378 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TEAVEL 



which afford shelter, and to some extent supply the want 

 of harbours. Beginning at the Molnccan side, we have 

 Waigiu, Batanta, Salwatti, and Misol, all grouped round 

 the western promontory, and, in the case of the two last- 

 named, connected with the mainland by innimierable 

 islands, islets, and reefs. Wessel's or Adi Island protects 

 the entrance of Arguna Bay, and farther south is the 

 Aru group, which, though at some distance from New 

 Guinea, is connected with it by very shallow soundings. 

 Frederick Henry Island almost forms a portion of the 

 mainland, being cut off from it only by the narrowest of 

 channels. We pass through the reef-beset Torres Strait 

 and reach the south-eastern promontory without meeting 

 with anything more important than scattered rocks, but 

 at this point are closely packed together countless islands, 

 which a very slight elevation would join to the mainland. 

 The Louisiade Archipelago forms with Eossel and Sudest 

 Island the terminal point, and to the north lie Woodlark 

 Island, the Trobriand group, and the more important 

 D'Entrecasteaux islands. Coasting the northern sea- 

 board and passing New Britain and New Ireland, we 

 find a long chain of islands fringing the shore, and at no 

 great distance from it, all of small size, and almost all 

 volcanic, the craters of some being still active. The 

 final group are those situated in Geelvink Bay, the 

 Schouten Islands, Nufur, and Jobi Island, of which the 

 latter, with a length of over 100 miles, is the most 

 considerable. 



2. Physical Features. 



New Guinea appears to be divided into a northern 

 and a southern mountainous portion, with a vast extent 

 of low country in its central part, though whether these 

 lowlands extend quite across to the Pacific Ocean is still 



