THE CHILDREN OF CANADA.
The children of Canada live in a large and happy land which lies in the 
north of North America. It belongs to Britain, just as New Zealand does;
and the people are British, just as you are British children, although you 
were born in New Zealand. There are some French children, too, for
long ago Canada belonged to France.

LOADING SALMON.

Canada is a very large country. New Zealand seems to us a large place, but 
it would take thirty-five New Zealands to make one Canada.
In the winter the land is all wide, white snow. In the summer it is all 
fine crops, and tall grass, and lovely wild flowers. There are miles of 
apple-gardens, and miles of other fruit-gardens; and rivers full of fish. If you 
look at the tins of salmon that are bought in New Zealand shops, you will
often see that the fish was caught for you far away in Canada.
But fruit-gardens, and crops, and fisheries do not take care of themselves, 
and Canadians are very busy people. In the towns they may buy
and sell, and go to schools, or to shops and offices, and all the year 
round one day seems very much like the next; but in the country the
work changes with the seasons. The summer is short, and every day the farmer tries to get as much 
work done as he can while the sun shines and the earth is soft.

SAILING IN A CANOE.

When winter comes, the ground is hidden deep under snow. The crops have all 
been reaped; the fruit has been picked ; and now the farm
people begin to rest and enjoy themselves.
Even the children work hard in summer. Then the boys and girls get up to 
breakfast about four o'clock, and work all day in the fields. A farmer
is proud of how much his children can do ; and the children like work, for 
in Canada every one expects to be busy. Why, even in town a boy of seven cleans the 
boots for all the family before he goes to school, and his sister,
a year older, will scrub the floor and dress the baby while her mother gets 
the breakfast. And boys are taught, too, how to cook, and scrub,
and do things in the house. Then, if they take up new land, far out on the 
plains, they will not mind living alone at first and cooking their own dinner.

PLOUGHING TO CHECK A FIRE.

In Canada there are great, wide rivers and large, beautiful, lakes. On 
them, big steamers carry people from place to place, but very often light canoes, made out of the bark 
of a tree, may be seen sailing along, or paddled over the deep waters by strong arms.
At some busy farm in summer there may be a sudden alarm. The grass on the 
plains is on fire. How red the flames are, low down where the grass is burning! What 
clouds of smoke rise up above! Then the Canadian boys know how to
help their father to guard their home. They plough up a broad belt of land, so that when the fire reaches 
it there is no grass to burn there.  

TOBOGGANING.

The flames come to the edge of the ploughed land, and there they  stop, and the  farm is saved. 
Does all  this sound as  if  Canadian  children did  nothing but    work? But  they have  splendid games 
as well. In the summer there are all the games that English children play, besides boating, and hunting, 
and fishing. In the long winter, when all is frost and snow, the children
can skate, or take long walks on snow-shoes, or have snowball fights, or 
drive out in sleighs, with fine, quick horses hung with tinkling bells,
Best of all, the children like tobogganing. They slide down one hill and up another, and shout and 
laugh, and sometimes tip over into the snow; but nobody minds that. 

AN INDIAN CAMP.

And, oh! how hungry they are when they go home to supper, Yes, the little Canadian is a very strong, 
and healthy, and happy child.
There are some brown children, too, belonging to Canada. The people who lived in New Zealand 
before 
the white men came are called Maoris.
The people who lived in Canada before men came are called Red Indians. Once the Red Indians were 
savages; they lived wild and cruel lives in the woods, and taught their
children to be wild and cruel too. But now the Red Indian children are learning better.
Instead of roaming about the country, the Indians now live in places set apart for them; and there 
they have farms, and schools, and churches, and live quite pleasantly
together. The men hunt, and fish, or work on their farms, or go woodcutting in the forest. And all the 
boys and girls go to school, where they are taught the same things that the white children in Canada 
know.
If you ever read about the Indians' wild ways long ago, you will be very glad to think they now 
understand that it is good to be gentle as well as brave. And books, and work, and merry games make 
these dark-skinned children much more happy than they would be if their parents were 
still savages in the wild woods.

Little children, never give Pain to things that feel and live.

THE STORY OF THE CRAYFISH
A brown trout swam to and from in the clear water of a stream. He seemed to be looking for some one. 
And so, indeed, he was. Presently he found him – his friend, the crayfish.
He saw him peeping out from under a stone, and swam up to him.
"What a long time it is since I saw you last!" said the trout. "Where have you been?"

A CRAYFISH

The crayfish came out from under the stone. "I have not been away from the stream," he replied, "but I 
have been hiding for many days."
" Why were you hiding?" asked his friend.
" Well, you see," said the crayfish, " I have been getting my new coat. Perhaps you do not know what 
that means. I will tell you about it.
" We crayfish, as you see, have a very hard overcoat on the outside of our bodies. This protects our 
bodies. It also makes them strong, for we have no hard bones inside,
as you have.
" As our bodies grow, our coats become too small for us. The only thing we can do then is to throw 
them away. When we have done this our bodies are soft.
"At that time we are in great danger, for fish and other creatures that live in the stream can then 
easily kill and eat us. So, when a crayfish feels that his coat is ready to
come off, he hides away in a hole.
" The coat, or shell, comes off every part of our bodies, legs and all. Its place is taken by a new shell, 
which at first is very soft. While it is still soft and can be stretched,
our bodies grow very quickly.
"After a time the new shell becomes hard, as the old one was before. Then we come out from our 
hiding-places, no longer afraid of any danger."
Then the trout saw something strange about one of the crayfish's legs.
" What is the matter with that leg?" he asked.
" It seems to be too short, doesn't it ?" replied the crayfish. " It's a new one, and is growing in 
the place of one that I lost."
" You lost a leg! How did that happen?"
" Well, you see, we crayfish have rather bad tempers. We sometimes quarrel, and we even fight with 
one another. I lost a leg in a fight some time ago; but a new one is
growing again now."
Just then something fell into the water near the two friends. A boy on the bank of the stream had 
thrown a stone at them. At once the crayfish gave a big jump backwards
and hid under a stone. The trout swam away and got under a willow-root.
After a time, when the naughty boy had gone, the two friends came out again from their hiding-places.
" How did you give that big jump just now?" asked the trout, " and why did you go backwards?"  
" That is how I always swim," replied the crayfish. " I use my tail as a paddle, and I always swim 
backwards in jumps. When I wish to go forward I creep along on my
long legs.
 " I have, as you see, five pairs of long legs; but I use only the last four pairs in walking. The first pair 
are my pinchers. 
These I use for holding my food, or for fighting. The nippers on my other legs
are not so strong."
" What strange eyes you have," said the trout. " Why are they placed on those stalks?"
" Swim round me," said the crayfish, " and see if you can find a place where my eyes are not in sight."
The trout tried this, and found that he could see his friend's eyes all the time he was swimming round 
him.
" I could see you all the time," said the crayfish. " Now you know why my eyes are placed on stalks."
The trout was much pleased with what the crayfish had told him. But as each now wanted to look for 
his dinner, both said "Good-bye," and parted for the day.

OLD TOYS.
In a room in a great building in London, called the British Museum,* there stands a large glass case 
into which little visitors often gaze with wondering eyes.
And what do you think there is in this case? Nothing but a queer lot of worn-out toys. 

From the " Illustrated London News."]
1. An Egyptian rag doll, made 300 years before the birth of Christ. 2. 
Egyptian wooden dolls with painted bodies. The hair is made of clay
beads on thread.

There are some very shabby dolls, black and dirty, curious little dolls' chairs and tables, and even some 
babies' rattles. You can see also battered tops, draughts-men, knuckle-bones, dice, and some little 
square blocks with funny words and sentences on them.

See card No. 12, " Geography of the British Isles," which shows a picture of the British Museum.

Probably you little boys and girls would say that they were badly made, 
and fit only for the dust-heap. Yet I think,
when you hear the story of those poor old toys, you will no longer wonder 
why they are thought so much of that they
are placed in the great British Museum.
Now, let me tell you that the glass case holds the toys and other things 
that were played with by happy children who
lived many hundreds of years ago.
There in one corner are an old rag dolly and a roughly made little chair 
and table. These were found in the grave of a little child who was buried when the Romans still held 
Britain, nearly two thousand years ago.
Think of the sorrowing parents who buried with their little child the 
toys it used to play with when alive and happy! We
feel very sad indeed when looking at them. Yet it shows that, in the ages 
long ago, little girls played with rag dollies
and loved them just as much as they do to-day. And look at those 
draughts-men and counters. Why, they might be
used to-day, for you all play the same games still.
Now, come to this side of the case. I can almost hear you say, " Why, 
that is a school slate." And so it is, with
some of the old figures and writing still scratched on it.
And there, lying beside the slate, are the reed pens they used, that look so like the quill pens used 
by your grandfathers and grandmothers, before steel pens were
made.
Yes, it is a wonderful old case, and many, many British children visit it, to look with eager eyes at 
the playthings of the children of bygone ages, to read the card telling
the story of each toy, or to listen eagerly to what their elders tell them.
Toys of to-day are much prettier than those made long ago; but I am sure they do not give more 
pleasure than those that were played with so long ago by little dark-eyed children along the banks of 
the River Nile.

