THE MALAYS. 315 
development of the Australian is perhaps not altogether 
original, but has arisen by degeneration, that is, by adapta- 
tion to the very unfavourable conditions of existence in 
Australia. They probably immigrated to their present 
home from the north or north-west, as a very early off- 
shoot of the Euthycomi. They are probably more closely 
related to the Dravidas, and hence to the Euplocomi, than 
the other Euthycomi. The very peculiar language of the 
Australians is broken up into numerous small branches, 
which are grouped into a northern and a southern class. 
The Malay (Homo Malayus), the brown race of ethnogra- 
phers, although not a large species, is important in regard 
to its genealogy. An extinct south Asiatic human species, 
very closely related to the Malays of the present day, must 
probably be looked upon as the common primary form of 
this and the following higher human species. We will 
eall this hypothetical primary species, Primeval Malays, or 
Promalays. The Malays of the present day are divided 
into two widely dispersed races, the Sundanesians, who 
inhabit Malacca, the Sunda Islands (Sumatra, Java, Borneo, 
etc.) and the Philippine Islands, and the Polynesians, who 
are dispersed over the greater portion of the Pacific Archi- 
pelago. The northern boundary of their wide tract of 
distribution is formed on the east by the Sandwich Islands 
(Hawai), and on the west by the Marian Islands (Ladrones) ; 
the southern boundary on the east is formed by the Man- 
gareva Archipelago, and on the west by New Zealand. The 
inhabitants of Madagascar are an especial branch of Sunda- 
nesians who have been driven to the far west. This wide 
pelagic distribution of the Malays is explained by their 
partiality for nautical life. Their primeval home is the 
