one and two horned species of rhinoceros, and the tiger the leopard, the wild hog, and several species of deer, are often met with. Ava was for a long time the capital of the Empire, and gave its name to the country. The Burmese seat of government has often been changed; and Mandalay, the present capital, is a city only twenty years old.

4. As Holland may be said to be born of the Rhine, and Egypt-so far as the delta is concernedto be the child of the Nile, so Siam may be said to be the offspring of the Menam and Me-kong. "The great plains of these rivers are not only rich in an exuberant vegetation, in all crops which will grow in its warm climate, in jungles which yield teak, dye, and gum woods, in forests full of wild animals, in streams swarming with excellent fish, but precious stones, gold and silver, copper, tin, lead and iron are found in no small abundance. The chief export is rice. There are several ports on the coast, but the only town of any importance is the capital-Bankok-on the Menam. In early days this city contested the commercial supremacy of the east with Canton and Calcutta. It has been called the "Venice of the East," not because the capital of Siam has anything in common with the "Queen of the Adriatic," but because locomotion through both cities must be accomplished in much the same fashion. Almost every house in Bankok is built on piles, or on a floating raft, and its thoroughfares are simple canals and intersecting branches of the river. Almost all the foreign commerce of the country is carried on through this city. The area and population of Siam are variously estimated. Its area cannot be less than three times that of Great Britain, and its population is probably nearly six millions. North of Siam are the Shan States, occupied by half-wild tribes owing allegiance either to Burma or Siam.

5. Eastward from the Me-kong, and between this river and the Chinese Sea, and extending northwards to the limits of the tropics, is the independent empire, or kingdom, of Annam. The long coast region of this state is known as Cochin-China, while in the delta of

the Me-kong is a flat, rich, but unhealthy, tract of country called Lower Cochin-China, or sometimes, from its present owners, French Cochin-China. The country is about as large as France, and contains a population variously estimated at from ten to twenty millions. Its productions are similar to those of Siam and Burma, but Upper Cochin-China yields cinnamon-the chief article of trade with China. Hué is the capital.

6. French Cochin-China, with its capital-Saigon-is not an inviting place of abode. Its surface is low, and the rivers overflow their banks, and the heat and the moisture produce miasma, on which follow dysentery and fever. Saigon occupies an excellent commercial position as a depôt for the trade of China, Siam, and Annam.

7. Between Siam and Annam on the north, and French Cochin-China on the south, is situated Cambodia, one of the oldest monarchies of the world. It is now practically under French control. Its chief physical features, besides the Me-kong river, is the "Great Fresh-water Lake," a shallow depression, which retains part of the annual overflow of the river, and hence is subject to great variations in size and depth. Its waters abound with fish, which, during the dry season, are caught in great numbers by the natives. Panompin is the capital, and Kâmpot is the only port.

8. The kingdom of Siam includes the greater part of the Malay peninsula, but the southern portion remains in the hands of the Malays, who have driven the aboriginal tribes into the interior. It is a region about as large as Ireland- -a land of green forest and jungle, full of wild animals; a land rich in vegetable products and mineral wealth. On this peninsula are the British possessions of Malacca and Wellesley, and near to it the islands of Singapore and Penang.

9. The island of Singapore comprises an area of 224 square miles and a population of nearly 100,000. The town of Singapore is the capital of the colony, and the seat of government for the whole of the four settlements. The population (56,000) include specimens of almost every maritime province of Asia, besides many Euro

peans. The town is strongly fortified, and is the great depôt for British trade in the South China seas.

10. The island of Penang and the province of Wellesley produce spices, sugar, timber, rice, and tapioca. Malacca, the largest of these settlements, in area about equal to Berkshire, exports large quantities of tapioca, sago, and other tropical products. It has also some rich tin mines.

BELUCHISTAN AND AFGHANISTAN.

1. Beluchistan and Afghanistan spread over that portion of the great Persian plateau which runs in the shape of mountains, with bare sterile deserts, and narrow valleys and gorges, west and south from the Hindoo Koosh range. The country is poor and rugged, yielding, as the people themselves declare, "nothing but men and stones."

2. Beluchistan is a territory larger than Great Britain, and is for the most part a sandy plateau, unwatered by regular rivers, though traversed by torrents during the rainy season. It is enclosed by mountain ranges which on one side mark the boundary of Sind, and on the other descend in pastoral terraces to the low-lying district of Mekran by the shores of the Arabian Sea. Thus, while the upper regions of Beluchistan are cold and uninhabitable in winter and hot in summer, Mekran is for some months in the year one of the most furnace-like parts of the whole world. The coast-line extends for 600 miles, but there is not a good harbour in its whole extent.

3. Notwithstanding the mountains and deserts and extremes of climate, the country can scarcely be considered an extremely poor one. In the north-east there is a fertile and pleasant district, and cereals, vegetables, and fruits, are grown pretty extensively. Cotton, indigo, and madder, are also grown, and in the hot region of Mekran date-culture is an important industry.

* Stan, a country.

4. The population is estimated at less than half a million, divided into a multiplicity of tribes, who, like those of Afghanistan, do not readily brook a master. Khelat is the chief town, and the Khan of Khelat is nominally the ruler of the country; but the Sirdars, or tribal chiefs, though owing military service to the Khan, and recognising him as a final court of appeal, in reality exercise supreme control within their own districts.

5. The other kingdom of the great sea of mountains, between India and the plains of Central Asia, is Afghanistan. It is even a more rugged country than Beluchistan, and in size nearly three times as large as Great Britain. The Suliman mountains separate it from India proper, and across its northern parts project spurs from the Hindoo Koosh. Four-fifths of its surface is covered with a confused mass of mountains and valleys, which may be roughly described as diverging from the central knot of the Pamir to the more level deserts of the Persian plateau. It contains many well-watered and fertile valleys, as well as high, cold, treeless, pastoral table-lands. The country, as a whole, is well watered, though the rivers which intersect it do not in every case add much to the fertility of the country, through which they flow, but do not irrigate. They are formed, not by rainfall but by the melting of the mountain snows, and hence are inconstant, and of less value to the agrioulturist.

6. The great evaporation in such a dry climate, as well as the continual tapping to which these rivers are subjected for the purpose of irrigation, decrease their volume to such an extent, that, with the exception of the Helmand, almost all of them become exhausted long before they have run their full course. A large quantity of water is also absorbed by the porous soil over which the streams flow. Even the Lake of Seistan, which receives the waters of six rivers, presents during the summer months almost a dry surface over a considerable portion of its extent. In the northern parts of the country the rivers are more numerous and of greater value than in the more arid regions.

7. The climate is as varied as the surface. At Kabul and Ghuzni the winters are very severe, though the summer heats are tempered by the cool breezes from the adjacent snow-clad mountains. At Kandahar and in the south-western provinces the winter is comparatively mild. Snow falls but rarely, and even then lies but a short time.

In the south-eastern part of the country, the hot winds, laden with clouds of dust, render life almost insupportable. The high temperature is farther increased by radiation from the bare rocks and dry sandy soil, while there are no regular supplies of rain to cool the air or to moisten the parched ground.

8. The natural productions of Afghanistan, as far as we know them, are not very extensive. Gold, coal, iron, copper, and other valuable minerals, are known to exist. The vegetable productions are similar to those of Europe,