Azores

The map of the Azores shows that the nine islands of which the group is composed cover a total length of about 500 miles, and this _ distance is probably prolonged very far beneath the waves.

eastern zone for a space of about 1875 miles in breadth, which comprises Iceland, the Azores, Madeira, the Canaries, and the Cape Verde Islands.

In the summer of 1898 a ship employed for the laying of the cable from Brest to Cape Cod was trying to fish up a broken strand at a point about 500 miles north of the Azores, and at a depth of about 1700 fathoms.

constitutes the bottom of the Atlantic 562 miles north of the Azores was, therefore, covered with lava which was once above water, and the ruggedness of this shows that the sinking of the land to 3000 metres below the sea followed suddenly upon the emission of lava.

Termier, came during the Tertiary period, when the mass, bounded on the south by a chain of mountains, was submerged long before the collapse of those volcanic lands of which the Azores are the last vestiges.

Termier, “there are strong reasons for believing in the Atlantic prolongation of the Tertiary folds, those of the Atlas Mountains towards the Canaries, those of the Alps towards the southern islands of the Azores, but nothing yet permits of either extending very far or limiting very narrowly this prolongation.

The sediments of Santa Maria prove only this, that at the Miocene epoch—that is, when the great Alpine movements were terminated in Europe—a Mediterranean shore extended not far from this region of the Azores, the shore of a continent or of a large island.

‘The Azores are a group of volcanoes built upon a foundation of limestones, similar to those of the Mediterranean countries.” Again, on pages 59-60, he states that “ the islands of the Atlantic are irregularly arranged with the exception of those on the Faroes ridge, which forms the northern boundary of the Atlantic, and the islands of the West Indies.

“Edward Forbes,” 2 he says, ‘‘ maintained that at the close of the Miocene epoch a vast continent extended far into the Atlantic from the coast of Portugal, past the Azores, and bounded on the north by Ireland.

“The Azores seem to be separated by much greater 1 London, 1890.

“From the facts quoted,” remarks Professor Scharff, “IT conclude that Madeira and the Azores up to Miocene times were connected with Portugal, and that from Morocco to the Canary Islands, and from them to South America, stretched a vast land which extended southward certainly as far as St Helena.

But I think its northern portions persisted until the Miocene Epoch, when the southern and northern Atlantic became joined, and the Azores and Madeira became isolated from Europe.

led him to conclude that the Azores are the peaks of a submerged continent which flourished in the Pleistocene period.

These expeditions resulted in the entire ocean-bed of the Atlantic being carefully mapped out, and this process revealed the existence of a great bank or elevation commencing at a point not far from the coast of Ireland, traversed by the 53rd parallel, and stretching in a southerly direction, embracing the Azores, to the coast-line of South America near French Guiana and the mouths of the Amazon and Para Rivers.

The results of the Challenger expedition brought to light the fact that the ridge, throughout its entire length, is covered with volcanic detritus, and there is every evidence that the ocean-bed, particularly in the neighbourhood of the Azores, has been the scene of volcanic disturbances on a large scale.

Scharff concludes that the Azores and Madeira were connected with Portugal up to Miocene times, and that from Morocco to the Canaries a vast land stretched which extended southward to South America.

Its northern portion persisted until the Miocene epoch, when the South and Northern Atlantic became joined, and the Azores and Madeira became isolated from Europe.

Professor Hull believes the Azores to be the peaks of a submerged continent which flourished in the Pleistocene period.

‘‘ The results of my endeavours,” he says, “ to trace the history of their origin on the islands point rather to some of them, at any rate, having reached the latter in the normal way, which is by a land-connection with Europe.” In the case of the rabbit, for instance, the presence of large hawks or buzzards observed by the discoverers of the Azores in 1439 led to the islands receiving the name of Agores, or Hawk Islands, and such birds usually live on mice, rats, and young rabbits.

Indeed it seems to be substantiated that the existence of the Azores had already been known to earlier navigators, for in a book published in 1345 by a Spanish friar the Azores are referred to, and the names of the several islands given.

