PAAMOTO ISI.A 



PACIFIC OCEAN. 



40 



BUnheim, the princely residence of the Duke of Marlborough. IUen- 

 bairn U the most magnificent seat in the county. The estate was 

 nuiebasad by the nation, nd presented to the great Duke of Msrl- 

 borough. Yanbragh WM the architect of the mansion, which in a 

 somewhat cingnUr though a very pioturesque and magnifioent pile. 

 In it is a noble collodion of painting*, including a Urge number of 

 woriu by Ktibem. The park U a very extensive and beautiful one. 



Solatia ; Ktliyioiu H'anlup and Munition. According tu tlm 

 Return* of the Census in 1851 it appears that there were then in the 

 county 504 place* of worship, of which 266 belonged to the Church 

 of England, 116 to Methodists, 60 to Baptist*, 43 to Independents, 

 1 2 to Quakers, and 8 to Roman Catholics. The total number of sitting* 

 prorided was 110,666. The number of day schools was 591, of which 

 247 were public school*, with 16,574 scholars, and 344 were private 

 schools, with 6924 scholars. Of evening schools for adult* there were 



18, with 383 pupils. Of Sunday schools there were 314, of which 

 221 were in connection with the Church of England, 45 with Method- 

 ists, 28 with Independent*, and 16 with Baptists. The total number 

 of scholars was 19,776. Of literary institutions there were 3 in the 

 county, with 297 members, and 2014 volumes in the libraries belonging 

 to them. 



f< ii-ingi Bantt. In 1853 the county possessed 7 savings banks, at 

 Bnnbury, Bioester, Burford, Henloy-on-Thames, Oxford, Thame, and 

 Woodstock. The total amount owing to depositors ou 20th Nov. 

 1853 was 349,677?. 4.. lid 



OXUS, RIVER, [BADAKHSHAN ; BOKHARA; KHIVA.] 



OYONNAX. [Am.] 



OYSTKKMOUTH. [QLAUOROAKSUIBE.] 



ii/.ARK MOUNTAINS. [ARKANSAS; MISSOURI.] 



PAAUI'TO ISLANDS. [ARCHIPELAGO, Dangeroiu.] 



PACIFIC OCKAN, THE, extends between America on the east, 

 and Asia, and Australia on the west It received this name from 

 Magalhions, the first European who traversed it, and who, having 

 experienced bad weather and heavy gales in the Strait of Magalhaens, 

 sailed into the wide expanse of this ocean with a moderate south-east 

 trade-wind, and enjoyed fair weather without interruption. He accord- 

 ingly called it the Pacific. It is also railed the South Sea, because 

 vemeU sailing from Europe can only enter it after a long southerly 

 course. The name of South Sea has been limited in later times to the 

 southern portion of the Pacific. 



The Pacific is the greatest expanse of water on the globe, of which 

 it coven nearly one-half of the surface. The area ia roughly estimated 

 at nearly 100,000,000 of square miles. Behiing's Strait, its most 

 northern boundary, lies between East Cape in Asia and Cape Prince 

 vf Wales near 60 N. lat, and is leas than 40 miles wide. From this 

 point southward the coasts of both continents, which inclose the 

 Pacific, recede rapidly from one another; and at 54 80' N. lat, 

 between the western point of the peninsula of Alashka and Cape 

 Krotxkoi Noes in Kamtchatka, they are upwards of 1200 miles apart. 

 Near the northern tropic, Cape San Lucas in California is about 8500 

 miles from the coast of China east of Canton ; and this may be con- 

 sidered as nearly the average width of the Pacific between the tropics. 

 Near the southern tropics, Sand Cape in Australia is about 8*200 miles 

 from the northern coast of Chili. Towards the southern extremity 

 the Pacific is divided from the Atlantic by a line drawn from Cape 

 Horn to the antarctic circle, and from the Indian Ocenn by another 

 line drawn from South- West Cape in Tasmania (Van Diemen's Land) 

 to the same circle. 



The Pacific does not, like the Atlantic and Indian oceans, send off 

 branches which penetrate deeply into the adjacent continents; but 

 extensive peninsulas project from the continents which border on it 

 on the Astatic side, and these, together with some adjacent rows of 

 islands stretching far into the sea, separate considerable portions of it 

 from the main body of the ocean. Only two peninsulas project from 

 the American continent The peninsula of California divides the Gulf 

 of California, and the peninsula of Alashka with the Aleutian Islands 

 divides the Kamtchatka Sea from the Pacific. The peninsula of 

 Kamtchatka, which projects from the continent of Asia, divides the 

 Kamtchatka Sea from the Sea of Okhotsk, which latter is separated 

 from the open expanse of the Pacific by the Kurile Islands. The 

 weetern shores of the Sea of Okhotsk are partly formed by the island 

 or peninsula of Tarakai (or Saghalien), which projects at a very acute 

 angle from the continent of Asia ; and the islands of Jeso and Nipon 

 and the peninsula of Corea inclose the Japan Sea on the north, east, 

 and south. The Yellow Sea, or Hoang-hai, which is farther south, is 

 separated from the Pacific by a series of islands which extend from 

 the most southern extremity of the island of Kiusiu to the northern 

 extremity of Formosa. This remarkable formation continues still 

 farther sooth, and the Chinese Sea, which extends from the island of 

 Formosa on the northern tropic to the equator, must be considered as 

 the last link in this chain of sea-basins. On the north the Chinese 

 Sea is separated from the Pacific by a single row of islands, and farther 



uth by a double and triple row. Thus we find that, though the 

 continent of Asia forms the western boundary of the Pacific north of 

 the equator, no part of it is immediately washed by that ocean, and 

 lU shorn can only be reached by pawing through one of these 

 subordinate sea-basins. 