THE STORY OF RUATARA.
Just 100 years ago there lived in New Zealand a Maori chief named Ruatara. He had worked on some 
of 
the whaling-ships that used to visit the Bay of Islands. He had
heard so much of the King of the white people that he made up his mind to go to England to see King 
George.
He went on board a ship and asked the captain to take him to the King. The captain said he would ; 
but he was a cruel man, and treated Ruatara very badly. When the
vessel reached London the poor Maori felt very lonely in the great city. The captain would do nothing 
for him, and at last Ruatara, very sick, and very sorry he 
had not seen the King, left in a ship coming out to Sydney.
On the ship was a great and good man, Mr. Marsden, who afterwards came to New Zealand to teach 
the 
Maoris and to beg them to give up their savage ways of living.
Mr. Marsden treated Ruatara very kindly, and, when they reached Sydney, took him to his house. There 
he taught him how to grow corn and vegetables, and to do
many other useful things.
After some months had passed Ruatara left Sydney in a vessel coming to New Zealand. The captain 
promised to land him near his home, but, instead of doing this, left him on a lonely island (Norfolk 
Island). There he was found by a whaling-vessel, and taken back to  Sydney without seeing his people.
Mr. Marsden was again his friend, and when Ruatara at last sailed for his home Mr. Marsden gave him 
wheat and other seeds, and also some gardening-tools. Great
indeed was the joy of Ruatara when he landed and was again able to rub noses with his Maori friends!
Some of the wheat he kept for himself and his uncle, Hongi, and the rest he gave to six other chiefs. 
He told them all about wheat - how it grew, how bread and biscuits
were made from it, and how the seed should be sown and looked after.
All the men to whom Ruatara gave the wheat put it into the ground. It grew 
well, but they expected to find the seeds at the roots, like their
potatoes. They pulled up a little and looked at the roots. No grain ! They 
pulled up some more and looked again. Still no grain! So they pulled
up all the wheat and burned it. They told Ruatara that he might think 
himself very clever as he had travelled so far, but they were not going to believe his 
silly tales.

MAORIS RUBBING NOSES.

But Ruatara's own crops, and the crops of his uncle Hongi, grew and ripened 
well. Great was the wonder of the other Maoris when fine big
seed was seen at the top of the plant, and not at the roots. Ruatara 
gathered his wheat and threshed it, but he had no mill in which he could grind it. He tried a coffee-mill 
which he got from a ship, but that 
was no good, and so the Maoris again laughed at him.
 At last Mr. Marsden came over to New Zealand. How proud Ruatara was 
when, on Christmas Day (1814), he  heard the first sermon preached in New Zealand, and how pleased 
to tell his friends in Maori words what Mr. Marsden said! 

THE LANDING OF MR. MARSDEN.

His heart swelled with joy, and he did all he could to help his friend in his good work.
Among other presents, Mr. Marsden brought a hand-mill for grinding corn. 
This gave the chief the greatest delight. He called his friends to
him, and said he would show them that what he had said was quite true. 
How they stared when they saw the wheat being ground into flour ! And still their wonder grew when a 
cake was hastily baked in a 
frying-pan and handed round. It was quickly eaten, and the people
all shouted that Ruatara was truly a great chief.
But other wonders were shown to the Maoris when horses, cows, sheep, and 
fowls were given them. For a time the Maoris were very
much afraid of the horses. They asked if they could speak, and if they 
ate bread like the white man. When they learned that the horses
ate grass, they wondered how animals so big could live on such food. They 
watched them eating, and even brought them handfuls of
grass. Proud, indeed, was the little boy who was brave enough to hold up 
a handful; but how he jumped back when a horse held out his
head and, opening his mouth, showed his teeth!
One Maori, bolder than the rest, tried to get on the back of a horse. He 
caught hold of the tail, and began to climb up the hind legs. But the horse did not like this, and the man 
had a very narrow escape from being badly hurt.
Well was Mr. Marsden rewarded for his kindness to Ruatara when sick, lonely, and far from home. 
With Ruatara's help he soon made many friends among the Maoris, who were ready to listen to him 
when he told them about the God the white man worshipped.

RENA, THE MAORI SLAVE

The story I am going to tell you is about something that happened nearly one hundred years ago in the 
North Island of New Zealand, and it is a true story.
In those days the Maoris were very fierce and warlike, and were often very cruel. Many of the white 
people they had seen were not good men. Some were rough sailors who had come in ships to catch 
whales; others were men who had been sent out as prisoners from England to Australia, and had 
escaped to New Zealand. You will see that these men were not likely to do the Maoris any good.
But at last other white people came. They had heard what a brave people the Maoris were, and they 
hoped to be able to teach them to become Christians, and to give up their cruel ways.
First among these missionaries, as they were called, was Mr. Marsden, 
about whom you have been already told. There also came a
young man with his wife, who was only nineteen years of age. You can 
imagine how shocked and grieved the man must have been when he found that the people whom he 
hoped to teach used to kill and eat their enemies, and even the slaves they had captured.

KERIKERI, IN THE BAY OF ISLANDS, WHERE THE MISSIONARY  AND HIS WIFE LIVED.

And how dreadful it must all have seemed to his young wife !
However, they bravely set about building a little home at the Bay of 
Islands, and began to teach the Maoris who lived near.
One terrible day a big war-party came back to the bay. They had been away 
some months, and had been fighting with their enemies in
the north. They had defeated them, and so every one rejoiced very much when they returned to, their 
pa, or village.
They killed many pigs, and caught basketfuls of fish and eels to make a great feast. But the worst of 
this feast was that the Maoris were going to kill and eat some of
their slaves.
Now, the young white man and his wife might well have been afraid, too, for they had no one to defend 
them, and the Maoris were very savage and excited.
The English lady was not at all strong, and was very small and slight - so small that any of the Maori 
chiefs could have lifted her right up in one hand. Yet she was not
afraid, for none of the Maoris had ever hurt her.
Small as she was, she was a very brave woman, and the Maoris always liked brave people. They often 
used to talk of the " brave little pakeha," and in their hearts they
really admired her.
Knowing what was going on, she was sitting in her bedroom trembling. She kept wishing that she 
could 
save the slaves, and yet she knew that she could do nothing.
Suddenly she heard terrible screams, and the door of her room was dashed open. In rushed Rena, a poor 
little Maori slave, only fourteen years of age. She flung herself into the lady's arms, praying her to save 
her from the cruel weapons of the Maoris.
What could the poor lady do? There were no bolts on her doors, and already she could hear the yells 
of the natives as they sought for the child.
There was no time to lose, and, as there was no better place in which to hide any one, the lady told 
Rena to get under her bed.
Scarcely had the girl done so, when the door was burst open, and the savage warriors rushed in crying 
out for the child.
" She came here," they shouted. " We saw her enter this room."
" Yes, she is here," replied the lady quietly.
" Then, you must give her to us," they yelled in anger, " or we shall kill you too."
The lady did not move. She was sitting on the edge of the bed, and she could hear the frightened sobs 
of the little slave underneath.
" You shall not take her," she replied calmly. "I say that you shall not kill her."
As she said this she trembled a little, for she was afraid that the natives might kill her too. Still she sat 
there, and looked calmly at the warriors. To her surprise, they
made no move to seize her, but gazed at her in astonishment. Then they began talking amongst 
themselves.
"The little one" (thus they called her) dares to sit there and defy us," said one.
" She must be a spirit," whispered another. "None but a very great spirit would do so."
"Yet she is a very small one," said a third, "and I could easily lift her up with one hand."
" But she is brave," the first speaker replied. "Her heart is great, though her body is small. Lo ! she 
shall have the slave as a reward for her 
bravery. I, the great chief of the tribe, say so."
" It is right," said the second. "She is brave, although her face is so pale."
And so they gave Rena to the lady who had saved her life. You can imagine how the little Maori girl 
clung to her friend, and how gladly and how faithfully she served her.

THE STORY OF THE MOSQUITO.*
During the holidays Willie's mother took him for a trip to the seaside. How he enjoyed playing in the 
sand and climbing over the rocks! What pretty shells and seaweed
he found in the pools!
Presently he felt a sharp pain in his hand. Looking down, he saw a strange little insect. As he 
looked the insect flew away.
" Oh, mother!" he cried, "what was that funny insect that stung me
" That must have been a mosquito, Willie," said his mother.
" What nasty things they are," replied Willie ; "not a bit like the honey-bees or the pretty 
butterflies ! "
"No," said his mother, " they are not nice insects; yet the story of their life is very wonderful. 
Look at the little creatures in this pool."
Willie looked and saw many tiny creatures darting about very quickly.
"What are they, mother?" he asked.

*Most of the illustrations for this article are taken from "Flashlights on Nature," a charming book by 
Grant Allen.

THE EGG-RAFT, SEEN FROM ABOVE.

" They are the grubs of the mosquitoes.  Let us take some of them home and watch what happens to 
them."
 So Willie carried away some of the grubs in a bottle of water. At home he was able to
watch them very carefully. His mother told
him that the mosquitoes place their eggs on the
 water, joining them together in the form of a little boat or raft.
 "After a time," said
 she, "the eggs hatch, and
 out come tiny grubs like
 those that you have in
 the bottle of water." 
 Willie saw that the grubs
 often came to the top of
 the water, and seemed to
 stand on their heads with
 the tips of their tails out of the water.

THE GRUB BREATHING. 

