58 that's it; 



for ships sailing from one great 

 ocean to the other, the possibility 

 of sailing round Cape Horn being 

 unknown. The Straits of Ma- 

 gellan are 350 miles in length, 

 and in parts the width is not 

 more than four miles. 



Bearing towards the South 

 Pole, we enter the Antarctic cir- 

 cle, and are again in the regions 

 of eternal ice, the whale and ele- 

 phant seal here meet our view, 

 and the beautiful auroras of the 

 polar shy, 20, call our attention 



20 



275. 



from the wonders of the earth 

 to the glories of the heavens. 



If we turn to the eastern he- 

 misphere, 226, and start from 

 Lapland in an easterly direction 

 towards the opposite shores of 

 the Pacific Ocean, we shall find 

 equally interesting objects for 

 contemplation. We find the Lap- 

 landers, 1, who occupy the north- 

 ernmost parts of Sweden and 

 Norway, though dwelling in an 

 equally northern latitude, a more 

 Intelligent people than the Esqui- 



maux. They live chiefly in tents, 

 6; their principal diet is fish, 



i 



their dresses are made of the 

 skins of the rein-deer and other 

 animals ; the costume of the 

 women, 3, is different from that 

 of the men, 5 ; they pack their 

 infants in little wooden cradles, 



4, and hang the cradles up m. 

 their tents, while the ^mothers 

 attend to their labours. Many 

 of these people are now engaged 

 in agricultural or trading occu- 

 pations, keeping herds of rein- 

 deer, and selling skins and horns, 



5. Travelling eastward along 

 the land-border we enter the vast 

 dominions of Russia* Here we 

 meet with those vast steppes, 



7 



277. 



133, which in the lengthened 

 winter of these regions are buried 



• The European States will be described here* 



after, and more fully. 



