338 PICTURESQUE SKETCHES 



India is connected geologically with Europe in 

 very distinct ways : partly by the continuation, at 

 intervals, of the mountain chain of the Himalayas, 

 in which secondary rocks form the central axis; 

 partly by several tertiary or very late secondary dis- 

 tricts, extending from Cutch, near the mouth of the 

 Indus, by Arabia, into Egypt ; and partly by the 

 very modern alluvial and sandy tracts of the Cas- 

 pian, passing into Siberia. 



Much remains to be made out with regard to all 

 these links, but much also has been done ; and there 

 can be little question that the great sandy deserts 

 of Arabia and Africa, and the steppes of Tartary, 

 have been at no very distant period beneath the sea. 

 The continuous volcanic band commencing in Asia 

 Minor, and traceable through the Mediterranean, 

 by the Greek Islands, into south Italy, has also 

 been concerned very intimately with the elevation 

 of the tract both to the north and south of it. We 

 may even hope some day to connect by a perfect 

 series the middle and newer tertiary formations of 

 the old continents in the northern hemisphere ; and 

 perhaps the time is not very far distant, when, the 

 Russian and Tartar provinces in northern Asia being 

 surveyed, and some glimpse obtained with regard to 

 the geological structure of China, a complete history 

 may be worked out, defining the limits of change 

 during the tertiary period throughout this vast 

 tract. 



In the way of tertiary geology, many parts of 

 Australia appear to promise matter for investigation, 

 as interesting as that of the better and longer known 

 continents, and on almost as grand a scale. At pre- 



