105. 39. Describe the reign of Azariah; of Ahaz, Hezekiah, Manasseh. 106-108. 40. The events of Josiah’s reign. 109-112. 41. The relations of three kings with Babylon. 113. NOTE.—A discrepancy will be found between the Egyptian and the Hebrew chronology. The latter, before the accession of Saul, is mainly conjectural; as it is possible that two or more judges were reigning at the same time in different parts of the land. The periods of the several judges and of foreign servitude on p. 36, are copied literally from the Bible; the times of inter-regnum are conjectured, but probably fall below rather than exceed the truth. _If continuous_, these periods added together make 535 years,—a longer interval than can be found between the reign of Menephthah and that of Saul (§§ 79 and 154.) It may here be said that many historians believe the “Pharaoh’s daughter” who rescued Moses to have been Mesphra or Amen-set (§ 146.) In this case, Thothmes IV was the Pharaoh of the Exodus, and we gain nearly 200 years for the transitional period of the Hebrews. It may be hoped that Egyptian MSS. now in the hands of diligent and accomplished scholars will soon throw light on this interesting question. PART II. AFRICAN NATIONS. GEOGRAPHICAL OUTLINE OF AFRICA. =114.= The continent of Africa differs in many important respects from that of Asia. The latter, extending into three zones, has its greatest extent in the most favored of all, the North Temperate. Africa is almost wholly within the tropics, only a small portion of its northern and southern extremities entering the two temperate zones, where their climate is most nearly torrid. Asia has the loftiest mountains on the globe, from which flow great rivers spreading fertility and affording every means of navigation. Africa has but two great rivers, the Nile and the Niger, and but few mountains of remarkable elevation. =115.= Africa is thus the hottest, driest, and least accessible of the continents. One-fifth of its surface is covered by the great sea of sand which stretches from the Atlantic nearly to the Red Sea. Much of the interior consists of marshes and impenetrable forests, haunted only by wild beasts and unfit for human habitation. With the exception of a very few favored portions, Africa is therefore unsuited to the growth of great states; and it is only through two of these, Egypt and Carthage, that it claims an important part in ancient history.