From Rio, the steamer continues its course to Monte Video, the capital of Uruguay, situated at the mouth of the La Plata. Monte Video has an excellent harbour, around which the city, consisting of low, flat-roofed houses, is built in crescent form. On the opposite side of the La Plata, farther up the estuary, is Buenos Ayres, the capital of the Argentine Confederation, of which, till lately, Uruguay was a member. The harbour of Buenos Ayres does not admit large vessels. The navigation of the La Plata, moreover, is rendered difficult by its numerous rocks and sand-banks, and it is especially dangerous during the *prevalence of the tempestuous south-west winds called pamperos, or pampas-winds. The Buenos Ayres mails and passengers are therefore left at Monte Video, and the steamer proceeds southward; and passing through the Strait of Magellan, or weathering Cape Horn, makes for Valparaiso, the chief port of Chili. Four hundred miles westward, in the midst of the Pacific, is the island of Juan Fernandez, Alexander Selkirk's solitary residence on which for four years suggested to De Foe his well-known story, "Robinson Crusoe." From Valparaiso, the steamer proceeds to Callao, the port of Lima, which is six miles inland, and with which it is connected by rail. Lima, the city founded by Pizarro to be the Spanish capital of his conquests, has the reputation of being the handsomest city in South America-its cathedral and numerous churches, with their domes and spires, giving it a magnificent appearance. We have now crossed the line of the West Indian and Panama route already described, of which the traveller may, for variety's sake, avail himself on his homeward journey. "Still vexed Bermoothes."-The ever- | stormy Bermudas. See The Tempest, Act i., Scene 2. Shakespeare is supposed to have taken his idea from an account of the shipwreck of Sir George Somners on the Bermudas in 1609. empire in 1822. (See OUTLINES OF HIS TORY, Nelsons' School Series.) 'Buenos Ayres (Bo'nus A'riz; but the Spanish pronunciation is Bwa'noce I'rēz), seceded from the Argentine Confederation in 1853; but they were reunited in 1862. Ar'gentine means pertaining to silver (from Lat. argentum, silver). This and the name La Plata (plate), given first to the country, and afterwards to the estuary, were sug Spanish discoverers received from the natives. They supposed, but erroneously, that they were the produce of the country. 2 Rail across the isthmus of Panama'. -This railway was opened in 1855. It had been previously proposed to cut a ship canal through the isthmus; and in 1850 a treaty was ratified between Eng-gested by the silver and gold which the land and America, declaring that neither country should ever assume exclusive control over the canal, or erect any fortification in Central America. But the project has not yet taken practical shape. A canal has also been projected across the isthmus of Tehuantepec, on the south of Yucatan. Brazilian Empire.-On the outbreak of the Peninsular War, the royal family of Portugal fled to Brazil, which had been a Portuguese dependency since the sixteenth century. They formed it into a tributary kingdom in 1815, and into an independent Strait of Magellan.-This strait was first passed through by Magellan (Fernando de Magalhaens), a Portuguese navigator, in 1521. He gave the Pacific Ocean its name on account of its calmness when he first entered it. "Weathering Cape Horn.-See ROYAL READER No. V. Pizarro. The Spaniard who conquered Peru in 1532. QUESTIONS.-Where is Southampton? How does it communicate with the English Channel? Where is Portsmouth Harbour? What ocean routes start from Southampton? What is the most important branch of the Mediterranean route? For what other purposes is it employed? At which of the Cape Verd Islands does the East Indian mail call? How far are these islands from the African coast? To whom do they belong? Which is the next station on the Cape route? To whom does it belong? What town is on it? As what is it convenient? How far is St. Helena from Ascension? What is the chief interest attaching to it? What was Napoleon's residence? Where is it situated? What is the next place visited after St. Helena? Why is it so called? When did Cape Colony become a British possession? What does it bear traces of? What island is next visited? After whom was it named? From whom did Britain take it? When? What is its capital? What is the next station? Where is Point de Galle? What routes there meet? What branch mails proceed thence? What route do ships returning from Australia prefer? Why? What islands lie in the ship's course after doubling Cape Horn? What is abundant on these islands? For what do ships visit them? Where do the homeward and outward routes meet? What has then been accomplished? Where does the West Indian mail sail from Southampton? selected as a mail station? To whom does the island belong? go from St. Thomas? What other route is there to Kingston? call these islands? Why are they so valuable to Britain? Where does the mail route proceed after Kingston? And from Navy Bay? What is the distance to Panama? When was the railway opened? What has been its effect on Panama? Why has that port been Where does the South American mail start from? What places in Europe does it call at? What islands lie in its course between Portugal and Brazil? For what is Madeira famous? To whom do the Canaries belong? Which is the most conspicuous of them? What are the towns first visited on the Brazilian coast? What is the capital of Brazil? How is it situated? Where does the steamer go after leaving Rio? What towns on the Pacific coast are visited? What island is west from Valparaiso? For what is it interesting? What is the port of Lima? Who founded Lima? What reputation does it possess? By what other route may the traveller return to England? SIR JOHN FRANKLIN.' THE Polar clouds uplift- Through the snow's 'dazzling blink, Is dotted with their dead,3 But for the pangs they feel. The river of their hope 6 At length is drawing nighTheir snow-blind way they grope, And reach its banks-to die! Thank God, brave Franklin's place Was empty in that band! He closed his well-run race Not on the iron strand. Not under snow-clouds white, Its shuddering way to Heaven; But warm, aboard his ship, With comforts at his side And hope upon his lip, The gallant Franklin died. His heart ne'er ached to see His sailors' pangs were free From their loved captain's pain. 3 Dotted with their dead.