{"product_id":"2940001096818","title":"The mastery of the Pacific","description":"Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free.\u003cbr\u003eThis is an OCR edition with typos.\u003cbr\u003eExcerpt from book:\u003cbr\u003e DVAK HEAD-HUNTINC PARTY CHAPTER I THE STORY OF THE PACIFIC In the dim far-off ages of the past, into which we can only peer vaguely through the researches of science, it seems more than probable that a great number of the islands of the Pacific were gathered into continents, and that while those on the west formed part of Asia, those on the south-west were joined to Australia. It has been conjectured, moreover, that a great continent lay in mid-Pacific, of which the scattered islands of Polynesia are the only remains; but be that as it may, the whole subject is so enwrapped in the mist of ages as to make it unlikely that any definite conclusion can be come to. The line dividing the Asian and Australian groups of islands is so singular in its course that it repays a careful study of the map. It is drawn between the islands of Bali and Lombok and eastward of Celebes and the Philippines, so that the Philippines, Borneo, Celebes, Bali, Java, and Sumatra are Asiatic, and New Guinea, the Moluccas, and the chain from Timor to Lombokbelong to Australia. This division, unnatural as it seems — for from Sumatra to Timor the islands present a chain unbroken in appearance — is warranted both by the flora and fauna. The narrow but deep strait between Bali and Lombok is the dividing line between the characteristic species of the two continents, and this rule applies almost constantly to the islands on either side of the line indicated, with allowances for artificial introduction. The island of Celebes alone presents the phenomenon of many unique species of both flora and fauna, and the usually accepted explanation is that this island was detached from its parent continent at an extremely remote period, when Asia and Australia had been but recently severed. This accounts for affi...","brand":"The Macmillan Company","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47147055612144,"sku":"2940001096818","price":0.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940001096818","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}