324 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



NEW GUINEA AND ITS PEOPLE.* 



By Eev. W. G. LAWES. 



THAT part of the coast-region of New Guinea extending from 

 Yule Island to its eastern extremity presents a striking contrast 

 to the central part of the island, or that lying to the west of the Gulf 

 of Papua. There all is lowland, not visible at sea a few miles distant. 

 Here, farther east, we have a lofty mountain-range running all along 

 the southeastern peninsula, and reaching in Mount Owen-Stanley the 

 height of thirteen thousand feet. Variety and beauty are given to 

 the landscape by hills of every imaginable shape, which appear gray 

 and barren, or green and fertile, according to the season. Only a few 

 of the rivers in this part of New Guinea are of considerable size, but 

 some fine harbors have been found, and the voyages of the mission- 

 steamer Ellengowan have resulted in the marking of many reefs, 

 bays, creeks, headlands, and islands on the chart, to the increased 

 safety of navigation. The flora and fauna are to a great extent 

 Australian. Coarse kangaroo-grass covers much of the land, and the 

 open forest country is studded with white-gum, wattle, and other 

 Australian trees. It is only near the water-courses and rivers, or in 

 the gorges and ravines of the hills, that the vegetation is luxuriantly 

 tropical. Here are the areca-palm, the bread-fruit, wild mango, and 

 chestnut, the pandanus in several varieties, crotons of variegated leaf, 

 crimson Draccence, orchids and creepers in great variety, and ferns in 

 abundance. Near the coast, and especially about Hood Bay, groves 

 of cocoa-nut trees, miles in extent, cast their grateful shade. Some 

 districts are hungry and barren, while in others food is plentiful, yet 

 in all the bill of fare lacks variety. Every traveler makes the acquaint- 

 ance of the palm called the " lawyer." It has received its name, I sup- 

 pose, from the fact that at the back of its fronds are double rows of 

 hooked thorns. These lay hold of any unwary passer-by, and the 

 more he struggles to escape the tighter he is held. It is only by going 

 back and patiently unhooking, that escape from its grasp is possible. 



The fauna is also to a great extent Australian. Flocks of small 

 kangaroos, or wallabies, rush away from one's path in journeying in- 

 land. The opossum, cuscus, flying phalanger, and bandicoot, are other 

 representatives of the marsupials. I have had the honor of discover- 

 ing an echidna, or prickly ant-eater ; also an animal of the marsupial 

 order, closely allied to the North Australian species. 



* Abstract of an address before the Royal Geographical Society of London. The 

 statements here given arc the result of observations made by the author during three 

 years' residence, from 1874 to 1S7Y, as a missionary of the London Missionary .Society, 

 on the southeast coast of New Guinea. During the period named, he made several jour- 

 neys into the interior, and more than one voyage along the coast to the east. 



