HOW THE EARTH WAS EXPLORED IN 1876. 567 



and are opposed to the polygamy and cannibalism which exist among 

 the Papuans. The southern peninsula of New Guinea was explored ; 

 a range of mountains forms the backbone, running north and south ; 

 at a height of 4,000 feet were found dense forests of tropical vegeta- 

 tion, covering the whole northern range except the top of Mount 

 Owen Stanley, which rises in a double peak 13,205 feet. The soil of 

 this region is very rich; sugar-cane, yams, sweet-potatoes, and 

 tobacco, are cultivated ; bread-fruit and mango are indigenous. The 

 people have frizzled hair, and are darker than the Malays, differing 

 from them also in disposition, being inoffensive and friendly. " The 

 women take an active part in any disturbance, and were found more 

 capable of making a hard bargain than the men. None of the tribes 

 believe in a God, and attribute everything extraordinary to some 

 supernatural agency. 



" The climate of this part of the peninsula is relaxing. It is impos- 

 sible to live in the valleys without impairing the constitution, from 

 the excessive moisture ; but in the interior it is more salubrious. 

 Birds are very numerous, conspicuous among which is the bird-of- 

 paradise, but flowei-s are scarce. Miclucho Maclay, who has made 

 extensive explorations in New Guinea, was engaged last July in ex- 

 plorations on the northeast side of the island, about Astrolabe Bay, 

 the part of the coast which has been named after him ; and he reports 

 that in April an earthquake occurred in the highlands in that vicinity, 

 which destroyed many villages." 



The island is 1,400 miles long, and from twenty to 450 miles 

 wide; it possesses great vegetable and mineral wealth, and large 

 portions of it are suitable to European colonization. It may in the 

 future become the seat of an important civilization. 



"The islands of the northeast coast of New Guinea have been visit- 

 ed. The natives are nude savages of the Oriental negro type, who live 

 more like beasts than human beings. Cannibalism prevails through- 

 out the islands, not as a religious rite, but as a means of subsistence. 

 The details of this horrible practice are too revolting to repeat. The 

 natives say that there is in the islands a race of human beings with 

 tails, who are not monkeys ; that the tail is bony and inflexible,~so that 

 those with this caudal appendage have to dig a hole in the sand before 

 they can sit down, as they die if the tail is broken. We have thus 

 revived the account of the men with tails heretofore reported to exist 

 in Borneo and the interior of Africa, but always upon native informa- 

 tion, with the exception of hearsay information alleged to have been 

 given by a sailor cast away on the coast of Borneo, and, like all such, 

 of little value." 



Exploration has been made of that portion of the Australian Con- 

 tinent lying between Murchison and the Overland Telegraph line. 

 The Ashburton River was traced to its source, thus defining the 

 extent and position of the western water-shed which abuts on the 



