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Geo raPhY
HELP YOUR KIDS WITH
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Geo raPhY
HELP YOUR KIDS WITH
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A UNIQUE STEP-BY-STEP VISUAL GUIDE
 DK LONDON
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CONSULTANTS
DR. DAVID LAMBERT
Dr. David Lambert is Emeritus Professor of Geography Education at UCL Institute of Education, London. He
graduated from the University of Newcastle, completing a PGCE at the University of Cambridge and a PhD at
the University of London. A secondary school teacher for 12 years, he has written award-winning textbooks and
published widely on the curriculum, pedagogy, and assessment of geography in education. He was appointed chief
executive of the Geographical Association in 2002 and became Professor of Geography Education in 2007. His
recent books include Learning to Teach Geography (3rd Edition, 2015) and Debates in Geography Education (2nd
Edition, 2017). He led the EU-funded GeoCapabilities project from 2013 to 2017 (www.geocapabilities.org).

DR. SUSAN GALLAGHER HEFFRON

Dr. Susan Gallagher Heffron is an independent education consultant with a PhD in Curriculum and Instruction
from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln. She has extensive experience in geography education and has
worked on national and international projects for geography teachers’ professional development. A coeditor
of Geography for Life: The National Geography Standards, 2nd Edition, she also serves on the editorial board for
The Geography Teacher. She taught for 14 years, followed by six years as faculty at higher education institutions.

CONTRIBUTORS
JOHN WOODWARD
John Woodward has written more than 50 books and hundreds of articles on the natural world. His work with
Dorling Kindersley includes titles such as Geography Encyclopedia, Ocean Encyclopedia, Oceans Atlas, Eyewitness
Climate Change, Eyewitness Water, and SuperEarth. He works as a regular volunteer on a wildlife reserve near his
home in southern England and helps to manage local conservation projects designed to increase biodiversity and
resilience to climate change.

JOHN FARNDON
John Farndon has an MA in Geography from the University of Cambridge and is the author of hundreds of books on
science and nature. He has been shortlisted five times for the Young People’s Science Book Prize for books such as
How the Earth Works. He is also the author of the acclaimed Atlas of Oceans and The Wildlife Atlas.

FELICITY MAXWELL
Felicity Maxwell has a BSc in Geology and Botany as well as an MSc in Geology from Victoria University of
Wellington, New Zealand. She also has an MSc in Environmental Management and Technology from Oxford
Brookes University, UK. Felicity has worked for many years for government organizations and as a consultant
on land and biodiversity protection in New Zealand.

SARAH WHEELER
Sarah Wheeler graduated from the London School of Economics in 1981 with a degree in Human Geography. She
is an Outstanding Geography Teacher currently teaching in a grammar school in the south of England. Sarah has
been a senior examiner for an examinations board for more than 30 years and has been a writer and consultant
for several publications, including the Hodder AQA GCSE textbook and revision guide.

ARTHUR MORGAN
Arthur Morgan grew up in London and has a BA in Geography from the University of Manchester. He is
interested in urban geography and wrote his dissertation on affordable housing provision. He is an active
volunteer in international projects such as the building of the Transcaucasian Trail, a hiking path connecting
Georgia and Armenia.
Introduction
There is no bigger subject than geography – because it is about the
whole world!

Geography is one of the major subjects in the school curriculum

around the world. This is because we generally agree how important
it is for everyone to have some knowledge and understanding of
the world, and how the world works.

A passion for geography demonstrates a real curiosity about the

workings of our wonderful planet, and this is a great advantage in
today’s fast-changing world.

This book sets out to explain the essentials of the subject and helps parents
help their kids with their geography homework. It covers the key areas taught
in schools and will refresh the memory of parents who haven’t studied the
subject since they were in school.

Geography is not just an accumulation of facts and figures. The subject

tackles a range of ideas, some of which are complicated: tectonic plates,
weathering and erosion, and ecosystems, and some that are constantly
developing: globalization, sustainability, and climate change. All these
concepts are about our natural world, how human beings relate to each
other, and how people and their environment interact.

Help Your Kids with Geography is like no other geography book.

It is packed full of the information you need to make sense of the world.
It is a book to excite your curiosity and address some of the world’s key issues
head on. It encourages you to think geographically about the world, to form a
view and, I hope, to argue. This does not mean to squabble or simply disagree,
but to listen to different viewpoints and accept that in many geographical
matters there is not a single story but many different perspectives.

I used to be a school teacher and I was a parent of young children. What

I hope this book will do is provide plenty of opportunities for adults and
young people to read, share, and talk about the world. It will even help
you take on the world! That is geography’s power.

DAVID LAMBERT
EMERITUS PROFESSOR OF GEOGRAPHY EDUCATION
UCL INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION
Contents Coastal deposition
Erosion in deserts
70
72
The atmosphere 74
Introduction 6 Seasons 76
What is geography? 10 Climate zones 78
Thinking geographically 12 The hydrological cycle 80
Geography in action 14 Global winds 82
Ocean currents 84
Weather systems 87
Weather forecasting 90
1 PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY Cloud and fog 92
Precipitation 94
What is physical geography? 18 Hurricanes and tornadoes 96
Earth’s history and geological time 20 Biomes 98
Earth’s structure 22 Distribution of species 100
Moving plates and boundaries 24 Ecosystems 102
Shifting continents 26 Tropical grasslands and rain forests 104
Earthquakes and tsunamis 28 Deserts 106
Mountain building 31 Temperate forests and grasslands 108
Volcanoes and hot springs 34 Boreal forests and tundra 110
Physical map of the world 38 Oceans and seas map 112
Rocks and minerals 40 Oceans, seas, and lakes 114
Igneous rocks 42
Weathering and erosion 44
Sedimentary rocks and fossils 47
Metamorphic rocks 50 2 HUMAN GEOGRAPHY
The rock cycle 52
Soil 54 What is human geography? 118
Mountain streams 56 Where people live 120
Rivers 58 Demography 122
Ice ages 62 Migration 124
Glacial erosion 64 Population change 126
Glacial deposition 66 Human settlements 128
Coastal erosion 68 Cities 130
Megacities 132
Rural settlements 134 3 PRACTICAL GEOGRAPHY
Urbanization 136
The spread of cultures 138 What is practical geography? 200
Health 140 Continents and oceans 202
Economic activity 142 Countries and nations 204
Food and farming 144 Political map of the world 206
Extracting fossil fuels 146 Capitals and major cities 208
Manufacturing industry 148 Hemispheres and latitude 210
The service industry 150 Longitude, time zones, and coordinates 212
Tourism 152 Distance and relative distance 214
Transportation and distribution 154 Geopolitics 216
Technology 156 Types of maps 218
Uneven development 158 How a map works 220
Globalization 162 Globes 222
Urban housing 164 Topographic maps 226
Human impact 166 Atlases 228
Pollution 168 Geographic Information Systems (GIS) 230
The changing landscape 170 Fieldwork 232
Deforestation 172 Quantitative data 234
Climate change 175 Qualitative data 236
Preservation and conservation 178 Graphicacy 239
Managing natural hazards 180 Using photography 242
Sources of energy 182 Geographical inquiry 244
Sustainability 184
Plastic pollution 186
Big geographical issues 188
Global and local interdependence 190
Food security 192 Glossary 246
Water security 194 Index 252
Conflict and resolution 196 Acknowledgments 256
10 INTRODUCTION
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The subject of physical geography studies the non-human parts of the
Earth—its landscapes and rocks, its atmosphere, and its rivers, lakes, and
0 metres

oceans—as well as the plants and animals that inhabit these places. It is
•
•

similar to Earth science, but physical geography is more concerned about

where things are. There are many different branches of physical geography.

△ Biogeography △ Geology and geomorphology △ Meteorology and climatology

Biogeographers look at where plants
and animals live. They are especially
interested in biomes – large regions
where particular communities of
plants and animals live.
Geologists study rocks and Meteorologists look at the
minerals, and the Earth’s crust atmosphere and try to forecast
and interior. Geomorphologists the weather. Climatologists study
study landforms and processes climates – the average weather
that shape the landscape. in each region of the world.
 W H AT I S G E O G R A P H Y ? 11
Human geography
The topic of human geography is about where and how people live. It Urban geography
studies how people interact with each other and with different kinds of Cities are a subject of study for
urban geographers. They try to
environment. Human geographers are interested in the environments understand why and how things
people create for themselves, both in rural areas and in cities. change in cities, and how cities
make links across the world.

Economic and social geography Population geography

Economic geographers study where
economic activities (such as industry
and farming) take place. Social
geographers look at the distribution
of different groups of people.
Population geographers are
interested in where people are
born, where they die, and how
they move about. They also
study how populations change.

