40 



defined spur, we rose to 9,300 feet — the top of the slope becomes gradual enough to carry timber, and 

 range. Mr. E. R. Stanley was in charge of the ex- the Hoop Pine Belt began. This continued for 90 

 pedition. He had passed over this country in his chains to an elevation of 7,200, when it was replaced 



journey to Kokoda and back in 1916, and was the first by celery-top and other conifers; these continued to 

 to make mention of the pines growing around the 8,000 feet, when the mossy forest proper was met with, 

 head of the Kemp Welch River. < a > Under such expert which continued to the top of the Divide at 9,300 feet, 

 and experienced guidance the survey was carried out The whole chained distance reduced to the horizontal, 

 without any trouble. A summary of the data gathered 

 will be found in Table XXVI. From the Mimai, we 

 ascended to 5,200 feet on a slope of 40 deg. ; here the 



M 



The 



timber belt lay between 5,200 and 8,000 feet and was 

 175 chains wide; the data recorded in the table refers 



TABLE XXVL 



IK 



Herbarium 

 Number. 



Local Xame 



376 

 275 

 260 



391 

 Unknowns 



Yau 

 Korakaika 



. 



\me 



Scientific Xame. 



Number 



of 

 Trees. 



Cubic Contents. 



■ • 





377 



Teo 



387 



la 



359a 



Eo 



384 



8 ere 



418 



• • 



425 



• • 



* • 



• * 



Araucaria Cunninghamii 

 Podocarpus neriifolius . . 

 Podocarpus cupressina . . 

 Sapotacece 



• a • • • • 



Podocarpus a mora 

 Eugenia sp. 



PhyUocladus hypophylhcs 



E u gen ia sp ... 

 Quercus lamponga 

 Que reus spicata 



Total 



77 

 3 

 •7 

 3 



14 



10 

 3 



50 

 4 



V 3 



• • 



Total c.f. 



Per Acre 

 C.f. 



Percentages of 



7,200 

 100 

 817 



249 

 1,572 

 1,457 



532 



5,601 



5(58 

 1,272 



Per Tree 

 C.f. 



327 



8 

 37 



11 



72 

 66 

 24 

 254 

 25 

 58 



184 



19,368 



880 



94 



33 



102 



83 

 112 

 145 

 177 

 112 

 142 



98 



To Total 



Cubic 

 Contents 

 Per Cent. 





99 



36-95 

 0-51 

 4-21 

 1-08 



8-11 

 7-52 



2-74 



28-9 

 2-92 



6-39 



To Total 

 Number 



Trees. 

 Per Cent. 





100. 



41-81 

 1-63 

 3-80 

 1-63 

 7-60 

 5-43 

 1-63 



27-15 

 2-17 

 7-16 



Trees 



per Acre. 





3 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 2 

 

 



5 

 14 



3 



14 



6 



46 



14 



3 



2 



6 



100. 



8. 



that leads to Port Moresby, and comes from Kokoda 



Tins lie carried out with great 



across 



the Range. 



to this belt only. The area covered by the strip survey 

 was 22 acres. It will be seen that on this area there 



weve 1S4 trees, carrying a volume of 19,368 cubic feet, success. The country iu question is uninhabited, and 

 or 880 cubic feet per acre, and 100 cubic feet per tree, had not previously been visited or explored. Having 

 Of them Hoop Pine comes first with 42 per cent, of now crossed it, I have, if possible, a still greater esteem 

 the stocking and 37 per cent, of the volume. Celery- for the natives intelligence, and for the good sense 

 top follows with 27 per cent, of the stocking, and 29 of the magistrates and patrol officers^ Until we reached 

 per cent, of the volume. The two oaks, Teo and four- 

 teen unknowns, are all under 10 per cent, and over 5 



per cent, of the stocking and volume. Together these for 

 predominant species make up 88 per cent, of the total 

 volume — a satisfactory percentage. 



Of the other species, no new trees were recorded. 

 No. 275, {Podocarpus neriifolius) was meagrely rep- 

 resented, and No. 269 — Podocarpus cupressina — came 

 under the 5 per cent. line. No. 391 — Ame (Sapota- 

 ceae) was present, three specimens being recorded; 

 also No. 3S7 — la — -and No. 384, Eugenia sp. — Sere — 

 whose timbers are so hard to separate. The largest tree 

 was the la. The celery-top pines were very big in girth, 

 but their height growth was ridiculously low, reminding 

 one a little of the Japanese dwarf trees that one sees, 



Xo specimens of Libocedras were encountered, which 



I thought was rather strange. At the upper limits of 

 the belt and the lower limits of the mossy forests, a 

 rather large area of country had been burnt, and here 



the country hunted in by Menari-Efogi people, there 

 were no tracks, and it meant cutting our way through 

 seven days, with the exception of the loss of a 

 rather important part of our commissariat, the party 

 got safely through. For a full account of the journey, 

 the geological formations encountered, the creeks and 

 rivers we traversed, the heights we ascended, and all 

 other scientific data, I would refer you to Mr. Stanley's 



report. W 



out the route, and shows all the topography. 

 greater part of the journey was in the mid-mountain 

 and foothill belt, though here and there we dropped 

 to alluvial rain forest or rose to the mossy forests. 

 The most noticeable thing regarding the forest on this 

 traverse was the absence of Hoop Pine, 

 ing the Mimai waters I saw only occasional hoop pine 

 — nowhere were there any stands of it comparable 

 to those I have recorded in Tables XXIV., XX\ •* 

 XXVII. Standing on any of the shoulders of the 



He has made a very clear map which sets 



1 The 



Alter leav- 



climhing fern — a Gleichenia, I think — covered the mountains, 



and looking back 



over the Mimai in a 



around and clambered over the stems of burnt trees south-easterly direction, one can see all the spurs spiked 



and the young shrubs that had come up. A few clumps with hoop pine. ^ That sharp peak " The Baron " has 



of grass occurred, but they obviously had no chance hoop ; 



in the fight with the woody tree forms that were rap- visible 

 idly filling up the gaps in the forest. The country is 



of grass" occurred, but tin y obviously had no chance hoop pine growing right over its cap, and they are 



distances. Beyond The Baron to 



is reported in good 



I can ascribe no 



for great 

 Mount Brown 



hoop pine 



stand 



probably very seldom visited, and opportunities to burn °n the spurs of all the mountains. 



owing to the climatic condi- 



it cannot be numerous, 



tions, which are decidedly damp. I will return to this S 



matter when dealing with the mossy forests. 



Having examined the country at the headwaters of 



reason for there being no good stands of hoop pine 

 going north-west along the range from the Vi River. 



be the same geologically, and 



Conditions appear to 



the general nature of the country and its topography 



the Kemp Welch, Mr. Stanley decided to push north- seem similar. It is possible that the influence of the 

 west with the object of striking the headwaters of the dry **»lt makes itself felt to an extent which precludes 



the growth of hoop. In the present very fragmentary 



(a). E. R. Stanley, F.R.G.S. Re port on the Investigation of the unexplored 

 mountainous region between the .Mimai River and Kagi, 1923. Heine and Terri- 

 tories Department, Melbourne. 



Brcnv 



n 



and eventually reaching Kagi and the trail 



(a). Geological expedition across the Owen Stanley Range, by E. R. Stanley, 

 F.R.G.S., Government Geologist. Animal Report, Papua, 1 91 7-1 M. 8, p. 75. 



