INSULAR AUSTRALASIA. 



1221 



of the most beautiful and remarkable of their respective families. Nearly four hundred 

 species of land birds have already been described. The laughing-jackass and the magpie are 

 as numerous as in Australia. Instead of the emu, New Guinea has the cassowary-. 

 Cockatoos, parrots and parrakeets are very numerous. Pigeons are well represented, 

 headed by the king of pigeons, the magnificent gonra, or crowned pigeon, of which 

 several species are known. 

 Brush -turkeys and the 

 jungle- fowl make their 

 mounds in every forest, 

 and the interesting bower 

 of the fawn-coloured bow- 

 er-bird is frequently seen. 

 But the characteristic bird 

 of New Guinea is the 

 bird of paradise. Every 

 species of this lovely bird 

 has a beauty peculiarly 

 its own. From the little 

 king bird to the magnifi- 



cent epimachus all are 



exquisitely coloured, and 

 their skins and plumes 

 are highly prized by Eu- 

 ropeans, and even by the 

 natives themselves. 



New Guinea has a 

 large population, although 

 for its area, very small 

 when compared with 

 more civilized nations. 

 The people are split up 

 into an immense number 

 of tribes, each of which 

 is isolated and separate 

 from its neighbour. 

 Great diversity of opinion 

 prevails among ethnologists respecting the Papuan race. Scarcely any two descriptions of 

 the supposed typical Papuan agree in their details. People familiar with these races by 

 association, however, have difficulty in accepting any of the current theories as correct. 

 1 he natives in the west and north-west part of the Island have doubtless a considerable 

 Malayan admixture. The Malay praus visit the north-west coast regularly, going with 

 one monsoon and returning with the other. The visitors live with Papuan wives during 

 their stay. The captains of these vessels are sometimes Chinamen, which accounts for 

 the fact of a very distinctive Chinese element being frequently met with. The mountain 



A NEW GUINEA GIRL CARRYING WATER. 



