Quitting the White Sea, and coasting the island of Candenos and the northern coasts of Russia, the ocean forms a small arm in the land at the mouth of the river Petzora. This arm, which is about 40 leagues long, by 8 or 10 broad, is rather a mass of water formed by the river than a gulph of the sea, and also has but little saltness. The land there forms a projecting cape, terminated by the small islands of Maurice and of Orange; and between this promontory and the lands which border the Strait of Waigat to the south, there is a small gulph about 30 leagues depth inland. This gulph belongs to the ocean, and is not formed by the land waters. We afterwards meet with Waigat's Strait, which is nearly under the 70th degree of north latitude. This strait is not more than 8 or 10 leagues long, and communicates with the sea which waters the northern coasts of Siberia. As this strait is shut up by the ice the greatest part of the year, it is very difficult to get into the sea beyond it. The passage has been attempted in vain by a great number of navigators, and those who fortunately passed it have left us no exact charts of that sea, which they have termed the Pacific Ocean. All that appears by the most recent charts, and by Senex's globe of 1739, is, that this sea might be entirely mediterranean, and not communicating with the great sea of Tartary, for it appears to be enclosed and bounded on the south by the country of the Samoides, which is at present well known, and which extends from the Straits of Waigat to the river Jenisca; on the east it is bounded by Jelmorland, on the west by Nova Zembla; and although we are not acquainted with the extent of this sea to the north and north-east, yet as there does not appear any interruption of the lands, there is great probability of its being only a mediterranean, and bounded by land on that side: what indeed proves this is, that by leaving Waigat's Strait you may coast Nova-Zembla all along its western and northern coasts as far as Cape Desire; that after having past this cape, keeping along the coast to the east of Nova Zembla, you arrive at a small gulph, which is about the 75th country of Jelmorland was discovered in 1664, which is only a few leagues distant from Nova Zembla, so that the only land which has not yet been discovered is a small spot near this little gulph; and this part is perhaps not thirty leagues long; so that if the Pacific Sea communicated with the ocean it must be at this little gulph, which is the only way by which they can join; and as this small gulph is in the 75th degree, even if the communication should exist, we must always keep five degrees towards the north to gain the great sea. It is evident, therefore, that if we would acquire the northern route to China, it would be much better to pass by the north of Nova Zembla, at the 77th or 78th degree, where the sea is more open, and has less ice, than to attempt the road through the icy strait of Waigat, with the uncertainty of getting out of this sea, which there is so much reason to believe mediterranean.
By following, therefore, the ocean along the coasts of Nova Zembla and Jelmorland, these lands are discoverable as far as the mouth of Chotanga, which is about the 73d degree, beyond which there is an unknown coast of about 200 leagues: we have only an account of them from the Muscovites, who have travelled by land into those climates; they state the country to be uninterrupted, have marked out the rivers in their charts, and called the people populi palati. This interval of coasts, still unknown, extends from the mouth of Chotanga to that of Kauvoina, in the 66th degree of latitude; the ocean there forms a bay, whose most projecting point in land is at the mouth of the Len, which is a very considerable river. This bay is very open, belongs to the Tartarian sea, and is called the Linchidolin, where the Muscovites have a whale fishery.
From the mouth of the Len we may follow the coasts of Tartary more than 500 leagues towards the east, to a peninsula inhabited by the Schelates. This is the most northern extremity of Tartary, and is situate about the 72d degree of latitude. In this 500 leagues the ocean makes no interruption by bays nor arms, only a considerable elbow from the peninsula of the Schelates to the mouth of the river Korvinea. This point of land also forms the eastern extremity of the old continent, and whose western is at Cape North in Lapland; so that the old continent has about 1700 leagues northern coasts, comprehending the sinuosities of the bays, from Cape North in Lapland to the farthest point of land belonging to the Schelates, and about 1100 leagues in a straight line.
Let us now take a view of the eastern coasts of the old continent, beginning at the farthest point of land which the Schelates inhabit, and descending towards the equator. The ocean at first forms an elbow between the country of the Schelates, and the land inhabited by the people called Tschutschi, which projects a considerable way into the sea. To the south of this island it forms a small bay, called the Bay of Suctoikret, and afterwards another smaller bay, which projects like an arm 40 or 50 miles into Kamtschatka; the ocean then enters into the land by a long strait, filled with many small Islands between the southern point of Kamtschatka and the northern point of Jesso, and forms a great mediterranean, which it is proper we should now trace throughout. The first is the sea of Kamtschatka, in which is a very considerable island, called Amour, or Love Island. This sea has an arm to the north-east; but this arm, and the sea of Kamtschatka itself, might possibly be, at least in part, formed by the rivers, which run therein, from the lands of Kamtschatka and from Tartary. Be this as it will, the sea of Kamtschatka communicates with the sea of Corea, which makes the second part of this mediterranean; and all this sea, which is more than 600 leagues in length, is bounded upon the west and north by Corea and Tartary, and on the east and south by Kamtschatka, Jesso, and Japan, without having any other communication with the ocean than that of the fore-mentioned strait, for it is not certain whether that which is set down in some maps between Japan and Jesso really exists; and even if this strait does exist, the sea of Kamtschatka and Corea will still be regarded as forming a great mediterranean, divided from the ocean on every side, and could not be taken for a bay, for it has no direct communication with the ocean by its southern strait, but with the sea of China, which is rather a mediterranean than a gulph of the ocean.
