374 THE GREAT OCEANIC BASIN. 



of the leading points which, we feel, will require to 

 be briefly noticed in this section. 



In our chapter upon " The Ocean and the Inhabitants 

 of the Mighty Deep " we shall take occasion to point 

 out the enormous extent of the great region which 

 forms the basin of the present terrestrial sea, and the 

 great depth at which its bed is submerged beneath its 

 waters. 



It is evident that could we behold this mighty basin 

 which is so dramatically described in the Scriptures, 

 as representing the hollow of the Great Creator's 

 hand and could the range of our vision extend to 

 its boundaries we should see those portions of the 

 earth's surface which now form dry land, appearing 

 before us, rising from out of the depths of the ocean's 

 bed in the form of great mountain ranges enclosing 

 the basin of the present terrestrial sea, and that the 

 inhabited portions of the earth for the most part therefore 

 consist of a series of great elevated plateaux which 

 crown the eminences around its shores. 



The edges of these lofty plateaux averaging 15,000 

 feet in height therefore, are now lapped by the mighty 

 waters of the ocean, which are continually beating 

 upon its strand, and which fill the whole of this mar- 

 vellous basin to its brim with that great liquid expanse 

 which we call the sea. 



The reader will please to kindly bear in mind that 

 the mean depth of the ocean throughout what is known 

 as its "Abyssal Region" is shown to be about 2500 

 fathoms * or in other words, 15,000 feet, and that 

 the estimated area of this enormous region, submerged 



* Introduction to the Scientific Report of the Challenger Expedition 

 summary of general conclusions, p. 49. 