Practical skills
Geographers have a large area of study, so they need to Fieldwork
develop a wide range of skills. Understanding how to use maps When geographers go outdoors
of various kinds is crucial. Geographers also need to know how to study the landscape or the
to observe and measure things. Statistical skills (processing human environment, it is called
data as numbers) are very important for geographers. fieldwork. For many, this is the
most enjoyable part of geography.
It can take you to wild places in
nature, such as high mountains
or beautiful forests.
Q.1
Q.2
Q.3
Q.4
Q.5

△ Location and direction △ Surveying

Geographers need to know where For human geographers, a survey is a
things are. They rely on maps, satellite range of questions designed to find data
position systems (GPS), and compasses about people. For physical geographers,
to pinpoint location and direction. it’s a measurement of the landscape.
12 INTRODUCTION

Thinking geographically
GEOGRAPHERS USE A GEOGRAPHICAL METHOD TO INVESTIGATE
AND THINK ABOUT THE WORLD AROUND THEM.

Geographers try to establish where in the world things are, how they
work, and how they fit into the bigger picture. Geographical thinking
combines specific facts and figures with ideas or concepts. It is
especially interested in finding links, patterns, and relationships.

Core knowledge
Geographical thinking is built on core knowledge – that is, basic facts and figures about
the world, such as the names and sizes of the continents; where the main rivers and
mountain ranges are; what the main layers of the atmosphere are; which the biggest
cities are; and so on. Core knowledge answers straightforward questions such as these:

What is the population of Belgium? Where is Peru?

How deep is this lake?

What is a glacier?
What is the route of the Gulf Stream?

▽ Finding connections
Geography is a subject that provides
a broad picture of the world around
Geography links
us and shows how different things
are related to each other.
Geography the physical
relates the local to the human.
to the global.

Geography connects
people to their Geographers
environment. link facts and
concepts.
 T H I N K I N G G E O G R A P H I C A L LY 13

Conceptual knowledge
To be a good geographer, besides knowing lots of facts and figures about the world,
geographers need ideas to help make sense of these. Concepts such as
urbanization, globalization, climate, and the hydrological cycle can all be fitted into
the big three geographical ideas: place, space, and environment. Most geographical
knowledge can be organized under these headings so they make good starting
points for examining subjects in more detail.

PLACE SPACE ENVIRONMENT

A place is an area or location that has
been identified and named, usually by
the people living there. It can be a
single street or a whole continent.
A place can be described and
researched in depth. A geographer
might study its climate and geology,
its soil, its population and more. No
two places are exactly the same. The
special characteristics of one place
may help give the geographer an
understanding of the world as a whole.
Questions you might ask about place:
• Describe the economy of this
country and explain how this
relates to its natural resources.
• What are the benefits of choosing
to farm in this specific place?
What are the soil and climate like
in this location?
Space is the surface of the world in
three dimensions. The word “spatial”
means “about space”. Space also
includes links and patterns between
different phenomena and places.
Geographers look for patterns of
spatial variations, such as population
density, and try to understand why they
occur. They are interested in the extent
of phenomena, such as the damage
caused by an earthquake or pollution
from a factory. The effect of space is
also important, such as the distance
between places of economic activity.
Questions you might ask about space:
• How do global production
processes work? How do goods
get from producers to consumers
on a global scale?
• What are the consequences of an
uneven distribution of wealth?
Our environment is our surroundings,
both living and non-living. It can be
natural, managed by humans (as in the
case of farmland) or built, such as a city.
Geographers can study the ways
humans interact with the world around
them, their impact on it, and how
humans can care for the environment.
Environment can be better understood
by looking at ecosystems – the natural
systems where living things interact
with each other.
Questions you might ask about
environment:
• Why are environments such as
deserts and coral reefs fragile?
How can we preserve them?
• What renewable energy sources
should we use?
14 INTRODUCTION

Geography Physical geography

in action Geography provides a broad
understanding of the world’s natural
environments, both the living (animals
GEOGRAPHY IS NOT JUST A SUBJECT and plants) and the non-living (rocks
FOR SCHOOL, IT HAS A WIDE RANGE and gases). With this knowledge it
OF PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS. is possible to pursue a range of
careers and interests.
Geography provides a clear framework
for understanding the world, and a guide
for how to care for it too. Both physical Geologist
Climatologist
Vulcanologist A key role in our
and human geography offer a broad The study of rocks
Vulcanologists future is played
is made by
range of areas to study and fascinating study volcanoes and by climatologists,
geologists, who
try to predict when who can warn
seek sources of
jobs or activities to pursue. valuable minerals.
they might erupt. of changes
to the climate.

Putting it into practice

Specialist skills developed for geography and
related subjects have an important role to play Soil scientist
Meteorologist
Park ranger
in the way we interact with our environment – A meteorologist
A soil scientist Parks are vital
focuses on the
both the natural environment and the human analyzes soil to
weather and tries to
refuges for wildlife,
environment. Geography provides an overview, discover how best it and rangers help
make accurate
can grow plants. protect them.
but specialist skills provide detailed, hands-on forecasts.
knowledge of many fields. Here are just some of
the varied jobs or activities a geographer might
end up doing.
Hydrologist
Biogeographer
Controlling water
To help us know
resources and
how best to protect
protecting areas
the natural world,
from flooding is
biogeographers
work carried out by
study habitats.
hydrologists.
 GEOGRAPHY IN ACTION 15

Human geography Geography

Cities and other parts of the human for fun
environment are getting bigger and more The world outdoors
complicated. To make the best choices in our becomes much more
planning, we need to understand how cities fun if you have some
work. The skills of human geographers are geographic skills to help
becoming very important. you understand it better.

Politician Planning a route

Town planner Orienteering
Surveyor A geographer’s Knowing how to
Planning how cities Orienteering is an
The world depends understanding of how use a map properly
look and how the activity in which you
on accurately made people and their helps you plan
land is used is the find your way in
maps, so surveyors environments work either the shortest
job of a town rough country using
are very important. can help politicians or most scenic
planner. only a compass.
make better decisions. route.

Exploring Becoming greener

Tour guide Sailing
Business Why not become an An appreciation of
A good knowledge Understanding the
Geographical explorer going to wild our planet and its
of landscape and weather, tides, and
knowledge helps places to increase systems will help
people will help ocean currents will
businesses decide our geographical you choose to live a
tour guides inform help you if you take
where to locate. knowledge of “greener” life and
visitors. up sailing.
the world? care for our planet.

Transport planner Making your own Travelling the Gardening

Aid worker
Locating roads and maps world Knowing things
An understanding of
railway lines needs If you really want to By travelling into about your garden,
how the world’s
a thorough know your way other countries, you such as its soil and
wealth is distributed
knowledge of traffic around, why not see new landscapes drainage, can make
is used to target aid
flow and the make your and learn about you an expert
for poor countries.
landscape. own maps? other cultures. gardener.

Teacher
Geography teachers
play a key role in
teaching students
about the world
they live in.
1
 Physical
geography
18 PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY

What is physical geography?

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY IS THE STUDY OF THE EARTH’S NATURAL SYSTEMS AND THE
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE ROCKS, WATER, ATMOSPHERE, AND LIVING THINGS.

Geographers are interested in how the planet Earth works.

They study the formation of rocks and soils, its climate,
The crust is made up
how water and ice shape its surface, and the of the continents and
ocean floors.
communities of animals and plants that live on it.

The Earth
Geographers study the history of the
Earth, looking at the geological processes
that have shaped our changing planet.
They study how forces from deep within
the Earth have powered the formation of
huge mountains and deep trenches and
have moved continents over time.
◁ Layered planet
The Earth has a heavy
The Earth’s hot interior metallic core surrounded by
is divided into the core a deep layer of hot, but mainly
and mantle.
solid rock. Its outer surface layer,
the crust, is cooler and lighter.

Rocks and soil

The Earth is made up of different types of rocks
Some rocks are and soil. Geographers investigate the processes
formed when that form them. Some rocks are produced deep
volcanoes erupt. underground, while others are formed out of the
fragments of other, older rocks pressed hard
together. With time, rocks are weathered away,
and some of the fragments are carried off by the
forces of erosion to mix with the remains of
living things and form soil.

Igneous rock Rocks that are exposed are broken down

into small pieces, which are washed away
and may form other rocks or soil.

Metamorphic rock

◁ Making new rock

Rocks are formed
Sedimentary rock and worn away again
in a constant cycle
of weathering and
erosion.
 W H AT I S P H Y S I C A L G E O G R A P H Y ? 19
The work of water
Rain and melting snow flow
into a fast and rocky river.
Water shapes our planet in different ways. Geographers
study this process, looking at how rivers carve valleys
and create broad floodplains and at how the sea erodes
Rain and snow
and creates landforms. In cold climates, snow builds up
to form glaciers that transform landscapes
in even more dramatic ways.

Upper cour
se
Middle cour The lower course
△ From source to mouth se
meets tidal salt
A river has an upper, middle, and lower Lower cour water in the delta.
se
course. It grows in size as it flows from
the mountains toward the sea.

