GENERAL FEATURES OF MALAYSIA 
15 
—are separated from each other by straits or passages, 
each bearing a distinctive name. By far the greater 
number belong politically to Holland, which here pos¬ 
sesses a colonial empire, with its seat of government in 
Java, rivalling in prosperity the British East Indian 
possessions. Of all the former extensive dominions of 
Portugal in these seas nothing now remains to her except 
a portion of the island of Timor. In the Philippines 
the Spaniard rules almost exclusively. At the north 
of Borneo we find two abnormal forms of government— 
an English raja ruling the extensive territory of 
Sarawak, while a private company, formed somewhat 
upon the lines of the old East India Company, admin¬ 
isters the neighbouring country now known as British 
North Borneo. Some islands and portions of islands are 
still independent, or subject to native sultans. 
2. Physical Features—Volcanoes. 
The Malay Archipelago is traversed throughout its 
whole extent by one of the most extensive and con¬ 
tinuous volcanic belts upon the globe. Commencing in 
the north-western part of Sumatra, beyond the equator, 
it extends through that island and Java, then through 
the Lesser Sunda Islands to the east end of Timor. 
Here it turns in a north - easterly curve by Banda, 
Amboina, and Buru to Gilolo and Ternate. Thence, 
turning westward to the northern extremity of Celebes, 
it bends abruptly to the north by the Sangir Islands, and 
passes through the entire range of the Philippines to the 
extreme north of Luzon. The number of true volcanic 
peaks and craters in this belt is very great, and they 
form a continuous chain, with seldom more than an in¬ 
terval of a hundred miles from one to the other. A very 
