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opposite side, sheltered from furious winds and driving rain, is formed by a succession of swelling hills, or sloping masses of rock, profusely clothed with mossy herbage. In the hollow between them rolls a bright 'transparent stream, which, 'incessantly at work, has excavated for its waters a channel some twenty feet below the surface. At certain parts a rocky ledge or a pile of boulders stands in its way, and forces it to clear the obstacle with one swift and sudden bound. About half way down, the ravine narrows to a mere defile, where the stream grows wilder, and the banks are steeper, and the vegetation flourishes more richly. The lofty cliffs on the right are here broken up into a variety of fantastic outlines: pyramids and pinnacles, spires and towers, battlemented fortresses and ruined cathedrals the whole resembling a fairy vision embodied in stone, which might furnish the imagination of poet or artist with inexhaustible material.

Between Ogden and San Francisco the line is called the Central Pacific Railroad. It skirts the Great Salt Lake on the north, and crossing the Great American Desert, approaches the Pacific Alps. In traversing these mountains, the line again reaches a remarkable elevation, rising at one point to the height of 7048 feet above the sea level. Thereafter, however, the descent is rapid-a fall of nearly 7000 feet being accomplished in little more than 100 miles.

This descent brings us to Sacramento city, the capital of “the Golden State," as California is called, and the meeting-place of many important lines of traffic. Here we have a curious evidence of the fact that the far West is only the beginning of the East; for in Sacramento, as in San Francisco, a considerable proportion of the lower classes of the population is Chinese.

The terminus of the line is not at San Francisco itself, but at Oakland, on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay. Between these places there is a mammoth steam ferry-boat, which conveys the train with its passengers and baggage across the bay in twenty minutes.

San Francisco is built on the western shore of the bay of the same name, near the extremity of a peninsula which stretches northward between that bay and the Pacific. As seen from the rising ground above Oakland, on the opposite side of the bay, San Francisco presents a fine appearance. The northern

portion of the city is scattered over a series of dry and sandy hills, which are almost entirely destitute of foliage. The southern

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or business part of the city is more regularly built, consisting of long parallel streets, which generally terminate in 'commodious quays. Across the peninsula, seven or eight miles broad at this its northern extremity, we see the long unbroken line of the Pacific; and on the right the Golden Gate, which connects the ocean with the bay. At its narrowest point, where it is one mile broad, this inlet is commanded by a fort and light-house, which are distant from San Francisco about five miles in a north-westerly direction.

A large proportion of the houses in San Francisco are built of wood but these are being gradually outnumbered and superseded by erections of stone; a plentiful supply of which, easily worked and agreeably tinted, is obtained from an island in the bay. Of this stone are built many of the public edifices, some of which are handsome and imposing structures. The number of elegant private residences, also, is increasing rapidly with the 'prosperity of the city.

San Francisco now ranks sixth in importance among the commercial cities of the United States, and has a population of 150,000. It is now the chief sea-port on the Pacific coast; and it seems likely to become, especially in connection with the Pacific Railway, the great corn 'depôt of Western America.

The mildness of its climate is attested by the perennial flowering of many delicate plants which are almost unknown in the Eastern States. Geraniums, fuchsias, verbenas, jessamine, roses, and a wealth of flowers which bloom only with 'reluctance and for a short season in most of the older States, are here found in constant perfection; and the city conceals amid its sandy and uninviting hills many gardens, which are emphatically "gardens of delight."

From San Francisco the traveller crosses the Pacific to HongKong, either by way of Yokohama in Japan, or of Honolulu in the Sandwich Islands. At this point he might resume his overland journey, and cross Central Asia; but he would have great difficulty in procuring means of conveyance, and would encounter endless obstacles and delays. He therefore proceeds from Hong-Kong by the established route to Point de Galle in Ceylon, and thence to Aden, Suez, and Alexandria, by the usual Indian overland route.

The quickest route from Alexandria to London and Liverpool is that by way of Brindisi and Turin. This journey can now be performed in seven days, only three of which are spent at sea. Brindisi (the ancient Brundusium) was in former times the great

naval station of the Roman empire. It is situated on the coast of the Adriatic, near the south-eastern extremity of Italy. It is directly connected by rail with Florence and Turin. Between Turin and Chambery in France, the railway passes through the heart of the Alps by the famous Mont Cenis tunnel-one of the greatest triumphs of modern engineering. The tunnel was begun in 1857, on the opposite sides of the mountain. The • excavators met in the middle of the mountain on Christmas Day, 1870; and the first train passed through the tunnel, which is eight miles long, and cost nearly three million pounds, on the 17th of September 1871.

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Paris is reached in a few hours, and London and Liverpool in a few hours more; and thus the circuit of the globe has been completed. It has been estimated that one may perform this great tour of the world in about seventy-seven days; the distance traversed being 23,700 miles.

