Indo-Malay Islands. 



149 



connection Avith the continent of Asia ; and a still more ex- 

 traordinary and more ancient connection with Australia has 

 been indicated by Mr. Low's collections from the summit of 

 Kini-balou, the loftiest mountain in Borneo. 



Plants have much greater facilities for passing across 

 arms of the sea than animals. The lighter seeds are easily 

 carried by the winds, and many of them are specially adapted 

 to be so carried. Others can float a long time unhurt in the 



GRAlVfMATOPHYLLUM, A GIGANTIC ORCHID. 



water, and are drifted by winds and currents to distant 

 shores. Pigeons, and other fruit-eating birds, are also the 

 means of distributing plants, since the seeds readily germi- 

 nate after passing through their bodies. It thus happens 

 that plants which grow on shores and lowlands have a wide 

 distribution, and it requires an extensive knowledge of the 

 species of each island to determine the relations of their 

 floras with any approach to accuracy. At present we have 

 no such complete knowledge of the botany of the several isl- 



