54 



PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 



animal kingdom deserves a passing notice. It is in 

 the torrid zone that we find birds of the largest size 

 and gayest plumage ; the largest and most power- 

 ful reptiles, as the crocodile, the alligator, and the 

 boa constrictor ; quadrupeds of immense size and 

 strength, as the elephant, the rhinoceros, the lion, 

 the tiger, and the giraffe. So also is the ocean 

 distinguished in tropical climates by the production 

 of shells, corals, and fishes peculiar to hot regions. 

 There, too, vegetable productions attain their great- 

 est luxuriance and variety ; the palm, the sugar- 

 cane, the coffee-tree, and the innumerable spice- 

 bearing trees and shrubs, exhibit the most luxuriant 

 types of vegetable life, the richest fruits and the 

 most beautiful blossoms. As we go north this lux- 

 uriance disappears; animal and vegetable existence 

 appear in less variety and in comparatively dimin- 

 utive forms ; and when we reach the polar circles, 

 we are struck with the scantiness of animated crea- 

 tion, which is there represented by the reindeer and 

 the polar bear upon the land, the whale and the me- 

 dusas on which it feeds in the ocean, while a few 

 mosses and lichens compose the vegetation upon the 

 frozen surface. 



Height of mountains.— A large portion of the 

 earth's surface is but slightly elevated above the 

 ocean, especially upon the banks of great rivers and 

 in extensive districts along the seashore. This is 

 particularly the case in Holland, Northern Germa- 

 ny, and a large part of Russia; also in India and 

 China, and other parts of Asia, and the valley of the 

 Mississippi in North America. The highest land 

 in Asia is the Himalaya Mountains, which rise to 

 an elevation of more than 28,000 feet, or more than 

 five miles above the level of the sea. On the island 

 of Great Britain, the highest elevations are the 

 Welsh Mountain, Snowdon, which rises to the 

 height of 3571 feet, and Ben Nevis in Scotland, 

 which is 4365 feet high. The highest land in Ire- 