The hole at the

Weather and climate Warm air spirals out
from the eye, cools, center of the storm
A circular cloud
roof forms the top
“Weather” describes the state of the and descends. is called the “eye.”
of the hurricane.
atmosphere at a particular moment,
while “climate” describes the
average weather in a region over
time. Geographers study both,
looking at winds, rain, clouds, and
other weather phenomena, and at
how they affect the world around us.

Inside a storm ▷
A full-blown hurricane
is a giant rotating drum
Thunderstorms
of clouds, hundreds of miles and rain create
across, with a hole in the middle. an eye wall.

Biogeography Deserts are extremely dry, Animals such as

so only a few specially the camel travel
Geographers divide the world into adapted plants grow there. long distances to
“biomes,” landscapes associated with find food and water.
particular types of animals, plants,
and a specific climate. Biomes include
deserts, different types of forests
and grasslands, as well as the seas
and oceans. The study of these
biomes is called biogeography.

Heat and dust ▷

This illustration shows some of the
plants and animals that are adapted
to life in deserts around the world.
20 PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY

Earth’s history and SEE AL SO

Earth’s structure 22–23

geological time
Volcanoes and hot springs 34–37
Rocks and minerals 40–41
Sedimentary rocks
and fossils 47–49
THE GEOLOGICAL HISTORY OF THE EARTH IS DIVIDED Ice ages 62–63
INTO EONS, ERAS, AND PERIODS.

The major geological milestones in the evolution of

life forms on Earth happened over millions of years.

Timeline for life on the Earth According to scientists,

Each eon is divided into eras, and each era consists of periods. The table below
gives information about the main divisions of the Phanerozoic eon, which started the age of the Earth is
when complex life became abundant on Earth 541 million years ago. Fossils about 4.5 billion years.
preserved in rocks reveal how life evolved.

Period
Eon Era What was happening
(millions of years ago)

CAMBRIAN During the Cambrian period, animals with hard shells first became common
(541–485) in the oceans. This is called the “Cambrian explosion” of life.

ORDOVICIAN Complex animals such as trilobites flourished in the oceans, but at this
(485–443) time there was no animal life on land—only a few very simple plants.

SILURIAN Silurian oceans teemed with life, including early fish. Short plants, fungi,
PALEOZOIC (443–419) and small animals, such as millipedes, became abundant on land.
541–252
million years ago DEVONIAN This has been called the “Age of fish” because at this time fish began to
(419–358) evolve into more types. Tall trees appeared on land, forming dense forests.

CARBONIFEROUS Insects, such as giant dragonflies, flew through the forests and were hunted
(358–298) by some of the earliest land vertebrates—animals with backbones.
Phanerozoic

PERMIAN The land formed a huge supercontinent with vast deserts. The period ended
(298–252) with a global catastrophe that destroyed 96 percent of all life forms.

TRIASSIC As life slowly recovered, the first small dinosaurs and airborne pterosaurs
(252–201) appeared. Some of these hunted the earliest furry mammals.

MESOZOIC JURASSIC Giant plant-eating dinosaurs roamed the forests, using their long necks to
252–66 (201–145) feed from treetops. They were prey for big meat-eating dinosaurs.
million years ago
CRETACEOUS Dinosaurs evolved into many different species, including birds, but all the
(145–66) giant dinosaurs were wiped out by a global disaster 66 million years ago.

PALEOGENE Surviving mammals evolved into bigger forms resembling modern rhinos.
(66–23) These replaced the dinosaurs, dominating life on land.

CENOZOIC NEOGENE Birds, mammals, reptiles, and others gradually evolved into modern
66–0 (23–2) animals. These included the first upright-walking ancestors of humans.
million years ago
QUATERNARY The climate became cooler, causing a series of ice ages. The first true
(2–Present) humans evolved in Africa, and gradually spread across the world.
 EARTH’S HISTORY AND GEOLOGICAL TIME 21
The story of life Ancient volcanoes
Life began on Earth about 3.8 billion Water vapor that erupted

PRECAMBRIAN
years ago. For most of that time, it from volcanoes created the
consisted of microscopic single-celled oceans where life evolved.
forms. But about 600 million years Comets
ago, the first complex, multicelled Icy comets that crashed to Earth may
life forms appeared, which gradually have contained the first elements of life.
evolved into the animals, fungi, and
plants that exist today.

CAMBRIAN
Cooksonia Sacabambaspis
Dating from the This armored fish had
middle of the very close-set eyes and

ORDOVICIAN
Marrella
SILURIAN

Silurian period, this no jawbones. This early animal lived

was one of the oldest in the sea and had a
plants with stems. hard-shelled body with
jointed legs and spines.

DEVONIAN
Lepidodendron Dimetrodon
This early tree had The fossils of this sail-
CARBONIFEROUS

a scaly bark and backed hunter show

PERMIAN
Drepanaspis could grow to more that it was related to
The head of this jawless, than 100 ft (30 m) the ancestors
armored fish was covered in height. of mammals.
with a broad, flattened shield.

TRIASSIC
Velociraptor Cryolophosaurus
This feathered The fossil remains of this
CRETACEOUS

meat-eating powerful hunter were Eudimorphodon

JURASSIC

dinosaur had found on Antarctica. Pterosaurs were flying

a very sharp claw reptiles that lived at the
on each foot. same time as dinosaurs.

PALEOGENE
Australopithecus Homo neanderthalensis
afarensis This strongly built human
QUATERNARY

This early hominid species was adapted to

NEOGENE

Uintatherium
could have been the life in icy climates.
This rhinoceros-
first to walk upright
sized animal was
4 million years ago.
a big plant-eating
“megaherbivore.”
22 PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY

Earth’s structure SEE AL SO

20–21 Earth’s history and

geological time
OUR PLANET IS A GIANT SPHERE OF ROCK AND METAL Moving plates and boundaries 24–25
SURROUNDED BY LAYERS OF WATER AND AIR. Shifting continents 26–27
The atmosphere 74–75
The Earth is made up of three layers: the core, the mantle, and the
crust. More than 70 percent of the crust is covered by oceans, and
the rest forms the islands and continents where we live.

Earth’s formation ◁ Accretion

Rocks drifting in space started to be pulled
Earth formed about 4.54 billion years together by their own gravity to form one
ago from a cloud of rock, dust, and large object, and eventually a planet. This
gas surrounding the newly formed growth by gradual accumulation of material
sun. Gravity pulled this space debris is called accretion.
together to form a sphere, which
eventually melted and developed a
layered structure of metal and rock.
This structure then cooled down, finally
becoming cool enough to support liquid
oceans and an atmosphere. Meltdown ▷
As more rocks smashed into the planet, the
energy from all these impacts converted to heat.
The planet began to melt, and most of the heavy
metal from its rocks sank to form the core.

REAL WORLD

Meteoric evidence
We cannot drill down to the Earth’s
core to see what it is made of, but
scientists have deduced that it is
mostly iron and nickel. This theory
is supported by the fact that many
meteorites, thought to be from the
cores of planets destroyed billions
of years ago, contain these metals.
For example, this meteorite that
△ Cooling
fell on Russia in 1947 is made When accretion slowed down, the
of iron. planet cooled. Most of its rock
solidified, forming a series of layers
around the still-hot metal core.

Hundreds of meteorites △ Oceans and atmosphere

hit the Earth every day, The gases that erupted from
but most burn up entirely volcanoes formed the early
atmosphere. Water vapor turned
in the atmosphere. into clouds and then rain, which
eventually filled the oceans.
 EARTH’S STRUCTURE 23
Layered planet
The Earth has a layered internal structure. Its gravity Oceanic crust
has pulled most of its heaviest, metallic elements Much of the cool, brittle shell Continental crust
down near the core, and the lightest elements exist of the upper mantle is capped Lighter rocks are created by volcanic
with lighter rocks that form processes and form the core of
as atmospheric gases. Rock lies in between, with the ocean floors. This continents. Together with layers of
the heaviest forming Earth’s mantle. Some of the oceanic crust is 3–6 miles sedimentary rocks, they make up
lighter ones make up the oceanic crust, and the (5–10 km) thick. the continental crust, which is up
lightest rocks of all form the continental crust, to 27 miles (43 km) thick.
which lies above the ocean floors as dry land.

Inside Earth ▷ Upper mantle

Most of the upper
Planet Earth has a relatively thin mantle is solid but
crust that encloses a deep layer has a sticky, spongy
of hot rock called the mantle. consistency. It is
The mantle surrounds the constantly moving
very slowly.
planet’s heavy, metallic core.

Inner core
With a radius of c. 760 miles
(1,220 km), the inner core is
made of solid iron and
nickel. It is kept solid by
intense pressure, despite
being as hot as the
surface of the sun.

Core Lower mantle

The inner and the The rock of the
outer core form a lower mantle is
ball with a radius very hot. Despite
of around 2,100 miles this, it is kept
(3,400 km)—the size largely solid by
of Mars. intense pressure.

