THE MEDITERRANEAN BASINS. 35 



and we discover to the north another irregular cavity 

 occupying the space comprised between Majorca and 

 the coast of Spain, and the Gulfs of Lyons and Genoa. 

 The depth of the sea there does not exceed 6000 feet; 

 and from this bottom there rises an isolated peak at 

 the entrance of the Gulf of Lyons. 



To ascend from the Algerian depression eastward, 

 it would be necessary to avoid the escarpments 

 around Sardinia, and draw towards Tunis, in order to 

 find an easier declivity. All around Sardinia and 

 Corsica the depth of the sea is slight ; the basin 

 formed by the Tyrrhenian Sea has nothing to boast 

 of but two straight and elongated ravines — the one 

 extending from west to east, rounding the Lipari 

 Islands ; the other from north-west to south-east, 

 running parallel to the Neapolitan coasts. 



The Bank Aventure and the Kocks of Skerki, near 

 Tunis and Sicily, form an undulating plateau, over 

 which we pass to the eastern basin of the Mediterra- 

 nean. A steep descent leads from Malta, one of the 

 culminating-points of the plateau, to the bottom of 

 the depression which has for its boundaries Italy and 

 Greece, Asiatic Turkey and Africa. The greatest 

 depth is near Malta, where the plummet descends 

 more than 14,000 feet, or about 2^ miles. No other 

 spot in the Mediterranean is so deep as this. 



The mountains of Greece and Candia are prolonged 



