ame out, "the glass is falling slowly and
regularly. Depend upon it, this calm is not going to last. We will
shorten sail at once. There is no use in having all this canvas hanging
from the yards; and when the breeze does come, it will come quick and
sharp. It may be only an ordinary gale, but I rather think it will be
something considerably heavier."

Mr Thudicumb immediately issued the order to the watch on deck to
shorten sail. Some of the men looked about them with an astonished
glance; but, accustomed to obey orders, they asked no questions, and the
ship was soon under her three topsails, closely reefed, and jib.

"Whatever comes now, we shall be ready for it," observed the captain.

Still the calm continued, and the heat, if anything, was greater than
ever. The ladies were sitting on deck, keeping as cool as they could
under their sun-shades, when Mr Hooker returned from below, and spread
a map out before them.

"Here, Walter," he said, turning to me, as I was standing near him, "it
being my watch on deck, I am going to give a lecture; you may as well
come and benefit by it. Here is a chart of the seas through which we
are sailing. See bow vast is this Malayan Archipelago! Putting out
Australia, it covers an area far larger than the whole of Europe;
indeed, from east to west it is fully 4000 miles in length, and 3200
miles from north to south. Look at Borneo: the whole of the British
Isles might be put down inside it, and yet leave a wide extent of
country on every side. New Guinea is even larger; and Sumatra is fully
equal to Great Britain. Then we have Java, Luzon, and Celebes, each as
large as Ireland. I think we could pick out eighteen or more the size
of Jamaica; and a hundred, of which none are smaller and many
considerably larger than the Isle of Wight. Now, some people hold to
the opinion that all these islands were at one time joined to the
continent of Asia. I, however, believe that though a portion of them
were, that the eastern part was united to Australia, and appeared above
the surface of the water at a later period, forming a vast Pacific
continent. We have thus three regions--Borneo, Java, and Sumatra--that
have only a shallow sea separating them from each other and from Asia.
Between Borneo and Celebes there is, however, a deep sea; as there is
between Celebes and numerous islands to the east and south of it,
including Sumbowa, Flores, Timor, Gilolo, Seram, Bouro, and many other