. Island life : or, the phenomena and causes of insular faunas and floras, including a revision and attempted solution of the problem of geological climates . then Lemuria had ceased to exist, and couldnot have been the means of their introduction. Sicbmerged Islands let ween Madagascar and India.—Looking at the accompanying map of the Indian Ocean,we see that between Madagascar and India there are nowextensive shoals and coral reefs, such as are usually heldto indicate subsidence; and we may therefore fairlypostulate the former existence here of several large islands,some of them not much inf
. Island life : or, the phenomena and causes of insular faunas and floras, including a revision and attempted solution of the problem of geological climates . then Lemuria had ceased to exist, and couldnot have been the means of their introduction. Sicbmerged Islands let ween Madagascar and India.—Looking at the accompanying map of the Indian Ocean,we see that between Madagascar and India there are nowextensive shoals and coral reefs, such as are usually heldto indicate subsidence; and we may therefore fairlypostulate the former existence here of several large islands,some of them not much inferior to Madagascar reefs are all separated from each other by very deep 425 ISLAND LIFE PART II sea—much deeper than that which divides Madagascarfrom Africa, and we have therefore no reason to imaginetheir former union. But they would nevertheless greatlyfacilitate the introduction of Indian birds into the Mas-carene Islands and Madagascar; and these facilities existing,such an immigration would be sure to take place, just assurely as American birds have entered the Galapagos andJuan Fernandez, as European birds now reach the Azores,. MAP OF THE INDIAN OCEAN. Showing the position of banks less than 1,000 fathoms deep between Africa and theIndian Peninsula. and as Australian birds reach such a distant island as NewZealand. This would take place the more certainly becausethe Indian Ocean is a region of violent periodical stormsat the changes of the monsoons, and we have seen in thecase of the Azores and Bermuda how important a factorthis is in determining the transport of birds across theocean. CHAP, xix THE MADAGASCAR GROUP 426 The final disappearance of these now sunken islandsdoes not, in all probability, date back to a very remoteepoch ; and this exactly accords with the fact that some ofthe birds, as Avell as the fruit-bats of the genus Pteropus,are very closely allied to Indian species, if not actuallyidentical, others being distinct species of the same g
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