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Show 422 ISLAND LIFE. [PART IT. united with Greenland, and .Probably with Eur~pe by way of Britain, in the early part of the Tertiary ~enod,. and. thus afforded one of the routes by which that mterm1gratwn of American and European animals and plants was effected which we know occurred during some portion of the Eocene and Miocene periods, and probably also in the Pliocene. The fauna and flora of this island are, however, so poor, and offer so few peculiarities, that it is unnece~sary to devote more time to consideration here. There remains the great Malay island-Celebes, which, owing to its possession of several large and very peculiar mammalia, must be classed, zoologically, as "ancient continental"; but whose central position and relations both to Asia and to Australia render it ~ery difficult to decide in which of the primary zoological regions it ought to be placed, or whether it bas ever been united with either of the great continents. Although I have pretty fully discussed its zoological peculiarities and past history in my Geographical DistTibution of Animals, it seems advisable to review the facts on the present occasion, more especially as the systematic investigation of the characteristics of continental islands we have now made will place us in a better position for determining its true zoo-geographi<.:al relations. Physical features of Celebes.-This large and still comparatively unexplored island is interesting to the geographer on account of its remarkable form, but much more so to the zoologist for its curious assemblage of animal forms. The geological structure of Celebes is almost unknown. The extremity of the northern peninsula is volcanic; while in the southern peninsula there are extensive deposits of a crystalline limestone, in some places overlying basalt. Gold is found in the northern peninsula and in the central mass, as well as iron, tin, and copper in sma1l quantities; so that there can be little doubt that the mountain ranges of the interior consist of ancient stratified rocks. It is not yet known whether Celebes is completely separated from the surrounding islands by a deep sea, but the facts at our command render it probable that ·it is so. The northern and eastern portions of the Celebes Sea have been ascertained to be from 2,000 to 2,600 fathoms deep, and such depths may extend CHAP. XX.] CELEBES. 423 over a considerable portion of it, or even be much exceeded in the centre. In the Molueca passage a sincrle soundincr on the Gilolo side gave 1,200 fathoms, and a large ~art of the Moluccn. :MAP OF CELEBES AND 1'llE SURROUNDINO ISLANDS. The dep.th of .sen is shown by three tints: the lightest mrlicating less than 100 fathoms, tho 1~edmm tlllt less than 1.000 fathoms, and the dark tint more than 1 000 ~ ll Tl· figures show depths in fathoms. ' 11 wms. te and Banda Seas probably exceed 2,000 fathoms. The southern portion of the Straits of Macassar is full of coral reefs, and a shallow sea of less than 100 fathoms extends from Borneo to |
