74 DISTRIBUTION OF ANIMALS. [PART I. 
seated local peculiarities. Two portions can be marked off as 
possessing many peculiar forms; the luxuriant forest district 
of equatorial West Africa, and the southern extremity or Cape 
district. The remaining portion has no well-marked divisions, 
and a large proportion of its animal forms range over it from 
Nubia and Abyssinia, to Senegal on the one side and to the 
Zambesi on the other; this forms our first or East-African 
sub-region. 
The second, or West African sub-region extends along the 
coast from Senegal to Angola, and inland to the sources of the 
Shary and the Congo. 
The third, or South African sub-region, comprises the Cape 
Colony and Natal, and is rovghly limited by a line from Delagoa 
Bay to Walvish Bay. 
The fourth, or Malagasy sub-region, consists of Madagascar and 
the adjacent islands, from Rodriguez to the Seychelles ; and this 
differs so remarkably from the continent that it has been pro- 
posed to form a distinct primary region for its reception. Its 
productions are indeed highly interesting; since it possesses 
3 families, and 2 sub-families of mammals peculiar to itself, 
while almost all its genera are peculiar. Of these a few 
show Oriental or Ethiopian affinities, but the remainder are 
quite isolated. Turning to other classes of animals, we find 
that the birds are almost as remarkable; but, as might be 
expected, a larger number of genera are common to surround- 
ing countries. More than 30 genera are altogether peculiar, 
and some of these are so isolated as to require to be classed 
in separate families or sub-families. The African affinity is how- 
ever here more strongly shown by the considerable number (13) 
of peculiar Ethiopian genera which in Madagascar have repre- 
sentative species. There can be no doubt therefore about Mada- 
gascar being more nearly related to the Ethiopian than to any 
other region; but its peculiarities are so great, that, were it not 
for its small size and the limited extent of its fauna, its claim to 
rank as a separate region might not seem unreasonable. It is 
true that it is not poorer in mammals than Australia; but that 
country is far more isolated, and cannot be so decidedly and 
