TOPOGRAPHICAL FEATURES. Al? 
parallel lines of islands, which we have named on a former page, the 
Loa and Kea ranges. 
In the Samoan Group, we have pointed out two distinct lines of 
islands as constituting the range, and the distance between the 
parallel ranges is about thirty miles. ‘T’his is shown on the General 
Chart, and also on the map of the islands, page 307. 
Following the great central Pacific chain from Samoa northwest- 
ward, we observe the Vaitupu (or Ellice) range in two series, 
parallel to one another. In the Kingsmills there are several distinct 
lines, as may be deduced from the map, page 50. From ‘Taputeouea, 
(Drummond’s) or rather from Hurd Island, two hundred miles to the 
southeast, to Maiana is a single ine; Apamama and ‘Tarawa may con- 
stitute a second parallel line; Apia (or Charlotte) lies in a ¢herd parallel 
line, as the trend of the island itself shows; and Maraki and Pitt’s 
Island appear to make a fourth line. The several lines form an ad- 
vancing series, and they are distinct, not only in the bearing of the 
islands, but mainly in the direction of the longer diameter of each 
island. 
We do not say that the islands from Taputeouea to Maiana origi- 
nated in a single fissure: on the contrary, we believe that there 
were several ruptures, as in the Hawaiian Group, perhaps one for 
each island. It is probable that this principle of a “receding” or 
“advancing” series, characterized the subordinate parts, as it is actu- 
ally a more common mode of fissuring than the ‘“ continued” series. 
This remark we would apply to other groups. We do not under- 
take to point out all the possible examples of the system, but only 
such as are obvious from the facts before the eye on a good map. 
The positions and features of the Kingsmill Islands, and of the other 
groups above referred to, were carefully ascertained by the surveys of 
the Expedition. 
In the Marshall Islands, northwest of the Kingsmills, the two main 
ranges, the Radack and Ralick Groups, are nearly parallel. The 
latter forms a series nearly in a line with the southern half of the 
Kingsmills. The Radack chain, to the eastward, has the general form 
of the Kingsmill Group, the northern part becoming gradually more 
easterly in position than the southern. Arrowsmith’s, Pedder and 
Daniel, lie in a transverse position at right angles with the trend of the 
group. ‘The several parallel lines, forming an advancing series, are not 
so distinct in this group as in the Kingsmills; yet the positions would 
seem to indicate a conformity to the principle. There are too many 
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