Chapter IV: North America

1

Find where we live on the map of North America. Locate our home on all of our maps and globes.

North America is a very large portion of land. You could sail along its shores for thousands of miles. At its widest part you could not cross it in a fast express train in less than five days and nights. There are thousands of cities in this great grand division, for there are millions of people here. Most of them are white or Caucasian. There are also many Indians, negroes, Eskimos and Mongolians.

Much of the land is dense forest, and much is fertile farm land. A small part has so few rivers and such a scarcity of rainfall that the land is dry and arid. Little grows upon it but coarse grass and cactus. This region is called a _desert_.

2

North America stretches far up north into the North Frigid Zone and far south into the Torrid Zone, but most of it lies in the North Temperate Zone. What plants and animals live in North America? It is separated from Asia by a narrow strip of water called Behring Strait. How did North America used to be connected with South America? Why is the separation called a canal and not an isthmus?

3

Three great oceans wash the shores of North America. Name them. The coast line is very irregular. Notice on the map that at places part of the ocean extends far into the land, forming _gulfs_ and _bays_. Hudson Bay, Gulf of Mexico and Gulf of St. Lawrence are all parts of which ocean? The waves are not so high in the bays and gulfs as in the open ocean. The land keeps off some of the wind. Vessels that are waiting to be laden with cargo lie in these sheltered gulfs and bays. Why?

At many places along the shore the land juts out into the ocean in _capes_. Many of these points of land have special names. Look on the map for them. There are light houses built on most of these capes to warn the ships in the dark and in the storms to keep away from the dangerous rocks and shore. A cape is often a pleasant place for a summer home. There is so much water around it that the sea breezes sweep across it and make it delightfully cool.

4

Do you remember how we spoke of the river with its many boats and steamers? There are hundreds of rivers in North America flowing for miles until at last they reach the ocean.

5

There are many high hills, some so very high as to be called _mountains_. There is a chain of these mountains called the Eastern Highlands along the eastern part of North America. They extend for many miles north and south. The scenery in this region is very beautiful. The mountains are covered mostly with forests of pine, spruce, oak, maple, chestnut and other trees. These are cut down for lumber. In the wilder parts of these forests live squirrels, rabbits, bears and snakes. At places the trees have been cut down to make room for fields of grain.

The mountains are full of useful minerals. Great quantities of coal and iron are mined in the Eastern Highlands.

6

The highest mountains in North America are the Western Highlands in the western part. One great chain or range extends the entire length of North America from the Arctic Ocean down into South America. Great forests grow on these mountains. In many places are huge masses of rock on which nothing grows, so this range has been called the Rocky Mountains. It is always bitter cold at the top of some of these mountains because they reach so high. Even in summer they are capped with snow. Nowhere in the world can more magnificent scenery be found.

West of the Rocky Mountains is the Pacific Mountain System.

Gold and silver are mined in the Western Highlands. In the wild parts of the forests, where no people live, deer, wolves and bears may be found.

7

The low land between the mountains we call _plains_ or _valleys_. There is a Great Central Plain which reaches from the Eastern Highlands to the Western Highlands. There are many rivers in this valley. The Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers are the largest.

8

You remember how rivers make rainfall and fertile soil. The Great Central Plain has some of the best farm land in the world. In the northern cold part hardly anything grows, but in the central part great quantities of corn, grain, fruits and vegetables are raised. In the south the plantations or farms raise sugar cane, cotton, tobacco, rice and coffee.

On the western plains great herds of thousands of sheep and cattle are raised.

In the Great Central Plain are hundreds of cities where the farm products are sold. Here, too, the farmers buy the farm tools and machinery which they need. In the city mills the wheat is ground into flour and the logs from the forests are sawed into planks or made into furniture. The cattle and sheep are killed and the meat prepared for our use.

9

East of the central part of the Great Central Plain are five of the largest lakes in the world. When you are in a boat in the middle of any one of them you cannot see the land on any side. They are called the Great Lakes. Their names are Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie and Ontario. They are all joined together, and from the last a large river runs into the Gulf of St. Lawrence. It has the same name as the gulf.

There are many other smaller lakes in North America where the land is low and the water from the rivers and streams fills up the hollows. Nearly all have fresh water like the rivers. A very few, like Great Salt Lake, contain salt water.