The Appalachian system appears in Maine in a series of irregular elevations culminating in Mt. Katahdin, which rises 5,200 feet. In New Hampshire and Vermont they form the White and Green Mountains, respectively, separated by the Connecticut River. The highest peak in the White Mountains is Mt. Washington, 6,279 feet, while the culminating point in the Green Mountains is Mt. Mansfield, 4,364 feet. Two interesting subgroups of this system in New York State are the Adirondack plateau, lying between Lake Champlain and the St. Lawrence and Mohawk valleys, and having, in Mt. Marcy, an altitude of 5,344 feet, and the Catskills, whose highest peak is Slide Mountain, rising 4,205 feet.

Beginning in northern New Jersey and running through central Pennsylvania, the two Virginias and sections of Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, Georgia and Alabama, the Appalachian system, here known as the Allegheny Mountains, extends in a southwesterly direction in a zone of parallel chains enclosing long narrow valleys lying between the elevated ridges. These ranges are known by different local names. The Blue Mountains run across the northwestern part of New Jersey and the eastern part of Pennsylvania, and are penetrated by the Delaware, the Lehigh Valley, Schuylkill and Susquehanna rivers. In the Virginias beyond the Potomac, the North Shenan

The Atlantic slope, together with Florida and the Gulf plain, the latter penetrating the valley of the Mississippi as far north as the Ohio River, forms an extensive coastal plain that nowhere exceeds 500 feet in elevation.

The Mississippi-Missouri basin has an area estimated at 1,750,000 square miles; this includes the basins of the Missouri, the upper Mississippi, the Ohio, the Arkansas and the Red River, together with the minor basins of the Yazoo and St. Francis rivers. From the source of the Missouri to the mouth of the Mississippi is a distance of about 4,200 miles.

In addition to the basin of the Mississippi, there are the minor river basins of the Atlantic slope and Florida, the coast basin of the Apalachicola, Alabama and Pearl rivers. and their tributaries, and the coast basin of the Texas rivers, the Sabine, Trinity, Brazos, Colorado, San Antonio and Nueces; the basin of the St.

Lawrence, in which are contained the rivers of Michigan and some few rivers of Wisconsin; and the basin of Hudson Bay, into which flow the Red River of the north and the Souris River of Dakota. There are also the basin of the Colorado River, which flows for hundreds of miles between the walls of a cañon a mile in depth, the basins of the Columbia and Sacramento rivers, and the Pacific coast basin. In addition to these there is an extensive basin in the heart of the Rocky Mountains which formerly belonged to the one or the other of the river systems that flow into the Pacific, but which is at present a closed basin, having no outlet to the sea. This region encloses Great Salt Lake, a large portion of Utah, almost all of Nevada, and parts of southern California and Oregon. From north to south this zone of internal drainage is 600 miles in length with an extreme breadth of over 500 miles. At more than one point it is depressed below sea level, as in Death Valley and the so-called Salton Sea.

The Rocky Mountain Mountain plateau, whether regarded from the standpoint of area or from that of altitude, is a region of sublime proportions. The prairies west of the Mississippi gradually increase in elevation until they reach an altitude of 5,000 feet. This high tableland stretches from Mexico to Canada and from Kansas to California, 1,000 miles north and south and 1,000 miles in extreme width. On

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this elevation are the Staked Plain of Texas and New Mexico, the Bad Lands of Dakota, a large part of the territory of Montana, Idaho and Oregon, the great basin of Nevada, the low lands of Utah and the plateau of Colorado.

The largest connected mountain region in this tableland contains heights varying from 6,000 to 12,000 feet, extending from the Zuñi Mountains of New Mexico to the Big Belt Mountains of Montana. It includes the Yellowstone National Park, the high plateau of Wyoming and Colorado, and the Wahsatch Mountains of Utah; while a detached plateau of similar elevation occupies the centre of the great basin in Nevada. Those parts of the Rocky Mountain plateau that soar above 12,000 feet are naturally of more restricted area. The San Juan Mountains, the Uncomphagre Mountains, the Crystal Mountains, the Siwatch Mountains, the Front and Park ranges and Pike's Peak, in Colorado, are of this elevation, as are also the Wind River and Big Horn mountains of Wyoming, the Uintah Mountains of Utah, and a large part of the mountain wall between Nevada and California-the Sierra Nevadawhose highest peak is Mt. Whitney, 14,502 feet. The highest peaks in this division of the Rocky Mountains are: Pike's Peak, 14,108 feet; the Mount of the Holy Cross, 14,170 feet; Long's Peak, 14,271 feet; Uncomphagre Peak, 14,289 feet; Mt. Harvard, 14,375 feet,

and Blanca Peak, 14,390 feet, in the Sangre de Cristo range. Further north the Cascade Range has the culminating peaks of Mt. Shasta, 14,380 feet; Mt. Baker, 10,827 feet; Mt. Adams, 12,470 feet, and Mt. Rainier, 14,363 feet.

Alaska is situated in the northwest corner of the American continent. The topography of Alaska is extremely irregular, and the coast line, of amazing sinuosity, is broken up into fiords and bays surrounded by lofty mountains bearing frequent glaciers, while the southern coast is largely protected by an archipelago of lofty islands. The Yukon, which is the third largest river in the continent, is 2,500 miles in length, and is navigable from Bering Sea to White Horse Rapids in Canadian territory. Its main affluent is the Porcupine River. Other rivers of importance are the Kuskokwim, Tanana and Copper rivers. In the vicinity of Copper River are congregated many of the highest mountains in the United States territory; Mt. Fairweather is 15,292 feet; Mt. Crillon 15,900 feet; Mt. Wrangel 17,500 feet. On the international boundary is Mt. St. Elias, 18,024 feet, and in the centre of South Alaska rises the peerless dome of Mt. McKinley, 20,464 feet. There are in all about 70 peaks, ranging from one to three miles in height, which surpass those of Switzerland in sublimity of scenery.

The Alaska Mountains have a southwesterly range, and the Alaska peninsula is their continuation into the Pacific Ocean, where the altitude declines until the range is submerged and only the crest of the highest mountains appear as the Aleutian Islands, which extend within 200 miles of Japan.

The Hawaiian Islands, consisting of Hawaii, Maui, Lanai, Molokai, Oahu, Kauai and Nihau, whose total area is 6,449 square miles, are noted for having the largest volcanos in the world. Mauna Kea, 13,805 feet, Mauna Loa, 13,675 feet, and Kilauea, 4,040 feet, are situated on Hawaii Island. These volcanoes are active and at intervals discharge immense rivers of red hot lava that find their way to the sea. The giant crater of Haleakala on the island of Maui is the largest in the world, having a circumference of 19 miles and an elevation of 10,000 feet. The circular valley known as the Punch Bowl, near Honolulu, on Oahu Island, is another extinct crater, of which there are more than 200 in the Hawaiian group.

The wonderful rock effects due to volcanic agency culminate in the famous pass of the Pali, in Oahu, a precipice that rises more than 1,000 feet above sea level. Here the rival chiefs of the olden days hurled their enemies over the precipice.

Pearl Harbor, near Honolulu, is the finest landlocked harbor in the