both as a punishment to the disobedient, and as a warning to all future nations that evil must follow sin.

7. Noah was told of the coming destruction, and therefore built an ark, a kind of huge ship, into which he gathered his family and a single pair of the various kinds of land animals. It then began to rain, until all countries of the earth were covered with a deluge of water.

8. Thus all the nations were cut off, and the world once more had but a single human family upon it. This event occurred sixteen hundred and fifty-six years after the creation.

QUESTIONS.-1. Which quarter of the globe was first inhabited? Which quarter was next inhabited? Which next? Which quarter was inhabited last? When was America first peopled by the Indians? When by white people? 2. How long is it since the world was created? Tell the story of the creation as related in the first chapter of Genesis. 3. Where did Adam and Eve live? Where is the river Euphrates? What ocean would you cross in going to the river Euphrates? 5. Where did the descendants of Adam and Eve dwell? What did they do? What did God determine to do? Why did God determine to destroy mankind? 7. What of Noah? Describe the deluge. 8. What was the effect of the deluge? When did the deluge take place?

CHAP. VIII.-ASIA continued.

HOW NOAH AND HIS FAMILY CAME OUT OF THE ARK. HOW THE PEOPLE SETTLED IN THE LAND OF THE SHINAR, ABOUT BABEL.

1. THE people who lived before the flood are called antediluvians. We know nothing about them except what is told

in the Bible. It is probable that they extended over but a small part of Asia, and that no human beings dwelt either in Africa, Europe, or America, before the flood.

2. The deluge is supposed to have commenced in November, and the rain is thought to have ceased in March. After a while the waters subsided, and Noah's ark rested upon the top of a tall mountain in Armenia, called Ararat, which is still to be seen.

3. Noah and his family and animals now came out of the ark, and from them the world was again peopled. The animals spread themselves abroad, and after many centuries they were extended into all countries.

4. Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. These with their families, proceeded to the country of Shinar, which lies to the south of Mount Ararat, and near the great rivers Euphrates and Tigris, as you will see marked in the

map.

5. Here they settled themselves on the borders of the river Euphrates, probably the same country that had been inhabited by the antediluvians. It is in this region that the first nations were formed.

6. The people increased very rapidly, and at the end of a hundred years from the deluge they were quite numerous. Most of Noah's family at this time were alive. They had told their descendants how the world had been overflowed with water, which destroyed all the animals, and all the people except those that were in the ark.

7. All who remembered the deluge, or had heard of it, were afraid that the wickedness of mankind would again be punished in a similar way. They, therefore, resolved to build a tower, that they might mount upon it, and save themselves from destruction.

8. Accordingly they laid the foundation of the edifice on the eastern bank of the river Euphrates. Perhaps they expected to rear the tower so high, that its top would touch the blue sky, and enable them to climb into heaven.

9. Their building materials were bricks that had been baked in the sun. Instead of mortar, they cemented the bricks together with a sort of slime or pitch.

10. The workmen laboured very diligently, and piled one layer of bricks upon another, till the earth was a considerable distance beneath them. But the blue sky, and the sun, and the stars, seemed as far off as when they first began.

QUESTIONS.-1. What of those who lived before the flood? 2. When did the deluge begin and end? What of Mount Ararat? 3. What of the people that came out of the ark? The animals? 4. What three sons had Noah? What did the descendants of Noah do? 5. Where did they settle? Where was the land of Shinar? 6. What of the people? 7. Why did they resolve to build the Tower of Babel? 8. Describe the building of the tower.

B

CHAP. IX.-ASIA continued.

MORE ABOUT BABEL.

1. ONE day, while these foolish people were at their labour, a very wonderful thing took place. They were talking together as usual, but, all of a sudden, they found it impossible to understand what each other said.

2. If any of the workmen called for bricks, their companions at the bottom of the tower would mistake their meaning, and bring them pitch. If they asked for one sort of tool, another sort was given them. Their words appeared to be mere sounds without any sense, like the babble of a little child before it has been taught to speak.

3. This event caused such confusion that they could not go on building the tower. They therefore gave up the idea of climbing to heaven, and resolved to wander to different parts of the earth.

4. It is likely that they formed themselves into several parties, consisting of all who could talk intelligibly together. They set forth on their journey in various directions.

5. As each company departed, they probably threw a sad glance behind them at the tower of Babel. The sun was perhaps shining on its loftiest summit, as it seemed to rise into the very midst of the sky; and we may believe that it was long remembered by these exiles from their country.

6. The descendants of Shem are supposed to have distributed

themselves over the country near to the Euphrates. The descendants of Ham took a westerly direction, and proceeded to Africa. They settled in Egypt, and laid the foundation of a great nation there. The descendants of Japheth proceeded to Greece, and thus laid the foundation of several European nations.

7. Some travellers in modern times have discovered a large hillock on the shore of the Euphrates. It is composed of sunburnt bricks cemented together with pitch. They believe this hillock to be the ruins of the tower of Babel, which was built more than four thousand years ago.

QUESTIONS.-1. Describe the confusion of languages. 3. What was the consequence of this confusion of languages? 6. What of the descendants of Shem? Of Ham? Of Japheth? 7. What have some travellers discovered? What is the hillock supposed to be?

CHAP. X.-ASIA continued.

ABOUT THE GREAT ASSYRIAN EMPIRE, AND REIGN OF QUEEN SEMIRAMIS. 1. WHEN the rest of mankind were scattered into different parts of the earth, there were a number of people who remained near the tower of Babel. They continued to inhabit the land of Shinar, which was a warm country, and very fertile. In course of time they extended over a much larger tract of country, and built towns and cities.

2. This region received the name of Assyria. It was the first of the nations of the earth. Its boundaries varied at