 CHAPTER X. OF AROUND THE WORLD WITH THE CHILDREN, by Frank G. Carpenter. This Librevox recording is in the public domain. Recording by Betty B. THE AMERICAN INDIANS Everybody has heard of the Indians. At one time they were the only race of people living in North and South America. They had those two great continents to themselves, and they did not know there were any other lands. The people of the other races did not know that there were any red people. They did not even know that there were any such continents as North and South America. At length, some of the white people in Europe began to think that the Atlantic Ocean might reach on and on around the Earth until it came to Asia. Columbus thought so, and he resolved to go to Asia that way. So he set out from Europe in ships to cross the Atlantic Ocean. He did not reach Asia, but he discovered America. He found men, women, and children who had reddish-brown skin. He called them Indians because he thought that the land to which he had come was in India or near it. India is a part of the continent of Asia. There was great excitement when Columbus went back to Europe and told about his new way of going to Asia. Other explorers sailed across the Atlantic, and by and by they found that Columbus was mistaken and that America was not part of Asia, but that it was a great new and rich country. Many people wanted to get some of the rich new lands for themselves. They sailed across the ocean and fought with the Indians. They took the lands of the red men and drove them farther back into the great forests. More and more white men came, and the red men were driven back until they had but little land left. Some of the Indians in our country now have farms of their own, and others live on tracks of land which our government has set apart for them. Little Wolf, Hummingbird, and Bald Eagle In our travels among the Indians we shall first visit some who are living in the northern part of North America, much as the red men lived there when Columbus discovered the new world. These Indians get their living by hunting and fishing. They shoot or trap wild animals and sell skins and furs to the traders who come there to buy them. The traders bring guns and kettles and other things that the Indians want, and they carry back the skins and furs which the Indians have to sell. We are now near a camp of Indian tents where several children are playing at building a home. They have cut a dozen long poles from a thicket and have driven them into the ground around the edge of a circle. They have leaned the tops of the poles against one another and have tied a string around them where they cross. They have stretched skins over the poles leaving an opening in front for a door. This is their tent. It has a fire hole in the center. We stop to talk with the boys. The largest one tells us his name is Bald Eagle and that he is ten years old. He is not at all backward. He pushes towards us a boy of eight whom he calls Little Wolf. And also a girl named Hummingbird. The children are different from any we have yet seen. Their skin is the color of copper. Their faces are fine looking with high cheekbones and large noses. They have bright black eyes and their long course black hair hangs down upon their shoulders. These little Indians are dressed in the skins of wild animals. Bald Eagle has on a deerskin shirt outside trousers. It reaches from his neck almost to his knees. His trousers are trimmed with bird feathers. They fit tight. He has also soft moccasins or shoes of deerskin covered with beads. The shoes fit his feet like stockings and he makes no noise when he walks. Little Wolf's trousers are embroidered with red and white quills. And he has a fringe of leather about the lower edge of his shirt. Hummingbird looks very pretty in the long coat of soft deerskin and falls from her neck almost to her feet. Her coat has elpti so to it and there is a fringe around the bottom. Her moccasins are made of the skin of a fawn and trimmed with blue and red beads. Her long black hair is parted and it hangs in two heavy braids in front of her shoulders. The Indian girl brings out her best doll to show us. It is cut out of wood and has a face painted upon it. Its clothing is of rabbit skin and it has a fur cloak tied over its shoulders. Its hair is made of fur and there are some feathers at the back of its head. The doll's cradle is a little leather bag fastened to a framework. When Hummingbird carries the doll she does not take it in her arms but puts it in this bag which she hangs upon her back. We shall see real babies carried about in that way when we go to the camp. Bald Eagle has picked up his bow and arrows. He shoots at a mark and shows us that he can hit it almost every time. By and by he will have a gun of his own and then he will kill as much game as his father does now. The Indian children show us some of their games. They play shinny. They also have kicking balls and hoops of basket work through which they try to throw poles while the hoops are rolling. The one who can stop the hoop with his pole in this way is the winner. They have spinning tops and whipping tops. They have guns and sticks and balls like those we saw when we were in Eskimo land. An Indian camp. We go with the children to the Indian camp. We live with them in their tents sitting on the ground which takes the place of the floor. Their rude beds are made of sticks over which furs have been spread. At mealtimes we sit on the ground and use our own knives to cut up the food. The Indians do not always have plenty to eat but our friends just now have enough. They give us dried deer meat and also rabbits and squirrels which have been trapped during our stay. We have fish fresh from the streams. We have nuts and berries and some roots of wild plants. We have also flour and bacon which have been brought by the traders who buy furs of the Indians. Some of this food is cooked out of doors. The Indians boil their meat and fish upon sticks over the fire. They also cook fish in the ashes under a pile of hot coals. On rainy days the meals are cooked over the fire pit in the center of the tent. The fuel is wood and the only way for the smoke to get out is through the hole at the top where the poles come together. One day Bald Eagle shows us how to get fire without matches. He finds a stick of soft wood and makes a hole in its side. He then puts the pointed end of another stick into the hole and holding the pointed stick between his palms moves his hands quickly back and forth so that the stick twirls around in the hole. By and by a little blue smoke comes and it lasts a small flame. Bald