The aim of this book is to give a condensed and, I trust, readable account of the leading facts concerning the North American continent which, from the point of view of the geographer, seem most interesting and instructive. The area of the continent is so vast and the diversity among its various parts so great, however, that the completeness of treatment which characterizes the preceding volumes in the series to which it belongs could not be attempted. To obviate in a measure this confessed shor

In beginning the study of the physical geography of North America, one of the first facts to claim attention is that the true continental border is in general many miles seaward from the present margin of the land. The boundary of our field of study is defined with considerable accuracy by a line drawn on the bottom of the sea adjacent to the present coast-line of the continent so as to pass through all points where the soundings show a depth of 100 fathoms of water. This 100-fathom contour in t

Taking the better known portions of North America as a basis on which to classify the leading geographical features of the continent, it is convenient, and in the main sufficiently accurate, to recognise five primary physiographic provinces. These are, in their general order, from east to west: 1. Coastal plains and plateaus, of which the country between the Atlantic Ocean and the Appalachian Mountains furnishes the most typical examples. 2. A series of mountain ranges embracing all of the more

North America, embracing as it does essentially a quadrant of the earth's surface, presents a variety of climatic conditions ranging from those characteristic of the equatorial belt to those normal to polar regions, as well as every gradation due to variations in elevation from sea-level and even below that horizon in Death Valley, California, to the summits of high plateaus and lofty mountains. The principal elements of the weather which go to make up the conditions of the atmosphere embraced i

If we take the trees as representatives of the flora of North America, and this seems to be the only practicable method in a general treatise, we find them growing most densely and presenting at the same time the greatest variety where the temperature is uniformly high throughout the year and the rainfall heavy and long-continued. From the torrid lowlands the forests in general decrease in the variety and number of trees on a given area, both towards the north, where temperature becomes the cont

A common ground to zoologists and geographers in the exploration of which they derive mutual pleasure from assisting each other, is the geographical distribution of animals. In this connection the fauna of North America presents perhaps even more interesting problems than does its flora. In the study of the distribution of animals over a continent, the discovery of the laws determining the intangible boundaries which the members of a species may not pass is even more difficult than the similar t

In the preceding chapters an attempt has been made to present outline sketches of the geography, fauna, and flora of North America as they exist now. Yesterday, we may say for the sake of emphasis, there were differences from what exists to-day in each of these great groups of facts. That is, changes are everywhere in progress. With the recognition of this idea comes logically the conclusion that similar changes must have taken place in the past, and that the geography of the earth's surface, an

At the time the Western Hemisphere became known to Europeans, as has been shown by subsequent explorations, it was inhabited by native tribes from the Atlantic to the Pacific and from the extreme north to Patagonia. The aborigines were distributed principally along the coast, about the borders of lakes, and on the margins of streams, but much of the interior was also inhabited or roamed over by hunting and war parties, or crossed by various tribes during their migrations. Large areas, it is true

Among the prominent facts dealt with in the study of political geography and of history are the territorial limits of nations. For this reason the characteristics of boundaries are of fundamental importance, and a classification of them is convenient, if not essential....