VOLCANIC ELEVATION OF CHAINS. 365 



5no\vy peaks towards the ocean ; the island of For- 

 mosa, the mountains of which are in hke manner 

 covered during the greater part of summer, bein<r its 

 termmation. Thus we may follow the Himmaleh 

 system as a continuous chain from the Eastern 

 Ocean, through Hindoo-kho, across Candahar and 

 Khorassan, to beyond the Caspian Sea in -idzar- 

 baidjan, along an extent of 73 degrees, or half the 

 length of the Andes. The western extremity, which 

 IS volcanic (hke the eastern part), loses its character 

 ot a Cham in the mountains of Armenia, which are 

 connected with Sangalou, Binglieul, and Kachmir- 

 daugh, in the pachalic of Erzeroum. The mean 

 direction of the system is north 55° west 



These mountain-chains, with their various rami- 

 fications and intervening platforms and valleys af- 

 ford evidence to our author of revolutions anciently 

 undergone by the crust of the globe ; these haS 

 been elevated by matter thrust up in the line of 

 enormous cracks and fissures. The great denressinn 

 of Central Asia, spoken of above, hrconsfders ?s 

 haying been caused by the same action. Analo 'ous 

 to the Caspian Sea and other cavities in this d strict 

 are the lakes formed in Europe at the foot of he 

 Alps and which also owe their origin to a sinking 

 of the ground It is chiefly in the^ ex ent o? t if 

 depression of Central Asia, and consequeiSy m the 

 space where the resistance was least, that we find 

 traces of volcanic action. Several volcanoes a?e 

 described in this space by ancient Chinese writers 

 who also mention a variety of volcanic product 

 such as sal ammoniac and sulphur, which form art des 

 of commerce. >"niidiucies 



"We thus know," says our author, " in the interior 

 IS upwards of 2500 square geographical miles anri 

 sea. It mis the half of the longitudinal vallev sit- 



Hh2 



