3.53 



A VIEW OF THE GREAT OCEAN, OF ITS ISLANDS, 

 AND ITS COASTS. 



On the western side of the Great Ocean, a series 

 of islands and peninsulas form a bulwark before 

 the much indented coasts of the continent. Be- 

 liind this bulwark lies New Holland, as the south- 

 eastern point of the mass of land of the Old 

 World. The connection of the countries is 

 interrupted, between New Holland and Asia, by 

 various passages, but may be easily restored in the 

 imagination ; and thus the island of Borneo, which 

 must otherwise have been considered as a continent 

 by itself, appears in a natural connection. 



The Indian Ocean penetrates from the open 

 South Sea, between the two promontories of our 

 world, Africa, and New Holland, forming a spa- 

 cious basin. 



We return to the Great Ocean, which has been 

 called the Pacific Ocean and the South Sea, two 

 names which are both equally inappropriate. 



The Philippines form its coast to the extreme 

 west, between the equator and the tropic of Can- 

 cer ; they lie before the masses of land which we 

 consider as continuations of the continent, and are 

 coanected with them, especially with Borneo, by 

 intermediate islands, and groups of islands. 



VOL, n. A A 