Eagle can also make fire by striking one hard stone against another. If he strikes it just right a spark will fly off. This spark may be caught on some dry wood or moss which it lights. The Indians when they are out on a hunt often make fire in that way. Indian Farmers The Indians of the tribe we have been visiting live almost altogether by hunting and fishing. There are but few such Indians now. When the white men came to North America they began to cut down the woods and turn the land into farms. As they moved westward they killed the game. The deer, the bears, the buffaloes and the other wild animals became fewer and fewer and now most of the Indians would starve if they had no other food but game. The Indians in our country today are far different from those who our forefathers knew. Only a few of them live in camps and tents. Most of them live in houses on their farms and on the other lands that the white men have allowed them to have. Many of the Indian farms are now worth a great deal of money and some of the tribes have become rich from the sale of their lands. Some of the Indians have houses like ours and our government has built schools where the red-skinned boys and girls learn to read and write as we do. In the southwestern part of the United States there are tribes of Indians who had become farmers long before the days of Columbus. Their houses were made of mud or a bricks dried in the sun. Each house had many rooms and was the home of a whole village. These Indians had little farms watered by streams and ditches and they raised corn and cotton. They also made pottery and wove beautiful blankets. They do so today. Some of the southwestern Indians built their houses upon high cliffs and had their farms on the lowlands. They put their houses on the cliffs so that they could more easily defend themselves from their enemies. In the southern countries of North America and in the western part of South America are many Indians whose people have always been farmers. These Indians live in houses and some of them are civilized. End of Chapter 10 Chapter 11 of Around the World with the Children by Frank G. Carpenter This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Recording by Betty B. Drylands and Wetlands In the world there are both drylands and wetlands and the ways people live often differ according to the dryness or moisture of the places in which they live. In some parts of the earth there is plenty of rain in other parts there is but little and in some places there is hardly any rain at all. The parts that are well watered generally have grass, plants and trees. In such places there is plenty of food and there are many birds and animals and people. In the Philippines there is so much rain that a large part of the lowland is covered with water during the wet season which lasts for about half of the year. There are many rivers and streams and the highlands as well as the lowlands are green. We found plenty of water in Japan and China and there were many plants there. We found much rain in the hot country where Limweche lives and we remember how the high grass and tall trees covered the ground. We have enough rain in most parts of our own country and because of this we raise some of the largest crops on the globe. It is not so in the desert where we are now going. A desert is a country in which there is but little rain or no rain at all. In those parts of the desert where there is no water there can be only bare rocks and dry sand. No plants can grow there. In other parts of the desert where there is a little rain we shall find scattering bunches of grass and hardy bushes. The tender grass that springs up after the showers is soon dried up by the sun. Where there are springs and wells in the desert we shall find patches of trees and plants that grow as far out as the water will reach. A place in the desert where there are springs or wells with water all the year round is called an oasis. An oasis is sometimes so large that many people live in it. The desert of Sahara. The desert of Sahara in northern Africa is almost as big as the whole United States. It is the largest desert in the world although there are many other deserts. There is one great desert northwest of China in Asia. There is a narrow desert 2,000 miles long on the western shores of South America. Australia is more than half desert but the biggest desert of all is the Sahara. Let us imagine that we are now far out in this desert of Sahara and in a place where there is a little rain during a part of the year. All about us is dry sand but it is spotted here and there with small bunches of grass. Some of the bunches are not as large as a page of this book. Others are as big as a newspaper or bigger. The grass looks dry. It is coarse but it makes good food for wild animals as well as for sheep, goats and horses. Besides the grass-eating animals there are hyenas, jackals and leopards in such parts of the desert and now and then one may see a lion. Those great birds running along with outstretched wings are ostriches. Now we see some sheep and goats that are grazing. The flocks are watched by a dark-skinned man in a long white gown. Near him is a camel nibbling at a thornbush. Its long shaggy neck is stretched out and bites off the leaves. It looks up and snarls as we pass. But see those two children running towards us? They have come from that low tent at the right. The man watching the sheep and goats is their father and the tent is their home. These people live in the desert moving about with their animals from place to place to find pasture. Now the children have come to us and we learn who they are. The boy's name is Hassan Hassan is a brave, fine-looking lad tall and straight. He has a long white cloth wrapped around his head and a white cotton gown covers his body from his neck to his feet. He wears red leather shoes turned up at the toes. Hassan has a bright red handkerchief tied about her head. Her gown is light blue. It falls to her feet. The desert children make us welcome. Hassan bows low and says Naharak Said which means may thy day be happy. And Hada says Naharak Said Umbarak or may thy day be happy and blessed. That is their way of saying good morning. We bow low and say pleasant things in return and then go with them to their home. The tent is made of camel's hair and wool woven by Hada's mother. It is held up by poles but the sides are so low that it is too steep to go in. There is a curtain in the middle that divides the house into two rooms. Hada with her mother and her sisters sleep in one room while the boys and men sleep in the other. There are no beds, tables, or