Malay synonyms

Four great intercontinental enclosed seas are included between adjacent continents - the Arctic Sea, the Central American or West Indian Sea, the Australo-Asiatic or Malay Sea and the Mediterranean Sea.

The Australian Shelf rises steeply as a rule from depths, of 2500 to 3000 fathoms. A broad depression with depths of from 3300 to 3500 fathoms lies to the east of the Cocos Islands and extends into the angle between the Malay Archipelago and Australia.

The Austral-Asiatic or Malay Sea is occupied by a great shelf in the region west of Borneo and north of Java, while in the east there are eight abruptly sunk basins of widely different size.

There are also versions of them in the modern Persian, Malay, Mongol and Afghan languages.

The borders of the Malay Sea are everywhere shallower on the side of the Indian Ocean than on that of the Pacific, and consequently water from the Pacific preponderates in the depths.