The rabbit may, indeed, have reached the Azores and Europe from America by way of the ancient land-connection.

But from North Africa there was frequent intercourse with southern Europe—with which the Atlantic islands, I believe, were connected ; and South American species would then have been able to reach Madeira and the Azores indirectly.” Dr Forsyth Major and Lydekker have shown the connection between the rabbit-forms of Africa and America, and that animal migration between these continents must have taken place.

As regards insect life, certain ants occur both in the Azores and America.

He tells us that the Canaries, Azores, and Madeira have an existing flora comparable with that of Western Europe in Tertiary times, and that from the moment of rupture between these islands and the European continent this flora has undergone a special and localised evolution.

“So striking,” says Professor Elliot Smith, “is the family likeness between the early Neolithic peoples of the British Isles and the Mediterranean and the bulk of the population, both ancient and modern, of Egypt and East Africa, that a description of the bones of an early Briton of that remote epoch might apply in all essential details to an inhabitant of Somaliland.” In passing, I may mention as regards the view of the wide diffusion of the Iberian people, that Professor Gregory of Glasgow suggests that the Incas of Peru may have been of Iberian or Berber stock, and crossed from Africa ‘“‘ by the Canaries and the Azores, and possibly other islands now non-existent.” But much difference of opinion exists regarding the origin of the Azilian-Tardenoisian stock and culture.

After the discovery of the Azores, expeditions were fitted out to search for it, and were continued till as late as 1721.

which appears in his Essais sur les Iles Fortunées (1803), and which forms the frontispiece to this volume, illustrates the theory of Bory de St Vincent, that the Azores, - Madeira, the Canaries, and the Cape Verde Islands were the remains of a great island-continent known to the ancients as the Hesperides, the country of Atlantis, the land of the Amazons, and the home of the Gorgons, containing each and all of these semi-fabulous regions.

These two larger land-masses were, I believe, joined by an insular chain, of which the Azores and the Bermudas are the remaining vestiges.

This ridge, the last remaining portion of which is the Azores group, is connected on its southern side by a longer submarine spit or peninsula with South America, and this may account for the presence of the Andean and Incan civilisations there, and for their differentiation from those of Mexico and Central America.

The expedition revealed that directly off the Atlantic coast from Newport the ocean bed dips practically straight down to a depth of 2750 fathoms, or over 3 miles, and at that depth it undulates like a great plateau almost as far as the Azores.

The Azores are situated on its extreme eastern “ coast.” Plato tells us that “‘ the whole country was very lofty and precipitous on the side of the sea, but the country immediately about, and surrounding the city, was a level plain, itself surrounded by mountains which descended toward the sea.” I agree with Donnelly that ‘“‘ one has but to look at the profile of the Dolphin’s Ridge” as revealed by the deep-sea soundings of the Challenger .

‘“‘ The surrounding mountains ” which sheltered the plain from the north are represented in the present peaks of the Azores.

The Azores stand on its extreme eastern coast.

In the Pleistocene the continent broke into Atlantis, close to Europe and Africa, and Antilia, joined by a chain of which the Azores and the Bermudas are vestiges.

The Azores are nine islands stretched over about 500 miles, prolonged under the waves.

An eastern zone about 1,875 miles broad is still in movement: Iceland, the Azores, Madeira, the Canaries, and the Cape Verde Islands.

In the summer of 1898 a cable ship working the Brest to Cape Cod line tried to recover a broken strand about 500 miles north of the Azores, at about 1,700 fathoms.

The surface 562 miles north of the Azores was therefore covered with lava while it stood above water, and the sinking to 3,000 metres followed suddenly on the eruption.

The northern mass submerged in the Tertiary, before the collapse of the volcanic lands of which the Azores are the last vestiges.

Tertiary folds run from the Atlas toward the Canaries and from the Alps toward the southern islands of the Azores.

The sediments of Santa Maria show that in the Miocene, when the great Alpine movements had ended in Europe, a Mediterranean shore, continent or large island, lay not far from that part of the Azores, and another shore of the same Miocene sea passed near the Canaries.

