"It belongs to the French metrical system, which most people have come to believe is the best in the world. I suppose everybody here knows what a meridian is, for it was explained when we were talking about great circles and geographical or sea miles. A meridian is a great circle reaching around the earth, and passing through the equator and the poles. A quadrant of a meridian is the quarter of a meridian, extending from the equator to either pole. This is something that does not vary in extent. A commission of five learned men, especially in mathematics, was appointed by the French Academy, at the instance of the government, to adopt a standard, and they made it a metre, which is the ten millionth part of the quadrant of a meridian. The metre is 3.28 feet of our measure, with five more decimal places after it.
"Ten metres make a decametre, and one thousand metres make a kilometre, and ten thousand metres make a myriametre. Without bothering with all these decimals, a kilometre is about five-eighths of a mile. Five kilometres make three miles and one-tenth, which is the distance between these posts," said Louis in conclusion.
"How came you to be so ready with your explanation, Mr. Belgrave?" asked Miss Blanche, with a pleasant smile of approval.
"Captain Scott had talked the whole thing to us on board of the Maud while he steered the steamer," replied Louis.
"But he knows five times as much about metres as I do; for I could not have explained the meridian business," interjected the captain of the Maud.
"Five miles an hour is slow travelling; but it enables us to see the country, and also to talk about it," said Dr. Hawkes.
"If you don't mean that I am talking too much, Doctor"—
"I certainly do not mean that, and I hope you will keep it up," interposed the surgeon.
"Then I will say that the canal is run on the 'block system,' except on the lakes, where the ships can go at full speed," added the commander.
"Where are the blocks? I don't see any," said Mrs. Blossom.