b4 ,it is a long day's ride from ,paris to the seaport from which my ship set sail4 ,let me tell you about the journey4 ,a few hours after leaving ,paris the train began to run through vineyards4 #c4 ,at this time of the year a vineyard is a pretty sight4 ,the broad leaves of the vine are tinted with crimson and gold4 ,beneath them are the purple or golden grapes4 #d4 ,as ,i passed through ,france the grapes were ripe1 and were being gathered4 ,i could see women and children going up and down between the rows of vines4 ,they plucked the ripe fruit and put it into baskets4 ,when the baskets were filled they were emptied into a big tub4 ,illustration3 ,,the ,,grape ,,harvest4 7,from the picture by ,p4,m4 ,dupuy in the ,salon of #aiji4 ,bought by the ,state47 #e4 ,when the tub was filled it was taken to a building near at hand4 ,in this building there is a press which squeezes the juice out of the grapes4 ,the grape juice is then made into wine4 #f4 ,as evening drew on we came to a large town where two big rivers meet4 ,it is a busy town1 and has many smoky chimneys4 ,much silk and velvet are made in this town4 #g4 ,i think you know that silk is made by the silkworm4 ,this worm feeds on the leaves of the mulberry tree4 ,in the south of ,france there are thousands of mulberry trees4 ,there are also many orange and olive trees4 #h4 ,the weather is much warmer in the south of ,france than it is in ,england4 ,in the early spring all sorts of pretty flowers are grown on the hillsides4 ,they are sent to ,england1 and are sold in the shops when our gardens are bare4 #i4 ,now ,i must hurry on4 ,for some hours we ran by the side of a swift river2 with mountains on both sides of us4 ,then we reached the big seaport1 and there ,i found my ship waiting for me4 #aj4 ,it is a huge ship1 with hundreds of cabins1 a large dining-room1 drawing-room and smoking-room4 ,it is really a floating hotel4 #aa4 ,most of the people on board are going to ,india4 ,all day long they sit in chairs on the deck reading4 ,some of us play games1 and at night we have dances and concerts4 ,illustration3 ,,games ,,on ,,board ,,father',s ,,ship4 7,from the picture by ,w4,l4 ,wylie4 ,by kind permission of the ,p4 and ,o4 ,co47 #ab4 ,we have now been four days at sea4 ,to-morrow we shall reach a town by the side of a great canal4 ,this town and canal are in ,egypt4 #ac4 ,i hope you are still good and happy4--,best love to you all4 ,,father4 99 99 99 99 99 #e4 ,a ,,letter ,,from ,,egypt4 #a4 ,,my ,,dear ,,children1--,with this letter ,i am sending you a beautiful picture4 ,look at it carefully1 and you will see what ,egypt is like4 #b4 ,the water which you see in the picture is part of the great river ,nile4 ,if there were no ,nile to water the land1 ,egypt would be nothing but a desert4 #c4 ,once a year1 as a rule1 the ,nile rises and overflows its banks4 ,the waters spread out over the country and cover it with rich mud4 ,in this mud much cotton1 sugar1 grain1 and rice are grown4 ,illustration3 ,the ,nile in ,flood4 7,from the picture by ,f4 ,goodall1 ,r4 ,a41 in the ,guildhall ,gallery4 ,by permission of the ,corporation of ,london47 #d4 ,egypt now belongs to the ,british4 ,they have turned part of the ,nile into a huge lake1 in which the water is stored4 #e4 ,the water is let out of the lake when it is needed4 ,it runs into canals1 and then into drains1 which cross the fields and water them4 #f4 ,a sail along the ,nile is very pleasant4 ,there are lovely tints of green on the water4 ,as the boat glides on1 many villages are passed4 ,each of these has its snow-white temple4 #g4 ,all along the river bank there are palm trees4 ,they wave their crowns of green leaves high in the air4 ,the fields are gay with colour4 ,above all is the bright blue sky4 #h4 ,look at the picture again4 ,at a short distance from the water you see a village4 ,it has a wall round it1 and outside the wall is a ditch4 ,in ,october the ditch is full of water2 in spring it is dry4 #i4 ,in and near this ditch the children and the dogs of the villages play together4 ,you can see two boys in the picture4 ,one of them is standing by his mother4 ,the other boy is riding on a buffalo4 #aj4 ,in the middle of the village there is an open space4 ,sometimes this space is covered with bright green grass4 ,round it are rows of palm trees4 ,the house of the chief stands on one side of this green4 #aa4 ,every village has its well1 and every well has its water-wheel for drawing up the water4 ,by the side of the well the old men of the village sit smoking and chatting4 ,the women come to the well to fill their pitchers with water4 #ab4 ,all the houses are built of ,nile mud4 ,this mud is dug out of the banks of the river4 ,it is mixed with a little chopped straw to hold it together4 ,then it is put into moulds4 ,after a time it is turned out of the moulds1 and is left to dry in the sun4 ,illustration3 ,the ,chief ,city of ,egypt4 7,from the picture by ,talbot ,kelly1 ,r4,i47 99 99 99 99 99 #f4 ,,children ,,of ,,egypt4 ,illustration3 ,an ,egyptian woman #a4 ,in the picture you see two of the women of ,egypt4 ,one of them is standing at the edge of the river4 ,she is filling her pitcher with water4 ,the other woman is carrying a lamb in her arms4 #b4 ,the people of ,egypt have changed but little since the days of ,moses4 ,the men have brown faces1 white teeth1 and bright black eyes4 ,most of them wear beards and shave their heads4 #c4 ,the women wear long dark cloaks4 ,if they are well-to-do they cover their faces with a veil4 ,they think it wrong to let their faces be seen by any men except their husbands4 #d4 ,i think ,kate would like to hear something about the children4 ,those who have rich fathers wear beautiful clothes1 and have a very happy time4 ,poor children wear few clothes1 and are nearly always covered with dust4 #e4 ,many of the boys go to school1 and are taught just as you are4 ,they read the same kind of books that you read4 #f4 ,the children of ,egypt always obey their parents1 and are never rude to them4 ,i think they have very good manners4 #g4 ,all the people of ,egypt love singing4 ,their voices are soft and sweet4 ,the boatmen on the ,nile sing as they row4 ,the fruit-sellers sing as they cry their wares in the streets4 #h4 ,many of the boys in the chief city of ,egypt are donkey drivers4 ,in ,egypt donkeys are far more used for riding than horses4 ,the donkeys are beautiful little animals1 and they trot along very quickly4 ,illustration3 ,a boy with two donkeys #i4 ,each donkey has a boy to run after it with a stick1 and to shout at it to make it go4 ,the donkey boys are very jolly little fellows4 ,they always smile1 however far they have to run4 #aj4 ,most donkey boys wear a white or blue gown1 and have a red cap1 or fez1 on the head4 ,if a donkey boy sees an ,englishman coming1 he runs to him and says1 ,my donkey is called ,john ,bull4 ,if he sees an ,american coming1 he says that his donkey's name is ,yankee ,doodle4 #aa4 ,sometimes the donkey boy will ask the rider1-- ,very good donkey8 ,if the rider says ,yes1 he will then ask1-- ,very good donkey boy8 ,yes4 #ab4 ,very good saddle too8 ,yes4 ,then me have very good present6 #ac4 ,now let me tell you something that will surprise you4 ,the people of ,egypt in the old1 old days thought that their cats were gods4 #ad4 ,they prayed to them and built temples to them4 ,when the family cat died1 all the people in the house shaved their eyebrows to show how sorry they were4--,best love to you all4 ,,father4 99 99 99 99 99 #g4 ,,through ,,the ,,canal4 #a4 ,,my ,,dear ,,children1--,i have just sailed through a very wonderful canal4 ,it joins two great seas together1 and is now part of the way to ,india4 #b4 ,by means of this canal we can sail from ,england to ,india in three weeks4 ,before it was made the voyage took three months or more4 #c4 ,the canal was made more than forty years ago by a ,frenchman4 ,he dug a great ditch1 and joined together a number of lakes4 ,by doing so he made a waterway from sea to sea4 ,this waterway is about a hundred miles long4 #d4 ,i joined my ship at the town which stands at the north end of the canal4 ,there is nothing to see in the town except the lighthouse and the shops4 ,on the sea wall there is a statue of the ,frenchman who made the canal4 #e4 ,as we lay off the town we could see many little boats darting to and fro4 ,the boatmen were dressed in all the colours of the rainbow--red1 blue1 green1 and orange4 ,in one boat there were men and women playing and singing songs4 #f4 ,by the side of our ship men were swimming in the water4 ,i threw a piece of silver into the water4 ,one of the men dived1 and caught it before it reached the bottom4 ,illustration3 ,side of a ship1 with men swimming below #g4 ,on the other side of the ship there were great barges full of coal4 ,hundreds of men and women carried this coal to the ship in little baskets upon their heads4 ,they walked up and down a plank1 and all the time they made an awful noise which they called singing4 #h4 ,when all the coal was on board1 the ship began to steam slowly along the narrow canal4 ,no ship is allowed to sail more than four miles an hour1 lest the wash should break down the banks4 #i4 ,soon we passed out of the narrow canal into one of the lakes4 ,our road was marked by buoys4 ,away to right and to left of us stretched the sandy desert4 #aj4 ,in the afternoon we passed a station1 where ,i saw a number of camels laden with boxes of goods4 ,they were going to travel across the sands for many days4 #aa4 ,the sun went down in a sky of purple and gold4 ,then a large electric light shone forth from our bows4 ,it threw a broad band of white light on the water and on the banks of the canal4 ,where the light touched the sands it seemed to turn them into silver4 #ab4 ,in less than twenty-four hours we reached the town at the south end of the canal4 ,a boat came out from the shore1 and this letter is going back with it4--,love to you all4 ,,father4 99 99 99 99 99 #h4 ,,amongst ,,the ,,arabs4--,i4 #a4 ,,my ,,dear ,,children1--,i am now sailing along the ,red ,sea4 ,the weather is very hot4 ,all over the ship electric fans are hard at work4 ,in spite of them ,i cannot keep cool4 #b4 ,away on the left1 or port1 side of the ship ,i see high hills4 ,they are red in colour1 and seem to be baked by the hot sun4 ,even through my spy-glass ,i cannot see a speck of green on them4 ,all is red and bare4 #c4 ,beyond the hills lies the land of ,arabia4 ,it is a hot1 dry land1 in which years sometimes pass without a shower of rain4 ,there is hardly ever a cloud in the sky1 and there is no dew at night4 #d4 ,much of the land is covered with sand4 ,little or nothing will grow4 ,you know that we call a sandy waste of this kind a desert4 ,illustration3 ,desert oasis #e4 ,here and there in the desert a few springs are