430 
COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL 
with, or a branch of, the Nufur Papuans—a tribe of con¬ 
siderable importance about the region of Geelvink Bay, 
who believe Mafur Island to have been their place of 
origin. Nufur, or a patois . of it, is largely used as a 
lingua franca on the coasts of north-west New Guinea, 
where it takes the place of Malay. Jobi contains four 
different species of paradise birds. 
The Papuan islands belonging to Germany are separ¬ 
ated by a wide stretch of sea from those both of the 
Dutch and English. They are collectively known as the 
Bismarck Archipelago, and—omitting those of no import¬ 
ance—consist of the Admiralty group, New Hanover, 
New Ireland (Neu Mecklenburg), the Duke of York 
group (Neu Lauenburg), New Britain (Neu Pommern), 
and a chain of volcanic islands bordering the mainland. 
The Admiralty group is composed of one large and 
numerous small islands; the former is distant about 180 
miles from Hatzfeldthafen, the nearest point of New 
Guinea, and is about 6 0 miles in length by 2 0 in average 
breadth, with mountains rising to the height of about 
3000 feet. These are believed to be extinct volcanoes, 
but the greater part of the island seems to consist of 
raised coral rocks. The Admiralty group was first 
visited in 1767 by Carteret, whose boats were attacked 
by the natives, but no Europeans appear to have actually 
landed until the visit of the Challenger in 1875. The 
people are mop-headed Papuans of the usual type, fond 
of ornaments, and habile carvers of wood. A peculiar 
ornament is a circular white plate ground out of a 
Tridacna shell, on which is cemented a plate of tortoise¬ 
shell, cut out into a great variety of beautiful designs, 
no two being alike. The islanders are ignorant of 
tobacco and make no fermented drinks, and the metals 
are unknown to them, their tools and weapons being of 