It has been observed in the preceding article, that the sea has a constant motion from east to west; and that consequently the great Pacific Sea made continual efforts against the eastern countries; an attentive inspection of the globe will confirm the consequences which we have drawn from this observation; for from Kamtschatka to New Britain, discovered in 1700 by Dampier, and which is the 4th or 5th degree in the south latitude, the ocean appears to have washed away part of the land on these coasts for upwards of 400 leagues, and consequently the eastern bounds of the old continent formerly extended much farther than at present; for it is remarkable, that New Britain and Kamtschatka, which are the most projecting lands towards the east, are under the same meridian. All countries have their greatest extent from north to south. Kamtschatka reaches at least 160 leagues from north to south, and that point which is washed by the Pacific Sea on the east, and on the other by the mediterranean sea above mentioned, is divided in the direction, from north to south by a chain of mountains.
After these the lands of Jesso and Japan form another extent of land, whose direction is also north and south, extending upwards of 400 leagues, between the Great Sea and that of Corea. The chain of mountains of Jesso, and of Japan, cannot fail of being directed from north to south, since these lands, which are 400 leagues in this direction, are not more than 50 or 60 from east to west. Therefore the lands of Kamtschatka, Jesso, and the eastern part of Japan, must be regarded as contiguous, and directed from north to south. Still pursuing the same direction, after having passed Cape Ava at Japan, we meet with the island of Barnevelt, and three other islands, which are placed in the direction of north and south, and extend about 100 leagues. We afterwards meet with three other islands, called the islands of Callanos, then the Ladrones, which are fourteen or fifteen in number, all placed in the same direction from north to south, and all together occupying a space of more than 300 leagues in this direction, by so trifling a breadth, that its greatest does not exceed seven or eight leagues from east to west. It therefore appears to me that Kamtschatka, Jesso, eastern Japan, the islands of Barnevelt, the Callanos, and the Ladrones, are only the same chain of mountains, and the remains of an old country, which the ocean has at one time covered and gradually retired from. All these countries in fact appear to be only mountains, and the islands to be their points or peaks, while the low lands are covered with the ocean. What is related in Lettres Edifiantes, appears, to be true, and that in fact a quantity of islands have been discovered, called the new Philippine Islands, and that their position is really such as is given by Father Gobien; and it cannot be doubted but that the most eastern of these islands are a continuation of the chain of mountains which forms the Ladrones, for these eleven eastern islands are all placed in the same direction from north to south, occupying a space of more than 200 leagues in length, the broadest of which is not more than 7 or 8 leagues from east to west.
But if these conjectures are thought too presumptuous, on account of the great intervals between the islands bordering on Cape Ava, Japan, and the Callanos, and between these islands and the Ladrones, and between the Ladrones and the new Philippines, the first of which is in fact about 160 leagues, the second 50 or 60, and the third near 120, I shall answer that the chains of mountains often extend much farther under the waters of the sea, and that these intervals are small in comparison of the extent of land which these mountains in the above direction present, which is 1100 leagues, computing them from the interior part of Kamtschatka. In short, if we wholly reject this idea, as to the quantity of land the ocean must have gained on the eastern coasts of the continent, and on that suit of mountains, still it must be allowed that Kamtschatka, Jesso, Japan, the islands Bonga, Tanaxima, those of Great Lequeo, King's Island, Formosa, Vaif, Basha, Babuyane, Lucca, Mindano, Gilolo, &c. and lastly, Guinea, which extends to New Britain, and is situate under the same meridian as Kamtschatka, do not form a continuation of land of more than 2200 leagues, interrupted only by small intervals, the greatest of which perhaps is not more than 20 leagues, so that the ocean has formed in the lands of the eastern continent a great bay, which commences at Kamtschatka and ends at New Britain. This bay is interspersed with many islands, and has every appearance of having been gained from the land, consequently we may suppose, with some probability, that the ocean, by its constant motion from east to west, has by degrees acquired this extent on the eastern continent, and has formed mediterraneans, such as Kamtschatka, Corea, China, and perhaps all the Archipelago; for the earth and sea are there so blended that it evidently appears to be an inundated country, of which we only see the eminences and high lands, while the lower are hid under the waters of the ocean. This supposition appears to be in some measure confirmed by the water being more shallow than in other seas, and the innumerable islands resembling the tops of mountains.
If we particularly examine these seas, we shall find the sea of China forms a very deep bay in its northern part, which commences at the island of Fungma, and terminates at the frontier of the province of Pekin, about 50 leagues distance from that capital of the Chinese empire. This bay, in its most interior and narrowest part, is called the Gulph of Changi. It is very probable that this gulph, and a part of the sea of China, have been formed by the ocean, which has submerged all the ancient country, of which only the islands before-mentioned are now to be seen. In this southern part are the bays of Tonquin and Siam, near which is the peninsula of Malacco, formed by a long chain of mountains, whose direction is from north to south, and the Andaman islands, another chain of mountains in the same direction, and which appear to be only a succession of the mountains of Sumatra.
