406 PROCEEDINGS OF SECTION D. 



and it is the southern slopes of this range to which I would 

 invite the attention of future explorers. It is probable that 

 the foot-hills of those mountains may be clothed with a 

 richer vegetation than the northern slopes already examined, 

 and may yield some new species of birds, insects, and plants 

 showing an affinity for Australian forms. The geological 

 formation of this mountain range would perhaj)s yield some 

 evidence in this direction, and the palaeontology of the rocks 

 throw a still more valuable light on the earlier connection of 

 Timor with surrounding regions. The barren character of 

 this range and its proximity to the coast would render their 

 exploration comparatively easy. 



I would therefore recommend the project for the considera- 

 tion of Austrahan geologists and naturalists. No doubt the 

 proper time of year for carrying out such an exploration 

 would be between the months of May and INovember, when 

 the season would be favourable for travelling, and important 

 ornithological observations might be made on the movements 

 of birds on passage to Australia along the coast of the island. 

 The mammals, according to Wallace, are only six in number, 

 and none of them are Austrahan. This fact, taken in con- 

 junction with the presence of a partial Australian flora, 

 presents a difficult problem for solution. The birds, which 

 contain among them ten Australian species and twenty-six 

 closely allied species, would have migrated to the island when 

 the north-west coast of Australia was nearer than it is now, 

 and which is certain to have been the case, as the shallow 

 part of the Timor Sea approaches now within some 60 or 

 100 miles of the coast. That there has never in recent times 

 been an absolute connection between the island and the 

 continent is tolerably well proved by the afore-mentioned 

 character of the mammals ; but how are we to account for 

 the similarity in the flora, and its dissimilarity with that of 

 contiguous islands ? These are questions which prompt my 

 advocacy of a more careful exploration of the island than 

 has as yet taken place. A point of interest in connection 

 with the flora is the presence of a tropical and an Australian 

 character in the vegetation, which is proved by the existence 

 side by side of the Borassus and the Eucalyptus, and this 

 union or meeting is analogous to the blending of an avi- 

 fauna of these characters, viz., Malayan and Australian. 

 As bearing on this branch of zoology, in which I am myself 

 particularly interested, I may here transcribe Wallace's tabu- 

 lation of the birds of Timor, which shows ; — ■■ 



