SYSTEM IN THE COUESES OF THE EAETH'S FEATURE LINES. 37 



B. !N'oRTHEASTERLT SYSTEM OF TRENDS. — The bocTj of JSTew Zealand 

 has a mean N. 40° E. course. The line is continued to the south, through 

 the Auckland and Macquarie Islands, to 58° S. To the north, in nearly the 

 same line, near 30° S., lie the Kermadec Islands, and farther north, near 20° 

 S.J the Tonga or Friendly Islands. 



The Ladrones, north of the equator, follow the same general course. It 

 also occurs in many groups of the northwesterly system characterizing sub- 

 ordinate parts ,of those groups. Thus, the westernmost of the Hawaiian 

 Islands, Niihau, lies in the north-northeast line, and the two lofty peaks of 

 Hawaii have almost the same bearing. 



Pacific iSLA]!g'D chains. — The groups of Pacific islands, with a few 

 exceptions, are not independent lines, but subordinate parts of island chains. 

 There are three great island chains in the ocean which belong to the north- 

 westerly system, — The Haioaiian, the Polynesian, and the Australasian, — 

 and, excluding the Ladrones, which pertain to the western Pacific, one 

 belonging to the northeasterly system ; viz., the Tongan or New Zealand 

 chain. 



Hawaiian chain. — This chain has already been described. 



Polynesian chain. — This chain sweeps through the center of the ocean^ 

 and has a length of 5500 miles, or nearly one fourth the circumference of 

 the globe. (See Pig. 24.) The Paumotu Archipelago (1), and the Tahitian, 

 Eurutu, and Hervey Islands (2, 3, 4) are parallel lines in the chain, 



24. 



X 



■11. 



.^ 



^- 



<l.. 



\ 



Si. 





\7 



X 



N-..\<^ 



K\ X 



.12 



^ 



■'-.^5 



a 



1 to 10, the Polynesian chain : 1, Paumotu group ; 2, Tahitian ; 3, Rurutu group ; 4, Hervey group ; 

 5, Samoan, or Navigators; 6, Vakaafo group; 7, Vaitupu group; 8, Gilbert group; 9, Ralick; 10, Radack; 

 11, Carolines; 12, Marquesas; 13, Fanning group; 14, Hawaiian, a to 7j, part of the Australasian chain: 

 a. New Caledonia; 6, Loyalty group; c. New Hebrides; d, Santa Cruz group; e, Solomon Islands; /, Louiei- 

 ade group; g, New Ireland; h, Admiralty group. — D. 



