_ 33 — 



1^ » ilauks of so many dislinct islauds, but , in ihe Maldivas, ihat oae single 

 '•♦ wmouiilainous island , bordered by leefs, and \ery nearly of the same ac- 



;> lual ligure nud dirneasiüns with New Caledonia , formerly occupied that 



wpart of the ocean." 



The Cocos begs leave from Mr. Darwix to send hiin 

 word that she cannot in fairness accept for herself alone 

 an honour, to which her thousand compeers in the Java Sea, 

 and hundreds standing on the submarine extension of the S. W. 

 Sumatran coast, are equally, and some even considerably bettcr 

 entitled, and besides that, Mr. Darwin should bethink himself, 

 that a single name can scarcely deserve to be denominated an 

 //Index." Had he brought in N. Wn. Australia, and Christmas 

 Island, she might have hesitated, or, beenguided by the deci- 

 sion proved by them, hut in their absence, can do no more, 

 than with due respect for the profi'erer, decline the proffered 

 distinction. As for Ceylon and S. E^. India, we defer for the 

 present taking them into consideration , and proceed to the 

 Laccadives in the middle of the Indian Ocean , but only at be- 

 tween twentyfive and forty leagues distant from the supermarinc 

 coast of Malabar, and on a line of parallelism thereto, and 

 that, altho' the time has very probably been, when they Averc 

 lagoon reefs or [isles (N. B. Mr. Darwin is the first, to givc 

 them the name of //atolls,''"' which hitherto has been confined 

 to the Maldivian range) , they (the Laccadives) have long ceased 

 to be so, and the present isles are laid down on the leeward 

 (the N. En.) sides of their respective basement reefs ; the causc , 

 for their being so situated, we have already indicated, in refc- 

 rence to the West Indian and some other areas of the inter-> 

 tropical oceans, and on the same ground, with the Laccadives, 

 he may class the Cargados Garajos Isles and banks. As for 

 the Maldive range of lagoons Avith rings of isles placed around 

 their circumference , these, lying on the same line as the Lac- 

 cadives, or more exactly on the western side of the submarine 

 prolongation of India, and that line being seen to be bending 

 round in the Chagos, spreading out in the Seychelles, and 

 going on towards Madagascar, affords an indication of their 



VUT. 3 



