coo 



PACHYDERMATA 



PACIFIC OCEAN 



PrhydT main ..'i.. ' thick skin '), a term 

 applied by Cmicr to hoofed mammals ( rngulateft) 

 which are not ruminants e.g. elephants, hyrax, 

 hog, UpMpOtHBM, tapir, rhinoceros, hoise, ic. 

 ami which have thick skins. For ninny good 

 reasons tin- ii-iui U no longer much used. 

 MAMMALS. 



Pacific Ocean. London <-//<// Extent. The 

 Pacific Ocean in the largest of the great divi-i..ii> 

 of the ocean, occupying as it does about one-half 

 of the water-surface of the glolie and more tliuii 

 one-third of the whole area of tin- world. It U 

 almost landlocked towards the north, communi- 

 cating with the Arctic Ocean by the iiiirruw ami 

 shallow Bchting Strait, only almut 4o miles in 

 width, whereon towanU the -onili it open- wiilply 

 into the great ''"'I' Southern ami Antarctic 

 Oceans. Looking upon its southern boundary as 

 the Antarctic Circle, its len^h from north to south 

 is about 90UO miles, while lU greatest breadth at 

 the equator U aver 10,000 miles. Its area U 

 approximately litany 70,000,000 sq. m. 



History. 1 v he Pacific was tirst seen by Europeans 

 in 1513, when a Spaniard, liullioa, with a few 

 followers, \iewed it* waters from the summit of 

 a mountain in Panama; Columbus was aware of 

 its existence, but did not live to see it. The first 

 European to sail u|xm it was Magellan, who in 

 1520 entered jt after threading; his way through 

 the strait bearing his name, and he gave it the 

 designation ' 1'acilic,' by which it is known to the 

 present day. From aUmt this time trade was 

 established" l>et ween Eurcipe and the Pacific coasts 

 through the Strait of Magellan ami round Cape 

 Horn. Sir Francis Drake Was the first Eagliih- 

 man to sail ii|>on it, entering it in 1577, and after- 

 wards sailing acroHS it as far as the Moluccas. 

 The explorer* of the 17th century discovered Aus- 

 tralia, New Zealand, and other isfands, ami during 

 the 18th century the work of exploration was 

 carried on by numerous voyagers, whose names are 

 famous in the annals of geographical discovery. 

 Many of them attempted to find |iassages lietween 

 the Atlantic and Pacific through the Arctic Ocean ; 

 but the problem remained unsolved until Mac-line 

 in 1850 dis<-o\ered the North west Passage, and 

 Nordenskiold in 1874 the North-east Passage. The 

 route* are, however, of no practical utility. Dur- 

 ing the filth century many exploring and surveying 

 expeditions have completely investigated the region 

 of the Pacific, and among the more recent scientific 

 expeditions special mention may be mode of that of 

 H.M.S. f/,,,!/,;,ger. 



ryttetnt. Compared with the enormous ex- 

 panse of the Pacific the area of land draining into 

 it is com|>arativelv insignificant 7,500,000 s<|. m., 

 being less than half of that draining into the 

 Atlantic. By far the greater pr|Mirtion of (lie, land 

 of North and South America drains into the Atlantic, 

 the Andes and Kocky Mountains, which form the 



watershed, running north ami south in le or less 



close proximity to the Pacific coast. The largest 

 American river is the Yukon in the extreme 

 north, which is over 2000 miles in length, and flows 

 into Behring Sea. Proceeding south, we find the 

 Fraser (600 miles long), the Columbia or Oregon 

 (750), the Sacramento (420), and the Colorado 

 (1100). The South American rivers draining into 

 the Pacific are little more than mountain-streams. 

 The Asiatic rivers flowing into the Pacific include 

 some of the largest and moot im]Kirtant rivers of 

 the world. There is the Amur, 3080 mile- in 

 length, flowing into the sea of Okhotsk, and with 

 its tribiilaiie- draining iin area of nearly WMl.lKKi 

 sq. m. ; the Huang-lio. over 3000 miles long, and 

 the Yang-t*e kinng, 32(10 miles in length, fulling 

 Into the Yellow Sea, the combined drainage area 

 of which two riven is estimated to exceed 1,250,000 



-|. m. ; whilst (lowing into the China Sea there 

 are the Choo -kiang, the Mckhong, and the Menam. 

