America. He soon comes to look upon this region as one apart from the
rest of the world, with its own races of men and its own aspects of
nature; with its own ideas, feelings, customs, and modes of speech, and
with a climate, vegetation, and animated life altogether peculiar to
itself.
From many points of view these islands form one compact geographical
whole, and as such they have always been treated by travellers and men
of science; but, a more careful and detailed study of them under various
aspects reveals the unexpected fact that they are divisible into two
portions nearly equal in extent which differ widely in their natural
products, and really form two parts of the primary divisions of the
earth. I have been able to prove this in considerable detail by
my observations on the natural history of the various parts of the
Archipelago; and, as in the description of my travels and residence in
the several islands I shall have to refer continually to this view, and
adduce facts in support of it, I have thought it advisable to commence
with a general sketch of the main features of the Malayan region as will
render the facts hereafter brought forward more interesting, and their
bearing upon the general question more easily understood. I proceed,
therefore, to sketch the limits and extent of the Archipelago, and to
point out the more striking features of its geology, physical geography,
vegetation, and animal life.
Definition and Boundaries.--For reasons which depend mainly on the
distribution of animal life, I consider the Malay Archipelago to include
the Malay Peninsula as far as Tenasserim and the Nicobar Islands on the
west, the Philippines on the north, and the Solomon Islands, beyond New
Guinea, on the east. All the great islands included within these limits
are connected together by innumerable smaller ones, so that no one
of them seems to be distinctly separated from the rest. With but few
exceptions all enjoy an uniform and very similar climate, and are
covered with a luxuriant forest vegetation. Whether we study their form
and distribution on maps, or actually travel from island to island, our
first impression will be that they form a connected whole, all the parts
of which are intimately related to each other.
Extent of the Archipelago and Islands.--The Malay Archipelago extends
for more than 4,000 miles in length from east to west, and is about
1,300 in breadth from north to south. It would stretch over an expanse
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