256 



NATURE 



{July II, 1889 



.Sun rises, 4b. 2m. ; souths, I2h. 5m. 36'os. ; daily increase 

 of southing, 6'4s. ; sets, 20h. lom. : right asc. on meridian, 

 7h. 35 'Sm. ; decl. 21° 38' N. Sidereal Time at Sunset, 

 I5h. 42m. 



Moon (at Last Quarter on July 19, 2oh.) rises, 2ih. 4m.* ; 

 souths, ih. 17m. ; sets, 5h. 36m.: right asc, on meridian, 

 2oh. 45 ■2m, ; decl, 20° 28' S. 



Variable Stars. 

 Star. R.A. Decl. 



h. m. o / h. ID. 



U Cephei o 52*5 ... 81 17 N. ,,. July 14, z\ $ tn 



,, 19, 20 44 m 



Y Virginis 12 28-2 ... 3 49 S. ... ,, 18, M 



U Ophiuchi 17 10*9... i 20 N , 18, i 37 /« 



„ 18, 21 4S m 



X Sagittarii 17 40*6 .. 27 47 S. ... ,, 14, 23 oM 



,, 19, 2 o ni 



Y Sagittarii 18 14-9 ... 18 55 S, .,. ,, 16, 22 o m 



U Aquilae 19 23*4 ... 7 16 S. ... ,, 17, 20 10 m 



S VulpecuJse ... 19 43*8 ... 27 i N. ... ,, 15, m 



M signifies maximum ; rn minimum. 



Meteor - Showers. 



R.A. Decl. 



Near Algol 

 ,, 7 Draconis 



270 



42 N. 

 SON, 



Verv swift ; streaks. 

 Swift. 



GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES. 



The paper read at the meeting of the Royal Geographical 

 Society on Monday night, by Mr. Basil H. Thomson, was one 

 of unusual scientific interest. It described a visit made by Mr. 

 Thomson last autumn, along with the New Guinea Commis- 

 sioner, to the Louisiade and D'Entrecasteau.x: Islands, both 

 within the British sphere, Mr. Thomson's observations on the 

 natives, on the geology and natural history of these islands, are 

 of special value. The first island described is that of Sudest, 

 the largest of the Louisiades. It is forty-five miles long and 

 four to ten wide. It is of a slaty formation, with veins of crys- 

 talline quartz running through it in all directions. The eastern 

 portion is mountainous, the highest point, Mount Rattlesnake, be- 

 ing about 3000 feet high. The highest parts are densely timbered, 

 but the low hills near the sea are covered with grass, whose 

 bright green offers a welcome contrast to the sombre tropical 

 forest. Rossel Island is surrounded by a distant barrier reef of 

 irregular form. The natives are dangerous head-hunters, who, 

 however, kept out of the way of the visitors. With some 

 difficulty the densely-timbered island was crossed, and proved a 

 rich field for the botanist. Even at an elevation of 3000 feet a 

 network of native paths was found. At the v illage, the inhabitants 

 of which had fled, the party stayed the night. The village was 

 scrupulously clean and the paths well kept. The houses were 

 shaped like an inverted boat, built on a platform some 5 feet from 

 the ground ; the interior was reached through two trap-doors in 

 the floor. The natives of Rossel suggest a hybrid between the 

 Papuans and the natives of the Solomon Islands. The stone axe 

 has fallen into disuse, its place being taken by blades of iron 

 procured from wrecks. The language bears no resemblance to 

 any known New Guinea dialect nor to the languages of 

 Eastern Polynesia. St. Aignan Island, called by the natives 

 Misima, is more than 100 square miles in area, being about 

 twenty-eight miles long, and varying in breadth from about 

 eight or nine miles on the east end. The west end consists of 

 a great mountain range named I.akia, about 3500 feet above 

 the sea, composed of schi-tose slate. The eastern part of the 

 island consists of very rugged hills, through which the streams 

 have cut very deep and narrow gorges. They are composed of 

 coral upheaved by volcanic action, and mixed with conglomerate 

 formed from shingle, and with broken layers of schistose slate. 

