182 



Eastern* geoghapiiv. 



no active volcanoes OTovm imy extpmid ronca, oormr in Now Gnim-a ; but 

 thu j> ft mistake <hi»! to luihiy i^iiendiiiaiiou from imperfect surveys for 

 the spurs projeetinjs on cither side from Mount Owen StauU-y coui-iiu 

 several urate* ra said to be formed by recent volcanic action. l'uiuice, aho, 

 and other igneous matter, cover the dopes of the Finistems hills, while, 

 Earthquakes [ifu of frequent occurrence Lu many places. 



Climate, — On all the low-lying coast-lands and about the river- 

 mouth* the climate is malarious, and ttnsui [table for European 

 settlors. On the uplands the tropical heats are tempered li y the 

 marine breezes, which in the northern and western districts accom- 

 pany the north- west, and in the southern and eastern the south- 

 oast, nionsoom The latter prevail-; from Juiy t-i September, nnd U 

 often very violent, arresting all navigation in Torres StraiL 



Tl»« ht'ais nre n-ii.liTi'il rimm oppressive hy th** heavy rainfall, nnd 

 CiqilU r»nnl, who lnU'ly visited the north coast, found the eliiuate more 

 trying than that ol" ruiy other region ojrept the Persian LJulf in sum hut. 

 **]Bathed in perspiration Irorn morning till night and from night till 

 morning, we wokf utterly Unrefreshed by sleep. The temperature, which 

 in a dry climate would not have Iwu unpleasant— far it was rarely above 

 90 1 F. — was intolerable. Every thing to which damp could cling 'became 

 mouldy, nnd our I wots, if put on one side, for a day or two, grew a crop of 

 mildew nearly half an inch in thickness " {ii. p. 201). 



Flora,,— The original vegetation appears to have been mainly 

 Malayan, which nt.il 1 largely prevails in most districts. But numer- 

 ous Polynesian, Asiatic, and Australian species have also invaded 

 the island, and all thes»e different Horn* are found In some places 

 intermingled. Thus W. Wyatt (Jill speaks of tarn, yams, gigantic 

 amid?, the ivory nut-palm, cotton, tobacco, the oak tree, capsicums, 

 8lrawlverrit-(s t raspberries, and lln- nutmeg all occurring in and ahtiul 

 the L'Lroki valley near Port Moresby on the south-east coast El>e- 

 where on the Mima coast, J< Chalmers met during a single stroll, ,c ft 

 strange profusion of cncoanut, and betel palms, numerous bread- 

 fruit, and large fcmviau trees, draaxna, and crotons of various kinds, 

 ferns in ahum 3 ante, nnd mangroves." The Australian eucalypti and 

 acacias and the Oceanic cnonanut are everywhere familiar sights 

 along the »oulh coast, and the immense variety of vegetation is 

 further attested by the presence of the pandanus with its strange 

 aerial ; tit- 1 im-oIv red Oftdar {G$flr*Ut A/'fimHi) [ bhe >>« 



gruwiij^ tu a iLcighl of 1>Q iWt and yielding u much -prized BevH : il:: 

 Cunt yt ins (ttrmUmiky jftek i'ruit, and banana at I widely diffused ; Hie 

 sawuu, forming a curious link between palms anil ferns j the Enjih- 

 riJKi, Burritfijimiiat xpcciom t and other flowering forest trees-; lastly* 



