744 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



fact that for a length of nearly 700 miles the south coast of New Guin- 

 ea is low and swampy, with no high land anywhere visible, we are led 

 to conclude that there is probably a continuous range of lofty moun- 

 tains toward the north, while the south consists of wide alluvial tracts 

 and of slightly elevated inland plains. This part of the island would 

 thus somewhat resemble Sumatra turned round, but with higher moun- 

 tains, which are probably not volcanic, and with a considerably greater 

 width of land. 



Although the Fly River penetrates so far into the interior, its size 

 and depth in its upper portion are by no means what we should expect 

 in a stream fed by a lofty movmtain range close to the equator. It is 

 therefore almost certain that larger rivers exist farther west ; while an- 

 other large river certainly flows northward, having its mouth in a delta 

 at the eastern extremity of Geelvink Bay. Until these rivers are ex- 

 plored, and at least the lower slopes of the hills ascended, we can not 

 be said to have much real knowledge of the interior of New Guinea. 



Situated close to the equator, and extending only eleven degrees 

 south of it, the climate of New Guinea is hot and uniform, and the 

 rains abundant ; leading here, as elsewhere in similar situations, to the 

 growth of a luxuriant forest vegetation, which clothes hill and valley 

 with an ever-verdant mantle. ■ Onlj' on the coasts nearest to Australia, 

 and probably influenced by the dry winds from that continent, are 

 there any open or thinly wooded spaces, and here alone do we find 

 some approach to the Australian type of vegetation in the occurrence 

 of numerous eucalypti and acacias. Everywhere else, however, even 

 in the extreme southeast peninsula and adjacent islands, the vegetation 

 is essentially Malayan ; but Dr. Beccari, who collected plants exten- 

 sively in the northwestern peninsula and its islands, was disappointed, 

 both as regards its variety and novelty. On the Arfak Mountains, 

 however, he found a very interesting subalpine or temperate flora, con- 

 sisting of araucarias, rhododendrons, vacciniums, umbelliferJB, and the 

 antarctic genus Drimys. The forests of New Guinea are everywhere 

 grand and luxuriant, rivaling those of Borneo and Brazil in the beauty 

 of their forms of vegetable life ; and we can not consider the collec- 

 tions yet made as affording more than very imperfect samples of the 

 treasures they contain. 



The animal life of this great island is better known, and is perhaps 

 more interesting. Its terrestrial mammalia are, however, singularly 

 few, and, with the exception of a peculiar kind of wild pig, all belong 

 to the marsupial tribe or the still lower monotremes of Australia. The 

 tigers, apes, and buffaloes, described in the fictitious travels of Captain 

 Lawson, are here as much out of their real place as they would be in 

 the Highlands of Scotland ; while the tracks of large animals, supposed 

 to be rhinoceros or wild cattle, actually discovered by recent travelers, 

 are now ascertained to be those of the cassowary, which, so far as we 

 yet know, is the largest land-animal of New Guinea. Large birds 



