登陆注册
4703400000091

第91章

A chart on a large scale is given of these islands; they are low, and of coral-formation (Boteler's "Narr." volume ii., page 54); and generally have extensive reefs projecting from them which are dry at low water, and which on the outside rise abruptly from a deep sea: on their insides they are separated from the continent by a channel, or rather a succession of bays, with an average depth of ten fathoms. The small headlands on the continent also have coral-banks attached to them; and the Querimba islands and banks are placed on the lines of prolongation of these headlands, and are separated from them by very shallow channels. It is evident that whatever cause, whether the drifting of sediment or subterranean movements, produced the headlands, likewise produced, as might have been expected, submarine prolongations to them; and these towards their outer extremities, have since afforded a favourable basis for the growth of coral-reefs, and subsequently for the formation of islets. As these reefs clearly belong to the fringing class, the Querimba islands have been coloured red.--MONABILA (13 deg 32' S.). In the plan of this harbour, the headlands outside are fringed by reefs apparently of coral; coloured red.--MOZAMBIQUE (150 deg S.) The outer part of the island on which the city is built, and the neighbouring islands, are fringed by coral-reefs; coloured red. From the description given in Owen's "Narr." (volume i., page 162), the shore from MOZAMBIQUE to DELAGOA BAY appears to be low and sandy; many of the shoals and islets off this line of coast are of coral-formation; but from their small size and lowness, it is not possible, from the charts, to know whether they are truly fringed. Hence this portion of coast is left uncoloured, as are likewise those parts more northward, of which no mention has been made in the foregoing pages from the want of information.

PERSIAN GULF.

From the charts lately published on a large scale by the East India Company, it appears that several parts, especially the southern shores of this gulf, are fringed by coral-reefs; but as the water is very shallow, and as there are numerous sandbanks, which are difficult to distinguish on the chart from reefs, I have not coloured the upper part red. Towards the mouth, however, where the water is rather deeper, the islands of ORMUZ and LARRACK, appear so regularly fringed, that I have coloured them red. There are certainly no atolls in the Persian Gulf. The shores of IMMAUM, and of the promontory forming the southern headland of the Persian Gulf, seem to be without reefs. The whole S.W. part (except one or two small patches) of ARABIA FELIX, and the shores of SOCOTRA appear from the charts and memoir of Captain Haines ("Geographical Journal," 1839, page 125) to be without any reefs. I believe there are no extensive coral-reefs on any part of the coasts of INDIA, except on the low promontory of MADURA (as already mentioned) in front of Ceylon.

RED SEA.

My information is chiefly derived from the admirable charts published by the East India Company in 1836, from personal communication with Captain Moresby, one of the surveyors, and from the excellent memoir, "Uber die Natur der Corallen-Banken des Rothen Meeres," by Ehrenberg. The plains immediately bordering the Red Sea seem chiefly to consist of a sedimentary formation of the newer tertiary period. The shore is, with the exception of a few parts, fringed by coral-reefs. The water is generally profoundly deep close to the shore; but this fact, which has attracted the attention of most voyagers, seems to have no necessary connection with the presence of reefs; for Captain Moresby particularly observed to me, that, in latitude 24 deg 10' on the eastern side, there is a piece of coast, with very deep water close to it, without any reefs, but not differing in other respects from the usual nature of the coast-line. The most remarkable feature in the Red Sea is the chain of submerged banks, reefs, and islands, lying some way from the shore, chiefly on the eastern side; the space within being deep enough to admit a safe navigation in small vessels. The banks are generally of an oval form, and some miles in width; but some of them are very long in proportion to their width. Captain Moresby informs me that any one, who had not made actual plans of them, would be apt to think that they were much more elongated than they really are. Many of them rise to the surface, but the greater number lie from five to thirty fathoms beneath it, with irregular soundings on them. They consist of sand and living coral; coral on most of them, according to Captain Moresby, covering the greater part of their surface. They extend parallel to the shore, and they are not unfrequently connected in their middle parts by short transverse banks with the mainland. The sea is generally profoundly deep quite close to them, as it is near most parts of the coast of the mainland; but this is not universally the case, for between latitude 15 deg and 17 deg the water deepens quite gradually from the banks, both on the eastern and western shores, towards the middle of the sea. Islands in many parts arise from these banks; they are low, flat-topped, and consist of the same horizontally stratified formation with that forming the plain-like margin of the mainland. Some of the smaller and lower islands consist of mere sand. Captain Moresby informs me, that small masses of rock, the remnants of islands, are left on many banks where there is now no dry land.

Ehrenberg also asserts that most of the islets, even the lowest, have a flat abraded basis, composed of the same tertiary formation: he believes that as soon as the surf wears down the protuberant parts of a bank, just beneath the level of the sea, the surface becomes protected from further abrasion by the growth of coral, and he thus accounts for the existence of so many banks standing on a level with the surface of this sea. It appears that most of the islands are certainly decreasing in size.