This peculiarity of formation in the western parts of the Pacific 

 appears to be mainly, if not exclusively, the effect of volcanic agency. 

 The whole of the long series of peninsulas and islands which border 

 the Pacific on the west, from the peninsula of Kamtchatka to the island 

 New Zealand, with the exception of Australia, contain active 

 volcanoes or exhibit unequivocal traces of volcanic influence; so that 

 in fact we may say that the western part of the Pacific is traversed 

 by a volcanic chain which extends from the neighbourhood of the 

 northern poUr circle nearly to the southern tropic. Another series of 

 volcanoes surrounds the Pacific on the east, but they are situated on 



the continent of America, These volcanoes do not constitute a con- 

 tinuous chain ; they rather occur in extensive groups at great distances 

 from one another, but each group by itself may be considered as a 

 chain, and the intermediate country shows evident traces of recent 

 volcanic influence. These volcanoes are noticed generally under 

 AMERICA, and more specifically under the countries in which they are 

 situated. The chain of the Aleutian Islands, which contains more 

 than 20 active volcanoes, connects as it were the American volcanoes 

 with those of Asia, The most western volcano, situated on the island 

 of Little Sitkhin, is not much more than 600 miles from the series of 

 volcanoes which line the eastern coast of Kamtchatka. 



Though the Pacific covers nearly half of the surface of the globe, 

 it receives the drainage of a comparatively small portion of the land. 

 In South America the watershed between the rivers which run into 

 ' the Pacific and the Atlantic is nowhere more than 100 miles from the 

 I shores of the Pacific ; while for the greater part it is only about 50 

 i or 60 miles, and in some places much less. Thus the Pacific receives 

 hardly more than one twenty-fifth part of the drainage of South 

 America. In the Mexican isthmus, as far west as the isthmus of 

 Tehuantepec, the watershed continues at a short distance from the 

 Pacific, never receding more than 40 miles, and frequently approaching 

 it within less than 10 miles. West of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec it 

 gradually recedes farther, and at 20 N. lat it is more than 300 miles 

 i from the shores of the Pacific ; but farther north it again approaches 

 to a distance varying between 120 and 200 miles. The countries of 

 the Mexican isthmus, which send their drainage to the Pacific, pro- 

 bably constitute not more than one-eighth of that division of America, 

 In North America (north of 32 N. lat.) the watershed lies much more 

 towards the interior of the continent, being between 35 and 45 N. lat, 

 about 750 miles from the Pacific; but farther north it is only about 

 | 350 miles from it The area of the countries of North America whoso 

 drainage runs to the Pacific probably does not exceed one-fifth of the 

 whole surface. According to this rough estimate, the Pacific receives 

 not quite one-tenth of the drainage of America. 



In Asia the watershed between the rivers which fall into the Arctic 

 Ocean on one side, and into the Pacific on the other, is likewise at no 

 great distance from the latter, north of the mouth of the rivi-r Amur ; 

 but the basin of this river extends above 1200 miles into the interior 

 of Asia, and it is followed on the south by the basins of the rivers 

 Hoang-ho and Yantse-kiang, which reach somewhat farther inland. 

 The basins of these three rivers, added to those of a few others of 

 inconsiderable extent, may comprehend nearly one-seventh part of the 

 area of Asia, and eo much of the. drainage of that continent enters 

 the Pacific. In Australia the line which divides the waters which run 

 into the Pacific from those which flow off in another direction is hardly 

 anywhere 100 miles from the great ocean, except in the north-eastern 

 district, where it is about 400 miles : it may be estimated that about 

 one-ninth of the drainage of that continent is poured into that sea. 



The eastern, northern, and southern portions of the Pacific Ocean 

 are remarkably free from islands. In an extent of sea far exceeding 

 the Atlantic in area, and bordering on the western shores of Ann rien, 

 only a few isolated islands occur, and one considerable group, tin-. 

 Galapagos Islands. Between the coast of South America and Aus- 

 tralia, south of 24 S. lat, only the large islands called New Zealand 

 are situated ; and in their vicinity there are a few small groups and 

 I islets : in the remainder of this vast extent of sea hardly four or five 

 , islands, or diminutive groups, are known to exist But that portion 

 of the sea lying between the two tropics, and extending from the 

 ' western boundary of the Pacific eastward to 135 W. long., or over 

 more than half the width of the ocean, is abundantly diversified with 

 islands of various dimensions. To the north of the equator the i.-l;m<!~ 

 and groups, though numerous, are much less so than to the south of 

 ! the line. The islands of the Pacific are both low and elevated. The 

 | low islands are of very small extent, and are based on ci>ral reefs, 

 which encircle a small space of sea. This inclosed space resembles a 

 | lagoon, and these islands are often called Lagoon Islands. In close 

 proximity to the coralline islands soundings have been made of great 

 depth, clearly proving them to be the crests of lofty submarine 