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ev'idence, proof.
ex'cavators, borers.
extrem'ity, termina'tion.
fantastic, fan'ciful.
gigantic, vast.
impōs'ing, impressive.
inces'santly, con'stantly.
inexhaustible, endless.
insignificant, unimport'-

ant.

junc'tion, meeting-place.
locomotive, steam carriage.
mam'moth, enormous.
marvellously, won'der-
massive, powerful. [fully.
no ticeable, remarkable.
overpowering, over-
whelm'ing.
peren'nial, contin'uous.

1 Southern Seas.--Though the Pacific and the Atlantic are connected by the North-West Passage, that cannot, of course, be reckoned a practicable route.

2 Atlantic and Pacific Railway.-A Canadian line, connecting the shores of Nova Scotia and British Columbia, has been decided on, and is now in progress.

The highest point.- The highest point in Europe reached by the locomotive is 6700 feet. This was accomplished in 1865, when a climbing locomotive ascended Mont Cenis by means of central rails and cogged wheels.

Council Bluffs.-So called from the bluffs, or bold rocks, in the neighbourhood,

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thor'oughfare, main street.
transatlantic, crossing the
Atlantic.
transparent, clear.
traversing, crossing. [ing.
un'dulating, rising and fall-

where two explorers held a council with
Indians in 1804.

"The prairie dog. is a rodent, and not a carnivorous animal. Its popular name is due to the yelping sound which it utters, and which resembles the bark of a puppy.

The Rocky Mountains.-These mountains extend throughout the whole of North America, from north to south. They are continued in the Andes of South America. The highest peak in the Rocky Mountains proper is Freemont Peak (13,500 feet) in the Wind River Mountains, not far from which the Pacific Railway runs. There are higher summits farther north, in the Chippewayan range-as Mount Hooker

(15,500 feet), and Mount Brown (16,000 | south of Ogden, with which it is connected feet). The highest summit of all is Popo- by railway. The Lake is 75 miles long, by catepetl (18,000 feet), in Mexico. It is an 30 broad; average depth, 8 feet; greatest active volcano, covered with perpetual depth, 33 feet. It has many islands, some of which rise 3000 feet above the Lake.

snow.

7 Echo Creek.-More correctly Echo Cañon (canyon). Cañon is a Spanish word meaning a tube, or narrow channel.

Great Salt Lake.-Salt Lake City, the famous Mormon settlement, is 37 miles

Great American Desert.-An elevated desert, lying between the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific Alps. It is a rainless region, with a few streams flowing into salt marshes or lakes.

QUESTIONS.-How must a voyage round the world be made? How long does it usually occupy? By what route may the journey be performed in much less time? Where does the route start from? What is marvellous in the history of Liverpool? In what time do we reach New York? Where do we then go? By what means? What is the length of the line? What time does the journey from New York to San Francisco take? What is the highest level reached by the line? What is the highest level reached in Europe? What are the four great sections of the line? Of what is Chicago the most striking example? What calamity befell it in 1871? How far from Chicago to Omaha? What is the most considerable town on the route? On what river is Omaha? What town is on the eastern side of the river? What does Omaha bid fair to become? What valley lies west of it? What region? What are these prairies? How is the monotony of grassy plain sometimes relieved? What gives animation to the landscape? What animals are found in remote districts? How are the distances sometimes varied? What animal is found on the barren tracts of sand? What is the overpowering feature of the prairies? Mention another noticeable characteristic of these plains. Where does the highest station on the line occur? What is it called? Where is Echo Creek? For what is it remarkable? To what is it compared? What is the line called between Ogden and San Francisco? What lake does it skirt? What desert does it cross? What mountains does it traverse? At what elevation? What city is then reached? What shows that the West is here passing into the East? Where is the terminus of the line? How is the train conveyed to San Francisco? On what does San Francisco stand? What is it likely to become? What places are touched at between San Francisco and Alexandria? What is the quickest route from Alexandria to London? Where is Brindisi? What does the railway pass through, between Italy and France? When was the tunnel begun? When was it completed? In what time may this great tour of the world be made? What is the distance traversed?

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FAREWELL, a long farewell, to all my greatness!
This is the state of man: to-day he puts forth
The tender leaves of hope; to-morrow blossoms,
And bears his blushing honours thick upon him;
The third day comes a frost, a killing frost,
And, when he thinks, good easy man, full surely
His greatness is a-ripening, nips his root,
And then he falls, as I do. I have ventured,
Like little wanton boys that swim on bladders,
This many summers in a sea of glory,
But far beyond my depth: my high-blown pride
At length broke under me, and now has left me,
Weary and old with service, to the mercy
Of a rude stream, that must for ever hide me.
Vain pomp and glory of this world, I hate ye:
I feel my heart new opened. Oh, how wretched
Is that poor man that hangs on princes' favours!

SHAKESPEARE.

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