chairs. These people sit and eat on the sand and they sleep on rugs spread out on the ground. The cooking is done in pots and pans over fires made out of doors. After a while the father drives up to sheep, goats, and camels. He first puts the goats and sheep into a little pen fenced around with stones. He then ties up one of the front legs of each camel so that it has to hobble about on three legs and cannot stray far away. By this time dinner is ready and we sit down on the sand. The meal consists of a mutton stew, a roast kid, some dried figs and fresh dates, and kibbeh. The kibbeh is something like minced pie and plum pudding together and roasted into a cake. We have also thin round cakes as big as dinner plates and fresh cheese made of goat's milk. The stew is laid before us and Hassan bows low and says to Fudulu, this means help yourself. We look about for plates, knives, and forks. We do not see any so we ask how we shall eat. Hassan's father shows us. He first breaks off a piece of his thin cake and doubles it up so that it makes a kind of three-cornered spoon. With this he dips a meat and gravy out of the stew and then eats the spoon and meat all at one time. We try to do likewise but do not succeed very well and they give us a big wooden spoon for our use. By and by the roast kid is brought in. It steams as it lies whole on the platter. We use our pocket knives to cut it each taking the piece he likes best. We end the meal with candy, dried figs and new dates and a cup of sweet coffee as black as our shoes. After dinner we cleanse our hands by rubbing them with dry sand. For water is scarce. We then stroll about and talk with our friends until night. It has been warm during the day but now that the sun has gone down it is cool. We go into the tent and lie down on the soft drugs and are soon dreaming of home. An Oasis We are in an Oasis this morning. Hasan's father has driven his flocks here in order to trade. He has brought his tent and several great bags of wool along upon camels. He will sell the wool and also some of his sheep and goats and he will buy dates and other goods to carry back with him into the desert. We have helped the desert children in driving the flocks. We now help unload the camels and put up our tent near this island of green in the great sea of sand. The Oasis is watered by many little camels fed by springs. It contains hundreds of date palms and their fan-like green leaves seem to whisper a welcome to us. The Oasis is divided into little fields in which are grass and wheat and sugarcane. There are also onions and turnips peas and beans and many beautiful flowers. Under the palms are trees loaded with oranges and lemons and also some with pears peaches and figs. You can buy all the fresh dates you can eat for two or three cents. Dates are the most important fruit of the desert. They grow on the date palm, a tall and beautiful tree. The dates grow in bunches so big that it would take two strong boys to carry one bunch from the tree to our tent. The fruit is plump and it is red or yellow in color. Ripe dates are as sweet as honey and they almost melt in one's mouth. Green dates are like green persimmons. They melt in the mouth and are not good at all. Dates, when dried, can be kept a very long time without spoiling. They are eaten by the people and by the camels and even by the dogs. Many of them are packed up and sent to the United States and other countries for sale. There is a little town in the Oasis with a thick mud wall around it. Inside the wall are small houses built of mud bricks dried in the sun. There is so little rain that the bricks do not be burned. The houses have flat roofs made of palm branches covered with mud and their rude doors are of palm wood. The date palm is used to make boards, beams and framework of all kinds. The houses have no windows facing the street. Each house is built around a small yard or court and the rooms open on that. The women and girls live at the back of the house while the men have their rooms at the front. The people usually sit cross-legged on the floor or upon a ledge built out from the walls of the room. This ledge is also the place where they sleep. The trade of the desert. We walk slowly through the narrow streets of the town and soon come to an open place in the center surrounded by many small stores. There are camels kneeling on the ground and dark-skinned men dressed in white are loading them with dates, wool and hides to be taken across the desert for sale. The camels whine and bellow as the bales are put on their backs. We can see the tears running down their cheeks. They are surly animals and they always cry when they are being loaded. We ask one of the men to tell us about camels. He says that they are the only animals that can be used for a long journey over the dry sand where there is but little food and no water. A camel can go four or five days without drinking. Also, the hump on his back has so much fat in it that it will keep him alive for a long time even if he has nothing to eat. It is for this reason that camels are used to carry all the goods of the desert. They take dates, wool and hides to the seacoast to be shipped to America and bring back the cotton cloth, kerosene oil and other things that have been sent here from our country. We see long lines of these freight camels marching slowly over the sand. There are different kinds of camels. The freight camel is slow but it will carry a load of four or five hundred pounds. The riding camel is fast and it can run a long time without tiring. We ask for a ride on the fastest camels. The men make the great beasts kneel down and we climb on their backs. They rise on their hind feet first and almost throw us over their heads. Then they get up in front and start off on a trot. We sway from side to side as if we were on a ship. The motion makes a seasick at first but a little later we grow used to it and enjoy riding along so high in the air. The oasis children at school. The children of the oasis are quite as friendly as Hassan and Hada and we all enjoy playing together. They let us ride about on their donkeys and we go to the date trees to help them gather the fruit. The children take us to their school. The pupils learn but little more than to read and write too easy sums. They all sit on the floor and study out loud. Instead of slates they have tablets of tin and wood and they use brushes and ink in writing their letters. After the school is over we join with them in their games. They have many games and some are great fun. They play leapfrog puss in the corner, blind man's buff and Jura which is shooting marbles