3 



the continuance of the south-east winds results in Sir William found Mount Victoria in June, 1889, very 



dry indeed — his supplies narrowly escaped disaster when 



the great masses of air being forced to rise con- 

 siderably in process of relieving the congestion. 

 This uplift strongly reinforces the influence favour- 

 ing condensation, and fully accounts for the rela- 

 tively heavy rainfall near the head of the gulf." 

 In a country of the latitude of Papua when the 

 rain falls below 70 inches, the rain forests composed 



of hygrophyllous trees carrying their aerial gardens of 



epiphytes and tangled with lianas may be expected to 



give way to the more drought-resisting formations — 



the savannah forest. This type is composed of sclero- 



phyllous trees which are not in close forest formation, 



but are scattered like parkland trees, and where the 



ground in between the trees is covered with grasses and an observer as Sir William McGregor, it is of particular 



other xerophyles. This general rule does not apply to interest to foresters and oecologists. 



There seems little doubt that the rainfall decreasBS 

 once the mid-mountain region is passed. This is prob- 

 ably the wettest belt, and the rainfall diminished in 

 the mossy forests, and may fall below that of the coastal 

 dry belts in the alpine grass land regions — 11,000 feet 

 and over. 



a grass signal fire was lit, and the fire got away. 



There did not appear to have been rain for weeks. On 

 his second visit in LSD7 (2) ? the conditions were quite the 



opposite — it rained all day and every day, and the 

 greatest difficulty was experienced in making observa- 

 lions for latitude during the night, while the bearing 

 of .Mount Albert Edward, which was of particular im- 

 portance for fixing the position of the peaks in longi- 

 tude, was not taken owing to the ceaseless fogs and 

 mists during the day time. Under the section " Forest 

 Regions " will be found the description of the flora on 

 the topmost mountains of Papua. Made by so careful 





high mountainous country where other factors com 

 into operation, and where a tropical latitude is to some 

 extent compensated by altitude. Taking the lower lands 

 of Papua, from the coast-line inwards to the foothills 

 of the "Main Range," the rainfall is everywhere, ex- 

 cept in the dry belts, ample for the production of tall 

 timber trees in rain forest formation. While no data 



available as to the area of the dry belts and 

 patches, this must be small when compared with the 

 total area receiving 70 inches of rain and over. 



seen that of 

 Kokoda, is a 



and it is situated 



are 



From the map it will be 



4 only one 



stations 



on page 

 station, its altitude is 1,200 feet, 

 some 60 miles from the north-east coast, 

 tunate that there are not more inland stations, particu- 

 larly on the high mountains, for with the present stale 

 of our knowledge it is not possible to come to any 

 definite conclusions as to the climate at altitudes of 



" Main Range. 7 ' 



of con- 



While the two great trade winds at times are strong 



enough to be termed gales, hurricanes, which are so 



common throughout the tropics, do not occur. From a 



forestry stand-point the winds are never strong enough 



the to cause damage on any large scale. The strongest gales 



hill 



between 2,000 feet and the ton of the 



The belt included between these heights is 

 siderable area and is likely to prove of particular in- 

 terest to foresters. It carries, in places, between 5,500 

 and 7,500 feet, good stands of hoop pine, while other 

 sound conifers are to be found at even higher altitudes 

 in sufficient quantities to repay further investigation. 



From a plant geographical, and from a purely meteoro- 

 logical point of view, the study of the rainfall and other 

 climatic factors at different altitudes would be par- 



are experienced in the north-west season, and they are 



generally short-lived. Nowhere have 1 noticed any 



It is unior- distortion of trees, any fixed lean, or flat-topped habit, 



due to the force of a prevailing wind. 



