Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
islands, would point them out as of comparatively recent origin. A wide arm of the sea prob-
ably occupied their place at the time when Timor was in the closest proximity to Australia;
and as the subterranean fires were slowly piling up the now fertile islands of Bali and Lom-
bock, the northern shores of Australia would be sinking beneath the ocean. Some such
changes as have been here indicated, enable us to understand how it happens, that though
the birds of this group are on the whole almost as much Indian as Australian, yet the species
which are peculiar to the group are mostly Australian in character; and also why such a large
number of common Indian forms which extend through Java to Bali, should not have trans-
mitted a single representative to the islands further east.
The Mammalia of Timor as well as those of the other islands of the group are exceedingly
scanty, with the exception of bats. These last are tolerably abundant, and no doubt many
more remain to be discovered. Out of fifteen species known from Timor, nine are found also
in Java, or the islands west of it; three are Moluccan species, most of which are also found
in Australia, and the rest are peculiar to Timor.
The land mammals are only seven in number, as follows: 1. The common monkey, Maca-
cus cynomolgus, which is found in all the Indo-Malayan islands, and has spread from Java
through Bali and Lombock to Timor. This species is very frequent on the banks of rivers,
and may have been conveyed from island to island on trees carried down by floods. 2. Para-
doxurus fasciatus; a civet cat, very common over a large part of the Archipelago. 3. Felis
megalotis; a tiger cat, said to be peculiar to Timor, where it exists only in the interior, and is
very rare. Its nearest allies are in Java. 4. Cervus timoriensis; a deer, closely allied to the
Javan and Moluccan species, if distinct. 5. A wild pig, Sus timoriensis; perhaps the same as
some of the Moluccan species. 6. A shrew mouse, Sorex tenuis; supposed to be peculiar to
Timor. 7. An Eastern opossum, Cuscus orientalis; found also in the Moluccas, if not a dis-
tinct species.
The fact that not one of these species is Australian, or nearly allied to any Australian
form, is strongly corroborative of the opinion that Timor has never formed a part of that
country; as in that case some kangaroo or other marsupial animal would almost certainly be
found there. It is no doubt very difficult to account for the presence of some of the few
mammals that do exist in Timor, especially the tiger cat and the deer. We must consider,
however, that during thousands, and perhaps hundreds of thousands of years, these islands
and the seas between them have been subjected to volcanic action. The land has been raised
and has sunk again; the straits have been narrowed or widened; many of the islands may
have been joined and dissevered again; violent floods have again and again devastated the
mountains and plains, carrying out to sea hundreds of forest trees, as has often happened