" Why do they do that ? ", he asked.
" That is how they breathe," she told him.
In his tail the grub has a little tube, through which he takes in air. On his tail also he carries a 
little oar or paddle. It is with this that he swims so quickly. On his head
are little feelers, with which he feeds himself." '
After a few days Willie noticed a change in some of his mosquito-grubs. Their heads
seemed to become very large, and two little horns grew out. They lost their paddles, and moved about 
in the water by funny little jumps.
His mother told him that the little creatures had now covered themselves with cases, inside which they 
would change into mosquitoes.
Sure enough, in a short time Willie saw what his mother had told him about. On the water floated one 
  of the little cases in which the  grubs had shut themselves up.
There was a slit in the case, and, as Willie watched, he saw a full-grown mosquito come slowly 
through it. 
Standing on the edge of the case, the mosquito began to spread its wings.
" It is drying its wings," said Willie's mother. "When they are dry, the mosquito will fly away."
And that is just what did happen.
"How strange it, all is," said Willie. " But what a pity that the mosquitoes sting us
Why do they do that ? "

MOSQUITO COMING OUT OF ITS CASE.

"The mosquito lives by sucking blood," said his mother ; and she gave him a picture showing the 
mosquito's head..
In the picture Willie saw that on the head were a number of sharp spikes with which the mosquito can 
make a hole in a person's skin. Into the hole it pushes a little
tube,    through which it can suck the blood.
And now, if a mosquito bites Willie, he feels that he can almost forgive it for doing so, when he thinks 
of its wonderful story.

HOW THE MOSQUITO BITES.
FEMALE MOSQUITO.  
MALE MOSQUITO.

When mother is made happy by the children's help, all in the home are happy.

THE CHILDREN OF INDIA.
Little yellow babies, brown babies, black babies, swinging gently in queer flat cradles, or riding in 
baskets on their poor mothers' 
shoulders or heads; babies that wear very  few clothes, but are hung all
over with bright chains, and rings, and bracelets, and necklaces - these are the babies of India.
Little girls going to school gaily dressed - sometimes in silks and satins - like little princesses; 
little girls nursing dollies made of wood, with clothes only painted on them,
instead of real doll-clothes to go on and come off ; gentle, good little girls, always doing what 
their parents tell them to do - these are the little girls of India.
Boys richly dressed, others with very little clothing ; boys with their heads shaved, wearing muslin 
caps and coats ; boys who sit on the floor at school, and come home
to wash their hands and cat dinner with their fingers - these are the boys of India..

"SWINGING GENTLY."

India is a great country in Asia. It belongs to England, and our own King is the Emperor. It is one of 
the very hot countries, where summer lasts nearly all the year round. 

" RIDE OUT ON GRAND ELEPHANTS."

The people who live there are of many different races, but the greatest number are the Hindus.
Some Hindus are very rich. They live in palaces, and ride out on grand elephants, while their servants 
fan them with peacock fans. And some Hindus are very poor people, who live in poor huts 
and work hard all day. But all the rich Hindus and all the poor
Hindus like to dress up their children in pretty things.
We are told that a Hindu baby never ones. The flies may bite him, or the sun may burn him, or he may 
be tired or hungry, but this wonderful child will not cry or fret.
 There is a great feast when a new baby comes, and another feast when he is six months old and eats 
his first spoonful of boiled rice. He always takes what is given to
him, and  stays quietly where his mother likes to put him, and goes to sleep when she sings her lullaby 
song.
The Hindu girl is very clever at sewing. She makes pretty bags to hold spices, or pretty slippers to give 
away to her friends ; and she is taught to cook for her father and
brothers, though Hindu girls and women do not eat with the men. Then, she is fond of flowers, and 
loves to wear a long wreath which she has made by threading
hundreds of them together on a long fine wire.
Hindu boys are very busy at school. If it is
a native school, you would think it a very funny place. It may be under a tree or in a sort of shed. The 
floor is covered with sand, and the boys do their sums by writing
them on the sand, instead of on slates or in books.
The first boy to come to school has one stroke with the cane. That is the master's way of saying "Good 
morning." But the next boy has two strokes, and the third boy
has three, and so it goes on till the last boy gets as many strokes as there are boys in the school. 
They do not like to be late in a Hindu school.
All the boys sit cross-legged on the ground, and shout their lessons out aloud, bending to and fro all the 
time. An hour before school is over they rise and stand in line,
holding their hands over their hearts. Then they say their letters, and some tables, and some Indian 
hymns.
Before they go home the master tells them what to do for home-work. They answer after each thing 
they 
are told to do, shouting very loud, " Yes, yes." Then they bow
themselves right down on the floor before the teacher, because a Hindu touches the ground with his 
forehead when he wants to be very polite. And then these very
polite boys are glad to scamper away home from school.
There are some Hindu boys who do not go to school. Some of them live with their parents in boats that 
are always carrying people up and down the great rivers.
Sometimes the boat is rowed, and then the boy can take an oar and help. Sometimes the father and 
mother and all the children have to go on shore and pull the heavy
boat along by a rope.
"Then there is the jungle-boy, whose parents live in the jungle far from schools, where there are wild 
and fierce animals.

From a stereograph copyright by Underwood and Underwood, London, New York, and Melbourne.]
"HELP TO GRIND THE RICE."

But he learns very quickly all that they want him to know – "Don't be idle; tie up the cow; bring in the 
water; help to grind the rice; and sweep out the house."
Now you must hear how the children in town houses play. The girls, of 
course, have their wooden dolls, and the boys have some wooden toys, too. These are elephants and 
cows, painted beautifully in red and 
gold ; or dogs with red heads and tails, blue bodies, and black
legs. Then, boys play with kites, and tops, and marbles, and have games 
like our own - puss-in-the-corner and blindman's buff - and at the English schools they learn to like 
cricket.
 It is not thought right for girls to play like
boys. They have to stay at home nearly always, shut up in the house or the garden.
But in the garden there is a very fine swing.
Sometimes the posts are painted prettily, and
the ropes are brightly coloured. Every day,
unless the sun is too hot for little girls to be
out-of-doors, there is sure to be some happy
child sitting there and swinging.
And on a wet day, which is very, very rare in India, the great fun is to 
swing in the rain, and to come in all dripping like a little fish. There
are hard things in every life, all over the world; but there are a good many pleasant things, too, for the 
gentle Hindu child.

King Edward VII

A GREAT WHALE

At the Museum in Christchurch there is the skeleton of the biggest animal in the world – a great whale 
that was found dead on the beach in Westland.
All whales are large, but this was quite a giant. Many whales are sixty or even seventy feet long; but 
this skeleton is eighty-seven feet long.
Look at the picture. How very small the man appears, and yet he is six feet high! This will help you to 
understand how big the skeleton is. It was too big to take inside the Museum, so they built a shelter for 
it out-of-doors, and made a platform by its side on which boys and girls walk along, looking at the 
skeleton of the great animal from its head to its tail.
When the boys and girls go to see it, some of call it "a great fish." But the whale is not a fish, though it 
lives in 
the sea. Fishes live only under the water, and breathe water through their
gills. Whales must come very often to the top of the water to breathe air.
Fishes, again, lay eggs, and then swim away and leave them to hatch into 
little fishes. A mother whale takes care of her baby whale, and
feeds it just as a mother cow feeds her calf, with nice warm milk.

From a post-card copyright by the Board of Governors of Canterbury College. By kind permission.]
THE SKELETON OF THE GREAT WHALE
From a photo by Mr. E. R. Waite, Curator, Canterbury Museum.]
THE GREAT WHALE ON THE BEACH.

A long time ago this great whale was a baby whale - a very long time ago, 
for she was about two hundred years old when she died. Think
of going on having birthdays for two hundred years!
But she would be about forty or fifty years of age before she felt really 
grown up. Then her hands - which are called "flippers" - were twelve
feet long ; she had a fine strong tail twenty-one feet long, and a head 
as long and as broad as a good-sized room. Poor whale ! if a head like that ever ached, what a very big 
headache it 
would be!
And all the time that she was growing and growing, what did she have to live on ? Why, she lived on 
quite small things that sailors call " whale-feed " - things like shrimps -
sea-spiders, jelly-fish, and little floating crabs; only she wanted a great many of them.
So she used to swim about in the seas where these small creatures are. Sometimes she came to a place 
where the top of the water looked quite red with them. It was
just as if the sea had been a table spread with all she liked to eat. And when she was hungry all 
she had to do was to swim a little way with her mouth open.
You see, her mouth was so big that the shrimps, and sea - spiders, and jellyfish, and little crabs 
never knew it was a mouth at all. When she gaped, hundreds of them
swam in, thinking it was a cave.
Then she shut up her mouth, " snap!" and let all the water run out again. But she squeezed the little 
creatures between the roof of her mouth and her great tongue, and
swallowed them down like a nice red cake. And then she was ready to gape again, and catch some 
more.
She would not stay very long in one place. Whales are great travellers. In that wide
world under the sea she moved as easily as the great birds move in the air. There are birds that fly 
all round from one side of the earth to the other. And so the whales can
swim up and down the sea, or sometimes all round the world.
But this whale did not go too far south, because in the cold seas she did not find enough of her 
food. When men travel about they can carry their dinners with them; but a
whale must go where her dinner is.
In that long two hundred years, how many things she must have seen! - strange fishes that live too 
deep in the sea for any fishermen to catch them; and islands that have
sunk down so long, long ago that nobody ever put them into maps; and icebergs, floating along like 
great glittering castles going out to find some cold king or queen to live
in them. But when icebergs came she knew she was getting into cold places, and away she went into 
the warmer seas again.
Sometimes, when she came up to breathe, she would see a great thing that was not a fish, nor an 
iceberg, nor an island. It seemed alive to her, because it went along so
quickly, half in and half out of the water ; and it was breathing, too, out of a high red funnel.
Then, what funny little creatures those were that ran about on it, all opening their mouths at once, and 
making queer noises she could not understand!
Of course, you can guess this was a steamship coming from Australia to New Zealand. The funny 
creatures were men, and women, and children, and they all opened their mouths at once to say,
"A whale! a whale! Oh ! look at the big whale! "
Sometimes when she came up to breathe or to play she saw a ship not far off. Then two boats from it 
would come rowing as fast as they could towards the place where her great head had risen.
As they came nearer, she saw that the men were getting ready to hurl something at her.
" Ah ! do they want to hurt me, these strange little creatures ? " said the whale. And in a moment 
she sank down, down, and swam under water so quickly and so far that while the boats still
moved about looking for her she was miles and miles away.
Once she was not quite quick enough. A sharp, strong spear (called a " harpoon ") came
rushing through the air and caught her shoulder. In her pain and anger she made such a leap that the 
spear was torn right out, and she swam away as quickly as she could. But her shoulder felt
sore for a long time, and after that she always taught her children that little men were very 
dangerous things if they came too near a whale.
Did the whale have children, then? Oh, yes ! In her long life she must have had some fine sons, and 
large, handsome daughters.
How pleased she would be with each baby whale ! She fed it, and played with it, and carried it about 
on her back or tucked under one flipper. She swam gently, and always kept in nice, warm,
quiet water until it had learned to catch the whale-food, and swim, and look after itself.

