12 .COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL 



New Guinea, the Moluccas, Celebes, and the island 

 chain as far as Lombok — or some pre-existing lands from 

 which these have been formed — were in all probability 

 still attached to the Australian mainland for some time 

 subsequent to its severance from Asia. Cape York, the 

 northern point of AustraHa, is continued by a chain of 

 high rocky islets all the way to New Guinea, while the 

 depth of Torres Straits between these two countries no- 

 where exceeds nine fathoms, as has already been stated. 

 The Louisiade Archipelago is nothing more than a sub- 

 merged portion of the south-eastern extremity of New 

 Guinea. Tasmania must similarly be regarded as the 

 true southern point of Australia, as the intervening Bass's 

 Strait is shallow, and this island was undoubtedly con- 

 nected with the mainland within comparatively recent 

 geological times. Hence, in Peschel's opinion, Australia 

 was formerly far more extensive than at present. It has 

 clearly been encroached upon along its eastern seaboard, 

 for here stretches the dreaded Great Barrier Eeef, whose 

 coral walls sink to considerable depths below the surface, 

 and still shadow forth the former limits of the coast-Hne 

 in this direction. On this same eastern seaboard, though 

 far removed from the mainland, we find some larger islands 

 which may well have formed part of the Austrahan con- 

 tinent, though perhaps before the Tertiary epoch. Con- 

 spicuous among them is the non-volcanic island of New 

 Caledonia, which is at present slowly subsiding. Australia 

 must, in fact, be altogether regarded as a continent of the 

 Secondary or early Tertiary period, now gradually dis- 

 appearing, and this phenomenon of subsidence is displayed 

 in many parts of the South Pacific Ocean. 



In the following chapter the leadmg characteristics of 

 Malaysia — the first and most important division of the 

 Australasian Archipelago — will be considered. 



