Soon after we cross the Saskatchewan River in Canada, we see a different kind of country, where there are trees and little lakes. No more farms are here. We soon get into the forest again and meet Indians now and then. We are in the great north woods, the home of the Indians about whom we learned. (Sec. 6.) 45. Down the Mac kenzie River.—Here, at a trading post, we go aboard a little steamer that takes us down the Mackenzie River. For many days we travel past the gloomy evergreen forests, and, as it is summer time, we are nearly eaten by mosquitoes. Though it is summer, we must wear our overcoats part of the time. The trees are smaller and smaller as we go farther north, and finally we see only low bushes and bright flowers. The place where the trees stop growing on account of the cold is a timber line, like the one we saw in the Rocky Moun tains. (Sec. 39.) Many wild ducks, geese, and other water fowl have come here to lay their eggs and rear their young on the many little ponds and lakes that dot the plain. We see the tents of Eskimos, for this country is their summer home. A short distance away is the open sea with masses of ice floating about in it. On the shore are mother seals with their little ones play ing about, for this is their home too. (Fig. 155.) 46. The parts of the continent.—The relief map (Fig. 49) and the physical map (Fig. 48) show you that the western high lands of North America are much higher and wider than are those in the east. In
what direction do these western highlands run? Can you find a place in the western highland from which a large river flows to each of three different bodies of water? What are the names of these streams and of the bodies of water into which they flow? You see that the coast of North America is irregular, and that several large bodies of water push into the land so far that they are nearly surrounded by land. Such bodies of water are called gulfs or bays. Sometimes they are also called seas. Can you find one of each? Through what strait would a vessel sail in going from the Atlantic Ocean to Hudson Bay? To the Gulf of Mexico? From the Pacific Ocean to the Arctic Ocean? An irregular coast line is marked not only by bays but by peninsulas. A peninsula is a body of land almost surrounded by water. Name two peninsulas on the east coast of North America. Name three large islands near the east coast of North America. There is a long group of islands to the southeast called the West Indies. Name the largest island among the West Indies.
There are five large lakes in North America, called the Great Lakes. The water from all these lakes goes into the same river. Name that river. The sea is salty, but these lakes have fresh water. The largest one, Lake Superior, is the largest fresh water lake in the world. Make a little map of these lakes on the blackboard and write on each its name.