GEOLOGICAL RESEAHCHES 



CHINA, MONGOLIA, AND JAPAN. 



CHAPTEE I. 



ON THE GENERAL OUTLINES OF EASTERN ASIA. 



If we examine a Mercator Chart of Eastern Asia, we are instantly struck with 

 the parallelism of many of its most importajit features. A straight line (J., B, PI. 

 VII) drawn in the longer axis of the Gulf of Pechele, trending nearly northeast 

 (N. 47° E.), if prolonged in both directions, will be found to coincide with the 

 entire middle course of the Yangtse, between Sz'chuen and Yunnan, with the 

 longer axis of the great delta-plain between the highlands of Shantung and western 

 Chilili, with the mouth and lower course of the Liau river, with the valley of the 

 lower Amur, and finally crossing the Sea of Ochotsk, it is parallel to, and nearly 

 coincides with, the direction of the Gulf of Penjinsk. 



Using this line as a standard of reference, we find that the long straight western 

 shores of the two greatest indentations, the Sea of Ochotsk and the Bay of Bengal, 

 are nearly in a line with each other and parallel to our standard. The same may 

 be said of a Hne connecting the islands of Formosa, Kiusiu, Nippon and the Kuriles. 

 The trend of the southeastern coast of China, the upper course of the Yellow river, 

 the Lake Baikal, and the courses of many of the principal rivers of Eastern Siberia; 

 that of Kamtschatka and the coast of Manchuria are all separate mstances confirm- 

 ing this rule. 



We are naturally led to look for the cause of this in a similar uniformity in the 

 trend of the mountain ranges, and, indeed, although the directions of these are 

 difiicult of determination, I hope to be able to show that such a parallelism really 

 exists. The long, submerged chain represented by the Kurile and Japanese islands 

 is an unmistakable instance, while, in the northern part of the continent, the Stanovoi 

 and Yablonoi ranges, and all the ridges of Trans-Baikal, are examples of mountains 

 nearly or quite parallel to our standard, and inclosing extensive longitudinal valleys. 

 The same may be said of the Byrranga mountains, and of almost all the ridges east 

 of the Lena river. Indeed, while the trends of nearly all the moimtains of North- 

 eastern Asia lie between N. N. E. and E. N. E., the majority of them approach very 

 nearly the N. E. S. W. direction. 



Having seen that this regidarity exists in the ranges of the better explored parts 



1 April, 1866. ( 1 ) 



