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The Continent of Asia: Australia

FORESTS AND VEGETATION. - From the mosses and lichens of Siberia and Kamchatka to the date-palms of Arabia and the luxuriant tropical vegetation of Farther India and Malayan Archipelago, the flora of Asia embraces nearly every variety known to the naturalists, an approach even to the peculiar forms of Australia being met with in Borneo and the Celebes.

ANIMALS. Among the chief and most characteristic of the mammalia of Asia are the elephant, tiger, cheetah or leopard, and the lion. The horse and the ass, the camel, goat, hog, and ox originally came from Asia. The elephant, which differs considerably from the African species, has been domesticated in India from time immemorial, and in Arabia and Syria the camel and the ass have always been subject to man.

The yak, buffalo, and the Indian ox, deer of all species from the antelope to the reindeer, the cashmere goat, and the long-tailed sheep of Tibet, are among the most noticeable of the mammalia. Many varieties of quadrumana are found, including the lemurs and the true apes. Nearly all the well-known species of European birds abound, and in the Indian region these are supplemented by many others peculiar to Asia. Some marsupial animals similar to those of Australia exist in the Molucca Islands and the Celebes. Fish abound in the northern rivers; in the S.-E. the walking or climbing fishes, which can exist for a length of time without water, are common. The Asiatic seas contain all varieties of sea fish and cetacea.

MINERALS AND PRECIOUS STONES.-Every variety of mineral exist in Asia, and in some countries mining has been carried on in a rude and primitive fashion for thousands of years. Copper and iron are widely diffused, tin is found in the Island of Banca in the Malayan Archipelago, and coal in Japan and Northern China. The gold mines of the Ural and Altai ranges, and of China, Persia, and Japan, are of great value, and silver exists in India and Siberia. Prior to the discoveries of gold in California and Australia, and of silver in the Western Territories and States, almost the entire supply of the precious metals was drawn from Asia. India has produced nearly all the large and valuable diamonds known, and rubies, garnets, emeralds, turquoise, and others of the most valued precious stones, are widely distributed. The pearl fisheries of Ceylon and the Persian Gulf are famous.

RACES OF MEN. - The Mongolian or Turanian, Arian, and Semitic races form the vast bulk of the population of Asia. Some ethnologists separate the Tartars from the Chinese, and others divide the Indian peoples into several distinct classes. The peninsula of Malacca and the islands of the Eastern Archipelago are peopled by Malays and Negritos. While the figures are to a very large extent founded upon conjecture only, there is no doubt that Asia contains at least three-fifths, and possibly three-fourths, of the inhabitants of the globe. Of the 834,707,000 believed to exist in Asia , upwards of 600,000,000 inhabit China and India.

RELIGION.-Buddhism, Brahminism, and Mohammedanism are the three great religions of the Continent, the number of Christians being extremely limited. In Asiatic Russia the Greek Church has a few million members, and the European Prostestants scattered through India, Burmah, and China may amount to 250,000. Although Christanity had its origin in Asia Minor and spread extensively in the first five centuries after the death of its Divine Founder, its progress was arrested in the seventh century by the outburst of Mohammedanism, which rapidly extended its sway over Arabia, Persia, Turkey and Mesopotamia. In the succeeding five centuries the Turkish hoards swept over Persia and India and became the dominant race of both countries. At the present time the Mohammedan population of Hindostan is about 40,000,০০০ ; that of Asia is estimated at 50,000,000. The Mantchoo and Mongolian inhabitants of China, Japan, and Tartary are, with scarcely an exception, Buddhists, though their worship is generally pure formalism. The Chinese honor Confucius as a sage and teacher, and his writings form at once the classics and the laws, the solace of the scholar and the rule of life for the believer. The doctrines of Lao-tze have many followers in China and Japan, and in the latter country Shintoism, the original faith of the Empire, has still many adherents. The Brahminical belief of the Hindoos, with its elaborate system of caste, is probably shared by the next largest body of men. Paganism prevails in such of the Malayan islands as are not Mohammedan; the Guebres of Persia and Bombay still retain their ancient Zoroastrian faith, and in many of the wildest and most thinly settled countries the beliefs named have been modified by the influence of adjoining nations. Lamaism is peculiar to Tibet, and is a form of Buddhism.