I.] THE THAMES. S 



It is obviously convenient to have some ready means of 

 distinguishing the two banks of a river. For this purpose, 

 geographers have agreed to call that bank which lies upon 

 your right side as you go down towards the sea the rig;ht 

 bank, and to call the opposite side the left bank. All that 

 you have to do then, in order to distinguish the two sides, 

 is to stand so that your face is in the direction of the 

 mouth of the river, and your back consequently towards 

 its source, when the right bank will be upon your right 

 hand and the left bank upon your left hand. At Graves- 

 end, for example, the right bank is that which forms the 

 Kentish shore, while the left bank is on the Essex side. With 

 reference therefore to the rivers tributary to the Thames, it is 

 said that the Churn, the Colne, the Leach, the Windrush, 

 the Evenlode, the Cherwell, the Thame, the Coin, the 

 Brent, and the Lea empty themselves into the Thames 

 on the left bank ; and the Rey, the Cole, the Ock, the 

 Kennet, the Loddon, the Wey, the Mole, and the Darent, 

 open into the river on its right bank. The relative posi- 

 tions of these affluents, and their relation to the Thames, 

 may be seen in the map given in Plate L 



If a person in a balloon passed at a great height over any 

 part of the earth's surface, and sketched in outline what he 

 saw directly below, his sketch on a flat surface like this 

 page would be called a map. When the portion of country 

 thus delineated is but small, the sketch is generally termed 

 a plan; and if the area depicted consist chiefly of water 

 instead of land, it is called a chart. Hence we commonly 

 speak of the plan of an estate, the map of a country, the 

 chart of an ocean. A map of the Thames, then, is simply 

 an oudine-sketch of the river and neighbouring portion of 

 the earth's surface, as would be seen from a balloon pass- 

 ing at a great height directly over the country. It is the 



