(i) The four extreme points of the American continent are :—

(a) Murchison Peninsula, in the north;

(b) Cape Froward, in the south;

(c) Cape Branco, on the east ;

(d) Cape Prince of Wales, on the west.

(ii) The most remarkable breadths are :

(a) In 45° North lat., 3100 miles across;

(b) In 5° South lat., 3200 miles across;
(c) At Panama, 28 miles across.

(iii) America is 4 times as large as Europe; 5 times Australia; and 1 times Africa. But it is a good deal smaller than Asia.

North America is the northern division of the New World. It is connected with South America

Position. by the Isthmus of Panama. In shape and character it is not unlike South America; and the following points of resemblance between the two ought to be noted :

NORTH AMERICA

and

SOUTH AMERICA.

1. North America is an irregular tri- 1. South America is a regular triangle. angle.

2. On its west coast, there is a high 2. On its west coast, there is a high range of volcanic mountains. range which contains many volcanoes.

3. Parallel with the east coast, runs a 3. Parallel with the east coast, runs a

5. The St. Lawrence flows from west 5. The Amazon flows from west to to east; the Mississippi from north to south.

Form and
Extent.

east;
the La Plata from north
to south.

North America has a roughly triangular shape, with its base near its northern line, and its acutest angle stretching to the south. It contains about 8,600,000 square miles-less than half the extent of Asia.

(i) Its greatest length is 4500 miles.

(ii) Its greatest breadth on 45° North lat., is 3100 miles.

The build of North America is extremely simple. On the west, there is a lofty table-land with high ranges of mountains; on the east, a lower range parallel with the coast; and between the two, an immense plain which stretches from the Arctic Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico. The length of the coast line of North America is estimated at 24,500 miles. The eastern coast is much

and deeply indented; the west coast is comparatively regular.

(i) This gives 1 mile of coast line to each 350 square miles of surface. (ii) Europe has a coast line twice as richly developed; Africa has, comparatively, less than half the coast line of North America.

Bays and
Inlets.

The eastern coast contains the mighty re-entrances of Baffin Bay; Hudson Bay; Gulf of St. Lawrence; Bay of Fundy; the Gulf of Mexico; and the Caribbean Sea.-The chief opening in the west coast is the Gulf of California; in the north, the Gulf of Boothia.

(i) Baffin Bay was first explored in 1615 by William Baffin, a pilot on board the ship "Discovery " in search of the North-West Passage. There is a great deal of whale and seal-fishing in this immense bay, which is open only four months in summer.

(ii) Hudson Bay was discovered in 1610 by Henry Hudson, a famous sailor. His men mutinied; put him and his son in an open boat; sent them adrift on this great inland sea; and they were never heard of more.

(iii) The Gulf of St. Lawrence is the estuary of the mighty river St. Lawrence, which carries off the surplus water of the Five Great Lakes. It is much infested by fogs in summer, and by ice in winter.

(iv) The Bay of Fundy is a narrow arm of the Atlantic, between Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. It is famous for its strong and rapid tides, which sometimes rise and fall fully 70 ft.

(v) The Gulf of Mexico is the true "Mediterranean of America". It is a vast caldron, in which the waters from the Caribbean Sea are heated to over 90° and then discharged through the Florida Pass, to spread themselves as the "Gulf Stream" over the North Atlantic, and give to the western shores of Europe their warm climate.

(vi) The Caribbean Sea is the great inland sea which lies between the Great Antilles and the continent of South America. It is entered either by the "Windward Passage" to the west of Hayti, or by the "Mona Passage" to the east.

(vii) The Gulf of California is a long and very narrow gulf on the west coast. It is 700 miles long and in some parts only 40 miles broad.

(viii) The Gulf of Boothia is an immense opening between the Boothia Peninsula and Cockburn Island. It was discovered by the famous navigator Sir John Ross, and named by him after his friend Sir Felix Booth.

