Dorado. It was said to be built on an island in a lake called Parima,
somewhere in the northern part of South America. Beginning about 1530,
great numbers of expeditions were made by the Spaniards in search of
this fabled city, all of which ended in disappointment and disaster.
=175.= "Naught of strange." Nothing out of the usual order.
=176.= "Lindis." A small stream in Lincolnshire.
"Melick" (m[)e]l´[)i]k). Melic grass, a kind of grass eaten by cattle.
=177.= "Warping down." Turning aside out of a straight course; moving
in zigzag lines.
"Scope." A sea wall, or steep shore.
=178.= "Bairns." Little children.
=179.= "Eygre" ([=e]´g[~e]r). The flood tide moving with great force
and swiftness up the river.
=181.= Henry II. of England was born in 1133; died, 1189. He was the
first of the Plantagenet line of kings.
=182.= Thomas Becket, born in London, 1118, was the son of a rich
merchant, and became a member of the household of Theobald, archbishop
of Canterbury, about 1142. Through the influence of Theobald his
interests with the king were advanced, and he became chancellor during
the first year of Henry's reign. He was murdered in 1170.
=190.= In 1172 Becket was canonized under the title of St. Thomas of
Canterbury, and in 1220 his bones were removed to Trinity Chapel,
where they became the object of great veneration. For several
centuries pilgrimages were made to his shrine from all parts of
England. Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales" were related by a party of
pilgrims who were making this journey, presumably near the close of
the fourteenth century. By order of King Henry VIII. the shrine was
finally destroyed, and the bones of Becket were scattered and burned.
=200.= "Genera." Plural of _genus_--a name applied to a class of
objects subdivided into species.
"Hen harriers." Hawks which fly low and harass fowls or small animals.
=201.= "Gallinæ" (g[)a]l l[=i]´ne). The order of birds which includes
domestic fowls, pheasants, quails, grouse, etc.
=205.= The National Cemetery at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, was
dedicated by President Lincoln, November 19, 1863. It was here that
the great battle of Gettysburg was fought, July 1, 2, and 3 of the
same year. The cemetery contains the graves of 3580 soldiers, with a
central monument, built at a cost of $50,000, and a large number of
regimental monuments on the various historic points of the battlefield.
=208.= "Vespasian and his son Titus." Vespasian was emperor of Rome
A.D. 70-79. He was succeeded by his son Titus, who died two years
later. Jerusalem was taken and destroyed by Titus, acting as his
father's general, in the year 70. Both these emperors expended large
sums on public works. The Coliseum, although begun by Vespasian in 72,
was not finished during his reign. Despite the enormous mass of the
present ruins, it is estimated that they comprise only about one third
of the original materials; the remainder have been carried away,
destroyed, or used in the construction of other buildings.
=209.= "Orpheus." The sweet musician of Thrace whose music charmed
birds and beasts, and caused even rocks and trees to move from their
places to listen to the divine melody.
=212.= "The Last Prayer." Jean Leon Gérôme, the painter of this
picture, is a celebrated French artist, born at Vesoul in 1824. He
studied in Italy, and to perfect himself in his art, traveled for some
years in Egypt, Turkey, and other eastern countries. As might have
been expected, the subjects of many of his paintings are oriental. In
1863, he became professor of painting at the Academy of Fine Arts. His
works are very numerous and meritorious.
=213.= The stanza of poetry quoted on this page is from Lord Byron's
"Childe Harold's Pilgrimage."
"Honorius." Honorius was born at Constantinople, A.D. 384, and became
emperor of the western empire in 395 at the age of eleven years. He
married the daughter of his guardian, Stilicho, in 398. It was during
his reign (in 410) that Rome was taken and sacked by Alaric the Goth.
He died in 423.
=216.= "Lyonesse" (l[=i] o n[)e]s´). A mythical region, said to have
extended from Land's End, in Cornwall, to the Scilly Islands. A
tradition still exists of the submersion and destruction of this
country, probably in the tenth century. King Arthur was said to have
been a native of Lyonesse.
=217.= "Camelot." A legendary town in England where Arthur had his
palace and court. It is supposed by some to have been near Winchester;
others locate it in Wales.
"Merlin." A half-legendary bard and wizard, who is supposed to have
lived in the early part of the sixth century. He was the companion and
counselor of Arthur, and instituted the Round Table at Carduel. The
famous prose romance, called the "Romance of Merlin," was written in
French by Hélie de Borron about the year 1200. It was translated into
English about the middle of the fifteenth century.
"Excalibur." The sword which Arthur had received from the Lady of the
Lake. It had many miraculous qualities, and the wearer of its scabbard
could lose no blood.
=223.= "Daïs throne." A throne raised upon an elevated platform or daïs.
=224.= "Avilion." In Celtic mythology, the Land of the Blessed--an
earthly paradise in the western seas. All the great heroes of mediæval
times, as Arthur and Ogier the Dane, were carried there, where they
lived in perfect happiness at the court of Morgan le Fay, the queen of
the fairies.
Transcriber's Note
* Line numbers removed from short stories.
* Obvious punctuation and spelling errors repaired.
* Footnote moved to the end of short story.
* In Table of Contents "Portraits of Authors" page number corrected
for Arthur Penrhyn Stanley from "190" to "191".
* Chiusi (K[=e] [=oo]´s[=e]) contains [=oo] representing a "long oo" sound
not represented in any charts.
* Text enclosed between equal signs was in bold face in the original
(=bold=).
End of Project Gutenberg's School Reading by Grades, by James Baldwin