Outer core Mantle

Made of iron, nickel, and
sulfur, the outer core is under
slightly less pressure than the
inner core. It remains a layer of
liquid, molten metal.
Magnetic field
Swirling currents in the
liquid outer core form
Earth’s magnetic field.
This layer is 1,800 miles (2,890 km)
thick and made up of heavy rock
that contains a lot of iron and other
metals. It is divided into the lower
and upper mantle.
24 PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY

Moving plates SEE AL SO

22–23 Earth’s structure

and boundaries
Shifting continents 26–27
Earthquakes and tsunamis 28–30
Volcanoes and hot springs 34–37

THE EARTH’S CRUST IS MADE UP OF HUGE ROCKY

PLATES FLOATING ON THE MANTLE.

The moving plates meet at plate boundaries, where plates either

pull apart, push together, or slide past each other. These powerful
movements can trigger earthquakes or volcanic eruptions. NORTH
AMERICAN
PLATE
Deep heat The San Andreas CARIBBEAN
Fault is a part of the PLATE
Rocks within the mantle contain radioactive elements that generate
Ring of Fire, where
massive heat. This heat creates convection currents in the hot, soft rock volcanic eruptions
of the mantle, making it move very slowly. The moving mantle drags and earthquakes
the cool, brittle crust with it, breaking it apart. occur frequently.

3 Upper mantle rock moving

sideways drags crust with it. 2 Crust is ripped apart at
plate boundary. COCOS PLATE
1 Very hot rock rises
from the lower mantle.
4 Crust is dragged
under (subducted)
and melts into mantle.
NAZCA
PLATE
Upp
er Pl a
ma te PACIFIC PLATE
L ow n
er
tle

ma
ntl

Core
e

△ Convection currents
The hot, slow-moving rock of the lower mantle rises up to the upper
mantle before cooling and sinking down into the lower mantle again.

Plate boundaries Separating tectonic

plates create
New oceanic crust forms
from erupting lava.
The tectonic plates move in different directions. a widening rift.
Some move apart to form constructive plate
boundaries, so called because they allow molten
rock to rise up and create new crust. Others Tectonic plates are
collide to form destructive boundaries, where moving apart on the
ocean floor.
the edge of one plate moves beneath another
and is destroyed. There are some boundaries
where the plates slide past each other.
Where plates pull apart, reduced
pressure allows hot mantle rock
to melt and erupt as lava.

Tectonic plates typically move △ Ripping apart

Where plates pull apart at constructive boundaries on the ocean
as fast as a fingernail grows. floor, rifts open up. This reduces pressure on the hot rock below,
allowing it to melt and erupt as lava that forms new crust.
 M O V I N G P L AT E S A N D B O U N D A R I E S 25
Tectonic plates REAL WORLD

The moving mantle has broken up the Earth’s crust into huge, irregular- Iceland’s rift valley
shaped sections called tectonic plates. These plates are moving apart
in some places, especially beneath oceans, creating long rifts like the Two tectonic plates are pulling apart
Mid-Atlantic Ridge. In other places, such as around the Pacific, they are at a boundary that divides the
pushing together, so one plate slides (or subducts) beneath another, floor of the Atlantic Ocean, forming
forming the highly volcanic subduction zones of the “Pacific Ring of Fire.” the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Part of the
ridge has been pushed above sea
level to form Iceland. The rift
between the plates passes through
the island, creating a broad rift valley
split by long cracks where the rocks
The Pacific Plate are pulling apart.
EURASIAN PLATE drags under the
Philippine Plate
creating the
Mariana Trench.
PACIFIC
ARABIAN PLATE
Mid-Atlantic PLATE
Ridge AFRICAN PLATE
INDIAN PHILIPPINE
PLATE PLATE

KEY
The African Plate AUSTRALIAN PLATE Plate boundary
SOUTH
is splitting apart,
AMERICAN Ring of Fire
forming the
PLATE
Great Rift Valley. Direction of plate movement

◁ Fractured world
Some tectonic plates are huge, such as the
SCOTIA PLATE
Eurasian Plate. Others are smaller, such as
the Caribbean Plate. Most volcanoes erupt
ANTARCTIC PLATE from the plate boundaries, which are also
earthquake zones.

This is a subduction zone, where Fault line marking sliding Neighboring plates slide
Magma rises up oceanic crust is being dragged along the fault line in
to the surface plate boundary
under a continental plate. opposite directions.
through a volcano. A deep ocean
trench marks the
plate boundary.

Direction
of continental
plate movement

Water carried down by the

subducting plate melts Direction of oceanic
the hot rock to form magma. plate movement

△ Grinding together △ Sliding boundaries

At destructive plate boundaries, oceanic crust is dragged down Tectonic plates can slide past each other without pulling
(subducted) into the mantle, grinding beneath continental plates. apart or colliding. Most of the boundaries are on the
Deep ocean trenches mark these subduction zones. ocean floors, but some are between continental plates.
26 PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY

Shifting continents SEE AL SO

22–23 Earth’s structure

24–25 Moving plates and
THE CONTINENTS OF THE WORLD ARE ALWAYS MOVING boundaries
BECAUSE OF SHIFTS IN THE EARTH’S CRUST. Continents and oceans 202–203

The moving tectonic plates of the Earth’s crust carry big slabs
of lighter rock that form the continents. As the plates move,
they drag the continents along with them, constantly changing
their precise position. Shrinking oceans draw
continents closer until
they join together.
Floating continents Continental shelf

The continental crust is made of The continental crust is

lighter rock than oceanic crust, lighter than mantle rock
and floats on top of it.
so it floats higher on the Earth’s
mantle, like a raft on a lake. This
also prevents it from sinking
into the mantle in subduction
zones where the plates collide.
Instead it is slowly moving,
splitting apart, and joining Upper
up to form new continents. mantle

Push and pull ▷ Lower

mantle
Continents move apart where The low-lying gaps between Oceanic
the oceanic crust between them is continents have filled with crust
expanding and collide where the water to create oceans. Expanding oceans make
ocean crust is shrinking. continents move apart.

Continental drift theory KEY

Direction of
In 1912, German scientist Alfred movement of land
Wegener suggested that millions of
years ago, today’s continents were India Cynognathus fossils
joined up in a single supercontinent, Fossils of the reptile
Africa Cynognathus have been
which has since split up. He based found in South America
this theory on how the continents and Africa, showing that
Aus tra

can be fitted together as well as on the reptile could move

other geological evidence. His idea, easily between the two.
lia

initially dismissed, was proven Antarctica Lystrosaurus fossils

right 50 years later, when South America Fossil remains of the reptile
research in the 1960s led to Lystrosaurus have been
found in southern Africa,
the theory of plate tectonics. India, and Antarctica.

Perfect fit ▷ Glossopteris fossils

Wegener suggested that the southern Fossils of the fern
Glossopteris have been
continents fitted together like a jigsaw. found in all the southern
He also noted that similar fossils are found continents, proving that they
on continents that are now separated by oceans. were once joined together.