HUNTING THE WHALE.

Some of her children may be great whales 
now. I wonder how many of them will grow as large as their mother.
One odd thing happened to her as years went by. There is a queer shell-fish called the "barnacle," 
that likes to stick on to ships or to floating logs, and to be carried about without any trouble. When 
many of these cling to the bottom of a ship they make her so " dirty," as sailors call it, and cause her to 
travel so slowly,
that she has to go into dock and have them
scraped off.
Well, when the whale grew older, and did
not swim very quickly, the barnacles caught
hold of her, and lived on her, so that she had
to carry the lazy things about. She could only
get free from them when she rubbed them off
against a sharp rock, and then there were ugly
round marks left where they had clung all over
her shining blue-black skin.
We do not know how she died. I think it was just from old age. She grew tired of swimming and of 
catching mouthfuls of dinner ; she
grew tired even of coming up and down through
the beating waves to breathe. So one day she
did not breathe any more, and then the waves
took her dead body and carried it where they
pleased.
They drifted it here and there like a great
boat tossing about with no man to guide it.
Little fishes came and lived in the wide-open
mouth, and big fishes came to taste whale-meat, and sea-birds came to peck and eat, too, for sea-birds 
are always hungry. Then the
wind rose and a high tide took the whale to
shore. Like a great boat wrecked, she was cast
up on the beach.
That is how the giant whale came to Westland, where wise men measured her, and found she was the 
biggest animal in the world. And
from there her bones were taken to Christchurch, to be set up at the Museum for every
one to admire. There they will always stay, to show what a wonderful creature she was, and
what strong, noble things may still be living
long lives like hers in the deep sea.

THE STORY OF THE UNION JACK.
Each nation has its own flag, and it is loved by every man and woman, and every boy and girl who 
belongs to the nation. New 
Zealand has its own flag, too ; you have all seen it as, the wind opens it
out at the top of the school flagstaff. But New Zealand by itself is not a nation; it is only a part of the 
largest Empire in 
the world - the British Empire.

THE NEW ZEALAND ENSIGN.

Have any of you ever seen the flag of the British Empire, the "Union Jack"? Look at your school flag, 
and in the top 
corner, nearest to the flagstaff, you will see an oblong - red, white, and blue. This
is the "Union Jack"; and, now that Empire Day has come round once more, you will like to hear its 
history. It is really a 
coloured picture from a history-book, telling of things that happened long,
long before you were born.
In our time England, Scotland, and Ireland are all ruled over by one king. But this was not always 
so. Hundreds of years ago each of these countries had its own king,
and sometimes even more than one king. Now, these kings often went to war, and when they did so 
each 
army had its own flag.
When England fought, her men carried before them a white flag with a red cross, and as they fought 
they cried out, " St. George for Merry England! " The Scotch carried
a blue flag with white bars from corner to corner, and cried, " St. Andrew for Scotland! " The Irish 
carried a flag very like the English one, but the red bars stretched from
corner to corner, instead of from side to side ; and as the Irish rushed to battle they cried, " St. 
Patrick for Ireland! "
Now, who were St. George and St. Andrew and St. Patrick ? Some of you may have heard; but for the 
sake of those who have not, I shall tell you a little about them.
St. George was a brave Christian soldier who was born and brought up in a far-off country called 
Asia Minor. He lived at a time when many people of Europe did not
believe in Christianity, and even ill-treated and killed the Christians. But George had no fear, and 
when he was asked if he was a Christian he replied, "I am indeed a
Christian, and I glory in being one." So he was led before the Emperor, and soon after was put to death.
If you look up your Bible you will find that Andrew was the name of one of the twelve Apostles. After 
the death of his Master he travelled into far-off countries, and set the
people an example of holiness. At last he was brought before a Roman Emperor just as St. George was, 
and was crucified on a cross. This cross was shaped like the
letter X, and you will now see why  St. Andrew's cross ran from corner to corner. St. Andrew's 
remains were said to have been taken to Scotland many years afterwards ;
and that is how it happened that the Scotch people came to put his cross on their flag.
St. Patrick was carried as a slave to Ireland about fourteen hundred years ago. After six years of slavery 
he escaped to France, and became a monk. But he was very,
very sorry, because he knew that the Irish people had not beard the Gospel. So, when he was an old 
man, he went again to Ireland, and preached to the people, until over twelve thousand believed as he 
did. When at last he died, an old man over a 
hundred years of age, he was buried in Ireland. So it is not hard to see
why the Irish put the cross of St. Patrick on their flag.

THE UNION JACK.
 CROSS OF ST GEORGE.  CROSS OF ST. ANDREW
FIRST UNION FLAG.
CROSS OF ST. PATRICK.
ST. ANDREW"S CROSS

Now, I have told you that at one time England and Scotland and Ireland had each its own king. But the 
time came when only one king ruled over the three countries.
Let us see what happened to the three flags.
Soon after James I came from Scotland to rule over England as well, he ordered that
the crosses of St. George and St. Andrew should be put upon one flag, to show that the countries were 
united. This was done by laying the red cross of St. George
upon the blue and white flag of St. Andrew. About a hundred years ago Ireland became more closely 
united with England and Scotland than before. Then the red cross
of St. Patrick was placed on top of the flag of St. Andrew, and over all was placed the cross of St. 
George.
Such is the story of the " Union Jack," the flag upon which the sun never sets. Thousands have worked 
for it, and thousands have died for it. Whenever a soldier or a
sailor dies the " Union Jack " is laid over his coffin, no matter whether he be the greatest general 
or admiral, or the most humble drummer-boy or cabin-boy.
It is only a small bit of bunting,
It is only an old coloured rag,
Yet thousands have died for its honour
And shed their best blood for the Flag.
It is charged with the cross of St. Andrew,
Which, of old, Scotland's heroes has led;
It carries the cross of St. Patrick,
For which Ireland's bravest have bled.
Joined with these is the old English banner,
St. George's red cross on white field,
Round which, from King Richard to Edward,*
Britons conquer or die, but ne'er yield.

* From Richard I to Edward VII.

King Edward VII at the Age of Six.

KING EDWARD THE SEVENTH.
On Saturday, the 7th May, people in New Zealand received the sad news 
that our great King, Edward VII, was dead. Throughout the British
Empire, and among other nations also, strong hearts were filled with 
sorrow for the King, and with pity for Queen Alexandra and the Royal
Family.
King Edward had been only nine years on the throne, but during that time both he and the Queen had 
made themselves beloved by their subjects at home and in far, far-off lands.
King Edward was the son of Victoria the Good, and was born on the 9th 
November 1841. He was thus over sixty-eight years of 
age when he died.
When he was not a month old he was made Prince of Wales, a name which is 
given to the eldest son of our King or Queen.
When our late King was young, the good Queen Victoria and her husband 
took great care that he should have the best teachers, and that
he should grow up fit to rule over a great empire. Then he was sent to 
travel in many countries, to learn something of the world and of its
people.
When he was twenty-two years of age he married Alexandra, the daughter of 
the King of Denmark; and her kind and gentle nature has won for her the deep love of the British 
people.

From "Life of Queen Victoria."]
This picture shows Queen Victoria, King Edward VII, King George V, and Prince Edward, the eldest 
son of King George V.

On the 22nd January, 1901, Queen Victoria died, and the Prince of Wales became King, as Edward the 
Seventh, but he was not crowned until the next year.

QUEEN ALEXANDRA.
"The Queen Mother."

