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^GRAPHICAL 
^EANINGS  ,  .  . 


Rev.  F.  R  BURROWS 


cs 


o 


X 


LIBRARY 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA. 


Class 


GEOGRAPHICAL 
GLEANINGS 

PART  I. — "  On  Some  Methods  of  Teaching  Geography" 

PART  II. — On  the  Preparation   and  Teaching 
of  the  Subject 


By  the 

REV.   FRANK    R.    BURROWS,    M.A 

Trin.  Coll.  Oxon. 


LONDON 
GEORGE  PHILIP  &  SON,  LTD.,  32,  FLEET  STREET 

LIVERPOOL:  PHILIP  SON  &  NEPHEW,  LTD.,  45-5 1,  SDUTH  CASTLE  STREET 

1906 
(All  rights  reserved) 


DEDICATED   (BY  PERMISSION)  TO 

THE     RT.    HONBLE.     LORD     CURZON    OF    KEDLESTON 

GOLD  MEDALLIST  OF  THE  ROYAL  GEOGRAPHICAL  SOCIETY,  IN  MEMORY 

OF  HIS  YOUTHFUL  PROMISE  AT  OXFORD,  AND  IN  ADMIRATION 

OF  HIS   MANHOOD'S    ACHIEVEMENTS   BY  ANOTHER 

FORMER    PRESIDENT   OF   THE   UNION 


£01321 


Prefc 


ace 


IT  has  long  been  my  hope  that  amongst  the  subjects  taught 
in  all  schools  Geography  should  have  a  fair  proportion  of 
time  and  attention.  I  have  seen  many  signs  of  late  that  per- 
severing efforts  to  press  its  claims  on  various  bodies  are  begin- 
ning to  produce  some  effect.  I  have  therefore  attempted  to 
bring  together  some  facts  which  shall  be  of  use  to  my  fellow 
teachers,  and  also  help  forward  the  cause  to  which  I  am  so 
much  attached. 

I  am  well  aware  that  there  are  many  books  already  written 
on  this  subject  and  that  very  largely  teachers  can  be  their 
own  best  guides  :  but  it  is  not  always  possible  to  get  such 
books,  and  my  experience  has  taught  me  that  those  who  teach 
best  are  the  best  also  to  learn.  All  such  would  therefore  be 
willing  to  follow  the  guidance  of  one  who  has,  at  all  events, 
done  what  he  could  to  make  Geography  interesting  and  of 
permanent  value.  ,1  have  had  some  experience  of  the  manner 
in  which  the  subject  has  been  taught  in  many  schools,1  and  the 
conclusion  to  which  I  came  was  that  many  men  were  willing 
to  do  more  for  it,  and  to  make  more  of  it, if  they  were  encouraged 
by  its  inclusion  in  the  list  of  compulsory  subjects  in  examina- 
tions and  therefore  in  schools.  The  Preparatory  Schoolmaster 
was  waiting  for  the  Public  School.  The  Public  School  was 
waiting  for  the  Universities  or  the  Army  and  other  Examina- 
tion Boards.  If,  as  I  believe,  the  untiring  efforts  of  the  Geo- 
graphical Association  are  being  crowned  with  success,  no  longer 
need  we  be  met  by  that  vicious  circle.  I  need  not  mention 
the  names  of  those  to  whom  this  reformation  is  due  ;  they 
occur  at  once  to  the  minds  of  all  students  of  Geography, 
should  like  to  dedicate  this  book  to  them  were  it  not  that  I 
had  found  one  whose  claims  as  a  Geographer  are  almost  as 

1  See    my   report    buried   in   vol.   6  "  Board  of    Education   Special 
Reports,"  1900. 


6  PREFACE 

great  as  those  which  his  many  friends  make  for  him  as  a  States- 
man. 

The  singular  manner  in  which  English  people  go  to  war, 
hoping,  as  Lord  Rosebery  said,  "  to  muddle  through  somehow  " 
has  an  exact  parallel  in  their  past  ways  of  'carrying  on  schools. 
It  has  been  the  custom  to  make  out  timetables  and  to  endeavour 
to  fit  the  teachers  and  the  taught  to  them  :  in  the  process  the 
authorities  have  closely  followed  the  manner  of  that  celebrated 
highwayman  of  Athens  who  tied  his  victims  upon  an  iron  bed 
and,  as  the  case  required,  either  stretched  out  or  cut  off  their 
legs  to  adapt  them  to  its  length.  Amongst  other  victims  to 
this  process  have  been  the  masters  who  have  been  told  to 
"  teach  Geography."  A  general  impression  prevails  that 
while  you  certainly  require  an  expert  for  Mathematics  or 
Latin  Prose,  to  say  nothing  of  Science,  almost  any  one  can 
teach  "  English  subjects,"  and  when  gentlemen  have  applied 
for  posts  on  my  teaching  staff  they  usually  concluded  the  list 
of  their  acquirements  with  "the  usual  English  subjects, 
etc.,  and  am  good  at  Association  Football."  I  am  merely 
writing  of  one  particular  type  of  school,  but  I  know 
how  widespread  is  the  heresy  that  men  and  women  can 
take  classes  in  Geography  without  any  special  training. 
I  began  to  teach  myself  to  teach  in  1879,  I  have  my  old 
notebooks  by  me  still,  and  am  glad  to  find  questions  for  Test- 
papers  in  Geography  which  show  that  I  was  beginning  to 
make  out  the  lights  of  the  harbour  of  truth  through  the  fog  of 
Statistics.  I  have  been  learning  to  teach  ever  since  then  •  that 
is  true  in  a  double  sense.  I  have  been  reading  in  order  to 
teach,  and  have  been  observing  my  classes  when  teaching. 
They  have  varied  in  age  from  seven  years  to  twenty,  but  of 
one  thing  I  am  certain :  that  very  few  of  them  from  the  Army 
candidate  who  had  come  from  a  Public  School  to  the  child 
who  wept  at  parting  from  his  mother,  in  my  twenty-six  years 
had  been  taught  Geography  properly. 

The  day  of  better  things  has  dawned.  From  the  accompany- 
ing list  it  may  be  seen  that  there  is  quite  a  literature  on  the 
teaching  of  Geography.  The  Board  of  Education  has  put  out 
regulations  and  has  suggested  a  syllabus.  The  Universities 
of  Oxford  and  Cambridge  have  recognized  the  subject.  There 
is  every  disposition  to  treat  Geographv  seriously  •  sometimes, 


PREFACE  7 

perhaps,  the  new  student  of  the  subject  may  even  think  some- 
what too  seriously. 

In  the  address  which  forms  the  first  part  of  this  book  and 
has  been  before  the  public  for  some  time,  I  have  expressed 
fully  my  views  on  Geography.  It  has  at  all  events  the  merit 
of  earnestness  and  has  elicited  letters  from  teachers  as  far 
apart  as  Beyrout  and  Philadelphia.  In  the  reformation  now 
taking  place  it  has  had  some  share.  I  feel  that  its  appeal 
will  still  be  welcomed  even  though  things  are  better  than  when 
it  was  first  delivered. 

In  the  second  part  I  have  endeavoured  to  arrange  the  order  in 
which  a  teacher  should  study  the  many  cognate  sciences  before 
taking  up  class  work  and  made  some  suggestions  for  the  work 
in  school.  These  are,  I  fear,  lacking  in  that  definiteness  and 
scientific  precision  which  are  demanded  increasingly  in  educa- 
tion. I  would  urge  my  readers  to  keep  up  with  the  subject 
by  taking  in  the  Geographical  Teacher,  the  organ  of  the 
Geographical  Association,  in  which  the  latest  ideas  and  the 
most  practical  may  be  found,  and  to  avail  themselves 
of  the  courtesy  of  those  in  the  Library  of  the  Education 
Department,  who  have  most  kindly  furnished  me  with  the  list 
that  follows  of  books  and  articles  on  the  teaching  of  our  sub- 
ject. I  would  like  to  add  that  amongst  these  some  of  the  most 
striking  to  a  learner  who  is  in  earnest  come  from  America  ; 
for  example,  The  New  Basis  of  Geography,  by  Redway  ;  How 
to  Study  Geography,  by  Francis  W.  Parker ;  and  Special 
Method,  by  McMurry.  I  hope  that  many  of  us  on  this  side  of 
the  Atlantic  feel  as  proud  of  the  thoroughness  of  the  teachers 
over  there  as  of  our  own  leading  men.  One  most  striking 
instance  of  this  is  to  be  found  in  the  Geographical  Teacher 
Summer  Number,  1905,  entitled  "An  American  Training 
College  Course  in  Geography,"  by  George  W.  Hoke,  which  is  well 
worth  reading.  Of  our  own  leaders  such  names  as  Mackinder, 
Mill,  Herbertson  must  be  noted.  A  new  edition  of  Dr.  Mill's 
Hints  to  Teachers  is  in  course  of  preparation. 

It  must  be  remembered  that  so  many  types  of  schools  are 
interested  in  this  subject  that  it  is  not  easy  to  write  very 
definite  instructions  for  teachers.  The  subject  itself  is  so  veiy 
wide  that  suggestions  have  to  be  of  a  general  character.  For 
these  reasons  I  have  mainly  attempted  to  make  the  second 


8  PREFACE 

part  of  general  interest,  and  suggested  outlines  which  can  be 
filled  in  to  suit  the  circumstances  of  all  who  are  chosen  to 
teach  this  valuable  and  interesting  subject.  My  best  wish  for 
them  is  that  I  may  kindle  an  enthusiasm  which  shall  animate 
themselves  and  their  classes.  I  can  promise  them  that  they 
will  be  well  rewarded,  for  every  hour  spent  in  the  study  of 
Geography  brings  fresh  interest,  and  carries  us  above  the 
monotony  of  School  to  the  endless  variety  of  Creation. 

F.  R.  B. 

Since  writing  this  Preface  I  have  been  permitted  to  read 
the  proofs  of  a  new  book,  "A  Progressive  Course  of  Compar- 
ative Geography,"  by  P.  H.  L'Estrange,  and  I  think  it 
admirable,  so  much  so  that  I  would  like  to  see  it  universally 
used.  The  questions  and  exercises  carry  out  my  views  so 
well  that  I  have  abandoned  my  idea  of  adding  a  number  to 
this  book.  I  cannot  pay  the  author  a  higher  compliment. 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

LIST  OF  BOOKS  ON  THE  TEACHING  OF  GEOGRAPHY  .  .11 


PART   I 
ON  SOME  METHODS  OF  TEACHING  GEOGRAPHY          .  15 

PART  II 

ON  THE  PREPARATION  AND  TEACHING  OF  THE  SUBJECT:  SUGGES- 
TIONS FOR  FELLOW-TEACHERS   .          .          .          .          .          -35 

I. — ON  THE  PREPARATION  FOR  TEACHING    .          .          -35 

II. — THE  TEACHER  IN  SCHOOL — AND  OUT  OF  IT  .      53 

III.— INDIA    .          .          .          .          .          .          ...      57 

IV. — OF  LITERATURE  AND  OUR  SUBJECT         .          .          .69 


List  of  Books  on  the  Teaching 
of  Geography 

ENGLISH  (INCLUDING  AMERICAN). 

BARNETT  (P.  A.).     Teaching  and  Organization.     Article  on  Geography 

by  E.  C.  K.  Gonner,  M.A.     London.     Longmans.      1897. 

-  Common  Sense  in  Education  and  Teaching.      An    Introduction 

to  Practice.     London.     Longmans.      1899. 
BARTHOLOMEW  (J.  G.).     A  Plea  for  a  National  Institute  of  Geography. 

(Article  from  the  Scottish  Geographical   Magazine.     March  1902.) 
BEALE  (D),     SOULSBY,  L.  H.  M.  and  J.   F.  DOVE.      Work  and  Play 

in  Girls'  Schools.     Article  on  Geography  by  Margery  Reid.    London. 

Longmans.      1898. 
BOARD  OF  EDUCATION.     Suggestions  for  the  Consideration  of  Teachers 

and  Others  concerned  in  the   Work  of  Public  Elementary  Schools. 

Chapter  7   (Cd.  2638).     London.     Wyman  &  Sons.     1905. 
— Special  Reports   on  Educational    Subjects.     Vol.    i.  The    School 

Journey  in  Germany,  by  Miss  L.  C.  Dodd.     English  Students  in 

Foreign  Training  Colleges.     By  Miss  L.  Manley,  Miss  Williams  and 

Mr.  H.  L.  Withers.     (Cd.  8447.)     London.     Wyman  &  Sons.      1897. 

[Out  of  print.] 
BRITISH    ASSOCIATION.     Toronto.      1897.     Report   on    the    Position   of 

Geography   in   the   Educational  System  of  the  Country. 
BRITISH   ASSOCIATION,    Meeting   at   Southport,    1903.     Discussion   on 

the  Teaching  of  Geography.     Paper  read  to  open  the  discussion 

by  MACKINDER  (H.  J.)  on  "Geographical  Education."     London. 

John  Murray.      1904. 
BRYCE  (Rt.  Hon.  James).     The  Importance  of  Geography  in  Education. 

(Article  from  the  Scottish  Geographical  Magazine.      March  1902.) 

[Well  worth  reading.] 
BURROWS  (Rev.   F.  R.).     On   Some    Methods  of  Teaching  Geography. 

London.     Philip  &  Sons.     (Reprint  from  the  Parents'  Review)  1896. 
BUSK   (H.).     Geography  as  a  School  Subject.     London.     George  Philip 

&   Son.      1895. 
COLE  (A.  J.).     The  Educational  Lecture-Scheme  of  the  American  Museum 

of  Natural  History.     (Article  from  The  Journal  of  the  Department 

of   Agriculture    and    Technical    Instruction    for    Ireland.     Vol.    3. 

No.  2.     December  1902.) 

11 


12 

DAVIS  (W.  M.).  The  Progress  of  Geography  in  the  Schools.  (National 
Society  for  the  Scientific  Study  of  Education.  First  Yearbook, 
Part  2.)  Chicago.  1902. 

DICKINSON  (B.  Bentham).  Geography  as  a  School  Subject.  Rugby. 
A.  J.  Lawrence.  1896. 

EDUCATIONAL"  REVIEW,  New  York.  (Various  Articles.)  Educational 
Review  Publishing  Co, 

GEIKIE  (Sir  Archibald).  The  Teaching  of  Geography.  London. 
Macmillan.  1898.  [Very  valuable.] 

GEORGE  (R.  D.).  The  Home  Study  of  Geography.  (Investigations  of 
the  Departments  of  Psychology  and  Education  of  the  University 
of  Colorado.  June  1905.  Vol  II.  No.  3.) 

GEROTHWOHL  (Maurice  A.).  The  Teaching  of  History  and  Geography. 
(Article  from  the  Empire  Review.  September  1902.) 

HERBERTSON  (A.  J.).  Geographical  Education.  (Reprint  from  the 
Scottish  Geographical  Magazine  for  August  1896.) 

HERBERTSON  (F.  D.  H.).  Man  and  His  Work:  An  Introduction  to 
Human  Geography.  London.  A.  &  C.  Black.  1899. 

HEWLETT  (E.  G.  W.).  The  Position  of  Geography  as  a  School  Subject. 
(Manchester  Geographical  Society's  Journal  xi.  1895.) 

JOURNAL  OF  GEOGRAPHY.  Edited  by  Rich.  E.  Dodge,  Teachers' 
College,  New  York  City.  On  sale  with  E.  McGegan,  St.  George's 
House,  Bourneville,  England. 

KELTIE  (J.  Scott).  Geographical  Education.  Report  to  the  Council 
of  the  Royal  Geographical  Society,  1885. 

McMuRRY  (Charles  A.).  Special  Method  in  Geography.  New  York. 
Macmillan  Co.  1903. 

Excursions  and  Lessons  in  Home  Geography.  New  York.  Mac- 
millan Co.  1904. 

MILWAUKEE  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS.  Outlines  of  Third  Grade  Geography. 
Adapted  from  The  Teaching  of  Geography,  by  Geikie.  Milwaukee, 
U.S.A. 

MORGAN  (Alexander).  The  Practical  Teaching  of  Geography  in  Schools 
and  Colleges.  London.  G.  Philip.  1904.  [This  pamphlet  ex- 
cellent.] 

OXFORD  UNIVERSITY.     School  of  Geography.     Regulations  and  Reports. 

PARKER  (Francis  W.).  How  to  Study  Geography.  New  York.  D. 
Appleton  &  Co.  1889. 

-  Talks    on    Pedagogics.     An  outline  of  the  Theory  of  Concentra- 
tion.    New  York  and  Chicago.     E.  L.  Kellog.      1894. 

REDWAY  (Jacques  W.).  The  New  Basis  of  Geography.  New  York. 
The  Macmillan  Co.  1901.  [Much  of  interest  in  this.] 

REPORT  OF  COMMITTEE  OF  TEN  ON  SECONDARY  SCHOOL  STUDIES. 
(Geography.}  Washington.  Bureau  of  Education.  1893. 

REYNOLDS  (J.  B.).  The  Teaching  of  Geography  in  Switzerland  and 
North  Italy.  Cambridge  University  Press.  1899. 

ROYAL  GEOGRAPHICAL  SOCIETY.  Syllabuses  of  Instruction  in  Geo- 
graphy. Royal  Geographical  Society,  i  Sa vile  Row.  London.  1903. 


RUSSELL  (J.  E.).  German  Higher  Schools.  Chap.  xv.  Instruction 
in  History  and  Geography.  London.  Longmans.  1899. 

WINCH  (William  H.).  Notes  on  German  Schools.  London.  Long- 
mans. 1904. 


BOARD  OF  EDUCATION.     SPECIAL  REPORTS  ON 
EDUCATIONAL  SUBJECTS 

Vol.  2.  The  Educational  Museum  of  the  Teachers'  Guild  of  Great 
Britain  and  Ireland.  By  Mr.  J.  L.  Myres.  The  Haslemere 
Educational  Museum.  By  Dr.  Jonathan  Hutchinson,  F.R.S. 
(Cd.  8943.)  London.  Wyman  &  Sons.  1898. 

Vol.  6.  The  Teaching  of  Geography  in  Preparatory  Schools.  By  the 
Rev.  F.  R.  Burrows.  (Cd.  418.)  London.  Wyman  &  Sons. 
1900. 


GERMAN. 

BAUMEISTER  (A.).  Handbuch  der  Erziehungs-und  Unterrichtslehre 
fur  hdhere  Schulen.  Munich.  C.  H.  Beck'sche  Verlagsbuchhand- 
lung.  1898.  Vol.  IV.  No.  XL,  Mathematische  Geographic,  Von 
Dr.  Siegmund  Giinther.  No.  XII.,  Geographic,  Von  Dr.  Alfred 
Kirchhoff. 
(A  new  edition  of  this  Handbuch  is  now  passing  through  the  press.) 

GRUBER  (Dr.  Christian).  Die  Entwickelung  der  Geographischen  Lehrme- 
thoden  im  xviii  und  xix  Jahrhundert,  Riickblicke  und  Ausblicke. 
Munich  &  Leipzig.  R.  Oldenbourg.  1900. 

Ueber   Geographic    und   geographischen     Unterricht     an    hoheren 

Lehranstalten.  Kritische  Betrachtungen  von  Dr.  Christian  Gru- 
ber.  (Wissenschaftliche  Beilage  zum  33  Jahresbericht  der  Han- 
delsschule  der  Kgl.  Haupt-und  Residenzstadt  Miinchen.)  Munich. 
Max  Kellerers  h.b.  Hofbuchhandlung.  1901. 

-  Geographic  als  Bildungsfach.     Leipzig.     B.  G.  Teubner.      1904. 
REIN  (Wilhelm).     Encyclopddisches    Handbuch    der    Pddagogik.     Lan- 

gensalza.     H.  Beyer  und  Sohne.      1896. 

Vol.  2.     Article  on  Geographischer  Unterricht. 

Vol.   3.     Article  on  Heimatkunde. 

See  also  Index. 
(A  new  edition  of  this  Handbuch  is  now  passing  through  the  press.) 

-  A.  PICKEL  und  E.  SCHELLER.      Theorie  und  Praxis  des    Volks- 
schulunterrichts     nach     herbartischen     Grundsdtzen.     (Geographic.) 
Dresden.     Bleyl  und  Kaemmerer.      1882. 

WAGNER  (Hermann).  Die  Lage  des  geographischen  Unterrichts  an 
den  hoheren  Schulen  Preussens  um  die  J ahrhundertwende .  Hanover 
&  Leipzig.  Hahn'sche  Buchhandlung.  1900. 


14 

FRENCH. 

Congres  des  Professeurs  de  I' Enseignement  secondaire  public.  4me. 
Congres  ( 1 900)  Rapport  general,  chap,  vii.,  p.  55.  De  la  methods  et 
de  rorganisation  de  I' enseignement  de  I'histoire  et  de  la  geographie 
dans  les  lycees  et  colleges  de  garcons  et  de  filles.  Paris.  Librairie 
Armand  Colin.  1901. 

DUPUY  (P.).  La  Geographie  dans  I' Enseignement  Primaire.  (Recueil 
des  Monographies  Pedagogiques  publiees  a  1'occasion  de  1'Exposi- 
tion  Universelle  de  1889,  Tome  IV.)  Paris.  Imprimerie  nationale. 
1889. 

HALKIN  (Joseph).  L' Enseignement  de  la  Geographie  en  Allemagne  et 
la  Reforme  de  I' Enseignement  Geographique  dans  les  Universites 
Beiges  (Universite  de  Liege).  Brussels.  Societe  Beige  de  Librairie. 
rue  Treurenberg  16.  1900. 

LEVASSEUR  (E.).  La  Geographie  dans  les  Ecoles  et  a  I' Universite. 
Report  of  the  6th  International  Geographical  Congress.  London. 
1895. 


OF   THE 

UNIVERSITY 

OF 


PART    I 

On  Some  Methods  of  Teaching  Geography  l 

WE  are  met  together  to  consider  how  far  we  can  benefit  one 
another  by  the  exchange  of  opinions  and  the  reading  of  papers 
in  the  matter  of  our  relation  to  children.  As  parents  we  have 
given  to  us  for  a  portion  of  our  lives  the  direction,  if  not  the 
control,  of  our  children's  education,  and  we  must  neither 
acquiesce  tamely  in  every  suggestion  made  from  outside,  nor 
refuse,  as  the  manner  of  some  is,  every  suggestion  that  comes 
from  others,  because  we  know  our  own  business  best.  With 
regard  to  the  training  of  children  at  a  very  early  age,  no  one 
can  speak  with  greater  authority  than  women,  because  they  in 
the  nature  of  things  come  across  the  young  the  most.  With 
regard  to  their  development  at  later  stages,  parents  and 
teachers  seem  to  me  to  share  the  responsibility  ;  teachers  being 
able  to  compare  children  one  with  another  as  no  parent  can, 
and  being  also  able  to  watch  them  amongst  their  school- 
fellows, who  elicit  qualities  good  and  bad  unsuspected  at  home. 
Amongst  other  means  of  training  children  for  fitness  to  take 
their  place  in  the  world  we  consider  Education,  so  called,  or  as 
children  would  say  "  Lessons,"  an  important  factor,  and  the 
difficult  thing  is,  in  the  limited  time  given  to  such  training,  to 
choose  subjects  which  shall,  in  the  truest  sense  of  the  word, 
"  Educate."  Whether  we  are  right  in  aiming  at  conveying 
knowledge  that  will  at  once  pay  in  examinations,  or,  in  en- 
deavouring to  give  accomplishments,  I  will  not  attempt  to  say, 
because  I  know  how  strong  is  the  temptation  and  how  much 
pressure  is  put  upon  us  ;  but  what  I  do  feel  very  strongly  is 

1  Lecture  delivered  at  the  Hastings  and  St.  Leonards  College  for 
Ladies,  February  22,  1896,  on  behalf  of  the  Parents'  National 
Educational  Union,  Southdown  Branch. 