found4 ,the water of these springs causes grass and trees to grow well4 ,around each spring is what looks like an island of green in the midst of a red sea of sand4 ,a green spot in a desert is called an oasis4 #f4 ,the ,arabs live upon these green spots4 ,some of them dwell in villages1 and some wander from oasis to oasis4 ,those who live in villages build their houses of sun-dried bricks2 those who wander from place to place live in tents4 ,illustration3 ,arabs of the ,desert4 #g4 ,the ,arabs are fine1 fierce-looking men4 ,they own flocks of sheep1 herds of goats1 camels and horses4 #h4 ,an ,arab's tent is woven out of camel's hair4 ,so are the ropes of the tent4 ,the poles are made of palm wood4 #i4 ,inside the tent there are leather buckets for drawing water4 ,there are also skin bags for carrying it across the desert4 ,there are no chairs or tables or beds in the tents4 ,the ,arabs squat upon the ground and sleep on rugs4 ,illustration3 ,arab tent #aj4 ,in front of an ,arab tent you are almost sure to see a woman grinding corn between two large stones4 ,there is a hole in the top stone1 and into this she pours the grain4 #aa4 ,she turns the top stone round and round1 and the grain is ground into flour1 which oozes out at the edges4 ,with this flour she makes cakes4 99 99 99 99 99 #i4 ,,amongst ,,the ,,arabs4--,,ii4 #a4 ,date palms grow on every oasis4 ,the date palm is a beautiful tree4 ,it is very tall1 and has a crown of leaves at the top4 #b4 ,the fruit grows in great golden clusters4 ,sometimes a cluster of dates weighs twenty-five pounds4 #c4 ,the date palm is beloved by the ,arabs1 because it is so useful to them4 ,they eat or sell the dates1 and they use the wood for their tents or houses4 ,from the sap they make wine4 ,out of the leaf-stalks they weave baskets4 #d4 ,some of the ,arabs are traders4 ,they carry their goods from oasis to oasis on the backs of camels4 ,a large number of laden camels form a caravan4 ,illustration3 ,caravan of camels #e4 ,a camel is not pretty to look at1 but the ,arab could not do without it4 ,i think you can easily understand why the camel is called the ship of the desert4 ,it carries its master or its load across the sea of sand from one green island to another4 ,illustration3 ,the ,halt in the ,desert4 7,from the picture by ,j4,f4 ,lewis1 ,r4,a41 in the ,south ,kensington ,museum47 #f4 ,the hoofs of the camel are broad1 and this prevents them from sinking into the sand4 ,the camel can go for a long time without food or water4 #g4 ,the camel is very useful to the ,arab1 both when it is alive and when it is dead4 ,it gives him milk to drink1 and its hair is useful for making clothes1 tents1 and ropes4 #h4 ,i think ,i told you that when ,i was sailing along the canal ,i saw a caravan4 ,it was then beginning to cross the desert4 ,very likely1 weeks or months will pass away before its journey comes to an end4 #i4 ,there are no roads across the desert1 so it is very easy for a caravan to lose its way4 ,then the men and camels wander on until all their food and water are finished4 ,at last they fall to the ground1 and die of hunger and thirst4 #aj4 ,dreadful sand-storms often arise4 ,the storm beats down upon the caravan1 and sometimes chokes both men and camels4 ,a journey across the desert is full of dangers4 #aa4 ,before ,i close this letter1 let me tell you a little story4 ,one day an ,arab belonging to a caravan overslept himself at an oasis4 ,when he awoke1 the caravan had started on its journey again1 and was many miles away4 #ab4 ,the ,arab followed the caravan1 in the hope of catching it up4 ,on and on he walked1 but nothing could he see of it4 ,then darkness came on1 and he lay on the sand and slept until morning4 #ac4 ,when the sun rose he began his journey again4 ,hours passed1 but still there was no sign of the caravan4 ,at last he was quite overcome by hunger and thirst4 ,he fell to the ground1 and was too weak to rise again4 #ad4 ,looking around1 he saw something black lying on the sand1 not far away4 ,he crawled to it1 and found that it was a small bag which had fallen from the back of a camel4 #ae4 ,the poor ,arab was filled with joy4 ,he hoped that the bag would contain food of some sort4 ,with trembling fingers he tore it open4 ,alas6 it was full of gold and jewels4 #af4 ,woe is me6 cried the poor fellow2 had it been dates my life would have been saved4 ,illustration3 ,an ,arab dying of thirst in the desert #ag4 ,this little story shows you that on the desert dates may sometimes be worth much more than gold and jewels4 ,i hope you are well and happy4--,your loving ,,father4 99 99 99 99 99 #aj4 ,a ,,letter ,,from ,,india4 #a4 ,,my ,,dear ,,children1--,hurrah6 ,i am on shore again1 after nine long days at sea4 ,yesterday ,i reached ,bombay1 the chief seaport of ,india4 #b4 ,soon after ,i landed a friend came to see me at my hotel4 ,he drove me round ,bombay1 and showed me all the sights4 ,i wish you had been with me to see them4 #c4 ,here in ,bombay ,i seem to be in a new world altogether4 ,it is a world of wonderful light and colour4 ,the bright hot sun floods the streets and dazzles my eyes4 ,everywhere ,i see bright colour--in the sky1 the trees1 the flowers1 and the dresses of the people4 #d4 ,the streets are always full of people4 ,they are dark brown in colour2 their hair is black1 their eyes are bright1 and their teeth are as white as pearls4 ,most of the people are bare-legged and bare-footed4 ,illustration3 ,busy ,bombay street scene #e4 ,the men wear white clothes1 with turbans and sashes of yellow1 green1 or blue4 ,yesterday was a feast-day4 ,in the morning ,i saw thousands of the people bathing in the sea4 ,afterwards they roamed about the streets in their best clothes4 ,one crowd that ,i saw looked like a great tulip garden in full bloom4 #f4 ,the women wear a garment of red1 blue1 or some other bright colour4 ,this garment covers them from the neck to the knee4 ,almost every woman wears rings of silver on her arms and ankles4 ,some of them have great rings in their noses1 as well as rings in their ears and on their toes4 #g4 ,you would be amused to see the people carrying their burdens on their heads4 ,yesterday ,i saw a dozen men carrying a grand piano on their heads4 #h4 ,from childhood the women carry jars of water or baskets of earth in this way4 ,they hold themselves very upright and walk like queens4 ,illustration3 ,woman carrying a basket on her head #i4 ,bombay is a very busy city4 ,the streets are thronged with carriages1 motor cars1 bullock carts1 and electric trams4 ,as the people walk in the middle of the road1 it is not easy for a carriage to make its way through the streets4 #aj4 ,the drivers ring bells1 or shout to warn the people3 ,hi1 you woman with the baby on your hip1 get out of the way6--,hi1 you man with the box on your head1 get out of the way6 #aa4 ,i think you would like to see the bullock carts4 ,they are very small1 and are drawn by two bullocks with humps on their shoulders4 ,the driver sits on the shaft and steers them with a stick4 ,these carts carry cotton to the mills or to the docks4 ,illustration3 ,a bullock cart #ab4 ,in some of the carriages and motor cars you may see rich men wearing fine silk robes4 ,many of these rich men now dress as we do1 except that they wear turbans instead of hats4 99 99 99 99 99 #aa4 ,,in ,,the ,,streets4 #a4 ,i should like you to see the shops of ,bombay4 ,most of them are quite unlike our ,british shops4 ,they have no doors and no windows1 but are open to the street4 #b4 ,our shopkeepers try to make a fine show of their goods4 ,the ,indian shopkeeper does nothing of the sort4 ,he simply piles his goods round his shop and squats in the midst of them4 ,there he sits waiting for people to come and buy4 ,illustration3 ,an ,indian shopkeeper #c4 ,in our shops there is a fixed price for the goods4 ,in ,india nothing has a fixed price4 ,you must bargain with the shopkeeper if you wish to buy anything4 ,very likely he will ask you three times the price which he hopes to get4 #d4 ,our penny is divided into four parts2 each of these parts is called a farthing4 ,the ,indian penny is divided into twelve parts2 each of these parts is called a pie4 ,an ,indian boy or girl can buy rice or sweets with one pie4 #e4 ,there are thousands of beggars in ,india4 ,they go to and fro in front of the shops begging4 ,the shopkeepers are very kind to them1 and never send them away without a present4 #f4 ,very good order is kept in the streets4 ,at every street corner stands a native policeman1 dressed in blue1 with a flat yellow cap on his head and a club by his side4 ,some of the policemen ride horses1 and carry guns and lances4 ,illustration3 ,an ,indian policeman #g4 ,the parks of ,bombay are large open spaces covered with grass4 ,round them are rows of palm trees4 ,in these parks you may see men and boys playing all sorts of games4 #h4 ,indians are very fond of cricket1 which they play very well4 ,not many years ago an ,indian prince was one of the best players in ,england4 #i4 ,polo is also played in the parks of ,bombay4 ,it is an ,indian game1 but ,britons now play it too4 ,polo is just hockey on horseback4 #aj4 ,the players ride ponies which are very quick and nimble4 ,each player carries a mallet with a very long handle4 ,with this mallet he strikes a wooden ball and tries to drive it between the goal posts4 #aa4 ,last night ,i stopped to watch some ,indian boys playing marbles4 ,when ,tom plays the game1 he places the marble between his thumb and forefinger and shoots it out with his thumb4 #ab4 ,the ,indian boy does not shoot the marble in this way at all4 ,he presses back the second finger of one hand with the forefinger of the other4 ,then he lets go and strikes the marble with the finger that was bent back4 ,some of the boys are very clever at this game4 #ac4 ,bombay has some very fine buildings4 ,on the top of most of them you see the ,union ,jack1 the flag of ,britain4 ,not only ,bombay but all ,india belongs to ,britain4 ,i hope you are all well4--,best love4 ,,father4 99 99 99 99 99 #ab4 ,,our ,,indian ,,cousin4 #a4 ,,my ,,dear ,,children1--,i am now in the north of ,india1 not far from the great river ,ganges4 ,it is a long railway journey from ,bombay to this place4 ,i have been in the train two days and two nights4 #b4 ,i am now beginning to understand what a vast land ,india is4 ,do you know that it would make sixteen lands as large as our own8 ,one in every five of all the people on earth lives in ,india4 #c4 ,perhaps you can guess why ,i have made this long journey from ,bombay4 ,my brother1 your uncle1 is the chief man in this part of the country4 ,he and ,i have been parted for many years4 ,i am now living in his house4 #d4 ,let me tell you about little ,hugh1 your cousin4 ,he was born in ,india seven years ago1 and he has never been to ,england4 ,he hopes to come home to see you all in a few months' time4 #e4 ,hugh's home is a big house1 all on the ground floor4 ,it has no upstairs4 ,the rooms are very large and lofty4 ,this is because the weather is very hot for the greater part of the year4 ,if the rooms were not large and high1 they would be too hot to live in4 ,illustration3 ,hugh's house #f4 ,in every room there is a beam of wood with a short curtain hanging from it4 ,this is the punkah4 ,the beam is hung from the roof by ropes4 ,in the hot weather a boy sits outside and pulls the punkah to and fro with a rope4 ,in this way he makes a little breeze1 which keeps the room cool4 #g4 ,the roof of the house juts out all round and is held up by pillars4 ,we sit outside1 under the roof1 whenever we can4 ,during the heat of the day we must stay indoors4 #h4 ,the garden round the house is very large4 ,there are many tall palm trees in it4 ,some of the other trees bear most beautiful blossoms of crimson1 yellow1 and blue4 ,all along the front of the house are many flowerpots1 in which roses and other ,english flowers are growing4 #i4 ,a few days ago little ,hugh came to me and asked if he might show me what he called the compound4 ,i said ,yes4 ,so he took my hand and led me away4 #aj4 ,first he showed me the gardener4 ,he is a short1 dark man1 and he squats down to do his work4 ,he is a very good gardener1 and he is proud of his flowers4 ,every morning he comes to the house with a flower for ,hugh's father and mother and uncle4 ,illustration3 ,gardener at work #aa4 ,next1 ,hugh took me to see the well4 ,it is behind the house4 ,the mouth of the well is on the top of a mound4 ,to reach it you must walk up a sloping road4 ,above the mouth of the well there is a wheel4 #ab4 ,a rope runs over this wheel4 ,at one end of the rope there is a large leather bag4 ,the other end of the rope is fastened to the necks of a pair of bullocks4 ,illustration3 ,the ,village ,well4 7,from the picture by ,w4 ,simpson1 ,r4,i47 99 99 99 99 99 #ac4 ,,in ,,the ,,garden4 #a4 ,the bullocks walk backwards up the sloping road4 ,this lowers the leather bag into the well1 where it is filled with water4 ,then the bullocks walk down the sloping road4 ,this pulls the bag up to the mouth of the well4 #b4 ,a man empties the water out of the bag into a tank by the side of the well4 ,the water runs out of this tank into the garden1 where it spreads out into many little streams4 ,it is this water which makes the trees1 the plants1 and the grass grow so well in the garden4 ,illustration3 ,oxen drawing water from a well #c4 ,if the garden were not watered in this way1 it would soon be brown and bare4 ,for many months at a time no rain falls in ,india4 ,then dust a foot deep lies on the roads1 and the ground cracks with the heat4 #d4 ,when the dry season is over the rain begins to fall4 ,it comes down in torrents for days together4 ,in some places more rain falls in a single day than we have in a whole year4 #e4 ,during the rains the rivers become full to the brim1 and the whole land is fresh and green4 ,sometimes the rains do not come at all4 ,then the crops wither away1 and the people starve4 #f4 ,in our country we are never sure of the weather4 ,it changes so often that we talk about it a great deal4 ,in ,india nobody talks about the weather4 ,during seven months of the year every day is fine4 #g4 ,in our country we almost always have plenty of water for our crops1 and for drinking and washing4 ,plenty of fresh water is a great blessing to a land4 ,in many parts of ,india water is very scarce4 #h4 ,i told you that the great river ,ganges is not far away from little ,hugh's home4 ,this grand river begins in the mountains of ,north ,india4 ,i wish you could see these mountains4 ,they are the highest on earth4 ,they rise up from the plains like a huge wall1 and their tops are always covered with fields of ice and snow4 #i4 ,these ice-fields slowly move down the mountain sides4 ,then they melt1 and this gives rise to the ,ganges and to the other great rivers of ,north ,india4 #aj4 ,millions of the ,indian people love the ,ganges1 and they have good reason to do so4 ,it gives water and food to more than twice as many people as dwell in the ,british ,islands4 #aa4 ,many ,indians think that every drop of water in the river is holy4 ,they believe that if they bathe in its waters their souls will be washed clean from sin4 ,illustration3 ,town on the ,ganges #ab4 ,there is a town by the side of the ,ganges which the ,indians say is the holiest place on earth4 ,it is full of temples4 ,millions of ,indians visit these temples every year4 #ac4 ,all along the river bank there are stone steps leading down to the water4 ,standing in the stream are men and women and children who have come from all parts of ,india4 ,they wash themselves in the stream1 and pour the holy water over their heads as they pray4 #ad4 ,people who are very ill are carried to this place1 that they may die by the side of ,mother ,ganges4 ,they die happy if they can see her or hear the sound of her waters during their last moments4 #ae4 ,when they die their bodies are taken to the steps4 ,there they are washed in the river water1 and are placed on piles of wood4 ,friends set fire to the wood1 and soon the bodies are burnt to ashes4 ,these ashes are thrown into the stream1 which bears them to the distant ocean4 99 99 99 99 99 #ad4 ,,indian ,,boys ,,and ,,girls4 #a4 ,i am very fond of going about the streets with your uncle4 ,the ,indian children always amuse me4 #b4 ,when ,indians grow up they are rather grave and sad4 ,the children1 however1 are always bright and merry4 ,indian fathers and mothers are very fond of their boys4 ,they care very little for their girls4 #c4 ,boys soon become men in ,india4 ,they begin work at an early age1 and they are married when they are about sixteen4 ,girls are married a few years younger4 #d4 ,almost every boy follows the trade of his father4 ,a farmer's son becomes a farmer1 a weaver's son becomes a weaver1 and so on4 #e4 ,many of the boys go to school1 but not many of the girls4 ,they1 poor things1 begin to work in the house or in the field almost as soon as they can walk4 ,much of the hard rough work in ,india is done by poor women and girls4 #f4 ,a rich father keeps his girls shut up in the back part of his house4 ,their faces are never seen by any man except those of their own family4 ,if they go out of the house1 they cover themselves from head to foot with a thick veil4 ,sometimes they are carried from place to place in a closely shut box on poles4 #g4 ,are you not sorry for these poor rich girls8 ,i am4 ,they can never play merry games with boy friends1 or go for long walks in the country4 #h4 ,they know nothing of the beautiful world in which they live4 ,their rooms are fine1 their dresses are grand1 and their jewels are lovely2 but they are only poor prisoners after all4 #i4 ,yesterday ,i went with your uncle to see a village school4 ,there were only twenty boys in it4 ,the roof was off the schoolhouse1 so the classes were held in the open air4 ,illustration3 ,a village schoolhouse #aj4 ,the boys sat on forms1 just as you do4 ,the teacher wrote on a blackboard1 and taught the children to do sums with a ball frame4 ,each boy had a reading-book4 ,it was not printed in ,english1 but in the tongue spoken in that part of the country4 #aa4 ,some of the boys wrote in copy-books1 but most of them wrote on thin boards1 which they used instead of slates4 ,instead of a pencil they used a pen made of a reed4 #ab4 ,chalk was ground up and wetted in a little cup4 ,the boys dipped their reed pens into the cup1 just as you dip your steel pen into the ink4 ,the letters and figures which they wrote were very different from ours4 #ac4 ,some of the boys read their books very well1 and worked hard sums4 ,they sang ,god save the ,king for me in their own tongue4 #ad4 ,in the towns there are large and good schools4 ,some of the scholars are very clever indeed4 ,i think ,indian boys are much fonder of their lessons than our boys4 99 99 99 99 99 #ae4 ,,elephants ,,and ,,tigers4 #a4 ,in his last letter ,tom asked me to tell him something about elephants and tigers4 ,i will try to do so4 #b4 ,yesterday your uncle and ,i went out to shoot pigeons4 ,an ,indian chief1 or rajah1 lent us an elephant to carry us to the shooting ground4 ,illustration3 ,,an ,,indian ,,rajah4 #c4 ,a driver sat on the neck of the huge animal4 ,instead of a whip he had a goad of sharp steel4 ,i did not see him prick the elephant with this goad4 ,he guided the animal with voice and hand4 #d4 ,on the elephant's back there was a large pad upon which we were to sit4 ,i could see no ladder1 so ,i wondered how ,i was to climb up4 ,just then the elephant knelt down on his hind legs4 #e4 ,your uncle showed me how to get up4 ,here1 he said1 is a ladder of two steps4 ,the first step is the elephant's foot1 the second is the loop of his tail4 #f4 ,he held the end of the elephant's tail in his hand and bent it to make a loop4 ,when ,i put my foot on it he lifted the tail1 and in this way helped me on to the elephant's back4 #g4 ,when your uncle had climbed up1 the elephant jogged off at a good pace4 ,he went along rough1 narrow paths1 over ditches and the beds of streams4 ,never once did he make a false step4 #h4 ,an elephant costs a great deal of money4 ,only princes and rich men can afford to keep them4 ,sometimes a great prince has as many as a hundred elephants in his stables4 #i4 ,when a prince rides through a city in state his elephants wear rich cloths1 which are studded with gems4 ,sometimes the elephants' heads are painted and their tusks are covered with gold4 #aj4 ,in the drawing-room of your uncle's house there is a beautiful tiger skin4 ,the tiger that used to wear this skin was shot by your uncle about three years ago4 ,illustration3 ,tiger skin rug #aa4 ,it was a man-eating tiger--that is1 an old tiger that could no longer run fast enough to catch deer4 ,this man-eater used to hide near a village4 ,he would creep up silently behind men and women1 and stun them with a blow of his paw4 ,then he would drag them away and eat them4 #ab4 ,the people of the village came to your uncle and begged him to kill the man-eater4 ,he agreed to do so4 ,near to the tiger's drinking-place a little hut was built in a tree4 ,one night your uncle sat in this hut with his gun on his knee1 waiting for the tiger to come4 #ac4 ,slowly the hours went by1 and your uncle felt sure that the tiger had gone to another place to drink4 ,just as he was thinking of going home to bed the huge animal crept into the moonlight4 #ad4 ,nearer and nearer he came4 ,then your uncle lifted his gun1 took a steady aim1 and shot the tiger through the heart4 ,illustration3 ,tiger being shot #ae4 ,in the morning there was great joy among the people of the