MALAY ARCHIPELAGO 35 



the upper limit of forest-growth is very low as compared 

 with the corresponding levels amid the continental 

 ranges of the equatorial belt. The same phenomena are 

 still more forcibly exhibited in the lower South Sea 

 Islands. They all tend to show that the strength and 

 dryness of the winds are the real influences which limit 

 tree-growth and shape the alpine vegetation on the 

 mountains, as they do in the polar regions. 



To the enormous and varied resources of their islands, 

 the Malays have greatly added by sea trade in the 

 past. The wealth of these populations at once agricul- 

 tural and sea-faring was very considerable, and their 

 influence spread all over the eastern seas. To this day the 

 Malayan islands are among the most densely populated. 

 Mysterious ruins of truly magnificent cities testify to 

 the high measure of civilization reached by those people 

 long before the advent of Europeans. 



India may be said to be entirely governed by the 

 monsoon, whose effects are largely controlled by the 

 relief of the surface : thus the area beyond its influence 

 in the north-west is extremely arid, and the plain 

 of the Ganges which lies open to the south-east monsoon 

 is fairly well-watered on the whole; but the winds 

 gradually spend their moisture on the way westward. 

 Approached from the south-west, the semi-arid table- 

 land of the Deccan is robbed of a large portion of its 

 water by the screen of the western Ghats, which thus 

 separates it from the luxuriant Malabar coast. The 

 southern part of the plateau, however, merely from its 

 geographical position, enjoys a longer wet season than 

 the northern half and is correspondingly more fertile. 

 In the Himalayas, the eastern half is abundantly watered, 

 while the north-western part only receives a scanty 

 balance of the moisture. 



D 2 