15 


16  GEOGRAPHICAL    GLEANINGS 

that  we  have  in  one  subject,  and  that  a  neglected  one,  a  power- 
ful instrument  for  opening  the  eyes  of  the  children  to  the  world 
around  them,  and  one  which  leads  so  naturally  to  many  other 
subjects  required  in  education,  that  I  think  it  deserves  our 
respectful  attention  and  consideration.     I  believe  that  studies 
of  history,  natural  science,  and  of  languages  start  naturally 
from  Geography  (when  it  is  intelligently  taught  and  learnt,  as  I 
shall  try  to  describe),  and  in  riper  years  fall  into  their  natural 
places.     "  Perhaps  such  a  dream  of  education  may  long  remain 
a  dream,  but  it  may  help  us  to  realize  the  worth  of  Geography, 
and  to  look  on  the  study  of  it  in  a  grander  as  well  as  a  more 
rational  light  than  has  commonly  been  done."     (J.  R.  Green.) 
First  let  me  call  an  ideal  teacher  as  witness. 
Thomas  Arnold,  Regius  Professor  of  Modern  History  in  the 
University  of  Oxford,  and  Head  Master  of  Rugby,  delivered  in 
1842  a  set  of  lectures  on  modern  history.     In  the  third  lecture 
he  said  as  follows  :— "  A  real  knowledge  of  Geography  em- 
braces at  once  a  knowledge  of  the  earth  and  of  the  dwellings  of 
man  upon  it  ;    it  stretches  out  one  hand  to  history,  and  the 
other  to  geology  and  physiology  :    it  is  just  that  part  in  the 
dominion  of  knowledge  where  the  students  of  physical  and  of 
moral  science  meet  together.     Let  me  once  understand  the 
real  Geography  of  a  country,  its  organic  structure  if  I  may  so 
call  it  ;  the  form  of  its  skeleton,  that  is,  of  its  hills  ;  the  magni- 
tude and  course  of  its  veins  and  arteries,  that  is,  of  its  streams 
and  rivers  ;    let  me  conceive  of  it  as  of  a  whole  made  up  of 
connected  parts  ;    and  then  the  position  of  .man's  dwellings, 
viewed  in  reference  to  these  parts,  becomes  at  once  easily 
remembered,  and  lively  and  intelligible  besides." 

This  passage  is  followed  by  a  brilliant  exposition  of  the 
meaning  of  the  lie  of  the  land  in  Italy,  as  illuminating  the 
history  of  that  country,  but  too  long  for  quotation  here.  Dr. 
Arnold  was  the  man  who  led  the  way  in  the  reform  of  our 
great  schools,  and  I  claim  him  as  the  pioneer  in  the  reformation 
of  Geographical  Teaching.  It  would  be  a  good  thing  if  all 
those  who  have  followed  him  in  the  first  crusade  had  followed 
him  in  the  second.  No  one  else  has  defined  with  such  accuracy 
the  real  power  of  Geography  to  illuminate  study,  and  it  is  not 
every  one  who  has  the  loyalty  to  his  memory  shown  by  the 
Dean  of  Westminster,  who  wrote  his  life,  and  replied  to  Mrs. 


GEOGRAPHICAL   GLEANINGS  17 

Arnold  when  congratulated  by  her  on  the  success  of  his  book 
Sinai  and  Palestine.  "  The  framework  of  the  book  is  the 
result  of  that  sense  of  the  connexion  of  History  and  Geography 
which  I  have  never  ceased  to  enjoy  since  it  was  first  imparted  at 
Rugby." 

The  names  of  Stanley  and  Arnold  are  not  omnipotent  but 
they  are  potent.  I  appeal  to  them  on  the  threshold  of  my 
address,  so  that  we  may  feel  that  we  are  encouraged  by  such 
masters  in  education — education  in  a  wide  sense.  I  will  not 
call  them  witnesses  for  the  defence,  for  no  one  has  attacked 
Geography  ;  nor  for  the  prosecution,  lest  any  think  I  wish  to 
stir  up  strife  ;  but  let  me  call  them  witnesses.  - 

We  regard  the  Parents'  National  Educational  Union  as  a 
body  which  desires  to  learn  how  to  do  better.  It  has  meetings 
which  consist  of  a  paper  or  speech  followed  by  discussion. 
The  subjects  which  occupy  its  attention  are  mainly  concerned 
with  children.  The  subject  of  to-day  I  call  a  neglected  subject, 
because  I  have  found  it  such  in  two  public  schools  in  which  I 
have  taught,  also  when  preparing  young  men  for  the  Army,  and 
now  when  teaching  young  boys  in  a  preparatory  school. 
Fifteen  years  ago  I  wrote  as  follows  :  "  The  science  which 
describes  the  surface  of  the  earth,  and  its  relations  to  the  other 
members  of  the  solar  system,  deserves  to  be  more  accurately 
studied  than  is  usually  the  case.  We  generally  find  modern 
Geography  neglected  in  schools,  and  ignored  at  Universities." 
Things  are  better  now,  but  I  have  a  feeling  that  a  great  deal  has 
yet  to  be  done  before  the  study  of  Geography  takes  its  proper 
place.  "  It  is  one  which  must  occupy  a  foremost  place  in  any 
rational  system  of  primary  education.  When  the  prejudices 
and  traditions  of  our  schools  and  schoolmasters  have  passed 
away — as  they  must  pass  away  before  a  truer  conception  of  the 
growth  of  a  child's  mind,  and  of  the  laws  which  govern  that 
growth — the  test  of  right  teaching  will  be  found  in  the  corre- 
spondence of  our  instruction  with  the  development  of  intellect- 
ual activity  in  those  whom  we  instruct."  (J.  R.  Green.) 

"  In  the  days  of  our  fathers  the  ancient  classics  were  the 
common  element  in  the  culture  of  all  men,  a  ground  on  which 
the  specialists  could  meet.  The  world  is  changing,  and  it 
would  seem  as  if  the  classics  were  becoming  a  speciality.  It  is 
our  duty  to  find  a  substitute.  To  me  it  seems  that  Geography 

B 


i8  GEOGRAPHICAL    GLEANINGS 

combines  some  of  the  requisite  qualities.  To  the  practical 
man,  whether  he  aim  at  distinction  in  the  State  or  the  amassing 
of  wealth,  it  is  a  store  of  invaluable  information  ;  to  the  student 
it  is  a  stimulating  basis  from  which  to  set  out  along  a  hundred 
special  lines  ;  to  the  teacher  an  implement  for  the  calling  out 
the  powers  of  the  intellect."  (Mackinder.)  Such  are  the 
opinions  of  the  most  popular  historian  of  our  time,  and  of  the 
Oxford  University  Reader  in  Geography ; l  the  one  dealing  with 
the  teaching  of  the  subject  to  quite  young  children,  the  other 
pleading  for  its  recognition  as  an  element  of  cohesion  in  further 
education.  To  both  these  points  I  desire  to  address  myself. 
Now  with  regard  to  the  teaching  of  young  children.  The 
subject  of  Geography  has  to  do  with  the  youngest  children. 
Let  me  again  quote  from  Mr.  Green  :- — "  The  child's  first 
question  is  about  the  material  world  in  which  it  finds  itself. 
So  long  as  every  sight  and  every  sound  is  an  object  of  wonder, 
and  of  the  curiosity  that  comes  of  wonder,  life  will  be  a  mere 
string  of  '  whats  '  and  '  whys.'  With  an  amusing  belief  in  the 
omniscience  of  his  elders,  the  child  asks  why  the  moon  changes, 
and  what  are  the  stars  ;  why  the  river  runs,  and  where  the 
road  goes  to  ;  why  the  hills  are  so  high,  and  what  is  beyond 
them.  To  answer  these  questions  as  they  should  be  answered 
is  to  teach  the  little  questioner  Geography.  The  name  of 
Physical  Geography  may  never  reach  him,  but  he  gets  a  notion 
of  what  the  earth's  form'  actually  is,  of  the  distribution  of  land 
and  sea,  of  the  relative  position  of  continents  and  of  countries,  of 
the  '  why  '  rivers  run,  and  the  '  where  '  roads  run  to.  As  he 
watches  how  mountains  divide  men  or  rivers  draw  them  to- 
gether ;  how  hill-line  and  water-parting  become  bounds  of 
province  and  shire  ;  how  the  town  grows  up  by  the  stream 
and  the  port  by  the  harbour-mouth,  the  child  lays  the  founda- 
tion of  Political  Geography,  though  he  never  may  see  '  a  table 
of  counties  or  learn  a  list  of  populations.  Studied  in  such  a 
fashion  as  this,  Geography  would  furnish  a  ground-work  for  all 
after-instruction  " — and  it  is  with  a  view  to  encourage  parents 
to  give  their  children  such  a  vantage-ground  that  this  subject 
has  been  chosen.  We  are  met  on  the  threshold  by  the  difficulty 

1  Written  in    1896  before  Mr.  Mackinder  took  up  his  present  work 
as  Principal  of  the  London  School  of  Economics. 


GEOGRAPHICAL   GLEANINGS  19 

of  teaching  little  children  as  they  ought  to  be  taught  such  a 
subject  as  Geography.  Let  us  consider  the  matter.  We  must 
be  willing  to  learn  for  our  children  and  with  our  children,  and 
we  have  no  right  to  decline  to  teach  them  anything  because  we 
do  not  understand  it.  We  may  dismiss  from  our  minds  the 
conventional  Geography  book.  "  No  drearier  task  can  be  set 
for  the  worst  of  criminals  than  that  of  studying  the  Geographical 
text  books  such  as  children  are  condemned  to  use."  And  we 
may  dispense  with  maps  also,  as  far  as  regards  the  children, 
until  they  ask  for  them,  though  never  for  ourselves.  It  is  not,  I 
can  assure  you,  a  repulsive  subject.  We  talk  of  fairyland  to 
the  children,  and  they  believe  in  it.  There  need  be  no  fear  of 
not  finding  a  fairyland  in  Geography.  Father  is  smoking  a 
pipe.  "  Why  does  father  smoke  ?  Answer  difficult ;  because 
he  likes  it.  That  is  a  question  of  ethics.  Where  does  he  get 
the  stuff  from  ?  The  shop.  Where  does  the  shop  man  get 
the  stuff  from  ?  From  America.  Where  is  America  ?  Over 
the  sea.  Which  sea  ?  That  way  to  the  west.  Which  is  west  ? 
There  are  four  ways  you  can  go — to  the  north,  to  the  south,  to 
the  east,  to  the  west  (draw  this  on  a  piece  of  paper).  Then 
the  man  sends  to  the  west  for  the  stuff  ?  Yes.  Does  it  grow 
like  that  ?  No.  What  is  it  like  ?  It  is  a  plant.  Show  me 
where  it  grows  ?  (You  find  America  on  a  globe.)  Is  that  a 
long  way  off  ?  Yes.  Is  it  farther  than  Eastbourne  ?  Yes. 
How  long  does  it  take  to  get  there  ?  Altogether  about  a  week. 
Oh  !  are  there  any  other  places  as  far  off  ?  Yes  ;  China. 
Where  is  China  ? — (Globe  again.)  Why  is  this  thing  round 
The  earth  is  round.  Like  a  ball  ?  Yes.  Oh  !  how  do  we 
live  on  a  ball  ?  It  is  always  spinning  round  so  fast  that  we 
never  notice  it.  Round  what  ?  Round  the  sun. — (Pause.) 
Then  the  ball  has  sometimes  one  side  to  the  sun  and  sometimes 
the  other  ?  Yes.  Is  that  why  it  is  dark  ?  Yes.  Oh  !  but, 
mother,  tell  us  about  America.  Is  it  like  England  ?  No  ;  it 
is  a  very  big  country.  Is  it  hot  or  cold  ?  Up  there  very  cold  ; 
then  like  England  ;  then  very  hot.  Why  ?  "  The  wise  mother 
thinks  that  is  enough.  "  But,  mother,  tell  us  all  about  America 
another  day.  Won't  you  ?  "  And  the  wise  mother  resolves  to 
find  out  something  more  about  America,  and  she  does  tell  them 
another  day.  What  is  the  result  ?  Do  all  the  facts  remain  ? 
Not  all,  but  a  great  many.  Children  will  talk  over  things.  As 


20  GEOGRAPHICAL    GLEANINGS 

you  have  many  things  about  which  to  think  they  have  few. 
The  next  move  will  be  that  the  doll  will  be  put  in  the  box  of 
bricks  ;  the  bricks  will  be  made  to  look  like  a  steamer,  and  the 
steamer  with  the  doll  will  cross  the  nursery  floor  to  fetch  stuff 
for  father  to  smoke  from  "  Merica  "  (not  A-merica,  but  THE- 
merica  I  heard  it  once  explained),  and  the  plant  will  grow  in  the 
corner  by  the  fire,  and  (probably  it  is  the  doll's  petticoat)  be 
brought  back  in  triumph,  and  let  us  hope  not  set  on  fire  by  a 
stolen  match.  And  the  best  of  it  is  that  it  is  all  real,  not  make- 
believe.  Another  peep  into  fairyland.  "  We  can't  go  because 
it  is  raining."  Mother,  why  does  it  rain  ?  It  comes  from  the 
clouds,  and  they  come  from  the  sea.  Does  the  sea  come  down  in 
rain  ?  Yes.  Where  does  the  rain  go  to  ?  To  help  to  make 
rivers.  Do  the  rivers  go  to  the  sea  ?  Yes.  How  do  they  go  ? 
They  find  the  easiest  way  to  the  sea,  if  they  cannot  go  over 
a  stone  they  go  round  it  ;  and  the  earth  is  all  over  valleys. 
What  are  valleys,  mother  ?  Well,  once  upon  a  time  the  earth 
was  soft  and  hot,  and  then  it  grew  cold  and  hard  outside,  and  it 
dried  into  lumps  and  hollows,  and  the  lumps  are  the  hills,  and 
the  hollows  the  valleys,  and  the  river  must  run  down,  so  it  goes 
down  to  the  sea  and  along  the  lowest  places  till  it  gets  there. 
Are  there  any  rivers  near  here,  mother  ?  Yes  ;  would  you  like 
to  go  and  see  one  when  it  is  fine,  and  see  how  it  runs  ?  Are 
there  big  rivers,  mother  ?  Very  big  ;  so  that  you  cannot  see 
the  other  side.  Show  us  where  there  are  big  rivers.  And  so 
with  a  little  patience  and  a  little  knowledge  the  naughty  rain 
that  keeps  us  in  makes  a  little  text  for  a  sermonette,  and  with- 
out dragging  in  knowledge  in  season  and  out  of  season  we  have 
opportunity  after  opportunity  of  teaching  real  Geography,  not 
Geography  falsely  so-called.  It  is  the  natural  starting  point  for 
all  the  subjects  of  later  training.  A  teacher  labours  doubly  for 
the  most  part,  because  it  is  necessary  to  begin  at  the  very  be- 
ginning, when  home-training  might  send  out  children  at  all 
events  well  grounded  in  something  ;  and  I  venture  to  suggest 
to  all  thinking  parents  that  that  something  in  the  lifelong  in- 
terests of  their  children  had  better  be  Geography.  I  am 
endeavouring  to  provide  the  anxious  parent  with  mind-matter 
for  the  feeding  of  their  children,  as  important  as  their  being  fed 
with  body-matter.  I  believe  the  childish  digestion  capable 
of  assimilating  such  teaching  as  I  have  suggested,  and  I  think 


GEOGRAPHICAL    GLEANINGS  21 

we  are  all  quite  as  competent  to  teach  in  such  a  way,  as  to  teach 
Arithmetic,  French,  Latin,  or  Music  ;  and  I  am  not  aware  that 
any  of  these  subjects  flows  with  such  ease  from  the  Bible,  with 
which  our  little  children  are  familiar,  I  hope,  from  their  very 
infancy,  as  Geography.  We  begin  with  the  child  Jesus,  I  pre- 
sume, and  show  them  pictures  of  Him  as  He  lived  and  moved, 
and  it  is  not  long  before  we  are  asked  why  He  wore  those  clothes ; 
and  each  incident  in  the  Gospels,  from  the  teaching  in  the  Temple 
to  the  trial  before  Pilate,  brings  in  unknown  and  strange  facts. 
How  can  we  understand  the  Roman  soldier,  the  garment  rent  in 
twain,  the  taxing  of  Caesar,  without  a  constant  reference  to 
Geography  ?  And  if  our  children  ask  us  of  the  beginning  of 
things,  can  we  not  help  them  to  understand  the  account  of 
Creation  by  a  simple  lesson  in  the  earth's  early  history  ?  God 
was  preparing  a  home  for  man,  we  say,  and  first  of  all  it  was  all 
dark — the  waters  covered  the  earth — there  was  no  dry  land. 
So  He  made  the  light,  and  it  is  shining  still  ;  and  He  drew  off 
the  waters  into  the  seas,  and  they  are  still  where  He  put  them, 
sometimes  rough  with  the  storm,  and  sometimes  calm  ;  and 
He  made  the  dry  land  appear,  as  the  waters  went  down,  to  be  a 
home  for  man.  He  made  the  plants  to  grow,  and  they  made 
the  earth  fit  for  animals  to  live  upon,  and  the  plants  were  food 
for  animals  until  God  made  man,  who  was  to  live  upon  the 
animals  who  feed  upon  the  plants,  who  in  their  turn  feed  upon 
the  light.  I  have  just  been  comparing  an  address  on  the  Princi- 
ples of  Geography,  delivered  by  Dr.  Hugh  Mill  in  Dundee  in 
1891,  with  the  first  chapter  of  Genesis,  and  allowing  for  scienti- 
fic terms  found  in  the  later  description,  I  can  see  no  essential 
difference.  One  cannot  read  that  first  chapter  of  the  Bible 
without  the  aid  of  Geography,  in  its  widest  sense,  to  explain  it, 
and  as  an  inspired  account  of  that  which  was  before  man  was, 
I  believe  we  may  claim  it  as  an  ideal  lesson  in  Geography — by 
which  I  mean  that  the  circumstances  are  arranged  in  order,  each 
leading  on  to  each  in  an  evolution  grander  than  any  other 
evolution,  because  it  is  the  Master  Architect  revealing  His 
design.  I  am  sure  that  the  simplicity  of  the  words  appeals  to 
our  children,  and  that  taken  verse  by  verse  it  makes  the  grand- 
est introduction  to  the  study  of  the  Bible,  for  which  purpose  in- 
deed it  was  written  ;  and  the  child  who  has  learnt  that  chapter 
with  intelligence  and  love — who  finds  that  the  heavens  above, 


22  GEOGRAPHICAL    GLEANINGS 

the  waters  around  him,  and  the  very  earth  beneath  his  feet,  are 
as  God  meant  them  to  be,  and  because  God  meant  them  to  be — 
will  look  with  reverence  on  his  globe  or  his  map  in  after  years. 
The  teaching  of  God  must  not  be  left  to  children's  services,  nor 
relegated  to  Sunday.  If  He  has  taught  us  in  the  Bible,  He  has 
also  surrounded  us  with  facts  which  witness  to  Him,  and  those 
facts  are  nowhere  to  be  found  in  more  profusion  than  in  the 
tides  which  wash  our  shores,  those  hills  and  valleys  which  make 
up  our  landscapes,  those  showers  which  nourish  our  fields  and 
fill  our  streams — in  a  word,  those  surroundings  of  man  in  his 
earthly  home  which  Geography  describes,  and  for  which  she 
lives  and  moves  and  has  her  being. 

I  am  told  that  the  horizon-line  is  nearer  or  farther  off  ac- 
cording as  I  stand  upon  a  plain,  or  I  ascend  a  height.     I  would 
desire  for  the  little  children  that  they  should  ascend  as  high  as 
possible  to  see  as  far  as  possible.     They  may  be  taken  along  so 
many  lanes,   and  between  so  many  high  hedges,  that  they 
arrive  at  manhood  with  only  a  sensation  of  dusty  boots.     There 
must  be  an  elevation  of  view  point  before  we  arrive  at  an  eleva- 
tion of  character,  and  with  earnestness  I  plead  that  they  may 
be  allowed  a  good  look  round.     I  would  ask  that  the  words  of 
John  Richard  Green  should  be  thought  over  : — "  Geography  is 
the  natural  starting  point  for  all  subjects  of  future  training." 
Let  us  go  a  stage  farther  on.     I  feel  sure  that  the  boy  when 
he  is  passing  through  school  is  puzzled  by  the  want  of  connexion 
or  cohesion  between  the  things  which  he  is  set  to  learn.     School 
is  a  time-table  varied  by  impositions.     He  finds  one  man  who 
considers  Latin  prose  more  essential  than  anything  else,  another 
who  thinks  that  mathematics  are  everything,  another  whose 
passion  for  science  absorbs  him,  and  the  boy's  critical  faculty  is 
strained.     When  he  observes  that  English  or  history  or  geo- 
graphy are  relegated  to  odds  and  ends  of  time,  and  to  any  one 
who  can  teach  nothing  else,  he  follows  the  lead  and  probably 
despises  any  one  of  those  subjects  or  all. 

With  what  astonishment  would  he  gaze  upon  an  invader 
into  his  class-room,  who  should  say  to  him,  "All  knowledge  is 
one,  but  the  extreme  specialism  of  the  present  day  hides  the  fact 
from  a  certain  class  of  minds"  And  with  what  eyes  of  wonder 
would  he  further  gaze  upon  any  one  who  should  say,  "And 
the  centre  point  from  which  to  start  is  Geography." 


GEOGRAPHICAL    GLEANINGS  23 

Miss  Busk  says — "  The  magnitude  of  its-  educative  value 
will  be  realized  when  teachers  understand  that  it  is  a  subject 
which  develops  the  child's  ability  in  many  different  directions, 
rather  than  along  any  one  special  line,  and  renders  the  mind 
more  receptive  of  new  ideas  in  very  varied  fields  of  knowledge." 

To  a  child  it  seems  the  least  of  all  things.  Exactly  as  he 
will  imitate  the  handwriting  of  his  master,  so  will  he  follow 
his  manifest  bent — and  if  he  find  that  the  manufacture  of 
indifferent  Latin  verse  is  considered  to  be  education,  so  will 
he  manufacture  imitations  of  his  master's  imitations — a  long, 
long  way  after  Latin  models.  To  what  purpose  is  this  waste 
he  never  inquires  ;  and  if  at  some  future  time  he  grows  to 
man's  estate  and  looks  back  on  his  school  days,  he  will  be  com- 
placent, not  regretful,  and  for  that  let  him  be  thankful.  For 
us  a  different  method  of  education  is  necessary.  We  must 
consider  what  is  the  best  for  our  young  folk,  what  tends  to 
culture. 

