10 THE MALAY ARCHIPELAGO. [chap. 1. 



whole south and east of Gilolo, consist in a great measure 

 of upraised coral-rock, exactly corresponding to that now 

 forming in the adjacent seas. In many places I have 

 ohserved the unaltered surfaces of the elevated reefs, with 

 great masses of coral standing up in their natural position, 

 and hundreds of shells so fresh-looking that it was hard 

 to believe that they had been more than a few years out 

 of the water ; and, in fact, it is very probable that such 

 changes have occurred within a few centuries. 



The united lengths of these volcanic belts is about 

 ninety degrees, or one-fourth of the entire circumference of 

 the globe. Their width is about fifty miles ; but, for a 

 space of two hundred on each side of them, evidences of 

 subterranean action are to be found in recently elevated 

 coral-rock, or in barrier coral-reefs, indicating recent sub- 

 mergence. In the very centre or focus of the great curve 

 of volcanoes is placed the large island of Borneo, in which 

 no sign of recent volcanic action has yet been observed, 

 and where earthquakes, so characteristic of the surround- 

 ing regions, are entirely unknown. The equally large 

 island of New Guinea occupies another quiescent area, on 

 which no sign of volcanic action has yet been discovered. 

 With the exception of the eastern end of its northern 

 peninsula, the large and curiously-shaped island of Celebes 

 is also entirely free from volcanoes ; and there is some 

 reason to believe that the volcanic portion has once formed 