village because their fierce foe was dead4 ,they hung garlands of flowers round your uncle's neck1 and sang his praises in many songs4 ,illustration3 ,a ,tiger ,shoot4 7,from the picture by ,edgar ,h4 ,fisher1 in the ,royal ,academy1 #aiaa47 #af4 ,now ,i must close this very long letter4--,best love to you all4 ,,father4 99 99 99 99 99 #af4 ,a ,,letter ,,from ,,burma4--,i4 #a4 ,,my ,,dear ,,children1--,since ,i last wrote to you ,i have visited several of the large cities of ,india4 ,a week ago ,i was in the largest city of all4 #b4 ,on ,christmas morning ,i sailed down the mouth of the ,ganges into the open sea1 on my way to the country of ,burma4 #c4 ,now ,i am in the chief town of ,burma1 and you will expect me to tell you something about the land and its people4 ,from what ,i have seen1 ,i think ,burma is a prettier country than ,india4 #d4 ,in the chief town there seem to be people from many lands4 ,i saw ,chinamen1 with their pigtails hanging down their backs4 ,i also saw ,indians from across the sea1 and white men from our own country4 ,of course1 there were also many ,burmese1 as the people of ,burma are called4 #e4 ,kate and ,may will like to hear something about the ,burmese girls and women4 ,they are not at all sad like the ,indians1 but are very bright and gay4 ,as ,i write these lines ,i see a party of ,burmese girls passing my window1 ,i can hear them laughing4 #f4 ,they are very dainty in their dress4 ,one girl wears a skirt of pink silk and a blouse of light green4 ,she has bracelets on her arms1 ear-rings in her ears1 a string of coral round her neck1 and flowers in her hair4 ,illustration3 ,burmese woman carrying an umbrella #g4 ,in one hand she carries a bamboo sunshade2 in the other she holds a big paper cigar6 ,she is very fond of smoking1 and you never see her without a cigar4 ,on her feet she wears sandals4 #h4 ,the men are gentle and rather lazy4 ,the women have far more go in them than the men4 ,many of them keep shops1 and are very good traders4 ,the wife is the chief person in every home4 #i4 ,the men also wear skirts1 and sometimes their jackets are very gay4 ,they wrap a handkerchief of pink1 or of some other bright colour1 round their head4 ,illustration3 ,a ,burmese man #aj4 ,the ,burmese worship ,buddha1 a prince who lived more than two thousand years ago4 ,he was a very noble man1 and he gave up all the pleasant things of life that nothing might turn his thoughts from goodness4 #aa4 ,amongst other things he taught men to be kind to animals4 ,all animals are well treated in ,burma4 #ab4 ,all over the land you see temples to ,buddha4 ,these temples grow narrower and narrower the higher they rise4 ,they all end in a spire above which there is a kind of umbrella4 ,it is made of metal1 and all round its edge are silver or golden bells1 which make pretty music as they are blown to and fro by the wind4 #ac4 ,by the side of many of these temples you may see a great image of ,buddha4 ,most of the images are made of brass4 ,the ,burmese pray before these images1 and offer flowers and candles and rice to them4 ,illustration3 ,statue of ,buddha 99 99 99 99 99 #ag4 ,a ,,letter ,,from ,,burma4--,,ii4 #a4 ,wherever you go in ,burma you see monks4 ,they have shaven heads1 and they wear yellow robes4 ,every morning they go out to beg4 ,boys in yellow robes go with them1 and carry large bowls in their hands4 #b4 ,the people come out of their houses and put food into the bowls4 ,the monks do not thank them4 ,they say that he who gives is more blessed than he who takes4 #c4 ,the monks live in houses built of teak wood4 ,in every village you can see a monk's house standing in a grove of palm trees4 ,in these houses the monks keep school4 #d4 ,every ,burmese boy lives for some time in one of the monks' houses4 ,here he learns to read and write1 and is taught to be a good man4 #e4 ,i went to see the most beautiful of all the monks' houses4 ,it is in a city far up in the country4 ,the building is of dark-brown teak wood1 and has many roofs1 one above the other4 ,it is covered with carving1 and here and there it is gilded4 #f4 ,many boys in yellow robes were playing beneath the trees4 ,they were the scholars of the school4 ,one of the boys told me that he was never going to leave the place4 ,when he was old enough he meant to be a monk4 ,illustration3 ,burmese boy in robes #g4 ,in the city ,i saw the palace of the king from whom we took ,burma4 ,it stands inside a large space1 with high walls all round it4 ,outside the wall is a broad ditch full of water4 ,when ,i saw the ditch it was overgrown with water-plants covered with pink blossoms4 #h4 ,many buildings1 something like the monks' houses1 form the king's palace4 ,some of the buildings are very richly carved1 and are covered with gold leaf4 ,inside one of them ,i saw great teak pillars1 also covered with gold4 #i4 ,the chief building ends in a very lofty spire1 with a beautiful metal umbrella above it4 ,the ,burmese used to believe that this spire was in the very middle of the earth4 #aj4 ,another fine building is a high lookout tower4 ,from the top of it there is a grand view4 ,on one side ,i saw a hill covered with temples4 ,at the foot of the hill there were four hundred and fifty of these temples4 ,there must be thousands of them in and near the city4 #aa4 ,as ,i drove to my hotel last night ,i saw a number of boys playing ,burmese football4 ,they do not take sides1 nor do they try to kick goals4 ,the football is made of basket-work4 #ab4 ,the boys stand round in a ring1 and the game is to keep the ball from touching the ground4 ,the boys pass the ball from one to the other by knocking it up with their heads1 arms1 hands1 legs1 or toes4 ,some of the boys are very clever at this game4 ,illustration3 ,boys playing ,burmese football #ac4 ,burma has many beautiful rivers and some fine mountains4 ,by the side of the rivers much rice is grown4 ,away in the north there are grand forests filled with wild animals4 ,tigers are often shot within twenty miles of the old king's palace4 #ad4 ,now ,i have filled my paper1 and ,i must bring this letter to an end4 ,i hope you are all well and happy4 ,i am leaving ,burma tomorrow4--,best love to you all4 ,,father4 99 99 99 99 99 #ah4 ,a ,,letter ,,from ,,ceylon4 #a4 ,,my ,,dear ,,children1--,a week ago ,i landed in the beautiful island of ,ceylon4 ,it lies to the south of ,india4 ,get mother to show it to you on the globe4 #b4 ,i am still under the ,british flag1 the ,union ,jack4 ,i can see it waving from the top of a big building4 ,the people of ,ceylon are proud to call themselves ,british4 #c4 ,i have just been for a ride through the streets of the chief town4 ,i rode in a rickshaw--that is1 a kind of large baby-carriage drawn by a man4 ,my rickshaw had rubber on its wheels1 so we went along very smoothly and quickly4 ,illustration3 ,rickshaw with passenger #d4 ,some of the carts are drawn by little bullocks that trot along as fast as a pony4 ,i often meet carts with a high cover of thatch4 ,these carts carry the tea1 which grows on the hills1 down to the ships in the harbour4 #e4 ,some of the men of ,ceylon wear tortoise-shell combs in their hair4 ,they are very proud of these combs1 and some of them are very handsome4 ,illustration3 ,ceylon family--a man1 a woman1 and two babies #f4 ,the children of ,ceylon seem very happy4 ,they are pretty and clean1 and always obey their parents4 ,many of them learn to speak and read ,english4 ,they love dancing and singing1 and they never quarrel4 ,illustration3 ,ceylon ,girls ,playing the ,tom-,tom4 7,from the picture by ,e4,a4 ,hornel4 ,by permission of the ,corporation of ,manchester47 #g4 ,by the next ship home ,i am sending mother a chest of tea4 ,the tea grew on the hills of ,ceylon4 ,i made a journey to these hills by train4 ,on the way we passed through thick forests1 and by the side of beautiful rivers4 #h4 ,ceylon is very rich in plants and trees4 ,the cocoanut palm grows almost everywhere4 ,on one of the rivers ,i saw a raft of cocoanuts4 ,a man swam behind it and pushed it along4 ,illustration3 ,cocoanut palm tree #i4 ,with this letter ,i send you a picture of a tea-garden4 ,notice the men and women plucking the leaf4 ,many of them come from the south of ,india4 ,look at the white planter4 ,he comes1 as you know1 from our own country4 ,illustration3 ,,in ,a ,,ceylon ,,tea ,,plantation4 #aj4 ,in the middle of ,ceylon there are many high mountains4 ,the highest is called ,adam's ,peak4 ,it stands like a great wedge high above the other hills4 #aa4 ,the people of ,ceylon believe that it is a holy mountain4 ,they say that once upon a time ,buddha climbed to the top of this mountain4 ,to prove that he did so they show you his footprint4 ,it is more than five feet long6 #ab4 ,a little temple has been built over the footprint4 ,men1 women1 and children climb the mountain1 to lay little gifts before the footprint1 and to strew sweet flowers about it4 ,when this is done1 the children kneel down and ask their parents to bless them4 #ac4 ,to-morrow ,i leave ,ceylon on a long voyage to ,china4 ,you will not hear from me for several weeks4 ,i hope you are all well1 and that you are still good children4--,i remain1 your loving ,father4 99 99 99 99 99 #ai4 ,a ,,letter ,,from ,,china4 #a4 ,,my ,,dear ,,children1--,three weeks have gone by since ,i last wrote to you4 ,i have made my voyage safely1 and ,i am now in a great city of ,china called ,canton4 #b4 ,ask mother to show you ,china on the globe4 ,you see at once that it is a vast country4 ,it is larger than the whole of ,europe4 ,one-fourth of all the people in the world live in ,china4 #c4 ,all round this city of ,canton there is a high wall4 ,from the wall the city seems to be a beautiful place4 ,when1 however1 you enter it1 you soon find that it is dirty and full of foul smells4 ,illustration3 ,a ,chinese ,street4 7,from the picture by ,t4 ,hodgson ,liddell1 ,r4,b4,a47 #d4 ,the streets are very narrow1 and are always crowded with people4 ,many of them are roofed in to keep them cool4 ,most of them are so narrow that no carriage can pass along them4 ,people who wish to ride must be carried in a kind of box on the shoulders of two or more men4 ,illustration3 ,person riding in a box #e4 ,i am sure you would like to see the signboards that hang down in front of the shops4 ,the strange letters on them are painted in gold and in bright colours4 ,they look very gay indeed4 #f4 ,the shops sell all sorts of things--silk1 books1 drugs1 flowers1 china1 and birds4 ,some of the shops only sell gold and silver paper4 ,the ,chinese burn this paper at the graves of their friends4 ,when they do this they think that they are sending money for their dead friends to spend in the other world4 #g4 ,many things are also sold in the streets4 ,the street traders carry a bamboo pole across the shoulder4 ,from the ends of this pole they sling the baskets in which they carry their wares4 ,many workmen ply their trades in the open street1 and you are sure to see quack doctors1 letter-writers1 and money-changers4 #h4 ,the ,chinese do in the open street many things which we do inside our houses4 ,a ,chinaman likes to eat his meals where every one can see him4 #i4 ,sometimes he will sit in front of his house and wash his feet4 ,yesterday ,i saw a man having his tooth drawn out of doors4 ,a crowd stood round him1 watching to see how it was done4 #aj4 ,how should you like to go for a ride in a wheelbarrow8 ,in ,china the wheelbarrow is often used for carrying people or goods from place to place4 ,it has a large wheel in the middle4 ,round the wheel there is a platform for people or goods4 ,illustration3 ,people riding in a wheelbarrow #aa4 ,a broad river runs through the city4 ,it is crowded with boats1 in which live many thousands of people4 ,many of these people never go ashore at all4 #ab4 ,over the sterns of the boats there are long baskets4 ,these are the backyards of the floating city4 ,hens1 ducks1 geese1 and sometimes pigs1 are kept in these baskets4 ,illustration3 ,a boy on a boat #ac4 ,the little boys who live on the boats have a log of wood fastened to their waists4 ,this keeps them afloat if they fall overboard4 ,the little girls have no such lifebelts4 ,in ,china nobody troubles about the girls4 #ad4 ,nearly all the boats have an eye painted on their bows4 ,perhaps this seems strange to you4 ,the ,chinese1 however1 say1-- ,s'pose no got eye1 no can see2 ,s'pose no can see1 no can walkee4 99 99 99 99 99 #bj4 ,,chinese ,,boys ,,and ,,girls4 #a4 ,chinese fathers and mothers are very glad when their children are boys4 ,in ,china the boys are much petted4 ,their mothers give way to them1 and let them do as they please4 #b4 ,girls1 however1 are not welcome4 ,sometimes they are called ,not-wanted or ,ought-to-have-been-a-boy4 #c4 ,a ,chinese boy has always two names1 sometimes four4 ,he has one name when he is a child1 and another when he goes to school4 ,he has a third name when he begins to earn money4 ,when he dies he has a fourth name4 #d4 ,chinese boys are very fond of flying kites1 which are shaped like fish or butterflies or dragons4 ,old gentlemen are just as fond of kite-flying as boys4 #e4 ,in ,china you will often see boys playing hopscotch or spinning peg-tops4 ,they also play shuttlecock1 but they have no battledore4 ,they kick the shuttlecock with the sides of their feet4 #f4 ,chinese boys love to set off fireworks1 such as crackers1 wheels1 and rockets4 ,if the fireworks make a loud noise1 so much the better4 #g4 ,chinese children are taught to show very great respect to their parents4 ,they all bow and kneel to their fathers and mothers4 ,a boy who is not kind and good to his parents is thought to be a wicked wretch4 #h4 ,a few days ago ,i went to see a ,chinese school4 ,the boys sit on stools at tiny tables4 ,in front of them they have a stone slab1 a stick of ,chinese ink1 and some brushes with which they write4 ,illustration3 ,a boy at a table at school #i4 ,there is always a great din in a ,chinese schoolroom4 ,the boys shout at the top of their voices4 ,if they do not make a noise1 the teacher thinks that they are not learning4 #aj4 ,when a boy knows his lesson he goes up to his master to say it4 ,he turns his back to his master1 and does not face him as you do4 #aa4 ,a ,chinese boy becomes a man at sixteen years of age4 ,he chooses his work in life when he is quite a baby4 ,let me tell you how he does it4 #ab4 ,when he is one year old he is seated in the middle of such things as money1 books1 and pens4 ,then the parents watch him to see what he will play with4 #ac4 ,if he takes up the money1 they say that he must be a trader or a banker4 ,if he takes up a book or a pen1 they say that he must be a writer or a teacher or a scholar4 99 99 99 99 99 #ba4 ,,hair1 ,,fingers1 ,,and ,,toes4 #a4 ,chinese men shave their heads1 all but a small patch of hair4 ,this is allowed to grow very long1 and is plaited into a pigtail4 ,i have seen ,chinamen with coloured ribbons woven into their pigtails4 ,illustration3 ,two ,chinamen #b4 ,when men are at work they twine their pigtails round their heads4 ,when they wish to show respect to any person they let down their pigtails4 ,a man who has a long1 thick pigtail is very proud of it4 #c4 ,sometimes men who are sent to prison have their pigtails cut off4 ,this is thought to be a great disgrace4 ,when they leave prison they buy false pigtails to wear4 #d4 ,when ,chinamen fight they pull each other about by the pigtail4 ,sometimes a schoolmaster punishes bad boys with his pigtail4 #e4 ,rich women are very proud of their tiny feet4 ,chinese ladies can wear shoes about four inches long4 ,fancy mother wearing a doll's shoes6 ,illustration3 ,chinese women holding fans #f4 ,girls have their feet bound up tightly when they are five years of age4 ,the bandages are made tighter every week1 until the foot stops growing4 ,of course1 the poor girls suffer very much4 ,the ,chinese have a saying3 ,every pair of bound feet costs a bath of tears4 #g4 ,when the girls grow up they cannot walk4 ,they can only totter along1 and they have to lean on the arm of a maid to keep themselves from falling4 ,illustration3 ,woman walking with the support of her maid #h4 ,i am glad to say that many parents do not now bind the feet of their girls4 ,they have learnt that it is both wicked and foolish to do so4 ,at one school in ,china all the girls have their feet unbound4 ,they skip and play about almost as well as ,kate and ,may4 #i4 ,you and ,i think that only dirty1 untidy people let their nails grow long4 ,rich people in ,china never cut their nails4 ,they let them grow so long that they have to wear shields to keep them from being broken4 #aj4 ,the dress of a ,chinaman is very simple4 ,he wears trousers and several cotton or silk tunics4 ,the outside tunic has very long1 wide sleeves2 these are used as pockets4 #aa4 ,the trousers are loose1 and are covered up to the knee by white stockings4 ,when a ,chinaman is in full dress he wears a long gown4 ,the ,chinese boy wears the same kind of clothes as his father4 ,every man1 woman1 and child carries a fan4 #ab4 ,chinese boots are made of cloth or satin1 never of leather4 ,the soles are made of rags or paper4 ,we blacken the uppers of our boots4 ,chinamen whiten the soles of theirs4 ,illustration3 ,chinese boots #ac4 ,now ,i must end this letter4 ,when ,i come home you must ask me to tell you about the rice fields and the silk farms and the ,great ,wall4 ,i have a hundred more things to tell you about this wonderful land4--,your loving ,,father4 ,illustration3 ,a ,rich ,chinaman's ,house4 7,from the photograph by ,j4 ,thomson1 ,f4,r4,g4,s47 99 99 99 99 99 #bb4 ,a ,,letter ,,from ,,japan4 #a4 ,,my ,,dear ,,children1--,once more ,i have made a long sea voyage1 and once more ,i am safely on shore4 ,i am now in ,japan4 #b4 ,the ,japs live on islands1 just as we do4 ,they are brave and clever and busy1 and they have many fine warships4 ,because of all these things they are sometimes called the ,britons of the ,far ,east4 #c4 ,most of the people in the ,east are very backward4 ,they have stood still while the people of the ,west have gone forward4 ,not so the ,japs4 ,they have learnt everything that the ,west can teach them4 ,you will see in ,japan all the things on which we pride ourselves4 #d4 ,the ,japs are first-rate sailors4 ,some of their captains learnt to be sailors on board our warships4 ,they are also fine soldiers4 ,you know that not many years ago they beat the ,russians both by land and by sea4 #e4 ,i like the ,japs better than any other people that ,i have met in the ,east4 ,many of them still wear the dress of olden days1 and keep to their simple and pretty ways4 ,their country is beautiful1 and they love beautiful things4 #f4 ,they are very fond indeed of flowers1 which they grow very well4 ,their gardens are lovely4 ,when the flowers are in bloom the ,japs troop in thousands to see them4 ,it is pretty to watch the delight of fathers and mothers and children at the form1 colour1 and scent of the flowers4 #g4 ,the ,japs are very clever workmen4 ,i have often stood and watched them at work4 ,they always try to beat their own best4 ,good work of any kind gives them joy2 bad work gives them pain4 #h4 ,i have bought ,jap fans for ,kate and ,may4 ,on these fans there are pictures of a snow-clad mountain shaped like a sugar loaf4 ,there is no more beautiful mountain in all the world4 ,illustration3 ,snowy mountain #i4 ,this mountain began as a hole in the ground4 ,melted rocks boiled up out of the hole and built up the mountain4 ,in time the rocks grew cool and hard4 ,some ,japs believe that it was formed in a single night6 #aj4 ,steam still comes out of a crack in the side of the mountain4 ,this shows that any day melted rocks may boil forth again4 ,about two hundred years ago the mountain threw out so much ash that it covered a town sixty miles away4 #aa4 ,sometimes the earth shakes and opens in great cracks4 ,when the earth quakes houses tumble down1 and the tops of tall trees snap off4 ,very often lives are lost4 99 99 99 99 99 #bc4 ,,jap ,,children4 #a4 ,when a ,jap boy is born there is great joy in his home4 ,his mother's friends all come to see him4 ,they bring him presents1 such as toys1 dried fish1 and eggs4 #b4 ,very early in his life the little ,jap baby is strapped on to his sister's back4 ,he goes with her wherever she goes4 ,if the weather is cold1 the little girl covers him with her coat4 ,when the sun is hot she shelters him with her sunshade4 #c4 ,when she plays she jumps and skips and runs about1 and all the time baby's little head jerks to and fro4 ,he does not mind2 he is quite happy4 ,you never hear a ,jap baby cry4 #d4 ,when a boy is about three years of age he learns to walk4 ,he soon finds his feet1 and runs about on high wooden clogs4 #e4 ,jap boys are fond of pets and games4 ,wherever a boy goes he carries with him a long pole4 ,with this he makes flying leaps and does many clever tricks4 #f4 ,every boy in ,japan wishes to be either a soldier or a sailor when he grows up4 ,even tiny little mites play with flags and drums and little guns4 ,when the boys are older they are taught to be brave1 and to die if need be for their country4 #g4 ,the great day of the year for ,jap boys is the fifth day of the fifth month4 ,on this day the ,feast of ,flags is held4 ,over each house where there is a boy you see big paper fish floating in the air4 ,illustration3 ,flags on poles outside houses #h4 ,the shops are then full of toys4 ,most of the toys are soldiers1 and sometimes they are like the soldiers of olden days4 ,some are on foot1 and some are on horseback2 some are generals1 and some