GERMAN NEW GUINEA. 317 



The first houses of the settlement were erected towards the end of the year 1885 

 on a round island, which has been connected by an embankment with the main- 

 land. Cisterns have also been constructed to husband the rain-water, there beina: 

 a total absence of springs in the coralline limestones of the island and surrounding 

 shores. 



At the first arrival of the Germans the district was comparatively well-peopled, 

 but most of the natives have since emigrated in order to avoid being obliged to 

 w^ork on the plantations of the whites. A Protestant mission has been established 

 in the vicinity, and communication with the civiKsed world is maintained by a 

 steamer plying between this station and the Australian settlement of Cooktown on 

 the east coast of Queensland. 



In the ApjDcndix will be found a table of the islands which may be regarded as 

 geographical dependencies of New Guinea. The German islands off the north coast 

 form part of the Melanesian Archipelagoes, while those of Torres Strait on the 

 opposite side of the great island are attributed to Australia. 



