Volume 14 Australasia - dana ward's homepage

—S.EQUATOEI.iL POLYNESIA. 467(Inui) to the Marquesas group, all sepanited one from the other by profoundchasms, with a mean depth of 2,000 fathoms. The first and least clearly definedof these ridges is attached to the north-east angle of the Tonga Archijjelago immediatelyto the east of the deepest trough j^et measured in the southern waters,where the Egcria recorded 4,500 fathoms in 1888.* Nine is the only inhabitableland presented by this lii'st chain, which has nevertheless a total length of 1,800miles. The other prominences along this line are mere rocks, reefs, shoals, orsandbanks, all terminating in the islet of Maria Theresa, which rises amid deepwaters at the south-east extremity of the submarine bank.On the other hand the second parallel range is marked by a large number ofFig. 202.Tee.nd of the Poltxesian Islands.Scale 1 : 90.00u.oi»EIDupraised lands, beginning in the north-west with Samoa, one member of which isthe largest in Polynesia. Then follow the little Palmerston and Gook clusters,the whole terminating with the more scattered Tubuai Archipelago. The thirdline, less regular in its general disposition, but still clearly traced by the submarinesoundings, runs from the Tokelau group through Pukapuka and Suvarov tothe Society Islands. Bej-ond this point a few islets, usually assigned to the TuamotuArchipelago, might be equally well regarded as belonging to the same system asthe Tahiti (Society) group. Although isolated by abysmal depths, such as thoseof Ililgard and Miller, west and east, the Phoenix cluster is dispo.«ed in the samedirection as Tahiti, as are also the Penrhyn Islands (Manahiki) forming the northwestextremity of the fourth range. This range, running south-east through themain axis of Tuamotu, curves slightly round so as to present its convex side to theequator. To the same range belong Pitcairn and Easter, as well as Sala y Gomez,• In 'W 37'lat. ;175° 8H H 2' E. long.