OR, PLAIN TEACHING. 141 



GEOGRAPHY.— Part II. 



We terminated our last geo- 

 graphical lesson (p. 67) at the 

 Sandwich Islands. We will now 

 proceed thence, through the 

 South Pacific Ocean, round Cape 

 Horn ; that is, avoiding the nar- 

 row and dangerous Straits of 

 Magal men, 274, we will make 

 our way round the Cape which 

 lies at the extremity of the 

 South American Continent, 225. 



But first, let us reflect upon 

 the vastness of the great sea 

 li 



455. 



through which, in imagination, 

 we are about to pass, and con- 

 sider the difficulties which at- 

 tended navigation before the dis- 

 covery of that invaluable guide 

 to the pilot, the mariner's compass, 

 which came into use in the early 

 part of the fifteenth century. 

 Prior to that, the north star 

 was the pilot's chief guide ; and 

 when that was obscured it was 

 difficult, on the wide expanse of 

 ocean, to know the direction of 

 h, ship's course. Consequently, 



navigators steered their vessels 

 along the coasts, where they 

 were in danger of hidden rocks, 

 impeded by strong currents ; 

 and liable to frequent disasters, 

 through being cast upon the 

 shore by stormy winds. 



When vessels were driven out 

 of sight of land, or ventured far 

 from the coast, it was the practice 

 to throw up land birds, 11, and 

 to watch the course they took. 

 Their keener sight, or natural 

 instinct, enabled them to find the 

 shore, and mariners, following 

 in the direction of their flight, 

 found the land also. Telescopes 

 were not then invented ; and as 

 the form of the world, and ex- 

 tent of its seas, were unknown, 

 to be removed from the sight of 

 land was a cause of terror to the 

 stoutest hearts. 



12 



456. 



Besides, the ships, 12, were 

 cumbrous and unmanageable. 



