74 DISTRIBUTION OF ANIMALS. [part i. 



seated local peculiarities. Two portions can be marked off as 

 possessing many peculiar forms ; the luxuriant forest district 

 of equatorial West Africa, and the southern extremity or Cape 

 district. The remaining portion has no well-marked divisions, 

 and a large proportion of its animal forms range over it from 

 Nubia and Abyssinia, to Senegal on the one side and to the 

 Zambesi on the other ; this forms our first or East- African 

 sub-region. 



The second, or West African sub-region extends along the 

 coast from Senegal to Angola, and inland to the sources of the 

 Shary and the Congo. 



The third, or South African sub-region, comprises the Cape 

 Colony and Natal, and is roughly limited by a line from Delagoa 

 Bay to Walvish Bay. 



The fourth, or Malagasy sub-region, consists of Madagascar and 

 the adjacent islands, from Rodriguez to the Seychelles ; and this 

 differs so remarkably from the continent that it has been pro- 

 posed to form a distinct primary region for its reception. Its 

 productions are indeed highly interesting; since it possesses 

 3 families, and 2 sub-families of mammals peculiar to itself, 

 while almost all its genera are peculiar. Of these a few 

 show Oriental or Ethiopian affinities, but the remainder are 

 quite isolated. Turning to other classes of animals, we find 

 that the birds are almost as remarkable ; but, as might be 

 expected, a larger number of genera are common to surround- 

 ing countries. More than 30 genera are altogether peculiar, 

 and some of these are so isolated as to require to be classed 

 in separate families or sub-families. The African affinity is how- 

 ever here more strongly shown by the considerable number (13) 

 of peculiar Ethiopian genera which in Madagascar have repre- 

 sentative species. There can be no doubt therefore about Mada- 

 gascar being more nearly related to the Ethiopian than to any 

 other region ; but its peculiarities are so great, that, were it not 

 for its small size and the limited extent of its fauna, its claim to 

 rank as a separate region might not seem unreasonable. It is 

 true that it is not poorer in mammals than Australia ; but that 

 country is far more isolated, and cannot be so decidedly and 



