The }ieoide generally have respect for the Bible, though
I'cligion is with many but a very formal matter, and with
others a, mere sham. Its princi}des are nevertheless recognized
Iiy the great mass of the jieoiile, who entertain a regard lor
tlie Bible as the Word of God, even though they do not
heed it.
DISCOVERY. 89

Australia is a great deal larger in reality than it seems on
the nia})s many of us have studied. Tn size and contour it
does not ditfer very much fVom what Americans are wont to
believe is the greatest country on earth. The United States
contains, exclusive of Alaska, 2,970,000 S(|uai-c miles ; Aus-
tralia contains just aljout the same, or three million in round
numbers. The c(juntry lies between latitudes ten degrc-es
forty-seven minutes and thirty-nine degrees eleven minutes
south. From north to south it measures 1950 miles, and from
east to west 2500. The Pacific Ocean washes its eastern
shores, the Southern Ocean its soutlieastern and southeiai
shores, and the Indian Ocean borders on the west and north.
