QUESTIONS.-1. What is chronology? Its use? 2. What benefit can we gain by placing before us a chronological table? What is the advantage of fixing a chronological table in the memory? 3. What curious thing do we learn from a chronological view of Asia ?

N.B.-The teacher may now proceed to ask such questions as he deems proper, in regard to the several events noticed in the table: it may be well to turn to the pages where the details are given respecting the events, and interrogate the pupil upon them.

Questions like the following may be useful: How long from the birth of Abraham to that of Moses? From that of Moses to that of David? From the beginning to the end of the Saracen empire? &c.

CHAP. XXXIX.-AFRICA.

ABOUT THE GEOGRAPHY OF AFRICA. THE INHABITANTS.

1. AFRICA is one of the six parts of the globe. It is an immense extent of country, and includes nearly one-fourth of all the land on the earth. It is separated from Europe by the Mediterranean, and from America by the Atlantic Ocean; the nearest part to America is about three thousand miles from New York or Boston, but at the Strait of Gibraltar it approaches very near to Europe.

2. It is divided from Asia by the Red Sea. It is, however, attached to Asia by a narrow neck of land, called the Isthmus of Suez.

3. Africa is less known than any other portion of the globe. Many parts of the interior have never been visited by Europeans; for the greater part of the inhabitants are negroes, of which there are many tribes. Some of these are intelligent, and live tolerably well, but the greater part are either in a savage or a barbarous state.

4. The climate being warm, they need little shelter or clothing. Their houses are therefore poor huts, or slight tenements made of leaves or branches of trees. Their dress is often but a single piece of cloth tied around the waist. They are, however a cheerful race, and spend much of their time in various amusements.

5. Beside the negroes, there are several other races of Africans. The inhabitants from Egypt to Abyssinia appear to consist of the original Egyptian people, mixed with Turks, Arabs, and others. The people of the Barbary states are the descendants of the ancient Carthaginians, mingled with the Saracens who conquered the country, together with Turks and Arabs.

6. The immense desert of Sahara, with all the adjacent regions, appears to be occupied by wandering tribes of Arabs, who move from place to place with their horses and camels, like the people of Arabia, for pasturage or plunder.

7. Africa may be considered as, on the whole, the least

civilized portion of the earth. The people are mostly Mahometans, and one half of them are nearly in a savage state. The rest are in a barbarous condition.

8. The central parts of Africa abound in wild animals, such as lions, panthers, leopards, elephants, rhinoceroses, zebras, and quaggas. The woods are filled with chattering monkeys, the thickets are infested with monstrous serpents, ostriches roam over the deserts, various kinds of antelopes and deer in vast herds graze upon the plains, hippopotami are seen in the lakes and rivers, and crocodiles abound in the stagnant waters. Wild birds of every hue meet the eye of the traveller in nearly all the parts of the country.

East? South?

QUESTIONS.-How is Africa bounded on the north? West? What is the most southern point? The most eastern? The most western? The most northern? In what part is Egypt? Barbary states? Desert of Sahara? Which way does the Nile run? Into what does it run? 1. What of Africa? How is it separated from Europe and America? How far is the nearest point from New York or Boston? 2. How is it divided from Asia? What neck of land joins it to Asia? 3. Is Africa well known? What of the inhabitants? 4. What of the What of the negroes? 5. What of other Describe them. 7. How may Africa be considered? State of 8. What of animals in Central Africa?

climate? Houses? Dress? races?

the people?

CHAP. XL.-AFRICA continued.

EARLY SOVEREIGNS OF EGYPT.

1. THE natives of Africa are supposed to be descended from Noah's son Ham, who went thither and settled in Egypt after the building of the tower of Babel, this country being near the land of Shinar. The kingdom of Egypt is very ancient, and was founded by Menes, one of the children of Ham, 2118 B.C. In the Bible, he is called Misraim.

2. Egypt is bounded north by the Mediterranean Sea, east by the Red Sea, south by Nubia, and west by the desert. The Nile runs through the midst of Egypt from the south to the north. This river overflows once a year, and thus fertilizes the country, for it very seldom rains in Egypt.

3. Menes, or Misraim, the first king of Egypt, turned aside the Nile from its orignal channel, and built the city of Memphis where the river had formerly flowed. He was so great a monarch that the people worshipped him as a god after his death.

4. The history of Egypt is very obscure during a considerable time after the reign of Menes. From the year 2084 to the year 1825 before the Christian era, it was governed by rulers who led the lives of shepherds, and were therefore called shepherd kings. These kings were afterwards driven from Egypt. An Ethiopian woman, named Nitocris, became queen of this country in the year 1678 before the Christian

era.

Her brother had been murdered by the Egyptians, and she resolved to avenge him.

5. For this purpose queen Nitocris built a palace under ground, and invited the murderers of her brother to a banquet. The subterranean hall where the banquet was prepared was brilliantly illuminated with torches. The guests were the principal men in the kingdom.

6. The scene was magnificent, as they sat feasting along the table. But suddenly a rushing and roaring sound was heard overhead, and a deluge of water burst into the hall. Queen Nitocris had caused a river to flow through a secret passage, and it extinguished the torches, and drowned all the company at the banquet.

7. The most renowned monarch that ever reigned over Egypt was Sesostris. The date of his reign is not precisely known; but there is a carving in stone, lately found in Egypt among the ruins of an ancient city, which is more than three thousand years old, and supposed to be a portrait of him. It is doubtless the oldest portrait in existence. This king formed the design of conquering the world, and set out from Egypt with more than half a million of foot soldiers, twenty-four thousand horsemen, and twenty-seven thousand armed chariots.

8. His ambitious projects were partially successful. He made great conquests, and wherever he went he caused marble pillars to be erected, and inscriptions to be engraved on them, so that future ages might not forget his renown.