He was to have been crowned on the 26th June, and everything was ready for that date. But the King 
fell very sick and nearly died.
The people were in great grief, and flocked to the churches to pray for him. To the great joy of 
everybody, he grew well again.
King Edward and Queen Alexandra were crowned on the 9th August, 1902, in Westminster Abbey.* 
The King 
was seated in St. Edward's Chair, under which is the
famous stone on which the kings of' Scotland used to be crowned at Scone. This stone was brought 
from Scotland by Edward the First.
The King promised to walk always in the footsteps of his mother, and to give the whole of his strength 
to his duties. And well he fulfilled his promise. He always tried to be of service to his people, and to do 
what he could for their good.
As King he endeared himself to his people in all parts of the world. He did not believe in war, and, for 
his skill in helping to settle quarrels between the nations of Europe,
he gained for himself the name of "Edward the Peacemaker. "

* See card No. 11 of the series "Geography of the British Isles."

THE FIRST PRINCE OF WALES.
Wales is now ruled over by the King of England, but many years ago it was ruled over by Welsh 
princes.
A King of England, Edward the First, led his army against a prince then ruling in Wales.

From the " Royal Portrait Gallery," Nelson and Sons.]
THE FIRST PRINCE OF WALES.

The Welsh soldiers fought bravely, but they were beaten, and their prince was killed.
Wishing to please the Welsh people, Edward said he would give them a prince who had been born on 
Welsh soil and who could not speak a word of English. TheWelsh
thought that Edward was going to choose one of their great men, and wondered who it could be. When 
they went to see their new prince, the King showed them his own
son. The boy had indeed been born in Wales, and not a word of English could he speak, for he was a 
tiny baby, only a few days old. This little baby was the first Prince of Wales.

COLUMBUS.
Far, far away across the sea lies the sunny of land of Italy, with its leafy olive-trees, its 
fruitful vineyards, and, more beautiful than all, its dark-eyed boys and girls. And
in this fair country, nearly five hundred years ago, a hero was born.
Now, when a king's son is born, bells are rung, thanksgiving hymns are sung, flags float proudly over 
the city, and the roaring of big guns tells the good tidings. But
when Columbus was born there was no such rejoicing. The tiny boy baby came to the simple home of a 
wool-worker of Genoa, and nobody knew that a hero's life had
just begun.
You must know, of course, that one does not become a hero all at once. I am sure some of you know 
how 
a boy may become a hero, and I shall leave these to tell.
This boy had much to learn. He had need of a strong body ; so he had much playing to do, like other 
boys, in the open air, and much work as well, which made his limbs
strong.
He learned, as you do, to read and write but he read and wrote the language of Italy, which is like sweet 
music.
And then he had to learn about ships, for the time was to come when he would be a great sailor. He 
needed to know about the sea, for his great work would lead him
across the pathless ocean. He should know about men, for the time would come when he must 
command men 
and they must obey. And, most of all, he had to learn to
be very brave and patient if he would do a hero's work for the world. How do you think he learned 
this lesson ?
Genoa is built on a hillside by the sea ; and I can imagine young Christopher playing by the water, 
running over the ships, climbing the masts, 
helping the sailors, listening to the captain, and learning all the while.
At last he went to sea, and I have read that he once saved the lives of a captain of a ship and all 
the crew by his bravery in a great storm.
And now I will tell you a queer thing. The people who lived in the time of Christopher Columbus 
thought that the earth was flat.
" Of course it is," said the wise men; " we can see that it is."
" I have heard a man say that it is round like a ball," said a small boy; but the older people cried, 
" He is foolish. We have always known that the earth is flat. If it were
round like a ball, we should fall off, of course."
Christopher Columbus had heard what the people said. He had learned about a man who believed that 
the 
earth was round. He studied and thought until he, too, believed
that the world was round.
I will tell you another strange thing. The people who lived in Europe did not then know that there 
was such a place as America in the world. Because they thought the
earth was flat, they believed they would fall off it if they came to the edge. So, when they went 
sailing in their ships they liked to keep close to the shore.
There was another reason, too, why they were afraid to go far from land. They had no compass in those 
days, and they feared they would lose their way. But by the time
Columbus had grown to be a man the compass had been invented.
Meanwhile people had travelled to a far country, called India, and had brought back rich jewels, 
spices, pretty shawls, and many beautiful things. This made brave
sailors long to go to India to become rich.


Shall I tell you more of this true story ? Columbus said to himself, "I know that the earth is round. 
These people have travelled east to go to India. It is a long journey. I
will sail west, and I believe I shall reach India by a far shorter way."
But nobody believed him. It was very hard to get money for ships, and Columbus spent long weary 
years, going from place to place, trying to make people believe as he
did; still he was patient and brave.
At last a good Queen of Spain gave him money enough to buy three ships, and sent men to sail with 
him 
to find a shorter way to India.
What a glad day it was for Columbus when he saw his three ships in the harbour ! They were named 
the 
" Pinta," the " Nina," and the " Santa Maria." The picture on the
next page shows them with their sails spread to the wind.
The sun shone brightly, flags floated, bells rang, and the people cheered when the ships sailed from the 
harbour.

THE COMPASS.
THEIR SAILS SPREAD TO THE WIND.

The heart of Columbus swelled in his bosom. He knew he was beginning a 
wonderful journey.
Day after day passed. The little ships were alone on a wide sea. No land was in sight. The winds blew 
and the waves ran high. The sailors were afraid, and begged Columbus to turn back.
" Why are we here, on this fool's errand ? " they cried. " We do not believe your foolish stories 
about a round earth. We shall come to the end and fall off, or else be lost
in this unknown sea."
And in the dark nights they planned to throw Columbus overboard, and to turn their ships toward 
home.
But Columbus was not afraid. He talked with his men until they became quiet and promised to sail on 
for three days more. One day passed: no land in sight. A second
day: still no land. On the third morning, floating upon the water was, a branch with red berries.
Hope rose in anxious hearts, and all eyes looked eagerly ahead. During the night Columbus saw a light 
moving, as if carried by some one on shore. Then was heard the
welcome cry, " Land ! land ! land ! "
What shouts rang through the air ! What joy filled the heart of the brave Columbus! Next morning he 
took his men in smaller boats to the land, and, after kneeling in prayer
upon the shore, claimed the new-found country in the name of his queen, Isabella.
A strange company of men crowded round Columbus and his sailors. They had copper-coloured skins 
and 
straight black hair. They had never seen white men before, and
they thought the ships were great birds. Columbus called the people Indians, because he thought he had 
reached India. But we know that he had found a 
new world.
After a few months Columbus went back to Spain, his ships laden with rich treasures. He carried some 
Indians with him to show the kind of people they were.
There was great rejoicing when the wanderers sailed again into the little Spanish harbour.

HE CLAIMED THE NEW-FOUND COUNTRY.

Then the people said, " Ah! the great Columbus was right after all." They sang his praises everywhere.
Did the boy who sat on the wharf at Genoa gazing over the blue sea dream that, hundreds of years 
afterwards, boys and girls all over the world would hear the story of his life and of the great land which 
he discovered ?
-From "Stepping Stones to Literature."

THE SILKWORM.
Many, many hundreds of years ago, in the great country of China, lived a king whose name was 
Hwang-te.
Now, this king had a beautiful wife named Se-ling-she. They both loved the people over whom they 
ruled, and always thought how best they could help the poor, comfort
the sick, and guard the people from the cruelty of the rich nobles.
As you may know, China is a very large country. It has more people in it than any other country. So 
you see that poor men and women would have to work very, very
hard to make a living, while only the rich people would have nice, good clothes.
How to clothe these poor people troubled Hwang-te very much. One day Queen Se-ling-she came to 
him 
and said, " How sad it is that these poor people have no clothing.
The birds have their feathers, the animals their hair and fur; even my pretty little mulberry worms 
spin themselves the most beautiful silken balls in which to wrap
themselves."
" I wish they would spin coats for my poor people," said Hwang-te, with a sigh.
Se-ling-she went away to her garden with her ladies, and walked down to the beautiful lily-ponds.
" Why shouldn't the little worms spin clothes for my people ? " said the queen to herself. " Surely 
the worms can be gathered together in thousands, and their silken
coats unwound and made into garments."
So she went to the grove where the worms worked on the mulberry trees, and she told her ladies of the 
thought that had come to her.
Now, some of these ladies were proud and cruel; but others were like the queen - gentle and kind of 
heart.
The proud ladies said, " If these worms can spin thread that can be made into cloth, it will be far too 
beautiful for any but the rich to wear. Do not trouble about common
people, queen. "
But the kind ladies said, " O queen, let thy beautiful thought be given to the people. Then all may 
gather the worms, and plant mulberry trees on which to feed them. The
worms may be grown in great numbers, and our people may make beautiful clothing for themselves, 
and to sell to all the world."
Then, at the queen's wish, King Hwang-te sent a message to all the people throughout the land of 
China. He told them to grow mulberry trees in great numbers
everywhere ; and they did so, because the people loved
the king and queen, though they wondered greatly.
When the time came, and the trees were ready, messengers again went 
throughout the land. They told of the little grey grub that, spun
the lovely golden ball. They showed, too, how the thread was to be 
unwound, and how the weavers were to make it into beautiful cloth.
And so, after many lessons, and after years of hard work and patience, 
the poor people got their reward. The thread from the little grub was made into the most beautiful cloth, 
and people came from all parts of 
the world to buy it.

SILKWORM ON MULBERRY-LEAF, AND COCOON.

And to-day the most beautiful clothing that can be made comes from that 
same little grub that Queen Se-ling-she told her people about
two thousand six hundred years ago.
I know you have seen the cloth, and I am sure you have all heard of the 
little grey grub that is called the silkworm.

