330 



GEOGEAPHICAL PROGRESS AND DISCOVERY IN 1876. 



woven of human hair, and others of grass, 

 plain and colored. Messrs. d'Albertis, Har- 

 grave, and party, returned safely from their ex- 

 pedition, having ascended the river 350 miles 

 beyond the farthest point reached last year. 

 The natives were hostilely disposed, and gen- 

 erally refused to hold any communication 

 with the explorers. Another expedition from 

 Port Moresby to China Straits, made by Rev. 

 Mr. Lawes, revealed the existence of a regular 

 lake- village in a lagoon at Cape Rodney, which 

 leads up to a considerable river. At Hood's 

 Bay they ascended a broad river, where, nea^ 

 the coast, they came upon a large and cleanly- 

 kept village, regularly laid out in streets and 

 squares. The natives kept flower-gardens, 

 and were seen at work hewing out large, 

 shapely canoes with stone hatchets. At an- 

 other point a canoe, paddled by a crew of 

 twenty-one women, came alongside their ves- 

 sel. Rev. Mr. McFarlane has, in pursuit of 

 his missionary labors, made an interesting voy- 

 age to China Straits, and gained much valuable 

 information regarding the island and its in- 

 habitants. Signor Gessi made a second steam- 

 boat-voyage up the Fly River later in the sea- 

 son, and added many objects to his collections. 

 Octavius Stone, who has recently explored 

 portions of New Guinea, says that the length 

 of the island is 1,400 miles, while the width 

 varies from 450 to only 20 miles. The shore 

 from Baxter River to beyond the Papuan Gulf, 

 which is low and swampy for 100 miles inland, 

 is thinly populated by the Dinde Papuans, a 

 savage tribe, who live by the chase, and are 

 subject to constant attacks from the neighbor- 

 ing islanders. The only large animals found 

 here are the kangaroo and the wild-boar. The 

 natives are inclined to cannibalism, and use 

 poisoned arrows, saturated in the putrid car- 

 cass of an enemy. The eastern part of the 

 island is inhabited by a branch of the Malay 

 race, of totally different habits and nature from 

 tho Papuans. They are cultivators of the soil, 

 each one having his own plantation ; are 

 strongly opposed to polygamy and cannibal- 

 ism, and allow their women to share in public 

 affairs. Signor Odoardo Beccari has been 

 exploring the coast in the vicinity of Hum- 

 boldt Bay. He thinks he can trace the con- 

 tinuation of the volcanic belt of the Moluccas 

 through New Guinea. At the head of a beau- 

 tiful inlet, one day's sail from Humboldt Bay, 

 he visited a fine conical mountain, which he 

 called Mount Cyclops, the rocks of whose base 

 were, to all appearance, of volcanic origin. At 

 Batanta and upon Amsterdam Island volcanic 

 rocks have also been noticed, and the natives 

 report that there are active volcanoes inward 

 from Humboldt Bay. Dr. Beccari has spent 

 four years traveling in and about this island. 

 He defines the empire that the Sultan of Tidore 

 (Moluccas) possesses in New Zealand, which em- 

 braces the lands of the four kings of Waighen, 

 Salvatti, Waigamma, and Misol. These rulers 

 pay to the Sultan an annual tribute in slaves, 



birds-of-paradise, and other articles. The 

 Dutch Government is about to suppress the 

 slave-traffic, and divest the Sultan of his sov- 

 ereignty in the island. The Russian Miclucho 

 Maclay visited the coast of Astrolabe Bay in 

 Northeast New Guinea, which bears his name, 

 for the purpose of protecting the natives from 

 the encroachments of Europeans, as well as 

 prosecuting his scientific investigations. The 

 Dutch naval ship Surabaya has made two 

 voyages, one along the northwestern coast 

 and one along the southern coast, for the pur- 

 pose of defining the limits of the Dutch claim 

 on the island, which extends to the meridian 

 141 east longitude. A French expedition, con- 

 ducted by MM. Raffray and Maindrow, visited 

 the western shores this season. Mr. Lawes 

 describes two separate races, speaking distinct 

 languages, dwelling in the country about Port 

 Moresby. These are the Koitapu and Motu 

 tribes ; while farther inland another language, 

 allied, however, to the Koitapu tongue, is 

 spoken by the Koiali tribe. At Hood's Point 

 still another distinct language is spoken. Sev- 

 eral other different languages are spoken by 

 the mountain-tribes all along. A cluster of 

 villages, called Manukolo, is said to be in- 

 habited by a race differing totally from all the 

 rest. Three other languages are spoken by 

 tribes in Redscar Bay. the Naali, Kapati, and 

 Maivi ; and beyond them, before coming to 

 Aird River, at least three more languages are 

 used ; and then in the interior are the Yalao, 

 Ikolu, Palavai, Ereta, and Papaka tribes, each 

 speaking its own peculiar tongue. All these 

 races are the light-colored, flowing-haired 

 type. No knowledge of any metal, and no 

 arts, except the rudest and most elementary, 

 exist here. Only the Motu tribe make pot- 

 tery. The women carry all burdens in netted 

 bags, suspended from the top of the head. 

 Houses are built, both on the coast and in the 

 interior, at an elevation of six to ten feet, and 

 sometimes in the clefts of high trees. The 

 people smoke tobacco generally. Excursions 

 into the interior took the explorers through 

 an open forest of gum-trees, pandanus, and 

 palms, for fifteen or twenty miles, and beyond 

 that thick scrub as far as the mountains. Many 

 beautiful birds were seen in the forests. 



Ernest Giles made another trip across the 

 Australian Continent this season, starting April 

 10th, from a point 27 7' south latitude, 116 

 45' east longitude, and taking a northeast by 

 east course, by way of Mount Gould, to lati- 

 tude 24 north ; then traveling the Ashburton 

 to its source, and determining the old water- 

 shed, which he describes as a rangy country, 

 striking the desert in longitude 120 20'. He 

 then crossed an open spinifex desert to the 

 coast, suffering much from drought, and hin- 

 dered by his camels being continually sick from 

 a poison plant, until he discovered the plant, 

 which is not allied to any of the poisonous 

 plants of Western Australia. 

 AFEIOA. Of the German West African Ex- 



