Phillips. — On the Volcanoes of the Pacific. 199 



Island, the largest of the Seniavine Group in the Carolines) 

 and its neighbouring islets " as being a number of volcanic 

 islands varying in size, representing the mountain-tops of an 

 ancient land," quite forgetting that the basaltic columns of 

 which the ruins at Ponape are composed are really a variety 

 of volcanic lava formed from liAe. The ancient mountains 

 must iirst of all have the lime deposited upon them, then 

 have been subjected to great volcanic action, which melted 

 them, and afterwards threw them up from the sea. Evidences 

 show that these islands are now sinking again, which looks 

 to me as if the bed pf the Pacific ever since the globe cooled 

 has been che seat of a constant and steady deposit of lime 

 and subsequent great volcanic action, includmg upheaval and 

 subsidence. 



I might mention here that Ponape itself rises some 2,860 ft., 

 its shores and hillsides strewn with loose blocks of basalt, 

 many of them perfect hexagonal prisms of considerable size. 

 Mr. Moss considers its summit " as probably to have formed 

 the backbone of an ancient great mountain-range of the sub- 

 merged continent." I refer members to his interesting work. 

 Yet he tells us "that so thickly is the place strewn, so 

 numerous are the basaltic blocks, and so extensive an area do 

 they cover, that it looks as if the whole island had been at one 

 time terraced and cultivated, and that these rocks and prisms 

 are the ruins of the terraces washed or fallen from the hills to 

 the shore below." But the basaltic columns forming the walls 

 of the great temple ruin at Ponape show little or no wear from 

 water. Their rhomboids and angles are still intact, which 

 makes me think that the volcanic action was submarine, and 

 that subsequent upheaval tumbled the columns and broke 

 them up as they now are found. Moreover, the particular 

 islet upon which this great temple is found, like many of the 

 other islets near it, is embanked with massive walls of the 

 same style as the building. " These careful embankments, the 

 great walls, and the solemn silence gave to the whole the 

 appearance of a city dead and deserted "now, but with canals 

 once crowded with canoes filled with devotees eager to attend 

 the savage rites and sacrifices of which the ruined mass before 

 us may have been the sacred scene." Ancient Mexican 

 history and rites are recalled to mind by this extract. The 

 embankments forming these canals show that the sea was 

 encroaching when they were built. Also the fact that the 

 canals are still wadable shows either that they could not 

 have been embanked so many centuries ago or the extreme 

 stationary condition of sea- and land-level for the past 3,500 

 years in that locality. 



There is little doubt to my mind that colonies from ancient 

 Mexico and Peru voyaged westward into the Pacific and left 



