running obliquely from north-east to south-west across the section between Liberia and Brazil, abruptly changes its direction under the latitude of Cape Palmas, some five degrees from the coast. Here the higher grounds, still however flooded to

Fig. 6. — Depths of the South African Atlantic.

depths of 1,400 and 1,700 fathoms, trend due north and south between the oceanic depression near the African coast and the still more profound abysses on the American side. This parting line, above which rise the peak of Ascension and the