THE EASTERN ARCH I PEL AGO, 



H9 



NEW GUINEA. 



General Surrey, — This grant isian J, exceeded in size by Aur* 

 tralia alone in the eastern hemisphere, lie* entirely south of the 

 I u iitor ; but while almost touching the line at its western T it fOftchuM 

 at its eastern extremity nearly to IX* South latitude, The main 

 axii thus lied in the direction from north-west to Btuith-east, stretch- 

 ing across SO degrees of the meridian — 151 r E< long:*) with ft 

 t»t*il length of some 1600 miles, ami ttrea roughly estimated at 

 325,000 square miles. Owing to its curio usly irregular form, rescm- 

 bling in outline soma extinct eanrian, with head taring Jitaio and 

 tail touching the Louie littles, the breadth varies enormously from 

 about 20 miles at the, neck to 4-BO at the widest pari of the body, 

 This greatest width coincides exactly with the Ml* E, long, which 

 divides the island into two nearly equal jiarts, and which Ibrins the 

 conventional line separating the Dutch, or western, from the newly- 

 formed British rind German sections Here the central mass bulges 

 cut southwards in the direction of York Peninsula, northernmost 

 point of Australia, from which it is separated by the shallow waters 

 of the island -studded Torres Strait,,, only 80 miles wide and nowhere 

 over SO fit thorns deep. From this central mn^a the head nnd tail 

 project north ^westwards and Hmth-easl wards aa two peninsulas,, the 

 former formed by the deep inlet of G.-elvinlt Bayou the north const, 

 this latter by the braider bight of Papua GuLf on the south coast. 

 The western peninsula is again disposed in two Mcondary peninsulas 

 liy McCluer Inlet running its the opposite direction from Geelviuk 

 Buy, while the eastern tapers gradually towards the Lauisiades. But 

 here also MeCltter Inlet finds its counterpart in Huon tin If indenting 

 the coast opposite Papua Gulf. Recent eKptaraEion has also shown 

 that the central parts of the seaboard ore far less uniform than had 

 been supposed, being divemticl by numerous little bays and head- 

 lauds, as well rs by the months of many streams, whose existence 

 had not hitherto been suspected. 



Islands. — Grouped round the western extremity of Xew Guinea 

 are several insular dependencies of the mainland, which they closely 

 resemble in their physical constitution, natural history, and inhabit* 

 ants. The most considerable: are Jr>W, Bittk, S&k, and Mo for 

 (pr-iOi-rly N»f '<a in Gi.-elvink Buy ; Woijlu. Jitii\tnia, S*tloimli, ami 

 MLvl, f^rin n j a westerly continuation of New Guinea in the direc- 

 tion of the Molucca and Banda Archipelagoes j la?tly T the Am group 

 on the south- west coast, uoted for its birds of paradise and pinrl 



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