THE SOUTHERN MOLUCCAS. 231 



mere geographical fragments of the latter. Amboyna with the Uliasser group 

 (Oma or Haruku, Saparua, and Nusa Laut) all rest on the same submarine plateau 

 as Ceram. Amboyna is formed as it were by two peninsulas, Hitu and Ley-timor, 

 connected by a sandy isthmus little over a mile wide. Although regarded by 

 Wallace as of igneous origin, European residents deny the existence of any volcano 

 in Amboyna. 



Ceram, or Serang, largest and loftiest of the Southern Moluccas, is covered by 

 a dense forest on its western slope known as Howamul, or "Little Ceram." The 

 island culminates in Mount Musaheli (9,710 feet) ; its prevailing formation appears 

 to be granite. Its shores are encircled by fringing reefs, and the islands continu- 

 ing the mainland south-eastwards are mainly formed of coralline limestones. 

 Goram, one of the largest of these groups, consists of a rocky central nucleus, 

 round which the polyps have constructed their coral reefs. But others, such as 

 Manawoko and Matabello, are composed exclusively of upheaved coral. 



The little Banda group presents a marked contrast to all the surrounding 

 lands in its complete isolation, and the incessant activity of its Gunong Api, or 

 '• Burning Mountain." Of the six islets of the cluster, three, Great Banda (Lon- 

 thoir). Banda jN^eira, and the Volcano, are so disposed as to form the margin of an 

 inner lake, probably rej)resenting an old crater of vast extent. Both Bandas are 

 clothed with verdure to their summits, while the superb cone of Api presents on 

 its lower flanks a mere fringe of vegetation, and higher up nothing but heaps of 

 rocks whitened with saline efflorescences. The craters emit constant wreaths of 

 vapour, and all the Banda Islands are subject to frequent earthquakes. In this 

 neighbourhood is best seen the curious phenomenon of the " Milky Sea," the water 

 during the months from June to September appearing white at night and illumined 

 by a strange phosphorescent glow. 



Lying between Indonesia and New Guinea the Southern Moluccas participate 

 of both regions in their climate and animal and vegetable forms. But land mam- 

 mals are almost completely absent, while on the other hand each island presents 

 some original types. Noteworthy are the Marsupials (Cuscus), allied to those of 

 New Guinea ; the babirussa, which has reached Burn from Celebes, and especially 

 the huge pythons which attack and devour man. The Moluccas are amazingly 

 rich in birds, mostly resembling those of Papuasia. In Ceram alone Wallace 

 enumerated fifty-five indigenous species, including a remarkable helmeted casso- 

 wary five or six feet high, the wings being replaced by groups of " horny black 

 spines like blunt porcupine quills." The surrounding waters also teem with every 

 variety of marine life, and in the ports and creeks of Amboyna alone Bleeker found 

 no less than seven hundred and eighty species of fishes, nearly as many as occur in 

 all the European seas and rivers. Amboyna also presents larger and more beautiful 

 butterflies than any other spot on the globe. Yet by a strange and inexplicable 

 contrast the eastern part of Ceram, with all its wealth of vegetation, is extremely 

 poor in animal forms. 



The " Alfurus," or uncivilised natives of the Southern Moluccas, are allied, not 

 to the Indonesians of Celebes, Borneo, and Sumatra, but to the Papuans of New 