Professor  Laurie  says — "  After  all,  what  is  culture  ?  We 
readily  grant  that  a  man  who  can  turn  out  neat  verses  in  Latin 
and  Greek  is  a  man  of  culture,  not  because  of  the  verses  he 
produces,  but  because  the  skill  he  displays  is  evidence  that 
he  has  gone  through  a  long  course  of  linguistic  training.  Such 
accomplishments  are,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  seldom  found  in 
conjunction  with  culture  in  its  truer  and  larger  sense.  If  I 
find  a  man  with  command  of  his  own  powers,  with  an  open 
intelligence,  with  interests  outside  his  own  personality  and 
his  own  particular  department,  with  a  feeling  for  the  his- 
torical past,  with  a  love  for  art-forms  and  with  high  aims  in 
life,  I  recognize  in  such  a  man  the  true  ethical  habit  of  mind> 
and  him  I  would  call  a  man  of  culture."  It  is  not  in  dexterity 
of  manipulation  that  culture  is  manifested.  It  is  the  ethical 
outcome  that  is  culture.  During  the  years  of  education  we  are 
to  be  thinking  of  culture.  Let  me  quote  a  letter  just  to  hand 
from  the  Head  Master  of  Westminster  1  : — "  You  see  that  to 
me  the  only  test  of  the  importance  of  any  subject  as  an  instru- 
ment of  education  is  not  the  actual  knowledge  which  it  con- 
veys— no  boy  knows  anything — but  the  activity  which  it 
excites  in  a  boy's  mind."  What  then  best  excites  the  youth- 

1  In   1896  Dr.   Rutherford. 


24  GEOGRAPHICAL    GLEANINGS 

ful  mind  ?  If  I  were  asked  I  should  say  Mathematics,  Latin, 
History  and  one  or  two  Foreign  Languages.  These  I  should 
place  in  one  department  as  essentials  of  the  first  kind.  Per- 
sonally I  love  Greek,  but  I  fear  it  is  not  possible  to  have  it  for 
every  one.  Then  in  my  second  department,  as  essentials  of 
the  second  kind,  I  should  group  Literature  and  Geography. 
School  subjects  may  be  divided  into  specifics  and  tonics.  Miss 
Busk  says  : — "  Geography  is  par  excellence  this  kind  of  tonic,  as 
it  touches  on  and  lays  the  foundation  of  almost  every  Science, 
Mathematics  as  well  as  History  and  Languages."  Let  me 
quote  here  Professor  Laurie  : — "  Geography  does  not  mean 
the  miserable  scraps  of  the  modern  school.  Properly  taught 
it  embraces  all  that  is  essential  for  a  cultivated  man  to  know 
of  the  world  of  nature,  it  gives  life  to  History,  and  lays  the 
sure  foundation  of  commercial,  industrial  and  political  know- 
ledge. It  is  because  of  its  intellectual  and  moral  effects  chiefly 
that  it  claims  a  foremost  place  in  the  education  of  youth.  There 
is  probably  no  one  subject  so  prolific  of  matter  for  independ- 
ent thought  and  judgment  on  the  affairs  of  life,  and  the 
destiny  and  duty  of  man.  By  means  of  it  we  extend  the 
sympathies  of  the  pupil  and"' lay  the  foundation  of  that  senti- 
ment of  humanity  which  is  the  necessary  counterpoise  to 
narrow  and  parochial  prejudices.  It  tends  to  comprehensive- 
ness of  mind,  to  the  correction  of  hasty  opinions,  to  the 
strengthening  of  patriotism,  but  at  the  same  time  to  the 
moderation  of  insular  insolence.  It  is  a  sworn  foe  to  the  prig. 
It  widens  intelligence  and  enriches  the  soul,  furnishing  nutri- 
tion to  the  ethical  sentiments  and  a  stimulus  to  the  imagin- 
ation." 

Wider  it  could  hardly  be.  Our  friend,  the  Scottish  Pro- 
fessor of  Education,  has  no  words  strong  enough  to  recom- 
mend it.  He  discusses  "  why  "  this  subject  should  be  taught, 
and  also,  in  his  masterly  addresses  on  Educational  Subjects, 
"  what  "  should  be  taught.  After  enumerating  the  various 
divisions  of  Physical  Geography,  he  proceeds  to  develop  the 
study  by  what  I  may  call  a  species  of  evolution,  though  it  is 
not  that  of  one  type  perfecting  itself.  "  How  can  I  speak  in 
any  sense  of  soil  and  climate,  of  elevations  and  depressions 
and  movements  of  the  earth,  without  reference  to  the  plant 
Yd 2  and  animal  Lie  which  they  support  ?  And  how  can  I 


GEOGRAPHICAL    GLEANINGS  25 

speak  of  animals  and  omit  man  ?  And  how  shall  I  speak  of 
man  without  considering  types  of  race — the  Mongolian,  the 
Tartar,  the  Semitic,  the  Aryan  ?  When  I  touch  upon  Aryan 
how  can  I  resist  the  fine  field  of  observation  supplied  by  the 
species  Hellenic,  Italic,  Slavonic,  Teutonic  ?  "  May  I  point 
out  in  this  passage  the  evidence  for  the  truth  of  my  former 
statement  that  Geography  is  an  element  of  cohesion  ?  In  the 
earlier  study  we  must  call  upon  Geology  to  assist  us  in  the 
understanding  of  the  lithosphere,  then  Botany  in  the  study 
of  the  plants,  Zoology  in  the  study  of  the  animals.  Anthro- 
pology in  the  study  of.  man,  and  from  the  races  mentioned  in 
this  passage  springs  undoubtedly  the  first  lesson  in  Grammar, 
or,  if  you  prefer  it,  in  Language — Language  that  studied  by 
declensions  and  conjugations  is  an  ingenious  puzzle  beloved 
of  the  unthinking  teacher,  but,  studied  by  the  light  of  Geo- 
graphy is  sense.  Let  me  take  that  one  point  of  Grammar 
and  illuminate  it  Geographically.  We  are  supposed  to  teach 
English  grammar  in  schools.  What  more  interesting  method 
can  we  adopt  than  a  rough  sketch  map  of  the  original  starting 
point  of  Language,  and  then  of  its  progress  westward  and 
eastward,  then  of  the  settlement  of  certain  peoples  in  Europe, 
then  of  the  children  of  the  Latin  tongue  grouped  by  the  waters 
of  the  tideless  sea,  of  the  Northern  Tribes,  of  the  invasion  by 
those  tribes  of  our  island  and  of  France,  of  the  Teuton  element 
in  our  language,  of  the  layer  over  that  of  Norman  due  to  French 
influence,  of  the  union  of  these  elements,  of  the  words  that 
have  drifted  into  our  tongue  from  many  lands,  of  the  Arabic 
"  admiral  "  and  the  Dutch  "  yacht ;  "  and  at  the  end  of  our 
lesson  we  shall  go  away  conscious  that  "  English  as  she  is 
spoke  "  is  what  it  is,  not  because  of  Grammar — only  an  after- 
thought and  unhappy  at  that — not  because  of  History,  nor 
of  Philology,  but  because  of  poor  despised  Geography. 

When  we  pass  from  the  study  of  Language  to  that  of  peoples, 
let  us  suppose  again,  in  another  department,  that  we  desire 
illumination.  How  do  we  account  for  the  difference  between 
peoples — why  should  China  still  be  one  empire,  or  Switzerland 
full  of  cantons  ?  "  Look  at  the  vast  alluvial  plains  watered 
by  the  Nile,  the  Euphrates,  the  Ganges,  and  the  Yellow 
River.  The  soil  is  rich,  the  wants  of  the  people  few,  the  induce- 
ment to  exertion  small.  There  you  have  found,  in  all 


26  GEOGRAPHICAL    GLEANINGS 

ages  of  the  world  a  teeming  population  agricultural  and 
stationary,  attached  to  the  soil,  conservative  in  habits  of 
thought,  easily  subjugated  and  there  have  been  appropriately 
placed  the  great  despotic  monarchies.  On  the  other  hand, 
look  at  small  maritime  states  like  ancient  Phoenicia,  Greece 
and  Italy.  Separated  by  ridges  of  hills,  inhabited  by  little 
communities,  isolated,  yet  compelled  sometimes  to  fight  for 
their  liberty  :  hence  jealous  of  each  other  and  hence  self- 
asserting,  their  history  full  of  records  of  intestine  divisions 
and  of  heroic  struggles  for  liberty.  Here  you  cannot  fail  to 
see  a  connexion  between  the  free  vigorous  life  of  early  Rome 
and  of  the  Etruscan  and  Greek  Republics."  (Sir  J.  Fitch, 
Lectures  on  Teaching.) 

I  believe  that  Geography  has  the  clue  to  the  labyrinth  of 
History.  "  Nobody  can  read  Livy's  account  of  Hannibal's 
passage  of  the  Alps,  Macaulay's .  Siege  of  Londonderry,  Mr. 
Carlyle's  account  of  Frederick  the  Great's  campaign  in  Silesia, 
or  of  Cromwell's  Battle  of  Dunbar,  without  seeing  a  new 
meaning  in  geographical  study."  (Fitch.)  Dr.  Henkel  of 
Dresden  says  : — "  America. — All  European  culture  proceeded 
from  the  Mediterranean  ;  but  when  the  Latin  and  Germanic 
races  had  once  seized  the  Atlantic,  after  the  long  struggles  of 
the  mediaeval  period,  History  burst  through  the  narrow  Medi- 
terranean limits,  swept  over  the  ocean  and  found  a  new 
soil  in  the  transatlantic  continents.  On  the  banks  of  the 
gigantic  rivers  of  Asia  the  human  mind  had  been  fettered 
under  the  spell  of  nature  :  in  the  transatlantic  world  the 
human  mind  emancipated  itself  from  nature  and  stamped  her 
with  its  own  signature.  And  as  in  the  ceaseless  changes  of 
the  sea  encompassing  the  continents  the  waters  proceed  from 
and  return  to  it,  thus  all  human  culture  turns  to  the  ocean 
and  returns  from  it  to  new  social  and  political  foundations." 

I  imagine  few  methods  of  teaching  History  are  more  pro- 
fitable than  those  which  make  the  study  of  Geography  essential, 
and  I  will  venture  to  say  that  no  one  can  teach  History  with- 
out Geography.  One  of  the  things  that  strike  me  so  much 
is  the  strange  divorce  between  ancient  history  and  modern. 
A  man  of  sense  will  study  both  side  by  side,  and  the 
common  ground  will  be  Geography.  That  is  to  say,  the  form 
of  the  land  and  sea  remains  the  same,  and  he  can  easily  sub- 


GEOGRAPHICAL   GLEANINGS  27 

stitute  ancient  names  for  modern.  He  then  realizes  that  events 
happened.  He  can  follow  his  conquering  general  from  land 
to  land,  from  town  to  town,  and  study  the  ancient  History  by 
modern  Geography,  as  did  the  third  Napoleon  in  his  book 
on  Caesar.  "  Instead,"  says  Sir  Archibald  Geikie,  "  of  being 
a  mere  exercise  of  the  memory,  Geography  steps  at  once  into 
a  foremost  place  amongst  school  subjects  as  an  instrument 
for  training  various  mental  qualities  that  are  hardly  reached 
at  all  by  the  other  branches  of  an  ordinary  curriculum.  It 
calls  out  into  active  exercise  the  observing  faculty,  which 
is  otherwise  left  well-nigh  dormant  in  the  ordinary  tasks  of 
school.  It  furnishes  a  just  conception  of  the  fatherland  in  all 
its  aspects,  and  passes  thence  to  broad  and  intelligent  views 
of  the  world  at  large." 

The  handmaiden  to  Grammar,  to  History,  and  to  Science — 
whether  Geological,  Botanical  or  Astronomical — Geography 
is  useful  for  the  purpose  of  education,  as  a  cultivator  of  thought 
and  an  intelligent  guide  in  the  mysteries  of  the  past,  present 
and  future.  How  much  can  she  claim  to  be  heard  as  practical, 
as  useful  to  the  young  man  or  woman  in  after  life  ?  I  speak  to 
those  who  live  in  the  centre  of  a  world-wide  Empire,  for  like 
the  centre  of  a  circle  Great  Britain  is  but  a  spot  in  the  middle. 
How  can  we  estimate  our  heritage  properly  without  study  of 
it  in  maps  ?  India,  Canada,  Australia,  are  they  names  or  are 
they  realities  ?  The  intelligent  student  of  our  position  as  a 
first-rate  power  can  but  confess  that  without  our  colonies  we 
can  hope  for  little  recognition.1  Our  weight  in  the  councils  of 
the  nations  can  be  lessened,  and  only  in  this  manner  lessened, 
if  we  decline  our  responsibilities  and  leave  our  colonies  to  shift 
for  themselves.  No  one  can  say  that  he  knows  anything 
about  his  country  unless  he  can  prove  himself  familiar  with 
her  outlying  dominions.  The  practical  effect  of  the  know- 
ledge that  comes  from  the  study  of  Geography,  as  far  as  it 
relates  to  our  possessions  beyond  the  shores  of  these  little 
islands,  is  to  make  a  man  or  woman  a  true  citizen,  with  patriot- 
ism that  is  above  party-— and  while  such  a  citizen  is  aware 
of  our  greatness,  he  is  aware  of  our  weakness.  The  long  lines 
of  communication  that  connect  us  with  our  outposts  may  be 

1  Imperialism  has  become  popular  now,  and  I  am  a  little  proud  of 
this  forecast. 


28  GEOGRAPHICAL    GLEANINGS 

broken  and  must  be  kept  up.  The  ever-increasing  food  supply 
must  be  from  friendly,  not  merely  neutral,  and  certainly  not 
hostile  ports.  If  we  keep  ourselves  insulated  we  shall  become 
isolated — and  therefore  it  is  of  immense  importance  to  the 
young  to  learn  how  we  can  improve  our  commercial  relations 
with  distant  lands.  For  instance,  a  certain  proportion  of 
young  men  will  go  into  trade,  and  it  would  be  well  if  they 
realized  how  vital  it  is  to  commerce  to  be  ready  not  only  to 
open  up  new  lands,  but  to  be  able  to  deal  with  those  who  are 
found  to  inhabit  them.  We  should  hear,  if  boys  had  been 
taught  Geography  properly,  of  men  who  could  understand  a 
country  and  its  formation  when  they  got  there — to  whom 
minerals  would  be  familiar,  and  who  would  not  disdain  to 
meet  the  taste  of  natives  by  superior  articles  of  trade — even 
endeavouring  in  design  to  please  their  customers.  It  is  a 
mistake  to  imagine  that  all  so-called  savages  are  ignorant. 
They  have  taste,  and  much  native  work  is  superior  to  the 
product  of  civilized  countries.  But  let  me  suppose  that  it 
will  not  be  the  lot  in  life  of  our  boys  to  be  in  trade  with 
foreign  countries,  or  to  go  out  as  colonists  or  explorers,  and 
that  they  go  into  one  of  the  two  services — the  army  or  the 
navy.  I  will  undertake  to  say  that  the  soldier  is  twice  a 
soldier  who  can  read  a  map  and  can  draw  a  map.  He  who 
reads  the  history  of  the  war  of  1870  can  see  at  a  glance  that 
on  the  French  side  there  was  ignorance  of  Geography,  on  the 
German  knowledge,  and  I  was  much  struck  by  a  statement 
that  I  read  lately,  that  a  German  officer  when  told  of  the  move- 
ment of  the  French  troops  from  Chalons,  pointed  to  Sedan  as 
the  place  where  the  final  combat  must  and  did  take  place.  I 
need  not  say  that  for  defence  of  our  native  land,  not  only 
should  soldiers  be  well  acquainted  with  the  mere  outline  of 
our  surface,  but  with  the  character  of  the  sea  surrounding  our 
coast.  And  as  to  the  navy  it  passes  my  comprehension 
how  any  one  could  say  that  the  officers  of  that  service  should 
be  ignorant,  and  as  one  gallant  officer  suggested,  "  Pick  it  up 
as  they  went  along."  You  might  as  well  learn  the  character 
of  a  coast  by  being  wrecked  on  the  rocks.  Our  navy  is  too 
valuable  to  be  officered  by  gentlemen  who  do  not  know  their 
way  about.  The  practical  results  of  proper  teaching  in  such 
cases  as  those  of  men  engaged  in  trade,  commerce,  or  in  either 


GEOGRAPHICAL    GLEANINGS  29 

of  the  services,  I  need  not  say  are  immense.  To  what  end, 
therefore,  should  we  teach  the  lawyer,  the  clergyman,  the 
artist,  the  architect  ?  (I  will  not  say  the  civil  engineer  for  he 
lives  on  Geography.)  I  will  reserve  for  the  moment  the  question 
of  general  culture.  I  should  certainly  think  that  a  clergyman 
with  a  sense  of  Geography  might  help  his  congregations  in  his 
sermons.  I  have  already  alluded  to  the  teaching  of  the  first 
chapter  of  Genesis,  that  sublime  epitome  of  Creation.  I  feel 
sure  that  a  man  who  is  teaching  from  the  Bible  which  deals 
with  Solomon  and  his  great  kingdom,  Daniel,  Ezra,  Nehemiah, 
and  their  connexion  with  greater  kingdoms  still,  literally 
must  be  fairly  well  up  in  Geography.  How  else  can  he  trace 
the  growth  of  the  Infant  Christian  Church,  beginning  at  Jeru- 
salem then  spreading  through  the  half-forgotten  tribes  of  Asia 
Minor  till,  reaching  the  cultivation  of  Athens  and  Rome,  it 
at  last  grew  to  the  Mustard  Tree  which  had  been  foretold  by 
its  Founder.  I  do  not  think  he  is  fit  to  talk  of  missions  until 
he  knows  where  missions  are  ;  and  if  he  has  grasped  his  Geo- 
graphy aright,  he  will  learn  and  will  teach  his  people  the  causes 
of  the  slow  growth  of  Christianity  in  regions  where  it  comes 
in  contact  with  religions — bone  of  the  bone  and  flesh  of  the 
flesh  of  the  people.  He  will  not  expect  in  Pekin  the  con- 
verts of  Uganda,  or  the  success  of  Travancore  in  the  capital 
of  Persia.  He  who  knows  Geography  knows  missions. 

I  imagine  the  work  of  both  artist  and  architect  would  be 
assisted  by  familiarity  with  the  history  of  the  nations  as  shown 
by  study  of  the  world's  Geography.  The  subjects  of  the  pic- 
tures of  a  man  who  knows  somewhat  of  the  waves  of  invasion 
that  have  passed,  for  instance,  over  India  or  Spain  are  endless, 
and  even  in  landscape  it  is  not  only  the  colour  that  appeals  to 
the  eye,  but  accuracy  in  depicting  the  conformation  of  the 
ground.  I  believe  that  it  is  necessary  to  understand  anatomy 
before  one  succeeds  in  painting  the  human  figure,  and  I  am 
certain  that  a  knowledge  of  geology — as  much  as  is  needed  for 
Geography — will  make  the  painter's  mountains,  hills  and 
valleys  more  accurate.  As  to  lawyers,  if  one  speaks  only  of 
the  Bar,  there  is,  I  believe,  no  subject  in  which  it  is  not  well  for 
the  barrister  to  be  proficient,  and  the  numerous,  professional 
men,  such  as  agents  for  land  and  surveyors,  might  well  be 
trained  in  Geography  when  young.  One  of  the  best  ways  of 


30  GEOGRAPHICAL    GLEANINGS 

beginning  Geography  is  to  train  children  to  make  maps  of  the 
place  in  which  they  live,  which  not  only  enables  them  to  find 
their  way  about  intelligently,  but  prepares  them  for  more 
extended  work  if  their  profession  or  inclination  require  it  here- 
after. I  need  not  say  that  in  considering  the  future  employ- 
ments of  children,  I  would  not  omit  that  of  Teacher.  In  that 
noble  profession  the  need  of  trained  teachers  in  every  depart- 
ment is  obvious,  and  our  sincere  hope  is  that  we  may  have 
growing  up  amongst  us  a  generation  trained  to  teach  Geo- 
graphy in  its  fullest  and  widest  sense. 

But,  to  leave  the  particular  callings  into  which  our  children 
may  come  hereafter,  we  may  very  rightly  consider  what  a 
flood  of  light  can  be  shed  upon  our  life  and  on  theirs  by  an 
intelligent  knowledge  of  Geography.  Let  us  take  a  library 
and  consider  its  contents,  and  the  point  will  seem  clearer.  A 
large  proportion  of  the  books  will  be  books  of  travel  and  adven- 
ture. With  what  additional  interest  can  we  read  if  we  know 
where  we  are.  The  African,  the  Asiatic,  the  American  traveller 
can  be  followed  with  real  pleasure  as  he  or  she  passes  from 
one  place  to  another,  and  we  travel  with  them.  We  do  not 
need  to  think  only  of  their  discomforts,  of  mosquitoes,  of  bad 
food,  or  hostile  tribes,  we  can  in  imagination  go  with  them. 
The  explorer  is  learning  how  to  describe,  and  his  travels  are, 
nowadays,  accompanied  by  one  or  more  excellent  maps. 
Given  an  intelligent  interest  in  books  of  travel  and  you  may 
promise  people  a  course  of  reading  quite  as  useful  and  instruct- 
ive as  they  desire.  I  believe,  also,  that  poetical  works  con- 
tain more  geographical  allusions  than  we  are  aware  of.  A 
long  paper  might  be  prepared  on  such  allusions.  I  take  from 
the  shelves  of  my  scanty  library  Tennyson's  poems — 


Ev'n  as  the  warm  gulf  stream  of  Florida 
Floats  far  away  into  the  northern  seas 
The  lavish  growths  of  southern  Mexico. 


Larger  constellations  burning,  mellow  moons  and  happy  skies, 
Breadths  of  tropic  shade  and  palms  in  cluster,  knots  of  Paradise. 
Never  comes  the  trader,  never  floats  an  European  flag, 
Slides  the  bird  o'er  lustrous  woodland,  swings  the  trailer  from  the  crag. 

—Locksley  Hall. 


GEOGRAPHICAL    GLEANINGS  31 

Illyrian  woodlands,  echoing  fall 

Of  water  sheets  of  summer  glass, 

The  long  divine  Peneian  pass, 
The  vast  Akrokeraunian  wall  ! — To  E.  L. 

But  when  we  crost  the  Lombard  plain 

Remember  what  a  plague  of  rain  : 

Of  rain  at  Reggio,  rain  at  Parma, 

At  Lodi  rain,  Piacenza  rain. — The  Daisy. 

Then  twice  a  day  the  Severn  fills, 
The  salt  sea  water  passes  by, 
And  hushes  half  the  babbling  Wye, 

And  makes  a  silence  in  the  hills. — In  Memoriam,  XIX. 

Spenser's  Faery  Queene,  fourth  book  and  eleventh  canto, 
is  nothing  but  a  description  of  the  English  rivers  that  came  to 
the  marriage  of  the  Thames  and  Medway.  I  need  only  men- 
tion Byron,  Scott  and  Milton  as  full  of  geographical  reference. 

