ZOO."]

Where there is no moisture there can be no rain, for the air cannot draw
up moisture to form clouds. Where there are many rivers there has been
much rain, and the soil is kept fertile. Plants will grow in it. Do you
see how our food, our clothing and our shelter are dependent upon
rainfall? Do you see how we are kept alive by rivers?

8

Think of the many, many uses of rivers. There are thousands of useful
rivers in the world.

What are the three great necessities of human life? How do rivers help
us to get _food_ and _clothing_ and to build our _homes_ and make them
comfortable?

SOME USES OF RIVERS

1. Water supply; washing and drinking.

2. Water power; flour, textile and planing mills.

3. Commerce; transportation.

4. Life; fish, plants.

5. Fertility of soil, rainfall.

6. Beauty of scenery.

9

Look at the map of our neighborhood. See the lines that represent the
river. Notice how it bends. Does it show where bridges cross it?

10

THE OCEAN

Have you ever stood on the beach and watched the big waves roll in? The
great _ocean_ stretches away as far as you can see. It seems to meet the
sky. The weaves roll and break, and roll and break from morning till
night forever. Where there are rocks along the shore the ocean dashes
against them. The sparkling snowy spray then leaps high into the air
with a boom and a swish!

_Note to the Teacher._--See the details for studying about the
oceans in Part II, Chapter I.

11

ISLANDS AND PENINSULAS

[Illustration: THE OCEAN.]

As you sail up the river you may see large portions of land lying right
out in the water. There are pieces of land lying out in the ocean too.
The water lies around them on all sides. We call such portions of land
_islands_. If you were standing on the shore how could you go to an
island which you saw out in the water? How could you get there if you
had no boat? Some islands are joined to the shores by bridges.

Many islands are no larger than this room. Others are so large that it
would take days to travel around them. Whether they are large or small
they have water entirely around them.

[Illustration: PART OF A ROCKY ISLAND.]

Some of us have been to a large island that has been built up into a
city. When the New York boys and girls want to leave their city they
must either go in a boat, or over a bridge, or through a tunnel far
under a river. Why? When you visit Atlantic City your train goes ov