into a hole in the sand. They have one game called the tide monkey. In this a boy acts as the monkey. He holds fast to a rope tied to a peg in the ground and the other boys try to beat him with knots made in the cloths they wear around their heads. As they do so the monkey tries to catch them. And if he can get hold of a boy without letting go of the rope that boy must be the monkey and hold the rope and be beaten. Another game has the name of Tia Ya Tia. In this all the boys but one stand in a row. The other boy faces them and shouts Tia Ya Tia Tia Ya Tia He then hops on one foot as if lame. The rest of the boys run after him and hit him. He tries to catch one of them and if he can do so without putting his foot down the boy who was caught has to be it and take his place. End of Chapter 11 Chapter 12 of Around the World with the Children by Frank G. Carpenter The Sleeper Vox Recording is in the public domain. Recording by Betty B. Chapter 12 in the Highlands of Europe. The continent of Europe is most interesting to us. It is where our forefathers lived before they came to America and where most of the white people live now. There are many cities and towns in Europe with churches and schools just as there are in our country. There are also many farms with cattle and sheep feeding on them and all sorts of factories for making things to be used for food, shelter and clothing. The roads and railroads are well made and people have but little trouble in going from one place to another. We have already learned that the surface of the earth is uneven. We have seen mountains and valleys and hills and plains in Japan China the Philippines and other countries which we have visited. There are many hills and valleys and mountains and plains in the United States. There are highlands and low lands in most parts of the globe. We have also learned that the climate of a country depends much on where the country lies. Iqwa and Tuki live in the frigid zone near the North Pole. Do you remember what the climate is there? The homes of Limwichi and Isa and of Benito and Karman are in different parts of the torrid zone which lies on both sides of the equator. Taro and Achi live in the north temperate zone. We live in the north temperate zone also and our climate is much the same as theirs. It is neither too hot or too cold to be comfortable. Now there is another thing about climate that is important in mountainous regions. The climates of all places differ according to the height of those places above the level of the sea. No matter where a country is its highlands are always cooler than its lowlands and the higher one rises above the level of the sea where it becomes. For this reason there is snow on the tops of very high mountains all summer long. The highlands are cool even if they are near the equator. The highlands in the temperate zone are cool and pleasant in the heat of mid-summer. For this reason many people in our country go to the mountains in July and August when the weather is hot. In Europe we first visit a little country called Switzerland which is high above the sea level. The land is all mountains and valleys. It has many beautiful lakes. There are running streams that roar and foam as they rush down the mountains on their way to the sea. The tops of the mountains are bleak and bare. The highest part of a mountain is called the peak. Some of the peaks are so high and so cold that plants cannot grow upon them. Farther down the mountains there are trees. There are patches of grass with cows, sheep and goats feeding upon them. Still lower down the valleys and upon the hillsides are vineyards and orchards. On the streams and lakes there are many cities and towns. Switzerland is one of the most delightful countries on earth. It is so helpful that people from many places come here during the summer to enjoy the cool air. It is sometimes called the playground of Europe. Hansel and Gretel. We have found a Swiss boy and girl who will act as our guides during our travels in Switzerland. The boys name is Hansel. He has light hair and blue eyes and his skin is as white as our own. He is dressed much as we are except that he has on a short woolen jacket and heavy shoes with great nails in the soles. He wears a long feather in his hat. Hansel carries an Alpenstock. This is a pole with a steel point on the end. He has also a napsack or bag tied to his back. He tells us that we must each have a napsack like his to hold waterproofs and warm under clothes and a pole to help ourselves along up the hills and over the ice. It is often cold in the mountains and it may rain or snow. The girl's name is Gretel. She is Hansel's sister. She wears a black velvet waist which fits tight. Her bright colored skirt is longer than the skirts worn by American girls. She has on rough shoes and thick blue woolen stockings which her grandmother knit. The children tell us their home is higher up in the mountains and that we can stop to see some of the cities on the way there. We find the cities much like our own. They have beautiful brick and stone houses with yards and gardens about them. They have fine stores and large factories in which men, women, and children are working. Here they are making music boxes. There girls are stitching away upon laces and embroideries and in great shops farther on men and boys are making watches and mechanical toys. Many of the things made in the factories will be shipped to America and it may be that we shall find some of them among our presents next Christmas. The people of the United States wear much Swiss embroidery and most of the raw cotton used in making the embroidery thread comes from the United States. Much of the machinery in the factories of Switzerland is moved by the waterfalls of the streams that flow down the mountains. In one of the cities we visit the market it is an open square near the middle of the town. The place is covered with piles of fruit, vegetables, and cheese. There are also cans of milk carried about in carts hauled by dogs. The dogs are harnessed to the carts much as they are harnessed to the sleds in Eskimo land. In one of the cities we visit the schools. We see large playgrounds where the children go through their health exercises. The boys are drilled and all learn to be soldiers so that they may defend their country in time of war. One morning we meet a crowd of schoolchildren on their way into the country. Their teachers are with them. They will spend the day in the hills and valleys studying geography. Our next trip is on one of the trains to the foot of the mountains. Hansel and Gretel go with us and point out the sights. We