VOLCANOES AND CORAL ISLANDS. 15 



in the southern part of that noble group the southern Alps vie in beauty and majesty 

 with the better known Swiss mountains. Perhaps nowhere in the world outside of the 

 Pacific can so great a variety of climate be found. Tables of rainfall, maps of isother- 

 mic lines can be given of some parts of the Pacific region, but the record is too imper- 

 fect and as yet covers too narrow a territory to make it worth while to reproduce here. 



Island Forms. — A marked difference exists between islands in our region : some 

 rise high above the ocean presenting conical peaks more or less eroded into radial val- 

 leys ; the peaks and slopes generally, at least on the windward side, covered with dense 

 vegetation ; while the second class consists of a low sand bank not more than a dozen 

 feet above the ocean and only visible to the approaching vessel by the lofty coconut trees. 

 Of the former class are the Hawaiian, Samoan, Society Groups, and most of the western 

 islands, while to the latter class belong the Paumotus, Gilbert and Marshall Groups : the 

 two forms are sometimes combined as at the Fijian Group. So far as known all the 

 high islands of the central Pacific and most of those in the west are volcanic. 



'6 ' 



Volcanic Systems. — All along the shores of the Pacific are active volcanoes. 

 Commencing with the little known volcanoes of the Antarctic region, of which we may 

 hope to learn more in view of the present interest in Antarctic exploration, the Andes 

 continue the line with some of the loftiest in the world near the equator. Central 

 America presents volcanoes of great variety and interest, mostly detached and not in 

 mountain chains. Mexico with her Coseguina and others less active in modern times, 

 while Shasta, Ranier and Baker carry the line northward until it takes to the water in 

 the Alaskan Islands and crosses to the fine ranges of Kamchatka, then through Japan, 

 the Philippines to Java and Sumatra where it leaves this region. With such a wall of 

 fiery sentinels it is not surprising that the enclosed space should bristle with similar 

 volcanic and seismic phenomena. Hawaii on the north-east seems to be a prolongation 

 of the Mexican line which is marked by Colima, Popocatepetl and Orizaba. It is a 

 line of volcanic action extending nearly a thousand miles, although the portion to the 

 north-west has long been extinct. At the extreme southwest is the largest active crater 

 in the world, Kilauea, which has given its name to a remarkable type of pit crater. 

 The Marquesas, although volcanic, present no craters and have long been extinct : and 

 this is true of the Society Islands, but their near neighbor the Tongan Group is still 

 active and submarine volcanoes break out, form islands of loose cinders, and soon are 

 converted to shoals by the waves. New Zealand contains several grand volcanoes and 

 its volcanic phenomena in the way of hot springs are noteworthy. The "Terraces" 

 on the North island were the most beautiful in the world until destroyed \>y the erup- 

 tion of Tarawera (in June, 1886). In the New Hebrides are several smaller active 

 vents; one of them, on Tanna, has been constantly active, like Stromboli, at least since 



the time of Cook. The Solomon Islands and the Bismarck Archipelago are fully vol- 



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