NEW GUINEA AND ITS INHABITANTS. 743 



irreo-ular and mucli extended in a north-northwest and south-southeast 

 direction, so that its greatest length is little short of 1,500 miles, a dis- 

 tance as great as the whole width of Australia from Adelaide to Port 

 Darwin, or of Europe from London to Constantinople. Its greatest 

 width is 410 miles ; and, omitting the great peninsulas which form its 

 two extremities, the central mass is about 700 miles long, with an aver- 

 age width of 320 miles, a country about the size of the Austrian Em- 

 pire, and, with the exception of the course of one large river, an abso- 

 lute blank upon our maps. 



This almost total ignorance is the more remarkable when we con- 

 sider how long the country has been known, and how frequently its 

 shores have been visited. It was discovered in 1511, even earlier than 

 Australia; and from that time Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, French, and 

 English vessels have continually passed along its coasts. Most of our 

 early navigators — Forrest, Dampier, and Cook — visited New Guinea, 

 and have given us some account of its inhabitants; while, more re- 

 cently, many exploring and surveying ships — the Coquille and Astro- 

 labe, under French ; the Rattlesnake, Fly, and Basilisk, under English ; 

 the Triton and Etna, under Dutch commanders — have added to our 

 store of information. Among private naturalists and explorers, the 

 present writer was the first to reside some months in New Guinea in 

 1858 ; since which time Dr. Miklucho Maclay, a Russian ; Dr. Beccari 

 and Signor d'Albertis, Italians ; Dr. A. B. Meyer, a German ; Mr. Oc- 

 tavius C. Stone, and several English missionaries — have all made im- 

 portant explorations and added much to our knowledge of the natural 

 productions of the island and of the tribes residing on or near its 

 coasts. 



From these various sources we have obtained a tolerable knowledge 

 of the outside margin of the country, but never extending more than 

 twenty miles inland, except in the case of the Fly River, which Signor 

 d'Albertis ascended for nearly 500 miles, reaching a point somewhat 

 beyond the center of the island. The northwestern and southwestern 

 peninsulas of New Guinea are the best-known portions, and both seem 

 to be mountainous throughout. In the north, Mount Arfak, a little be- 

 yond Dorey Harbor, is from 8,000 to 10,000 feet high, while in the 

 southeast the Owen Stanley Range has several peaks which reach eleva- 

 tions of from 10,000 to 13,000 feet. The Charles Louis Mountains, com- 

 mencing near the south coast, east of Triton Bay, appear to run far in 

 a southeasterly direction, and their summits are believed to be snow- 

 clad, and are probably at least 18,000 feet high. If they continue east- 

 ward in the same general direction they would pass about 100 miles to 

 the north of D'Albertis's farthest point on the Fly River, and perhaps 

 form a great curve till they merge in the Owen Stanley Range in the 

 southeast. This, however, is mere conjecture, for throughout the whole 

 course of the Fly River the land was low, and only on one occasion 

 were high mountains seen to the northwest. Combining this with the 