pass many small farms. There are great brines growing on the lower slopes of the hills. We see children selling fruit at the stations and for two cents each we can buy all the grapes we can eat. At last we reach a village at the foot of the mountains. Climbing the Alps we have now left the cars and taking our Alpenstocks have started up the mountains on foot. As we climb the farms become fewer and smaller and at last we reach places where there is nothing but grass. Here men are making hay and nearby some sheep goats and cattle are grazing. There are boys and girls watching the cattle. In some places we see children milking the cows and in others we see them helping their parents make cheese. The Swiss make large quantities of cheese and some of it is sent to the United States and other countries. Soon we are high up in the mountains. We are going through forests of pine trees. Now and then we pass an open place covered with grass. As we climb higher still the trees grow smaller and smaller. There are wild flowers everywhere. There are roses and little blue pink and purple blossoms. Higher still we come to places where there are no trees at all. There are only grass and low bushes and one little hard white flower called the Adelweiss. A little farther up there is nothing but bare rocks with snow in the hollows. On the highest peaks there is snow all year round. How cold it is. We have to stop now and then to take a breath. We ask why it is so hard to breathe and are told that the air is thin on the highlands and that it will grow thinner and thinner as we go up. We have to walk slowly. Our feet seem to be heavy and our hearts beat fast. We use our Alpen stocks when we go over the ice. We also tie ourselves to the guys with strong ropes for fear we may slip and perhaps fall over the cliffs and be killed on the great rocks below. In our journey up the mountains over glaciers. Glaciers are long deep beds of ice. They are made of snow which has fallen through many winters and is thawed and frozen until it is all one great block of ice. Glaciers are really rivers of ice for they are slowly moving down the sides of the mountains. They go only one or two feet a day so slowly that we cannot see them move. They are years and years on the way. Life in the mountains. The houses in the high Alps are built of boards or logs. They have long sloping roofs so that the snow may slide off. On many of the roofs heavy stones are laid where the wind is strong in the Alps and it sometimes blows off the roofs. Most of the houses are of two stories and some of them are half barn and half house. The cattle and goats sleep in the barn next to the rooms where the people are living. Still everything is neat and clean. There are boxes of flowers in the windows and bird houses in the low trees outside. We spend some time in the home of Hansel and Gretel. It is a pretty house with its roof over hanging. The kitchen is also the dining room. The stove is like ours in America. We have about the same things to eat as at home for the people here live much as we do. We make the trip with Hansel to the high mountain pastures to see the boys who heard the cows sheep and goats. They drive these animals to the highlands as soon as the weather is warm and stay there for three or four months while the animals feed upon the sweet grass. The boys have cabins to sleep in and there too they churn the cream and make the butter and cheese. In the fall when the snows come the animals are driven home and kept in the stables which form a part of their house. End of Chapter 12 Chapter 13 of Around the World with the Children by Frank G. Carpenter. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Recording by Betty B. Chapter 13 The Story of a Great River What a wonderful thing a river is. It starts from a spring somewhere in the highlands and is at first only a brook or small stream trickling along over the stones. Then other brooks flow into it. It grows bigger and bigger and at last becomes a mighty stream of river. It is now wide and deep and ships can sail upon it back and forth through the land and out to the sea. Rivers often rush along so fast that they are used to turn the machinery of mills and factories. There are many rivers in the world. The sources of all of them are somewhere in the highlands and they flow through valleys or across planes into lakes, seas, or the ocean. The source of a river is the place where it begins. Its mouth is the place where it ends in some larger body of water. Would it not be fine if we could start at the source of a river high up in the alps and follow it down to the ocean? That is just what we are going to do. The source of the Rhine, one of the finest rivers of Europe, is not far from the home of Hansel and Gretel. They show us where the river begins. It is at first a little stream that flows from under a glacier and goes tumbling over the rocks. They goodbye to our Swiss friends and climb down along the banks of this stream. We cross on the way many other brooks that flow into it and see it grow larger and larger until it is the beautiful river that flows into Lake Constance. This river Rhine pours in at one end of the lake and out at the other. It then takes a tumble over the rocks making a fine waterfall. It goes on in a wide and deep stream through the mountains of Germany and flows through the low plains of Holland out to the sea. Avoid down the Rhine. After leaving Lake Constance we take passage on one of the boats on the Rhine. From the waterfall to the ocean the Rhine is full of shipping. One of the great uses of rivers is informing easy ways of travel from one place to another. Boats can move up and down them carrying passengers and goods and towns and cities grow up on the banks and can be reached by the ships. We meet a number of vessels filled with American cotton, wheat, lard, kerosene oil and copper. These goods have been brought from our country across the ocean to be sold here in Europe. We also see boats which are moving down to the sea with loads of goods that are on the way to the United States and other countries. We are now traveling through Germany. There are German children on board and we play and talk with them as we go. Germans sell us drugs and dyes, cotton and woollen goods and many kinds of machinery. They make beautiful dolls and mechanical toys that are wonderful. In the boats now on the river there may be toys and dolls on their way to our stores. Our little steamer winds in and out among rocky hills covered with green. Where the land is rough the hills have been cut into terraces and planted with vines. The fruit ripens in