THE MALAYS. 31 5 



development of the Australian is perhaps not altogether 

 original, but has arisen by degeneration, that is, by adapta- 

 tion to the very unfavourable conditions of existence in 

 Australia. They probably immigrated to their present 

 home from the north or north-west, as a very early off- 

 shoot of the Euthycomi. They are probably more closely 

 related to the Dravidas, and hence to the Euplocomi, than 

 the other Euthycomi. The very peculiar language of the 

 Australians is broken up into numerous small branches, 

 which are grouped into a northern and a southern class. 



The Malay (Homo Malayus), the brown race of ethnogra- 

 phers, although not a large species, is important in regard 

 to its genealogy. An extinct south Asiatic human species, 

 very closely related to the Malays of the present day, must 

 probably be looked upon as the common primary form of 

 this and the following higher human species. We will 

 call this hypothetical primary species. Primaeval Malays, or 

 Promalays. The Malays of the present day are divided 

 into two widely dispersed races, the Sundanesians, who 

 inhabit Malacca, the Sunda Islands (Sumatra, Java, Borneo, 

 etc.) and the Philippine Islands, and the Polynesians, who 

 are dispersed over the greater portion of the Pacific Archi- 

 pelago. The northern boundary of their wide tract of 

 distribution is formed on the east by the Sandwich Islands 

 (Hawai), and on the west by the Marian Islands (Ladrones) ; 

 the southern boundary on the east is formed by the Man- 

 gareva Archipelago, and on the west by New Zealand. The 

 inhabitants of Madagascar are an especial branch of Sunda- 

 nesians who have been driven to the far west. This wide 

 pelagic distribution of the Malays is explained by their 

 partiality for nautical life. Their primaeval home is the 