The temperature, as is generally the case in tropical 



countries, is not excessive. Taking the annual meteoro- 

 logical return for 1919-20, the mean maximum lies 



around 85 deg. Fahr. for all coastal stations, and the 

 mean temperature around 70 deg. Fahr. Kokoda, the 

 highest station (1,200 feet), shows a mean maximum 



of 89.4 deg. Fahr., and a mean minimum temperature 



The maximum is only beaten by 

 Kairuku — 90 deg. Fahr., while the minimum, though 



of 71 deg. Fahr. 



ticularly valuable. With the latest self-recording in- 

 struments, such stations should not prove very expen- 

 sive. The trail from Kokoda to Port Moresby offers 

 excellent sites for a series of stations, and these would 

 have the advantage of being visited at comparativelv 

 short intervals by the overland mail escort. 



While nothing definite can be stated about 

 the climate inland, it is generally thought that more 



falls on the mountains than on the lowlands. 



the lowest mean recorded, is only separated from Cape 

 Nelson by 0.1 deg. Fahr. There seems little difference 

 between sea level and elevations of 2,000 feet. Nights. 

 however, are cooler, and there is less light intensity 

 at the higher elevations. Omitting Kikori, whose maxi- 

 mum and minimum thermometers that year would seem 

 to have been out of adjustment, the mean for 20 sta- 

 tions was 76 deg. The humidity, as is to be expected, 



70 per 



rain 



From an examination of the vegetation at altitudes up 

 to 10,200 feet, I am inclined to believe that less rain 

 falls en the mossy forests — whose lower limit varies 



js 



between 7,000 and 8,000 feet, and who e upper 

 around 11,000 feet — than in the regions lying between 

 the foothills and 7,000 feet ; what I have called the 

 mid-mountain region. Whether more rain falls on the 

 mossy forests than on the lowlands, viz., the belt be- 

 tween the sea and 1,500 feet, remains to be proved. 



I have not been fortunate enough to 



visit 



10,200 feet. 



.any 

 the very high mountains, so am not in a position to 



discuss from my own observation the climate above 



(1) Tlmt Schimperg "alpine grass land" 

 conditions predominate above 11,000 feet is made clear 



in (1) Sir William McGregor's vivid account of the ascent 

 of Mount Victoria in 1889, and Mount Scratchly and 

 Mount Victoria in 1897. Sir William estimated that 

 there are 100 square miles of grassy country on the top 



of the Owen Stanley Range, Mount Scratchly, of the 



Wharton Range, and Mount Albert Edward. Such 

 oncological conditions point to periods of great dryness. 



(1) Since writing the above T visited high mountains in the Territory ot New 

 Guinea and came to different conclusiona as to these bo 'called alpine grass lands. 



See page 68. 



is very high; at no station did it fall below 

 cent, in 1919-20, and at Kikori it was 88.9 per cent. As 

 in the case of rainfall, no data are available as to the 

 temperatures over periods of time in the mid -mountain 

 belt and at high elevations. Isolated temperatures have 



been taken by most explorers. Sir William McGregor 



records a temperature at night of 40^ deg. at 10/200 

 feet, while al the top of Mount Seratehlv the thermo- 

 meter stood at 55 deg. Fahr. in the shade at noon, and, 

 although there was ice on the water, at 38 deg. Fahr. at 

 daylight. All these were recorded in the month of 

 September, during his ascent of Mount Scratchly. In 

 June, when ascending Mount Victoria, he found a 



On 

 of Dickson's Pass at about the same level he records 44 



temperature of 59 deg. at 9 a.m« at 10,130 feet. 



deg. before sunrise, and 55 deg. at 8 a.m. Referring 

 to the temperature on the peaks of Mount Victoria, he 



writes* 1 ^ : — 



r< The temperature rose in the middle of the day 

 to 70 deg.; in the morning the grass was all quite 



white with frost. Icicles were brought into camp. 7 ' 

 Mr. Monckton records a minimum temperature 1 of 



26 deg. Fahr. at night on the summit of Mount Albert 

 Edward, while the temperature of the air when lie 



took the boiling point height of Mount Albert Edward, 

 presumably in the day time, -was 48 dec:. Fahr. 



(1) Annua] Report. I'.rifi-h New Ouinea, 1888-9, pp. 43-44 ; (2) Annual Report 



British New Guinea, 1896-7, App. 0. 



