Did you ever see a spring?  Where was it?  Was it shaded by trees?  Where did the water come from?  Did you drink from it?  Was the water pure and cold?  Where did the water go after leaving the spring?

[Illustration:  “DID YOU EVER SEE A SPRING?”]

From the spring flows a tiny, thread-like stream, so small that we can easily step across it.  This little stream is called a rill.

Other rills meet this, and form a larger stream, which is called a brook or creek.

[Illustration:  RIVER FROM ITS SOURCE TO ITS MOUTH.]

As the brook flows on, it is joined by other streams, until, little by little, it becomes a wide and deep river on which large boats may float.  At last, it finds its way into the ocean.

Where a river begins is its source.  The place where it flows into another body of water is called its mouth.  The land over which it flows is its bed.

A river has two banks.  As we go toward its mouth, the right bank is on our right hand, and the left bank is on our left.

Do you live near a river?  Where does the water come from?  In what direction does it flow?  Why does it flow in such direction?  Does it wind about much?  Does it flow into the ocean, or into another river?

Is the water fresh or salt?  What grow on its banks?  Near which bank do you live?

Make a picture of a spring, and a brook flowing from it.  Draw the tall grass and plants that grow near it.

Write the names of all the rivers you have seen.

Write the following:

Water flowing out of the ground is called a spring.

From springs flow small streams called rills, brooks, or creeks.

A large stream of water flowing through the land is called a river.

A small stream of water flowing into a larger one is called a tributary.

The source of a river is where it begins.  The place where it empties into another body of water is its mouth.

Every river has two banks—­a right-hand bank and a left-hand bank.

LESSON XIX.

MORE ABOUT RIVERS.

Let us have another chat about the river.  We may fancy that we are following it in its course to the sea.  We shall then learn for ourselves many things we do not know about rivers.

We will begin our journey at its source.  Here it is a little rill, formed by water that trickles from a spring, or by the melting of snow.

As it flows on, it is joined by many other little streams, until it grows to be much larger.

There is a large word used for a stream that feeds another stream.  Do you know what it is?  The word, is tributary.  Tributaries are often called branches.

Before we leave this part of the river, I wish you to learn another hard word.

You have seen the water run off the roof of a shed.  The ridge; or highest part of the roof, divides the rain that falls on it, so that part of the rain flows down the one side, and part of it flows down the other side.