504 



rranges, rising in succession one above tlie other, here and there 

 broken by deep gorges, and with the dim, bluish profile of the 

 main range in the background, present a fine scene. Towards 

 Mogubo Point the hills approach the shore again, and beyond 

 the small Amazon Bay a range of little hills rises straight from 

 the sea, forming a series of extremely picturesque bays, sur- 

 rounded by heavily timbered, and luxuriously green, slopes, 

 with here and there a fringe of coconut palms running along 

 the shore in the neighbourhood of the villages. 



After that the hills recede again to a certain extent and 

 the vast expanse of Orangerie Bay opens, running in a slightly 

 curved line as far as the entrance to Mullins Harbour. Only 

 the western shores of Orangerie Bay are inhabited by the 

 Mailu. Almost exactly through its centre, at a village called 

 Gadaisiu, runs the boundary line between the Mailu and the 

 Southern Massim. 



The Mailu country is situated beyond the so-called dry- 

 belt. It has a fairly heavy rainfall, especially during the 

 north-western season, but there are good rains even at other 

 times. It is clothed with tropical vegetation, and the hills 

 are always green. The contrast with the parched brown 

 slopes near Port Moresby, when one goes eastwards in the dry 

 season, is very striking. The small island of Mailu and the 

 two flat coral islands of Laru6i-o and LoujJom are exceptions to 

 this luxuriance, as they do not get the same rainfall, in conse- 

 quence of their distance from the hills. The steep slopes of 

 the Mailu hills are covered with Lalang grass, and, in the dry 

 season, are parched and yellow. There are no big rivers in the 

 district which are navigable for any appreciable distance even 

 for small craft. The alluvial flats of Amazon Bay, Table Bay, 

 Cloudy Bay, and those near Cape Rodney are drained by a 

 series of streams, some of which may be navigated by light- 

 draught vessels, though for a few miles only. There are also 

 swamps throughout the district, on which sago grows freely. 



The high tropical jungle yields a rich supply of all the 

 kinds of timber used by the natives, as well as of many sorts 

 of fibre, bast, cane, and of other raw materials for native 

 industries. The fertile and well-watered soil encourages the 

 growth of all the native garden plants, such as taro, bananas, 

 sugar cane, yams, and taitu, as well as the introduced sweet 

 potato, pawpaw, and sago. It must be noted that the dry 

 tracts of the New Guinea coast are deprived of some of these 

 vegetables (especially taro), as well as sago. 



The Mailu district has, of course, the same supply of 

 animals as the other parts of the continent' — viz., wild pigs, 

 small kangaroos (wallaby), cuscus, bandicoots, etc., as well as 



