236 AUSTEALASIA. 



abysses of over a tlioiisanci fatlioms ; on tlie north and north-west occur troughs of 

 two thousand fathoms ; southwards, a chasm of fifteen hundred fathoms yawns 

 between Obi and the Southern Mohiccas ; lastly, towards the east, depths of five 

 hundred fathoms, with a sill of over two hundred and fifty fathoms, mark the part- 

 ing line between the insular world and the islands depending on Papuasia. The 

 Northern Moluccas are mainly disposed longitudinally north and south, whereas 

 the southern group runs east and west. The total area exceeds 6,000 square miles ; 

 but with the exception of the so-called " Little Moluccas " (Ternate, Tidor, Mak- 

 jan, Motir, Kayoa) none of the islands are thickly peopled, while some even have 

 no permanent residents at all. The two islands of Tifuri and Mayu, which depend 

 politically on Ternate, may be included in this group, although rising in deep 

 waters to the east of Minahassa. 



The term Mohcos was originally restricted by the Portuguese to the " Little 

 Moluccas " of modern geographers, but has gradually been extended to all the 

 eastern islands producing spices. 



Igneous energy is far more active in the northern than in the southern group, 

 and a whole range of active craters skirts the western edge of the archipelago. 

 In the northern section of Batjan (Batchian) occur hot springs, and a geyser which, 

 like those of Iceland, contains much silica. Farther north, beyond the basalt 

 rocks of Kayoa (Kajoa) rises the Makjan volcano, which was partly blown away 

 during the eruption of 1616. Motir also (1,020 feet) forms a burning mountain, 

 which was still active down to the close of the last century. The southern por- 

 tion of Tidor, a little farther north, consists of a perfectly regular cone, the 

 highest in the Moluccas (5,720 feet), which emits vapours from time to time. Its 

 neio-hbour, Ternate, somewhat lower and of less svmmetrical form, is one of the 

 most restless volcanoes in the whole of Indonesia ; from the Dutch occupation at 

 the beginning of the seventeenth century down to 1862 no less than eighty-four 

 eruptions were recorded ; the mountain is fissured in all directions, and vapours are 

 constantly emitted from the seven craters opened on its flanks. Earthquakes are 

 also frequent, and the town lying at its base has scarcely recovered from one 

 disaster when it is overtaken by another. 



Farther north, the volcanic axis of the Little Moluccas strikes the projecting 

 coast of Halmahera, and here also rise three eruptive cones visible from Ternate. 

 In the same direction follow other centres of igneous activity, such as the Gunong 

 Tarakan (Tafelberg), and Tolo, facing the island of Morotai (Mortal), whose scoriae 

 forming barriers across the marine inlets have converted them into complete 

 land-locked lakes. 



Halmahera, or the " Great Land," presents in its outlines a curious resemblance 

 to Celebes, consisting, like that island, of four mountainous peninsulas rooted in 

 a central nucleus, and all di.sposed in similar directions. The trachytic island of 

 Morotai, with the adjacent clusters, which appear to have been formerly attached 

 to the northern peninsula, also correspond to the Minahassa region of North 

 Celebes, while the southern and south-eastern peninsulas are similarly prolonged 

 by the islands of Damar and Gebe. 