Drifting continents
In 1962, American geologist Harry Hess proposed a
theory that explained how the continents drifted around
the world. Around the time of the first dinosaurs, the
continents were joined together in a giant supercontinent
known as Pangaea. Since then, they have split apart and
drifted to where they are now.
◁ 225 million years ago
Pangaea formed about
335 million years ago, as
earlier continents were
Pangaea pushed together into a
supercontinent. It existed
for 160 million years.
◁ 150 million years ago
Laurasia By the late Jurassic
period, Pangaea had
split up to form two
Gondwana
smaller supercontinents,
Laurasia in the north and
Gondwana in the south.
◁ Today
Europe
Asia Modern continents
North America
formed in the Cretaceous
Africa period, when the last
South America
Australia giant dinosaurs were
alive, and slowly drifted
Antarctica
to their present position.
Continental breakup Afar Triangle Plate boundary
The tectonic plates are constantly
on the move carrying the continents
along with them. The African Plate African
is splitting into two plates, at the Plate
Great Rift Valley in east Africa. In
the future, the land to the east will
become a separate island continent
in the Indian Ocean.
Atlantic
Ocean
△ Present-day Africa
The Great Rift Valley passes
through Africa from the Afar
Triangle in the north to
Mozambique in the south.
SHIFTING CONTINENTS 27
Continental collision
Throughout the history of our planet, the continents have
been splitting up and joining together. About 140 million
years ago, part of east Africa broke away and was carried
north across the Indian Ocean by tectonic plate movement.
This island continent eventually collided with Asia about
40 million years ago and became India.
KEY
Eurasian plate
Present-day India
10 million years ago
38 million years ago
55 million years ago
71 million years ago
The collision of the
Indian subcontinent
Equator with the Asian continent
created the Himalayan
mountain range, which
is still growing.
◁ Northward drift
India was swept north
“India” by the movement
landmass of the Indian Plate.
This plate is still
Indian Ocean moving at the rate of
2 in (5 cm) a year and
Sri Lanka
pushing India further
into southern Asia.
Red Sea
Nubian
Plate The continent
will split into
two plates—
Somali one on the
Nubian Plate
Plate and the other
on the smaller
Atlantic Somali Plate.
Ocean
△ Africa in the future
As the rift opens up, its valley will
become a long, narrow sea that
broadens into an ocean, splitting
Africa in two.
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declined going into the house, and took our books under the trees
just across the way. A shower came up, and as we ran for shelter,
we saw our carriage unprotected; no man was to be seen, so we
drew it into an open shed, and there stayed until the sun shone
again.
We went through Franklin and Boscawen to Fisherville, where we
saw a pleasant-looking hotel. We had driven twenty-six miles, and
thought best to stop there. We were hungry and our supper was fit
for a king. We went to bed in Fisherville, but got up in Contoocook,
we were told. What’s in a name? A five-miles’ drive after breakfast
brought us to Concord, where we passed several hours very
delightfully with friends. In the afternoon, despite remonstrances and
threatening showers, we started for Goffstown over Dunbarton hills.
We remembered that drive very well; but the peculiar cloud phases
made all new, and disclosed the Green Mountains in the sunlight
beyond the clouds like a vision of the heavenly city. We left the
carriage once, ran to the top of a knoll and mounted a stone wall.
The view was enchanting, but in the midst of our rapture great drops
of rain began to fall, and we were back in our carriage, the boot up
and waterproofs unstrapped just in time for a brisk shower. As we
passed an aged native, radiant in brass buttons, we asked him some
questions about the mountains, but he knew nothing of them, which
reminded us of the reply a woman made whom a friend asked if
those distant peaks were the White Mountains. “I don’t know; I
haven’t seen nothin’ of ’em since I’ve been here.”
Shower followed shower, and we decided to spend the night in
Dunbarton. A few houses, a church, a little common, and a hotel
labeled “Printing Office,” seemed to comprise the town, but there
must be something more somewhere, judging from The Snowflake
given us, which was the brightest local paper we ever saw, and our
landlord was editor. We went through his printing establishment with
much interest. We saw no hotel register, but as we were leaving, the
landlady came with a slip of paper and a pencil, and asked us to
write our names. After our return home we received copies of The
Snowflake containing an item, every statement of which was actually
correct, and yet we were entirely unconscious of having been
“interviewed” as to our travels.
It is said thirty-seven towns can be seen from Dunbarton; and our
own Wachusett, Ascutney in Vermont and Moosilauke in New
Hampshire were easily distinguished. We fortified ourselves with the
fresh air and pleasant memories of the heights; then asked
directions for Shirley Hill and the “Devil’s Pulpit,” in Bedford, near
Goffstown, having replenished our lunch basket, and Charlie’s also,
for there was no provision for Christian travelers near that sanctuary.
Shirley Hill commands a very pretty view of Manchester; and of the
“Pulpit” some one has said, “That of all wild, weird spots consecrated
to his majesty, perhaps none offer bolder outlines for the pencil of a
Dore than this rocky chasm, the ‘Devil’s Pulpit’. No famous locality
among the White Mountains offers a sight so original, grand and
impressive as this rocky shrine.” And then the writer describes in
detail the stone pulpit, the devil’s chamber, the rickety stairs, the
bottomless wells, the huge wash-basin and a punch bowl, lined with
soft green moss, and the separate apartments with rocky, grotesque
walls and carpets of twisting and writhing roots of trees. An
enterprising farmer has cut a rough road to this wonderful spot, a
half-mile from the highway, and by paying twenty-five cents toll we
were admitted “beyond the gates” and saw no living person until our
return. The same enterprise that built the road had left its mark at the
“Pulpit.” Cribs for horses were placed between trees, and a large crib
in the shape of a rough house, with tables and benches, served as a
dining-room for visitors. Every stick and stone was labeled with as
much care and precision as the bottles in a drug store, and there
was no doubt which was the “Devil’s Pulpit” and which the “Lovers’
Retreat.” It was a fearfully hot place, but that did not surprise us, for
we naturally expect heat and discomfort in the precincts of his
majesty. We unharnessed Charlie, and after exploring the gorge
thoroughly and emptying our lunch basket, we sat in the carriage
and read until we were so nearly dissolved by the heat that we
feared losing our identity, and made preparations to leave. It was an
assurance that we had returned to this world when the gate keeper
directed us to Milford and said we would go by the house where
Horace Greeley was born. He pointed out the house and we thought
we saw it; but as we did not agree afterward, we simply say we have
passed the birthplace of Horace Greeley.
It was nearly dark when we got to Milford, and we rather dreaded the
night at that old hotel, where we had been twice before. The exterior
was as unattractive as ever, but we were happily surprised to find
wonderful transformation going on inside, and we recognized in the
new proprietor one of the little boys we used to play with in our early
school days. We were very hospitably received and entertained, and
the tempting viands, so well served in the new, cheery dining-room,
were worthy of any first-class hotel. Our horse was well groomed,
carriage shining like new, and the only return permitted—hearty
thanks.
“There is no place like home,” and yet it is with a little regret that we
start on our last day’s drive. A never-ending carriage journey might
become wearisome, but we have never had one long enough to
satisfy us yet. As we drove through Brookline and crossed the
invisible State line to Townsend, then to Fitchburg and Leominster,
we summed up all the good things of our three week’s wanderings
and concluded nothing was lacking. Perfect health, fine weather and
three hundred and fifty miles’ driving among the hills! What more
could we ask? Oh! we forgot Charlie’s days of affliction! But
experiences add to the interest when all is over.
 CHAPTER V.
CONNECTICUT, WITH SIDE TRIP TO NEW JERSEY.
Early in the afternoon of one of the hottest days in August, Charlie
and our cosy phaeton stood at the door waiting for us, and we had
with us our bags, wraps, umbrellas, books, the lunch basket, and
never-used weapon. “A place for everything and everything in its
place,” is verified in that phaeton, and in little time all were stowed
away, and we were off on our thirteenth annual drive.
We had expected that our drive must be omitted this year, and so
suddenly did we decide to go, that, to save trying to plan, we turned
towards Barre, where we spent the first night of our first journey,
thirteen years ago. It proved a pleasant beginning, for when we got
up among the hills of Princeton the air was cool and refreshing. We
drove very leisurely, and it was quite dark when we found our way to
the hotel.
After supper we began our geography lesson for the morrow. We
had two questions to answer—“Shall we drive on towards the
western part of the state, and visit some of the lovely spots among
the Berkshire Hills, which we did not see when we drove there some
summers ago?” or, “Shall we take a new direction, and turn
southward?” After much deliberation, for Berkshire is like a magnet,
we decided to gratify the friends who are always asking why we have
never driven into Connecticut.
Our lesson having been disposed of, we slept soundly and awoke
reconciled to a wandering in Connecticut, only we wished we knew
the places of interest or had some reason for going to one place
rather than another. The wish was soon gratified by a friend we met
before leaving Barre, who spoke very enthusiastically of Tolland, as
she recalled a visit there many years ago. This was enough for us;
we had a connecting link with somebody, and took direction
accordingly.
We rested Charlie at Ware, after our morning drive. We remembered
the pleasant driving in this vicinity, but towards Palmer it was new to
us. The thunder was muttering all the afternoon, and it was our good
fortune to find ourselves in a comfortable hotel at Palmer an hour
earlier than we usually stop, for we had only reached our room when
the rain fell in sheets, and the lightning flashed at random.
Palmer is so associated with the Boston and Albany railroad, that it
seemed as if only the spirit of opposition could prompt us to take a
short cut to Hartford without paying our respects to Springfield; but
we declare independence of railroads when we have our phaeton,
and as we “did” Springfield so thoroughly a few years ago, we did
not diverge, but aimed straight for Connecticut.
The morning was bright and fresh after the shower, and we left
Palmer early, with a little book sounding the praises of Connecticut,
handed us by the clerk, which proved quite useful. We drove on
through Monson, but before we got to Stafford Springs, where we
intended to stop, we came to a place too tempting to be passed by—
such a pretty rocky hillside, with inviting nooks under the trees, and a
barn just opposite, where very likely Charlie could be cared for.
“Oh, yes!” a woman said, when we asked her. “Leave your horse tied
there, and——will take care of him when he comes to dinner.” The
rocky hillside was also granted us, and we took our wraps and lunch
basket and prepared for a two-hours’ rest.
The time passed only too quickly, and on we drove, but saw no place
in Stafford Springs that made us regret our pretty camp; the time for
repentance had not come. “Seven miles to Tolland,” we were told,
and if we remember aright it was up hill all the way. Why have we
always heard people say “down” to Connecticut? Seriously, that is
one reason we never drove there before. “Up” to New Hampshire
and Vermont sounds so much cooler and nicer. We wondered then,
and the farther we drove the more we wondered, until one day we
spoke of it, and a man said—“Why, did you come to Connecticut
expecting to find anything but hills?”
We like hills, and were very glad to find it was “up” to Tolland. When
we entered its one broad street, on a sort of plateau, and saw all
Tolland at a glance, we exclaimed, “Just the place we want for
Sunday!” And when we were cosily fixed in a corner parlor bedroom
on the first floor of a hotel, something like the old “Camperdown” on
Lake Memphremagog, we were confirmed in our first impression,
and felt perfectly happy. Comfort and an abundance of good things
was the aim of the kindly proprietor. We sat at the supper table,
happy in thinking all was well, perhaps, unconsciously rejoicing; for it
was just at this stage of our journey last year that Charlie became so
lame, not from rheumatism, strained cords, etc., as they said, but
from sand under his shoe. That was our first unpleasant experience,
and a second was at hand; for as we came from the dining-room, a
man was waiting to tell us our horse was very sick. We hurried to the
stable yard, where he lay in great distress, refusing to stand up.
What could have happened to him? Surely, that generous farmer at
whose place we “camped” must have over-fed him when he was
warm. Now we repented in good earnest, but little good that did
Charlie. The proprietor was as thoughtful of our horse as of us, and
sent a man to walk him about. We followed on and pitied him as he
was kept moving, despite every effort he made to drop upon the
green grass. After a time he seemed a little better, and the man took
him back to the stable. We could not feel easy and went to see him
again, and finally took him ourselves and led him up and down
Tolland street for an hour or more (we could not have done that in
Springfield), answering many inquiries from the people we met. By-
and-by he began to steal nibbles at the grass and to give evidence of
