362 REMARKS AND OPINIONS. 



rule, we must mention the thunder-storm which 

 hung over the large and palm-covered Penrhyn*s 

 islands at the time we saw them. 



In the Sunda islands, organized nature, by the 

 abundance and luxuriance, the grandeur and va- 

 riety of its productions, fully answers the expect- 

 ations which we form of a continent lying under 

 the equator. Unfortunately, it is hitherto but 

 little known. Since the time of Rumpf and Bon- 

 tires, only hasty travellers have contemplated it 

 with a scientific eye, and it is but now that men of 

 learning and collectors are repairing from different 

 quarters to reap the ample harvest. It is assimi- 

 lated to the nature of the south of Asia, from 

 which, however, it is distinguished by many pecu- 

 liarities. New Holland seems to us to present a 

 creation of its own, which declines to receive ac- 

 cessions of wealth from the adjacent countries. 

 Organized nature has evidently spread from the 

 Terra Firma to the Forelands and islands, that is, 

 contraiy to the course of the winds, from west to 

 east, over the points of land that rise from the 

 Great Ocean. 



The appearance of nature in the eastern islands 

 of the South Sea, reminds us at once of Southern 

 Asia and of New Holland, and is wholly dissimilar 

 to America. Many genera of plants are diffused 

 over the Indian and the Great Ocean from the 

 African coast to these islands, which are sought in 

 vain on the opposite shores of America. 



