22 PACIFIC ISLANDS. 
has an east-and-west course by Flores and Sumbawa, west-northwest 
in Java, northwest-by-west between Sumatra and Java, and northwest 
in Sumatra. The transverse trend varies in direction with the vary- 
ing course of this range. The east coast of Borneo, the main line of 
Celebes and Luzon,* and Formosa beyond, constitute one of the most 
remarkable of the north-and-south ranges anywhere to be met with; 
for it extends over thirty-four degrees of latitude, a distance of nearly 
2400 miles: and we may with much reason consider the coast of 
Northern China, and perhaps also of Southwestern New Holland, as 
a continuation of it. This range, considering only the limit first laid 
down, has the course N. 3° KE. It crosses the other range near the 
west extremity of Sumbawa, where its direction is about three de- 
grees north of west, (N. 87° W.) The exact rectangularity of the 
crossing lines seems a little too surprising; yet the facts cannot be set 
aside. Moreover, in the line of Celebes, which is farther east than 
the first line, and north of Flores, the two directions are quite north- 
and-south, and east-and-west. 
Again, the west coast of Borneo and the long island of Palawan 
constitute another line, very regular and nearly straight. Its direction 
is N. 40° KE. It meets the transverse range in the southern extremity 
of Sumatra, where a tangent to the curve representing its direction 
would have a course 40 degrees north of west, (N. 50° W.) This is 
another coincidence, so exact as to excite surprise, yet a matter of 
direct measurement and true, whatever be its cause. Still, were the 
two cases just cited alone, the connexion between the two systems of 
ranges might notwithstanding be doubted. 
The form of the island of Borneo, (narrowing northward, and widest 
south,) is a consequence of the difference of trend here pointed out. 
6. Another instance of the same kind we observe in New Zealand, 
for the position of the foot on the leg of the boot varies but little from 
a right angle. The same fact literally is also seen in the island of 
Luzon. 
c. The Tongan Group is one of the most perfectly linear in the 
ocean, and one of the finest examples of the northeasterly ranges. It 
runs nearly at right angles with Samoa, the course of the former 
being N. 22° E., and that of the latter N.68° W. From Samoa 
* The southern extremity of Luzon, which is mostly recent volcanic, belongs to the 
northwest system, and extends in a line towards the Pelews. The curved directions and 
the overlapping of the several lines is well shown in the Philippines. 
