DISTANCES BETWEEN PLACES.

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1. Find the distance in degrees of a great circle between Quito and Chatham Island, (Easternmost of the Galapagos)?

2. Between Quito and the island of Saint Thomas, Gulf of Guinea)?

3. Between the mouth of the Fish River, or Angra Pequena, (S. W. coast of Africa) and Lake Tchad, (of Bornou, its interior)?

4. Between Land's End and St. Helena ?

5. Between Philadelphia and Carthagena, (N. of South America)?

6. Between Madrid and the Orkneys?
7. Between Lisbon and Washington,
Petersburgh and London,
Calcutta and Pekin,

Cape Chidley, (Labrador)
and Upsal, (Sweden)

how many

English miles?

8. Suppose a line to descend to the Earth's centre from Port Royal, Jamaica, and another line to descend to meet it, at the Earth's centre, from the Island of Bermuda; what number of degrees would measure the angle made by these two straight lines?

9. Suppose a ship in Port Royal, Jamaica, and another at the Island of Bermuda; how far distant, in degrees of a great circle, must the two Stars be to which these two ships are pointing their masts, at any given instant?

10. How many degrees in the heavens would the mast of a ship describe by its pointing, if it could steadily sail by a straight course from the south coast of Owhyhee to Otaheite, (Tahiti)?

11. What is the breadth (in English miles) of Africa, from Cape Verd to Cape Guardafui ?

12. What difference is there in English miles between this width of Africa, and the shortest distance between London and Jamaica ?

13. If a star be over my head, at any given instant, at Blackheath, how many degrees in the heavens is that star separate from it, which is then overhead to my friend at Alexandria?

14. How many degrees, also, another star which is vertical, at the same instant, to other friends on the North East shore of Lake Erie ?

15. Find the extent of Europe, in English miles, from North Cape (Lapland), to Cape Matapan (the Morea)?

16. Suppose the following to be the track of an outwardbound East India ship, and that the several portions of her course could be straight lines, how many English miles would she travel?

I. From the Lizard Point to Madeira?

To take in wine, and fruit, and vegetables.

II. From Madeira to the Canaries?

Shortly after leaving Madeira, a ship may expect to meet the Trade Winds."

III. From the Canaries to the Cape Verd Isles, (i. e. San Antonio, the Westernmost)?

"On first reaching the Trade-wind, it will be found to blow very nearly from due East." (But the Southward course, amongst the Canaries, and thence to "the Cape de Verds," is easily made with this side-wind.)

IV. From off San Antonio, to that portion of the Equator equally distant from Cape Palmas and Cape St. Roque; the opposite shoulders of Africa and South America ? ›

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As the ship proceeds southward, (i. e. towards and beyond the Cape Verd Isles) the wind draws gradually round from the east to north-east, and eventually to the north-north-east, and even to north at the southern margin of the north-east Trade-wind."

V. Thence off Cape St. Roque?

"The Equatorial limit* of the Trade-wind varies considerably with the season of the year,' (being sometimes 3° north of the Equator, and sometimes as much as 13° north of it). "Before reaching the Line,' the Navigator will almost always be met by the south-east Trade-wind." *** "On first encountering the south-east Trade

*The intervening region between the limits of the two Tradewind belts, viz. that of the Northern, and that of the Southern Hemisphere, is called by Captain Basil Hall, (whose lively descriptions we have quoted above,)" the purgatory of the outward-bound voyage. -Calms are met with, and, occasionally, violent tornados, or squalls, which, in a moment, tear every rag of canvas from the ship's yards. For several hours at a time, also, rain falls down in absolute torrents."

wind, an outward-bound ship is obliged to steer much more to the westward than she wishes to do, in consequence of the wind blowing so directly towards the Equator," (i. e. so nearly from the south.)

VI. From Cape St. Roque due southward, until as far south as the Cape of Good Hope?

As the ship proceeds onwards, however, and makes a little more southing, the wind will haul more and more round, from the south to south-east; then east-south-east; and, eventually to east, at the southern limit of the Trade-wind."

VII. Thence to the Cape of Good Hope?

"The great object of an outward-bound ship is to get far enough south,"-to ensure the westerly winds, which generally prevail for many degrees south of the southern Trade-wind belt; as they do northward of the northern one.

VIII. Thence by the Mauritius, and Ceylon, to Madras ?

"In the Indian Ocean, from about 28° south of the Equator to the Equator, the S. E. Trade-wind blows pretty constantly; but, in the Arabian Sea, and the Bay of Bengal, there are certain periodical winds called Monsoons, which from April till October blow from S. W.; and from the N. E. from October till April." *

PROBLEM II.

