THE ATLANTIC OCEAN AND ITS ISLANDS The principal islands in the NORTH ATLANTIC are— Great Britain and Ireland, with the Hebrides, Orkneys, Shetlands, and other- contiguous islands ; the Faroe Is., the Vigten, and other islands off the coast of Norway ; a chain of islands along the western coasts of Denmark and Holland ; and the Channel Islands, off the northern coast of Francs Off the West African coast, north of the equator, we have Madeira, the Canary and Cape Verd Islands; and further out, in the open ocean, the Azores or Western Isles. In the Gulf of Guinea are the three small islands of Fernando Po, Princes Island, and St. Thomas.
With the exception of the Bermudas, the islands be longing to North America are arranged in two distinct groups— Newfoundland, Anticosti, Cape Breton, and Prince Edward's Island, off Canada ; and the West India Islands, extending from Florida to the mouth of the Orinoco. The West India Islands are broadly divided into the Greater and Lesser An tilles. Of the Greater Antilles, the principal are Cuba, Haiti or San Domingo, Porto Rico, and Jamaica. The Bahamas skirt the Atlantic side of the first two. The Lesser Antilles are farther subdivided into the Leeward Islands (Santa Cruz, St. Kitts, Guadaloupe, Dominica, &e.); and the Wind ward Islands (Martinique, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, Barbados,
Grenada, Tobago, Trinidad, &c.) Along the northern coasts of South America are the Leeward Islands proper (Oruba, Curacao, Buen Ayre, and Margarita). The only other con siderable islands are Southampton and Mansell Islands, in Hudson Bay.
The South Atlantic OCEAN is remarkably free from islands. Along the West African coast, from the equator to Cape Agulhas, there are none of any size or importance, the principal islets being Annobon, off Cape Lopez ; Ichaboe and Possession Island, off the Namaqua coast ; and Dassen and Robber Islands, not far from Cape Town. In the open ocean we have the rocky islands of Ascension, St. Helena, Tristan d'Acunh.a, Gough, and Bouvet—evidently the culmi nating points of the submarine range that divides the basin of the South Atlantic. The opposite shores of South America are also almost destitute of islands, there being none worth notic ing from Cape St. Roque to Magellan Strait. Off the latter lie the Falkland Islands, and further east, Island. The southern extremity of South America is a cluster of islands, collectively called Tierra del Fuego. In the open ocean, eastward, are the Sandwich Islands, South Orkneys, and South Shetlands.