The ocean afterwards forms the great Gulph of Bengal, in which we may remark, that the peninsula of Indus forms a concave curb towards the east, nearly like the great bay of the eastern continent, which seems to have been also produced by the same motion of the ocean from east to west. In this peninsula are the mountains of Gates, which have a direction from north to south, as far as Cape Comorin, and the Island of Ceylon seems to have been separated from this part of the continent. The Maldiva islands are only another chain of mountains, whose direction is also the same. After these follows the Arabian Gulph, which sends out four arms into the country; the two greatest on the western side, and the two smallest on the east. The first of these arms on the east side is the Bay of Cambaia, which is not above 50 or 60 leagues in length: this receives two very considerable rivers, viz. the Tapti and the Baroche, which Pietro de Valle calls the Mehi: the second arm, towards the east, is famous for the velocity and height of its tides, which are greater than in any other part of the world, and which extends for more than 50 leagues. Many rivers fall into this gulph, as the Indus, the Padar, &c. which have brought so great a quantity of earth and mud to their mouths as to raise the bottom almost to a level, the inclination of which is so gentle, that the tide extends to a very great distance. The first arm on the west side in the Persian Gulph, which spreads more than 250 leagues on the land; and the second is the Red Sea, which extends more than 680, computing it from the island Socotora. These two arms should be regarded as two mediterranean seas, taking them from beyond the straits of Ormuz and Babelmandel: they are both subject to the tides, but this is occasioned by their being so near the equator, where the motion of the tides is much greater than in any other climate; and besides they are both very long and narrow. The motion of the tides is more rapid in the Red Sea than in the Persian Gulph, because the Red Sea is near three times longer and quite as narrow. The Red Sea does not receive any river whose motion might oppose the tides, whereas the Persian Gulph receives three very considerable ones in its most projecting extremity. It appears very apparently that the Red Sea has been formed by an eruption of the ocean, for the bearing of the lands are exactly similar, the coasts on each side of the straits follow the same direction,, and evidently appear to have been cut by waters.
At the extremity of the Red Sea is that famous neck of land called the Isthmus of Suez, which forms a barrier to the Red Sea, and prevents its communication with the Mediterranean. In a preceding article we noticed the reasons which inclined us to think that the Red Sea is higher than the Mediterranean, and that if the Isthmus of Suez was cut, an inundation and an augmentation of the latter might ensue. To which we shall subjoin, that if even it should not be agreed that the Red Sea is higher than the Mediterranean, it cannot be denied that there is neither flux nor reflux in the Mediterranean, adjoining to the mouths of the Nile; and that, on the contrary, in the Red Sea the tides are very considerable, and raise the water several feet, which circumstance alone would suffice to send a quantity of water into the Mediterranean if the Isthmus was broken. Besides, we have an example on this subject quoted by Varenius, who says in page 100 of his Geography: "Oceanus Germanicus, qui est Atlantici pars, inter Frisiam & Hollandium se effundens, efficit sinum, qui et si parvis sit respectu celebrium sinum maris, tamen & ipse dicitur mare, alluitque Hollandiæ emporium celeberrimum, Amstelodamum. Non procul inde abest lacus Harlemensis, qui etiam mare Harlemense dicitur. Hujus altitudo non est minor altitudine sinus illius Belgici, quem diximus & mittit ramum ad urbem Leidam, ubi in varias fossas divaricatur. Quoniam itaque nec lacus his, neque sinus ille Hollandici maris inundant adjacentes agros (de naturali constitutione loquor, non ubi tempestatibus urgentur, propter quas aggeres facti sunt) pater inde, quod non sint altiores quam agri Hollandiæ. At vero Oceanum Germanicum esse altiorem quam terras hasce, experti sunt Leidenses, cum suscepissent fossam seu alveum ex urbe sua ad Oceani Germanici littora, prope Cattorum vicum perducere (distantia est duorum milliarum) ut, recepto per alveum hunc mari, possent navigationem instituere in Oceanum Germanicum, & hinc in varias terræ regiones. Verumenimvero cum magnam jam alvei port em perfecissent, desistere coacti sunt, quoniam turn demum per observationem cognitem est, Oceani Germanici aquam esse altiorem quam agrum inter Leidam et litus Oceani istius; unde locus ille, ubi fodere desierunt dicitur, Het malle Gat. Oceanus itaque Germanicus est aliquantum altior quam sinus ille Hollandicus, &c." Therefore, as the German Sea is higher than that of Holland, there is no reason why we should not believe the Red Sea may be higher than the Mediterranean. Herodotus and Diodorus Siculus speak of a canal of communication between the Nile, the Mediterranean, and the Red Sea, and M. Del'isle published a map in 1704, in which he traces one end of a canal to the most eastern part of the Nile, and which he judges to be a part of that which formerly joined the Nile with the Red Sea.[A]