 The rivers of Ausi ialia draining into the Pacific ore 

 of slight importance and small si/e. The total 

 annual rainfall on the catchment basin of the 

 c is estimated at about 5000 cubic miles; the 

 annual river discharge at a little over a fifth of 

 that amount. 



'.-lx '<n<l Srsu. Generally speaking, the Ameri- 

 can and Australian coasts boVdering the Pacific are 

 mountainous and free from indentations, while the 

 Asiatic coasts are low and fertile, with many gulfs 

 and l*ys, ami fringed with island groups enclosing 

 numerous seas. The Alaskan shores of Noitli 

 America are low and swampy, while the coast 

 farther south is rocky and nigged, with numerous 

 inlets and off lying islands. Tiie most considerable 

 indentation of the whole American Pacific const is 

 the Gulf of California, the Gulfs of Panama and 

 Guayaquil U-ing the only others of importance. 

 The southern extremity of South America presents 

 a complete contrast to the rest of the coast-line, 

 l>cing broken up into numerous liays with scattered 

 islands, the winding Strait of Magellan separating 

 Tierra del Fuego from the mainland. The contour 

 of the Asiatic coast-line is much more diversified 

 than that of America, being especially charac- 

 terised by the off-lying seas more or less completely 

 enclosed and cut off from communication with the 

 ojien ocean. Behring Sea is separated from tha 

 Pacific basin by the peninsula of Alaska and ths 

 Aleutian Islands, communicating with the Arctic 

 Ocean through Behring Strait. The Sea of Okhotak 

 is divided from r.chring Sea by the peninsula oi 

 Kamchatka, and from the basin of the Pacific l.\- 

 the Kurile Islands. The Sea of Japan is cut oif 

 from the ocean by the Japanese islands, from the 

 Sea of Okhotsk by the island of Snghalieii, and 

 from the Yellow Sea by the peninsula of Corea. 

 The Yellow Sea is an extensive indentation of the 

 Chinese coast, and is so named from the large 

 amount of ocl reous material brought down by the 

 great rivers Hoang-ho and Yang tse kiang, which 

 flow into it. The China Sea is separated from the 

 Pacific by the island of Formosa, the Philippine 

 Islands, the island of Palawan, and Borneo, and 

 from the Indian Ocean by the Malay peninsula; 

 it includes the two extensive Gulfs of ToBquta and 

 Siam. The islands of the Ka*t Indian Arcnipelago 

 cut up this part of the Pacific into seveial more or 

 less distinct seas, known as the Sulu, Celebes, 

 Java, liamla. and Arafura Seas, the last named 

 lying between the north coast of Australia and 

 New Guinea, and including the Gulf of Carpen- 

 taria. The Coral Sea is enclosed by the north-east 

 coast of Australia, New Guinea, New Britain, the 

 Solomon Islands, the New Hebrides, and New 

 ( 'alcdonia, and communicates with the Arafura Sea 

 by Torres Strait The Pacific coast of Australia 

 is mountainous and free from any considerable 

 inlets, the most important harlxiurs aping Morel on 

 Bay and Port Jackson, the latter one of the 

 finest in the world. Bass Strait separates the 

 island of Tasmania from Australia. The main 

 islands of New /calami are separated by Cook 

 Strait, ami the principal bays are the Gulf of 

 Hauraki, Bay of Plenty, Hawke Bay, and Pegasus 

 Bay. 



Island*. The Pacific Ocean is remarkable for 

 the innumerable small islands and island groups 

 which Mud its surface, but the area occupied hy 

 the tmlv oceanic islands is very small; they are 

 principally congregated towards the central and 

 western portions of its basin, the eastern portion, 

 for some considerable distance off the American 

 coasts, l>eing comparatively free from islands. The 

 principal continental islands may IK' briefly enu- 

 merated : commencing at the southern point of 



