Their banks are flat, and rise but a few feet above the level of their waters; each of them thus forming a vast bowl filled to the brim.

The slightest change in the structure of the globe would cause their waters to rush either towards the Pole or to the tropical sea.
The second region is more varied on its surface, and better suited for the habitation of man.

Two long chains of mountains divide it from one extreme to the other; the Alleghany ridge takes the form of the shores of the Atlantic Ocean; the other is parallel with the Pacific.

The space which lies between these two chains of mountains contains 1,341,649 square miles.

*a Its surface is therefore about six times as great as that of France.