used to be 308

44. River system round Chur, as it is 309

45. River system of the Maloya 311

46. Final slope of a river 317

47. Do. do. with a lake 318

48. Diagrammatic section of a valley (exaggerated). _R R_, rocky basis of
a valley; _A A_, sedimentary strata; _B_, ordinary level of river;
_C_, flood level 329

49. Whitsunday Island. (After Darwin) 359

50. A group of Lunar volcanoes; Maurolycus, Barocius, etc.
(After Judd) 380

51. Orbits of the inner Planets. (After Ball) 388

52. Relative distances of the Planets from the Sun. (After Ball) 389

53. Saturn, with the surrounding series of rings. (After Lockyer) 395

54. The Parallactic Ellipse. (After Ball) 413

55. Displacement of the hydrogen line in the spectrum of Rigel.
(After Clarke) 416

PLATES

BURNHAM BEECHES _Frontispiece_

WINDSOR CASTLE. (From a drawing by J. Finnemore) _To face page_ 13

AQUATIC VEGETATION, RIO. (Published by Spooner and Co.) 145

TROPICAL FOREST, WEST INDIES. (After Kingsley) 179

SUMMIT OF MONT BLANC 203

THE MER DE GLACE, MONT BLANC 229

RYDAL WATER. (From a photograph by Frith and Co., published by
Spooner and Co.) 247

WINDERMERE 253

VIEW IN THE VALAIS BELOW ST. MAURICE 264

VIEW UP THE VALAIS FROM THE LAKE OF GENEVA 268

THE LAND'S END. (From a photograph by Frith and Co., published by
Spooner and Co.) 334

VIEW OF THE MOON NEAR THE THIRD QUARTER. (From a photograph by Prof.
Draper) 371

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

If any one gave you a few acres, you would say that you had
received a benefit; can you deny that the boundless