are drummers4 ,illustration3 ,the ,toy ,seller4 7,from the water-colour painting by ,h4,e4 ,tidmarsh47 #i4 ,the boys love to play at war4 ,you can always make ,jap boys happy by giving them a toy army to play with4 #aj4 ,the greatest day of the year for the girls is the ,feast of ,dolls4 ,on this day the girls give doll parties to their little friends4 ,all the dolls1 however old1 are brought out and dressed up in fine new clothes4 ,the ,feast of ,dolls is a time of great fun and laughter4 #aa4 ,jap children now play many of our games4 ,they are very fond of prisoner's base1 fox and geese1 and tag4 ,the boys love kite-flying4 ,illustration3 ,children at play #ab4 ,sometimes they put glass on the strings of their kites1 and with it try to cut the strings of other boys' kites4 ,they are very clever at this game1 and there is great laughter when a string is cut4 #ac4 ,in the house1 during the day1 girls like to blow soap bubbles4 ,at dusk they are fond of hunting fire-flies1 and driving them to and fro with fans4 #ad4 ,in the summer they catch grasshoppers1 and keep them in small bamboo cages4 ,they say that the chirping of the grasshoppers brings them good luck4 #ae4 ,all ,japs are polite--even boys4 ,when a boy goes to the house of a friend he squats on his heels4 ,then he places his hands on the floor1 and bows until his forehead touches his toes4 ,this he does again and again1 and all the time he speaks very politely4 ,illustration3 ,boys bowing #af4 ,jap children are taught to be very kind and helpful to their elders1 and to the poor and the weak4 ,yesterday ,i saw a little girl run from her mother to take the hand of a blind man and lead him across the street4 #ag4 ,now1 my dears1 ,i must end this letter4 ,to-morrow ,i start on my homeward way4 ,i shall sail across the ocean to the great land of ,america4 ,i hope you are all well1 good1 and happy4 ,your loving ,,father4 99 99 99 99 99 #bd4 ,a ,,letter ,,from ,,canada4 #a4 ,,my ,,dear ,,children1--,look at the globe in my room and find ,japan4 ,then find ,america4 ,you will see that a broad ocean lies between them4 ,it is called the ,pacific ,ocean4 ,i have crossed this ocean1 and ,i am now in the great country of ,canada4 #b4 ,i am sure that you cannot guess where ,i am writing this letter4 ,i am writing it in the train4 ,i have already been three days in the train1 and ,i am only half-way across ,canada4 #c4 ,i am glad to say that ,i am once more under the ,union ,jack4 ,the whole land of ,canada is ,british1 from sea to sea4 ,our flag floats above every city4 #d4 ,the first part of my journey pleased me most4 ,the train ran through a beautiful country1 filled with splendid trees4 ,some of them are as high as a church tower1 and have trunks many yards round4 ,there are no finer trees in all the world4 #e4 ,later in the day our train ran by the side of a rushing river1 which was deep down in a narrow valley between the mountains4 #f4 ,in this river there are millions of salmon4 ,i saw men catching them4 ,you will see tins of salmon from this river in most of the grocers' shops at home4 #g4 ,as the train ran on1 the mountains rose higher and higher1 until their tops were covered with snow4 ,we then began to cross the great ,rocky ,mountains4 ,up and up the train climbed1 until the rails reached their highest point4 ,illustration3 ,the ,rocky ,mountains #h4 ,then we began to descend4 ,we ran through dark clefts in the rocks1 along the edges of steep cliffs1 across rivers1 and by the side of lakes4 ,high above us were the snowy mountain tops4 ,it was all very grand and very beautiful4 #i4 ,at last we left the mountains behind us and reached the plains4 ,we are now speeding over these plains4 ,the country is as flat as the palm of your hand4 ,here and there1 far apart1 ,i can see farm-houses4 ,on these plains the best wheat in the world is grown4 #aj4 ,in winter the whole land is covered deep with snow1 and the rivers are frozen over4 ,in ,april winter gives place to spring4 ,then the snow melts1 and the ice on the rivers breaks up4 #aa4 ,no sooner has the snow gone than the wheat begins to spring up4 ,the wheat grows very fast and ripens very quickly4 ,much of it is sent to ,britain4 ,very likely the loaf which you ate for breakfast this morning was made of wheat which grew on the plains of ,canada4 ,illustration3 ,harvest-,time in ,canada4 7,from the picture by ,cyrus ,cuneo1 ,r4,i4 ,by kind permission of the ,c4,p4,r4 ,co47 #ab4 ,in other parts of ,canada there are forests which cover thousands of miles of country4 ,the trees in these forests are cut down1 and are made into planks which are sent to all parts of the world4 #ac4 ,the trees are felled during winter4 ,their trunks are piled up by the side of a river4 ,when the thaw comes they are thrown into the water4 ,men follow them and push them back into the water if they drift ashore4 ,illustration3 ,men rolling logs #ad4 ,the stream carries the logs down to the sawmills1 where they are cut up into planks4 ,love to all4 ,,father4 99 99 99 99 99 #be4 ,,children ,,of ,,canada4 #a4 ,,my ,,dear ,,children1--,i am staying for a few days with a friend who has a farm on the plains4 ,his house is five miles from the railway4 #b4 ,my friend met me at the station with a motor car1 and drove me over rough roads between huge fields4 ,there are no hedges in this part of the country4 ,the fields are divided from each other by fences4 #c4 ,this farm is much larger than any farm which you have seen in ,england4 ,the house is built of wood4 ,all round it is a pretty garden4 ,not far away are the stables and the barns4 ,illustration3 ,large farmhouse #d4 ,i am sure you would like to hear something about the farmer's children4 ,there are three of them--a girl and two boys4 ,the girl is the youngest1 and she is about eight years of age4 #e4 ,all the children make themselves very useful in the house4 ,servants are hard to get in ,canada1 so people must learn to help themselves4 ,the boys clean the boots and chop wood4 ,the girls think nothing of helping to scrub the floors4 #f4 ,after breakfast the children trudge off to school1 which is three miles away4 ,they take their lunch with them4 ,when they return in the evening they have many odd jobs to do4 #g4 ,in the playground of their school you will see many young trees growing4 ,there are very few trees on the plains1 and far more are needed4 ,illustration3 ,canadian schoolhouse #h4 ,on one day in each year the children make holiday1 and plant trees in the school grounds4 ,the teacher tells them that when they grow up they must plant trees on their farms4 #i4 ,harvest is the busiest time of the year4 ,then the children rise at half-past four1 and work all day long in the fields4 ,every one who can work at all must do so at harvest time4 #aj4 ,there is also plenty of work to be done in the autumn4 ,everything needed in the house must be brought in before the snow begins to fall4 #aa4 ,winter is the real holiday time4 ,no work can then be done on the land4 ,the rivers and lakes are frozen1 and everywhere there is plenty of skating4 ,the wheels are taken off the carriages1 and runners are put on instead4 ,horses draw them very swiftly over the frozen snow4 #ab4 ,look at the picture post-card which ,i send you with this letter4 ,it shows you how ,canadian boys are dressed in winter4 ,on the ground you see a pair of snow-shoes4 ,the boys can travel very quickly on these snow-shoes without sinking into the snow4 ,illustration3 ,boys of ,canada in winter4 #ac4 ,in the picture you also see a toboggan4 ,it is a small sledge4 ,the boy drags his toboggan up to the top of a hill4 ,he seats himself on it and pushes off4 ,away he goes over the frozen snow like an arrow from a bow4 ,it is splendid fun4 #ad4 ,those boys and girls whose homes are in towns live very much as you do4 ,they go to school1 and they play in the streets and parks4 ,when summer comes many of them go to the seaside or to the lakeside for a holiday4 #ae4 ,sometimes a whole family goes camping in the woods4 ,they then live in tents or in little huts by the side of a river or a lake4 ,what happy times the children have6 ,they go fishing1 they bathe1 and they dart to and fro in canoes4 #af4 ,most of the young folks of ,canada are strong and healthy4 ,they are happy and bright1 and they are not afraid of work4 ,no children are more useful to their parents than the boys and girls of ,canada4 99 99 99 99 99 #bf4 ,,the ,,red ,,men4 #a4 ,tom will not forgive me unless ,i tell you something about the ,red men of ,america4 ,he has often asked me about the picture of ,red men which is in my room at home4#a #a ,see page #ajb4 ,page #ajb contains the illustration below ,illustration3 ,red ,men and ,white ,men4 7,from the picture by ,cyrus ,cuneo1 ,r4,i4 ,by kind permission of the ,c4,p4,r4 ,co47 #b4 ,in the old days1 before white men settled in ,america1 the ,red men were masters of the land4 ,they were tall and strong1 and their skin was of a dark copper colour4 ,their eyes were jet black1 and their hair was long and straight4 ,illustration3 ,red men in wigwams #c4 ,they wore very little clothing1 even though the winters in ,north ,america are very cold4 ,from the time when they were babies they were trained to bear heat and cold1 hunger1 thirst1 and pain without grumbling4 #d4 ,when the white men landed in ,america1 the villages of the ,red men were to be found all over the country4 ,each of these villages was the home of a tribe4 ,the houses were tents made of skin or huts made of wood4 #e4 ,the women or squaws did all the hard work4 ,they planted and tilled the fields1 cooked the food1 and made the clothes4 ,the babies were put into little bark cradles1 which were sometimes hung from the branches of trees1 and were rocked to and fro by the wind4 #f4 ,the ,red men were nearly always at war1 either amongst themselves or against the white men4 ,in battle they were very crafty and skilful4 ,those who fell into their hands were sometimes treated very cruelly4 #g4 ,before the ,red men went on the warpath they painted their faces1 so as to frighten their foes4 ,then they took up their bows and hatchets1 and1 following their leader1 strode silently away4 #h4 ,the ,red men did not care to fight in the open4 ,they always tried to catch their foes asleep or to take them by surprise4 #i4 ,in those days the land was full of deer and other wild animals4 ,on the great plains where the wheat now grows huge herds of bison used to feed4 #aj4 ,the ,red men hunted the bison on their swift little ponies4 ,when they were close to the animals they shot at them with arrows4 ,if the arrows missed their mark1 the ,red men killed the bison with their knives4 ,illustration3 ,red men on horseback hunting bison #aa4 ,when the white men came they hunted the bison with guns1 and soon killed them off4 ,only a few bisons