452 



ISLAND LIFE. 



[PAET II. 



united with Greenland, and probably with Europe by way of 

 Britain, in the early part of the Tertiary period, and thus 

 afforded one of the routes by which that intermigration of 

 American and European animals and plants was effected which 

 we know occurred during some portion of the Eocene and Mio- 

 cene periods, and probably also in the Pliocene. The fauna 

 and flora of this island are, however, so poor, and offer so few 

 peculiarities, that it is unnecessary to devote more time to 

 consideration here. 



There remains the great Malay island — Celebes, which, owing 

 to its possession of several large and very peculiar mammalia, 

 must be classed, zoologically, as ''ancient continental"; but 

 whose central position and relations both to Asia and to Australia 

 render it very difficult to decide in which of the primary zoological 

 regions it ought to be placed, or whether it has ever been united 

 with either of the great continents. Although I have pretty 

 fully discussed its zoological peculiarities and past history in my 

 Geographical Distribution of Animals, it seems advisable to review 

 the facts on the present occasion, more especially as the systematic 

 investigation of the characteristics of continental islands we have 

 now made will place us in a better position for determining its 

 true zoo -geographical relations. 



Physical features of Celebes. — This large and still comparatively 

 unexplored island is interesting to the geographer on account 

 of its remarkable form, but much more so to the zoologist 

 for its curious assemblage of animal forms. The geological 

 structure of Celebes is almost unknown. The extremity of the 

 northern peninsula is volcanic ; while in the southern peninsula 

 there are extensive deposits of a crystalline limestone, in some 

 places overlying basalt. Gold is found in the northern peninsula 

 and in the central mass, as well as iron, tin, and copper in small 

 quantities ; so that there can be little doubt that the mountain 

 ranges of the interior consist of ancient stratified rocks. 



It is not yet known whether Celebes is completely separated 

 from the surrounding islands by a deep sea, but the facts at our 

 command render it probable that it is so. The northern and 

 eastern portions of the Celebes Sea have been ascertained to be 

 from 2,000 to 2,600 fathoms deep, and such depths may extend 