同类推荐
  • 天原发微

    天原发微

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • Selected Prose of Oscar Wilde

    Selected Prose of Oscar Wilde

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 西征日录

    西征日录

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • New Chronicles of Rebecca

    New Chronicles of Rebecca

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 佛说立世阿毗昙论

    佛说立世阿毗昙论

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 第一杀手:逆天小病妃

    第一杀手:逆天小病妃

    她,曾经是现代黑道上排名第一的杀手,如今却穿越沦为夏府人人唾弃和打骂的小贱种、病秧子。个性桀骜不羁的她,怎会甘心如此卑微地活着,任人践踏和蹂躏?当漆黑冷冽的眸子一睁,病秧子便变成一个惊世骇俗的小天才,光芒乍现,霸气尽露!他,是身份尊贵的二皇子,天赋异禀,同时也是苍茫大陆上闻名遐迩的修炼怪才,一场怪病,让他与身为“病秧子”的她结成连理,从此他们共同上天入地,生死相随,一生一世一双人。
  • 穿越万界从斗破苍穹开始

    穿越万界从斗破苍穹开始

    萧阳一苏醒来,突然发现自己穿越了,还变成了小孩,而穿越的地方竟然还是斗破苍穹世界的萧家,想着萧家未来的一大堆强敌,像云岚宗啊还好,魂殿魂族的话,是会死人的甚至是生不如死(萧阳躲在角落瑟瑟发抖Σ(°△°|||)︴)。为了活得好好的,萧阳决定借走萧炎的所有机缘,同时,萧阳觉醒了自己的金手指,万界至高系统……重生斗破苍穹,身怀绝世系统,穿越诸天万界,抢尽主角机缘。让我们一起看看萧阳如何在强者如云的斗气大陆生存呢!目前经历位面:斗破苍穹
  • 我回古代我最大

    我回古代我最大

    聪明绝顶,可爱可恨的她,让朋友和男朋友的背叛使她伤心欲绝,但在生命的边缘时刻,仍为朋友的奋不顾身,意外回到……波折曾让她不敢再爱,伤害曾经让她痛不欲生,最后她还是决定让爱重生!
  • 修仙从疯人院开始

    修仙从疯人院开始

    这是一家貌似普通的精神病院。里面的病人,个个都是人才,吹牛也很真实,堪称出神入化,超脱宇宙。A区的一号床,住着一名叫嚣“脚踏浮屠斩神魔,宇内无我这般仙”的退休电工,刘师傅。隔离区的七号床,一名重度抑郁症小哥,自称“钟馗府君”转世,一心想着跳楼自杀,回归鬼界。最上层的重症监护室里,关着一名成天嚷着要反上天庭,自称“齐天大圣”的躁郁症青年,孙先生。……对于病人们脑洞突破天际的中二臆想,陈元从来一笑置之,直到有一天,他发现——这些脑子不正常的病号,竟然全是牛逼到不行的神魔大能!新世界的大门,就此打开!群号:558511708
  • THE WAR IN THE AIR

    THE WAR IN THE AIR

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 快穿之女配的忠犬boss

    快穿之女配的忠犬boss

    夙念:“卧操!你们这些妖艳贱货敢欺负我娘子,看我不把你们虐得生不如死。”宴莳:“葡萄……”“来啦~娘子,你要的葡萄,已经帮你洗好剥皮了。”夙念笑得一脸荡漾。[系统5201314咬着小手帕:你,你们能不能关心一下我这单身汪?]两人异口同声:“滚!碍眼的家伙。”[系统5201314:爱情总悄然而至,幸福总是无处不在,狗粮总是猝不及防……可怜了我这单身狗……](宠文,超宠,甜甜的,欢迎小宝贝们入坑哦~)
  • 傲武苍穹

    傲武苍穹

    灵越大陆,强者为尊,身无灵根,不能修炼。心爱之人被抢,父母失踪,祸事不断,且看龙汐晨如何打破困境,一步一步的走上大陆巅峰。
  • 美在别处

    美在别处

    金贵爽朗地答应了方芳升学的要求,并以不容置辩的口吻宣布,要承担她的四年学费和她本人的生活开支。这样无形中巧妙地将这根红线拴在方芳的身上!方芳入学的手续快要办妥了。就在这时,丑鬼金仁突然又在金家出现了。这个十足的恶棍、流氓、骗卖了阮圆圆后,又重新溜回了H市。打听到华夏公司东山再起,阮圆圆又已坠楼自杀的消息后,不禁以手加额,暗自庆幸:“天助我也!”以为自己的劣迹无人知晓,于是又斗胆杀了个回马枪,重新闯进金家,编造了一套假话,又用一把眼泪,两串鼻涕,唬住了金贵,终于又被收留下来。
  • 必须学会唱歌(中国好小说)

    必须学会唱歌(中国好小说)

    《必须学会唱歌》在层层递进、环环相扣、起伏跌宕、欲扬先抑的叙事中,真相一点一点被暴露,人物的梦想一次一次被击垮,悲剧一遍一遍上演,终至万劫不复。读完小说,其感受就如同哥那戛然而止的《欢乐颂》,如鲠在喉,不吐不快——这歌声是如何消失的?哥的人生悲剧又是如何造成的?这悲剧首先可视作一种性格的或人性的悲剧。哥的卑怯懦弱与嫂子亚婷的乖张、暴戾之间的反差与张力最直接地酿成了悲剧。哥人生第一次的进城务工的经历因为一次意外的屈辱事件而宣告失败,他就此一蹶不振,以读武侠小说度日,精神陷入的麻痹状态,直到亚婷进入他的生命。尽管初次见面便感觉到亚婷的不对劲,但在情欲的驱使和他人的怂恿下,他还是毅然决然迈出了再次进城寻找亚婷的步伐,也从此一步步滑向命运的深渊。
  • 我想是为了遇见你

    我想是为了遇见你

    ”我说你是不是傻啊?“”我说不是,你相信吗?“