1. _For what is Asia remarkable?_ 2. Which of the countries of Asia is
largest? 3. In what part is Arabia? 4. China?
5. What countries lie between Turkey and Hindostan? 6. How is Siberia
bounded? 7. Arabia? 8. Turkey? 9. Persia? 10. Independent Tartary? 11.
Hindostan? 12. Afghanistan? 13. Beloochistan? 14. China? 15. Birman
Empire?[10] 16. Siam? 17. Anam?[11] 18. The Caucasian country, or
Circassia and Georgia? 19. Malaya?
20. What ranges of mountains are on the boundaries of Siberia? 21.
Where are the Caucasus mountains? 22. Where are the Gaut mountains? 23.
In what part of Asia are the _highest mountains in the world, and what
are they called_?
24. Where is Lake Baikal? 25. How is Lake Zaisan situated? 26. What sea
lies between the Black Sea and the Sea of Aral?
27. Where is the Red Sea? 28. Sea of Arabia? 29. What bay lies west
from the Birman Empire? 30. How is the Yellow Sea situated? 31. What
sea between Corea and the island Niphon? 32. Where is the Sea of
Ochotsk?
33. How is the Bay of Bengal situated? 34. Which way are the Persian
Gulf and the Gulf of Ormus from Persia? 35. Where is the Gulf Tonquin?
36. Gulf of Siam?
37. Two rivers flow into the Persian Gulf; what are their names? 38.
Where is the Indus river? 39. Where does it rise? 40. Into what does
it flow? 41. What rivers rise in the Himmaleh mountains, and flow into
the northern extremity of the Bay of Bengal? 42. What rivers flow into
the sea of Aral? 43. What are the principal rivers of China? 44. Of
Siberia? 45. Of the Birman Empire?
46. What waters do the Straits of Babelmandel connect? 47. What islands
do the Straits of Sunda separate? 48. Straits of Malacca? 49. What
straits separate Asia from North America?
50. Where is Cape Comorin? 51. Where is Cape Lopatka? 52. What is its
latitude? 53. What cape at the northeastern extremity of Asia?
54. What island lies at the mouth of the Straits of Babelmandel? 55.
Where is Ceylon island? 56. What is its longitude? 57. What islands lie
in the Bay of Bengal? 58. What is the latitude and longitude of Hainan
island?
59. What island is crossed by the tropic of Cancer? 60. What are
crossed by the equator? 61. What are the principal of the Philippine
Isles? 62. The Japan Isles? 63. The Moluccas or Spice islands? 64.
Where is Nova Zembla?[12] 65. Where are the Ladrone and Caroline
islands? 66. The Maldives? 67. The Japan islands and Empire?
68. Where is Mecca? 69. Ispahan? 70. Calcutta? 71. Ava? 72. Bencoolen?
73. Manilla? 74. Jerusalem? 75. Madras? 76. Tobolsk? 77. Pekin? 78.
Canton? 79. Rangoon? 80. Smyrna?
81. Which way from Canton is Mecca? 82. From Tobolsk to Pekin? 83. From
Rangoon to Calcutta? 84. _What is the soil of Asia?_ 85. _China is
an empire; how is it governed?_ 86. Does any part of Asia lie in the
frigid zone? 87. _What is the climate of the frigid zone?_
[Illustration: CHINESE. TURKS.]
Asia was the first inhabited quarter of the world, and is the largest
of the divisions of the Eastern continent. It is distinguished as the
country where man was created; where Christ was born, and achieved the
plan of man’s redemption; and where the Jews received from Jehovah, the
Holy Bible. The northern part of this ancient country is exceedingly
cold and almost entirely covered with snow, while the southern is a
warm region, and with the exception of Arabia, possesses a fertile
soil, watered by numerous rivers. The region between these two
extremes, comprehending Independent and Chinese Tartary, is an immense
desert, except that part called Thibet, where the soil is moderately
fertile, and the climate healthful.
_Arabia_ is almost wholly a desert country, with a hot atmosphere, and
is unfit for the residence of man, except along the coasts of the Red
Sea and Indian Ocean, where the soil is fertile, and yields wheat,
corn, barley, tobacco, dates, and oranges. This country is famous for
producing the best horses in the world.
That portion of _Turkey_ which is in Asia, is beautifully diversified
with fertile plains, mountains, and valleys. The climate is excellent.
Grapes, mulberries, wheat, barley, and tobacco, flourish here. The
population is composed of descendants of various nations; but the Turks
are the most numerous in the cities, and possess the principal wealth
of the country.
In _Persia_, the most remarkable feature is the want of forests
and rivers. There are many desert places, although some spots are
exceedingly fertile. During the summer months the climate is hot, and
the country is subject to a hot wind called the _Samiel_, which is so
poisonous that animals and travellers are killed by it, unless they
perceive its approach, and fall to the ground until it has passed.
_Hindostan_, or India within the Ganges, is nearly as large as the
United States, and must therefore embrace many varieties of soil and
climate. The productions are rice, cotton, oranges, lemons, figs,
pomegranates, sugar cane, opium, indigo, and tobacco. Horses, sheep,
elephants, and the royal tiger, and almost all kinds of ferocious
animals, are found here, except the lion. A great part of this country
is under the dominion of the British East India Company.
Calcutta is the largest city, and is supposed to contain 650,000
inhabitants, a great many of whom are Europeans. It carries on an
extensive commerce with all parts of the world.
The _Birman Empire_, _Malaya_, _Siam_, _Tannasserim_, and _Anam_, have
commonly been comprehended under the general name of India beyond the
Ganges; and the country is little known, except on the coast. In this
country, owing to the influence of heat and moisture, the soil is
exceedingly fertile. The productions are nearly the same as those of
Hindostan.
_China_ is celebrated for its immense population, for the ingenuity
of its numerous manufacturers, for its many canals, for the great
antiquity of its laws, and for its reserve and jealousy of the people
of other nations. The chief productions are cotton, rice, and tea; and
all the necessaries of life are cultivated. Tea and China ware are the
principal exports.
Canton is the chief city, and is the port where American and English
vessels are admitted to trade.