Fantasy Football Challenge - Football Fanatics Library

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Fantasy Football Challenge presents
Highroads of Geography

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of the rivers much rice is grown. Away in the north there are grand forests filled with wild animals. Tigers are often shot within twenty miles of the old king's palace. 14. Now I have filled my paper, and I must bring this letter to an end. I hope you are all well and happy. I am leaving Burma tomorrow.--Best love to you all. FATHER. * * * * * 18. A LETTER FROM CEYLON. 1. MY DEAR CHILDREN,--A week ago I landed in the beautiful island of Ceylon. It lies to the south of India. Get mother to show it to you on the globe. 2. I am still under the British flag, the Union Jack. I can see it waving from the top of a big building. The people of Ceylon are proud to call themselves British. 3. I have just been for a ride through the streets of the chief town. I rode in a rickshaw--that is, a kind of large baby-carriage drawn by a man. My rickshaw had rubber on its wheels, so we went along very smoothly and quickly. [Illustration: {Rickshaw with passenger}] 4. Some of the carts are drawn by little bullocks that trot along as fast as a pony. I often meet carts with a high cover of thatch. These carts carry the tea, which grows on the hills, down to the ships in the harbour. 5. Some of the men of Ceylon wear tortoise-shell combs in their hair. They are very proud of these combs, and some of them are very handsome. [Illustration: {Ceylon family--a man, a woman, and two babies}] 6. The children of Ceylon seem very happy. They are pretty and clean, and always obey their parents. Many of them learn to speak and read English. They love dancing and singing, and they never quarrel. [Illustration: Ceylon Girls Playing the Tom-Tom. (From the picture by E.A. Hornel. By permission of the Corporation of Manchester.)] 7. By the next ship home I am sending mother a chest of tea. The tea grew on the hills of Ceylon. I made a journey to these hills by train. On the way we passed through thick forests, and by the side of beautiful rivers. 8. Ceylon is very rich in plants and trees. The cocoanut palm grows almost everywhere. On one of the rivers I saw a raft of cocoanuts. A man swam behind it and pushed it along. [Illustration: {Cocoanut palm tree}] 9. With this letter I send you a picture of a tea-garden. Notice the men and women plucking the leaf. Many of them come from the south of India. Look at the white planter. He comes, as you know, from our own country. [Illustration: IN A CEYLON TEA PLANTATION.] 10. In the middle of Ceylon there are many high mountains. The highest is called Adam's Peak. It stands like a great wedge high above the other hills. 11. The people of Ceylon believe that it is a holy mountain. They say that once upon a time Buddha climbed to the top of this mountain. To prove that he did so they show you his footprint. It is more than five feet long! 12. A little temple has been built over the footprint. Men, women, and children climb the mountain, to lay little gifts before the footprint, and to strew sweet flowers about it. When this is done, the children kneel down and ask their parents to bless them. 13. To-morrow I leave Ceylon on a long voyage to China. You will not hear from me for several weeks. I hope you are all well, and that you are still good children.--I remain, your loving Father. * * * * * 19. A LETTER FROM CHINA. 1. MY DEAR CHILDREN,--Three weeks have gone by since I last wrote to you. I have made my voyage safely, and I am now in a great city of China called Canton. 2. Ask mother to show you China on the globe. You see at once that it is a vast country. It is larger than the whole of Europe. One-fourth of all the people in the world live in China. 3. All round this city of Canton there is a high wall. From the wall the city seems to be a beautiful place. When, however, you enter it, you soon find that it is dirty and full of foul smells. [Illustration: A Chinese Street. (From the picture by T. Hodgson Liddell, R.B.A.)] 4. The streets are very narrow, and are always crowded with people. Many of them are roofed in to keep them cool. Most of them are so narrow that no carriage can pass along them. People who wish to ride must be carried

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