The Brownies: Their Book

by Palmer Cox

I'll be the teacher, if you please;
I know the rivers, lakes, and seas,
And, like a banker's clerk, can throw
The figures nimbly in a row.
I have the patience, love, and grace,
So requisite in such a case."

Now some bent o'er a slate or book,
And some at blackboards station took.
They clustered 'round the globe with zeal,
And kept it turning like a wheel.

Said one, "I've often heard it said, The world is rounder than your head, And here, indeed, we find it true. With both the poles at once in view, With latitudes and each degree All measured out on land and sea." Another said, "I thought I knew The world from Maine to Timbuctoo, Or could, without a guide, have found

Said one, "I've often heard it said,

The world is rounder than your head,

And here, indeed, we find it true.

With both the poles at once in view,

With latitudes and each degree

All measured out on land and sea."

Another said, "I thought I knew

The world from Maine to Timbuctoo,

Or could, without a guide, have found

My way from Cork to Puget Sound;

But here so many things I find

That never dawned upon my mind,

On sundry points, I blush to say,

I've been a thousand miles astray."

"'T is like an egg," another cried,

"A little longer than it's wide,

With islands scattered through the seas

Where savages may live at ease;

And buried up in Polar snows
You find the hardy Eskimos;
While here and there some scorching spots
Are set apart for Hottentots.
And see the rivers small and great,
That drain a province or a state;
The name and shape of every nation;
Their faith, extent, and population:
And whether governed by a King,
A President, or council ring."

While some with such expressions bold
Surveyed the globe as 'round it rolled,
Still others turned to ink and pen,
And, spreading like a brooding hen,
They scrawled a page to show the band
Their special "style," or "business hand."