TERRACED ISLAND IN EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. 43 



France. 



I passed from Geneva to Paris, through Dijon and Tonnerre, and from Paris to 

 Boulogne : also from Calais to Lille, in the north of France, but I have not much 

 to say of the terraces. The country generally is too flat and free from mountains to 

 make their occurrence probable. On the route from Geneva to Paris, terraces are 

 uncommon, though the limestone, which I believe underlies the whole country, 

 sometimes assumes this form : as for example, in the hills surrounding Poligny. 

 Around Campanogle river, terraces are well characterized, and at a higher level I 

 saw some beaches. As to drift derived from a distance, I saw no good example ; 

 however, I crossed the Jura mountains in the night. In many places the limestone 

 is worn into a thousand fantastic shapes at the surface, and appears extremely 

 jagged; showing that drift agency has not smoothed it down. 



Scandinavia. 



This country I did not visit, and I allude to it here for the purpose of quoting a 

 remarkable fact, mentioned by Mr. Eobert Chambers, in his description of some of 

 its terraces. These he traced at least to the height of 2162 feet above the ocean, and 

 found the highest bearing a strong resemblance to the Parallel Roads of Lochaber, 

 in Scotland. But the fact to which I allude, is this: "that there is a district in 

 Finmark, of 40 geographical miles in extent, which has sunk 58 feet at one 

 extremity and risen 96 at the other." (Ed. New Phil. Journ., Jan. 1850.) If 

 the terraces there are as irregular as in this country, and as much wanting in 

 continuity over wide districts, this would be a veiy difficult fact to determine. 

 But I cannot doubt that one so familiar with this subject as Mr. Chambers, would 

 be on his guard against confounding different terraces. 



3. Terraced Island in the East Indian Archipelago. 



B,ev. Charles Hartwell, American missionary in China, on his passage thither, 

 took a sketch of Sandalwood Island, on account of its terraced appearance. For- 

 merly my pupil, and knowing the deep interest I felt in terraces, he sent the 

 sketch to me ; and in the dearth of information respecting terrace phenomena in 

 that part of the world, I have thought it ought to be preserved. I have accord- 

 ingly added it to the illustrations of this paper in Plate XII, Fig. 6. It was taken 

 at the distance of eight miles, a, is a projecting point of terraces; 5, the S. E. 

 point of the island; c, detached isle west of the point b, and near the southern 



descending, when in fact there was a slight slope upward. I observed, also, that when we were on 

 one side of a valley, say 80 or 100 rods wide, and where in fact the two sides sloped somewhat 

 rapidly towards the river in the centre, it seemed as if there was a continuous slope to the opposite 

 side, where the steep rocky mountains rose. I shall not attempt to explain these phenomena, though 

 confident that they are not the result of anything peculiar in my own perceptions. 



