THE PALAEOTROPICS 197 



(Pithecanthropos) in Java points to this part of the world as 

 the place where man first appeared. 



Long before western civilization began, India and China 

 were highly civilized communities, and today contain a very 

 large part of mankind. Southeastern Asia, with the adjacent 

 islands, is one of the richest parts of the world, abounding in 

 food-plants of many kinds, and man very early learned to cul- 

 tivate and improve the most important of these. The great 

 food staple of most of the Orient is rice, native to this region, 

 and the many varieties of bananas and plantains are undoubtedly 

 derived from some of the many wild species, and the same is 

 true of sugar cane. 



Many important tropical fruits, mangoes, durian, mangosteen, 

 and others are natives of the Indo-Malayan tropics, and to 

 China we are probably indebted for the orange and other Citrus- 

 fruits, as well as the peach and perhaps the apricot. 



This region, too, abounds in spices, pepper, cloves, nutmeg; 

 and the palms, bamboos, rubber and gums yield various impor- 

 tant commercial products. 



It is not remarkable, that in a region so richly dowered by 

 nature, primitive man should have found a congenial habitation, 

 increased and multiplied. 



The Islands of the Indian Ocean 



The islands in the Indian Ocean lying east of Africa, owing 

 to their isolation, have developed very characteristic floras. 



Much the most important is Madagascar, next to Papua and 

 Borneo the largest island in the world. Separated from the main- 

 land by two hundred and sixty miles, its 228,000 square miles 

 show a great variety of conditions, and the vegetation is equally 

 varied and includes many extremely interesting endemic species. 



A mountain range occupies the centre of the island, averag- 

 ing about 5,000 feet in height, with an extreme elevation of 8,675 

 feet. This central region, which is largely made up of fertile 

 plains and valleys, has a warm temperate climate; but the coastal 

 zone has a pronounced tropical climate, very humid on the east, 

 which receives the full benefit of the moisture-laden ocean winds, 

 but much drier on the lee-side of the island. 