the fall and then women and children can then be seen gathering the purple grapes into baskets. They carry the baskets on their backs as they climb half bent up the hills. There are beautiful houses on the banks of the Rhine and on the tops of the hills we see many old castles each of which has a story to tell. At a bend in the river we see a tower on a tiny island. The German children tell us it is the Maus Tower. One of the rats once swam the river and ate up the wicked Bishop Hatto. The bishop had great stores of grain. His people were starving and he pretended to pity them. He told them they could have food if they would come to his barn but when he got them inside he set fire to the barn and they were burned up. And then came the rats. And another turn of the river the children show us the Lorelei rock. The Lorelei was a beautiful maiden and the boatmen upon the river forgot to manage their boats. Many boats they tell us were therefore dashed to pieces against the high cliff where she sat. At still another place we see a high rock over a cave whereas the story goes a fierce dragon once lived. This dragon was finally conquered by Siegfried, a brave German youth. When the dragon was killed his blood soaked into the ground and the wine made from the grapes called dragon's blood. We stop here and there at the towns on the banks of the river and we stay for an hour or so at Cologne, a big German city. A little later we are out of the hills streaming along through a broad low plain covered with green. We have now come into Holland the home of the Dutch and one of the most interesting of all the countries on earth. How rivers build up the lowlands Holland is a good place to learn how to get down the earth from the highlands and build up the lowlands. We can see this by looking at the soil on the banks of the river and at the freshly plowed fields which cover the plains through which it is flowing. There is not a stone anywhere the soil is fine dirt or sand it has been brought down from the Alps. When we look at a stream after a big rain we find that the water is muddy it is mixed with the earth that has been washed from the soil and flows. If we should take up some of this water and let it stand for a while in a bucket or glass the mud would sink to the bottom. It will also sink to the bottom of a stream when the water flows slowly. This is what has happened in Holland along the river Rhine. We remember how fast the stream flowed down the mountains. We saw the water tearing the soil from the banks and that more and more soil was brought to the river the Rhine flowed so fast that it carried the soil with it. It continues to carry the soil all along its course through the highlands of Germany. It is only when the river reaches the smooth plain of Holland and flows slowly that much of the soil begins to drop to the bottom only a little has dropped at a time but this dropping has gone on for many thousands of years. At times the soil has risen so high in the bed of the river and flowed far and wide over the banks and have laid coating after coating of mud upon the lowlands until they have built up this firm land of Holland as it now lies before us. This carrying down of the soil to the lowlands is the great work of rivers and streams. It is going on all the time and all over the earth. Most of the plains have been made by rivers and streams. End of Chapter 13 Chapter 14 of Around the World with the Children by Frank G. Carpenter This Libravox recording is in the public domain. Recording by Betty B. On the plain of Holland Holland is divided into green fields with canals running through them this way and that. There are little boats on the canals and we can see their red sails moving as it seems through the green grass. The canals sometimes serve as fences. The gates are little bridges which can be raised to shut in the cattle or dropped when the cattle are to be driven home to the stables. We see black and white cows grazing everywhere. Many of them wear blankets to keep off the flies. Here and there men are milking the cows out in the fields. The milkman sits on a stool with a bucket between his feet. He leans his head against the side of the cow. See, there is a man who has tied the cows hind legs together to keep her from kicking. Holland is a great dairy country. Its cattle are so fine that many are shipped to other parts of the world. The grass grows well on the lowlands and the cows have plenty to eat. We pass odd looking farmhouses of brick with steep roofs of red tiles or a straw fetch turned gray by the weather. We see windmills in all parts of the country. Each mill is a little tower with long wooden arms near the top like the spokes that carry wheel. The arms carry sails and are turned by the wind in such a way that they move the machinery inside the towers. Some of the windmills pump the water from the fields into the canals and the canals carry it out to the ocean. Some windmills grind wheat or do other kinds of work. Nearly every farm in the country has its windmill. The banks have been built up on both sides of the river to keep it from flowing over the land. Many of the fields and strong walls of earth have been built along the seashore to prevent the ocean from rushing over the land and drowning the people. Such banks, or dykes, are to be seen in the greater part of Holland. Much of the land is below the sea level and the roofs of some of the houses are lower than the keels of the ships that are sailing on the ocean nearby. Other parts of the country are even with the ocean and some places are a little above it. The land is a low plain and in the whole country there are very few hills to be seen. A trip on a canal boat. We have left our Rhine steamer and are on a small boat going from town to town through the canals. Our boat has red sails and part of the time it is moved by the winds. When the wind fails the men get out on the banks and pull it along. They have three big dogs to help them. Men and dogs pull on a long rope dragging the boat through the water. Holland is a country where the dogs have to work for their living. We see them on the roads, drawing carts filled with milk or vegetables. In one place we pass a dog team carrying two children to school. How the wind blows it is almost always breezy in Holland. The land is so near the sea that the wind from the ocean sweeps over it. This wind moves the boat through the canals and keeps the great sail-like arms of the windmills turning around. At times our boat passes through canals bordered with flowers. There are fields of red, yellow, pink and white roses and large beds of tulips and