With  all  these  literary  testimonies  to  Geography,  with  all 
the  wealth  of  interest  lying  beneath  our  feet,  are  we  not  some- 
what like  men  who  live  in  a  country  full  of  mineral  wealth, 
intent  upon  nothing  more  than  making  pretty  gardens,  or 
getting  pasture  for  sheep  ?  I  thought  when  I  began  this  paper 
that  there  was  a  concert  of  opposition  to  the  subject  from 
head  masters  of  public  schools  and  head  masters  of  preparatory 
schools,  but  I  find,  from  examining  the  Report  of  the  Head 
Masters'  Conference  in  December,  that  they  would  rather  welcome 
boys  instructed  in  the  subject.  I  find  that  at  great  public  schools 
there  are  enthusiastic  teachers  of  the  subject.  I  find  the 
following  in  the  second  number  of  the  Preparatory  Schools 
Review,  in  reply  to  a  suggestion  made  by  the  Head  of  Hailey- 
bury  that  Geography  and  History  should  be  omitted  in  pre- 
paratory schools — - "  Geography  !  teachers,  educators,  searchers 
after  truth,  is  not  here  in  reality  your  subject — all  embracing, 
including  all  others.  From  it,  in  reality,  all  subjects  spring 
forth,  like  man  himself,  and  return  again  thereto.  We  have 
in  it  that  single  science  proposed  by  the  Frenchman,  Le  Pluy, 
and  now  being  so  industriously  developed  by  Professor  Geddes 
and  his  workers  in  Edinburgh — Social  Science — a  rehabilitated 
and  extended  Geography,  all  absorbing,  all  embracing,  out  of 
which  every  other  science  naturally  springs.  Out  of  it  there 
come,  one  after  another,  Geometry  and  the  measurement  of 


32  GEOGRAPHICAL    GLEANINGS 

fields  and  possessions,  Trigonometry  and  map-drawing,  Astron- 
omy and  shipping,  Mathematics  and  mechanics,  engine  and 
bridge  building,  ancient  history  and  classic  languages,  agri- 
culture and  colonization,  work  and  recreation,  poetry,  painting 
and  music."  To  quote  another  teacher — a  lady  this  time — 
"  Until  specialists  in  History,  Languages,  and  most  of  the 
Sciences,  are  willing  not  only  not  to  look  down  on  Geography 
as  beneath  their  notice  (such  an  attitude  being  a  remnant  of 
the  former  exclusively  classical  education),  but  to  use  it  to 
illustrate  their  lessons,  they  will  continue  to  take  the  life  out 
of  them."  (Miss  Busk.) 

I  think  I  may  fairly  say  that  many  intelligent  teachers 
are  in  favour  of  making  Geography  a  really  prominent  subject. 

We  need  in  our  schools  a  connective  element  for  the  work. 
The  modern  teacher  is  not  content  to  teach  Latin  one  hour 
and  French  another.  He  or  she  shows  how  the  very  forms  of 
the  words  are  common  to  the  languages,  and  one  lesson  helps 
the  other.  The  modern  teacher  looks  for  education  and  finds 
it  not  in  Grammars  nor  in  Lexicons — valuable  though  they  be 
—but  in  the  cultivation  of  the  powers  of  the  pupil,  granting 
leave  to  the  flowers  to  teach,  bringing  hand  and  eye  to  help 
brain,  making  sweet  sound  convey  sound  sense.  For  the  little 
ones  there  must  be  work,  but  work  which  they  can  do  ;  for  the 
elder  ones  graduated  work  all  leading  on  to  a  point  at  which 
the  children  can  leave  school,  furnished  with  the  power  to  earn 
their  bread  and  to  understand  how  things  are  in  the  world  and 
how  they  have  been,  so  as  to  guide  them  in  the  days  that  come 
so  quick  and  bring  them  level  with  their  elders  so  soon.  School 
and  university  alike  are  precious.  Too  soon  the  time  goes  by 
and  the  student  settles  down  into  the  place  into  which  it  pleases 
God  to  call  him.  For  many  there  are  few  opportunities  of 
study  in  later  life  ;  but  what  is  of  vast  importance  is  that  if 
you  are  inclined  to  pursue  a  subject  so  will  your  interest  grow, 
and  to  what  nobler  study  can  you  be  inclined  in  childhood,  youth, 
and  age,  than  that  which  deals  with  the  home  God  has  given  to 
man  on  earth.  It  is  not  only  the  length  and  breadth  of  the 
home  that  you  need  to  know.  You  will  love  to  consider  the 
lilies  God  has  planted  in  its  garden,  to  walk  by  the  still  waters 
that  lie  between  their  soft  banks,  to  admire  the  many,  many 
creatures  He  has  settled  in  its  park.  You  will  not  forget  if  you 


GEOGRAPHICAL    GLEANINGS  33 

love  your  home  the  things  that  happened  there  when  you  were 
young,  and  you  will  find  that  the  earth  too  once  was  young, 
and  its  records  are  graven  on  tables  of  stone.  You  will  look 
up  and  see  the  brethren  of  your  mother  earth  in  sky,  you  will 
look  round  and  think  of  beauty  on  the  summer  sea  and  grandeur 
in  the  winter  gale,  you  will  look  below  and  read  the  story  of  the 
ages  in  the  rocks  and  sand.  For  my  own  part  I  am  not  ashamed 
to  say  that  I  look  upon  true  Geography  as  if  she  were  a  fairy 
queen  standing  at  the  gates  of  a  land  full  of  beauty.  She  has 
none  of  the  austerity  of  her  sisters  who  preside  over  other 
Sciences,  but  she  has  friendly  relations  with  them  all.  She 
seems  to  beckon  us  within  with  a  gracious  smile,  as  though  in 
her  province  were  things  undreamt  of  in  our  philosophy — -as 
with  a  face  of  eternal  calm  she  muses  over  the  past  which 
enables  her  to  understand  the  present,  and  almost  to  forecast 
the  future.  I  could  not  turn  away  from  her  if  I  would,  because 
on  her  face  I  read  that  expression  of  truth  which  can  ennoble 
even  human  beings  and  once  shone  in  perfection  by  the  waters 
of  the  lake  in  Galilee.  I  cannot  bring  myself  to  acquiesce  in  the 
neglect  which  she  has  so  patiently  borne  for  so  long,  nor  dare  I 
to  offer  the  children  stones  for  their  hunger  when  there  is  enough 
of  bread  and  to  spare  from  her  store.  That  store  she  has  as 
treasure  in  her  keeping  from  an  everlasting  source,  and  He  who 
considered  the  world  when  it  was  made  as  good,  still  looks  upon 
it  with  the  affection  of  a  father  for  a  child.  To  understand 
the  objects  which  He  has  had  in  view  from  the  beginning  is 
beyond  the  vision  power  of  humanity,  but  to  learn  from  Geo- 
graphy all  that  she  can  teach  us  of  the  place  which  He  prepared 
for  man  as  a  dwelling-place  is  not  only  possible  but  a  duty. 


PART  II 

On   the    Preparation    and   Teaching    of   the 
Subject  :    Suggestions  for  Fellow- 
Teachers 

CHAPTER    I 

ON  THE  PREPARATION  FOR  TEACHING 

The  teacher  will  see  that  a  wide  range  of  reading  is  absolutely  neces- 
sary to  him,  and  that  he  must  equip  himself  with  such  a  store  of  illus- 
trations gathered  from  all  departments  of  knowledge  as  will  allow 
him  to  elucidate  each  subject  as  it  arises  in  the  course  of  his  tuition. — 
Sir  A.  Geikie,  Teaching  of  Geography,  page  5. 

For  a  list  of  Books  of  Reference  consult  that  given  on  pp.  47-54 
in  the  above  mentioned  work. 

FROM  the  general  defence  of  the  subject  in  the  first  part  of  this 
book  we  can  now  proceed  to  the  arrangement  of  our  thoughts 
as  practical  teachers.  In  the  first  place  I  imagine  that  we 
should  grasp  the  order  in  which  a  student  should  proceed.  The 
clearest  statement  I  have  seen  is  in  the  article  ".What  is 
Geography  ?  "  by  Mr.  E.  W.  Dann,  published  in  the  Geographi- 
cal Teacher  of  1905.  (No.  xiii,  Vol.  3,  Part  3.) 

"  The  Earth  is  only  part  of  a  great  universe,  and  therefore 
we  should  know  something  of  that  universe."  Clearly  if  we  are 
to  begin  in  this  way  we  must  make  some  study  of  ASTRONOMY. 
Next  we  "  must  know  its  (the  Earth's)  size,  its  shape,  and  its 
constituents  as  well  as  its  place  and  importance  in  the  great 
whole.  When  we  have  gained  a  broad  conception  of  its  sub- 
stance, we  can  begin  to  consider  its  outer  crust."  This  implies 
GEOLOGY.  Then  follow  the  many  things  comprehended  in 
the  words  PHYSICAL  GEOGRAPHY  which  bring  us  (as  I  say  in 


36  GEOGRAPHICAL    GLEANINGS 

the  first  part)  to  BOTANY  and  ZOOLOGY.  Lastly  we  come  to 
the  Study  of  Man  and  the  countries  in  which  he  lives.  "  How 
far  can  we  go  ourselves  and  how  far  can  we  take  our  pupils  ?  " 
is  a  pertinent  question  of  Mr.  Dann's  and  I  repeat  it. 

No  explanation  of  the  condition  and  conduct  of 
my*  the  Earth  is  possible  without  some  Astronomy. 
The  Sun,  the  Moon,  the  Stars  are  all  related  to  the  Earth,  or 
if  we  take  a  more  humble  and  perhaps  a  more  accurate  view, 
the  Earth  is  related  to  them.  The  very  meridians  that  are 
marked  on  every  map  are  but  the  record  of  the  passing  Sun, 
and  as  it  were  the  figures  on  a  mighty  clock.  The  tides  that 
chase  round  the  Earth  are  following  the  course  of  the  moon. 
The  passing  from  one  hemisphere  to  another  is  indicated  by 
the  sight  of  the  Southern  Cross  instead  of  our  old  friend  the 
Great  Bear.  The  land  of  the  Midnight  Sufi  and  the  Equator- 
ial Provinces,  baked  in  heat,  bear  witness  to  the  lord  of  the 
skies,  the  mighty  Sun.  So  all  the  visible  universe  contributes 
something  to  Geography. 

In  our  -position,  therefore,  we  must  make  such  a  book  as 
Sir  Robert  Ball's  Story  of  the  Heavens  our  own,  and  in  class 
attempt  no  more  than  we  find  we  can  teach  and  the  learners 
understand.  Not  a  few  of  us  bewilder  the  children  by  bring- 
ing before  them  too  soon  facts  that  "seem  simple  to  us  and 
incomprehensible  to  them.  Selection,  therefore,  from  our 
armoury  of  the  suitable  weapons  must  be  our  principle.  We 
need  not  take  out  our  heavy  rifle  for  big  game  in  order  to 
knock  over  the  birds  and  rabbits.  At  the  risk  of  bringing 
coals  to  Newcastle,  I  suggest  that  in  teaching  we  should  take 
some  such  order  as  this. 

We  must  suppose  that  our  school  is  provided  with  a  sylla- 
bus or  scheme.  In  the  ordinary  course  we  must  adhere  to 
that.  Let  each  teacher  be  free  to  give  one  lesson  in  five  on 
some  such  lines  as  the  following. 


The  Sun  -  connexion    between   the  Earth   and   the 

Moon,  '    rest  of  the  Solar  System. 

and  Stars.         2     The   Sun>s   nature    and   WQrk 


3.  The  Earth's,  view  by  night  of  the  Moon  and  Stars.     (Most 
reliable  help  will  be  found  here  in  Huxley's  Physiography,1 

1  References  to  this  book  are  to  the  edition  of   1884.     A  revised 
edition  has  been  published.      1904.     Macmillan  45.  6d, 


GEOGRAPHICAL    GLEANINGS  37 

Chap,  xxi.,  "  The  Sun.")  If  there  is  a  teacher  capable  of 
arranging  lectures  that  will  suit  all  classes  let  there  be  a  course, 
but  while  among  those  who  are  grown  up  such  is  not  difficult, 
in  schools  it  is  not  far  from  impossible.  Unless  one  teacher 
takes  all  the  Geography  in  the  school,  and  I  know  from  experi- 
ence that  to  be  an  exhausting  process  for  the  teacher,  it  is 
better  that  each  should  train  their  own  class  and  drill  their 
own  section,  so  to  speak.  In  modern  warfare  greater  reliance 
is  placed  on  the  conduct  of  sections  and  their  leaders  than  in 
the  days  of  advance  in  columns.  The  area  of  the  modern 
battlefield  is  enormous.  So  is  that  of  education,  and  of  all 
subjects  in  education,  of  Geography.  Let  each  leader  then 
handle  his  own  section  with  intelligence.  The  amount  of 
Astronomy  must  be  chosen  by  him.  In  this  way  the  teacher 
will  keep  his  knowledge  fresh  and  not  allow  this  most  important 
branch  of  the  subject  to  be  lost  sight  of  in  the  ordinary  work 
of  the  class. 

We  have  all  probably  '  been  struck  by  the  difficulty 
placed  in  the  way  of  the  young  by  the  earlier  portion  of 
many  text-books  dealing  with  Geography.  They  resemble 
a  terrific  obstacle  placed  at  the  beginning  of  a  steeple 
chase.  For  this  we  may  substitute  our  own  lessons  adjusted 
to  capacity.  But  we  must  not  lose  sight  for  ourselves  of  the 
grandeur  of  our  first  stage  of  geographical  training.  There 
is  something  which  lifts  us  out  of  ourselves  in  the  height  and 
width  of  such  knowledge.  Such  terms,  indeed,  seem  almost 
inappropriate.  Let  us  apply  them  to  that  which  can  be 
measured  and  not  to  the  infinity  of  space.  We  are  come  to 
the  noblest  and  grandest  of  things  when  we  search  the  heavens 
above  us  and  in  a  spirit  of  reverence  read  the  first  chapter  of 
Geographical  Knowledge.  It  is  a  glorious  prelude  to  the 
music  that  will  follow.  (Of  Mathematical  Geography,  that 
is  so  closely  related  to  Astronomy,  I  will  treat  in  a  later  section.) 
The  teacher  who  has  now  come  down  to  Earth, 
must  learn  enough  about  its  structure  to  feel  at 
home  when  the  physical  features  of  each  country  come  before 
him  in  his  course.  It  will  help  him  to  have  read  the  Text- 
Book  of  Geology l  and  to  realize  how  much  depends  on  that 

1  Text-book    of   Geolog?.     Sir    A.    Geikie,    285.    Macmillan.     Or   the 
Class-book  of  Geology,  the  same  author,  45.  6d.  Macmillan. 


38  GEOGRAPHICAL    GLEANINGS 

science.  I  quote  again  from  the  article1  in  the  Geographical 
Teacher  for  the  Autumn  of  1005,  to  which  I  am  so  deeply 
indebted,  as  follows  :  "  The  question  of  the  position  of  Geol- 
ogy is  indeed  a  difficult  one.  It  is  absolutely  necessary  for 
the  proper  understanding  of  geography  to  have  a  good  working 
knowledge  of  the  sister-science.  I  do  not  say  that  it  is  impossi- 
ble for  the  non-geologist  to  become  a  very  finely  equipped 
geographer,  but  the  two  subjects  are  too  closely  connected 
to  be  regarded  as  distinct.  The  one  is  the  ancient  history  of 
the  other  and  in  places  the  two  are  indistinguishable.  Geology 
has  a  distinct  bearing  upon  scenery,  and  scenery  is  a  distinct 
branch  of  our  geographical  study.  When  geology  presents  us 
with  facts  we  are  glad  to  utilize  those  facts  in  our  Geography. 
Where  it  is  merely  speculation  and  theory  we  must  leave  it." 

It  must  also  be  clear  that  while  we  need  not  attempt  to  go 
too  far  in  this  science,  lest  we  should  lose  our  sense  of  propor- 
tion, that  it  furnishes  us  with  the  only  explanation  of  the 
materials,  and  their  disposal,  which  go  to  make  up  the  Earth. 
That,  further,  it  is  of  great  service  in  gaming  knowledge  of  the 
Home  district.  "  The  Geologist  can  interest  his  pupils  by 
his  special  knowledge  of  the  rocks  of  the  district."2  He  leads 
the  way  for  the  statistics  of  mineral  products  though  "  he 
may  tremble  at  the  sight  of  figures."  He  rivals  in  his  many 
interests  the  other  great  contributors  to  the  chapters  of  our 
knowledge.  Now  it  is  manifest  that  all  that  we  have  studied 
so  far,  leads  us  to  the  "  many  chambered  mansion  "  of 
PHYSICAL  GEOGRAPHY. 

It  is  impossible  in  this  general  survey  to  do  much 

Geography  more  than  impress  upon  my  readers  that  in  this 

vast  area  of  knowledge  one  needs,  more  than  anything, 

clearness.     We  have  to  do  with  the  waters  that  are  above  the 

Earth  and  the  waters  that  are  beneath  the  Earth,  as  well 

as  the  Earth  itself.     For  our  own  sake  we  must  be  familiar 

with  the    great  general    features  of  the  sea  and    land.     Oro- 

graphical  maps,  raised  maps  (allowing  for  exaggeration)  maps 

that  we  have  filled  in  ourselves,  will  help  us.     I  do  not  find  it 


1  What  is  Geography  ?  by  Ernest  W.   Dann,   B.A.,   F.R.G.S.,   first 
read  to  the  Manchester  Geographical  Society?  December  13,  1904. 

2  What  is  Geography  ?  page  99,  as  quoted  before. 


GEOGRAPHICAL    GLEANINGS  39 

difficult  to  see  before  me  as  I  write  those  countries  of  which 
I  have  made  maps,  though  I  acknowledge  that  far  too  many 
have  been  political.  I  would  suggest  diagrams  of  sections 
across  continents,  across  countries,  charts  of  ocean  currents, 
plans  of  various  groups  of  lakes, -and  fairly  complete  maps  of 
the  River  Systems  of  various  countries,  noting  specially  where 
they  are  aided  by  canals.  Practically,  of  course,  it  is  not  easy 
to  find  time  to  make  or  room  to  keep  everything  one  would  like, 
but  every  such  self-made  aid  is  invaluable.  One  may  read  a 
good  deal  and  forget.  One  draws  maps  and  diagrams,  they 
remain. 

Travel  is  of  the  utmost  use.  There  are  limits  in  the  way  of 
expense,  but  nowadays  a  great  deal  can  be  done  for  compar- 
atively little  money.  I  can  imagine  a  delightful  holiday  for 
instance  beginning  with  the  study  of  the  Reculvers,  the  old 
Roman  station  of  Regulbium,  near  Herne  Bay,  where  the  sea 
has  made  such  inroads  that  it  has  destroyed  the  military  wall, 
while  the  church,  which  in  the  time  of  Henry  VIII  was  nearly 
a  mile  inland,  is  now  on  the  very  brink  of  the  cliff.  As  the  two 
towers  form  a  well  known  landmark  to  mariners  a  causeway 
has  been  constructed  on  the  beach  to  arrest  the  progress  of 
the  sea.  A  walk  along  the  shore  by  Herne  Bay  in  the  opposite 
direction  will  show  many  places  where  the  cliffs  have  fallen 
and  the  corn-land  been  lost.  If  you  desire  to  study  further 
the  precisely  opposite  phenomenon,  you  can  bicycle  over  by 
Minster  to  the  remains  of  Richborough,  the  old  Roman  station 
of  Rutupiae,  which  you  will  find  looks  over  wide  flats  several 
miles  from  the  shore,  whereas  it  once  guarded  the  entrance  to 

the  channel  that  separated  the  Isle  of  Thanet  from 
Thanet*     the  Kentish  coast.     The  Roman  fleet  sailed  through 

this  channel  but  now  only  the  windings  of  the 
Stour  remain  as  a  narrow  water-way  and  the  island  is  only 
one  in  name.  From  Herne  Bay  is  an  easy  journey  to  Dover, 
where  you  will  find  much  of  inteiest,  e.g.  the  boring  for  coal,  and 
can  imagine  the  time  when  instead  of  the  stormy  channel 
there  was  land  connecting  this  country  with  the  Continent, 
while  the  chalk  cliffs  you  see  there  and  in  France  witness  to 
a  common  formation.  You  can  work  your  way  along  the 
coast  from  Dover  again  to  Richborough,  rescued  from  the 
plough  and  preserved  for  the  archaeologist  by  the  care  of 


40  GEOGRAPHICAL    GLEANINGS 

Archbishop  Benson  and  Lord  Ashcombe,  and  stand  by  the 
cross  which  marks  the  spot  where  St.  Augustine  landed  on 
his  mission  to  England.  Then  you  can  go  to  the  ancient 


ft o 777/7  e y  -\:.' : 
Marsh- 


port  of  Sandwich,  now  far  from  the  sea,  with  all  its 

The  Cinque         ,  r '     ,  . 

Ports.      calm  and  reposeful  history  as  a  great  Cinque  Port,1 
from  which  you  can  ride  to  Deal,  where  you  can  go 

1  Cf.  History  of  the  Cinque  Ports.     Professor  M.  Burrows. 


iCAL    GLEANINGS  41 


out  and  see  the  Goodwin  Sands  with  boatmen  full  of  stories 
of  wreck.  Here  too  you  will  see  ships  of  all  nations  to  remind 
you  that  the  world's  commerce  still  makes  for  the  port  of  Lon- 
don, and  if  your  journey  money  carries  you  further  you  can 
go  to  the  Romney  Marshes,  a  fine  instance  of  alluvial  deposit, 
and  at  the  picturesque  towns  of  Rye  and  Winchelsea  renew 
your  study  at  once  of  the  Cinque  Ports,  and  of  the  retreat  of 
the  sea  which  has  deserted  Winchelsea  completely  and  is  only 
connected  with  Rye  by  a  winding  river.  You  must  not  omit 
a  visit  to  Dungeness  where  a  long  promontory  of  shingle, 
accumulated  by  the  eastward  drift  from  Beachy  Head,  grows 
yearly  further  into  the  sea,  and  thence  you  can  finish  your 
tour  at  Hastings,  another  Cinque  Port,  not  far  from  which 
Battle  Abbey  will  attract  you  to  see  the  place  where,  at  Senlac, 
Norman  met  Saxon  and  the  story  of  this  country  for  centuries 
was  changed. 

Those  of  us  who  can  go  further  may  make  the  acquaintance 
of  the  mountain  scenery  of  Switzerland,  and  trace  the  Rhone 
from  its  muddy  glacier-fed  stream,  at  one  end  of  the  lake  ol 
Geneva,  till  it  issues  in  its  strength  and  clearness  at  the  other. 

A  delightful  trip  may  be  made  from  Hull  or  Newcastle  to 
Bergen  and  thence  by  ordinary  mail  steamer  to  the  North 
Cape  and  Vadso,  where  every  day  brings  fresh  fiords  and  the 
structure  of  the  storm  beaten  coast  of  the  Lufoten  islands 
will  reward  the  patience  of  the  traveller. 

