768 NATURAL SCIENCE. dec. 



been penetrated. With their geological formation and their inhabi- 

 tants we had in a general way been fairly well acquainted, through 

 the observations of the naturalists of H.M.S. " Rattlesnake,"' and 

 of many others who have visited the archipelago for various purposes 

 from time to time. The annual reports issued by the Colonial Office 

 — which one would scarcely think of consulting for scientific observa- 

 tions of an exact kind — record additions to our knowledge of the 

 north-east coast and of the D'Entrecasteaux Islands made by Sir 

 William Macgregor. He appears to have touched at a few places 

 not previously visited, but, except in matters of detail, he has con- 

 tributed little to the excellent descriptions given by Captain Moresby 

 in his account of his surveying voyage along that coast ; or to the 

 observations made by the officers with Sir Peter Scratchley on board 

 the " Governor Blackall," in 1884. The Administrator's visits to the 

 Trobriand, Woodlark, and Laughlan islands have, on the other hand, 

 augmented our previous information. The whole of the group 

 appears to have recently been elevated, or to be still rising. Most of 

 the islands are surrounded by raised beaches and cliffs of elevated 

 coral, as is the case also in many parts of the Louisiade Archipelago. 



Crossing over into German territory, we find that Herr Hugo 

 Zoller has recently determined that the mountains running southward, 

 parallel to the coast from Astrolabe Bay, are separated by an open 

 space from the Finisterre range, which he ascended to an elevation 

 of 9,000 feet. From this spot he discovered, in the Bismarck range 

 to the west, an enormous snow-capped summit, which he believes to 

 be the highest peak in New Guinea, and to the south still another 

 range — probably an extension of the Rawlinson Mountains — attaining 

 also an altitude of 10,000 to 12,000 feet. The north-westerly summics 

 of the Victor Emmanuel range, which were discovered by D'Albertis 

 from his furthest on the Fly River, have been estimated by Sir W. 

 Macgregor, who sighted them from the upper reaches of the same 

 river, to ascend to 12,000 ft., as disrupted and precipitous peaks. 

 Whether they terminate the range, or whether they run on north- 

 westerly to meet the Charles Louis Mountains is a problem left for some 

 future explorer to solve. The region between these ranges and the line 

 of peaks west of the British boundary is still occupied by a blank in 

 our maps, which widens as it proceeds northward, till it unites with 

 the great unknown expanse of Central New Guinea, belonging partly 

 to the Germans, but chiefly to the Dutch. Though much of the 

 interior is unknown, the whole of the north-east coast has been well 

 surveyed, but the number of rivers that fall into the sea along its 

 length is remarkably few, even opposite the great mountain ranges. 



Meteorological observations taken at several places on this 

 north-east coast and in China Straits show that the distribution of 

 rain-fall depends on the position of a place in regard to the prevailing 

 winds. In this region rain comes generally with the north-west 

 monsoon, and in the Southern summer, and the table of rain-fall at 



I 



I 



