The North American Loiuland. 117 



eastward, with a gentle slope to Hudson bay and the Atlantic. 

 It is as long from west to east as the valley of the Mississippi is 

 from north to south, and is from 500 to 600 miles wide. The 

 western portion of this plain is drained by Saskatchewan river. 

 The winds which blow over this valley from the Rocky moun- 

 tains in some years water imperfectly the western portion o-f this 

 plain, but with a copious rainfall the land yields abundantly ; 

 the eastern portion is watered from Hudson bay, lakes Winnipeg, 

 Manitoba and the other large lakes of that province. As the 

 climate is cold, less rainfall is required than in the valley of the 

 Mississippi. 



Another very Ioav divide sei^arates this valley from the great 

 plain, 2,500 miles long, descending with a gentle slope to the 

 Arctic ocean, through which runs the Mackenzie river. The 

 winds that blow from the Arctic ocean fall in rain and snow in 

 this valley. 



Thus through the center of America, from the Arctic to the 

 Antarctic oceans, there are no high elevations, while there is a 

 more uniform distribution of rainfall and temperature than on 

 any other continent. 



From the Arctic ocean cold currents of water flow along both 

 the eastern and western coasts of Greenland and bear immense 

 icebergs and fields of ice southward until they meet the warm 

 waters of the Gulf stream, when the ice melts, causing fog banks 

 and depositing the del^ris brought from the Arctic glaciers, thus 

 aiding in the making of the great fishing banks of Newfoundland. 

 The Arctic current, still cold, runs southward inshore from the 

 Gulf stream, and affects the climate of North America to the 

 latitude of New York if not to Cape Hatteras. 



From the "Caribbean sea and the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf 

 stream passes around Florida and floAvs along the southern At- 

 lantic States. The currents of air from the Gulf stream blow 

 over slightl}^ cooler waters and deposit rain on the eastern side 

 of the Alleghanies and water the* eastern coast of the United 

 States. 



Europe. 



The main Gulf stream is deflected, by the shape of the ocean 

 bottom and the contour of North America, northward and east- 

 ward toward Europe ; but its drift is largely increased by the 

 winds. The drift from the southward sets around the North 



