(.HAP. XII.] 



239 



afford evidence of the highest value as to the means of dispersal 

 of various groups of organisms across a wide expanse of ocean. 



THE AZORES, OR WESTERN ISLANDS. 



These islands form a widely scattered group, nine in number, 

 situated between 37° and 39° 40' N. Lat. and stretching in 

 a south-east and north-west direction over a distance of nearl}^ 



OUILIXE MAP OF THE AZORES. 



Note.— The light tint show.s wh.ere the sea is less than 1,000 fathoms deep. 



The dark tint ., ., ,, more than 1,000 I'a thorns deep. 



The fignres show depths in fathoms. 



400 miles. The largest of the islands, San Miguel, is about forty 

 miles long, and is one of the nearest to Europe, being rather 

 under 900 miles from the coast of Portugal, from which it is 

 separated by an ocean 2,500 fathoms deep. The depth between 

 the islands does not seem to be known, but the 1,000 fathom 

 line encloses the whole group pretty closely, while a depth of 

 about 1,800 fathoms is reached within 300 miles in all direc- 

 tions. These great depths render it in the highest degree 