AN ARBOR DAY WALK.
One day the teacher of a country school asked the children if they would 
like to have a picnic. You may be sure they answered that they
would.
"Well, then," said the teacher, " it will be Arbor Day on Wednesday next, 
and I think the best way to spend it will be to have a picnic in the
bush. We shall start early in the morning, and collect some young plants. 
Then in the afternoon we shall walk back and plant them in the
school ground."
Some of the children did not know what the teacher meant by " Arbor Day "; so he told them it was a 
day set apart for the planting of
trees. " It was found," said he, " that too many trees were being cut 
down, and so it was agreed that one day in every year should be set
apart for tree-planting."
When the day came, not many of the children were absent. They started 
early, and reached the bush in good time. After a little rest they
began to wander about, to look at the beautiful trees and plants all 
around. But they were told not to go out of sight, because it is very
easy to get lost in the bush.
I cannot tell you all the children did that day, nor how they enjoyed 
themselves working in the cool shade. 

THE BEAUTIFUL NATIVE BUSH.

They saw many fine trees and beautiful ferns. The trees of New Zealand are among 
the finest in the world. Not far from the spot where lunch was set out a giant kauri was growing. It was 
nearly a hundred feet high and more than forty feet around.
The teacher said that it contained enough timber to build a house.
One of the boys wanted to climb up it, but he could not, because it was so stout and had no branches 
near the ground. Some of its branches had kauri-gum upon them.
The children were surprised at the large number of different trees the teacher pointed out to them. They 
had never taken so much notice of them before.
They saw a totara with its fine green leaves, and learned that its trunk is the most useful wood in 
New Zealand for making telegraph poles, railway sleepers, and piles for
wharves. Most of them thought the puriri, the rimu, and the karaka the most beautiful trees, because 
their leaves were of such a rich green colour. They asked the
teacher to let them dig up some young ones to plant in the afternoon. They thought such beautiful 
trees could hardly be useful too ; but they were told that the puriri
yields a hard wood that is much valued for making railway sleepers and the posts of fences.
The trees had pleased the children, but the ferns delighted them. There were so many different kinds, 
and they seemed to be growing everywhere. Most of the girls
gathered bunches of them to take home to their mothers. Some dug up the roots to plant in pots when 
they got home.
The beautiful crape fern and the kidney fern were their favourites ; but they did not take many of 
them away, because they are hard to grow. The tree-ferns were to be
found everywhere, but most thickly in the gullies. Indeed, every gully had its banks clothed with 
ferns. The delicate maidenhair was there, and so were many other kinds.
How pleasant it was for the children to be roaming about in the pure air and helping to find plants for 
the teacher and the elder scholars to dig up ! And how happy they
were when they returned to the school ground, and watched the planting of the young trees they had 
brought back from the forest !
Most of the plants grew, too, and the children never look upon them without thinking of the pleasant 
day they spent together in the bush. They all think that a picnic in
the bush is more enjoyable than any other, and they are all looking forward to spending next Arbor Day 
in the same way as they spent the last.
-From Collins's "New Zealand Graphic Readers."




KING GEORGE THE FIFTH.
In the last  School Journal you were told something about our late King, 
Edward VII, and I must now tell you a little about our new King, who is
called George V. He was the second son of King Edward, but his older 
brother died. He was forty-five years of age on the 3rd of last month
(June).
Before he became King he was called the Prince of Wales, and in last 
month's Journal you were told how the eldest son of the King of England
came to have this title.
Prince George was often spoken of as the "Sailor Prince," for when he was barely twelve years of age 
he began his 
training as a sailor, and has since made voyages to many parts of the
world.
Now, you might think that when a prince joins a ship to be trained as a 
sailor he is better treated than the other boys on board. But the wise King
Edward wished to make his son a good sailor, and so George had to work in 
the boats, go aloft, keep watch night or day, and obey the orders of
the captain quickly and smartly, just as the other boys had to do.
Here is a story that shows how George had to work. The ship-of-war in which 
he was, serving had gone to America. While she was there she had to take on board coal for the 
engines. Now, this is very dirty work; the hands and faces of the men get covered with coal-dust, and 
even a mother might scarcely know her own son. At such a time no one wants people to come off to the 
ship.

GEORGE V IN HIS UNIFORM AS ADMIRAL.

But a visitor did come on board. He asked if he could look over the ship, and, as he was a man of 
importance, he was told he could do so. But the captain was busy, so
he called to a young officer who was helping to get the coal on board, and asked him to show the 
visitor everything.
While they were going about, the man asked the officer if he would be able to see the Prince; that 
was what he had really come on board for. The young officer replied, " I
am afraid you will not be able to see his face."
" Oh ! " said the American, " I suppose you keep him wrapped up in cotton-wool when work like this is 
being done." By this he meant that because George was a
prince he would not be given hard or unpleasant work to do.
The young officer made no reply, but only smiled in a good-natured way, When the visitor went to 
thank the captain and wish him good-bye, he said, " I should have liked to see the Prince." You can 
imagine how
he felt when the captain told him that the coal-begrimed young officer who had been so kind and 
polite to him for two hours was the Prince himself !
By-and-by George was given command of a ship-of-war, and well he showed that he knew how to 
manage 
her, for during a storm he helped another vessel that was in great danger.
She had broken down, and was drifting towards the shore. George brought his vessel close up to her, 
and after much trouble managed to get a strong steel rope passed from the one vessel to the other. Then 
the Prince's vessel towed her companion safely to port.

QUEEN MARY.

George made three great voyages before he came to the throne. During the first, when he was only 
fourteen years of age, he 
visited the West Indies, South Africa, Australia, Fiji, Japan, China, and other places.
His second great voyage brought him as far even as New Zealand. This was about nine years ago. With 
his wife, now called Queen Mary, he set out from England in a great steamer. They came through the 
Mediterranean Sea, calling at different places on the way ; then through the Suez Canal to Ceylon, and 
then on to Australia.
They next visited New Zealand, and, though you will not remember it, your elder brothers and sisters 
and your parents will recollect how glad everybody was to see them.

PRINCE EDWARD, KING GEORGE'S ELDEST SON.
  
Flags flew in the streets, bands played, bells rang, guns were fired, and school-children had a holiday. 
The royal party spent nearly three weeks in New
Zealand, and then returned to Australia.
 They called at South Africa, and then crossed the Atlantic to Canada, where they were given as hearty 
a welcome as they had 
received elsewhere. Before going back to England they crossed the continent by a great railway that 
runs past great lakes, and through hundreds and hundreds of miles of rich wheat-growing country.
A few years afterwards the Prince and Princess went to India, which had not been visited during the 
trip to Australia and New Zealand This was the third great journey made by the heir to the throne.

WINDSOR CASTLE: A ROYAL RESIDENCE.

You cannot even imagine how grandly the people of India welcomed them. The great Indian princes 
seemed as if trying to see who could make the greatest display. At
different towns the natives flocked in thousands to see them, to show their respect for the Prince, 
and to do honour to his father the King.
I am sure you are not surprised that Prince George was called the " Sailor Prince." I expect that he will 
now be called the " Sailor King."
King George's eldest son, Edward, is as fond of the sea as is his father. He likes all kinds of games, but 
best of all he enjoys being on shipboard. The picture on
page 90 shows him in his sailor's dress.

HOW THE SILKWORM WAS BROUGHT TO EUROPE.
A little time ago you were told how the Chinese Emperor, Hwang-te, and his wife, the Empress 
Se-ling-she, taught their people to make silk from the thread of the
silkworm.
Now, for many, many years the Chinese were the only people who had silkworms. The Chinese law 
said 
that any person who sold or gave away any of the silkworms or
their eggs, or told how silk could be made, would be put to death. So you see that the people of 
other lands were obliged to go to the Chinese to buy the precious cloth.
For hundreds of years silk was sold at a great price. Sometimes it sold for more than its own weight 
in gold, so that none but the very richest people could buy it.
But people all over the world were trying to find out the secret of how it was made. Many people were 
killed when trying to steal the precious eggs and carry them out of
China. But for a long time no eggs were carried off, and the secret was safely kept.
At last two monks wandered into China, preaching to the people. They lived there for years, and the 
people grew to trust them. They were allowed to see the way the
silk was made, and learned all that they wanted to know.
Then one day they told the Chinese that they would have to return to their home. So, though the 
Chinese were sorry to bid them good-bye, they prepared to depart.
With their bundles on their backs and long bamboo staffs in their hands they journeyed towards the 
border of the land of China. Many times they were searched to see if
any of the precious silkworms' eggs were hidden in their bundles or in their clothing; but as nothing 
was found they were allowed to go on. At last, after many weary
months of travel, they reached Constantinople.
When they told that they knew how to make silk some of the people said, " What is the good of your 
knowing how to make the silk, when well you know we have no silkworms to produce the thread ! You 
are but fools to come 
with such an empty story." And then they brought the two monks
before one of their judges.
"Well," said the judge, "and what have you to say for yourselves ? "
So the two monks leaned upon their bamboo staffs and told their story again. When it was finished 
they added, " And now, O judge! if you will give us a strong knife we will show you something that 
will bring you joy."
A strong knife was quickly given to the monks. Taking their bamboo staffs, they split
them carefully down the middle, and there, inside, were hundreds of silkworms' eggs which had been 
craftily hidden in the hollows of the sticks by the two ungrateful
monks.
And that was how silkworms first came into Europe, and how the people of Europe first got to know 
how to make the rich cloth.
The news soon reached the Emperor of Turkey and gave him great delight. The eggs were hatched, 
and, 
when the moths grew up, each female would lay about five
hundred eggs. So you see that it would not be long before the Emperor had a large number of 
silkworms.
He caused a silk-factory to be set up in his royal palace ; but only people he could trust were 
allowed to make the silk or to see how it was made. But in time the
silkworm was carried to other countries, and Italy and France grew rich and famous because of their 
silk trade..
Then some Frenchmen who were driven out of France fled to England, taking with them the secret of 
silk-making. This secret gave great riches to England, though the
silk had to be brought from France and Italy, as England is too cold for the little worms to grow well.