feeling better, and when we took him back to his stall we were
assured he would be all right in the morning.
We arose early, for Sunday, for we could not wait to know if he was
well again. His call as we entered the stable told us our second
disagreeable experience was at an end. Now we began the day;
read, breakfasted, went to the little church around the corner, wrote
letters, walked and enjoyed every hour in that restful place, where it
is said no one locks the doors, for thieves do not break through nor
steal there. Perhaps it is because of the peculiarly moral atmosphere
that the county jail is located there. At any rate, even the man who
was hostler during the day and convict at night won our kindly
remembrance.
Monday morning, bright and early, we started for Hartford. Of course
there are many things of interest between Tolland and Hartford, but
they belong to every traveler, and we are only telling our own
experience. We asked at a hotel in Hartford if we could have our
horse cared for there, and were told we could by taking him around
to the stable; so we “took him round.” We then took a walk, instead
of stopping at the hotel as we had intended. After our walk we
thought we would call on a friend visiting in the city, but it occurred to
us that we were hardly presentable, for our dusters were not fresh,
and we could not take them off, for then the revolver would show,
and we had no place to leave them unless we “took them round” to
the stable, too. This matter settled, we wandered about again, and
followed some people into what we thought might be a church
service, to find ourselves at an art exhibition. Next we spied a park,
and strolling through we came to the new capitol building, which we
examined from top to bottom.
Somebody we had met somewhere had suggested our spending a
night at New Britain, which was just enough off the main route to
New Haven to send us on a wrong turn now and then. Our attention
was held that afternoon in turn by pretty scenery, chickens, wrong
roads and crows. The last-mentioned were having a regular “drill.”
We saw in the distance a hill, black—as we thought—with burnt
stumps; but soon a section of these stumps was lifted into mid-air,
and it was not until this had been repeated several times that we
could realize that the entire hill was alive with crows. At regular
intervals, and in the most systematic order, section after section
sailed aloft as one bird, each section taking the same course—first
towards the north, then with a graceful turn stretching in line towards
the south, at a certain point wheeling about to the north again, and
gradually mounting higher and higher until lost to sight in the
distance.
There was no such systematic order observed in the “best” room,
which was given us at a hotel in New Britain, and after such a lesson
from the crows we could not forbear making a few changes, so that
the pretty, old-fashioned desk should not interfere with the wardrobe
door, and the bureau and wash-stand should not quarrel for a place
only large enough for one of them, when vacant places were
pleading for an occupant. Our supper was good, and our room had
quite a “best” look after its re-arrangement. It rained all night, and we
waited awhile in the morning thinking it would clear away “before
eleven,” but there was seemingly no end to the clearing-up showers,
and we had to brave it. We do not mind rain, usually, but we were not
accustomed to the red mud, and it did not seem so clean as our
home mud. We had driven thirty miles the day before, and twenty-
eight more were between us and New Haven. We were at last on our
way with “sides on and boot up,” and a constantly increasing quantity
of red mud attaching itself to the phaeton. We stopped at Meriden
two hours, and were very courteously received at a hotel there. The
afternoon was bright and sunny, and the drive of eighteen miles very
delightful. We entered New Haven by State street just at dusk with
our terra-cotta equipage, and drove direct to the post office, so sure
of letters that, when we found there were none, we hardly knew what
to do next. While waiting for letters, and for Charlie to rest, we
decided to take a peep at New York. The best of care was promised
for Charlie at a hotel, our letters were to be brought to the house,
and bags and wraps were locked up safely.
About nine o’clock we went to the boat, which was to leave at
midnight. The evening passed pleasantly, and we did not fully realize
the undesirable location of the best stateroom we could get until we
were under way, when the fog horn sounded directly before our
window, and the heat from the boiler, which we could almost touch,
increased too much for comfort the temperature of an August night.
Sleep was impossible, and we amused ourselves by counting
between the fog alarms and opening the window to let in fresh
instalments of “boiling air.” The intervals lengthened, and finally,
when we had counted four hundred and heard no fog horn, we
looked out to find it was bright starlight, and returned to our berths
for a brief nap.
We landed at Pier 25, East River, just as the electric lights on
Brooklyn Bridge were disappearing like stars in the sunlight. At
seven we breakfasted on board the boat, and as we proposed
spending the day with a friend thirty miles out in New Jersey, our
next move was to find our way to Liberty street, North River. We did
not need a carriage, and might never get there if we attempted to go
by cars, so we concluded a morning walk would do us good. We
crossed the ferry to Jersey City, and were entertained by a company
of men “drilling,” and a company of young men and maidens dressed
up in their best for an excursion somewhere, until the nine o’clock
train was announced. An hour or more took us to Plainfield, where
the day was given up to visiting in good earnest. We enjoyed it all so
much that we were easily persuaded to spend the night.
At ten o’clock next morning we took the train for New York, where we
made a call, did a little shopping, walked over Brooklyn Bridge, and
spent the night with friends in the city. It rained the next day, and as
there was nothing to do we did nothing, and enjoyed it all the
morning. After luncheon we found our way to the boat again, and at
three o’clock were off for New Haven. It was a pleasant sail, in spite
of the showers, and we sat on deck all the way, enjoying everything,
and wondering how many letters we should have, and if Charlie was
all right. We were due at New Haven at eight o’clock in the evening,
and before nine we were at the hotel and had fled to our room,
wondering what it meant by our receiving no letters.
We requested everything to be in readiness for us directly after
breakfast next morning—Charlie shod, the terra-cotta covering
removed from our phaeton, axles oiled, etc. We lost no time on our
way to the post office. As we gave our names slowly and distinctly at
the delivery box, that no mistake might be made, out came the
letters—one, two, three, four—one remailed from Hartford. As the
young man handed out the last, he said, “Please have your mail
directed to street and number after this.” “We have no street and
number, sir, we are tramps,” we replied. “Why was not our mail put
into the hotel box?” No satisfactory explanation was offered, but
when we got to the carriage and looked over our letters, none was
needed. Evidently they had not stayed in the office long enough to
get into anybody’s box. They had traveled from pillar to post, had
been opened and reopened, and scribbled over and over in an effort
to find an owner for them.
All was well when our letters were written, so we had only to decide
on the pleasantest route homeward. A friend in New York wished us
to visit Old Lyme, which was made so interesting in Harper’s a year
or two ago. This was directly in our course if we followed the advice
to go to New London before turning north. Charlie was at his best,
and we drove thirty miles through towns and villages along the coast,
stopping two hours at Guilford, and spending the night at Westbrook,
a “sort of Rumney,” our diary record says, only on the coast instead
of up among the mountains. The recollection uppermost in our mind
is, that everybody’s blinds were closed, which gave a gloomy look to
every town we passed through that day.
We felt a little constrained in Connecticut on Sundays, and thought
we should stay in Westbrook quietly until Monday morning; but after
breakfast, which we shared with the apparently very happy family,
the father asked if he should “hitch up” for us. We said not then, but
as it was so pleasant perhaps we might drive on a few miles in the
afternoon. He told us we should have to “ferry” the Connecticut at
Saybrook, but he “guessed our horse wouldn’t mind.” Our old black
Charlie was never happier than when crossing the Connecticut
without any effort on his part; but this Charlie has entirely different
ideas, and if we had known we could not cross by bridge as we did
at Hartford we should have deferred Old Lyme until another time. But
it was too late now, and we would not mar our lovely afternoon drive
by anticipating trouble. Rivers have to be crossed; and we
philosophically concluded “Do not cross a bridge until you get to it” is
equally applicable to a ferry. Five miles lay between us and the
Connecticut River, and we gave ourselves up to quiet enjoyment as
if ferries were unknown, until we reached Saybrook, when we had to
inquire the way. A few twists and turns brought us to the steep pitch
which led to the river, and at first sight of the old scow, with big
flapping sail, Charlie’s ears told us what he thought about it. With
some coaxing he went down the pitch, but at the foot were fishing
nets hung up on a frame, and he persistently refused to go farther.
We were yet a little distance from the shore, and the scow was still
farther away at the end of a sort of pier built out into the river. We got
out and tried to comfort Charlie, who was already much frightened;
and yet this was nothing to what was before him. What should we
do? If it had not been Sunday, there might have been other horses to
cross, and he will follow where he will not go alone. But it was
Sunday, and no one was in sight but the man and boy on the scow,
and a man sufficiently interested in us to hang over a rail on the
embankment above watching us very closely. Perhaps he thought it
was wicked to help people on Sunday. At any rate, he did not offer,
and we did not ask, assistance. One of us took Charlie by the bit,
and trusted he would amuse himself dancing, while the other ran
ahead to the scow to see what could be done. The small boy and
barefooted old man did not look very encouraging, but we still had
faith there was a way to cross rivers that must be crossed. We told
our dilemma, and said, “What will you do with him?”
“Oh! he’ll come along; we never have any trouble.”
“No,” we said, “he won’t come along, and we shall be upset in the
river if we attempt driving him on this pier.”
We walked back towards the carriage, the old man saying, “I get all
sorts of horses across, and can this one if he don’t pull back. If he
does, of course I can’t do anything with him.”
This was small comfort, for we knew that that was just what he would
do. We asked about unharnessing him, but the old man objected.
We knew Charlie too well, however, and did not care to see our
phaeton and contents rolling over into the river. Our courage waning
a little at this point, we asked how far we should have to go to find a
bridge. “Oh, clear to Hartford! sixty miles!” When Charlie was
unharnessed, the old man took him by the bit, and said to one of us,
“Now you take the whip, and if he pulls back, strike him. Boy, you
take the carriage.” This was simply impossible without help. It was a
grand chance for our one spectator, but without doubt he believed in
woman’s right to push if not to vote, so we pushed, and a good push
it had to be, too. We did not envy those bare feet so near Charlie’s
uncertain steps, but the constant tingling of the whip so diverted him,
and warned him of a heavier stroke if he diverged from his straight
and narrow way, that he kept his head turned that side, and before
he knew it he was on the scow and had never seen the flapping sail.
His head was then tied with a rope. The phaeton followed with more
difficulty, but less anxiety. When that was secured, our voyage
began, and it seemed never-ending; for in spite of all the caressing
and comforting assurances, Charlie placed his fore legs close
together and trembled just like a leaf as the little sailboats flitted
before his eyes. Then came the “chug” into the sand as we landed. A
kindly old man left his horse to help us harness, and five minutes
after we were off, Charlie was foamy white, and looked as if he had
swum the Atlantic.
We did not find the hotel at Old Lyme attractive, and had plenty of
time to drive farther; but, after all the trouble we had taken to get to
the place, we did not leave it without taking a look at the quaint old
town, its rocky pastures and cosy nooks so lovely in illustrated
magazines.
“Yes,” we said, “this is pretty; but, after all, where is the spot to be
found that cannot be made interesting by the ready pen and
sketching pencil of one who has eyes to see all there is to see in this
lovely world?”
Nothing could be more delightful than the crooked ten miles from Old
Lyme to Niantic. If you look at the map, and see all the little bays that
make the coast so rugged, you can imagine how we twisted about to
follow what is called the shore road. We say “called,” for most of the
shore and river roads we have ever driven over from Connecticut to
Canada are out of sight of water. A few glorious exceptions come to
mind, like the four miles on the border of Willoughby Lake in
Vermont, the Broad Brook drive near Brattleboro and seven miles by
Newfound Lake in New Hampshire. It was up and down, and now
when “up” we could catch a glimpse of the Sound dotted over with
white sails, and when “down” we found such flower-fields as would
rival the boldest attempts at fancy gardening—the cardinal flower,
golden-rod, white everlasting and blue daisies in richest profusion.
We met the family wagons jogging along home from church, and the
