PAHT III. 

 THE EASTERN ARCHIPELAGO. 



CHAPTER I. 



GENERAL SURVEY — DISTRIBUTION OP LAND AND WATKR— MAIN 1N- 

 BULAtt OROtrfJi — VOLCANIC FORMATIONS — GEOLOGY — EXTENT — 

 TOPULATION. 



General Survey. — Like the other great EontincnUd masses in 

 the mart hem hemisphere, Afda is continued seawards ut its soiith- 

 wt-teni extremity by a vai-i insular n^iun, which i*, variously known 

 us the Eastern, (he Asiatic, I lie Malay, and even Llie East Indian 

 Archipelago. Although now too firmly established to be conveni- 

 ently set aside, none of thewe expressions win be accepted an entirely 

 udi-pudi-, laiji^ fiiluu- tun vci^iie, nr else iui |«l viii;_r lml L' truths, n-r 

 even ^uggestin^ erroneous views. Thus, while " East Indian tt con 



mlVi-ely lv j It-titled : L 1 nil, 11 will In- m-i-U lb:i1 " A Lt i..- ! ' olid " MuluV " 

 :ire tifiplinibh' unly <w - ■■ ■ 1 1 ■ ■ 1 1 i>\ lUis oi-wmt*' wnrld : s<» that, 

 notwithstanding its somewhat indefinite ehixracter, the title here 

 adopted wetus on (lie whole the least object innable. 



11 w ii - * fnrrut-rlv jK'intJi'il iliat the Ka-tern ArehipL>lag[Mi,i r riril''d 

 a litimogeneoufl phyaiad region, forming a natural connecting link 

 between Asia and Australia, or rather repre*en tin $ the remnants <jf 

 n continuous tract by which thtwc continents were at one time united. 

 Hut (?L*orge W. Earl arid Alfred Rus*;! Wallace, basing their induc- 

 tions on a more accurate knowledge of the oceanic depths and of the 

 geology and natural history of thu islands themselves, hove clearly 

 shown that they comprise nt least two main divisions, a Western, or 

 ** Inilii*Mulny«tn/ 1 and an Eastern, or " Austro-Malayan," whic h may 

 lie safely regarded si* ivs|Hvttvely fanning a .southern extension of 

 the Asiatic, and a northern extension of (he Australian continent. 

 A ship «:itliii^ fnitu tin- ]lc:li1 of the Gulf i if Siam south wards will 



