Italy is a warm and fruitful country; the air is bright and clear; the scenery fine.

Turkey is mountainous, but has many warm and fruitful valleys, and a fine climate.

Greece has a varied surface of mountain and plain; the climate is warm and lovely, and the soil fruitful.

Russia consists of great plains; it has immense forests: the north part is cold and barren, but some parts to the south are warm and fruitful.

Sweden is in great part covered with forests; the climate is warm in summer, and very cold in winter.

Norway is very mountainous, and has many forests; the north part, or Nordland, is very cold; the south more mild and fertile.

Denmark is a flat country, with no large rivers: the climate is moist and temperate: the soil fertile.

MOUNTAINS.

Europe is not all a plain; only two-thirds of it are level; the rest is hilly or mountainous. Look on the map for that part of Europe which extends from the Baltic Sea to the Ural Mountains; and from the Arctic Ocean to the Black Sea: all this great space may be called a flat country. Where, then, are the mountains of Europe? They are on the west and south borders of the continent. Let us begin to trace them from Lapland. A chain goes southwards along the whole length of Norway: at the north they are close to the seashore, then they go more inland, and at the south part they form a high, wide plain. These mountains are not very lofty, but some of them are more than eight thousand feet high. The tops of some are always covered with snow, for Norway is a cold country; yet in sumner the valleys between them are very beautiful. Norway you would see many fir trees as well as beauti ul waterfalls, high rocks, and pretty lakes. From Norway let us look to Iceland. It has many cold, baren mountains; but what is most wonderful is, that

In

some of these are burning mountains! years ago, one of them burned with suc to destroy all the inhabitants of Iceland fire burning underneath the snowy gro places hot water bursts out of the gro up in the air to a great height!

There are mountains in the north of north and west of England, and in Ire not very lofty, but some are four tho the snow does not always stay on them

Look now to the mountains in the Between France and Spain are the Py about seven thousand feet high in the some of their peaks are as high as elev and are always covered with snow.

In Spain there are many mounta are some which are very high, called S snowy chain); one peak is nearly twel or more than two miles high.

Look again to France. In the sou are mountains, some of which are si in height. East of the river Rhone mountains of Europe, called the Alps; Switzerland are nearly three miles b always covered with snow, and many their sides are filled with ice; forming are called glaciers. Some glaciers a long and two or three miles broad; the seas and are very beautiful. The sno the tops of the Alps often slips and rol mountain sides, covering up houses, an ple in its fall; this is called an avalanc and ice on the Alps melt, the water pou the rocks into the valleys, forming casca One of these is nine hundred and thirt the valleys near the Alps are some lar lakes: the largest is the Lake of Gene

tion of the Alps. They begin on the shores of the Mediterranean between France and Sardinia, and first go northward; then they turn eastward through Switzerland, and again tend towards the south, reaching the Adriatic Sea: many mountain chains branch off from

them.

Along the whole of Italy extend the Apennines, some of which are nearly ten thousand feet high. On the west side of Italy, where I now point, is Mount Vesuvius; it is a volcano. On the top of it is a large opening, out of which come fire and smoke; sometimes it throws out stones and ashes, and then the country around shakes and trembles, so that houses and churches fall and many people are killed. Streams of melted minerals pour down its sides, and burn up trees, gardens, and houses; sometimes whole towns are destroyed. But when the mountain is quiet, people can climb up to the top and look in at the fire without danger.

There is a volcano in the island of Sicily, called Mount Etna. It is nearly eleven thousand feet high; the hollow on the top, out of which the fire comes, is three miles round. The lower part of this mountain is very warm, and bears rich fruits-grapes, and oranges, and corn. One hundred thousand people live on it! Higher up is a great forest of pine trees, chesnuts, oaks, beeches, and hawthorns; and, above all these, rocks covered with snow. People gather the snow, and carry it down the mountain to cool the water used for drinking, and for other purposes. How strange that a mountain which is always burning within should be covered with snow! Many people have been killed by the fire and the earthquakes caused by this mountain. Fifteen thousand persons lost their lives at one time in one town near it; and at another time the houses of twenty-seven thousand people were destroyed.

Let us now look to where the Alps join the chain of the Balkan mountains, which extend through Turkey eastward to the Black Sea. The south part of Turkey is

very mountainous, but there are many fert will now trace the Carpathian mountains t east of Hungary; many of them exceed feet in height. Some of the branches of t in Hungary are called the ore mountain and silver are found in them.

Far away to the east of Russia are th tains, which extend fifteen hundred n them are six thousand feet high.

THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE.

What kind of people live in Europe called white people, and are, generally those of our own country; that is, fair with lips and cheeks tinged with red, straight nose, small mouth and chin, and some have blue eyes and light hair; so and eyes. The Laplanders, however, a other people of Europe; they are shor different features and darker complexion yourselves a Lapland hut: it is like a litt built of stones, turf, and sticks, with a do feet high: You enter it, and what do you in the middle of the floor; pots and I about; on one side stalls for cattle, and in bed of leaves and twigs for the family; on which are dishes of milk, cheeses, some boiled fish. But where are the p woman is milking a cow outside the hut little woman! She is no taller than an Iris years old! Her daughter is standing near very little baby tied up in a sort of w cradle even the cow is very small. woman's husband? Perhaps he is away reindeer on the hills. Poor people, they in one place in summer and another in u they can get food for their cattle There

few Laplanders scattered over a large country: some of them have fifty miles to go to church, some in sledges, some skating over the snow on long wooden skates. The Lap lander keeps many reindeer; they serve to draw his sledge and to carry burdens, their milk and flesh afford him food, their skins make his clothes and bed, and their sinews serve him for thread to sew with. In winter the Laplander wears a covering of sheep-skin, with the woolly side inwards, and over that a dress of reindeer-skin, with the hair turned outwards; for in Lapland the w inter is very cold indeed, so cold that water will freeze in the cup as a person is about to drink it.

you

Norwegians.-Should like to travel in Norway? Suppose you were to go in a vessel from England, and sail up one of the fiords or deep bays of Norway, what would you -see e? Some green sloping fields by the water-side, and neat wooden houses in them painted of different colours; men in red caps and grey dresses busy working in the fields, and others fishing in the fiords: the girls are away minding the cattle on the hills. One house is the Kiopman's, where all sorts of stores are sold to the neighbours; and travellers stop at this house as they would at an inn. A woman is standing at the door, dressed in a green petticoat, leathern jacket, and red waistcoat! Beyond the green fields rise dark woods of pine trees and high grey rocks; and still further off are seen high, snowy mountains.

In winter all will be covered with snow; then you would only see the painted houses, dark trees, and grey rocks; all the rest would be snow! Then the Norwegians keep within doors; the men saw up wood for the fires, and the women sew and weave. Sometimes the bears and wolves come down from the mountains and try to eat the cattle, and the men and dogs have to drive them away or kill them.

Russians.-What is a Russian cottage like? It is built of trees or logs of wood laid one on the other;