4 THE MALAY ARCHIPELAGO. [chap. i. 



smaller ones, so that no one of them seems to be dis- 

 tinctly separated from the rest. With but few exceptions, 

 all enjoy an uniform and very similar climate, and are 

 covered with a luxuriant forest vegetation. Whether we 

 study their form and distribution on maps, or actually 

 travel from island to island, our first impression will be 

 that they form a connected whole, all the parts of which 

 are intimately related to each other. 



Extent of the Archipelago and Isla?ids. — The Malay 

 Archipelago extends for more than 4,000 miles in length 

 from east to west, and is about 1,300 in breadth from 

 north to south. It woidd stretch over an expanse equal to 

 that of all Europe from the extreme west far into Central 

 Asia, or would cover the widest parts of South America, 

 and extend far beyond the land into the Pacific and 

 Atlantic oceans. It includes three islands larger than 

 Great Britain ; and in one of them, Borneo, the whole of 

 the British Isles might be set down, and would be sur- 

 rounded by a sea of forests. New Guinea, though less 

 compact in shape, is probably larger than Borneo. Sumatra 

 is about equal in extent to Great Britain; Java, Luzon, 

 and Celebes are each about the size of Ireland. Eighteen 

 more islands are, on the average, as large as Jamaica ; 

 more than a hundred are as large as the Isle of Wight ; 

 while the isles and islets of smaller size are innumerable. 



The absolute extent of land in the Archipelago is not 



