"Yes, that is a lake," said father. "How beautiful it looks as the sunlight plays on its smooth surface! It reflects in its clear water the sky and the trees around it."
"I can see an island in the lake," said Fred. "Vessels are sailing all round it."
"Are all islands small, like that?" he asked.
"Oh, no!" said father. "Some islands are hundreds of miles round, and have many people living upon them."
Fred then pointed to a piece of land extending out into the water, and asked whether that, too, was an island.
"No," replied father, "that is a peninsula. It is land almost surrounded by water. And the narrow neck which joins the peninsula to the mainland is called an isthmus.
"You see the bend in the land, with the water from the lake running in?" asked father.
"Yes," said Fred.
"That is called a bay. Around every ocean, which is a much larger body of water, there are many such bays.
"The narrow strip of water, which a boat is just entering, is called a strait. The strait separates the island from the mainland."