The chief Straits in North America are: Hudson

Straits.

Strait; Davis Strait; Barrow Strait; and
Behring Strait.

(i) Hudson Strait connects Hudson Bay with the Atlantic.

(ii) Davis Strait connects Baffin Bay with the Atlantic. It is thickly beset with icebergs, which come down from the west coast of Greenland.

(iii) Barrow Strait connects Baffin Bay with the Arctic Ocean.

(iv) Behring Strait connects the Arctic Ocean with the Pacific, and divides the continents of North America and Asia. It is about 50 miles wide.

There are, on the east coast, four great peninsulas:Labrador; Nova Scotia; Florida; and Yu- Peninsulas catan; on the west coast, two :-Alaska, and and Capes. Lower California. The most important Capes are on the east coast-Cape Race (in Newfoundland); Cape Sable (in Nova Scotia); Cape Cod (in Massachusetts); Cape Hatteras (in North Carolina); and Cape Sable (in Florida).

(1) Labrador is a triangular peninsula which lies in the same latitude as the British Isles-between 50° and 60°; and yet it has a nine months' winter. This is due, on the one hand, to the absence of the Gulf Stream, and, on the other, to the presence of a cold current, crowded with icebergs, from Davis Strait.

(ii) Yucatan is one of the few peninsulas in the world which run to the north. The others are Jutland in Europe, and Cape York Peninsula in Australia.

(iii) Other capes of secondary importance are: (a) On the East: Farewell; Charles; Breton; Catoche; Gracias-à-Dios. (b) In the North: Barrow and Bathurst. (c) On the West: Prince of Wales (in Alaska); and St. Lucas (in California).

(iv) Cape Race is the land first sighted in sailing from Britain to America. (v) Cape Sable is so called from its sandy beach (Fr. sable, sand).

The only Isthmus of first importance in North America is the Isthmus of Panama, which joins South and Central America.

Isthmus.

(i) Its narrowest breadth is about 30 miles. The great French engineer, M. de Lesseps, attempted to cut a canal through it, thus saving the voyage round the whole of South America, and revolutionizing the commerce of the Western World. But though he had already cut through the Isthmus of Suez and shortened the voyage to India by saving the circuitous course round the African continent, the Panama canal has thus far proved a failure. (ii) Another isthmus of some importance is the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, between the Gulf of the same name and the Bay of Campeachy. It is 140 miles across.

Islands.

The islands on the east coast of North America are much the most important. They are: Anticosti; Prince Edward Island; Newfoundland; the Bermudas; and the West Indies.-On the north lies a vast archipelago, the largest island of which is Greenland.-On the west, the most important island is Vancouver.

(i) The largest island in the West Indies is Cuba; the second, Hayti; and the third, Jamaica.

(ii) Besides Vancouver, there are, on the west coast, the Queen Charlotte Islands, the Sitka Archipelago, and Prince of Wales Island.

Table-lands.

The western part of the North American continent is one vast plateau. The well-marked mountain-range which runs through Central America branches into two ranges at the Isthmus of Tehuantepec; and these two ranges, under different. names, run up almost to the Arctic Ocean, supporting between them a long and immense table-land. The highest table-land in the whole system is the Plateau of Mexico, which is about 9000 ft. above the level of the sea. The best known is the continental basin which is called the Plateau of Utah.

North America has two great systems of uplift; the Appalachian System and the Western or Mountains. Cordillera System. In the Appalachian System, the most important range is that of the Alleghanies; in the Western System, the chief range is the Rocky Mountains.

(1) The Appalachian Mountains begin in the table-lands of Alabama, stretch north-east to the St. Lawrence, and reappear in the Plateau of Labrador. Their best-known ranges are the Alleghanies and the Blue Mountains. They are also connected with the Catskills of New York, and the Green Mountains of Vermont.

(i) The Western or Cordillera System consists of two plateaus and a number of mountain ranges. The two plateaus are the Mexican Plateau;