Others  again  will  find  the  English  Lake  District  attractive, 
or  voyage  on  the  western  shores  of  Scotland,  where  they  can 
see  Fingal's  cave  and  study  basaltic  formation,  and  visit  lona 
and  muse  on  the  memories  of  British  Christianity.  Some  will, 
I  hope,  find  their  way  to  the  intensely  interesting  Giant's  Cause- 
way in  the  north,  the  picturesque  mountains  and  lakes  of 
Wicklow  in  the  centre,  and  the  beautiful  southern  coast  of 
Ireland,  where  there  is  so  much  to  see  that  we  neglect,  while 
parts  of  the  Continent  of  Europe  are  absolutely  too  familiar 
to  British  travellers.1 

Wherever  we  go  the   camera  will  record  for  us  the  places 

1  There  is  much  improvement  in  the  accommodation  for  travellers 
now  to  be  had  in  Ireland.  There  is  also  much  enterprise  on  the  lines 
of  railwav. 


42  GEOGRAPHICAL    GLEANINGS 

we  have  seen,  and  we  can  easily  make  lantern  slides  that  will 
give  us  and  those  we  teach  happy  records  of  our  holidays. 

It  is  always  a  pleasure  to  a  class  to  share  in  the  personal 
experiences  of  the  teacher,  who  in  his  turn  may  be  pardoned  if 
he  feels  a  little  pride  when  he  can  say :  "  When  I  was  there 
the  glacier  was  only  moving  at  the  rate  of  four  inches  daily." 
I  should  also  encourage  any  boy  or  girl  to  bring  me  in  their 
turn  views  of  what  they  may  have  seen.  A  school  would  soon 
possess  an  illustrated  volume  of  its  own  making,  to  which 
others  would  be  proud  to  add  from  time  to  time. 

If  then  by  study  and  making  maps  and  by  travel  the  teacher 
advances  in  his  own  knowledge  of  our  third  chapter,  namely 
Physical  Geography,  he  will  add  to  his  efficiency  by  grouping 
together  some  leading  features  of  the  condition  of  the  Earth. 
For  instance  in  the  fascinating  Physiography  of  Huxley  he 
will  find  the  description  of  the  work  done  by  water. 
The  Proces-  ^e  teaches  us  that  the  ocean  by  evaporation 

sion  of     throws  up  the  moisture  that  may  in  clouds  and  then 

water.         -n  m'n  come  Qver  fae  jan(^  Qn  whjcn  Jt  falls,  thus  to 

contribute  to  a  river  that  will  bear  that  water  back  to  the 
sea  again.  He  quotes  from  Ecclesiastes  :  "  All  the  rivers  run 
into  the  sea  :  yet  the  sea  is  not  full  :  unto  the  place  from  whence 
the  rivers  come  thither  they  return  again."  A  great  truth 
like  that  may  be  obvious,  but  it  is  inspiring. 
Denudation  Then  again  he  makes  clear  the  constant  process 
and  eleva-  of  denudation  of  the  land  by  the  sea,  rain  and  rivers, 
tion  of  Land.  and  shows  that  also  volcanic  activity  adds  to  the 
area  of  land,  so  that  it  is  probable  that  the  greater  part  of  the 
South  American  coast  has  been  raised  several  hundred  feet 
by  the  succession  of.  upheavals.  Even  then  all  this  fresh 
material  is  again  to  be  subjected  to  the  ever-active  agents  of 
denudation.  Here  again  is  a  process  that  is  part  of  the  eternal 
order  of  things. 

Some  Large  views  again  will  help  us  if  we  reflect,  that 
wn^e  mucn  is  made  of  the  land  and  its  elevations, 
yet  the  sea  occupies  a  far  larger  area  and  its  average 
depth  is  far  greater  than  the  average  height  of  the  land,  so 
that  there  is  much  more  sea  than  dry  land. 

This  comprehensive  method  will  make  us  look,  not  at  Europe 
and  Asia,  but  at  Eurasia,  for  there  is  no  natural  demarcation 


GEOGRAPHICAL    GLEANINGS  43 

It  will  lead  us  to  connect  in  our  mind  the  position  of  the  British 
Isles  to  the  west  of  this  mass  of  land  and  that  of  Japan  to  the 
east  :  the  population  of  each  group,  free  by  position,  but  daring 
to  take  its  share  in  the  affairs  of  the  continent.  We  see  how 
intimately  Eurasia  is  connected  with  Africa,  having  a  midland 
sea  round  whose  waters  history  has  been  in  the  making  for 
centuries  and  that  the  old  world  from  Behring's  Strait  to 
the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  slopes,  as  it  were,  away  from  the 
great  twin  brethren  of  North  and  South  America,  with  myriad 
islands  in  the  space  between,'  one  of  which  almost  ranks  as  a 
continent. 

We  compare  for  ourselves  the  condition  of  Africa,  its  upper 
half  largely  desert  with  a  great  lake  system  in  the  south  and 
east  connected  with  the  Nile,  with  America  either  in  the 
northern  portion  with  such  another  lake  system  and  such 
another  river  in  the  St.  Lawrence,  or  the  southern  portion  with 
giant  rivers  and  an  absence  of  lakes. 

In  thus  taking  large  views  we  shall  come  to  ap- 
preciate the  fact  that  all  this  structural  comparison 
between  water  and  land,  and  between  one  continent  and  another, 
brings  us  naturally  to  the  study  of  that  which  grows  on  and 
diversifies  the  face  of  each  country,  namely  plant  life,  and  all 
that  moves  or  has  its  being  amongst  these  surroundings,  namely 
animal  life.  There  must  be  many  who  find  in  Botany  a 
fascinating  pursuit.  All  such  study  of  nature  will  bring  light 
to  the  classes  in  Geography. 

In  dealing  with  plant  life  for  our  purpose  we  must  mainly 
confine  ourselves  to  its  effects  on  climate,  to  its  utility  as  a 
means  of  shelter  or  a  source  of  food  or  material  for  clothing 
for  man.  It  will  not  do  to  trespass  in  its  own  proper  field. 
Happy  the  teacher  that  has  made  that  field  his  own,  and  happy 
the  school  that  has  time  given  for  its  study,  but  for  us  there 
are  limits.1  Charles  Darwin  considered  Professor  Henslow 
the  most  informing  teacher  he  had  met.  We  might  suggest 
his  Botany  for  Beginners,  Origin  of  Plant  Structures  and  Origin 
of  Flower  Structures. 

The  same  self-denial  must  be  applied  to  Zoology. 
)logy*    It  is  enough  for  us  to  mark  all  those  species  that 

1  Cf.    "  Geographical    distribution  of    Land   Plants."     Geographical 
Teacher,  Autumn  No.   1905,  p.   120,  etc. 


44  GEOGRAPHICAL    GLEANINGS 

contribute  to  man's  wants  in  the  way  of  food  and  clothing  or 
by  aiding  him  in  transport,  or  affording  articles  of  commerce, 
or  least  of  all — and  less  and  less  as  weapons  grow  more  destruc- 
tive and  hunters  too  numerous — in  the  way  of  sport.  It  is  not 
necessary  to  relegate  the  animal  life  of  a  region  to  a  brief  list  at 
the  end  of  a  section.  Familiarity  with  the  general  type  of 
animals  peculiar  to  any  region  is  not  impossible.1 

Here  books  of  travel  and  exploration  may  be  used  largely. 
The  work  done  by  the  camel  in  Asia,  Africa  and  Australia  : 
the  variety  of  service  performed  by  oxen  of  many  types,  as 
well  as  the  more  obvious  assistance  of  the  horse  and  mule,  are 
leading  instances  of  general  arrangements  of  thoughts  and 
facts.  The  contributions  of  the  sea  to  the  sustaining  of  life, 
the  fisheries  of  oceans,  different  seas  and  coasts  again  compress 
our  array  of  facts  into  available  compartments.  The  share 
of  flesh-producing  animals  in  supplying  food  will  make  another 
such  compartment  :  and  for  realizing  still  further  the  conditions 
of  existence,  we  must  be  able  to  give  some  account  of  bird 
life  to  our  class.'  The  condor  of  the  Andes,  the  eagle,  the  vulture,, 
the  flocks  of  gulls  on  the  sea  shore,  the  singing  birds,  the  sacred 
birds  of  Egypt  or  India,  the  fishing  birds  of  China,  all  will 
bring  reality  and  charm.  Once  more  alas  !  we  have  a 
thousand  things  to  tell  and  only  scanty  time  in  which  to  tell 
them. 

The  immense  subject  of  Man  now  confronts  us, 
and  his  relations  to  the  earth.  Keeping  steadily 
before  us  the  wide  expanse  over  which  he  is  settled  we  may 
first  consider  the  question  of  Race.2  There  seems  something 
natural  in  beginning  with  the  thought  of  the  Indo-European 
family  and  marking  its  extent  of  settlement.  Imperceptibly  it 
merges  into  the  Mongolian  on  the  east.  It  is  again  connected  by 
the  Arab  with  the  Negroid  varieties  of  Africa.  By  colonization 
it  has  come  into  contact  with  the  natives  of  Africa,  of  Australia, 
of  North  and  South  America.  It  is  found  as  far  north  as  Alaska, 


1  I  am  glad  to  find  this  idea  of  mine  fully  endorsed  by  Professor 
Thomson  in   his   article  on  "  Geographical  Distribution  of  Animals," 
p.  115,  etc.,  in  the  Geographical  Teacher.     Autumn  No.  1905. 

2  Man  and  His  Work,  Herbertson,  Chap.  xiv.    The  whole  book  is  of 
value. 


GEOGRAPHICAL    GLEANINGS  45 

as  far  south  as  Cape  Town.  Only  the  impenetrable  icy  barriers 
of  Arctic  and  Antarctic  oceans  have  barred  its  approach  to  the 
ends  of  the  world.  The  natural  accompaniment  of  this  expan- 
sion has  been  the  creation  of  countless  divisions  of  the  Earth's 
surface  as  artificial  collections  of  human  beings  known  as 
Kingdoms  and  States.  No  more  useful  maps  are  published 

states       t^ian   those  whicn   show   the   changes   and   growth 

of  these  states  century  by  century.1     We  advance 

from  the  knowledge  of  the  Phoenician  sailor  to  the  explorer  of 

to-day  by  stages,  until  the  light  gradually  spreads  over  the 

darkness. 

We  realize  the  manner  in  which  man  has  arrived  at  his 
present  settlements  in  this  way.  Not  only  the  natives  but 
the  new  comers  form  the  many  states  we  now  have,  the 
new  comers  largely  the  most  efficient.  From  the  cata- 
logue of  the  divisions  or  states  we  naturally  come  to 
the  way  in  which  men  communicate  one  with  another. 

Here  we  arrive  at  the  vast  subject  of  corn- 
Commerce. 

merce,  which  taken  simply  means  the  ex- 
change of  all  products  between  different  places.  It  has 
a  fascination  of  its  own.  Communication  on  land  by 
the  caravan  of  brick-tea  in  Asia  or  by  the  tunnels  under 
the  Alps  is  as  interesting  to  the  young  as  the  thought 
that  the  sea  not  only  divides  but  connects  different  countries. 
The  tracks  of  ocean-going  steamers  and  their  mileage  help, 
diagrams  of  exports  and  imports  help.2  We  are  not  so  sur- 
prised to  find  our  own  interest  aroused,  but  we  are  to  find  a 
great  desire  to  pursue  this  subject  further,  especially  with  more 
advanced  classes  of  boys.3 

These  three  very  general  divisions  of  the  study  of  man 
by  Race,  by  State,  and  by  Commerce  cover  the  main  con- 
ditions of  his  existence. 


1  The  most  informing  series  of  Maps  in  Keith-Johnston's  Geography 
must  be  studied.     They  bring  out  very  well  the  truth  in  point. 

2  Chisholm's  Commercial  Geography,  p.  25.     Specially  with  reference 
to  the  diagram  of  the  production  of  coal  in  the  United  States,  Great 
Britain  and  Germany. 

3  Consult    always    The    Statesman's     Year    Book,    and    Whittaker's 
Almanack.     Valuable  also  is  Sell's  Commercial  Intelligence,  published 
every  Wednesday,  price  $d. 


46  GEOGRAPHICAL    GLEANINGS 

If  this  is  mere  outline  it  has  the  merit  of  simplicity. 
I  make  such  wide  views  prominent,  just  as  one 
w°uld  climb  a  hill  to  take  in  an  impression 
of  the  surrounding  country.1  It  is  clear  that  in 
searching  for  information  about  Race  we  can  lay  under  con- 
tribution all  illustrations  in  order  that  we  may  realize  the 
different  types.  The  more  savage  tribes  will  retain  marked 
traits  in  physiognomy  as  less  disturbed  by  blending.  The 
more  civilized  peoples  will  acquire  a  more  compound  expres- 
sion and  have  many  similar  faces  in  various  countries.  Thus 
one  can  find  great  likenesses  amongst  men  of  different 
nations  widely  separated  by  settlement,  and  mistake  men 
of  one  country  for  men  of  another,  but  never  hesitate  to 
identify  a  Samoyede  or  a  Patagonian. 

Just  to  amplify  further  our  general  three-fold  division 
states  which  is  given  above,  in  studying  the  artificial 
divisions  of  men  into  States  we  may  lay  stress  on 
the  influence  of  physical  features,  such  as  the  mountains  which 
divide  and  protect,  or  the  rivers  which  unite  and  support,  in 
our  lessons  in  Physical  Geography.  In  this  later  stage  we  are 
mainly  in  the  hands  of  History.  It  would  be  impossible 
to  explain  the  divisions  of  North  America  without  it.  Still 
more  would  Europe  be  unintelligible.  If  battle  fields  alone  are 
marked  with  dates  one  can  lead  towards  a  knowledge  of  the 
History.  Picture  for  yourself  a  moment  how  much  might  be 
learned  of  England  in  such  a  way.  I  am  sure  that  a  map 
which  gives  us  Hastings,  Lewes,  Evesham,  Towton,  Bosworth, 
Marston  Moor,  Naseby,  Sedgemoor,  to  take  but  a  few  instances, 
rivets  our  attention.  I  think  from  what  I  have  heard  our 
colonial  brethren  have  made  these  maps  clearer  in  their  classes 
than  we  ourselves  have.2  History  holds  the  secrets  of  state 

1  "  He  spoke  like  a  man  inspired  ;  seeming  as  if  from  some  mountain 
summit  high  in  air,  he  saw  beneath  him  the  far  winding  path  of  human 
progress  from  dim  Cimmerian  shores  of  prehistoric  shadow  into  the 
fuller  yet  broken   and   fitful   light  of  the   modern   time." — Professor 
Bryce  on  Lord  Acton,  quoted  in  the  Preface  by  Herbert  Paul  to  Lord 
Acton's  Letters  to  Mary  Gladstone. 

2  This  was  made  clear  by  Dr.  Parkin  in  his  speech  at  the  annual 
meeting  of  the   Geographical   Association,    1905.     Naturally   perhaps 
the    Canadian  child   studies  carefully  the  map  of   the  country  from 
which  his  fathers  came. 


GEOGRAPHICAL    GLEANINGS  47 

existence.  There  is  in  the  new  Students  Atlas  of  English  History 
by  Emil  Reich  such  a  treasure  of  information  that  few  should 
be  without  it,1  and  the  Historical  Atlas  of  Modern  Europe 
edited  by  Mr.  Lane  Poole  is  of  equal  importance.2  A  most 
excellent  Historical  Atlas  by  Mr.  Grant  Robertson  has  also 
just  come  out. 

In  the  teaching  of  commerce  it  will  be  interesting  to  bear 

in  mind    the    manner  in  which   one    nation   after 
Smmerccf  an°ther  has    taken   up  the  burden  of  the  carrying 

trade.  The  voyages  of  the  Phoenicians  are 
familiar  to  us  from  the  story  of  the  tin-mines  in  Cornwall. 
Their  colony  of  Carthage  carried  on  the  work.3  The  mere 
mention  of  Venice  brings  to  our  minds  the  Merchant  of  that 
town  and  Shakespeare : 

Your  mind  is  tossing  on  the  ocean  ; 
There  where  your  argosies  with  portly  sail, 
Like  signiors  and  rich  burghers  on  the  flood. 

Then  came  the  partial  eclipse  of  the  Mediterranean  trade,  by 
the  blocking  of  trade  by  the  Turks,  by  the  discovery  of  the 
Cape  route  to  India  and  by  the  coming  in  of  the  New  World 
to  upset  the  commerce  of  the  old. 

Spain,  Holland  and  Portugal  rivalled,  if  they  did  not  surpass, 
England.  Then  by  degrees  as  the  world  expanded  so  did 
the  British  and  other  European  commerce,  until  in  almost 
our  own  day  the  Suez  Canal  revived  the  prosperity  of  the 
Mediterranean  coast  towns. 

A  picturesque  touch  would  be  easily  given  by  a  sketch  of  the 
ancient  caravels  or  the  vessels  of  Columbus,  to  go  no  farther 
back,  in  contrast  with  ocean  liners  of  to-day. 

A  brilliant  outline  of  the  progress  of  Commerce  on  an  ampler 
scale  than  that  above  is  given  by  Redway  in  his  very  inform- 
ing New  Basis  of  Geography* 

1  A  new  Student's  A  tias  of  English  History,  by  Emil  Reich.   Macmillan, 
1903. 

2  Historical   Atlas    of   Modern    Europe.     Clarendon    Press.     Oxford 
and  London. 

3  Cf.    also   Elementary    Commercial  Geography.     H.    R.    Mill.     Pitt 
Press  Series. 

4  See  Herbertson,  Man  and  His  Work,  p.  95. 


48  GEOGRAPHICAL    GLEANINGS 

Notes  on  Chapter  I 
MATHEMATICAL  GEOGRAPHY. 

There  are  in  all  text-books  fairly  clear  explanations  of  the  facts 
which  are  necessary  for  the  understanding  of  maps,  but  on  the  thres- 
hold of  the  subject  "  a  description  of  the  Earth,  which  commences  by 
telling  the  child  that  it  is  an  oblate  spheroid,  moving  round  the  sun  in 

ORTHOGRAPHIC    PROJECTION. 


an  elliptical  orbit  is  hardly  calculated  to  interest  or  instruct."  1  We 
have  learnt  to  place  the  Earth  in  its  relation  to  the  Sun  from  our  work 
in  Astronomy,  and  the  movements  of  rotation  and  revolution  once 
explained  the  practical  facts  of  map  delineation  come  in  view.  The 
figure  of  the  Earth  having  been  proved  a  sphere  from  the  phenomena  of 
ships  disappearing  by  degrees  as  they  sail  from  the  observer,  or  the 

i  See  Huxley's  Physiography,  original  preface. 


GEOGRAPHICAL   GLEANINGS 


49 


shadow  thrown  by  the  Earth  during  an  eclipse,  we  come  to  deal  with 
the  efforts  to  depict  the  surface  by  artificial  means  and  on  a  plane  sur- 
face. By  taking  an  imaginary  line  round  the  Earth  and  calling  it  the 
Equator,  Geographers  begin  by  measuring  from  to  it  North  and  South 
by  means  of  circles,  ever  growing  less  as  they  recede  from  the  central 
great  circle,  and  call  these  parallels  of  Latitude.  These  would  not 
alone  determine  the  position  of  a  place,  so  again  the  Geographers  have 


GLOBULAR  PROJECTION. 


drawn  a  number  of  great  circles  through  the  North  and  South  Poles 
each  having  the  Earth's  centre  as  its  centre,  and  call  these  lines  of 
Longitude.  Any  place  found  at  the  intersection  of  these  lines  of 
Latitude  and  Longitude  is  said  to  be  so  many  degrees  north  or  south 
Latitude  measuring  from  the  Equator,  as  London  51°  30'  N.  Lat.  or 
Sydney  34°  South  Lat.  and  so  many  degrees  of  Longitude  east  or  west 
of  a  given  line  (in  our  case  at  Greenwich,  near  London)  as  London  5' 

D 


50  GEOGRAPHICAL    GLEANINGS 

10  W.  Long,  and  Sydney  151°  E.  Long.  The  total  number  of  degrees 
of  Latitude  from  Equator  to  Pole  is  90,  that  is  one  fourth  of  360,  the 
number  of  degrees  given  to  a  complete  circle  round  the  Earth.  The 
total  number  of  degrees  of  Longitude  is  360,  divided  into  1 80  East  and 
1 80  West  of  the  given  line  called  the  zero  meridian.  The  degrees  are 
marked  °,  they  are  divided  into  minutes  marked  ',  and  minutes  into 
seconds  marked  //. 

To  lay  down  on  a  globe  such  lines  of  Latitude  and  Longitude  is  easy. 


MERCATOR    PROJECTION 


31    isn    >5o— 135    120    105    so  __ 75    ep  ..  45    30     is      o      15    30    »s    so     75    90 


75       90      105      120     135     150      165     180 


15       30      45      60      75      90      105     IZO     135     ISO     I6&     i3O, 


When  we  come  to  show  them  on  a  map  we  have  to  represent  that  which  is 
round  on  a  plane  surface.  This  is  done  by  means  of  projection.  This 
is  explained  in  Elderton's  Maps  and  Map  Drawing.  The  diagrams  of 
orthographic  and  globular  projection  in  Huxley's  Physiography  are 
also  useful.  Practically  each  projection  involves  a  certain  amount  of 
distortion. 

The  well  known  projection  of  Mercator  is  an  instance  in  point.  The 
exaggeration  of  Greenland  due  to  the  increase  of  distance  between  the 
parallels  cannot  escape  notice. 


GEOGRAPHICAL    GLEANINGS  51 

A  short  summary  of  the  principles  on  which  Mathematical  Geography 
can  be  taught  is  to  be  found  in  Geikie's  Teaching  of  Geography. 

NOTE. — The  fundamental  but  difficult  problems  of  astronomical 
Geography,  such  as  the  change  of  seasons,  determination  of  latitude 
and  longitude,  rotational  deflection,  and  the  courses  of  tides,  are 
illustrated  by  sun  and  star  observations  and  the  use  of  every  available 
experiment  and  device.  This  is  a  part  of  Geography  which  requires 
the  greatest  care  and  skill  on  the  part  of  the  teacher,  and  in  which 
complete  success  is  seldom  attainable.  Professor  C.  R.  Dryer  of  the 
Indiana  State  Normal  School,  Terre  Haute,  at  the  annual  meeting 
Geographical  Association,  1904. 


EQUIPMENT. 

It  will  follow  from  the  foregoing  pages  that  while  a  great  deal 
depends  on  the  teacher,  he  requires  a  certain  amount  of  tools 
with  which  to  work. 

He  must  have  a  number  of  wall  maps.  It  seems  invidious 
to  name  any  particular  publisher,  and  schools  are  of  so  many 
types  and  such  different  purchasing  powers  that  I  can  only 
suggest  that  of  these  at  least  some  should  be  without  names 
and  used  for  questioning.  Most  important  are  geological  maps 
and  what  we  may  call  economic  maps.  The  clearer  these 
maps  are  the  better  for  every  one. 