-The route they had taken so far was dotted with the skeletons of those who had died, and with their cast-off implements. The loaded gun.-Loaded guns were in some cases found lying beside the skeletons. 1 Sir John Franklin, the Arctic ex- | bering 105, prepared to take their "long plorer, and the true discoverer of the march" overland. North-West Passage, was born in Lincolnshire in 1786. He set out on his third and last expedition in 1845, and the fate of the brave band was unknown till 1857, when the relics of the expedition were found by Captain M'Clintock. From these it appeared that Franklin had died on board his ship in 1847, and that the survivors abandoned their ships in 1848, intending to proceed overland to the Great Fish River. It was concluded that they had all perished in the snow. In the Franklin search-ex-ing. peditions, about twenty vessels and more than a thousand men were at sundry times engaged. 2 A band of gallant hearts.-The survivors of the crews of Franklin's two ships -the Erebus and the Terror-then num 5 Wotting, knowing. [Old Eng. witan, to know; present, I wot; past, I wist.] 6 The river of their hope.-The Great Fish River, towards which they were mak His heart ne'er ached....pain.-The meaning is, Franklin was mercifully spared the agony of witnessing the hardships his men had to undergo; and they were spared the pain of seeing him share those hardships. THE LLANOS OF SOUTH AMERICA. IN South America the features of Nature are traced on a gigantic scale. Mountains, forests, rivers, plains, there appear in far more colossal dimensions than in our part of the world. Many a branch of the Amazon 'surpasses the Danube in size. In the boundless primitive forests of Guian'a more than one Great Britain could find room. The Alps would seem but of moderate elevation if placed beside the towering Andes; and the plains of Northern Germany and Holland are utterly insignificant when compared with the lla'nos1 of Venezuela and New Grana'da, which cover a surface of more than 250,000 square miles. Nothing can be more remarkable than the contrast which these ⚫immeasurable plains present at various seasons of the year—now parched by a long-continued drought, and now covered with the most luxuriant vegetation. When, day after day, the sun, rising and setting in a cloudless sky, pours his vertical rays upon the thirsty llanos, the calcined2 grass-plains present the monotonous aspect of an interminable waste. Like the ocean, their limits melt in the hazy distance with those of the horizon; but here the resemblance ceases, for no refreshing breeze wafts coolness over the desert to comfort the drooping spirits of the wanderer. In the wintry solitudes of Siberia3 the skin of the reindeer affords 'protection to man against the extreme cold; but in these sultry plains there is no refuge from the burning sun above and the heat reflected from the glowing soil, save where, at vast intervals, small clumps of the Mauri'tia palm afford a scanty shade. The water-pools which 'nourished this beneficent tree have long since disappeared; and the marks of the previous rainy season, still visible on the tall reeds that spring from the marshy ground, serve only to mock the thirst of the 'exhausted traveller. Yet even now the parched savanna1 has some refreshment to bestow, for the globular melon-cactus,5 which flourishes on the driest soil, and sometimes measures a foot in diameter, conceals a juicy pulp under its tough and prickly skin. Guided by an admirable instinct, the wary mule strikes off with his forefeet the long, sharp thorns of this remarkable plant, the emblem of good nature under a rough exterior, and then cautiously advances his lips to sip the refreshing juice. As, in the Arctic regions, the intense cold during winter retards pulsation, or even suspends the operations of life, so in the llanos the long continuance of drought causes a similar stagnation in animated nature. The thinly scattered trees and shrubs do not, indeed, cast their foliage, but the grayish-yellow of their leaves announces that vegetation is suspended. Buried in the clay of the dried-up pools, the alligator and the water-boa7 lie plunged in a deep summer sleep, like the bear of the North in his long winter slumber; and many animals which, at other times, are found roaming over the llanos have left the parched plains and migrated to the forest or the river. The large maneless puma, and the spotted jaguar, following their prey to less arid regions, are now no longer seen in their former hunting-grounds; and the Indian has also disappeared with the stag he pursued with his poisoned arrows. In Siberia, the reindeer and the migratory birds are scared away by cold; here, life is banished and suspended by an intolerable heat. Sometimes the ravages of fire are added to complete the image of death on the parched savanna. "We had not yet penetrated far into the plain," says Sir |