There are newspapers in Japan, but they are not much like ours. The
lines run up and down just as Japanese writing does. They read back
from what we would call the last page.

[Illustration: Japanese Carpenters at Work.]

A great many things that we use in America come from Japan. We get
silk from Japan, and beautiful vases and mats and screens and basket
work. The boys and girls in Japan help to make these things. For they
are bright and learn quickly how to do very nice work.




ARABIA.

Have you ever heard of the Arabs? They are people with brown skin and
dark eyes. They live in a country called Arabia. It is a very warm
country. There is never any snow in Arabia. A great part of it is
covered with sand. For miles and miles you would see nothing but sand.
Often the sand is so hot that you could not walk on it in your bare
feet. Those great tracts of sand are called deserts.

[Illustration: Arabs.]

In many parts of Arabia water is very scarce. It rains very seldom,
and in some places there are no rivers. The people get water out of
wells. They carry the water, in bottles made of leather. Glass
bottles would not do. The heat is so great that it would go through