The  Terrestrial  Globe  is  an  essential  for  helping  in  the 
Mathematical  Geography  and  for  the  true  understanding  of 
the  relative  sizes  of  different  countries.  The  larger  the  globe 
the  better  ;  it  is  not  necessary  for  it  to  be  crowded  with  names, 
these  can  be  found  in  the  maps  in  Atlases.  A  globe  marked 
with  the  depths  of  the  sea,  and  also  with  the  great  sea-routes 
followed  by  ships  is  of  value. 

The  Ordnance  Survey  Maps  can  be  obtained  now  from  the 
Director-General  Ordnance  Survey,  Southampton,  on  most 
reasonable  terms,  provided  that  a  guarantee  is  given  that  the 
maps  will  be  used  for  teaching  purposes  and  will  not  be  sold. 
The  use  of  these  maps  for  studying  the  neighbourhood  of  a 
school  is  very  great. 

The  use  of  Relief  Maps  such  as  those  extensively  used  in 
Switzerland  may  lead  to  error  from  inevitable  exaggeration, 
but  they  are  certainly  attractive  and  much  appreciated  by 


52  GEOGRAPHICAL    GLEANINGS 

classes.  The  more  zealous  teachers  in  France,  both  in  primary 
and  secondary  schools,  have  made  models  for  themselves  in 
plaster  and  other  materials,  and  such  models  can  well  be  made 
by  both  teachers  and  taught,  layers  of  cardboard  can  be  cut 
to  make  contours,  and  there  is  no  limit  to  work  in  this  direc- 
tion but  that  imposed  by  the  initiative  or  the  reverse  of  the 
teacher.  There  are  some  who  are  gifted  in  this  direction  and 
others  who  with  the  best  will  are  unable  to  do  much.  It  is 
often  possible  to  find  pupils  who  will  turn  out  excellent  models. 
The  wise  teacher  never  does  ill  what  the  pupil  can  do  well. 

The  collection  of  typical  Products  of  a  country  is  well  worth 
a  little  trouble,  the  exhibition  of  cotton,,  silk,  fibre,  fruits,  even 
a  collection  of  things  tinned  in  different  countries  is  life-like. 
The  shells  of  tropical  countries,  and  coral,  are  most  popular, 
the  minerals  and  any  rock  specimens  are  equally  so,  the  curi- 
osities of  India,  China,  and  Japan  are  endless.  Boys  delight 
in  weapons,  e.g.  Malay  cris,  the  Boomerang,  Japanese  swords, 
Assegais. 


CHAPTER  II 

THE  TEACHER  IN  SCHOOL — AND  OUT  OF  IT 

WE  have  now  got  an  idea  of  the  order  in  which  to  take  the 
subjects  connected  with  Geography  ;  let  us  come  to  the  results 
of  such  preparation.  The  subject  is  so  wide,  the  information 
so  varied  and  the  temptation  to  follow  up  each  course  so  great 
that  it  becomes  almost  bewildering.  The  ideal  would  be  to 
attend  a  school  for  instruction,  but  as  most  teachers  cannot  be 
spared  for  this  purpose,  practically  they  have  to  learn  for 
themselves  and  to  make  the  best  of  their  spare  time.1 

There  can  be,  however,  a  training  for  the  immediate  future, 
and  that  will  largely  be  a  process  of  rejection  and  selection. 
In  the  first  place  the  teacher  should  grasp  the  idea  that  he  is  to 
master  whatever  section  of  the  subject  he  is  set  to  teach  so 
thoroughly  that  he  can  dispense  with  any  text-book  in  school 
for  the  class.  In  preparing  for  his  class  he  can  use  as  many 
books  as  he  can  find  to  help  him,  but  when  he  has  digested  them 
he  is  the  book  for  the  class  to  read.  If  there  are  passages  of 
special  importance  in  any  book  they  can  be  read  out,  or  copies 
made  of  them  and  given  round,  or  the  book  read  by  the  class 
out  of  school.  It  is  true  that  each  teacher  will  impress  each 
class  in  a  different  way.  The  class  will  reproduce  the  teacher's 
line  of  thought,  even  his  very  expressions.  Any  one  who  has 
examined  knows  the  catchy  phrase  from  text-books  that  appears 
in  almost  every  paper.  The  teacher  who  is  in  earnest  is  as 
good  as  any  text-book,  notwithstanding  his  pet  phrases. 
Drawing  -^n  *ne  second  place  the  teacher  should  practise 
on  the  any  and  every  kind  of  diagram  for  the  blackboard. 
Blackboard,  -p^g  js  no  necessity  to  be  an  accomplished  artist, 

1  No  one  should  be  without  Sir  Archibald  Geikie's  Teaching  of 
Geography  (Macmillan's  Geographical  Series)  and  Professor  Morgan's 
Practical  Teaching  of  Geography  (6d.)  (Geo.  Philip  &  Son  Limited) 
and  Dr.  H.  R.  Mill's  Hints  to  Teachers.  Longmans.  1897.  35.  6d. 

53 


54  GEOGRAPHICAL    GLEANINGS 

the  point  is  to  be  able  to  draw,  for  example,  a  rough  sketch  of 
the  first  thirteen  colonies  of  the  United  States  or  of  the  Colonies 
of  South  Africa.  Choose  a  meridian  to  work  from,  draw  as 
many  other  meridians  and  parallels  as  you  think  necessary, 
and  then  the  coast  line,  put  in  names  rather  than  figures,  e.g. 
New  Jersey  rather  than  7,  be  clear  with  your  rivers,  certainly 
with  the  main  streams,  and  indicate  your  mountains  by  broad 
lines,  use  coloured  chalks  if  you  like  ;  you  must  try  to  produce 
an  effective  sketch  without  too  much  detail.  The  old-fashioned 
diagram  of  mountains  arranged  in  order  of  height  has  much 
to  commend  it,  but  be  careful  to  explain  that  they  do  not  exist 
side  by  side  in  that  order.  I  have  explained  this  by  saying 
that  mountains  are  like  cards  dealt  out  to  players,  and  that  in 
diagrams  they  are  arranged  in  order  accordmg  to  their  value 
by  the  players  in  their  hands.  Another  diagram  can  be  drawn 
showing  the  relative  position  of  these  mountains  to  each  other 
and  an  effective  photograph  shown  of  a  mountain  chain  such 
as  a  section  of  the  Himalaya.  Some  of  the  most  interesting 
diagrams  are  those  which  show  the  course  of  a  river  and  the 
part  it  plays  as  a  boundary  ;  towns  are  placed  on  its  banks  and 
I  explain  how  one  has  sprung  up  at  a  junction  of  two  streams 
as  it  now  does  from  the  junction  of  two  lines  of  railway,  while 
another  is  naturally  at  the  mouth  of  the  river  as  the  great  town 
marks  the  terminus  to  which  the  line  is  brought,  but  the  river 
has  caused  the  towns  and  the  towns  the  railway.  A  further 
point  may  be  well  made  of  the  course  of  the  railway,  which 
follows  the  stream  generally,  as  the  Great  Western  following 
the  Thames  to  London  from  Oxford,  or  the  lines  that  run  near 
the  Hudson.  I  think  something  might  be  said  here  of  the 
twists  and  curves  of  the  river  in  making  its  way  and  the  compar- 
ative straightness  of  the  railway  ;  a  touch  of  poetry  would  con- 
trast the  silence  of  the  stream  with  the  roar  and  rattle  of  the 
train  :  perhaps  another  contrast  might  be  allowed  of  the  ever- 
lasting force  of  the  water  that  night  and  day  has  poured  along 
the  way  to  the  sea  free  for  all  men  to  use,  while  trains  run  only 
now  and  then  and  men  pay  to  go  on  them.  The  diagram  will 
not  suffer  from  a  few  touches  of  that  sort,  indeed  it  will  become 
a  reality.  There  may  be  errors  in  diagrams  drawn  on  the 
board,  that  cannot  be  helped,  what  you  have  to  do  is  to  give 
a  general  impression  ;  you  may  tell  a  class  that  the  Rhine 


GEOGRAPHICAL    GLEANINGS  55 

the  Rhone  and  the  Danube  rise  near  each  other  and  then  follow 
widely  different  routes,  but  they  will  remember  it  if  you  draw  a 
sketch  and  illustrate  the  course  of  the  one  to  Holland,  the  other 
to  the  Mediterranean  and  the  third  to  the  Black  Sea.  You  may 
be  most  clear  about  the  position  of  the  Great  Lakes  in  North 
America,  but  they  will  not  make  them  their  own  until  they  have 
seen  Superior,  Erie,  Ontario  and  Huron  for  themselves  on  the 
board.  Another  most  effective  sketch  will  illustrate  the 
division  of  Ireland  by  the  Shannon,  another  the  division  of 
Scotland  by  the  Caledonian  Canal. 

Globe  ^e  use  °*  ^e  blackboard  is  a  very  effective  method 
of  training  the  teacher.  I  think  next  in  usefulness  is 
the  globe.  There  can  be  little  realization  of  the  immense  sea- 
area  as  compared  to  the  land  without  it.  When  such  lessons 
are  given  as  the  one  that  follows  on  India,  the  globe  will  soon 
show  the  route  by  which  the  traveller  must  proceed.  The 
knotty  points  of  Latitude  and  Longitude  the  globe  is  ready  to 
disentangle.  Here  certainly  is  one  of  the  hardest  things  to 
teach.  The  Equator  on  the  globe  makes  it  plain  that  we  must 
start  there,  and  our  explanation  of  Latitude  and  Longitude  can 
be  worked  out  by  beginning  with  Greenwich  and  its  exact 
antipodes,  letting  the  class  count  the  degrees  to  East  or  West. 
There  are  few  more  puzzling  things  to  the  young  geographer 
than  all  the  artificial  means  of  measuring  the  earth's  surface.1 
The  Tropics  lead  him  to  believe  that  the  temperature  is  measured 
out  exactly,  so  many  degrees  of  heat  and  cold.  Then  he  is 
told  about  Isothermal  lines,  so  if  these  can  be  shown  on  the 
globe  he  is  greatly  helped.  To  follow  a  parallel  of  Latitude 
round  the  world  and  mark  the  principal  places  is  also  a  good 
plan  as  it  brings  together  the  various  countries.  The  same 
plan  with  meridians  may  also  be  adopted.  It  is  always  well  to 
allow  the  children  to  find  for  themselves  the  places  that  lie 
within  a  certain  figure,  such  as  is  formed  by  the  parallels  of  50° 
and  40°  N.  Lat.  and  10°  W.  Long,  and  30°  E.  As  soon  as  you 
find  them  searching  the  globe  for  their  own  amusement  and 

1  "  What's  the  good  of  Mercators  and  Poles  and  Equators, 

Tropics,  Zones  and  Meridian  Lines  ?  " 
The  crew  would  exclaim  and  the  Captain  reply, 
"  They  are  merely  conventional  signs." 

— Hunting  of  the  Snark. 


56  GEOGRAPHICAL    GLEANINGS 

comparing  it  with  their  maps  you  may  be  sure  that  your  teaching 
is  leading  to  thought.  There  is  no  need  to  despise  globes  as  old- 
fashioned.  They  record  the  oldest  fashion  of  all,  the  shape  of 
the  earth.  The  modern  may  well  copy  the  best  ways  of  the 
ancient  teachers.  The  globe  is  an  absolute  essential.1 

There  can  be  no  more  fascinating  aid  than  the  use  of  slides, 
which  can  be  obtained  by  members  of  the  Geographical  Associa- 
tion from  the  Diagram  Company,  West  Barnes  Lane,  New 
Maiden,  Surrey.  The  relief  to  the  teacher  is  great  if  the  classes 
can  have  lantern  lectures  about  four  times  a  term.  The  teach- 
ing should,  I  think,  precede  the  exhibition  of  slides,  so  that 
the  pupils  should  have  a  stock  of  facts  and  recognize  them  for 
themselves  on  the  screen.  Pictures  of  scenery  and  people  add 
to  the  realization  of  the  work.  What  helps  most  is  a  slide  that 
shows  the  relative  position  of  mountains  and  lakes  in  the 
English  Lake  District  or  the  Divisions  of  Australia.  Perhaps 
the  most  popular  is  one  that  gives  part  of  the  surrounding 
country,  and  it  may  well  lead  to  an  excursion  to  the  given 
district,  where  the  class  may  practise  the  lessons  they  have 
learnt  by  making  a  rough  map.  For  this  see  Dr.  Morgan's 
Practical  Teaching,  pages  7,  8,  and  g.2  He  gives  most  excellent 
directions,  beginning  with  the  method  of  finding  the  geographical 
and  magnetic  meridians.  This  and  his  subsequent  suggestions 
are  an  unfailing  source  of  interest  even  to  young  pupils.  These 
outdoor  walks  with  a  teachable  number  can  be  made  most 
valuable.  The  youngest  will  enjoy  them  and  the  teacher  will 
find  help  in  the  Chart  referred  to  in  the  note.3 

1  See  Geikie,  Teaching  of  Geography,  p.    157. 

2  Morgan's  Practical  Teaching  of  Geography  in  Schools   and  Colleges 
(Price  6d.). 

3  Philip's  Geographical  Chart  for  Elementary  Classes  (George  Philip). 


-    CHAPTER    III 

INDIA 
LESSON  I. 

1  DO  not  know  of  any  better  way  of  helping  a  teacher  than 
by  giving  as  an  illustration  the  following  lessons  on  a  plan 
which  I  have  found  produces  good  results.  I  take  a  class  in 
India. 

The  first  thing  is  to  bring  them  to  the  globe  and  show  how 
Europe  and  Asia  lie  side  by  side,  and  from  one  mass  of  land 
which  may  best  be  realized  by  calling  it  Eurasia  I  show  how 
political  divisions  and  the  structure  of  the  land  make  the 
approach  to  India  almost  impossible.  A  journey  by  land 
from  Great  Britain  is  out  of  the  question  at  present.  I 
mention  the  possibility  of  a  route  by  the  Euphrates,  then 
turning  to  the  globe  I  ask  if  the  sea  is  not  a  better  highway  ? 
I  point  out  the  relative  position  of  Africa  to  the  Continent  of 
Eurasia  and  make  it  clear  that  in  order  to  reach  India  we 
must  go  by  the  Mediterranean  or  round  the  Cape  ;  the  longer 
journey  is  the  safer  because  our  ships  can  be  protected  by  our 
Navy  :  the  quicker  route  is  made  possible  by  the  Suez  Canal, 
and  the  posts  which  Great  Britain  has  established  at  Gibraltar, 
the  gate  to  the  Mediterranean,  and  at  Malta  so  strongly  forti- 
fied, and  by  her  occupation  of  Egypt ;  further  on  still  Aden 
guards  the  outlet  of  the  Red  Sea.  To  keep  this  route  better 
in  memory  I  show  an  advertisement  of  the  P.  and  O.  What 
does  this  mean  ?  Has  any  one  heard  of  the  Peninsular  War  ? 
Yes  ?  Then  peninsula  means  Spain  and  Portugal  ?  Yes, 
and  Oriental  means  rising,  for  so  the  Latins  spoke  of  the  East, 
and  of  all  the  regions  beyond  the  shores  of  their  Mare  Magnum. 
So  the  P.  and  O.  takes  passengers  round  the  Peninsula  and  to 
the  East  :  I  explain  that  the  mails  can  be  taken  and  are  taken 
in  times  of  peace  across  the  Continent  of  Europe  to  Brindisi, 


58  GEOGRAPHICAL    GLEANINGS 

and  bringing  out  an  envelope  from  my  pocket  I  let  them  all 
examine  it  to  see  the  postmarks  are  Bombay  the  gth  and 
London  25th.  A  letter  comes  in  sixteen  days.  How  different 
this  speed,  I  say,  from  the  days  when  the  exile  in  Calcutta 
rejoiced  over  a  letter  written  three  or  six  months  before,  and 
yet  this  is  not  all,  for  by  cable  news  can  come  "  before  it  is  sent," 
for  the  time  in  India  is  six  hours  ahead  of  that  in  England. 
I  draw  two  clock  faces  on  the  board  and  put  the  time  on  one 
at  which  I  am  giving  the  lesson  and  on  the  other  the  time 
at  Calcutta.  If  it  is  about  noon  in  England  I  tell  the  class  that 
in  Calcutta  the  Europeans  are  going  out  after  the  heat  of  the 
day  to  drive  or  ride  before  their  dinner.  I  ask  if  any  one  can 
tell  me  what  is  happening  in  New  York,  and  if  no  one  replies 
I  picture  the  busy  crowds  crushing  their  way  to  offices  in  the 
morning  hours  of  that  feverish  city  of  business.  I  hope  the 
contrast  will  be  sufficiently  striking  for  the  class  to  realize  the 
simple  facts  of  time  and  the  passage,  of  the  Earth  past  the 
Sun.1 

I  have  now  established  a  certain  position  for  the  class.  I 
have  given  enough  facts  for  the  mind  to  picture  a  voyage  to 
India.  I  find  it  always  well  to  conclude  a  lesson  as -brightly 
as  possible  ;  the  picturesque  need  not  be  unpractical,  the  only 
danger  is  that  it  has  a  trick  of  remaining  in  youthful  memories 
and  annoying  examiners.  Just  to  make  it  more  realistic  I 
describe  how  we  might  leave  England  covered  with  snow  and 
battle  our  way  through  the  Bay  of  Biscay  in  storm  ;  on  we  go 
until  in  the  Red  Sea  we  can  hardly  breathe  and  the  shivering 
-Lascars  of  the  London  docks  are  themselves  again  on  that 
sultry  sea  :  the  white  clothes  of  the  officers  and  passengers 
look  very  different  to  the  great  coats  and  mufflers  in  which 
they  started. 

1  This  may  have  been  taught  in  early  stages  ;  it  does  no  harm  to 
remind  the  class  of  the  facts. 


GEOGRAPHICAL    GLEANINGS 


LESSON  II. 


59 


The  voyage  to  India  has  taken  up  one  lesson,  and  after  some 
questions  have  been  asked  on  the  facts  mentioned  in  it  I  take 
the  class  to  the  largest  map  I  can  find  and  begin  a  lesson  on 


structure,  drawing  on  the  black-board  a  triangle  with  a  base 
from  Kurachee  to  Bhootan,  I  point  out  at  once  the  grand 
ranges  that  follow  the  lines  from  K.  to  P.,  P.  representing 
the  Pamirs  or  the  roof  of  the  world.  I  show  that  these  moun- 
tains constitute  the  defences  of  our  North  Western  Frontier, 
and  I  mark  especially  the  Khaibar  Pass  as  the  danger  pass. 
I  make  them  observe  the  tremendously  broken  character  of 


60  GEOGRAPHICAL    GLEANINGS 

the  border  countries  of  Afghanistan,  Chitral,  etc.,  and  ask  how 
can  armies  either  be  brought  across  from  Russian  Central  Asia 
to  invade  India  or  conveyed  through  the  Khaibar  by  the  British 
to  defend  such  a  place  as  Herat.  I  make  them  understand 
the  advance  of  Russia  into  Central  Asia*and  compare  it  to  the 
tide  which  comes  over  the  sands  and  wipes  out  the  castles  of 
the  child  builders.  Bokhara  and  Khiva — cities  of  sunburnt 
bricks — fared  no  better  at  the  hands  of  the  Russians  than  the 
sand  castles  on  any  coast  when  the  tide  comes  in.  I  tell  them 
of  the  rails  that  are  waiting  in  vast  numbers  at  the  head  of  the 
Russian  advance  track  ready  to  go  down  and  to  be  fastened 
together  to  make  way  for  the  army  of  invasion.  "All  this,"  I  say, 
"  may  be  put  off  until  Russia  recovers  from  the  war  with  Japan 
and  Revolution  at  home,  but  do  not  forget  that  on  that  side 
of  India  and  with  the  rugged  ranges  between  them  lie  the 
Russian  Bear  and  the  British  Lion."  I  conclude  this  descrip- 
tion of  the  North  West  by  a  short  account  of  the  other  way 
of  approaching  Russia  through  Beloochistan  and  mark  Quetta. 
Then  I  make  the  point  that  on  the  north  east  side  of  the  Indian 
Empire  stand  the  giants  that  are  called  the  Himalaya  ;  some 
of  these  are  nearly  30,000  feet  high.  I  have  noticed  that  if 
that  height  is  simply  stated  it  produces  little  impression,  but 
if  I  say  it  is  10,000  yards  and  that  again  is  nearly  six  miles 
(about  5!)  the  idea  becomes  magnificent.  I  warn  them 
however  that  these  giants  do  not  look  so  high  as  other  mountains, 
such  as  Mont  Blanc  (only  15,000  feet  high),  because  the  traveller 
looks  at  them  from  ground  already  high  above  the  sea.  If  I 
can  I  impress  upon  them  the  vastness  of  this  barrier  and  the 
way  in  which  it  has  cut  off  such  a  country  as  Thibet  from  India. 
Men  speak  of  the  North  Western  Frontier,  for  they  are  thinking 
of  that  which  is  beyond.  Invader  after  invader  has  come 
from  the  west.  They  hardly  use  the  phrase  North  Eastern 
Frontier.  The  difficult  passes,  the  dangerous  roads,  quite  as 
much  as  the  jealous  exclusion  of  the  European  and  his  allies 
by  the  priestly  rulers  have  kept  Thibet  unknown  and  Lhassa 
the  forbidden  city. 

But  I  say  this,  great  series  of  mountains  has  sent  from  its 
heights  great  rivers  to  water  India  and  further  India.  The 
Indus  starts  not  far  from  the  Sutlej  and  Brahmapootra  and 
each  is  the  messenger  of  life  for  thousands  of  miles  to  thousands 


GEOGRAPHICAL    GLEANINGS  61 

of  people.  Just  as  the  Rhine,  the  Rhone  and  the  Danube  rise  not 
far  from  each  other  so  these  greater  rivers  derive  from  the  same 
heights  and  from  the  same  causes  of  melting  ice  and  snow.  I 
show  that  the  slopes  of  this  mighty  series  of  mountains  incline 
to  the  west.1  We  mark  the  position  of  Kashmere,  of  Nepaul,  of 
Sikkim,  of  Bhootan,  and  I  have  now  established  another  set  of 
ideas  in  the  minds  of  the  class.  I  have  made  them  realize  the 
structure  of  the  frontiers.  It  would  be  well  to  give,  as  an 
exercise  for  the  class  at  the  end  of  the  lesson,  maps  of  the  great 
mountain  ranges  on  the  north  east  and  north  west  of  India. 


LESSON  III. 

The  well  defined  tracts  of  the  great  mountains  of  India's 
frontiers  are  now  in  the  mind's  eye  of  the  clas's  and  I  proceed 
to  the  second  tract  of  the  river  plains.  Here  I  point  out 
that  the  Sutlej  and  the  Indus  break  through  the  great  barrier 
and  form  the  leading  feature  of  Northern  India.  Observe 
the  course  of  the  Indus  starting  from  Tibet,  flowing  800 
miles  north  and  then  turning  south  west  to  flow  for 
1,000  miles  through  Punjab  and  Sind.  Note  that  its  very 
name  has  come  to  be  that  of  the  whole  vast  peninsula  because 
invaders  came  first  to  it  and  fixed  upon  that  name.  Show 
where  the  Sutlej  joins  the  Indus  and  make  clear  that  both 
bring  the  silt  to  make  the  country  fertile.  Point  out  that  at 
Attock  the  Cabool  brings  its  share  from  the  north  west  and  tell  if 
you  like  of  the  inflated  skins  on  which  travellers  voyage,  give, 
the  derivation  of  Punjab,  and  do  not  forget  Alexander  the 
Great.  Next  tell  them  that  also  from  a  glacier  in  the  Himalaya 
comes  the  Ganges,  that  mighty  river,  the  holy  river  the  people 
call  Mother  Ganges. 

