INDONESIA. 



65 



Indo-Malaya and Austro-Malaya. 



But Malaysia itself, as has long been shown by Wallace,* forms two perfectly 

 distinct physical regions, the Indo- Malayan, comprising the three great islands of 

 Sumatra, Java, and Borneo, connected by a shallow marine bed, and the Austro- 

 Malayan, the twof chief members of which are Celebes and Jilolo, both rising 

 above oceanic waters of great depth. Striking contrasts of climate, floras and 

 faunas, as well as of human populations, are presented by these two main divisions 

 of the Eastern Archipelago. Nevertheless both are characterised by certain 

 common features, in virtue of which they may be regarded as collectively forming 



Fig. 23.— Indonesian Submarine Plateau. 

 Scale 1 : 48,000,000. 



Depths. 



to25 

 Fathoms. 



25 to 500 

 Fathoms. 



500 to 2,000 

 Fathoms. 



2,000 Fathoms 

 and ui^wards. 



600 Miles. 



an oceanic world distinct from Asia, of which they constitute a south-eastern 

 continuation. 



All these Indonesian lands have a total estimated extent of nearly 700,000 

 square miles, or nearly six times the superficial area of the British Isles. But 

 the oceanic region over which these lands are scattered is far more extensive. 

 From the northernmost extremity of Sumatra to the last of the Tenimber islets, 

 the distance across the Indian Ocean is no less than 2,800 miles ; while between 

 Lombok and the north point of Borneo, Indonesia develops an extreme breadth of 

 about 700 miles. "Within this vast expanse are comprised one island larger than 



* The Malay Archipelago, the first edition of which appeared in 1868. 

 t Excluding New Guinea, which is not here considered. 



6—0 



