NEW GUINEA 



4C1 



side of Geelvink Bay, where it develops an extensive 

 delta. The Empress Augusta flows from the un- 

 explored central water- parting north-eastwards to 

 the coast at Cape della Torre in 4 S. and 144 30' E. , 

 entering the sea in a broad, deep channel without 

 any delta. In the rainy season it is navigable for 

 many miles by large vessels, and both the main 

 stream and several tributaries are accessible for a 

 long way to river-steamers. But the largest of all 

 New Guinea rivers is certainly the Fly, which 

 rises on the southern slope of the central water- 

 parting and Hows mainly south-east to a delta 

 of vast extent on the west side of the Gulf of 

 Papua. The Baxter (Mia Kosa), which enters the 

 sea farther west, opposite Cape York, is an in- 

 dependent stream unconnected with the Fly. This 

 great estuary, which was discovered in 1845 by 

 Blackwood and named after his vessel the Fly, was 

 ascended in 1876 by D'Albertis for 500 miles in a 

 steam-launch, and again in 1889 for over 600 miles 

 by Sir \V. Macgregor. The tides ascend the Fly 

 for 150 miles, and 90 miles higher up it is joined on 

 its left bank by the Strickland. Farther east 

 several other copious streams flowing from the 

 main range through British territory to th<? Gulf 

 of Papua have also been either recently discjvered 

 or for the first time surveyed. Such are the 

 Douglas, Centenary, Stanhope, and Queen's 

 Jubilee, all of which converge in an almost con- 

 tinuous common delta aliout the head of the gulf. 

 But here again the terminology is much confused, 

 the Douglas and Jubilee being reflectively Black- 

 wood's Ami ami the already partly -surveyed Aivei. 

 Mr Bevan's Philip also is merely the upper course 

 of the Aird, of wliich the Centenary appears to be 

 an eastern and the Newliery a western branch. 

 The east side of Papua Gulf is joined by other 

 navigable streams from the Owen Stanley range, 

 the more important of which are the St Joseph, 

 flowing from Mount Yule to Hall Sound ; the 

 Vanapa, draining the southern slopes to Redsear 

 Bay, and followed l>v Sir \V. M:icgregor on "W 

 expedition to Mount Victoria (Owen Stanley) in 

 1889 ; the Kemp Welch, flowing to Hood 'Bay ; 

 and the Davadava and Hadava, reaching tne 

 coast at Milne Bay. In German territory also, 

 besides the Empress Augusta, no less than nine 

 new rivers have recently been discovered, one of 

 which, the Markhain, gives easy access a long way 

 into the interior. 



The whole of New Guinea lies within the track 

 of the south-east trade-winds, which prevail from 

 March to October, and which are charged with 

 much moisture from the Pacific. These are fol- 

 lowed for the rest of the year by the north-west 

 monsoons, whose rain-l>earing clouds are condensed 

 on the cold alpine slopes of the island. The con- 

 sequence is that the ram or snow fall is considerable 

 in every part of the country, and this, combined with 

 an average high temperature of from 85 to 90 F., 

 poults in a hot, moist climate on all the low-lying 

 coast-lands and fluvial valleys. So excessive is the 

 moisture in some places that ' boots put aside for a 

 day or two grow a crop of mildew nearly half an 

 inch in thickness' (Guillemard). Hence fever is 

 endemic, not only in the lowlands, but to a con- 

 siderable height aliove sea-level, the malarious 

 exhalations being carried upwards by the atmo- 

 spheric currents, as on the Central African plateaus. 

 At the same time its action is most capricious, and 

 its true character still but little understood. ' It 

 may lie very troublesome where weather, soil, and 

 other conditions should be favourable to health, 

 and perhaiis almost alwent under the opposite con- 

 ditions ' (Coutts Trotter). Exactly similar pheno- 

 mena have been observed in tropical Africa, and 

 it may be inferred that New Guinea, as a whole, 

 is as unsuitable as that continent for European 



settlement. But some of the uplands beyond the 

 fever zone may be found adapted, if not for per- 

 manent colonisation, at least for the establishment 

 of health-resorts for officials, traders, and mission- 

 aries. 



Thanks to its abundant rainfall, varying altitudes, 

 high temperature, and position intermediate be- 

 tween the Asiatic and Australian botanical areas, 

 New Guinea is almost everywhere clothed with a 

 rich and highly diversified flora. The vegetable ' 

 zones appear to be even superimposed as in Mexico, 

 and Sir \V. Macgregor's party, after passing suc- 

 cessively through the domains of tropical plants, 

 such as the cocoa-nut, sago, banana, mango, taro, 

 and sugar-cane, and of such temperate or sub- 

 tropical growths as the cedar, oak, fig, acacia, 

 pine, and tree-fern, were gladdened on the higher 

 slopes by the sight of the wild strawberry, forget- 

 me-not, daisy, buttercup, and other familiar British 

 plants. Towards the summit - these were succeeded 

 by a true Alpine flora, in wliich Himalayan, 

 Bornean (Kinibalu), New Zealand, and sub- 

 antarctic forms were all numerously represented. 

 In general, arboreal vegetation ceases at about 

 1 1,000 feet, and shrubs at 12,(XX), the latter being 

 overlapped by the Alpine zone. In New Guinea 

 the Asiatic and Malayan floras are far more richly 

 represented than the Australian, as shown by the 

 absence or rarity of the eucalyptus, of which as 

 many as fifty varieties are found in the southern 

 continent. Indigenous forms are numerous, and 

 include many species of palm. 



On the other hand, the New Guinea fauna is 

 much more closely related to that of the Austral 

 than to that of the northern hemisphere. This is 

 seen in the almost total absence of placental mam- 

 mals and the presence of over thirty species of mar- 

 supials, such as the discus, and kangaroo, as well 

 as the bower-bird, of which two new species were 

 discovered on the Owen Stanley range. Here 

 also were found the European lark and black- 

 bird in curious association with the bird of Paradise, 

 of which typical New Guinea bird many varieties 

 occur. Scarcely any birds of prey are found, a 

 circumstance wliich may explain the presence of so 

 many forms parrots, cockatoos, pigeons, &c. 

 remarkable for their gorgeous plumage. Reptiles 

 are numerous, and include a remarkable python 

 (Chondropython pitlchcr), intermediate between the 

 Asiatic python and American boa. A still more 

 remarkable intermediate form, supplying a link 

 between reptiles and mammals, is the spiny ant- 

 eater, which is allied to the Australian echidna, 

 and like it oviparous. There are three species of 

 this ant-eater, while the placental mammals are 

 represented only by some uats and mice, besides 

 the pig and dingo, both probably introduced in 

 comparatively recent times. 



Man also would seem to have invaded the island 

 after its separation from Australia, for the inhabit- 

 ants of the two regions belong to fundamentally 

 distinct stocks. Between the Australians and 

 Papuans, who form the great bulk of the New 

 Guinea population, there is little in common except 

 the dark colour, considerably darker, however, in 

 the latter than in the former. But the New Guinea 

 natives are far from a homogeneous people, and the 

 descriptions of travellers in different parts of the 

 island differ so greatly that many anthropologists 

 have doubted or even denied the existence of any 

 Papuan type. These discrepancies are due to the 

 presence and intermingling of at least four ethnical 

 elements : Pajnian proper, diffused over the whole 

 region; Negrito (Karons and others in the north- 

 west peninsula and probably also in the central 

 highlands) ; Eastern Polynesian, such as the Motu 

 of the south-east coast ; lastly, Malay, along the 

 north-western seaboard and around the shores of 



