OF THE HAWAIIAN ARCHIPELAGO 261 
is highly endemic and precinctive, and each island possesses an 
array of peculiar forms. The Hawaiian Islands therefore obey 
the general law of the cosmopolitanism of littoral constituents. 
The geographic situation of the Hawaiian Islands is unique, 
and has a very important bearing upon the character of the strand 
flora. There is no other land area of equal magnitude on the 
earth that is so far removed from continental land areas. The 
Hawaiian Islands are the most isolated islands, of their size, in 
the world, and their flora strikingly and faithfully registers this 
profound and prolonged isolation. An examination of a map 
of the North Pacific Ocean will show the nature of this isolation. 
Using the island of Oahu, which is situated in the eastern part of 
the archipelago, as a base point, the distances to adjacent land- 
masses, in terms of nautical miles, to ports specified, are as follows: 
San Francis a 2,100 Pe oer i ee ee ee 2,700 
Sl) DIEGO. Gs Sc. es ee 2,260 PC RIA CS ee 3,810 
Patianie oy osha ee. 4,665 ide 2 ale ay Oa Re Re 4,980 
COAG A ian sis Ga aes eee ee 5,147 natn er a eee dee. 4,920 
Cane Hom Salvi sd ee: 6,488 Cama er 3-400 
Vahiti ic ever ees Let 2,440 ‘cnet Poca v erin et 4,721 
Ramoee Ss wes aero ey 2,290 OTRO ce esa ie icine. 2,360 
ARIAS os ee sn a ics 2,106 
The isolation is further emphasized by an examination of the 
deep-sea soundings in the vicinity of the Hawaiian Islands, which 
show that the islands rise from abyssal depths. The great deeps 
of the Pacific Ocean, which lie between the Hawaiian Archipelago 
and the continents, are: 
Name of deep | — bine we tathoms. depth in A in sq + 
May oe oe | Due north 3,540 1,033,000 
DBUpAN oo ess eee | Due north 
Sry Se as | Due north | 
pn nn Mee, Fae er are Northea 
FUERA, Gt ks Northeast 
Tanner oe es an Northeast 
GHOVErS io Cee! Northeast 
Agassi ee). Northeast 
Bache... es cer | Northeast 
MOG. Fa | Southeast } 
OCHAY i. ol eee Southeast 
Belknap. . 06.2 ies | South | 3337 165,000 
Canipbell 23.3 Gsaa: | South 
ANNER pic ek Southwest | 
BYOOKE 5 oN oc | West 3,429 282,000 
Batley ie | ' West | 3432 241,000 
Tuscarora 226s is 5: | Northwest 4,655 : 
