matrensis belong more especially to Sumatra. This island
contains, also a great number, of monkeys,; particularly the
semnopitheci, and a variety of other mammifers, among which
are the viverra musangua and the tupaca tana jpfjRaffles, and
the Indian tapir, discovered also in Malaya. It is probable,
that Borneo yet conceals many unknown tribes: among those
which are chiefly noted ,in that great island, the orang-outan
is said to exist also in Cochin-China. Java also, contains
some new speuies” *
To the Malayan archipelago belong most of the flying
quadrupeds. With the jexeeption o fb a ts , nearly all those
mammifers winch are enabled by their structure to,., support
themselves in the air for a short time, and to imitate .imperfectly
the flight of birds, are natives of the Indian,archipelago.
In the-Linnaean order primates, the flying; lemmes s 01’
galeopitheci> which,. as M. Lesson observes, approach most
nearly to the maki, have three species in th$ Sunda, Molucca
and Pelew islands.t The taguans, or flying^ipcturnal squirr
rels, of which several species inhabit Java; and the nearest
islands, are peculiar to the same archipelago and the I neighbouring
coasts.J, The .roussettes or frugivoroup,. bats, so
termed though very distinct from the rest of .the, bat. tribe*
are likewise very numerous in the Malayan;,island s,. -Yet
among the marsupial ..animals, while the tribe;!generally
termed phalangers are distributed to. Terra Australis and-the
Moluccas, it seems that the flying phalangers, lately termed
petauristse, and distinguished as a separate groupe, haveOnly
been discovered in New Holland. Animals of the laeertine
tribe abound in the hotter parts of this archipelago,- and
lessen, in variety, as we proceed towards the East.§. Crocodiles,
though found in Java, Timor, Borneo, and Bourou, are
only represented in New Ireland by a large tupidambis. The
birds of this region are of endless variety and resplendent
beauty. Java and Sumatra possess many species, but the
groupe o f isles termed the Land of -Papuas is unrivalled in * §
* Lesson, tom. ii. p. 25.
+ Tom.iv.p. 413»
J They have been described by-Raffles and Horsfield in the Linn. Transactions.
§ Lesson ii. 29.
the. gaudy and various plumages of its feathered tribes. To
this region belong the splendid birds of paradise, the great
promeropes. The lpries ;and the parroquets, the móst beautifully
clothed among the parrot tribe,. belong principally to
the Moluccas and the neighbouring countries.
Paragraph 5. Zoology ó f -Polyhésia.
V Beyond the Malayan archipelago a :higb:'mountain-land
extends towards-thé south-east, several ."'arms or branches' of
which support great islands ofïèónsidérable length, or long,
chains or'géries^of smaller islands.« New Guinea is the centre
or’nucleus of this insular region. Issuing from;'the èa'Stem
extremity of this elevated country, afwast scircuif of islandsf
under the names of New Britain, New Ireland, SolomEon’s
Isles, Louisiade,. the, New Hebrides, New Zealand^ surrounds
alLthe eastern siflj^of Jerra Australis, and has been supposed
to have originally formed with it ’one great ||]$ntinent. Thus
farv,’ according to M. Lesson, a primordial or primitive region
exists: beyond it, in the wide spaces of the great southern
Ocean, the numerous groupeS which are interspersed through
it, are of volcanic and madreporic origin. ,
The vegetatibh of New Guinea displays all the Splendour
and magnijicënce; which belong tb the most fertile lands in
the torrid zone, and nothing in animated nature can surpass
the bright and resplendent colours, with which the birds of
the ' same region are decorated. [.These tribes exceed all
•others in the beauty of their plumage, and? in the variety of
their forms. New: Guinea seems fitted to be the centre of
new tribes of quadrupeds j but, in this respect, the fact turns
out contrary to expectation. The whole region which I have
lately' defined, seems to be remarkably deficient in mamncfi-
ferous animals. In New Guinea few species are as yet known.
The Babiroussa exists at Bourou and as it appears in New
Ireland; and it can, therefore, hardly be wanting in the
vast and unexplored forests of New Guinea. The couscous
or spotted phalangers are found there, as well as the pelan-
doc and the sup papuensis or New Guinea hog. In New Ireland
is the white phalanger.