CHAPTER XXXYIII. 
THE GEOLOGY OE BRITISH NEW GUINEA. 
Mr. A. Gibb Maitland, of the Geological Survey of Queensland, travelled exten- 
sively in New Guinea and the adjacent islands from May to September, 1891, and since 
his return has made a valuable Report, of which I am enabled, through the kindness of 
His Honour Sir William Macgregor, to give a brief resumd. The Report embodies 
not only Mr. Maitland’s own observations, but also a digest of those of previous 
observers, and is accompanied by Geological Maps. 
Mr. Maitland gives the following table of Geological Eormations : — 
Recent Superficial Deposits — ^Wide Plains along the Rivers ; Coastal Elats, &c. 
Coral Reefs, Coral Islands, Upraised Reefs, and associated deposits. 
Kevori Grits : Post-Tertiary — Grits, Sandstones, and Conglomerates. 
Port Moresby Beds ; Tertiary ? — Greenish Sandy Shales, Limestones, Calcareo- 
Siliceous Beds of Port Moresby. 
Boioro Limestones, of undetermined age — Greyish Limestones, &c., of Boioro 
and the Coast. 
Metamorphie Rocks, of undetermined age — Schists, Slates, Gneiss, &c. 
Igneous Rocks — Basalt and other Volcanic Rocks, Ashes, &c. 
Plutonic and Intrusive Rocks — Diorite and other Basic Plutonic Rocks, 
Granite, Mica-Trap, &c. 
RECENT SUPERFICIAL DEPOSITS. 
Recent Superficial Deposits are represented as commencing on the Southern 
Coast at the mouth of the Vanapa River, west of Port Moresby, and occupying a belt 
of country which gradually widens until, at the Dutch Boundary, it covers three out 
of the four degrees of latitude which comprise the Western limit of the British 
Possessions. 
CORAL REEFS, CORAL ISLANDS, UPRAISED REEFS, AND ASSOCIATED DEPOSITS. 
The exigencies of rapid travel did not permit Mr. Maitland to examine any of 
the existing coral reefs, but opportunities occuri-ed of observing many of the upraised 
reef masses, especially at Einauro (Cette) Island, Ware (Teste) Island, the Bell Rock, 
Pannietta Island, Kimuta (Renard) Island, Misima (St. Aignan) Island, and along the 
north-east coast. The latter present “ all gradations, from reefs only a few feet above 
the water up to two thousand feet above the level of the sea.” 
Mr. Maitland gives the following description of the upraised reefs : — 
“ The rocks present pretty much the same lithological characters throughout — 
viz., very hard and sonorous compact limestones, of a whitish colour. Some varieties are 
of a distinct yellow or reddish-brown colour. Coral fragments do not appear to be very 
common ; but in some of the upraised reefs molluscan remains are by no means rare. 
The limestones, in the majority of instances, are seamed with veinlets of carbonate of 
lime. 
“Generally the structure of the coral has been destroyed by the action of infiltrating 
water. Instances, however, do occur — e.g., at Misima — in which this is not the case. 
