678 



PAPUA. 



signs practice which, after all, did not prove 

 valueless. At the end of the year Page entered 

 the studio of Samuel F. B. Morse, of telegraph 

 fame, then the President of the new National 

 Academy of Design. Page, then seventeen 

 years old, received the first premium given by 

 that institution, for the excellence of his draw- 

 ings from antique models. At this time he 

 became so deeply interested in religion that he 

 entered the theological seminary at Andover, 

 Mass., to prepare for the ministry, using his 

 profession merely to assist in his support for 

 he could readily obtain $25 for a miniature. 

 By the close of his second year of study he had 

 fallen into such a condition of doubt as to doc- 

 trine, that he gave up the idea of entering the 

 ministry, and opened a studio in Albany, N. Y. 

 His work was successful ; but he resolved to 

 go abroad for study. But on reaching New 

 York, he met a young lady with whom he 

 fell so violently in love that he married her, 

 and opened a studio on Broadway. In 1836 he 

 was elected a member of the National Acad- 

 emy, was chosen to paint a full-length portrait 

 of Gov. Marcy for the city, and was called to 

 Boston to paint a portrait of John Quincy 

 Adams. He also painted a " Holy Family," 

 and " The Infancy of Henry IV of France." 

 He removed to Staten Island, and later to Bos- 

 ton. Here he formed many delightful friend- 

 ships, especially one with James Russell Lowell, 

 whose portrait he painted. In 1847 Page re- 

 turned to New York, and two years later he 

 went to Europe, where he resided for eleven 

 years, principally in Florence and Rome. There 

 he became intimate with the Brownings, and 

 there also he found, in the writings of Sweden- 

 borg, teaching that solved his. religious doubts. 

 On returning to America, he settled at Eagles- 

 wood, N. J., and afterward on Staten Island, 

 although his work was done in the Studio 

 Building in West Tenth Street. He was then 

 living with his third wife, the first and second 

 marriages having been dissolved by divorce, in 

 both instances granted to the artist by the 

 courts of his native State. In 1874 he visit- 

 ed Germany to study the Kesselstadt death- 

 mask supposed to have been taken from Shake- 

 speare's face after death. From photographs 

 of this he made a plaster bust and painted 

 several portraits of the poet. Among his 

 best-known works are his bust and full-length 

 portraits of Shakespeare, portraits of Robert 

 Browning and Charlotte Cushman, his copy of 

 Titian's " Venus," his own "Venus," u Moses," 

 "Ruth," a head of Christ, the "Antique Tim- 

 brel-Player," "Farragut's Triumphant Entry 

 into Mobile Bay," " Moses, Aaron, and Hur, 

 on Mount Horeb," " Belladonna," and " Flora." 

 In May, 1871, he was elected President of the 

 National Academy of Design. 



PANAMA CANAL. See page 177. 



PAPUA, or New Guinea, a large island in the 

 Pacific, north of Australia, the chief of the isl- 

 ands of Melanesia, inhabited by the black Pa- 

 puan race. The drainage of the island is all 



southward in the central and eastern portion. 

 A range of mountains from 2,000 to 10,000 

 feet high runs along the northern coast. The 

 Charles Louis range, running through the cen- 

 ter of the island, attains the altitude of 13,000 

 feet. The southern coast is low and flat. The 

 interior, as far as it has yetbeeq explored from 

 the south, bears the same character. The coun- 

 try is covered with dense forests, beginning 200 

 miles from the coast. They are under water a 

 great part of the year. During the rainy sea- 

 son vast plains are converted into lakes. D'Al- 

 bertis ascended the principal stream, Fly river, 

 to the head of navigation, 600 miles from the 

 coast ; the central range of mountains was 50 

 miles beyond. Except on the low and swampy 

 southern coast, the climate of Papua is salubri- 

 ous. Coral reefs fringe the southern shore, in- 

 closing a broad sheltered roadstead extending 

 along the whole coast to the Luisiad Islands. 



B&che-de-mer and mother-of-pearl are gath- 

 ered among the reefs. The flora and fauna of 

 New Guinea are so remarkable that they have 

 attracted naturalists to expose their lives among 

 the intractable cannibals that inhabit the island. 

 It is the home of the birds-of-paradise and a 

 favored habitat of the Orchidacea, and swarms 

 with strange insects of marvelous forms and 

 hues. The sago-palm grows in abundance and 

 furnishes the principal article of export. Co- 

 coanut-palms and fan-palms also abound, and 

 the eucalyptus, the India-rubber tree, and other 

 similar trees attain a wonderful size and lux- 

 uriance. Rice, cotton, jute, coffee, sugar, and 

 tobacco are cultivated by the natives ; also the 

 betel-plant. Sassafras-bark is exported to In- 

 dia and China. The nutmeg-tree grows on the 

 north coast. Ebony, sandal-wood, and fifteen 

 other fine cabinet-woods are found, as well as 

 trees well adapted for masts. The natives cul- 

 tivate vegetable-gardens with care, in which 

 they grow chiefly taro, melons, yams, and ba- 

 nanas. The bread-fruit is eaten as a relish. 

 The Papuans pay great attention also to the 

 rearing of swine, of the short-legged black 

 Chinese breed, and export smoked pork. 



Papua was discovered by the Portuguese in 

 1526. It received the name of New Guinea 

 from Spanish navigators, on account of the 

 dark hue of the inhabitants, who resembled 

 the negroes on the Guinea coast. The area of 

 the island is about 260,000 square miles, 

 woolly-haired Papuans, though often with an 

 admixture of Malay or Polynesian blood, dwell 

 in all parts of the island. In the eastern pen 

 insula numerous tribes of the Polynesian type 

 alternate with the black Papuans. Since 185 

 the Dutch have maintained a missionary sta- 

 tion at Dor'eh, on Geelvink Bay, and since 

 1868 one on the island of Andai on the south 

 coast. English missionaries in Port Moresh 

 and Towton have been more successful among 

 the docile Polynesian populations than tl 

 Dutch among the Papuans. 



Dutch New Guinea. The Netherlands Govern- 

 ment formally annexed the western part 



