THE EASTERN ARCHIPELAGO, 



the native jute plants with edible root, and stalk yielding the finest 

 jute fibre in the world (Gill). 



Th* suholpinc flora is represented by oats, rhododendrons, araucartaa, 

 Utnbelliferie, kc, while "the chief cultivated plants are maize,, uiillut, aUfjur 

 qanc, laro, rfoe, pumpkins, yams, and the sago-like, iiifc Tike sago pidm 

 itaulf, although yielding n staple of food, appear* not to lie cultivated, 

 tmt to mem wild in the marshy districts, The natives till the land with- 

 grrat skill and naatnesa ; but the few patches tbua reclaimed iu the mam 

 favoured localities are of no account compared with the mat of the land 

 which in aitll mostly overgrown with dense primeval forests diversified in 

 some places with grassy and treeless tracts of limited extent, 



Fauna, — While the flora is to a 1ai^e extent Malayan, the fauna 

 is in some respects essentially Australian, the older marsupials !^till 

 everywhere bidding liieir ground against the higln-r mammals, which 

 appear to be represented almost exclusively by the pig, the dingo, 

 in ice, the llying-fux, i^ta uilier un'tubcrs uf lhu but family, Thi-ro 

 are at least three species of cuseus, two of the waltaby, and several 

 varieties of the true kangaroo and other marsupials, besides three 

 species of the spiny ant-eater, allied to the Australian Echidna, 

 which, like the Platypus, are now known to be oviparous, thu* 

 supplying a further link between reptiles and tniimiunlians (W. H, 

 Caldwell}. Of true reptile! by fur ihti longest and moat formidable 

 is the cmcoililc, which infecta nearly all tbe rivers, attaining a length 

 of over nine feet, and both devouring and is devoured by the natives* 

 Snakes, which occur in great variety, are also eaten, and even by the 

 cannibal b preferred to pig or any other except human flesh. 



The avifauna, which is specially rich and beautiful, present* neatly 

 500 indigenous species, mostly Indulging to Australian genera, bemdes 

 many liH':itly-dcvulo|)od varieties. Malayan fortnsalso occur, together with 

 others common to the whole Oceanic domain. JSut the speciid glory of 

 this nvjfsiina are the birds of Paradise, of which there are at le.ist twenty 

 species, all restricted !•■ 3?i'W Cuim-n and hdand-i, *t ith the singlu 

 exception of the standard-wing found in Jihdo aud llachiin. Other mere 

 or less cliaraeturialie forms are the cockatoos, parrots, lories, the spur- 

 winged plover, kingfishers, mound-builders, boiiey&uekcra. flycatchers, 

 crated and other pigeons, comprising altogether about forty genem. of 

 fixclu-iivcly I'sipuaii land-birds { Wallace). The gorgeous plumage of tha 

 feathered tribe, is rivalled by the resplendent colours and me (al lie lustre 

 nf the iiumeroua loeal varieiiea of buttcrMes aud beetles* A ctrriosiiy of 

 the -li i I world is the kima, a gigantic clam, often measuring 32 inches 

 by 19 (Gill), 



Inhabitants. — The great bulk of the natives belong undoubtedly 

 to the Papuan stock ; but euch are the discrepancies, presented by 