hyacins that load the air with sweet odors. The Dutch are fond of flowers. They send many rose bushes and also the bulbs of tulips and other flowers to foreign countries for sale. We see some long-legged birds in their houses. They have their nests on the roofs and also on little platforms high up on poles in the fields. We watch them waiting about in the ditches poking their long bills into the mud. There are after the frogs and other small creatures that live in wet places. Those birds are storks. They are the best friends of the Dutch where they eat the worms and crabs that make holes in the dikes or banks that keep back the water. They stay in Holland only in summer. They fly to the torrid zone near the equator when the cold weather comes. Jan and Mina. There are three Dutch children with us on the canal boat. They belong to the captain who has his home here. The mother cooks the meals in the little kitchen and the family eat and sleep on the boat. The children play about upon deck on the canal. They are Jan, a sturdy boy of nine years and Mina, his sister who is a year or so younger and there is little bright-eyed Rosa who is too small to run about much by herself. Jan has on a black cap and a black suit. His short tight jacket is buttoned up in front and his big black woolen trousers look as if they had been made for his father and cut down for him. Mina has on a white lace cap with horns of gold wire on each side of her forehead. She wears a wide metal band under the cap. This is a thin shell of brass which half covers the hair. We can see the bright metal shining out through the white lace. Mina wears a black waist. It has short tight sleeves that leave her arms bare. She has on several very full skirts which fall to her ankles. Most of the children wear wooden shoes. These shoes seem rough and clumsy to us but Jan tells us they're just the thing for the lowlands where the water soaks through the ground and makes leather shoes wet. The children ask us to race with them. It is leather shoes against wooden shoes and strain as we may the wooden shoes are not far behind. They want us to try their shoes. We find that they are lighter than ours and are not at all bad. Jan can jump well in his wooden shoes. He can even climb trees with them on. Before entering a house these people leave their shoes outside the door. We go to a school in a small village and find a pile of wooden shoes near the doorsteps leading into the schoolhouse. Is this not a queer country where the shoes are cut out of wood and whittled to shape? The Dutch are always washing and scrubbing and dusting. They give their boats a coat of fresh paint every year. See yourselves in them. Every morning the doorsteps are washed and the streets swept. Out in the country the houses are of one or two stories and a farmer will often use a part of his house for the stable. He will keep the hay and the garret and the cows may have their stalls in a room next to the kitchen. The stables are kept clean and some of them may have windows with lace curtains in them. The walls of the stalls are often painted black as high as the backs of the cows and snow white above that. In some Dutch houses we find that a single room serves for the parlor, dining room and bedroom. When we go in we see no sign of a bed. There are little doors around the walls which open into closets where the beds are. We open the closet door to get into bed. Next morning after the bed is made up the closet is closed and the room again looks like a parlor. The people have the best food and they have the best of butter and cheese and they send a great deal of cheese to our country for sale. They have good beef and mutton. They raise excellent fruit and all kinds of vegetables. They are famous also for their cakes and their candies. Games of the Dutch Children The Dutch are fond of sports and they have all sorts of games both for summer and for winter. In the winter the canals and rivers are covered with ice and everyone goes about on sleds or skates. Some of the sleds are hauled by horses or dogs and some are pulled by men, women and children. On some sleds too the people push themselves along over the ice by means of short sticks shot with steel points. Other sleds or ice boats have sails and the wind sends them whizzing along. Boys and girls go to school on their skates. They go to our schools at home but the language is different and the books seem strange. Many of the winter games are played upon skates. At that time the people put up tents on the ice and have stores inside them where they sell hot soup and milk and waffles covered with sugar. The girls now take their dolls out for an airing and pull them about on doll sleds. The boys push themselves over the ice on their wooden shoes with steel points. They run races and play tag on their skates. Two children will often skate together holding a long pole between them. Jan and Mina think that winter is the best time of the year. They tell us they like it because then St. Nicholas comes. St. Nicholas does for the Dutch children what Santa Claus does for us and he comes 20 days earlier. It is on the night of the 5th of December that this jolly old man is supposed to ride on his white horse over the roof of every Dutch house. He has a long beard like Santa Claus and is dressed in a red gown trimmed with white fur. St. Nicholas has a black servant who carries two bags on his back. One of the bags has presents for the good children and the other contains whipping rides for the bad ones. Dutch children do not hang up their stockings but they place their wooden shoes near the chimney. As they do so they sing a song in which they ask St. Nicholas to put something nice into their shoes. On St. Nicholas Day every family in Holland has a fine dinner and at that time presents are given. The presents are hidden in different places and it often takes a long while for a child to find out just what his present is. A tiny gift may be put in a big nest of boxes. It may be baked in a loaf of bread or it may be wrapped up in a big ball of paper. The longer it takes to find the present, the more fun it is. And then the children like the Ayertikin and the Kermis. These are two other holiday seasons during which they have a fine time. Ayertikin comes on Easter Day. The word ayertikin means egg. For several days before Easter the children go from house to house baking eggs. Each child carries a wreath of green leaves and sings a song as he goes. When they have enough eggs they boil them hard and stain them red or brown. On Easter Day they roll the eggs against one another or crack them together. The egg that