



SECTION A. 



THE FORESTS OF PAPUA 





1. GENERAL. 



* 



The Territory of Papua lies between the 5th and 

 12th degrees south latitude, and the 141st and 155th 

 degrees east longitude. It has an' area of 87,786 

 square miles, and is therefore about the same size as 

 the State of Victoria. In addition, 2,754 square miles 

 are comprised in numerous islands, the most distant 

 being Rossel, which lies about 250 miles from the 

 eastern point of the mainland. Papua forms the 

 south and south-eastern portion of the large island 



of New Guinea. To the north lies the Territory 

 of New Guinea (late German New Guinea ), 

 and to the west, Dutch New Guinea. It juts out into 

 the Pacific Ocean, and is separated from the mainland 

 of Australia by Torres Straits. 



A chain of mountains trending N.E. and S.W. 

 divides the eastern half of Papua. This is 

 Owen Stanley Range, which, at Mount Victoria, 



High subsidiary 



The total run-off of the Territory has been calculated 

 to be 100,000 cubic feet a minute (*>, and in many 

 parts the conditions are very favorable for developing 

 power. The Water Power Committee of the conjoint 

 Boards of Scientific Societies estimated the available 

 horse-power of the waters of the Territory at 8,500,000, 

 and this estimate was based on half the run-off, and 

 a head of only 500 feet. 



Mr. Stanley discusses at length the probable con- 

 nexion of New Guinea with other lands, and shows 

 that in early geological times it was related to Aus- 

 tralia on one side, and Sula, Celebes, and prob- 

 ably Borneo on the other. This would seem to be 



Tl 



le 



Main 



attains a height of 13,150 feet. 



groups of mountains occur on either side of this back- 

 bone. Of them, the Hydrographer's Range (6,000 

 feet), behind Dyke Ackland Bay, is a conspicuous 

 landmark; also- the distant peaks of Mount Laming ton, 

 to the west. Lower ranges occur frequently, and of 



these the Astrolabe Range to the east of Port Moresby 

 is a prominent one. Mount Victoria (13,150 feet) is 

 regarded as the N.W. limit of the Owen Stanley 

 Range, which runs from there to the S.E. point of 

 the Territory, with an average altitude of 9,000 feet, 

 with here and there peaks raising their heads to 

 greater heights. Beyond Mount Simpson the height 

 of the range decreases rapidly to the sea coast. The 

 Owen Stanley Range is also called the " Main Range," 

 but this name is a loose one, for it is applied also 

 to the central mountains, which run from Mount Vic- 

 toria along the Wharton Range to Mount Albert 

 Edward, 13,000 feet, and on to Mount Chapman, on 

 the angle of the neighbouring Mandated Territory, 

 and thence through that Territory to join the Victor 

 Emanuel Range, where the Fly River is supposed to 

 have its source. The eastern half of the Territory is 

 exceedingly mountainous, but as one travels westward 

 the distance between the ** Main Range" and the sea 

 becomes greater, and the intervening land is low-lying, 

 and, in certain parts, very swampy. Even in the 

 Western Division, however, the distance that must be 

 traversed before mountains are met with is not very 

 great. 



From the nature of the country and its tropical 

 situation, and consequently heavy rainfall, rivers, great 

 and small, are plentiful, while countless streams are 

 met with everywhere. Owing to the configuration of 

 the country, the largest rivers are to be met with in 

 the Western Division, and of these the Fly River is the 

 most important- This great waterway is navigable 

 by launch for 500 miles, and has been explored for 

 620 miles. The Purari River comes next to it in im- 

 portance, with 120 miles navigable by launch. The 

 size of the rivers diminishes as the Territory narrows 

 towards the eastern end, bni, even so, large rivers 

 empty inlo the ocean on both the N.E. and S.W. 



borne out by the fauna and flora. 

 Range" is of the Cambrian formation, consisting 

 mainly of gneisses and schists, while the great delta of 

 th € the Purari, the plains behind Buna, the coral forma- 

 tions, and the active volcano, Mount Victory, at Cape 

 Nelson, represent the more recent formations. Large 



areas of mud-stones and shales occur between the 

 Vailala and Era Rivers, while in the west, between 

 the Kikori and the Strickland Rivers limestone or 

 raised coral reefs occur. The best forest soils are to 

 be found in the plains behind Buna, between the 

 Kumusi and the Hydrographer's Range; but through- 

 out the Territory, except where limestone predominates, 

 or the land is so low-lying as to be swampy, or so 

 steep as to be precipitous, the soil derived from the 

 weathering of the ''Main Range" rocks would appear 

 to be all that is necessary to assure the growth of 

 forests of tall timber trees. Indeed, it is one of the 

 remarkable features of the forests that large trees with 

 clear boles of 80 and 100 feet are to be met with at 

 elevations of 6,000 to 8,000 feet, and these are not 

 always confined to cups, pockets, or gullies, but are 

 frequently on the exposed, roek-strewii spurs of th 



e 



a 



Main Range. 



w 



Mr. E. R. Stanley (2) , Government 



Geologist, who has a very wide experience of all parts 

 of Papua, has found the soils derived from basaltic 

 rocks are those that carry the largest timber, and this is 

 particularly the case when the basalt overlies limestone. 

 I was unfortunate in not meeting such formations, so 

 have no data as to the difference in cubic contents 

 between forests growing en this and other formations. 

 The climate of Papua is influenced by the usual 

 monsoonal or trade wind effects which are common to 

 tropical countries. There are two main seasons — the 

 north-west and the south-east monsoon. The north- 

 west monsoon blows from about November to March, 

 and the south-east monsoon from April to October. 

 There is a period of variable winds and unsettled 

 weather at the two changes of the seasons. The north- 

 west monsoon, blowing as it does from the warmer 

 equatorial seas, carries more water vapour than the 

 south-east monsoon, which reaches Papua after passing 

 over the colder ocean to the south. So, one would 

 expect the north-west season to be wetter than the 



south-east ; and this, generally speaking, is the case. 



Tin- south-east is usually known as the " dry season/' 



and the north-west the " wet season." Owing, how- 



ever, to the configuration of the coast, topography of 



freeboard, and many of these are navigable by small the country, and the angle of incidence of the w 7 inds 



craft and launches for many miles, and are serviceable 

 for floating timber for still greater distances; 



(l)ami (2) EL R. Stanley: ( 'ontri button to the Geology of Papua. Bulletin 



No. 7, 1921. p. 6. Homo and Territories Department, Melbourne. 



