PREFACE 
xi 
Here is what really happened. The earth at one 
period changed its shape—-when, is merely guesswork 
and is of no consequence here — and the crust of the earth 
— not the core, mind you — split into two great gaps 
from pole to pole, with a number of other minor fissures. 
In other words, the earth opened just like the skin of 
an over-heated baked apple. The African and American 
continents, as well as Australasia, with New Guinea, the 
Celebes Islands, the Philippine Archipelago, and China, 
which before that event formed part of one immense con¬ 
tinent, thus became divided, leaving North and South 
America isolated, between the Atlantic and the Pacific — 
which were then, and only then, formed. 
It is easy, by looking intelligently at a map, to re¬ 
construct the former shape of the world. You will notice 
that the most western portion of Africa fits exactly into 
the gap between North and South America, while the 
entire African coast between Dahomey and the Cape 
Colony fits perfectly, in all its indentations and projec¬ 
tions, into the coast line of South America. The shores 
of Western Europe in those days were joined to North 
America, and find to-day their almost parallel and well¬ 
fitting coast line on the east coast of the United States 
and Canada. On the opposite side of the world, the 
western side of South America, the same conditions can 
be noticed, although the division of the two continents 
(America and Asia) is there much wider. Fragments 
were formed, leaving innumerable islands scattered in the 
Pacific Ocean, half way between the actual continents 
of Asia, Australia, and America. A mere glance is suffi¬ 
cient to show how well Australia fits in along the Chilian 
and Peruvian coast, the great island of New Guinea 
along part of Peru and Ecuador and the west coast of 
the Central American Isthmus. The Philippine Islands 
probably in those days lay alongside of Guatemala, while 
California bordered on Japan. 
