224 GEOLOGY OF THE ARCHIPELAGO. 



our voyage from the Strait of Sunda to Sydney, and 

 our return thence to England, could have little 

 interest to the reader. Perhaps, however, I may 

 be indulged with a few last general observations 

 on the East Indian Archipelago. 



The geological constitution of the Indian Archi- 

 pelago, so far as it is known, appears to be simple 

 and easily described. If we draw a line from 

 the west coast of the Malay Peninsula down the 

 Strait of Malacca, and thence through that of 

 Banca, take it through the Java sea, and including 

 in its sweep Borneo and Celebes, bring it round 

 again to the east coast of the Malay Peninsula, 

 the countries surrounded by it appear to consist 

 principally of granite, more or less covered by sands 

 and detrital accumulations, derived probably from 

 the wear and tear of the granitic rocks. In these 

 countries valuable minerals abound, more especially 

 tin, antimony, and gold. 



A great volcanic band proceeds from the north 

 through the Philippine Islands to the Moluccas. It 

 here joins another that runs from the neighbourhood 

 of Barren Island in the Bay of Bengal, through 

 Sumatra, Java, and the islands to the eastward, 

 along the northern coast of New Guinea, and thence 

 through the Solomon Archipelago, that of Tierra 

 Austral del Espiritu Santo and the New Hebrides, 

 and is thence continued into New Zealand. In part 

 of this great band, namely, from the western ex- 

 tremity of Java into Timor, if not throughout its 



