THE TIMOR GROUP 347 



the small shrew (Tupaia) ; none of the numerous rodents 

 but one or two squirrels, and even these do not extend as 

 far as Timor. We thus have the Sunda chain divided 

 distinctly and definitely into an Asiatic and an Australian 

 portion, the dividing Hne coinciding with the deep-sea 

 channel existing between Bali and Lombok. This 

 boundary is now universally known as " Wallace's hne." 

 The chain is also somewhat sharply divided between 

 the two great races of the archipelago, the Malays and 

 Papuans, although the boundary occurs at a different 

 point, the former people extending as far east as Sum- 

 bawa, while from Flores through all the other islands 

 the latter prevail. 



2. Bali. 



The two islands of Bah and Lombok are the only 

 portion of the Malay Archipelago in which the old 

 Hindu rehgion still regularly maintains itself, though 

 Hindu Kajas also exercise rule in the Ke Islands. 



Bah is almost 90 statute miles in extreme length, 

 and of irregular shape, with an area of about 2075 

 square miles. It is separated from the eastern extremity 

 of Java by a strait hardly more than a mile wide, and 

 like that island, is mountainous throughout, excepting a 

 small portion in the south, the main chain running from 

 west to east in apparent continuation of that of Java. 

 There are several active volcanoes, the most important of 

 which, perhaps, is Batur (whose height has been estimated 

 by different observers at 3940 and 6400 feet), which is 

 in constant activity, and caused great destruction by an 

 eruption in 1815. Batu Kau (9600 feet) is also active, 

 but Abang (7500 feet) and Agung (10,500 feet)— the 

 latter the highest peak in the island — are beheved to be 

 extinct, although Agung, or Bah Peak, as it is called by 