ENGLISH CHILDREN IN INDIA.
Some time ago you read about India, and how the brown Hindu children who live there eat, and play, 
and go to school. But there are English children, too, who live in India.
This is the story of three little ones who saw every day such strange things that they never forgot 
them, even years after, when they had left all the wonders of India far away.
First they would wake up, very early in the morning. At 4 or 5 o'clock a nice brown nurse, called an " 
ayah," would come to dress them for the day, and  to give them " the
little breakfast " (" chota hazri," they called it), because, when you get up so early, there must be 
another breakfast later on.
Then Willie and Rose, the two elder children, went out to walk, or to play in the garden. The ayah 
carried baby Ned, not in her arms, as an English nurse would do, but riding
on a nice soft little saddle, which was strapped round her waist.
It was such a lovely garden to play in, full of sweet flowers and trees. And in the trees all kinds 
of bright birds sang; queer bats called " flying - foxes " hung head downwards
from the branches; and little
gey monkeys jumped about, and pulled one
another's curly tails.
Once a monkey sprang down and pounced on Rose's doll, which it carried up to the top of the very 
tallest tree. There it sat on a high branch, cuddling the doll as if it had
been a monkey baby. But monkeys soon grow tired of anything, and before long Rose found her doll 
again, dropped gently down amongst the flowers.
Almost better than her doll, Rose loved a tame bird, a myna.,* which a friend had given to her for a 
pet. It could mock any sound it heard. Sometimes it chattered like a
monkey, or barked like a dog ; and it even learned to talk like a little girl. But Willie's pet was a 
mongoose, which is a grey furry thing, as clever as a cat in catching mice and rats, and more clever 
than any other animal in killing snakes.

*Reference should be made to the mynas now in New Zealand. Some were introduced from Australia, 
and some from India.

One day baby Ned had been left asleep in a cool place out of doors. A wicked snake found its way into 
the garden. Closer and closer it crawled, until it lay coiled up on
the baby's pillow, its flat green head raised, ready to strike the moment poor Ned
moved.

" HE FASTENED HIS SHARP TEETH BEHIND ITS HEAD."

Just then the mongoose saw the snake. With one spring he fastened his sharp teeth behind its head. 
The snake fought hard, but the mongoose won the fight. Baby Ned
woke up in safety, for the cruel snake lay still and dead.
That is the worst thing about India. Even in lovely places there are nasty creatures like snakes ; or 
great spiders that crawl about and bite; or little white ants that come in
hundreds and hundreds, and eat up your books, and your toys, and
even your boots, if you leave them on the floor when these armies of ants are marching through the 
house. Then, green lizards run up and down the wall; and flies of all
sorts fall into your soup at dinner or try to bite you; and big frogs hop upstairs, and make themselves 
quite at home.

"DRAWN BY WHITE BULLOCKS."

It is so hot, and that is why many odd things happen. People get up early, because it is too warm to 
work or to play in the middle of the day. These children, and, I think, their mother and father too, 
always went to 
sleep then, and woke up to take another walk when it got cool again m
the evening.
In the streets Rose and Willie saw crowds of nice brown people. Sometimes an Indian prince would 
come 
riding by. He sat upon an elephant covered with cloth of gold,
while his servants waved peacock fans above his head. Another great man rode on a donkey, and his 
servant held a scarlet umbrella over him to keep off the sun.
Sometimes there were carriages drawn by white bullocks; and sometimes a carriage, was made like a 
chair, to hold one person, and was pulled by a strong brown man
instead of by a horse. Oh, the streets were full of amusing things!
But soon the summer days, and the nights, too, grew hotter and hotter. No one could go out. Nothing 
cool was to be found. The water was warm in the big red jars that were filled every day. The towels in 
the bath-room were as hot as if they had been held to a fire.
" I am so hot and so tired that I could cry," said poor Rose one day; " only, if I cried every time I 
felt tired now, I should never have enough handkerchiefs."
The ayah tried to comfort her by telling a story: " Once upon a time," she said,
there were twelve brothers. Some were weak  and some were strong, but they were all such heroes that 
when they died they turned into twelve suns. First they tried to shine all at once. This made it so hot 
that the forests 
were burnt up, and the birds fell dead ; and the suns had to set, as fast
as twelve suns could. Then they said that each should shine in turn for one month in the year. That is 
why some months are much hotter than others.

GOING TO THE HILLS.

When a strong brother is shining, we cry and. are tired; when it is the youngest brother's turn, he is so 
weak that he can hardly melt the snow that falls on the hills."
But Rose's mother said, " Do not cry, my dear, for this evening we are all going
away from this hot town, to find a cool place among the hills."
All through the night they travelled, in funny carriages that were carried by men instead of being 
drawn by horses. And in the early morning the children found themselves high above the plains, in a
new, lovely house, where everything was cool and pleasant.
Many English children had come there from other places. There were parties and picnics, and new, 
bright birds to make friends with, and new, bright flowers to pick.
" In the garden at home all our dear flowers had died of sunstroke," said Rose.
" But they will all come back," said a little friend. " We always find just the same flowers in blossom 
when we go down after the rains."
"And Rose brought her myna with her," said Willie ; "but it will be nice, when we go home again, to 
see my own dear mongoose."

THE FROG'S STORY.
A green frog sat on the edge of a pond on the watch for flies. A little boy was standing near.
As he watched, he thought he heard the frog speaking to him. " Croak! Croak! " said the frog. "Listen 
to me, little boy, and I will tell you the story of my life.

FROGS.

I was not always a frog as you see me now. In my very early days I was just like a little fish. 
Before that I was only an egg that my mother had placed with a great many
others in a pond.
" In about two weeks there came out of each
egg a little tadpole. What jolly little fellows we were and what fun we had as we swam
about in our pond !
" At first we had no mouths, but these came in a few days, and then we were soon very hungry. We ate 
the weeds that grew in the water.
"Bigger and bigger we grew every day. If you had seen me then you would have noticed that I seemed 
all head and tail, without, any body.
" Our tails were large and flat, and with them we could swim about just like fishes.
"At first there were a great many of us in our little home. But after a time there were not so many, 
for fishes ate us when they could catch us, and ducks gobbled us up
with their big bills.
"In time I became quite a large tadpole, and was very proud of my fine tail. I was very sorry, you 
may be sure, to find one day that my tail was getting smaller.
" Yes; every day it was a little smaller than it was the day before. About the same time other 
strange things happened.
" Two little lumps began to come behind my head, one on each side. As my tail became smaller, these 
became larger. Soon I found that the little lumps were a pair of
legs ; and before long another pair began to grow.
"And now I was no longer hungry. The weeds did not taste so good as they used to, so I gave up eating 
them.
" When my legs had grown a little longer I was able to hop about. All this time my tail had been 
growing smaller and smaller, and I was slowly turning into a frog. Some
of my brothers and sisters had now quite lost their tails; and how I wished for the time when I 
should be a proper frog
"At length that time came. How glad I was!
I could jump about, and I could sing, oh, so sweetly! Just listen how nicely I can trill Croak ! 
Croak !
" I then began to come out of the water on to the land. I found that I wanted to eat again, and that 
I had a big, wide mouth. I did not care for weeds any longer, but
wanted flies, and mosquitoes, and worms.
" If you will watch that fly, I will show you how I can catch my food on the tip of my tongue."

TADPOLES AND YOUNG FROG.

The frog darted its tongue quickly out of its mouth, and drew it in again with the fly sticking to it. 
When the fly was eaten, the frog went on with the story.
"Look at my hind legs," it said. "They are so long that I can jump quite a long way. There is skin 
between the long, thin toes. This helps me when I am swimming. You shall see, presently, how I do it. 
My front legs are shorter, and 
there is no skin between the toes.
" I have to keep a sharp look-out for enemies, who would like to eat me. That is why I have such 
large eyes. I am very much afraid of ducks. They seem just as fond of frogs as they are of tadpoles.
" I have just finished laying my eggs in this pool. In a few days you may see the tadpoles swimming 
about.
"All through the summer I shall swim in the pond or hop about in the grass with my brothers and 
sisters. We shall be very happy, and will sing to you night and day. Croak! Croak !
" When the winter comes, we shall all find snug places in the mud, or in holes in the ground. There 
we shall sleep till the spring returns.
" Some other day I may tell you more about myself, but if I sit here too long now my skin will 
become dry, and that will never do. So I think I shall have a swim. Good-bye. Croak ! Croak!"
The frog dived into the water, and the little boy saw it swim away, its legs with the skin between the 
toes driving it quickly through the water.

KINDNESS TO ANIMALS.
Every little boy and every little girl has some pet. Nothing is more pleasing to see than the way 
children love their pets, unless it is to see how their pets love them.

