1. For what is Asia remarkable? 2. Which of the countries of Asia is largest? 3. In what part is Arabia? 4. China?

5. What countries lie between Turkey and Hindostan? 6. How is Siberia bounded? 7. Arabia? 8. Turkey? 9. Persia? 10. Independent Tartary? 11. Hindostan? 12. Afghanistan? 13. Beloochistan? 14. China? 15. Birman Empire?[10] 16. Siam? 17. Anam?[11] 18. The Caucasian country, or Circassia and Georgia? 19. Malaya?

20. What ranges of mountains are on the boundaries of Siberia? 21. Where are the Caucasus mountains? 22. Where are the Gaut mountains? 23. In what part of Asia are the highest mountains in the world, and what are they called?

24. Where is Lake Baikal? 25. How is Lake Zaisan situated? 26. What sea lies between the Black Sea and the Sea of Aral?

27. Where is the Red Sea? 28. Sea of Arabia? 29. What bay lies west from the Birman Empire? 30. How is the Yellow Sea situated? 31. What sea between Corea and the island Niphon? 32. Where is the Sea of Ochotsk?

33. How is the Bay of Bengal situated? 34. Which way are the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Ormus from Persia? 35. Where is the Gulf Tonquin? 36. Gulf of Siam?

37. Two rivers flow into the Persian Gulf; what are their names? 38. Where is the Indus river? 39. Where does it rise? 40. Into what does it flow? 41. What rivers rise in the Himmaleh mountains, and flow into the northern extremity of the Bay of Bengal? 42. What rivers flow into the sea of Aral? 43. What are the principal rivers of China? 44. Of Siberia? 45. Of the Birman Empire?

46. What waters do the Straits of Babelmandel connect? 47. What islands do the Straits of Sunda separate? 48. Straits of Malacca? 49. What straits separate Asia from North America?

50. Where is Cape Comorin? 51. Where is Cape Lopatka? 52. What is its latitude? 53. What cape at the northeastern extremity of Asia?

54. What island lies at the mouth of the Straits of Babelmandel? 55. Where is Ceylon island? 56. What is its longitude? 57. What islands lie in the Bay of Bengal? 58. What is the latitude and longitude of Hainan island?

59. What island is crossed by the tropic of Cancer? 60. What are crossed by the equator? 61. What are the principal of the Philippine Isles? 62. The Japan Isles? 63. The Moluccas or Spice islands? 64. Where is Nova Zembla?[12] 65. Where are the Ladrone and Caroline islands? 66. The Maldives? 67. The Japan islands and Empire?

68. Where is Mecca? 69. Ispahan? 70. Calcutta? 71. Ava? 72. Bencoolen? 73. Manilla? 74. Jerusalem? 75. Madras? 76. Tobolsk? 77. Pekin? 78. Canton? 79. Rangoon? 80. Smyrna?

81. Which way from Canton is Mecca? 82. From Tobolsk to Pekin? 83. From Rangoon to Calcutta? 84. What is the soil of Asia? 85. China is an empire; how is it governed? 86. Does any part of Asia lie in the frigid zone? 87. What is the climate of the frigid zone?

Asia was the first inhabited quarter of the world, and is the largest of the divisions of the Eastern continent. It is distinguished as the country where man was created; where Christ was born, and achieved the plan of man’s redemption; and where the Jews received from Jehovah, the Holy Bible. The northern part of this ancient country is exceedingly cold and almost entirely covered with snow, while the southern is a warm region, and with the exception of Arabia, possesses a fertile soil, watered by numerous rivers. The region between these two extremes, comprehending Independent and Chinese Tartary, is an immense desert, except that part called Thibet, where the soil is moderately fertile, and the climate healthful.

Arabia is almost wholly a desert country, with a hot atmosphere, and is unfit for the residence of man, except along the coasts of the Red Sea and Indian Ocean, where the soil is fertile, and yields wheat, corn, barley, tobacco, dates, and oranges. This country is famous for producing the best horses in the world.

That portion of Turkey which is in Asia, is beautifully diversified with fertile plains, mountains, and valleys. The climate is excellent. Grapes, mulberries, wheat, barley, and tobacco, flourish here. The population is composed of descendants of various nations; but the Turks are the most numerous in the cities, and possess the principal wealth of the country.

In Persia, the most remarkable feature is the want of forests and rivers. There are many desert places, although some spots are exceedingly fertile. During the summer months the climate is hot, and the country is subject to a hot wind called the Samiel, which is so poisonous that animals and travellers are killed by it, unless they perceive its approach, and fall to the ground until it has passed.

Hindostan, or India within the Ganges, is nearly as large as the United States, and must therefore embrace many varieties of soil and climate. The productions are rice, cotton, oranges, lemons, figs, pomegranates, sugar cane, opium, indigo, and tobacco. Horses, sheep, elephants, and the royal tiger, and almost all kinds of ferocious animals, are found here, except the lion. A great part of this country is under the dominion of the British East India Company.

Calcutta is the largest city, and is supposed to contain 650,000 inhabitants, a great many of whom are Europeans. It carries on an extensive commerce with all parts of the world.

The Birman Empire, Malaya, Siam, Tannasserim, and Anam, have commonly been comprehended under the general name of India beyond the Ganges; and the country is little known, except on the coast. In this country, owing to the influence of heat and moisture, the soil is exceedingly fertile. The productions are nearly the same as those of Hindostan.

China is celebrated for its immense population, for the ingenuity of its numerous manufacturers, for its many canals, for the great antiquity of its laws, and for its reserve and jealousy of the people of other nations. The chief productions are cotton, rice, and tea; and all the necessaries of life are cultivated. Tea and China ware are the principal exports.

Canton is the chief city, and is the port where American and English vessels are admitted to trade.

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