THE INDIAN OCEAN BAYS GULFS CHANNELS AND STRAITS Of the various inlets of the Indian Ocean, two only, the Red Sea and Persian Gulf; are, strictly speaking, inland seas. The extension north of 10° N. lat., between Arabia and the west coast of India, is known as the Arabian Seas and that between the east of India and Further India as the Bay of Bengal. With the Arabian Sea are connected the Gulfs of Cambay and Cv,tch ; the Gulf of Oman, con nected by the Straits of Ormuz with the Persian Gulf; the Gulf of Aden, connected by the Straits of Babel-mandeb with the Red Sea. The African coast from Cape Guardafui to Cape Agulhas is singularly regular and unbroken; of the few small inlets the only noticeable one is the fine natural harbour of Delagoa Bay. Passing over the seas of Malaysia as bordering on, rather than belonging to, the Indian Ocean, we come to the island-continent of Australia, on the north of which we have the Gulfs of Carpentaria, Van Diemen, and Cambridge, and on the west are numerous small inlets, of which the principal are Exmouth Bay, Shark Bay, and Geographic Bay. On the south we have the Great Australian Bight, with the Gulfs of Spencer and St. Vin cent, Encounter Bay, Portland Bay, and Port Philip.
Of the straits and channels connecting the Indian Ocean with its minor seas and other oceans, the principal are the Straits of Babel-mandeb, connecting the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden ; the Straits of Ormuz, connecting the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman ; the Straits of Malacca and Sunda, connecting the Indian Ocean and China Sea ; Torres Strait, between the Arafura and Coral Seas ; and Bass Strait, between Australia and Tasmania. The Indian Ocean com
municates freely with the Antarctic Ocean, and is also con terminous with the Atlantic south of Cape Agulhas for 3ii degrees, and with the Pacific south of Tasmania for 23 degrees of latitude. But vessels may now proceed from the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean without doubling the Cape of Good Hope, ie., by the Mediterranean, Suez Canal, Red Sea, and Gulf of Aden. The great channels of communication between the Indian and Pacific Oceans are the Straits of Malacca, opening directly into the China Sea ; the Strait of Sunda, leading into the Java Sea, and thence into the China Sea; or by the Strait of Macassar into the Pacific ; the channels between Java, Lombok, Sumbawa, Flores, Timor ; and the Arafura Sea, Torres Strait, between Papua and Northern Australia. Be tween Ceylon and the mainland of India is the narrow and shallow Palk's Strait, and between Madagascar and the Afri can coast is the wide Channel of Mozambique.
Of the islands actually within the Indian Ocean, the principal are :—Madagascar, off the African coast, and the neighbouring smaller islands of Bourbon, Mauritius, Rodrigue, Amirante, Seychelles, and Comoro ; Zanzibar Island and Socotra ; Chagos, Maldives, Laccadives ; Ceylon, Andaman, Nicobar, and Mergui Islands ; Sumatra, Java, Lombok, Sum bawa, Sandalwood, Flores, Timor ; Groote Eylandt, Melville Island, and Tasmania, off Australia ; and the islets of St. `Paul, Amsterdam, Kerguelen, Crozet, Marion, and Prince Edward, in the open ocean on the south.