16 
COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL 
large proportion of them are in a state of activity, and 
several have devastated the surrounding country within 
the historic era. Many are perpetually smoking, while 
others have been frequently in eruption since the occupa¬ 
tion of the country by Europeans, and have often been 
accompanied by disastrous earthquakes. Hardly less 
remarkable than the extent and continuity of this belt 
of volcanoes is the complete absence of all volcanic vents 
in the surrounding districts. The great island of Borneo, 
and all of Celebes except the extreme northern point, are 
absolutely free from all signs of recent volcanic action; 
and the same may be said of almost every island which 
lies on either side of the band—as the Peninsula of 
Malacca, Madura, Sumba, Ceram, etc. In all these 
countries we have ancient crystalline rocks, granite, 
and extensive Tertiary beds, but no indication of volcanic 
outbursts. From the acknowledged fact of the very 
general vicinity of active volcanoes to the ocean, we may 
perhaps interpret this phenomenon as pointing out to us, 
in this great volcanic band, the outer limits of very 
ancient continents, while the lands on either side^ have 
once formed inland portions of those continents. This 
agrees sufficiently well with what we know of the exist¬ 
ing distribution of animal life, if we suppose Celebes and 
the other islands to the eastward, as far as the volcanic 
belt, to have been separated from Asia at a very early 
period, when its fauna assimilated much more with that 
of Australia than it does now; while the islands to the 
west of Celebes were only separated from the continent 
at a very much later epoch, after they had participated 
in all the more recent and higher developments of its 
flora and fauna. This view will explain some of those 
great peculiarities of the fauna of Celebes to which we 
shall have to refer when treating of that island. 
