afford ample evidence of the truth of these positions. The invention or possession of
phonetic writing may be considered a fair criterion of civilisation, and density of
population evidence of the relative extent to which it has been carried. ,
We have an example of the highest civilisation which has ben reached m the
Indian islands, in the cases of Java and the three islands adjacent to it, Madura, J3ali,
and Lomboc. These have a volcanic soil of great fertility, a perennial irrigation easy
and abundant, with plains and valleys unencumbered with heavy forest, Imme-
morially they have possessed the art of writing, and although embracing less than
one-tenth part of the Archipelago, they contain full seven-tenths of its whole population,
and this, too, without any admixture of the rude and wandering tribes to be
found in all other parts of it. . . . . . . . , . , .
Even in these islands, however, where civilisation has attained its highest
point, the degree of it is not equal throughout, the amount being in proportion
to the causes which gave rise to it. Thus, in the western mountainous
part of Java, the country of the Sundas, the soil is less fertile, and the facilities
for irrigation fewer than in the central and eastern portions of the island, and
hence an inferior civilisation, and as usual in such cases, a smaller density of population.
The island of Madura, although so close to Java, is much inferior to it in soil,
and still more so in capacity for irrigation. Its social condition is consequently
inferior to that of Java, and much of its civilisation has palpably been derived from the
larger island. This observation applies, also, to the islands of Bali and Lomboc,
although in a lesser degree. In all the three islands we discover, in language, writing,
manner and religion, ample evidence of their obligations to Java. j _
Mere fertility of soil, unaccompanied by capacity for easy irrigation, is not sufficient
for the production of any considerable amount of civilisation. The island ot Sum-
bawa forms part of the same volcanic chain as the three last-named islands, and is
separated from the most easterly of them only by a narrow strait. Yet, wanting a
copious irrigation, its inhabitants are in a ruder state, than those of the islands above
mentioned, some of them, indeed, little better than savages. Its area is nearly double
that of Bali and Lomboc united, and yet its population is little more than one-iourth
that of these two islands. . ' '' r, ,,
The Malay Peninsula has, perhaps, the most stubborn and intractable sou ot all tbe
large countries of the Archipelago. Its geological formation is exclusively sedimentary,
Plutonic, and alluvial, and it is destitute of any peculiar facilities of irrigation. It is
rich in tin, iron, and even gold, but its soil is either sterile or stubborn. The consequence
is that its mountains, valleys, and plains are, with the exception of a few
patches, covered with a stupendous primeval forest. Its inhabitants throughout are of
the Malay nation, with the exception of a few pigmy negros. Many of these inhabitants
are still in the rude condition of mere nomads, and even the strangers who have
settled in it hold no very respectable position in the social scale. No indigenous
writing has ever originated in it. The Peninsula, in its widest extent is better than
double the size of Java, but certainly does not contain one-fortieth part of its population.
Sumatra, in respect to its capacity to generate civilisation, may be considered m a
condition intermediate between the Peninsula and Java. The greater portion of it consists
of sedimentary and plutonic formations, with an extensive alluvial tract, but a
small part of it also is of volcanic formation, and well watered. Much of the
island is still covered by a rank primeval forest embracing nearly the whole of
the great alluvial plain which covers one side of it nearly from one extremity to the
other Five different indigenous civilisations have sprung up m this island, by far
the most remarkable of which is that of the Malay nation, and this had its origin in the
well-watered volcanic portion. The lowest civilisation is that of the Bataks, who have
invented phonetic writing, but are, at the same time, occasional cannibals. These
occupy some of the poorest of the plains and table-lands of the interior The, mhabi-
tants of the great alluvial plain of the eastern side of the island are little better than
fishermen, with the predatory habits and other vices of a nomadic state of society.
The mere obstruction of the forest seems to have hindered them from advancing
beyond this condition. Sumatra is about three and a-half times the extent of Java,
but does not contain probably above one-fifth part of its population, and much of this,
too, in the very rudest state. .
Many of the islands on the western side of Sumatra afford striking illustrations of
the position which I am endeavouring to establish. Thus, the island of Nias has a
fertile and well-watered soil, and the result is a peaceable agricultural population of
200 000, while the other islands in its neighbourhood are for the most part still covered
with forest, and have a rude or savage population, not estimated at above one-twentieth
part of that number. Even the large island of Banca, rich in iron and tin, but poor in soil,
and destitute of perennial irrigation, has a native population not exceeding one-tenth
part of that of the small island of Nias, and this population, too, a very abject one.