remain1 and these are now kept in parks4 #ab4 ,there are not many ,red men left in ,north ,america4 ,most of them have died off4 ,many of those who now remain have given up their old way of living4 99 99 99 99 99 #bg4 ,,the ,,eskimos4 #a4 ,here is another picture for you4 ,look at it carefully4 ,it shows you the people who live in the far north of ,canada4 ,they are called ,eskimos4 ,illustration3 ,amongst the ,eskimos4 #b4 ,in the upper part of the picture you see a man on a sledge4 ,he is dressed in furs1 and has fur gloves on his hands4 ,his head and ears are covered with a hood4 ,in the far north of ,canada the cold is so bitter in winter that men's hands and ears would be frost-bitten if they were not kept warm in this way4 #c4 ,in winter the sea and the land are thickly frozen over4 ,the whole country is covered with ice and snow4 ,the ,eskimo has to travel over the ice to get from place to place4 ,he uses a sledge drawn by dogs4 ,there is a team of dogs in the upper part of the picture4 #d4 ,sometimes the sledge is overturned1 and the men and dogs are thrown into deep1 wide cracks in the ice4 ,sometimes fierce storms arise1 and men and dogs perish together4 ,sometimes food runs short1 and they die of hunger4 #e4 ,in the middle part of the picture you see a tent4 ,the ,eskimos can only live in tents during the short summers2 during the long dark winters they live in huts4 ,the walls are made of stones and sods4 ,the roof is of wood which has drifted to their shores4 ,you must remember that no trees will grow in these very cold lands4 #f4 ,some ,eskimos make their winter houses of blocks of snow1 with sheets of ice for the windows4 ,perhaps you shiver at the thought of living in a snow house1 but you need not do so4 ,illustration3 ,snow house #g4 ,really1 a snow house is quite a snug home4 ,the snow keeps in the heat of the house1 just as a blanket keeps in the heat of your body4 ,perhaps you know that it is the blanket of snow spread over the ground in winter which keeps the roots of the plants from being frozen4 #h4 ,when summer comes1 the snow and ice melt along the edge of the sea4 ,then the ,eskimo leaves his winter quarters for the seashore4 #i4 ,the sea-shores of these very cold lands abound in bears1 seals1 foxes1 and other wild animals4 ,the sea is full of fish1 and millions of gulls1 geese1 and other birds fly north for the summer4 ,illustration3 ,polar bear #aj4 ,when a boy is ten years of age his father gives him a bow and arrows and a canoe4 ,then he thinks himself a man indeed4 ,in the lower part of the picture you see a man in an ,eskimo canoe4 ,he is going to hunt seals and small whales4 #aa4 ,now ,i must bring this long letter to a close4 ,i shall write you one more before ,i start for home4 ,i am eager to see you all again4--,your loving ,,father4 99 99 99 99 99 #bh4 ,,father',s ,,last ,,letter4 #a4 ,,my ,,dear ,,children1--,this is the last letter which ,i shall write to you from abroad4 ,i hope to sail for home in a week's time4 ,i shall send you a telegram to tell you when ,i shall arrive4 ,you must all come to the station to meet me4 #b4 ,look at the globe and find ,north ,america4 ,the northern half is called ,canada1 and the southern half is called the ,united ,states4 ,i am now in ,new ,york1 the largest city of the ,united ,states4 #c4 ,the people of the ,united ,states speak ,english4 ,the forefathers of many of them came from our islands4 ,but the ,united ,states do not belong to ,britain4 ,their flag is not the ,union ,jack1 but the ,stars and ,stripes4 #d4 ,this morning at breakfast a black man waited upon me4 ,his skin was very dark1 his lips were thick1 and his hair was short and curly4 #e4 ,are you not surprised to hear that there are black men in ,america8 ,there are thousands of them in ,new ,york4 ,in the southern part of the ,united ,states there are more black men than white men4 #f4 ,most of the black men live in the hot part of the ,united ,states1 where cotton and sugar are grown4 ,white people cannot work in the cotton or sugar fields1 because the sun is too hot for them4 #g4 ,the black people who live in the ,united ,states were born in ,america4 ,they have never known any other land4 ,america1 however1 is not their real home4 ,they really belong to ,africa4 #h4 ,how is it that we now find them in ,america8 ,when the white men of ,america began to grow cotton and sugar1 they needed black men to work in the fields4 ,men called slavers went to ,africa in ships4 ,they landed and pushed inland4 ,when they came to villages they seized the people and drove them off to the ships4 #i4 ,the poor blacks1 who were thus dragged from their home and kindred1 were thrust into the holds of ships and carried to ,america4 ,sometimes they suffered much on the voyage4 ,the weakest of them died1 and were thrown overboard4 #aj4 ,when they reached ,america they were sold to the cotton-growers and sugar-growers1 who carried them off to work in the fields4 ,sometimes they were kindly treated2 sometimes they were flogged to make them work4 ,but whether kindly or cruelly treated1 they were no longer men and women1 but slaves4 #aa4 ,this went on for many years4 ,at last some kind-hearted men in the northern states said1 ,it is wicked to own slaves4 ,all the slaves in ,america shall be set free4 #ab4 ,the farmers of the south were very angry when they heard this1 and said that they would not free their slaves4 ,then a fierce war broke out4 ,the ,north beat the ,south1 and when the war came to an end all the slaves in ,america were set free4 #ac4 ,the blacks still work in the cotton and sugar and tobacco fields2 but they now work for wages1 just as ,i do4 ,they are free to come and go as they please4 ,illustration3 ,five black children #ad4 ,the darkies are very merry and full of fun4 ,when their work is over they love to sing and dance to the music of the banjo4 ,some of their songs are very pretty4 ,i will sing some of them to you when ,i come home4 ,good-bye1 dears4 ,i shall soon be with you now4--,your loving ,,father4 99 99 99 99 99 #bi4 ,,home ,,again4 #a4 ,the telegram came soon after breakfast4 ,father was coming home that very day4 ,we were so delighted that we sang and danced and clapped our hands1 just like the darkies4 #b4 ,mother was very busy4 ,you must all come and help me1 she said4 ,the house must be made beautiful for father's return4 #c4 ,may and ,i worked with mother1 but the day passed very slowly4 ,father's train was to arrive at six o'clock4 ,by half-past five we were all at the station waiting for him4 #d4 ,at last the train steamed in1 and out jumped father4 ,oh1 how we hugged and kissed him6 ,father was well1 and he looked very brown4 #e4 ,i sat next to him in the cab4 ,he told us that his ship had only reached ,liverpool that morning4 ,he had taken the first train for home1 because he wished to see us so much4 ,illustration3 ,father in cab with one of his daughters #f4 ,after tea he opened one of his boxes4 ,i have brought each of you a present1 he said4 ,sit down1 and ,i will show you some pretty things4 #g4 ,mother's present was a dress from ,india4 ,it had gold and beetles' wings on it4 ,they were a lovely shiny green1 just like jewels4 #h4 ,my present was a necklace of beautiful blue stones4 ,may's was a dolly1 dressed just like an ,indian lady4 ,tom's was a kite from ,japan4 ,it was shaped just like a dragon4 ,of course1 we were all delighted with our gifts4 #i4 ,then father told us many things about his travels4 ,i have been right round the world1 he said4 ,i sailed to the ,east1 and ,i went on and on until ,i returned to the place from which ,i set out4 ,illustration3 ,father at home with his family ,i know1 cried ,tom4 ,i have followed you all round the world on the globe4 #aj4 ,may was sitting on father's knee4 ,dad1 she said1 ,i suppose you are the very first man who has ever been right round the world4 ,of course he is1 said ,tom4 #aa4 ,father laughed4 ,no1 my dear1 he replied2 thousands of men had been round the world before ,i was born4 #ab4 ,i'm so sorry1 said ,may4 ,i did so want to tell the girls at school that my father was the very first man who ever went round the world4 ,,exercises4 7,to be worked under the direction of the teacher7 99 99 99 99 99 ,lesson #a4 #a4 ,the father travelled by train4 ,in what other ways might he have travelled8 ,which is the fastest way8 ,which is the slowest8 #b4 ,what power drives the train8 ,what other work does this power do8 #c4 ,look carefully at the first picture in this book4 ,describe it4 #d4 ,learn3 ,a globe is a small model of the earth4 ,of what shape is the earth8 ,of what shape are the sun1 moon1 and stars8 ,lesson #b4 #a4 ,the name of the town on the seashore 7par4 #b7 is ,dover4 ,turn to the picture on page #aa ,illustration entitled ,the ,white ,cliffs of ,dover and describe the cliffs of ,dover as seen from the sea4 #b4 ,the distance between ,dover and ,calais is only twenty-one miles4 ,learn3 ,a narrow passage of water joining two seas is called a strait4 ,the word strait means narrow4 ,this strait is called the ,strait of ,dover4 #c4 ,model the ,strait of ,dover in clay or plasticine4 ,suppose the water between ,england and ,france were to dry up1 what would the strait be then8 ,write out and learn3 ,a valley is a hollow between hills or mountains4 ,lesson #c4 #a4 ,the river which runs through ,paris is called the ,seine4 ,the river which runs through ,london is called the ,thames4 ,learn3 ,a river is a large stream of fresh water flowing across the land to join another river1 a lake1 or the sea4 #b4 ,look carefully at the picture on page #ad ,illustration entitled ,in the ,gardens and describe it4 #c4 ,compare ,french boys with ,english boys4 ,compare ,french girls with ,english girls4 ,lesson #d4 #a4 ,look carefully at the picture on page #ah ,illustration entitled ,the ,grape ,harvest and describe it4 ,illustration3 ,silkworm on mulberry leaf #b4 ,copy this little drawing of the silkworm and the mulberry leaf4 #c4 ,why do flowers bloom earlier in the south of ,france than in ,england8 #d4 ,describe the picture on page #bj ,illustration entitled ,games on ,board ,father's ,ship4 ,lesson #e4 #a4 ,the ,nile carries much mud in its waters4 ,if there is a stream near your school1 go to it and get a bottleful of water4 ,let this water stand for a time and notice the mud which settles down4 ,where does this mud come from8 ,illustration3 ,palm tree #b4 ,copy this little drawing of a palm tree4 ,the ,arabs say that the palm tree loves to have its foot in the water and its head in the fire4 ,what do you think this saying means8 #c4 ,look at the picture on page #bc ,illustration entitled ,the ,nile in ,flood4 ,what animals do you see in the picture8 ,tell me something about each of them4 ,lesson #f4 ,illustration3 ,two pyramids #a4 ,copy this little drawing of two of the