OUTLINES OF THE LAND. 



in the tract of water enclosed between the northern coast of 

 South, and the southern coast of North, America. When 

 Columbus undertook his voyage, his purpose was to sail to India 

 round the western hemisphere of the globe, and when he arrived 

 at the island of St. Salvador, one of the Bahama group, he ima- 

 gined that he was on the coast of India ; and hence this, and the 

 other islands of the archipelago subsequently discovered, came to> 

 be called the West Indies : they are, however, more commonly 

 denominated by French and foreign geographers the Antilles. 



The extensive tract of sea enclosed by the coasts of North 

 and South America, and the chain of West Indian Islands, is de- 

 nominated the Gulf of Mexico, and the Caribbean Sea ; the former 

 being included by the southern coast of North America, and the 

 northern of Central America, and the latter by the northern coast 

 of South America, the West Indian Islands, and the eastern 

 coast of Central America. 



108. The Peninsula of Florida presents another example of 

 the like form. It is the southernmost point of North America,, 

 jutting into the ocean between the Atlantic and the Gulf of 

 Mexico, and terminating in Cape Sable, directly north of the well- 

 known harbour and city called Havannah, in the island of Cuba. 



109. Lower California has the same peninsular form, directed 

 southwards. It lies on the western coast of Mexico, from which 

 it is separated by an inlet of the Pacific, called the Gulf of 

 California. It is terminated at its southern point in a headland 

 called Cape St. Lucas. 



110. Greenland, in the extreme north, presents an example of 

 similar formation, being formed into an acute angle, jutting out 

 into the Atlantic towards the south. 



111. Africa, in the Old World, is a stupendous example of the 

 same peninsular outline. Like South America it is triangular, the 

 base being presented to the north, and the vertex to the south. 

 There are no islands below its vertex, but the tendency to the 

 formation of one is indicated by the shoal called the Lagullas 

 Bank, well known to mariners. 



112. Australia has a similar form, terminating with the island 

 now called Tasmania, and formerly known as Van Diemen's- 

 Land. 



113. New Zealand, on a much smaller scale, presents a like 

 example, terminating with an island called New Leinster. 



114. It is very remarkable that this tendency to the peninsular 

 form with a southern vertex, not only prevails in the continents, 

 but is discoverable equally in the more minute outlines of the 

 land which determines the shores of gulfs, bays, and inland seas. 



115. The Spanish Peninsula, including Portugal, is an ex- 



155 