Borneo so far as it is known, is destitute of volcanic formation, and composed of
sedimentary, plutonic, and alluvial formations. It is rich in minerals, such as gold,
iron antimony, and coal, but either of a poor or a stubborn soil, and with few exceptions
covered by a forest unsurmountable by a rude infantine labour. It has, consequently,
never produced an indigenous civilisation like the civilisations of Java and Sumatra, the
whole of its native inhabitants being, up to the present time, sheer savages, while even
its foreign settlers have made no material advancement since their first establishment.
It is between five and six times the extent of Java, but its estimated population
certainly not one-tenth part, to say nothing of the rudeness of the one and the
civilisation of the other. It seems probable that the vast solid mass of Borneo,
unbroken by deep bays or inlets which would afford facilities for intercommunication,
have contributed, with its stubbornness of soil, its want of easy irrigation, and its
unconquerable forests, to hinder the development of that civilisation which has
sprung up at so many other points in several of the other large islands.
The civilisation of Celebes is of a much higher order than that of Borneo, and this
it owes to its superior fertility, and in some degree, no doubt, to its form, deeply
indented by large bays, so as to make it to consist of several peninsulas. With the
exception of a small portion of the extremity of its northern peninsula, which is
volcanic, the formation everywhere else is sedimentary, plutonic, or alluvial. The
civilisation of Celebes is confined to its south-western, and seemingly most fertile
peninsula, and to this is confined the invention and use of written language, the party
with which it originated being the people speaking the Wugi or Bugis language.
Most of the rest of the island is inhabited by rude tribes, the greater number, indeed, as
rude as those of Borneo. Celebes is by one-half larger than Java, but is not supposed to
contain above one-seventh part of its population. But, on the other hand, it is only
between one-third and one-fourth the extent of Borneo, while it is computed to have
double its population. The race, the Malayan, is one and the same in the three islands.
The two considerable islands of Floris and Timur afford curious illustrations, not
only of the effects on social progress, of soil and water, but also of race, for they are
inhabited, not by a Malay or Negro race, but by an intermediate one,—that with
brown complexion and frizzled but not woolly hair growing in tufts. Floris is of
the same volcanic formation as Java, Bali, and Lomboc, but seemingly without their
capacity for irrigation. Its native inhabitants are in a very rude state, divided into
independent tribeB speaking different languages, who have neither invented nor
adopted written language. It is about two and arhalf times the size of the civilised
island of Bali, but its computed population is about one-thirtieth part.
The large island of Timur is destitute of all trace of volcanic formation, and has a
soil eminently sterile, and no mountains of sufficient elevation to secure a perennial
supply of water for irrigation. In physical configuration and natural productions, it
has, in fact, more the character of an Australian tropical than of a Malayan country.
Its inhabitants are in a very rude state, and divided into innumerable petty tribes,
speaking many different languages. They have neither invented letters themselves,
nor adopted foreign ones. Timur is almost six times the extent of Bali, and is
thought not to have above one-seventh part of its population.
If we turn to the Philippine Archipelago, we shall find ample confirmation of the
proposition, that fertility of soil and ready means of irrigation are the causes which have
given rise to an indigenous civilisation. The geological formation of the most remarkable
of the islands, as for example, that of Luzon, is partly sedimentary and plutonic, and
partly volcanic, none of them being like Java, entirely volcanic. I t is in these only that
any considerable amount of civilisation has sprung up, all those destitute of volcanic
formation being inhabited by tribes in the very infancy of society. The climate of
the Philippines, more rude and tempestuous than that of the Malayan Archipelago, is
probably less favourable to the production of an early indigenous civilisation. About
ten different nations of the Philippines may be stated to have acquired some degree
of civilisation when they were first seen by Europeans, while a far greater number,
both of the Malay and Negrito race were, and some still continue to be, in the condition
of savages. Alphabetic writing, instead of having been invented at many points, as in
the Malayan Archipelago, was invented at one only in the Philippine, and even this
of a far ruder description than the most imperfect of the Malayan alphabets.
Civilisation in the Philippines themselves is proportioned to fertility of soil and means
of irrigation. Luzon, in which letters were invented, stands highest, and is followed by