NEW GUINKA AND TllK I'APUANS 421 



SO little elevated that the foreshore left exposed at low 

 tide is as much as 10 miles in width. From here to the 

 Fly Eiver the country is very sparsely inhabited, owing 

 chiefly to the ravages of the Tugere tribe, a cannibal 

 people of nomad, raiding habits, who have their head- 

 quarters in the neighbourhood of Prince Frederick 

 Henry Island. The Fly has an enormous embouchure in 

 about 8° 30' S. lat., with Kiwai Island in its centre. 

 This island is about 36 miles long, and has a population 

 of quite 5000, the people being well disposed, living by 

 fishing and agriculture. In this district the large houses 

 characteristic of New Guinea are especially noticeable, 

 many being 500 feet or more in length, and accommo- 

 dating some hundreds of people. 



The Fly Eiver was first ascended in 1876 by Signer 

 d'Albertis, who explored it for a distance of over 500 

 miles, and it has since been visited and charted by 

 several English travellers. Sir William Macgregor 

 reached in 1891 a point 605 miles distant from the 

 mouth, beyond which it was impossible for his boats to 

 proceed. It was found that the tidal influence extended 

 to a distance of 150 miles from the sea. Here the river 

 was 600 yards in width and 40 feet in depth, and was 

 estimated to send down 180,000,000,000 gallons of 

 water in the 24 hours, or enough to supply 120 gallons 

 per diem to the entire population of the globe. In 

 lat. 7° 30' S., that is to say, at about the middle point of 

 its course, the Fly receives its largest affluent, the Strick- 

 land, which was explored nearly to its source in 1885 

 by Captain Everill. The next tributary met in ascend- 

 ing is the Alice, 460 miles from the mouth. Between 

 the junction of these two rivers the course of the Fly 

 forms for some distance the British boundary. Its sources 

 were found, as far as could be judged, to be in the 