young men and maidens were taking the “short cut” along the well-
worn footpath over the hills, with their books in hand, that lovely
Sunday afternoon; but where the church or homes could be we
wondered, for we saw neither. We knew nothing of Niantic, and were
surprised to find it quite a little seaside resort. It was early evening,
and it was very pleasant to have brilliantly lighted hotels in place of
the dark woody hollows we had been through the last half-hour. We
drove to the end of the street, passing all the hotels, and then
returned to the first one we saw, as the most desirable for us. It was
located close by the water, and our window overlooked the Sound.
Uniformed men were all about, and we soon learned that it was the
foreshadowing of muster. We slept well with the salt breezes blowing
upon us, and after breakfast we followed the rest of the people to the
garden which separated the house from the railroad station, and for
a half-hour sat on a fence, surrounded by tall sunflowers, to see the
infantry and cavalry as they emerged from the cars. “Quite
aesthetic,” one of the boys in blue remarked. We do not go to
muster, but as muster came to us we made the most of it, and
watched with interest the mounted men of authority as they gave
their orders to the men, who looked as if they would like to change
places with them and prance about, instead of doing the drudgery.
The morning hours were too precious for driving to be spent among
sunflowers and soldiers, and we got down from the fence and went
in search of the landlord. He gave us directions for getting to New
London when everything was ready, and we found that what we
thought was the end of the street was the beginning of our way, and
a queer way it was, too. No wonder we were asked if our horse was
afraid of the cars, for apparently the railroad was the only highway,
as the water came up quite close on either side. “Surely this must be
wrong,” we said; “there is no road here.” Although we had been told
to follow the railroad, we did not propose to drive into the ocean,
unless it was the thing to do. We turned off to the left but were sent
back by a woman who looked as if we knew little if we did not know
that was the only way to New London. Not satisfied, we stopped a
man. “Yes, that is the way,” he said. “But it looks as if we should
drive right into the ocean.” “I know it,” he replied, “and it will look
more so as you go on, and if the tide was in you would.” Luckily for
us the tide was not in, for even then the space was so small between
the water and the railroad that Charlie needed as much diversion
with the whip as in ferrying the Connecticut. Next came a little
bridge, and as we paid the toll, which was larger than the bridge, we
asked if it was for keeping the road we had just come over in repair.
“Yes, it is washed twice a day.” We asked if the ocean got the fees,
and drove on.
It was only six miles to New London, and it was too early to stop
there for dinner, and it would be too late to wait until we got to
Norwich; so, after driving about the principal streets for a half-hour,
we filled our lunch basket and got some oats, trusting to find a place
to “camp.” Just at the right time to halt we came to a village church
on a little hill, all by itself, and we took possession of the “grounds,”
put Charlie into one of the sheds, taking refuge ourselves in the
shadow of a stone wall. We hung our shawls over the wall, for the
wind blew cool through the chinks, spread the blanket on the ground,
and gave ourselves up to comfort and books. The lofty ceiling of our
temporary parlor was tinted blue, and the spacious walls were
adorned with lovely pictures, for our little hill was higher than we
realized. We had taken the river road, and we knew that by rail from
New London to Norwich we followed the river very closely; but this
was, like most “river” roads, over the hills.
We reluctantly left our luxurious quarters and journeyed on to
Norwich. We had found on our map a town beyond Norwich which
we thought would serve us for the night; but when we inquired about
hotels there, people looked as if they had never heard of the place,
and in fact there was none by that name. We were advised to go to
Jewett City. After a little experience we learned that in many cases
towns on the map are but names, and if we wanted to find the places
where all business interests centred, we must look for a “city” or
“ville” in small italics touching the railroad. Niantic was an “italic”
resort. This lesson learned, we had no difficulty. The hotel at Jewett
City looked as if it would blow over, and if it had we think our room
would have landed on the railroad; but the breezes were gentle, and
we had a safe and restful night after our thirty-miles’ drive.
We were directed next morning via one “ville” to another “ville,” and
the delightful recollections of our “sky” parlor tempted us to try
camping again, and we got another bag of oats. We had not driven
far before we came to the largest lily pond we ever saw, and a
railroad ran right through it. It looked as if we could step down the
gravel bank and get all the lilies we wanted. We tied Charlie by the
roadside, and ran to the railroad bank to find they were just
provokingly beyond our reach. A company of men were working on
the road, and one said, “I would send one of my men to get you
some; but a train is due in ten minutes, and these rails must be laid.”
His kindly words softened our disappointment, and we went back to
the carriage. It seemed as if there was no end to the pond, and
surely there was an endless supply of lilies, but we knew that the
stray ones so close to the shore were only waiting to entice
somebody over shoes, and perhaps more, in water, and we passed
them by. We camped on a stone wall under a tree, a spot so
perfectly adapted to our convenience that it developed the heretofore
latent talent of our “special artist,” and a dainty little picture is ever
reminding us of our pleasant stay there. We spent the night at
Putnam, and as a matter of course, we went for oats just before
leaving, as if we had always traveled that way, instead of its being an
entirely new feature. A pine grove invited us this time, with a house
near by where we bought milk, and we stopped for a half-hour again
in the afternoon, by a bewitching little brook, and made ourselves
comfortable with our books among the rocks and ferns, for it was a
very hot day. Our drive that day took us through Webster and Oxford
and brought us to Millbury for the night. Our remembrance of that
night is not so pleasant as we could wish, and we are going again
some time to get a better impression.
The next day was one of the hottest of the season, and we availed
ourselves of the early morning to drive to North Grafton, where we
had a chatty visit with a friend. We dreaded to begin our last twenty-
five miles, for it would be so hard for Charlie in the heat. We delayed
as long as we dared, then braved it. We drove very leisurely to
Worcester, and made one or two calls, then took the old road over
the hill as we left the city towards home. We seemed to be above the
heat and dust, and had one of the most charming drives of our whole
journey. We are so familiar with the road that we did not mind
prolonging our drive into the evening, with a full moon to illumine our
way. The seven miles from Sterling to Leominster were so pleasant
we made them last as long as possible. The moon was unclouded
and it seemed almost as light as day; the air was soft and we did not
need the lightest wrap. We enjoyed just that perfect comfort one
dreads to have disturbed. But all things have an end, it is said, and
our pleasant journey ended about nine o’clock that evening, but it
was close on to the “wee sma’ hours” before the “doings” in our
absence were all talked over with the friends who welcomed us
home.
This story, written out in a week of Fridays, on the way to Symphony
Rehearsals, will assure you that a phaeton trip loses none of its
charms for us by many repetitions.
 CHAPTER VI.
DIXVILLE NOTCH AND OLD ORCHARD.
A Colorado friend recently sent us a paper with an interesting
account of “Two Women in a Buggy—How two Denver ladies drove
five hundred miles through the Rockies.” Now, “Two Ladies in a
Phaeton,” and “How they drove six hundred miles through, beyond
and around the White Mountains,” would be laid aside as hardly
worth reading, compared with the adventures of two women driving
through the “Rockies;” but, for actual experience, we think almost
everybody would prefer ours. We all like ease, comfort and smooth
ways, and yet disasters and discomfort have a wonderful charm
somehow in print. Our two weeks’ drive in Connecticut last year
seemed small to us, but we have been asked many times if it was
not the best journey we ever had, and as many times we have
discovered that the opinion was based on the hard time we had
crossing the Connecticut by ferry, the one unpleasant incident of the
whole trip. Now if we could tell you of hair-breadth escapes passing
“sixers and eighters” on the edge of precipices, and about sleeping
in a garret reached by a ladder, shared by a boy in a cot at that; or
better yet, how one day, when we were driving along on level ground
chatting pleasantly, we suddenly found ourselves in a “prayerful
attitude” and the horse disappearing with the forward wheels, the
humiliating result being that the buggy had to be taken to pieces, and
packed into a Norwegian’s wagon and we and it transported to the
next town for repairs—if we could tell you such things like the Denver
ladies, we should be sure you would not doubt our last was our best
journey. How we are to convince you of that fact, for fact it is, when
we did not even cross a ferry, is a puzzle.
Before we really begin our story we will tell you one or two notable
differences between the Denver tourists and ourselves. They took
their “best” bonnets and gowns, and such “bibbity bobbities” as “no
woman, even were she going to an uninhabited desert, would think
she could do without;” bedding and household utensils, too, so of
course had baggage strapped on the back of the buggy, and they
had a pail underneath, filled, “woman fashion, with everything, which
suffered in the overturns,” but, will you believe it, they had no
revolver! Were they to meet us, they would never suspect we were
fellow travelers, unless the slight “hump” under the blanket or duster
should give them an inkling that we had more “things” than were
essential for a morning’s drive. Helpless and innocent as we look we
could warrant “sure cure” to a horse whatever ill might befall him,
and we could “show fire” if necessary. The last need not have been
mentioned, however, for like the Denver tourists, we can testify that
we receive everywhere the “truest and kindest courtesy.”
You may remember that one of the peculiar features of our journeys
is that we never know where we are going, but last summer we
thought we would be like other people, and make plans. As a result
we assured our friends we were going straight to Mt. Washington via
the Crawford Notch, but, as Mr. Hale has a way of saying in his
stories, “we did not go there at all.” Why we did not fulfil so honest an
intention we will reveal to you later.
We started in good faith, Tuesday, July 7, driving along the familiar
way through Lunenburg and Townsend Harbor, crossing the invisible
State line as we entered Brookline, and spending the night, as we
have often done, at the little hotel in Milford, N. H., journeying next
day to Hooksett, via Amherst, Bedford and Manchester. Nothing
eventful occurred except the inauguration of our sketchbook, a thing
of peculiar interest to us, as neither of us knew anything of
sketching. The book itself is worthy of mention, as it is the only copy
we have ever seen. It has attractive form and binding, and is called
“Summer Gleanings.” There is a page for each day of the summer
months, with a charming, and so often apt, quotation under each
date. The pages are divided into three sections, one for “Jottings by
the Way,” one for a “Pencil Sketch,—not for exact imitation, but what
it suggests,” and a third for “Pressed Flowers.” As it was a gift, and
of no use but for the purpose for which it was intended, we decided it
must be taken along, although one said it would be “awfully in the
way.”
We enjoyed camping at noon by the roadside so much last summer,
when the hotels were scarce, that we planned to make that the rule
of this journey, and not the exception. We thought the hour after
luncheon, while Charlie was resting, would be just the time to try to
sketch. Our first “camp” was under a large tree, just before we
crossed into New Hampshire. We looked about for something to
sketch, and a few attempts convinced us that, being ignorant of even
the first rules of perspective, our subjects must be selected with
reference to our ability, regardless of our taste. We went to work on a
pair of bars—or a gate, rather—in the stone wall opposite. We were
quite elated with our success, and next undertook a shed. After this
feat, we gathered a few little white clovers, which we pressed in our
writing tablet, made a few comments in the “jotting” column, and the
“Summer Gleanings” began to mean something.
We cannot tell you all we enjoyed and experienced with that little
book. It was like opening the room which had “a hundred doors,
each opening into a room with another hundred,” especially at night,
when our brains, fascinated and yet weary with the great effort spent
on small accomplishment, and the finger nerves sensitive with
working over unruly stems and petals, we only increased a
thousandfold the pastime of the day by pressing whole fields of
flowers, and attempting such sketching as was never thought of
except in dreamland. A word or two about the quotations, then you
may imagine the rest. What could be more apt for the first day of our
journey than Shelley’s
“Away, away from men and towns
To the wild wood and the downs,”
or, as we came in sight of the “White Hills,” Whittier’s
“Once more, O mountains, unveil
Your brows and lay your cloudy mantles by.”
and
 “O more than others blest is he
Who walks the earth with eyes to see,
Who finds the hieroglyphics clear
Which God has written everywhere,”