 Round the eastern coast there is a fringe of coral, upheaved 

 more recently, rising to a height of more than loo feet, through 

 which the mountain torrents have cut their way right down to 

 sea-level. The natives are of two types, the one evidently 

 Papuan, and the other betraying strong Malay characteristics, 

 such as the straight hair and not prominent features. The 

 limestone hills which compose the centre of the island were 

 honeycombed with caves and densely timbered. From one 

 great wall of limestone sprang a stream which, after 200 

 yards of daylight, plunged into a great cave in the opposite 

 cliff. The mouth was a perfect arch, 150 feet from floor to 

 roof. At the far end the river thundered down into a black 



tunnel, through which it passed under the range, emerging 

 into daylight after some three miles of darkness, Normanby 

 Island, the most easterly of the D'Entrecasteaux Group, is 

 a narrow L-shaped mountain range, with deeply furrowed 

 sides and wide valleys excavated by water-wear. It is probably 

 nowhere of greater breadth than ten or twelve miles, and 

 the area about 350 square miles. The highest parts of the 

 island are perhaps 3500 feet above the sea-level. The south- 

 eastern portion is composed of schistose slate varying much in 

 hardness, interlaid with veins of white crystalline quartz, which 

 is free from any compound of iron or other metal. Traces of 

 gold were found in the creeks. Toward the north end of the 

 island the formation is igneous, consisting mainly of limestone, 

 but in some of the river-beds are large beds of basalt and 

 boulders of siliceous stone. The mountains of Dawson .Straits, 

 however, differ much in formation from the rest of the island. 

 The rock appeared to be a sort of porphyry, and furnished 

 indications of tin. The natives have strong Papuan character- 

 istics. They wear the usual dress. Mr. Thomson penetrated 

 some miles inland, passing through no less than thirty-one 

 villages, and seeing many others perched on every available 

 spur or ridge, and surrounded by its plantations. These 

 villages were remarkable for their cleanliness. The cultiva- 

 tion is wonderful, and bears witness of their activity and 

 industry. Normanby Island is the eastern limit of the wallaby, 

 of which were found two varieties. It is also the eastern 

 limit of a bird peculiar to the D'Entrecasteaux Group — the 

 largest of the five species of Manucodia, which are still classed 

 with the birds of Paradise, It feeds on insects, and though the 

 strait which divides Normanby Island from the mainland is only 

 ten miles wide, this bird, which is the commonest of all large birds 

 in the D'Entrecasteaux Group, has never crossed to New Guinea. 

 War and the difference of dialect have so completely isolated 

 the various tribes as to make them different peoples as regards 

 everything but their physical characteristics. At a spot not ten 

 miles from a tribe that would barter all they possessed for 

 tobacco and pipes, were people so ignorant of their use that 

 they put the tobacco into a bottle given them, poured water 

 upon it, and drank off the compound. Ferguson Island, the 

 largest of the D'Entrecasteaux Group, is thirty miles long by 

 seventeen broad, with an area of about 500 square miles. There 

 are three great mountain masses on the island : Mount Kilker- 

 ran, on the north-east corner, 6000 feet high ; the Maybole 

 Range, on the north-west, which is probably 5000 feet above sea- 

 level ; and a lower range in the south-west corner, which is 

 apparently unnamed, and which Mr. Thomson was unable to 

 examine. The formation of the Kilkerran and Maybole Ranges 

 is the same, consisting principally of micaceous schist with veins 

 of white quartz intersecting it. In the beds of the rivers were 

 boulders of quartz, and of a slaty rock very rich in silica, and 

 there were boulders of what seemed to be a kind of porphyry. 

 The south-eastern part of Ferguson and the small outlying 

 islands, Goulvain and Welle Islands, are of igneous formation, 

 and Mr. Thomson noticed two extinct volcanoes and some hot 

 springs. This part is densely populated, owing probably to the 

 fertility of the extensive flats of volcanic deposit. The people 

 were in most respects similar to those in Normanby Island. The 

 inland or bush natives have evidently no communication with 

 those on the coast, except as enemies : they knew nothing of 

 firearms. They are true Papuans. At Mount Kilkerran, near 

 Hughes Bay, it was noticed that the sides of the mountain, 

 consisting of great precipices and steep inclines, were dotted 

 with villages up to a height of 10,000 feet, half concealed in 

 clumps of cocoa-nut palms. Six specimens of a variety of 

 Paradisea raggeana were obtained in this island. Near Seymour « 

 Bay there was a large extent of flat land and sago swamp, in 

 which were found some saline lakes, and some hills giving off 

 sulphur fumes strong enough to discolour the white paint on the 

 vessel, which was lying nearly two miles distant. Some of the 

 hills appeared to be composed of alum and sublimed sulphur. 

 There were also springs of boiling water and boiling mud, and 

 in one instance boiling mud was spouted up from a chimney-like 

 cavity in the hill-side. Goodenough Island, the most westerly 

 of the group, was visited. A great range of mountains running 

 north and south, and culminating in two peaks not less than 

 7000 feet high, forms the centre of the island. On the east side 

 is a plain some seven or eight miles wide, nearly clear of forest. 

 The formation is slaty schist containing much mica and quartz. 

 On the east side are projections of igneous formation, and on the 

 point nearest to the sulphur springs in Seymour Bay is a small 

 crater, probably not long extinct. 