breaks belongs to the child whose egg remains whole. The Kermis is later in the year. This festival lasts a whole week and there is nothing but fun all the time. During the Kermis every town has music and dancing. It has games and peep shows and merry-go-rounds. There are stores on the streets to sell dolls and toys and many peddlers of cakes, candies and poffretches. And what are poffretches? They are tiny fritters made of buckwheat flour covered with butter and sugar and served piping hot. The children watch the poffretches cooking and buy them hot from the stoves. A great sea port. We shall end our travels in Holland in the great sea port of Waterdam. A sea port is a city or town on or near the coast where the ships can safely come to the land to take on passengers and goods. Sometimes sea ports are not right on the ocean. They may be on rivers that are so wide and deep that vessels can travel upon them far into the land. This is the case with many of the chief sea ports of the world. The city of New York our greatest sea port is at the mouth of the Hudson River. In London the chief sea port of England is on the Thames, about 50 miles from the sea. Rotterdam is on one of the mouths of the river Rhine, not far from the ocean. We find many ships in the harbor at Rotterdam. They lie at anchor in the deep waters of the river close to the wharves. We see their masts rising like trees above the roofs of the houses. Some of the vessels are loading and some are putting off goods. Travelers from far away countries are landing and other travelers are going aboard the ships that are ready to sail. Several of the vessels now here are bound for America and one of the biggest will leave this afternoon for New York. It will take only a little more than a week to cross the Atlantic Ocean and we decide to take passage. We spend a few hours before sailing and visiting the shops where we buy presents to take home to our friends. We also go to the post office and mail our postcards to Tarot and Haruko-san in Japan and to Achi and Yisoo in China and to Benito and Carmen in the Philippine islands. We post some also to Limuiche and Aisa and Hassan and Hada in Africa. There are ships going out from here to nearly all parts of the world. They carry mail as well as people and goods. Therefore we know that our postcards will finally reach the friends we have met on the railway lands. Let us look at the globe and mark out the nearest way by water to the home of each of our little friends. We mail picture cards also to Hansel and Gretel. They will be carried on the railways across country to Switzerland. We send other cards to Yan and Mina and Rosa. We should like to send picture cards to Iqwa and Tuki and to Bald Eagle, Little Wolf and Hummingbird but they are not near any post office so we can send them by some traveler who is going their way. An ocean steamer The steamer in which we cross the Atlantic Ocean is like a great floating house. It has floor above floor and these are called decks. Each floor has many rooms and some of these are the cabins of the passengers. Each person may have his own cabin a little room with a bed at the side or two or three of us may sleep in one cabin but the beds are like shelves one above the other. Each cabin has its own window a round hole covered with thick glass looking out on the sea. At night our light comes from electric lamps. Such lamps are to be seen on all parts of the ship. The electricity is made by engines in the lower part of the ship. Our meals are served three times a day in the big dining room and we have soup and crackers and cakes and tea between meals in the back. The food is as good as we have at home. During most of the voyage there is only the wide blue ocean in sight. The water extends on and on to the horizon or the place where the sky and earth seem to meet. Now and then we see the smoke of another steamer trailing along and on some days pass great ships going so near them that we can wave our handkerchiefs to the passengers. The ocean seems to change every day. In the blue ocean there are waves with white caps racing like horses over the blue water. Again there are clouds in the sky and the water looks black and forbidding. A storm comes up in the great steamer rolls. The mighty waves dash over its prow sending showers of salty spray high into the air. We are a little afraid at first but our captain tells us that there is no danger. So we stand in our raincoats on the deck to the rail and enjoying the sight. The time passes all too quickly and our voyage is soon at an end. Early one morning we catch sight of land. We stop to take an American pilot on board and a little later we are moving through the smooth waters of New York Bay. We pass the huge Statue of Liberty and soon find ourselves at the wharfs. Our parents and friends have already received wireless telegrams from us sent from the ship. We are at the dock to meet us and with them we ride on the cars to our homes. End of Chapter 14 Chapter 15 of Around the World with the Children by Frank G. Carpenter The sleeper vox recording is in the public domain. Recording by Betty B. Chapter 15 What geography is Our long travels are now at an end. What a wonderful trip we have had. We started at our homes and have gone here and there over the big round earth. We have seen something of the great bodies of water and land and have observed that almost everywhere there are mountains and valleys and plains. We have learned that some parts of the land are dry and that other parts are almost always wet. We have learned also that some parts are almost always cold and that other parts are hot while still other parts are mild and temperate. We have also discovered that there are many different peoples upon the earth and that each has its own way of living according to its place upon the globe. We have seen that each part of the earth has its own plants and animals and that each part raises some things that are wanted by the people of the other parts. We have found that the different peoples produce certain things that they sell to us and that they are glad to buy certain things that we raise or make in exchange. In this way the whole world and the living things upon it are in their homes. In this way all the other people on the earth are working for us and we are working for them. Now the story of the earth and of the many living things on it as they affect us is geography. We shall learn a great deal more of geography as we grow older and shall keep on learning about it as long as we live. The End End of Chapter 15 End of Around the World with the Children by Frank G. Carpenter