as we journey along the Connecticut. Especially apt were the lines

by Charles Cotton, when we had driven several miles out of our way
to spend Sunday in Rumney, because we remembered the place so
pleasantly:
“Oh, how happy here’s our leisure!
Oh, how innocent our pleasure!
O ye valleys! O ye mountains!
O ye groves and crystal fountains!
How I love at liberty
By turns to come and visit ye!”
Once more, as we drove along the Saco—
“All, all, is beautiful.
What if earth be but the shadow of heaven.”
If you think we are writing up a book instead of a journey, let us tell
you that the book cannot be left out if the journey is to be truly
chronicled, for it was never out of mind, being constantly in sight, nor
was it any trouble. In this respect, too, we fared better than the
Denver ladies, for they were real artists, and never had any comfort
after the first day, for their “oils” would not dry, even when they
pinned them up around the buggy.
We should have been miserable if we had stayed in Hooksett all the
time we have been telling you about the sketch book, but we were
off early in the morning for Concord, and as we drove into the city,
Charlie knew better than we which turn to take to find the welcome
which always awaits us. The clouds were very black when we left
our friends at four o’clock, feeling we must go a few miles farther that
day; and when we had driven a mile or two a sudden turn in the road
revealed to us “cyclonic” symptoms. We saw an open shed, and