266 THE ORIENTAL REGION. [CHAP. 



land of moderate elevation. Whether the Himalayan land was 

 united to the Peninsula is, of course, uncertain but very pro- 

 bably it was ; for there is no evidence of marine conditions having 

 existed in the Ganges plain to the east of the Dehra Dun ; and if 

 the ferruginous bands of the Subathu group be laterite, as they 

 appear to be, the trappean detritus composing them must have 

 been derived, in all probability, from the peninsular area; and the 

 latter must consequently have extended northward to the base of 

 the Himalayas, in the neighbourhood of Umballa.... In Miocene 

 times, although marine conditions prevailed throughout western 

 Sind, the area of the sea was very much smaller than in the Eocene 

 period ; for all the marine beds of the Punjab and Sub-Himalayas 

 are destitute of marine fossils, and are probably fluviatile de- 

 posits." 



From this it would appear probable that during the whole of 

 later Tertiary times, at least, there has been no isolation of 

 peninsular India from the eastern Himalaya and the Burmese 

 countries ; and consequently that the differences between the 

 faunas of these areas are mainly or solely due to their differences 

 of physical features and climate. 



By Dr Wallace the Oriental region is divided into four sub- 

 reerions ; namely (i) the Indian, comprising the whole 



Sub-regions. J ^ ' 



of upper India, (2) the Ceylonese, including southern 

 India and Ceylon, (3) the Indo-Chinese, embracing Assam, Burma, 

 and such portion of China as lies within the limits of the region, 

 and (4) the Indo-Malayan, which includes not only the Malayan 

 archipelago and islands, but likewise the Philippines. 



So far as India and its dependencies are concerned, the follow- 

 ing amended scheme has been proposed by Dr Blanford l , viz. : 

 i. Himalayan. The southern slopes of the Himalaya, from the 



base to about the limit of trees. 



ii. Indian. India from the base of the Himalaya to Cape 

 Comorin, with the exception of the Malabar coast, but with 

 the addition of northern Ceylon. 



iii. Malabar or Ceylonese. The Malabar coast and the neigh- 

 bouring hills as far north as the Tapti river, together with 

 southern Ceylon. 



1 Fatina of British India Mammalia, p. v. 