From it Spence takes Haug's Tertiary chains from Venezuela to Morocco and from the Lesser Antilles to Portugal, and Scharff's conclusion that Madeira and the Azores were connected with Portugal up to Miocene times, and that a vast land stretched from Morocco to the Canaries and on to South America, as far as St Helena.

Professor Hull treats the Azores as the peaks of a submerged Pleistocene land, with a mid-Atlantic island of equable climate while Britain was semi-polar, and with land-bridges north and south during and before the glacial epoch.

The commander of the Gettysburg, about 150 miles from the Azores, is cited for inequalities that must have been cut above water.

The Azores were known before the usual date of discovery.

The rabbit may have reached the Azores and Europe from America by the old land connection.

From North Africa there was frequent intercourse with southern Europe, and with that he joins the Atlantic islands, so that South American species could reach Madeira and the Azores indirectly.

Certain ants occur both in the Azores and in America.

Gattefossé of Lyons, whom Spence calls mystic, chemist, botanist, and archaeologist, says the Canaries, the Azores, and Madeira have a living flora comparable with that of western Europe in Tertiary times, and that after the rupture this flora evolved locally.

After the discovery of the Azores, expeditions searched for it until as late as 1721.

Vincent, Essais sur les Îles Fortunées (1803), supplies the frontispiece: the Azores, Madeira, the Canaries, and the Cape Verde Islands as the remains of one island-continent, known as the Hesperides, the country of Atlantis, the land of the Amazons, and the home of the Gorgons.

The chain between them leaves the Azores and the Bermudas.

Off Newport the bed dips to 2,750 fathoms, over three miles, and at that depth it undulates like a plateau almost as far as the Azores.

The Azores sit on its extreme eastern coast.

The mountains that sheltered the plain from the north are the present peaks of the Azores.

South of the Azores, 1949, the Geological Society of America lifted about a ton of limestone discs, about 6 inches across and one and a half inches thick, with a cavity in the centre.

The warm species does not appear above the line from the Azores to the Canaries.

In 1949 a submarine probe by the Geological Society of America raised about a ton of limestone discs from the Atlantic bed, south of the Azores.

The Geological Society of America, 1949, on the limestone discs south of the Azores.

The Azores are the northern edge.

The Pizigani map of 1367 warns against the unnavigable ocean beyond the Azores, where the Sargasso begins.

Termier describes a volcanic band about 1,875 miles broad, taking in Iceland, the Azores, the Canaries, Madeira, and the Cape Verde Islands, and he treats Plato's account as highly probable.

The Azores, for Termier, are what is left of collapsed volcanic lands.

Professor Schuchert answers that the Azores are true volcanic and oceanic islands.

Professor Scharff, in "Some remarks on the Atlantis Problem," Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy, volume 24, 1902, argues that Madeira and the Azores were connected with Portugal, and that the larger mammals reached the islands by land, not as cargo.

Edward Hull, The Sub-Oceanic Physiography of the North Atlantic, calls the Azores the peaks of a continent submerged in the Pleistocene, and adds an Antillean ridge that once shut the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico off from the Gulf Stream.

He describes one great bank beginning near Ireland, crossed by the fifty-third parallel, running south to embrace the Azores, and on toward French Guiana and the mouths of the Amazon and the Pará.

The Azores were officially found in 1439, and were named from the hawks.

Soley and the United States Hydrographic Office say the weed gathers where the surface water has no steady direction, especially in the triangle of the Azores, the Canaries, and the Cape Verde Islands, and west to the 70th meridian, and that it has not been shown to stop modern ships.

That box takes in the Azores, the Canaries, and much of the Sargasso, though not the thickest weed, and it sits on the banks around those islands.

The Azores are the northern limit of the island proper.

The Canaries and the Azores are the peaks still above water.

He says animals are safer ground than kings, because the Azores and the Canaries are still above water and can be compared with western Europe and eastern America.

The name Azores means hawk islands.

The Azores are his northern limit and the Canaries his south-eastern corner.