third century A. D. About a hundred years later it became the religion of the country.

After the fall of Rome,
The Mohammedan Arabs

In the path of the destroyer. Egypt suffered many invasions. conquered it A. D. 641 and destroyed the greatest library in the world, that at Alexandria, declaring that the Koran contained all the wisdom man needed. From that time until 1882, when the English and the French took control of the finances of the country, Egypt was governed by the Arabs or the Turks. France withdrew her protection and the country was under the control of the English.

1. Locate ancient Egypt and tell why a great civilization sprang up there very early in the history of the world.

2. What are some of the inventions and discoveries for which the world is indebted to the Egyptians?

3. Have you ever seen an Egyptian mummy? If so, describe it. Why did these people embalm their dead?

4. Find as many pictures of the pyramids and other ruins of Egypt as you can.

MODERN EGYPT

Egypt of the present day has an area four times that of New York State. The oasis of the Nile, which is but a small portion of the total area, is almost the only part that is productive. About 11,000,000 people live in this territory, a population larger in proportion to its cultivated lands than that supported by any region on the globe.

Products of the soil.-The climate makes it possible with irrigation to produce two or three crops a year. Agriculture is the chief industry. The principal crops are wheat and corn, which are the food of the people, clover for the work animals, and cotton for market.

Date palms grow along the Nile, and vineyards and groves of oranges, lemon, and figs are seen in various parts of the

country. Some grazing is carried on along the river and on the plateau. Cotton is the chief export, and is shipped to Great Britain and the United States, where it is greatly prized for its long fiber.

Trade and transportation.-The foreign trade of the country is carried on mainly with Great Britain. The chief ports

are Alexandria, which has twenty steamship lines, and Cairo, the capital, which is the port of entry for products to Central Africa. A railway which is part of the Cape-to-Cairo line, traverses the country from Khartum to the Mediterranean Sea. At Berber a branch goes eastward to the Red Sea.

The Assuan Dam has added 1,000,000 acres to the culti

vatable land of Egypt, and $15,000,000 annually to its wealth. It was constructed by the English at a cost of about $12,000,000 and has transformed Egypt into one of the richest countries of the world instead of one of the poorest.

1. Locate Egypt on a world map and trace modern trade routes by railway and waterway from it to Damascus, Bagdad, and India.

2. Name the chief products of the Nile Valley.

3. Find pictures of the Suez Canal and the Assuan Dam.

4. A volunteer committee report to the class on the work of General ("Chinese") Gordon and General Lord Kitchener

in northeast Africa.

5. Tell of the work of the British in Egypt since 1882.

LESSON XXVI

ARMENIA

In a picturesque region of southwest Asia inclosed by the Caucasus, Taurus, Anti-Taurus Mountains, and the Syrian Saddle, live the most persecuted people of the world, the Armenians. They are a very ancient nation and once ruled a country washed by the Black, Caspian, and Mediterranean seas.

THE SWITZERLAND OF ASIA

The Armenia of to-day is a beautiful rugged country of mountains, plateau, and plains, some of which are a mile above sea level. Roughly speaking, it extends from the Caspian nearly to the Mediterranean Sea. On account of the beauty of its scenery it is often compared to Switzerland. It is an old volcanic region with peaks of lava, the most noted of which is Mount Ararat (Gen. 8. 4), on which the natives tell travelers that pieces of Noah's ark are still to be found. The Armenians will not climb Mount Ararat, for they believe many evil spirits dwell there. This snow-crowned mountain, 17,750 feet high, supplies water for rivers which flow out in all directions and empty into the Caspian and Black Seas and into the Persian Gulf.

The source of great rivers.-The Euphrates, Tigris, Araxes, Pison, and other rivers which water orchards and vineyards have their sources in this region. The land has slowly sunk over certain sections, leaving depressions some of which are 100 miles long and 1,000 or more feet below the surrounding level. A few of these basins contain lakes, such as Van, which has an area of 1,500 square miles. Fertile plains are found which the streams have partly filled with sediment.