258 
SCENERY OF SWITZERLAND. 
one with a general slope southwards, one with a 
northward slope, and the third without any. The 
first will, of course, form a peninsula pointing south- 
wards, because, as we proceed southwards, less and 
less of the surface will project above the water, until 
nothing but the central ridge remains. The second 
tract, however, would also assume the same form, 
because, though by the hypothesis the land does not 
sink, still, the gradual preponderance of water would 
produce the same effect. 
If, moreover, the central mountain ridge, as is so 
geneially the case, presents a series of detached 
summits, the last of such elevations which rises above 
the water level will necessarily form an island. This 
suggests a possible reason for the position of Ceylon, 
Terra del Fuego, etc. Africa, however, unlike the 
other south-pointing lands, has no island at its 
extremity. They are folded ranges. The Cape of 
Good Hope, on the contrary, is a table mountain, 
bounded by two converging areas of subsidence which 
meet at Capetown. In such a case no 'island would 
be present. 
So far as I am aware, no notice has been taken 
of this suggestion except by Prof Penck, who char- 
acterises it as self-evident. However this may be it 