It  draws  its  waters  from  the  slopes  of  the  mountains  facing 
the  west,  while  behind  the  great  barrier  is  flowing  the  Tsanpu, 
afterwards  the  Brahmapootra,  until  it  curves  round  the  south 
eastern  end  and  joins  with  the  Ganges  in  the  vast  delta 
common  to  both.  Tell  the  class  that  by  means  of  these  three 

1  This  vast  double  barrier  arrests  the  monsoons  and  pouring  down 
their  moisture  adds  to  the  volume  derived  from  ice  and  snow. 


62  GEOGRAPHICAL    GLEANINGS 

distinct  river  systems  over  150,000,000  of  people  are  fed  and 
watered  in  Punjab,  Sind,  Rajputana,  Oudh,  The  North  West 
Provinces,  Bengal  and  Assam.  Make  clear  that  all  owe  their 
origin  to  the  double  barrier  of  mountain  heights,  and  from  com- 
paratively a  close  beginning  end,  in  the  case  of  the  Indus  in 
the  waters  of  the  Arabian  Sea  and  in  that  of  the  Ganges  and 
Brahmapootra,  meet  once  more  in  the  Bay  of  Bengal.  Of 
each  it  is  true  that  they  first  create  the  land,  then  fertilize 
it,  then  distribute  its  produce. 

I  should  point  out  that  the  Indus  has  few  cities  of  note  con- 
nected with  it,  the  Brahmapootra  none,  but  the  Ganges  is  "  a 
necklace  on  which  jewels  glisten."  On  its  tributary,  the 
Jumna,  stands  Delhi,  on  its  own  banks  where  the  Jumna 
joins  it  Allahabad,  further  on  the  sacred  city  of  Benares,  and 
further  again  Patna,  while  Calcutta  is  connected  with  its  vast 
delta. 

I  now  say  that  I  have  established  the  idea  of  connexion 
between  these  mighty  streams  and  point  out  in  succession 
their  tributaries.  Coming  back  to  the  Punjab  I  ask  the  class  to 
find  the  Jhelum,  Chenab,  Ravee,  Sutlej,  and  to  bear  in  mind 
that  they  all  approach  the  Indus  on  the  eastern  side,  as  if  a  tree 
had  only  branches  on  one  side,  and  that  it  is  so  because  on  the 
western  side  the  mountains  between  the  Indus  and  Afghanistan 
forbid  the  formation  of  large  rivers.  No  study  of  these  waterways 
would  be  complete  without  mention  of  the  canals  of  the  Jumna 
and  of  the  Ganges.  The  tributaries  of  the  latter,  the  Gogra, 
Gumti,  Son,  Gandak  and  Kusi  support  and  maintain  the  main 
stream,  the  fertiliser  and  high  way  of  Bengal.  The  extent  of  its 
delta,  beginning  326  miles  from  the  sea,  can  be  partly  realized 
by  measuring  that  distance  on  a  map  of  England.  At  this  stage 
we  must  aim  at  general,  impressions,  emphasizing  our  main 
points,  and  not  forgetting  the  Great  Indian  Desert. 


LESSON  IV. 

After  a  rapid  recapitulation  of  our  knowledge,  aided  by  criti- 
cisms on  maps  which  the  class  has  drawn  of  the  course  of  the  rivers 
mentioned  in  our  last  lesson,  we  proceed  to  deal  with  the  great 


GEOGRAPHICAL    GLEANINGS  63 

triangle  left.  It  may  be  pointed  out  that  the  Vindya  hills 
make  its  northern  side,  while  the  western  and  eastern  Ghauts 
comprise  the  others .  Take  on  the  west  Mount  Abu  in  Raj  poo  tana 
plains  and  move  across  the  map  until  we  reach  Mount  Parasmuth. 
The  western  Ghauts  average  3,000  feet  until  they  rise  to  7,000 
or  8,000  feet  at  their  southern  upheaval.  From  them  naturally 
flow  the  Guadaveri,  Kistna  and  Cauvery  right  across  until  they 
also  form  deltas  and  join  the  Indian  Ocean.  No  great  river 
pierces  the  Western  Ghauts  from  Surat  in  21  °  28 '  to  Cape 
Comorin  in  Lat.  8  °  4 '.  Contrast  with  these  three  rivers  the 
opposite  course  of  the  Nerbudda  and  Tapti  more  to  north. 
These  flow  to  the  west  into  the  Bay  of  Cambay.  To  the 
whole  triangle  maybe  given  the  name  of  the  Deccan — originally 
used  for  the  tract  between  the  Nerbudda  and  Kistna — and 
here  are  such  native  states  as  Hyderabad,  ruled  by  the  Nizam, 
Mysore  as  well  as  the  Central  Provinces  and  the  two  seats  of 
government  at  Bombay  and  Madras.  Of  the  mountains 
besides  the  Vindhya  which  run  from  Gujerat  across  Malwa  to  the 
Gangetic  valley,  thus  forming  an  ethnical  and  political  barrier 
between  that  valley  and  the  Deccan,  there  are  the  Satpura 
Mountains  which  separate  the  Nerbudda  from  the  Tapti,  and  the 
Nilgiri  with  Mount  Dodabetta  (8,760  ft.).  The  whole  triangle 
slopes  from  west  to  east,  presenting  a  likeness  to  the  structure 
of  Southern  America.  Point  out  the  contrast  between  these 
southern  rivers  and  those  which  derive  their  waters  as  well  from 
ice  and  snow  as  rainfall.  Here  the  supply  is  due  to  the  monsoons 
only.  Show  that  this  third  section  lies  south  of  the  Tropic 
of  Cancer  and  has  two  coasts  known  as  Malabar  and  Coro- 
mandel  which  offer  few  harbours  though  their  extent  is  great- 
over  2,000  miles. 


LESSON  V. 

We  can  now  claim  to  have  established  with  clearness  three 
chief  thoughts,  the  mountain  barriers  on.  north  east  and 
north  west,  the  great  river  plains  and  the  Deccan  triangle. 
There  will  now  be  opportunity  to  amplify  each  in  turn. 
This  lesson  we  may  devote  to  : 


64  GEOGRAPHICAL    GLEANINGS 

I.  The  names  of  Mount  Everest,  29,000 
Kinchin junga,  28,200 
Dwalagiri,  26,800 
Godwin- Austin,     28,250  ;    .Kara    Korum 

Mountains. 
II.  The  Sulaiman  Mountains,  famous  for  passes  : 

The  Khaibar  leading  from   Peshawar  to  Jellalabad. 
The  Gumal  leading  to  Ghazni  and  Kandahar. 
The  Bolan  leading  to  Quetta  and  Baluchistan. 
III.  The  connexion  between  our  frontier  mountains  and  the 

star  shaped  cluster  radiating  from  the  Pamirs. 
IV.  The  successive  ridges  by  which  the  Himalaya  rise  from 
the  plain  and  the  hill  states  settled  on  them,  and  the 
hill  stations  where  Europeans  retire  for  health. 
V.  The  exact  positions  of  the  sources  of  all  rivers  which 

derive  from  the  Himalayan  slopes. 

VI.  A  comparison  of  these  Northern  Giants  with  the  more 
broken  Southern  Highlands  and  with  such  ranges  as  the 
Rockies  or  the  Andes. 


LESSON  VI. 

Here  again  we  can  fill  in  our  outlines.     We  know  of  the  great 
rivers  of  the  plain  from  Lesson  III. 

I.  Let  us  connect  with  the  Indus  the  Punjab,  the  Sikhs, 
Sind  and  the  modern  and  rising  port  of  Kurachi  with 
rail  to  Punjab. 

II.  Show  how  the  great  desert  fills  up  the  space  between  the 
Indus  system  and  the  Gangetic.  Study  Bikaner,  Raj  poo- 
tana. 

III.  Use  the  Ganges  as  a  chain  to  connect  the  North  West 

Provinces,  Oudh  and  Bengal  with  the  Punjab  and  point 

out   the  towns  in  the  plain,  noting  their  beauties  of 

architecture  and  native  manufactures. 

IV.  Mark  the   railways   and   the   products    of  the     Ganges 

Valley. 

V.  Contrast  the  mighty  twins  Brahmapootra  and  Ganges 
with  each  other,  the  one  flowing  unknown  through 


GEOGRAPHICAL    GLEANINGS  65 

hostile  Tibet,  the  other  through  teeming  millions.  Con- 
trast them  with  such  a  pair  as  the  St.  Lawrence  and 
Mississipi ;  or  the  Nile  and  Congo. 

VI.  Note  the  fertility  of  the  soil,  the  network  of  canals.1 
VII.  The  seats  of  government  at  Calcutta  and  Simla. 


LESSON  VII. 

(2nd  on  DECCAN.) 

I.  Show  how  this  plateau  of  the  Deccan  is  varied  in  character 

and  broken  up  in  contrast  to  the  great  plain. 
II.  Enumerate  the  states,  study  the  independent  ones,  e.g. 
Mysore. 

III.  Point  out  the  fertility  of  the  soil,  the  important  coal- 

fields. 

IV.  Note  the  foreign  possessions  of    the  French  and  Portu- 

guese. 

V.  Connect  Bombay   with  this   division,  give  its  history ;  it 
is  now  the  chief  .port  and  manufacturing  city  in  India. 
VI.  Observe  the  railways,  note  the    skill  by  which  the  line 
from  Bombay  to  Madras  is  carried  by  the  Bhor  Gat. 

1  "  India  for  many  centuries  has  been  supplementing  its  atmospheric 
water  supply  in  its  own  primitive  fashion.  The  rain  water  was  stored 
in  tanks,  or  it  was  tracked  to  its  subterranean  reservoirs,  and  drawn 
up  to  the  surface.  The  ancient  rulers  of  the  land  were  great  diggers  of 
wells  and  builders  of  cisterns  :  it  was  left  to  the  English  to  amplify 
and  develop  the  enterprise.  For  the  last  three-quarters  of  a  century 
the  engineers  of  the  Indian  Government  and  the  Public  Works  Depart- 
ment have  been  engaged  upon  it.  The  result  is  a  system  of  irrigation 
which,  though  still  incomplete,  is  unquestionably  the  most  magnificent 
created  by  human  effort  in  any  modern  country.  The  great  rivers 
have  been  tapped  in  their  upper  ranges,  and  the  surplus  water  that 
comes  down  in  the  rainy  weather  is  drawn  off  into  main  feeder  canals, 
which  deliver  their  contents  into  branch  canals,  and  there  again  fill 
a  network  of  minor  runlets,  and  finally  discharge  their  fertilizing  streams 
into  the  channels  and  ditches  by  which  the  farmers  keep  their  crops 
green."  (The  Standard,  February  13,  1906.) 


66  GEOGRAPHICAL    GLEANINGS 


LESSON  VIII. 

The  main  features  of  our  continent  are  now  completed  ;  it 
remains  to  take  the  class  to  Burmah,  pointing  out  the  strange 
shape  of  Tenasserim  and  the  great  importance  of  the  Irrawaddi 
rising  in  the  plateau  of  Tibet.  Mandalay  you  can  illustrate 
from  Kipling's  verse.  Rangoon  and  rice  is  alliterative.  The 
Islands,  headed  by  Ceylon,  next  deserve  attention.  The  chief 
seaport  Colombo,  Trincomalee  harbour,  the  ancient  remains 
at  Anarajahpura,  the  pearl  fisheries,  the  great  tea  plantations 
which  have  brought  prosperity  in  place  of  the  ruin  that  fol- 
lowed on  failure  of  the  coffee,  the  strange  beauty  of  the  island, 
and  the  rocks  and  islands  that  stretch  across  Palk  Strait  and 
form  Adams  Bridge  are  the  leading, points  to  emphasize.  Note 
the  position  of  the  Andaman  Islands  used  as  convict  settlement, 
and  the  scattered  character  of  the  Laccadive  and  Maldive 
islands,  coral  groups  allied  to  those  of  the  Pacific  Ocean. 

Be  careful  to  mention  the  difference  in  appearance  be- 
tween Burmese,  Sinhalese,  and  peoples  on  the  Continent. 


LESSONS  IX  and  X. 

It  will  now  be  time  to  say  something  of  the  waves  of  conquest 
that  have  flowed  over  India,  mostly  from  the  north  west,  bring- 
ing many  races  that  have  settled  down  and  driven  the  original 
inhabitants  into  the  hills,  where  such  tribes  as  the  Ghonds  and 
Bhils  survive,  Language  and  religions  there  are  many  and 
four-fifths  of  the  people  profess  Hinduism.  Buddhism  is  not 
strong  save  in  Ceylon,  but  Mahomet anism  claims  many 
followers.  The  coming  of  English  traders  dates  from  the  time 
of  Queen  Elizabeth,  and  the  story  of  the  East  India  Company 
can  be  briefly  told,  with  the  names  of  Clive  and  Plassey,  Warren 
Hastings  and  the  two  Wellesleys  as  salient  features.  The 
mutiny  of  the  Company's  army  in  1857  and  the  transfer  of  the 
government  to  the  Crown  never  fail  to  interest,  and  the  title 
on  our  coinage,  Ind  :  Imp  :,  since  1877  must  be  explained.  The 
system  by  which  we  maintain  ourselves,  so  few  amongst  so 


GEOGRAPHICAL  GLEANINGS  67 

many,  may  come  next.  A  British  army  of  75,000  men  and  a 
native  army  of  155,000,  commanded  by  British  officers,  an 
admirable  Civil  Service  with  British  magistrates  or  collectors  in 
charge  of  districts,  a  revenue  mainly  dependent  on  the  land 
tax  and  duties  on  opium  and  salt,  officers  in  charge  of  the  forests 
and  of  those  public  works  of  irrigation,  road  and  railway 
construction,  which  contribute  to  prosperity  in  good  times  and 
fight  for  the  people  in  times  of  famine,  all  these  open  out  a 
vast  expanse  of  ideas. 

Nor  can  we  omit  the  many  native  states  with  their  inde- 
pendent positions  and  their  jealousy  of  British  interference, 
their  governments,  the  British  Residents  that  are  attached  to 
them,  and  their  armed  forces,  some  of  which  they  are  eager  to 
see  fighting  side  by  side  with  the  British  in  time  of  peril.  It 
would  be  well  to  point  out  that  we  hold  India  largely  because 
of  the  many  mutually  hostile  elements  and  that  should  our 
power  decay  these  would  inevitably  come  into  collision  with 
each  other.  There  is  nothing  of  a  like  nature  in  the  world.  It 
is  difficult  to  realize  from  its  vastness.  We  can,  perhaps,  not 
excuse  some  of  the  methods  by  which  we  have  gained  India, 
we  can  claim  honest  efforts  at  good  government. 


This  series  of  lessons  on  India  would  occupy  an  ordinary  term 
at  a  secondary  public,  private  or  preparatory  school.  It  can 
be  adapted  to  the  longer  periods  of  an  elementary  one.  It 
brings  before  us  the  leading  features  of  the  subject.  It  would 
not  be  the  least  interesting  part  of  a  term's  work.  The  criticism 
of  a  friend  brought  up  in  the  old  style  of  Geography  teaching, 
that  it  reads  more  like  a  story  than  "  the  dull  stuff  he 
was  made  to  learn,"  shows  that  we  have  made  some  advance. 

There  is  much  useful  information  in  Hunter's  Imperial 
Gazetteer  in  Vol.  VI.,  especially  condensed. 

Illustrations  of  the  recent  tour  of  the  Prince  and  Princess  of 
Wales  have  been  appearing  in  the  illustrated  papers,  and  the 
special  correspondent  of  the  Standard  has  published  his  let- 
ters, worthy  of  his  reputation,  entitled  A  Vision  of  India, 
by  Sidney  Low. 

Lord  Roberts'  Forty-one  Years  in  India ;  E.  F.  Knight's 
Where  Three  Empires  Meet ;  Colonel  Malleson's  shorter  History 


68  GEOGRAPHICAL    GLEANINGS 

of  the  Indian  Mutiny  -}  T.  R.  E.  Holmes's  History  of  the  Mutiny, 
are  all  of  interest. 

Longman's    Geographical    Series,     Book    III,    has    a   good 
chapter  on  India. 


CHAPTER    IV 

* 

OF   LITERATURE  AND   OUR   SUBJECT 
I.      FICTION. 

THERE  are  many  books,  as  we  have  seen,  which  profess  to  deal 
especially  with  the  more  or  less  technical  parts  of  Geography. 
There  is  also  a  wide  field  for  the  reader  in  fiction.  In  Mudie's 
Select  Library  Catalogue  (published  at  is.  6d.,  and  well  worth 
buying)  will  be  found  in  "  Fiction,  Part  III,"  a  selection  classi- 
fied among  other  things  "  topographical,"  but  as  this  contains 
forty-four  pages  it  is  rather  long  for  quotation.  I  should  think 
that  a  classified  list  of  those  of  value  would  be  very  useful, 
and  in  the  Spring  number  of  the  Geographical  Teacher  I  am 
glad  to  see  that  suggestion  made  by  Mr.  Unstead  at  the  end  of 
his  article  on  Geographical  Novels,  which  is  limited  to  those 
dealing  with  one  portion  of  the  Pacific.  Practically  Melville's 
Typee  and  Omee,  from  which  he  quotes,  are  descriptions  of 
Melville's  adventures. 

He  cites,  however,  R.  L.  Stevenson's  Ebb  Tide  and  Island 
Nights'  Entertainments,  and  Louis  Becke,  whose  work  has 
brought  home  to  us  all  life  on  the  atolls.  Of  other  lands  not  so 
far  away,  Black  J  in  the  Princess  of  Thule  and  the  Maid  of 
Killeena,  and  McLeod  in  more  than  one  tale  of  the  Hebrides 
tell  us  much,  and  as  for  Galloway  is  it  not  written  of  by 
Mr.  Crockett  ? 

The  Duke  of  Britain,  by  Sir  Herbert  Maxwell,  treats  also  of 
that  district,  but  in  much  earlier  times.  I  hope  every  one  has 
read  Kidnapped,  by  R.  L.  Stevenson.  There  has  been  much 
written  about  the  country  north  of  the  Tweed  since  Sir  Walter 

1  "  There  are  passages  in  Black's  writings  which  in  their  power  of 
conjuring  up  before  the  mind  of  the  reader  the  scenes  they  describe 
are  not  surpassed  by  anything  that  Ruskin  himself  ever  wrote."  (Sir 
Wemyss  Reid's  Life,  p.  207.) 


70  GEOGRAPHICAL    GLEANINGS 

led  the  way.  We  owe  to  him,  at  least,  many  a  passage  that 
bears  on  the  geography  of  his  beloved  land,  and  Marmion 
gives  us  many  a  name  to  find  as  we  follow  that  knight's  mission 
to  the  north.  The  stranger  who  looks  on  Flodden  Field  will 
think  of  Sir  Walter  and  owe  as  much  to  his  description  as  to 
the  thoughtful  care  of  one  who  is  said  to  have  planted  groves 
of  trees  to  represent  the  contending  armies.  Tantallon,  Nor- 
ham,  Ford,  all  live  in  his  poetry.  The  Island  of  the  Lady  of 
the  Lake  is  with  -us  still,  and  one  likes  to  think  of  Sir  Walter 
riding  the  very  course  that  King  James  was  to  take  in  his  story. 

Across  the  sea  in  Ireland  A  Man's  Foes  has  given  u^  a  good 
idea  of  the  siege  of  Derry. 

Froude  has  given  us  Two  Chiefs  of  Dunboy,  and  if  one  wants 
local  colour  to  realize  the  nature  of  the  Irish  there  are  the  tales 
of  Miss  Edgeworth,  Carleton's  Traits  of  the  Irish  Peasantry, 
and  the  works  of  Miss  Barlow.  Many  of  us  still  delight  in 
Lorna  Doone,  and  the  works  of  Thomas  Hardy  have  given  a 
fresh  meaning  to  the  word  "  WTessex."  Eden  Phillpots  tells  us 
about  Dartmoor,  Quiller  Couch  about  the  Delectable  Duchy, 
and  Charles  Kingsley  gives  us  a  classic  in  Westward  Ho  ! 
Readers  of  Sir  Walter  Besant  will  know  how  much  he  did  for 
London.  Mrs.  Humphrey  Ward  has  given  us  Robert  Elsmere 
and  Helbeck  of  Bannisdale.  We  have  the  much  written  about 
Brontes  to  tell  us  of  their  Yorkshire  home,  and  Mrs.  Gaskell  of 
life  in  Manchester.  Different  countries,  Russia  in  the  Sowers, 
Spain  in  In  Kedar's  Tents,  Sicily  in  The  Isle  of  Unrest,  Poland 
in  The  Vultures,  are  brought  before  us  by  the  writer  whom 
we  have  just  lost  and  loved  under  the  name  of  Seton  Merri- 
man,  while  Marion  Crawford  in  many  books  has  told  us  of  Italy, 
and  a  very  modern  style  of  a  very  modern  craze — Motoring — 
is  shown  in  My  Friend  the  Chauffeur,  where  we  are  carried,  with 
some  excellent  photographs,  from  the  Riviera  through  Pied- 
mont,  Milan,  Como,  Dalmatia  and  Montenegro.  Of  America 
there  are  plenty  and  to  spare  connected  with  almost  every  State, 
and  largely  influenced  by  the  Revolution  and  the  Civil  War. 
Bret  Harte  has  made  us  familiar  with  the  mining  populations, 
Wendell  Holmes  and  many  others  with  Boston,  G.  W.  Cable 
with  Louisiana,  Miss  Johnston  with  the  Old  Dominion,  Gilbert 
Parker  has  written  of  Quebec  and  French  Canada,  and  Burgin 
of  Ranch  life.  That  remarkable  writer,  Jack  London,  takes 


GEOGRAPHICAL   GLEANINGS  71 

us  into  Klondyke  and  stamps  the  icy  scenery  on  our  memory, 
as  for  instance  in  The  Call  of  the  Wild.  The  Magnetic  North  is 
another  story  by  C.  E.  Raimond  (Elizabeth  Robins)  of  the 
perils  of  the  country.  One  striking  passage  is  that  where  the 
Jesuit  priest  says  that  Alaska  is  bigger  than  the  Atlantic  States 
from  Maine  to  Louisiana  with  half  of  Texas  thrown  in,  that  is 
equal  to  England,  Ireland,  Scotland,  France  and  Italy.  It  has 
mountains  seventeen,  eighteen  and  nineteen  thousand  feet 
high  and  a  giant  river  in  the  Yukon  2,000  miles  long. 

