The Malay Archipelago [pp. 479-495]

The tfilay Archiz'pelago.
of the body is a deep sooty-brown or black, approaching in
color the true negro. The hair is peculiar, being harsh, dry
and frizzly, and standing up from the head like a mop. The
nose is large, arched and high, the lips thick and protuberant,
and the face covered with beard. In stature they nearly equal
the average European. In character the Papuan is bold, im petuous, excitable and noisy. The Malay is bashful, cold, un demonstrativeand quiet. From this description it will be seen
that the Papuan bears a close resemblance to the negro of Af rica, and also to the inhabitants of Polynesia.
We come now to the question, How is this peculiar distribu tion of animal life to be accounted for? So far as man is concerned, he has the means of passing from island to island. But
here are two strongly marked races in close proximity, and
what is the cause of the wide divergence? This question with
respect to man we will take up after looking at the lower order
of animal life.
Two facts are to be considered one of similarity to the productions of the main-land, and the other of divergence. Hoow,
first, are we to account for the similarity, or how did the products of the animal and vegetable kingdoms cross these seas
and straits, and propagate themselves in their island homes?
MIr. Wallace adopts the theory, first suggested by Mr. Earle in
a paper read before the Royal Geographical Society in I845,
that these islands, ill some former geologic period, were connected with two great continents —Asia on the one hand, and
Australia on the other. And that as evidence of this a shallow
sea, less than forty fathoms deep, now connects them with these
continents, while a sea of over one hundred fathoms in depth
to the eastward of Celebes separates them from one another.
That there have been great geological changes in this region,
and not necessarily at a very remote period, is evident from
the existence of so many extinct and active volcanoes, some of
which are elevated six to eight thousand feet. A corresponding subsidence in the same general region would be expected
after any great elevation of land.
It might be thought that the seeds of plants could be borne
by winds and currents to neighboring islands; and that birds
and animals could pass from one to the other. While this is
true of the vegetable creation to some extent, and is also true
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