TERRESTRIAL GLOBE.

To find the Latitude of a given place.

Repeat the following definitions :

Equator, (def. 13); Poles of a Circle, (F p. 8); Poles of the Earth, (def. 10); Latitude of a Place, (def. 15); Parallels of Latitude, (def. 16); Divisions of the Brazen Meridian, (def. 21); Hemisphere, (def. 32).

RULE.-Let the Globe be so placed, as that the pupil may conveniently look over its surface, when standing eastward of its South Pole; which may be a little depressed below the point marked "South" on the wooden Circle which supports it. If the proper semicircle of the Brass Meridian be uppermost, the Northern Hemisphere will now be

Riddle's Navigation, p. 291.

to the right hand, which must always be used for northern places; the left hand being reserved for southern ones.

Having thus arranged the Globe, if the given place be north, bring it to the Brazen Meridian with the right hand; if the given place be south, with the left hand; and the degree coinciding with the place, will be its north or south distance from the Equator, or its Latitude.

N. B. The degrees on the brass meridian of a globe of twelve inches width are seldom subdivided; but the pupil may easily allow for half-degrees. On some of the larger globes the degrees are divided into thirds; on others into quarters.

1. Find the latitude of the north point of the Island Gilolo, (N. E. of Celebes)?

2. Find the latitude of Amboyna, (E. of Celebes)? "At the equator we find the natives of the Spice Islands, the clove and nutmeg tree, pepper and mace.'

3. Find the latitude of Trincomalee?

"Cinnamon bushes clothe the surface of Ceylon." +

4. Find the latitude of Mocha ?

"In Arabia 'the Happy' we find balm, frankincense, and myrrh, the coffee-tree, and the tamarind; but in these countries, (i. e. of such latitude), at least in the plains, the trees which decorate our more northerly climes are wanting."

5. Find the latitude of Astracan?

"In the thickets to the west of the Caspian Sea, we have the apricot, citron, peach, and walnut."

6. Latitude of Valencia, Palermo, and Oporto ?

"In the same latitude, (viz. that of the thickets of the Caspian,) in Spain, Sicily, and Italy, we find the dwarf-palm, the cypress, the chestnut, the cork tree. The orange and lemon trees perfume the air with their blossoms. The myrtle and the pomegranate grow wild among the rocks."

*The quotations in this, and the succeeding Problem, are from Whewell's Bridgewater Treatise.

This is not strictly correct. The plant grows wild in the woods; but its cultivation is confined to the S. W. angle, where it covers 17,000 acres; and the fragrance is perceptible at a very considerable distance from the shore.

LATITUDE, ETC.

7. Latitude of Cape Horn, and of Edinburgh?

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The general temperatures of the Northern and Southern Hemispheres differ very considerably. South America, towards its southern extremity, has a climate scarcely habitable, owing to the severity of its frosts.

8. Latitude of Buenos Ayres, of St. Helena, of Montreal, and of Botany Bay?

The temperature of a country is always affected by its elevation above the sea; the distribution of the neighbouring sea and land; the height of its mountains; the nature of its soil, &c.

9. Latitude of Strasbourg, of London, and of Brussels ?

"We cross the Alps, and we find the vegetation which belongs to Northern Europe, of which England affords an instance: the oak, the beach, the elm. The elm-tree seen in Scotland, and in the north of England, is the Wych elm."

10. Find the latitude of St. Petersburgh, and of Mainland, (Orkneys)?

،، The forests again change their character. In the northern provinces of the Russian Empire are found forests of the various species of fir: the Scotch and Spruce firs, and the larch.

** * *

In the Orkneys no tree is found but the hazel, which occurs again on the northern shores of the Baltic."

11. Find the latitude of Tornea, and of Stockholm?

"The 'hoary,' or cold alder, makes its appearance north of Stockholm. The sycamore and the mountain ash accompany us to the head of the Gulf of Bothnia."

12. Find the latitude of North Cape, Iceland, and of North Cape, Lapland ?

"Near to, or within the Arctic Circle, we yet find wild flowers of great beauty : the mezereum, the yellow and white water-lily, and the European globe-flower. When these fail us the Reindeer-moss still

makes the country habitable for animals and man."

The finest pastures of Iceland are said to be in the northern parts of the island.

13. Find the latitude of the Falkland Islands, (eastern point), and contrast its distance from the equator with that of London?

Such was the inhospitable nature of the climate of the Falkland Isles some years ago, that they were totally unfitted for the habitation of man. A mere bog, with mountains beaten with almost perpetual

storms.