The  Garden  of  Allah  takes  us  from  the  far  north  to  the  mystery 
of  the  Sahara.  Another  view  of  this  part  of  Africa  is  given  by 
John  Oxenham  in  the  striking  story  entitled  The  Gates  of  the 
Desert.  The  Story  of  a  South  African  Farm  and  the  many  books 
of  Rider  Haggard  and  B.  Mitford  deal  with  South  Africa  from 
the  days  of  Solomon  to  the  Boers  and  Zulus  of  to-day.  Austra- 
lia has  its  own  novelists  in  Horning,  in  Mrs.  Campbell  Praed 
and  Ralph  Boldrewood,  while  India  has  such  writers  as  Mrs. 
Steel,  B.  M.  Croker  and  Rudyard  Kipling,  and  if  the  last  be  first 
in  style,  he  will  let  ladies  be  first  in  this  case.  The  tale  of  novels 
bearing  on  Geography  has  yet  to  be  told.  The  few  we  have 
suggested  will  lead  to  the  discovery  of  many  others.  It  may  be 
added  that,  as  I  have  pointed  out  in  the  first  part,  poetry  has 
many  references  to  the  subject.  Mr.  Sharp's  Literary  Geo- 
graphy will  well  repay  perusal. 


II.  BOOKS  OF  TRAVEL  AND  NEWSPAPERS. 

It  almost  goes  without  saying  that  concerning  the  many 
districts  affected  by  man's  settlements  and  in  those  over  which 
he  can  only  travel  without  settlement  we  are  surrounded  by 
works  of  information.  A  library  of  magnitude  would  scarcely 
contain  them.  Reference  has  already  been  made  to  the  list 
of  books  in  Geikie's  Teaching  of  Geography.  That  might  well 
be  at  every  teacher's  elbow.  It  cannot  be  of  much  use  to  the 
teacher,  limited  to  a  set  portion  of  the  Earth's  surface  by  a 
syllabus,  to  furnish  him  here  with  a  catalogue  of  such  dimen- 
sions as  even  Mudie's. x  He  will  be  able  to  find  from  it  what  he 

1  Mudie's  Select  Library  Catalogue,  is.  6d.,  30-34,  New  Oxford 
Street. 


72  GEOGRAPHICAL    GLEANINGS 

needs  and  more.  He  will  not  find  Geography  in  the  general 
index  and  perhaps  consider  it  another  slight  on  the  subject, 
but  the  names  of  countries  will  be  a  guide.  If  he  gets  hold  of 
such  a  book  as  The  Nile  Quest,  by  Sir  H.  H.  Johnston,  he  will 
learn  much,  for  it  compresses  a  vast  amount  of  information  into 
its  limits.  A  great  impression  will  be  made  on  him  by  this 
book.  Problems  of  the  Far  East,  by  Lord  Curzon,  is  valuable, 
and  so  are  Dr.  Sven  Hedin's  books  Through  Asia  and  Through 
Central  Asia' and  Tibet.  Farthest  North,  by  Nansen,  is  good. 
In  studying  any  particular  division  of  the  Earth's  surface  it  will 
be  well  to  make  a  list  of  the  leading  books  of  travel.  For  in- 
stance, in  Africa  the  earlier  work  of  Mungo  Park  and  Claper- 
ton,  The  Travels  of  Bruce  and  Livingstone  followed  by 
Cameron's  Across  Africa  and  Stanley's  Through  the  Dark 
Continent.  Much  of  interest  is  in  the  works  of  Sir  Samuel 
Baker  and  Captain  Speke,  and  in  later  days  in  Joseph  Thomson 
and  Sir  H.  H.  Johnston.  One  soon  becomes  familiar  with 
the  caravan  routes  and  salient  points  of  travel,  e.g.  with  Ujiji 
and  with  Khartoum.  One  learns  to  expect  to  find  the  traveller 
starting  from  Zanzibar  or  Cairo  and  to  read  of  the  endless 
difficulties  of  transport,  the  stumbling  block  to  all  trav- 
ellers. Perhaps  in  an  age  of  impatience  one  is  not  a  little  sur- 
prised at  the  continuous  trials  of  patience  which  accompany  even 
the  well  equipped.  Incidents,  like  the  loss  of  Schweinfurth's 
notes  and  observations,  and  the  pluck  with  which  he  continued 
without  instruments  to  make  out  his  maps,  impress  themselves 
upon  the  reader.  Gradually  the  country  under  observation 
ceases  to  be  an  unmeaning  aggregation  of  names,  and  becomes  a 
living  reality,  and  allowing  for  much  greater  distances  not  less 
familiar  than  our  native  islands. 

Of  late  years  the  Press  has  been  well  served  by  special  corre- 
spondents in  our  various  wars.  I  need  hardly  mention  Steevens' 
name.  With  Kitchener  to  Khartoum  is  most  clear.  As  I 
write,  a  book  by  Mr.  Ashmead  Bartlett  has  come  out  on  the 
siege  of  Port  Arthur  which  is  very  highly  praised.  There  is 
quite  a  little  library  of  books  written  by  men  like  Russell,  Forbes, 
Burleigh  and  Villiers — the  old  guard  of  journalists  abroad.  I 
might  add  that  there  pours  forth  from  the  illustrated  papers 
every  week  information  which  in  the  shape  of  maps  as  well 
as  in  pictures  is  most  appreciated  by  learners  of  every  age. 


GEOGRAPHICAL    GLEANINGS  73 

The  daily  papers  seldom  fail  to  contain  articles  which  are 
valuable  contributions  to  the  subject.  The  reports  of  the 
weather  are  always  useful,  if  forecasts  are  not,  and  the  columns 
of  shipping  advertisements  and  intelligence  are  not  seldom 
full  of  interest.  I  am  well  aware  that  many  teachers  have  not 
much  time  to  read  the  papers,  but  perhaps  they  will  be  encour- 
aged to  look  for  something  of  interest  by  fortunate  happenings 
on  treasure. 


NOTE  ON  THE  SYLLABUS 
BOARD  OF  EDUCATION  FORM  124. 

The  main  purpose  of  the  Regulations  for  Secondary  Schools  is  :  (a) 
to  systematize  the  preparation  to  be  gone  through  before  a  Four  Year 
Course  ;  (b)  to  aid  teachers;  and  (c)  to  suggest  a  Four  Year  Course. 

(a)  The  first  suggestion  is  that  children  should  possess  a  general 
"  knowledge  of  the  great  land  masses  of  the  world,  the  disposition  of 
highlands  and  lowlands,  the  chief  'river  valleys,  and  the  names  and 
positions  of  great  countries  and  of  a  few  of  the  chief  towns  in  each, 
with  a  more  detailed  knowledge  of  the  geography  of  the  British  Isles." 
Also  that  they  should  have  "  some  knowledge  of  elementary  Physio- 
graphy including  the  Earth's  shape,  simple  map  making,  the  compass  ; 
day,  night  and  the  seasons  ;  formation  of  mountains  and  rivers  ;  the 
oceans  ;  climate  ;  minerals  ;  plant  and  animal  life."  This  Preliminary 
Instruction  is  to  be  divided  into  two  stages  : 

I.  Simple  local  geography  and  the  general  relief  of  the  Globe. 
II.  The  continents  in  order  and  the  British  Isles. 

The  children  are  to  go  through  these  stages  between  the  ages  of  eight 
and  ten,  and  ten  and  twelve.  The  only  comments  necessary  are  that 
such  instruction  would  bring  a  very  completely  equipped  child  of  twelve 
to  the  Four  Year  Course,  and  that  it  is  doubtful,  in  the  first  of  the  two 
stages,  viz.  simple  local  geography  and  the  general  relief,  if  it  would 
not  become  monotonous  to  the  children  to  study  without  any  countries 
and  names.  Is  it  possible  to  interest  them  for  two  years  in  abstractions 
like  climatic  influences  and  the  general  distribution  of  rainfall  ?  Is 
not  the  average  child  keener  to  know  about  Polar  bears  than  Arctic 
temperatures  ?  Would  not  merely  impersonal  knowledge  be  hard  to 
convey  ?  An  intelligent  child  could  not  fail  to  see  maps  on  all  sides. 
Is  it  proposed  to  keep  him  to  the  study  of  forms  ?  It  is  not  exactly 
clear  from  the  foregoing  "  stages  "  in  which  stage  The  Elementary 
Physiography  is  to  be  introduced.  In  fact  it  is  not  mentioned.  But 
taking  the  two  together,  the  "  outlines  "  and  the  "  stages,"  the  general 
result  is  a  very  complete  curriculum  before  the  entrance  on  the  course, 
and  one  which  would  require  not  only  intelligent  children  but  intelli- 
gent teachers,  for  elementary  instruction  is  not  always  the  simplest, 
and  if  foundations  are  to  be  laid  on  such  an  extensive  scale  they  will 
have  to  be  solid.  So  much  of  this  earlier  work  will  depend  on  the  skill 
of  the  teacher,  that  heads  of  schools  will  have  to  teach  themselves  or 
others  will  have  to  be  very  carefully  trained. 

74 


GEOGRAPHICAL    GLEANINGS  75 

(b)  The  advice  to  teachers  is  headed  by  a  definition  of  their  aim 
which  should  be   "to  produce  a  vivid  impression  of  connected  facts 
through  considerations  such  as  those  of  cause  and  effect  and  practical 
bearing  of  the  facts  selected."     This  sentence  implies  a  good  deal.     It 
is  perhaps  somewhat  oracular.      It  is  not  exactly  clear  how  the  teacher 
is  to  gain  the  "  special  knowledge  "   which  is  desired  for  him  in  a  later 
paragraph,  and  that  is  therefore  the  object  of  these  pages.     He  is  to 
make  a  plan  of  the  teaching  of  the  Term  and  use  text-books  if  necessary. 
He  is  to  verify  statistics  and  bring  information  on  commercial  and 
political  geography  up  to  date.     A  number  of  exercises  are  suggested 
in  the  shape  of  questions  and  answers  for  subject  matter  in  the  scholars' 
notebooks,  notes  and  diagrams  which  should  contain  worked  out  pro- 
blems and  original  maps  and  plans.     Each  map  or  diagram  should 
illustrate  a  lesson  from  a  particular  point  of  view,  e.g.  physical  or  poli- 
tical, or  commercial.     In  fact  he  is  to  make  a  definite  study  of  the 
subject. 

(c)  The  Four  Year  Course. 

ist  Year     (12-13)  : 

Term  I.     (a)  The   great  water   partings  of  the  world,     (b) 

The  British  Isles,  revision. 

Term  II.     Europe  in  general,  coasts,  surface  and  climate. 
Term  III.     Europe  in  detail. 
2nd  Year     (13-14)  : 

Term  I.     The  great  oceans. 
Term  II.     America. 
Term  III.     Africa. 
3rd  Year     (14-15)  : 

Term  I.     Flora  and  Fauna,  revision. 
Term  II.     Asia  and  Australasia  in  general. 
Term  III.     Asia  and  Australasia  in  detail. 
4th  Year     (15-16): 

Term  I.     Minerals  :   Man  and  his  markets. 
Term  II.     British  Isles  (commercial.) 

Term  III.     The  distribution  of  the  human  race,  Nationali- 
ties, Political  Geography,  History  of  Geography. 
This  scheme  is  given  as  one  of  many  ways  of  dealing  with  the  subject 
matter. 

Note. — Compare     syllabus     of    instruction    in    Geography,    Royal 
Geographical  Society,   1903. 


Just  Published.     Demy  4to,  cloth,  price  6s.  net. 

A  GEOGRAPHY  AND  ATLAS   COMBINED. 


A     Progressive    Course 

OF 

Comparative    Geography 

ON  THE  CONCENTRIC  SYSTEM. 

Illustrated  by  177  Pictures  and  Diagrams  in  the  text,  and 
accompanied  by  172  Maps  and  Diagrams  in  Colour,  with  Index,  the 
whole  forming  a  Geography  and  Atlas  combined. 

By    P.    H.    L'ESTRANGE,    B.A., 

Assistant  Master  at  Malvern  College  ;    late  Exhibitioner  of  Queen's   College, 

Oxford. 


SPECIAL  FEATURES. 

1.  Provides  automatically  a  fixed  Scheme  for  Schools  without  restricting 
the  freedom  of  the  Teachers. 

2.  Contains  a  series  of   172   Maps  and   Diagrams,  printed   in  Colours  on 
6g   Plates,    with   Questions   and   Exercises    to   accompany   each.     The   Plates 
include  Physical,  Climatic,  and  Commercial  Maps. 

3.  Equal-area   Projections,  with  lines   of  Latitude  as  straight  lines,   are 
generally  used.     Mercator's  Projection  not  used. 

4.  The  Regional  Method  is  applied.     Areas  with  similar  conditions  treated 
side   by   side.     All   distances,    heights,    areas,    etc.,    compared  with   a   known 
unit. 

5.  Facts  not  related  but  inferred  by  questions  from  the  Maps. 

6.  Cause  and  Effect  insisted  upon  throughout.     All  matter   arranged   on 
the  Concentric  System,  i.e.  A  for  Junior  Course  ;    A  and  B  for  Middle  Course  ; 
A,  B,  and  C  for  Senior  Course.     The  names  on  the  Maps  are  printed  in  different 
colours  according  to  the  same  divisions,  in  brown  for  A,  in  blue  for  B,  in 
red  for  C. 

7.  177  Illustrations  in  the  Text,  mostly  from  Actual  Photographs,  with 
Questions  below  them. 

8.  Six  Parts,  one  for  each  term  of  a  two-years'  course. 

9.  Over  1,300  Questions  and  Exercises  on  Tracing  Paper,  Squared  Paper, 
and  by  Protractor. 

10.  Test  Maps  for  all  Fact  Maps,  with  symbols  arranged  in  a  rational  order. 
The  number  of  names  is  far  less  than  in  the  ordinary  Text-Book. 


Detailed  Prospectus,   with  specimen   Coloured  Map   and  specimen  pages  of 
Illustrations  and  Exercises,  will  be  forwarded  gratis  on  application. 


GEORGE  PHILIP  &  SON,  LIMITED, 
THE  LONDON  GEOGRAPHICAL  INSTITUTE,  32,  FLEET  STREET,  LONDON,  E.G. 


MODERN  METHODS 
OF  TEACHING  GEOGRAPHY. 


The  following  new  series  of  Wall  Maps  exactly  meets  the  new 
requirements  of  the  Board  of  Education. 

PHILIPS' 

COMPARATIVE  SERIES 

OF  LARGE  SCHOOL-ROOM  MAPS. 

An  entirely  New  and  Original  Series, 
COMBINING    PHYSICAL    WITH    POLITICAL    GEOGRAPHY. 

The  great  success  that  has  attended  the  publication  of 
Philips'    School    Atlases    of    Comparative    Geography, 

which  have  received  generous  recognition  from  the  Geographical  Association 

and  the  Royal  Geographical    Society,  has  induced  the  publishers  to  produce 

this  Series  of  Wall  Maps  based  upon  the  same  principle. 

Physical  Features  specially  prominent. 

Political  Boundaries  clearly  shown. 

Careful  Selection  and  Spelling  of  Names. 

Uniformity  of  Scale  and  Comparison  of  Areas. 


"THE  WORLD     .      .      .      .  80  by  63  ins.  i8/- 

*AFRICA   .            ... 

.  74  by  59  ins.   i6/- 

*EUROPE        80 

63 

i8/- 

SOUTH  AFRICA     .      . 

.  68   „  45 

i6/- 

*ENGLAND  AND  WALES  .  80 

63 

i8/- 

'NORTH  AMERICA       . 

•  74   „   59 

i6/- 

Ditto  (Politically  Coloured)    .  80 

63 

i8/- 

*SOUTH  AMERICA 

•  74   „  59 

i6/- 

'SCOTLAND         ....  74 

59 

i6/- 

'AUSTRALASIA        .      . 

•  80  „   63 

i8/- 

Ditto  (Politically  Coloured)    .  74 

59 

i6/- 

*NE\V  ZEALAND   (North 

'BRITISH  ISLES      ...  74 

59 

i6/- 

Island)       .... 

•  80  „  63 

i6/- 

'ASIA         80 

67 

i8/- 

Ditto  (S.  Island)  Shortly  . 

•  80   „  63 

i6/- 

*  A  Series  of  TEST  MAPS  is  also  issued,  uniform  in  size  and  price.  with  full 

Physical  Colouring, 

Political  Boundaries,  and  Town  Stamps  —  but  without  Names. 

"  We  are  delighted  to  receive  a  wall  map  printed  in  this  country,  which 
can  be  thoroughly  recommended.  There  can  be  no  hesitation  in  advising 
teachers  to  select  this  series  for  their  class-rooms." — The  Geographical 
'Teacher. 

"  Taken  altogether,  this  is  the  best  and  most  reasonably-priced  series  of 
maps  issued  in  this  country.  The  World  map  deserves  special  mention,  and 
is  the  best  wall  map  of  the  World  we  know." — The  Athenaeum. 

SEND  FOR   ILLUSTRATED   PROSPECTUS,  WITH   SPECIMEN 
SECTION,  post  free. 


GEORGE   PHILIP   &   SON,   LIMITED,    32,    FLEET   STREET,   LONDON,   E.G. 


PHILIPS' 

School  Atlases  of  Comparative  Geography. 

COMBINING  PHYSICAL  WITH  POLITICAL  GEOGRAPHY. 

As  now  required  by  the  Board  of  Education  and  the  University  Local 

Examinations. 

Size  of  Maps,    1 1  by  9  inches. 

Philips'  Sixpenny  Atlas  of  Comparative  Geography.  16  Coloured  Plates, 
containing  40  Maps  and  Diagrams.  Stiff  cover,  6d. 

-  London  Edition,  with  four  extra  Plates  and  Introductory  Letterpress. 
6d.  net. 

Philips'  Elementary  Atlas  of  Comparative  Geography.  .36  Plates,  containing 
over  80  Maps  and  Diagrams,  with  eight  pages  of  Introductory  Letter- 
press. Stiff  cover,  Is. 

-  London  Edition,  with  four  extra  plates,  Is.  net  ;    with  eight    extra 
plates,   Is.  3d.  net. 

*+*   For  Provincial  Editions  see  Atlas  Catalogue. 

Philips'  Large  Print  Atlas  of  Comparative  Geography.  36  Plates,  printed  in 
bold,  clear  type,  containing  80  Maps  and  Diagrams,  with  complete 
Index.  Stiff  cover,  Is. 

Philips'  Junior  Atlas  of  Comparative  Geography.  40  Plates,  containing 
upwards  of  90  Maps  and  Diagrams,  with  eight  pages  of  Introductory 
Letterpress  and  Index.  Limp  cloth,  2s.  ;  cloth  boards,  2s.  6d. 

Philips'  Modern  School  Atlas  of  Comparative  Geography.  64  beautifully 
coloured  Plates,  containing  136  Maps  and  Diagrams,  with  Introductory 
Letterpress  and  complete  Index.  Cloth  boards,  3s.  6d. 

FOR  THE  TEACHER. 

Philips'  Systematic  Atlas  of  Comparative  Geography.  Edited  by  Dr.  J. 
SCOTT- KELTIE,  H.  J.  MACKINDER,  M.A.,and  E.  G.  RAVENSTEIN,  F.R.G.S, 
Containing  over  250  Maps  and  Diagrams — Physical  and  Political — 
with  explanatory  Introduction  and  complete  Index.  Imperial  4to, 
cloth,  15s.  ;  half-morocco,  £1  Is. 

-  School  Edition.      170  Maps  and  Diagrams,  with  Index,   10s.  6d. 

Detailed  Prospectus,   with  Specimen  Map,  post  free. 


Just  Published.     Size  P|  x  7f  inches. 

PHILIPS'    MODEL    ATLAS. 

.  CONTAINING 

1 8   PHOTO-RELIEF,   20   POLITICAL   MAPS,   and  n   DIAGRAMS 

IN  COLOUR.     Stiff  boards,  cloth  back,  6d.  net.     With  Index, 

3d.  net.     Cloth,  with  Index,  1s.  net. 

This  is  without  doubt  the  best  and  cheapest  school  atlas  of  the  kind  ever 
published  in  this  or  any  other  country.  The  photo-relief  maps  are  repro- 
duced from  carefully  constructed  relief  models  of  the  same  scale  as  the 
corresponding  political  maps,  and  are  therefore  of  real  educational  value. 
They  present  to  the  young  scholar  a  most  truthful  and  realistic  picture  of 
the  continents  and  countries  represented,  and  at  the  same  time  fully  meet 
the  most  recent  requirements  of  the  Board  of  Education. 
Send  for  Sample  Map  and  Prospectus.  Specimen  Copy  free -to  Head  Teachers 
on  receipt  of  half  published  price. 


GEORGE   PHILIP   &   SON,   LIMITED,    32,   FLEET  STREET,   LONDON,   E.C. 


THE    TEACHING    OF    GEOGRAPHY. 

The  following  new  aids  exactly  meet  the  requirements  of  the  Board  of 
Education  and  the  University  Local  Examinations  :— "  Globes  of  a  suitable 
size  for  class  demonstration,  diagrams,  relief  models  ...  are  recommended.'* 

— Regulations  for  Secondary  Schools,  Board  of  Education,   1905. 

PHILIPS'  NATURE  SERIES  OF  RELIEF  MODELS, 

ILLUSTRATING 

GEOGRAPHICAL 

TERMS. 

A  new  and  port- 
able series,  care- 
fully contoured 
and  painted  to 
represent  nature 
as  closely  as  pos- 
sible. Without 
Names.  The  Mod- 
els graphically  il- 
lustrate the  var- 
ious aspects  and 
characteristics  of 
the  districts  de- 
picted. Framed 
and  glazed. 

ISLE    OF    WIGHT. 

Descriptive  List  of  above,  together  with  list  of  Models  of  the  various  Continents 
and  Countries,  post  free. 


PHILIPS'  SCHOOL  GLOBES. 

"It  would  be  highly  advantageous  if  in 
every  school  there  were  a  12  inch  globe  with 
adjustable  meridian  and  axis  on  a  single 
pedestal."  —  Suggestionsto  Teachers  (B.  of  E.). 

NEW  LARGE  PRINT  GLOBE. 

Coloured     Politically     or     Physically. 

Fourteen  inch  diameter  at  the  price  of 

a  twelve  inch.     A  Marvel  of  Cheapness. 
PHYSICAL    GLOBES. 

The  cheapest  and  best  ever  offered. 
RELIEF    GLOBES 

Coloured  Politically  or  Physically. 
SLATE    SURFACE    GLOBES. 

Strong  and  unbreakable  ;     for  use  with 

chalk,  which  can  easily  be  wiped  off. 
Descriptive,  List    of    Globes    and    Apparatus 
post  free. 


interested  in  the  subject  of  Geography 
should  send  for  our  descriptive  pamphlet, 
"  Modern  Methods  of  Teaching  Geography," 
which  will  be  forwarded  post  free. 


NEW      SLATE    GLOBE. — NO.  4. 


GEORGE  PHILIP  &  SON,  LIMITED, 
THE  LONDON  GEOGRAPHICAL  INSTITUTE,   32  FLEET  STREET,  LONDON,  E.C. 


UNIVERSITY   OF   CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


THIS  BOOK  IS  DUE  ON  THE  LAST  DATE 
STAMPED  BELOW 


30m-6,'14 


VUJL; 

1321 


[25m-l,'l2] 


03905