Dec. 4, 1873] 



NATURE 



79 



I 



far to the east as the river Amberno, in fact to the north- 

 east corner of Geelvinks Bay, and then shipped to the 

 south-west, along the coast, landing and hunting from time 

 to time, and trying to find a favourable place for a longer 

 stay, and a spot from which it would be possible for 

 me to penetrate into the interior, or to cross the island. 



I did not succeed till I reached the south point of the bav. 

 Here I found a little tribe of Papooas, who treated me 

 from the beginning to the end in the most friendly way. On 

 this account, and because I enjoyed a very favourable 

 hunting-ground (immediately after going ashore I got 

 four different species of birds of Paradise), I remained here 

 for some weeks. Shortly after having anchored, even the 

 young girls came on board the ship together with the 

 men, and remained there for hours, whereas, in other 

 parts, the women generally are very shy and keep aloof. 



Seeing that I could trust the natives here, I tried to 

 carry out my project of crossing the country to the 

 coast opposite the Aru Islands. But even if I had not 

 come so far for reasons which it would be out of 

 place to give in this brief account of my journey, I got 

 some interesting additions to our geographical know- 

 ledge, * and was very much satisfied with my zoological 

 collections. 



But I would not give up my plan of crossing New 

 Guinea, and therefore proceeded near the coast to the 

 north-west, looking out everywhere for a convenient 

 starting-point, and gathering every possible information 

 from the natives. But the island was still too broad here ; 

 the Papooas knew nothing of the opposite coast, as they 

 do not migrate so far. 



The natives of these western coasts of Geelvinks 

 Bay are all afraid of the Wandamman tribes, whereas 

 those of the eastern coasts aie afraid of the Waropin 

 tribes ; but generally the vast country here is very poorly 

 populated, there being few settlements, and these few 

 small ones. 



The point where I crossed the island at last into 

 MacCluer Gulf of the south-west coast was situated 

 134° 18' E., 20° 38' S. I went first to the north-west, and 

 then, after having passed several mountain chains (2,000 

 ft.), to the west, down a fine river called the Jakati, through 

 the country of Onim. It was, perhaps, lucky for me that 

 I could only get a very small native prau here, else I 

 would have proceeded farther west by sea, (the swamps 

 render it impossible to go by land), and possibly en- 

 countered dangers from the natives of the MacCluer 

 Gulf, who have not the best reputation, and who certainly 

 would have felt inclined to revenge their countrymen, killed 

 by the Italian Cerruti and his company, some years ago. 

 I need not say that this journey from one side of New 

 Guinea to the other has never been made before ; and I 

 should hardly myselffattribute any importance to the fact, 

 were it not for the reason that till then we did not know 

 exactly whether there existed a communication by water 

 from Geelvinks Bay to MacCluer Gulf or not. We may be 

 convinced now that it does not exist. 



From Geelvinks Bay I tried to ascend the Arfak 

 Mountains from the south, but did not succeed, because 

 I ran short of provisions. The country seemed unin- 

 habited, or, without Papooan guides as I was, and with 



• Tlie geographical part of my expedition will be published very soon, 

 accompanied by a chart, in Petermann's Mitthtiluitgen. 



only some of my Malay companions, I missed the few 

 native houses and small plantations in the neighbour- 

 hood, scattered here and there, so that it was not advisable 

 to go too far into the country. Besides, I did not find in 

 the forests on the southern slopes of the Arfak Mountains 

 those gems of the bird-world which I hoped to find, and 

 therefore left these regions and penetrated from the 

 north with better success. It will be interesting for 

 English ornithologists to learn that I succeeded in 

 finding here (3,000 — 6,000 It.) all the known Birds of 

 Paradise of New Guinea (except the species from the 

 islands), besides a new one, and a quantity of other 

 most curious and rare specimens, the ornis of the moun- 

 tains being quite different from that of the seashore. 

 But here also, as on the whole of New Guinea, I was 

 astonished to see that the fauna generally is not rich. 

 The forms found in the country certainly are curious and 

 characteristic, but, in comparison with the enormous 

 mass of forest, they are everywhere very scarce, and it is 

 an exception to find a hunting-ground where much is to 

 be got in a short space of time. It is the same in New 

 Guinea as I found it in Celebes, where more of the life of 

 nature is to be seen and heard near the seashore and the 

 settlements than in silent virgin forests. 



I hope that now, since the interior of New Guinea is 

 opened, at least as the way is known how to penetrate 

 into one part of it, other naturaUsts will soon succeed in 

 reaping m.ore important results than it was my lot to 

 obtain. 



Adolf Bernhard Meyer 



MICROSCOPIC PETROGRAPHY 

 Mikroskopische Physio^raphie der pctrograpliisch wick- 

 tigen Mineralien ein Hiil/sbiich, bei mikroskopischeii 

 Gesteinstudien. H. Rosenbusch. With 102 woodcuts 

 and ten coloured plates. (Stuttgart.) 



SINCE we last called attention to this subject in the 

 columns of Nature it has been making steady pro- 

 gress, chiefly among our German, that is, of course, Ger- 

 man-speaking, brethren of the hammer and lens. The 

 various serials which treat of Geology and Mineralogy 

 bear witness to this progress, and to the wonderful activity 

 of some of the workers, such as our good friends Zirkel 

 and Tschermak, to whom it is so largely duo. And now 

 here comes a goodly octavo of some four hundred pages 

 as a further contribution to our knowledge, and a fresh 

 proof of the strong hold which the microscopic study of 

 minerals and rocks has taken of the German geognostical 

 mind. This activity need not be matter for wonder when 

 one considers the chaos into which matters petrographical 

 had got even in Germany. Those who studied rocks in 

 that country had become a sort of bound thralls to che- 

 mists and chemical analysis. They dared not trust their 

 eyes to discriminate the differences of species and varie- 

 ties. The specimens must be handed over to the labora- 

 tory, and on the judgment thence obtained depended the 

 natnes by which the compounds should be known thence- 

 forward throughout Christendom. By this means, as the 

 composition of a rock often differs considerably in dif- 

 ferent, and even in closely-adjoining, parts — variations 

 resulting partly from original discrepancies, and partly 

 from internal changes due to the subsequent infiltration 



