as a great ocean. A great ocean indeed exists there, but it is an ocean of grass, having for its shores the crests of mountain ranges, and the dark pine forests of the subarctic regions. "The great ocean itself does not present more infinite variety than does the prairie ocean of which we speak. In winter a dazzling surface of purest snow; in early summer a vast expanse of grass and pale pink in autumn too often a wild sea of raging fire. No ocean in the world can vie with its gorgeous sunsets; no solitude can equal the loneliness of a night on the prairie. One feels the stillness, and hears the silence; the wail of the prowling wolf makes the voice of solitude audible; the stars look down through infinite silence upon a silence almost as intense."

roses;

9. Northwards, from the boundary of Ontario and Quebec, is a great wooded region. It occupies the southern shores of Hudson's Bay, and extends down the valley of the Peace and Mackenzie Rivers nearly to the Arctic Ocean. The valley of the Peace River is especially noted for the excellence and abundance of its timber.

10. North and north-west from the great triangular plain, around the north-west shores of Hudson's Bay and the shores of the Polar Sea, are the "barren grounds," a sterile treeless country, supporting only a few stunted bushes here and there. In winter the icy winds sweep across these barren grounds to such an extent as to render them uninhabitable to the hardy Indian, and even the reindeer is compelled to retire to the woods for shelter.

The basin of the St. Lawrence River, including the provinces of Ontario and Quebec, may be described as the "Woodland Region." It is from this district, as well as from near the shores of the Pacific in British Columbia, that enormous quantities of timber for export are obtained.

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LESSON L.

THE DOMINION OF CANADA.-THE ST. LAWRENCE, AND THE GREAT LAKES.

1. The St. Lawrence is by far the largest and most important river of the Dominion. It is the outlet for the surplus waters of a basin measuring nearly 300,000 square miles; and this basin includes the most wonderful series of fresh-water lakes in the world.

2. The gigantic river-system of the St. Lawrence may be said to take its rise almost in the centre of the great American continent, in the streams which enter Lake Superior on the west. From the point where the St. Louis joins the lake to the sea, a distance of 2,000 miles, the lakes and the river form together a magnificent highway for commerce not to be surpassed in any part of the world.

3. Lake Superior-the most westward of the great lakes is the largest body of fresh water in the world, occupying a space nearly as large as Ireland. Its surface is about 630 feet above the sea-level, and its depth is about 1,000 feet. There are some noted copper mines along the shores of this lake.

4. Lake Superior is connected with Lake Huron on the east by a narrow channel, in which are the rapids of St. Mary. The surface of Lake Huron is 50 feet below that of Lake Superior, and there is a constant flow of water from the latter lake. Lake Huron covers an area equal to about four-fifths of that of Lake Superior. In its northern part are several islands, and a portion of the lake nearly cut off by them is called Georgian Bay. Lake Huron receives the waters of another lake almost as large as itself Lake Michigan--which lies wholly in the United States. Lake Huron is famous for its fisheries.

5. Lake Huron is connected southwards with Lake Erie by the river and lake of St. Clair and the river Detroit. This lake is about twice as large as Wales.

Its surface is about 20 feet below that of Huron, but no less than 326 feet higher than that of Ontario, the next lake on the east. This gives rise to the wonderful falls of Niagara, in the river of the same name connecting the two lakes.

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6. For the first 20 miles after leaving Lake Erie the river Niagara falls only 15 feet; but in the half-mile of rapids" before the fall is reached the descent is 55 feet. Goat Island divides the fall. The Canada, or Horseshoe Fall, is 600 yards broad and 51 yards high. The American part of the falls is 200 yards broad and nearly 55 yards high. In the river above the falls the water is nearly on a level with the banks; but below the falls the banks are from 80 to 100 yards in perpendicular height. The roar of the water can be heard 40 miles off.

7. Ontario is the smallest but most important of the lakes as a highway for commerce. It has many large and thriving towns built on its banks, of which Toronto and Hamilton are the chief.

8. From Lake Ontario to the sea the St. Lawrence measures about 670 miles. On leaving the lake the river widens out into the "Lake of the Thousand Isles," and after a course of about 150 miles it again widens out and encloses the island of Montreal, on which stands the important town of the same name. Here it receives the waters of the Ottawa, a splendid river, noted for its waterfalls and fine scenery.

9. Half way between Montreal and Quebec-another 150 miles the river forms Lake St. Peter, and below the lake the river St. Maurice swells the volume of the now mighty river. From Quebec to its mouth, where it widens out into a gulf, the river measures about 400 miles. At Quebec it is two miles wide. 100 miles lower down, where it is joined by the river Saguenay draining Lake St. John, it measures 15 miles across, and at its mouth about 90 miles.

10. The river St. Lawrence is blocked by ice during four or five months of the year, but for the remaining months the river is navigable for vessels of the largest size as far as Montreal. Between Montreal and Lake

Ontario the navigation is blocked by rapids and shallows, and to avoid these a canal has been constructed from Ottawa to Kingston on Ontario. Ontario and Erie again are joined by the Welland Canal.

11. This magnificent water-way of lakes, canals, and rivers, is the great outlet for the corn and other productions not only from the Dominion but also from many of the United States; and so perfect is it that a ship freighted with corn at Chicago on Lake Michigan can sail right into the docks at Liverpool.

1. Over such a vast extent of country as that included in the Dominion of Canada, there must of necessity be great varieties of climate. But of the country as a whole we may say that the temperature is lower than that of countries in corresponding latitudes in Europe, that the extremes of heat and cold are very great, that the climate of the eastern part is more severe than that of the western, and that the interval between winter and summer, and summer and winter, is very short.

2. The cold in winter in all parts of the Dominion is very severe, but the unusual dryness of the air, and the absence of high winds make it less felt than it would be if combined with a damp atmosphere. On the whole, the climate may be said to be healthy; fatal epidemics, and even contagious diseases, are almost unknown, and the inhabitants suffer much less from coughs and colds than the people of Great Britian.

3. In Quebec the winter begins in November, and lasts till the end of April; but in Ontario, especially in the neighbourhood of the Great Lakes, it is much shorter as well as being less severe. The river is usually frozen over as low down as the city of Quebec, for five months in the year, and even in the lower parts navigation is