LONG, LONG AGO IN BRITAIN.
A very, very long time ago Britain was so full of trees that there was very little room for houses, 
and still less for corn-fields, and there were no gardens.
The houses were made of wicker-work - that is, of sticks put together like baskets - and covered over 
with mud to keep out the wind and rain. The people, who were
called Britons, used to build many houses close together, and make a fence round them, to keep off 
the bears, and the wolves, and the foxes.
These fences were made of great piles of wood and trunks of trees laid one upon another till they 
made a high wall ; for at that time the Britons did not know how to
build walls of stone or bricks.
Several houses, with a fence round them, made a village; and the Britons had their villages either in 
the middle of the woods, where they could hardly be found out, or
else on the tops of high hills, from which they could see everything and everybody.
I do not think the insides of their houses could have been very comfortable. They may have had, 
wooden stools to sit on and wooden benches for bedsteads. Their
beds were made of skins of wild beasts, spread over dry grass and leaves.
They had great wooden bowls to hold their meat, and wooden cups to drink out of; and in some parts of 
the country they had rough earthern bowls and pitchers.
They had very few tools to make the things they wanted; and yet, by taking great pains, they made 
them very neatly. 

A CORACLE.

Their boats were very curious. They were made of basketwork covered over with skins, and were 
called " coracles."
In the winter they used to wrap themselves up in the skins of the beasts they could shoot with their 
bows and arrows. In the summer they painted their bodies.
They were fond of a fine blue colour, made out of a plant called "woad," which they found in the 
woods. They squeezed out the juice of the woad, and then stained
themselves all over with it, so that in the summer they looked as if they were dressed in tight blue 
clothes.
 They were as badly off for food as for clothes. Only a few of the very richest Britons could get bread, 
and the rest of the people ate acorns and berries.
 
ANCIENT BRITON DRIVING CHARIOT.

They had beef, mutton, deer, hares, and wild birds. They drank milk, and knew how to make cheese ; 
but most of them were forced to spend a great deal of time hunting for wild animals.
In time, however, the Britons in the south learned how to grow corn and to work in metal. They traded 
with the nearest part of Europe,
which is now called France, but was then named Gaul. They were very brave in war,
and fought from chariots, which had sharp knives sticking out from the wheels.
Now, you can see that early Britain was somewhat like New Zealand before the white people came, 
and 
that the early Britons were
somewhat like the early Maoris. I wonder if any clever little boy or girl can tell me in what, ways the 
Britons and the Maoris were like each other, and in what ways they were unlike each other.
-Adapted from " Little Arthur's History of England."

A MAORI WARRIOR

From " Collins's Graphic Reader."
A CHINESE SCHOOL.

THE STORY OF THE WILLOW-PATTERN PLATE.
Of course you know who are the people living on the other side of the world that are spoken of in the 
poetry you have just read. Yes, they are the Chinese.
Now, I am not going to tell you about little
Chinese boys and girls this month, but about a Chinese picture. Years and years ago it was painted on 
plates - plates such as you use at dinner-time. 
And this picture has a meaning.  Look at the picture of the
plate on this page. To the right you see the large house of a  Chinese nobleman, or mandarin, as he is 
called.
In the garden are two trees - one covered with mulberries, and another loaded with oranges. Down by 
the water's edge is a weeping willow, while above it, high up in the
air, can be seen a pair of turtle doves with their beaks touching.
Then, of course, you see a bridge with three people on it. They are the Mandarin, his daughter, and 
the gardener. The gardener lives in the little cottage to the left.
Sometimes he goes out fishing, and you see him in his boat.
Now, what does all this mean ? Well, this is the story: The Mandarin's daughter, Li-Chi, was the most 
beautiful lady in the land - more beautiful than the stars of heaven,
and more graceful than the flowers of the garden. Her father wished her to marry a great and rich 
noble like himself.
But poor Li-Chi did not like the husband her father had chosen for her, for she was already in love. 
Looking out of her window one day, she had seen Chang, the young
gardener, at work.
He was so handsome, with his almond-shaped eyes, his shining skin, and his long, slender pigtail, 
that Li-Chi straightway fell in love with him.
How happy they were when together! But, alas ! Chang was so poor that he was afraid he could never 
marry the rich Mandarin's beautiful daughter. And just imagine
poor Li-Chi's distress when one day her father came to her and said, " Li-Chi, be prepared to marry
the husband I have chosen for you. He belongs to a noble family, and you will be a great lady."

Stereo. copyright, Underwood and Underwood, London and New York.]
A CHINESE MANDARIN AND HIS FAMILY.

In vain did the poor girl burst into tears and throw herself at her father's feet. In vain did she ask him 
not to force her to marry a man she did not love. At last, broken-hearted, she exclaimed, "O father! I 
cannot marry him, for I 
love Chang better than any one else."
"What!" cried her father, in a great passion, "would you throw yourself away on a wretched gardener ? 
You, who could be one of the greatest ladies in the land! I forbid you
to mention his name to me again. I have promised my friend that you shall marry him, and, when the 
orange-tree bursts into flower, marry him you shall."
Poor Li-Chi! She could only sit down and weep, and pray that her lover would prove true, and come to 
carry her away. But day after day passed by, and Chang did not
come. Then she heard that her father had sent him away. But still she trusted him, for he was so 
brave and wise, and she knew that, wherever he might be, he was
preparing to rescue her.
How sorrowfully she watched the orange-tree The little buds grew larger and larger, and, as the bright 
sun brought them nearer and nearer their opening, she became
more and more sad and hopeless. They would soon burst into flower, and she knew not what to do. 
Every day she sadly wandered to the water's edge opposite Chang's
cottage, but still no Chang came to comfort and cheer her with a plan for escape.
Then, one bright morning, she saw a little boat made of coco-nut shell come sailing towards her; it 
came right to her feet, and, wondering who had made it, she picked it up. Oh, joy! inside was, a letter 
from Chang. Though 
she could not see him, she knew he must be watching her. So
she wrote a reply, telling him that he must be quick if he wished to marry her, for in a few days the 
orange-buds would burst into bloom. Then, putting her letter into the
boat, she pushed it off and watched it sail out of sight.
Now, Chang's mother reared silkworms, and spun silk for the Mandarin and his family. She used to 
take 
the silk to the great man's house, and while there she arranged that
Chang was to run away with Li-Chi, who.
should bring away her gold and jewels, so
that the lovers might live together in comfort.
On the very morning when the orange
blossoms opened, Chang crept over the bridge and through the garden to Li-Chi's home. He was 
dressed 
as an old man, and entered
with tottering steps and bent head. But when he stood upright Li-Chi knew him at once and sprang into 
his arms.
Li-Chi quickly prepared to leave her father's house for ever, and put on a servant's dress, that she 
should not be known. She took
her distaff for she did not intend to lead an
idle life, and Chang carried a box containing the jewels and money. Quietly they crept out of the 
house and into the garden. A few steps would have taken them to the
bridge, when Li-Chi's father saw them, and at once knew his daughter. Raising a great outcry and 
seizing a whip, he started after them.
Chang cried out to Li-Chi to go ahead, and said that he would follow. Just when he reached the middle 
of the bridge, Li-Chi's father caught up to him. There now seemed
no escape. Chang would be cut to pieces by the cruel whip, and Li-Chi would be dragged back to a life 
of misery.
But just then two friendly fairies made up their minds to help the lovers. The box of jewels and the 
distaff fell with a splash into the water, Li-Chi and Chang disappeared,
and two beautiful turtle doves rose into the air and flew away.
And, when nesting-time came, two of the most beautiful turtle doves that had ever been seen built 
their snug little home in the willow-tree. This they did year after year,
and they lived so sweet and happy a life that they gave rise to the old saying, "As happy as a pair of 
turtle doves."
And that is the story told by the blue picture on the old plate that is valued so highly.

THE STARFISH.
Have you ever been to the seaside ? Oh! it is grand to run along the sandy beach, paddle in the sea, 
and pick up shells.
In some places there are high cliffs, where sea-birds build their nests, and on the top
there may be a lighthouse. 

"DO LOOK, HARRY."

Below the cliffs are the low, rugged rocks, covered with seaweed. There are also many basins filled 
with water, in which you may see very wonderful things, if you stoop down to look.
Nellie spent a month of her holidays at the seaside. She liked the sand better than the rocks, and she 
used to build sand castles for the tide to wash away.
Then she used to turn over the heaps of seaweed with her wooden spade, and watch the
little  crabs scuttle sideways to the water. She often found strange things that she knew 
nothing of. These she would take to her brother Harry, who would tell
her what he knew of them.
One day Nellie found a star-shaped thing, and took it to Harry as usual. "Do look, Harry, at this 
strange thing I have found," she cried: " what do you think it can be ?"
"Oh!" said Harry, "that is only a starfish. Did you never see one before ?"
"No," said Nellie, "I have seen nothing like it. What a queer fish it is!"
Then Harry told her that, although she called it a fish, it is not a fish at all. It cannot swim, for 
it has neither tail nor fins, but it can walk.
He showed Nellie that on its under-side the starfish has hundreds of little suckers that serve it as 
feet, and enable it to move from place to place.
In the centre of the under-side is its mouth, and when it comes across a small crab it will curl up its 
arms, open its mouth, and swallow its victim whole.
Nellie thanked Harry for telling her so much, and ran off to look for more strange things.

