A PLATEAU BENEATH THE SEA. 95 



The royal tiger of Sumatra and Java is also found 

 on that part of Bali nearest Java, but neither this 

 nor any other feline animal exists on Lombok. 



Monkeys, squirrels, civets, and others are seen 

 vrest of this di^dding line, but not east of it. Wild 

 hogs are distributed over all the larger islands from 

 Sumatra to New Guinea, and even occur as far east- 

 ward as Ceram. The flora of these islands is not 

 divided in this manner, but maintains quite the same 

 character from the northern end of Timur to the 

 eastern end of Java. 



In 1845 Mr. Earl pointed out the fact that Java, 

 Sumatra, and Borneo, all stand on a plateau which 

 is only covered by a shallow sea. They tlierefore 

 not only were formerly connected, as the similarity 

 of their faunae shows, but are at the present day, 

 and a line on the map, which indicates where the sea 

 reaches a depth of one hundred fathoms, shows exact- 

 ly where the great basins of the Pacific and Indian 

 Oceans really begin. Northwa,j.'d this line unites the 

 Philippines to Asia, and also proves that Formosa, 

 the Lew-Chew and Japanese Islands, and the Kuriles, 

 are all parts of the same great continent. Judging 

 from what is kno^vn of their fauna, Mi\ Wallace 

 thinks the separation of the Philippines from the 

 continent occurred before that of Java, and since that 

 epoch they have undergone very considerable changes 

 in their physical geography. 



In 1478, when the Hindu religion was driven 

 out of Java, it took refuge in Bali, where it exists 

 to the present day. The natives here, as in India, 

 are divided into four castes. The first and his^h- 



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