of the peninsula is entirely
erroneous; and English authorities usually pronounce it so.

"The name India is now given to the peninsula lying to the eastward of the
Bay of Bengal. Siam and Tongking are in native possession, or under the
protection of France, while Burma is a part of the British Indian Empire.
It was only last year that the French had a brush with Siam, and materially
strengthened their position there; and it will not be a calamity when all
these half-civilized nations are subjected to the progressive influences
which prevail in India proper, in spite of all that is said about the greed
for power on the part of the great nations of the world.

"But I am wandering from my subject. India is about 1,900 miles in extent
from north to south, and 1,600 in breadth in latitude 25 deg. north. The
boundaries of this vast country, established by nature for the most part,
are the Bay of Bengal (now called a sea in the southern portion) on the
south-east, and the Arabian Sea on the south-west. On the north the
Himalaya Mountains separate it from China, Thibet, and Turkestan; but some
of these countries are called by various names, as Chinese Tartary,
Mongolia, Eastern Turkestan, and so on. On the west are Beloochistan and
Afghanistan, and on the east Siam and China, though the boundaries were
somewhat disturbed last summer in the former."

"We used to pronounce the name of your great northern range of mountains
Hi-ma-lay'-a; you do not call it so, Sir Modava," said the commander.

"I have always called it Hi-mal'-a-ya, the _a_ after the accented
syllable being very slightly sounded; this is the pronunciation of all the
Indian officials," replied the speaker, with his pleasant smile. "These
mountains consist of a number of ranges; they extend 1,500 miles east and
west, and are the sources of the Indus, Ganges, and Brahmaputra. The
highest is Mount Everest, the loftiest mountain in the world, 29,002 feet;
and I could mention several other peaks which overtop any of the Andes.
Himalaya means 'the abode of snow,' and the foot-hills are the resorts of
the wealthy to obtain a cool climate in the summer.

"India is remarkable for its fertility, and its luxuriant growth of plants
of all sorts, from the productions of the torrid zone to those of the
temperate in the hilly regions of the north. It is abundantly watered by
the Ganges, the Brahmaputra, the Jumna, the Indus, the Godavari, and other
great streams. The Ganges, t