oldest buildings in ,egypt4 ,such buildings are called pyramids4 ,write out this word six times4 ,you will see pyramids in the picture on page #bc ,illustration entitled ,the ,nile in ,flood4 ,of what shape is the ground on which a pyramid stands8 ,make a ground plan of a pyramid4 #b4 ,how do we know what the men of ,egypt were like in olden times8 #c4 ,the picture on page #be ,illustration entitled ,the ,chief ,city of ,egypt shows you a street in ,cairo1 the chief town of ,egypt4 ,describe the picture4 ,lesson #g4 #a4 ,write out and learn3 ,a long deep ditch filled with water is called a canal4 ,model a canal in clay or plasticine4 ,what is the difference between a canal and a strait8 ,illustration3 ,lighthouse #b4 ,copy this little drawing of a lighthouse4 ,write out and learn3 ,a lighthouse is a tower near the sea4 ,it shows a bright light at night to warn sailors of rocks or shallow places4 #c4 ,why does a big ship go slow through the ,suez ,canal8 ,lesson #h4 #a4 ,write out and learn3 ,a desert is a rainless tract of country on which little or nothing will grow4 ,how can a desert be turned into a garden8 ,illustration3 ,arab tent #b4 ,copy this little drawing of an ,arab tent4 ,why do the ,arabs who wander from place to place live in tents8 #c4 ,write out and learn3 ,a green spot in a desert is called an oasis4 ,several of these green spots are called oases4 ,lesson #i4 #a4 ,the palm is said to have as many uses as there are days in the year4 ,name some of these uses4 #b4 ,why is the camel called the ship of the desert8 #c4 ,go to a sand heap4 ,stand on it2 you sink in4 ,put a piece of board on the sand and stand on it2 the board does not sink in much4 ,now turn to the picture on page #aje ,illustration entitled ,boys of ,canada in ,winter4 ,you will see a pair of snow-shoes on the snow4 ,a boy's foot will sink into the snow4 ,when he stands on the snow-shoes he does not sink in4 ,find out why4 ,notice the camel's foot1 and tell me why it does not sink into the sand4 ,lesson #aj4 #a4 ,in what ways do the people of ,bombay differ from the people of your town or village8 #b4 ,why are the people of hot lands dark in colour8 #c4 ,look at the picture on page #dg ,illustration entitled ,the ,village ,well4 ,describe it4 ,lesson #aa4 #a4 ,what is the difference between our shops and the shops of ,bombay8 #b4 ,how do ,indian boys play at marbles8 ,illustration3 ,the ,union ,jack #c4 ,copy this drawing of the ,union ,jack4 ,colour it with chalks4 ,lesson #ab4 #a4 ,with a pair of scissors cut out a square of paper4 ,fold it into two2 then into four2 then into eight1 and lastly into sixteen4 ,open out the paper4 ,if the whole square stands for the size of ,india1 one of the small squares will stand for the size of our land4 ,illustration3 ,punkah #b4 ,copy this drawing of a punkah4 ,what is the use of a punkah8 #c4 ,suppose you forget to water your plants1 what happens8 ,suppose you water them too much1 what happens8 ,lesson #ac4 #a4 ,write out and learn3 ,a mountain is land which rises high above the level of the country round about it4 ,a row of mountains joined together by high ground is called a mountain range or chain4 #b4 ,write out the following3--,some mountains may be called water savings banks4 ,the rain freezes as it falls and becomes snow4 ,on very high mountains this snow never melts4 ,it gets deeper and deeper1 and the lower part turns into ice4 ,this ice creeps slowly down the mountain side until it comes into air that is warm enough to melt it4 ,the water which flows away from the ice forms a river4 ,many large rivers begin in melting ice-fields4 #c4 ,describe the picture on page #ee ,illustration of a town on the ,ganges4 ,lesson #ad4 ,illustration3 ,palanquin #a4 ,make a copy of this little drawing4 ,it shows you a palanquin--that is1 a box carried on poles4 ,rich ladies are carried from place to place in ,india in palanquins of this kind4 #b4 ,compare the life of a rich ,indian girl with that of our girls4 #c4 ,they sang ',god ,save the ,king' for me4 ,who is their king8 ,have the people of ,india ever seen him8 ,lesson #ae4 #a4 ,describe the picture on page #fa ,illustration entitled ,an ,indian ,rajah4 #b4 ,describe an elephant4 ,of what use is he8 #c4 ,tell me what you know of tigers4 ,how are tigers hunted8 ,lesson #af4 #a4 ,in what way does a ,burmese girl differ from an ,indian girl8 #b4 ,copy the drawing of a ,burmese girl on page #ff ,illustration of ,burmese woman with an umbrella4 #c4 ,write out the following3 ,the ,burmese alphabet is very hard to learn4 ,dull boys often take a year to learn it4 ,in the monks' schools the lazy boys are sometimes punished by being made to carry the hard-working boys on their backs up and down the schoolroom4 ,lesson #ag4 #a4 ,what is the difference between ,burmese football and ,british football8 #b4 ,describe the picture on page #fh ,illustration of boys playing ,burmese football4 #c4 ,write out the following3 ,rice is a grass on which many seeds grow4 ,these seeds are eaten4 ,rice will only grow in wet ground4 ,the fields are flooded with water1 and then the rice-shoots are planted4 ,the fields must be kept flooded until the rice is ripe4 ,in ,india1 men sometimes gather the rice in small boats4 ,lesson #ah4 ,illustration3 ,rickshaw #a4 ,copy this little drawing of a rickshaw4 #b4 ,write out the following3 ,tea is the name given to the dried leaves and young shoots of the tea-plant4 ,this plant is a large evergreen shrub4 ,it grows on the hillsides of ,ceylon1 and in many other places in the ,east4 ,when the leaves are picked1 they are spread out in trays until they wither2 then they are rolled4 ,wet cloths are next placed over the leaves1 and they are put in a cool dark place1 until they rot a little4 ,the leaves are then dried over a fire1 and after cooling are packed in air-tight chests4 ,they are then sent to our country4 #c4 ,describe the picture on page #ge ,illustration entitled ,ceylon ,girls ,playing the ,tom-,tom4 ,lesson #ai4 #a4 ,old cities have walls round them4 ,why were these walls built8 ,why are they of no use now8 ,illustration3 ,chinese wheelbarrow #b4 ,copy this drawing of a ,chinese wheelbarrow4 #c4 ,why do the ,chinese paint an eye on the bows of their boats8 ,lesson #bj4 #a4 ,describe the picture on page #gh ,illustration entitled ,a ,chinese ,street4 #b4 ,say what you know about a ,chinese school4 #c4 ,how can you tell a ,chinaman when you see him8 ,lesson #ba4 #a4 ,describe the picture on page #hh ,illustration entitled ,a ,rich ,chinaman's ,house4 #b4 ,in what ways do ,chinese girls differ from ,british girls8 #c4 ,write out the following3 ,the ,great ,wall of ,china is the longest wall in the world4 ,it was built about two thousand years ago1 and was meant to shut out the wild tribes which were then trying to conquer ,china4 ,the wall is more than twice as long as the island of ,great ,britain4 ,it is built of stone and earth1 and is so broad that four horses can be driven on it abreast4 ,the wall is now in ruins4 ,lesson #bb4 #a4 ,write out and learn3 ,an island is land with water all round it4 ,people can only reach an island by sailing to it in a boat or by crossing a bridge4 ,a small island is called an islet4 #b4 ,model an island in clay or plasticine4 ,suppose the water round an island were to dry up1 what would the island be then8 ,illustration3 ,snow-covered mountain #c4 ,copy this little drawing4 ,it shows you the sacred mountain of ,japan4 #d4 ,write out and learn3 ,a volcano is a hole in the ground out of which steam1 ashes1 mud1 and melted rock are thrown4 ,an earthquake is a shaking or tearing apart of the ground4 ,lesson #bc4 #a4 ,which should you prefer to be--a boy or a girl 7#a7 in ,japan1 7#b7 in ,india8 #b4 ,describe the picture on page #ij ,illustration entitled ,the ,toy ,seller4 #c4 ,try to make a drawing of a kite just after its string has been cut by the glass on the string of another kite4 ,lesson #bd4 #a4 ,write out and learn3 ,a plain is a wide tract of low-lying and nearly level country4 ,a high plain is called a plateau4 ,illustration3 ,salmon #b4 ,copy this drawing of a salmon4 ,what do you know about salmon8 #c4 ,which should you like to do best--till the fields1 cut down trees1 or catch salmon8 ,say why4 ,lesson #be4 #a4 ,describe the picture on page #aje ,illustration entitled ,boys of ,canada in ,winter4 ,why do the boys cover up their ears8 #b4 ,what sports do these boys enjoy in winter8 ,illustration3 ,canoe #c4 ,copy this drawing of a canoe4 ,lesson #bf4 ,illustration3 ,wigwam #a4 ,copy this little drawing of a wigwam--that is1 a ,red man's tent4 #b4 ,describe the picture on page #ajb ,illustration entitled ,red ,men and ,white ,men4 #c4 ,how did the ,red men hunt the bison8 ,what has become of the bison8 ,lesson #bg4 #a4 ,look carefully at the picture on page #aaa ,illustration entitled ,amongst the ,eskimos4 ,compare it with the picture on page #ce ,illustration entitled ,arabs of the ,desert4 #b4 ,why are the ,eskimos fishermen and hunters1 and not farmers8 #c4 ,how would you build a snow house8 ,would it be very cold to live in8 ,if not1 why not8 ,lesson #bh4 #a4 ,describe the picture on page #ajb ,illustration entitled ,red ,men and ,white ,men4 #b4 ,write out the following3 ,the cotton plant loves sun and water1 and will only grow in the hot1 moist parts of the world4 ,it throws out flower stalks1 at the end of which pods appear4 ,inside the pods is a soft1 white down1 which is called cotton4 ,this is spun and woven into cloth4 #c4 ,what is the difference between cotton and wool8 ,lesson #bi4 #a4 ,look at a globe4 ,find a line running round the globe at the thickest part4 ,this is called the ,equator1 because it divides the earth into two equal parts4 ,the hottest parts of the earth lie round about the ,equator4 ,the distance round the earth at the ,equator is #be1jjj miles4 ,a railway train1 running #ej miles an hour1 and never stopping1 would require nearly three weeks for the journey4 ,find out whether father's voyage was longer or shorter than this4 #b4 ,measure with a band of paper the distance on the globe from the ,equator on one side to the ,equator on the other4 ,find half this distance and mark it on the globe4 ,then mark the same distance on the other side of the ,equator4 ,the points which you have marked are called the ,poles4 ,one is the ,north ,pole2 the other is the ,south ,pole4 #c4 ,learn3 ,we divide the land of the earth into five great parts2 each of these parts is called a continent4 ,there are five continents--,europe1 ,asia1 ,africa1 ,america1 ,australia4 ,we divide the water of the earth into five great parts4 ,each of these parts is called an ocean4 ,there are five oceans--,atlantic1 ,pacific1 ,indian1 ,arctic1 and ,antarctic4 ,the ,arctic ,ocean is round the ,north ,pole2 the ,antarctic ,ocean is round the ,south ,pole4