posted on 2021-12-13, 23:35authored byFrancis, Vivian Frederick Odem
Of the many subjects with which the curricula of our secondary schools are lo ded, none can be so readily tinted with romantic colours, or so easily illustrated by adventurous tales, and withal be so successfully employed in developing general reasoning ability, as can geography. If Popooatapetl and his brother mountains, and some other of those alluring names from atlases, would only lead the minds of some of our scholars to take the Golden Road to Samarkand', teachers of geography might be forgiven, if' they were seen to smile, when a pupil was heard to murmur the 'unpardonable sin', "I dimly heard the masterts voice." The bored expression, familiar accompaniment to "towns and products geography", should find no place in the class room today. Before a map of the world what imaginings should stir the mind. The islands of the Pacific, palm dotted, coral ringed; the impenetrable jungles of Africa and South America, threaded by mighty rivers; the curious rites and fantastic festivals of the Far East; the lure of Everest, and the call of the great White spaces to scientist and explorer; the ploughing steamer carrying homeward the wanderer, the flashlight signal from the masthead, "All ready to land you!" as the leviathan airship of the future finishes its journey.