SUBSIDENCE IN THE SOUTHERN HEMISFHERE. 349 



the Maldives. The polypiers there play a very im- 

 portant part. 



Between these two zones there extends a vast zone 

 of elevation. It is formed by a semicircle of vol- 

 canic islands : New Zealand, the Kermandec Islands, 

 the Friendly Islands, New Hebrides, the Solomon 

 Islands, and New Guinea. This volcanic line bifur- 

 cates. One of the branches passes by the Philip- 

 pines, Formosa, and Kamtschatka. Its direction is 

 therefore first east and afterwards south-east. It 

 passes tlu; Sandwich Islands, and runs parallel with 

 the western side of the Andes for about 2500 

 miles. The other branch, tending westward, passes 

 Timor, Java, and Sumatra. The rising is very 

 evident on the coral banks of Mauritius, the Isles of 

 Reunion, Madagascar, the Seychelles, and the Ked 

 Sea, &c., which serve as a point of junction between 

 the oceanic and continental zones of elevation. 



We have already explained by what means these 

 variations are discovered ; they are slow but con- 

 tinual. We are still far from being acquainted with 

 the laws which regulate them, but it is a great 

 honour for our century to have clearly demon- 

 strated their existence. We may from this mo- 

 ment say, with M. Hebert : " In spite of its 

 apparent immobility, the whole surface of the 

 earth is continually undergoing a balancing action 



