Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 17.djvu/409

387 again emerging, being occupied, in great measure, by the tropical vegetation from the west-ward. Beyond Redscar Head in the Gulf of Papua the country again rises, having an Australian appearance, open grassy hills with scattered timber sloping to the coast, which is here skirted by a barrier reef with occasional openings, affording good shelter to vessels. Inland, densely wooded hills and valleys with rivers and rich cultivable soil are backed by the great Owen Stanley range (13,000 feet), which terminates at the east forks in bluffs 2000 feet high. Geology. Of the geology of New Guinea little is known. In the north-west the Arfak mountains are mainly granite and gneiss. Near Geelvink Bay dark limestones occur, apparently ancient, and stratified clay slates. Bismuth is found here at Moom. Miosnom island, opposite, is volcanic. Raised coral is frequent on this (north) coast, and the streams bring down pebbles of plutonic rocks and sandstones. Clay ironstone is found at Humboldt Bay, on the river Jakata near M Cluer Gulf, and at Lakahia Island, and a Tertiary coal (lignite) at Lakahia and in Galewo Strait. On the east side of the Gulf of Papua the coast range is of recent limestone. At Hall Sound calcareous clays from the Lower Miocene con tain fossil shells identical with those found in Victoria and South Australia. Small fragments and pebbles, sent from Redscar and Astrolabe Bays (probably coming from the great central range), consisting of mica slate, quartz, sand stones, greenstones, and jasperoid rocks, are undistinguish- able from those of the Devonian and Silurian series of the gold-fields of New South Wales. A black magnetic-iron sand (with traces of gold) and plumbago are reported from this (south-east) coast. Some of the Torres Straits islands are of raised coral, others of stratified sandstones with huge overlying blocks of the same and conglomerates, others volcanic. Climate. The climate of the coast is unhealthy, especi ally during the transition between the monsoons, which is long and irregular owing to the action of the high mountain ranges on these winds. The heat is tempered by the heavy rainfall, discharged by the north-west mon soon chiefly in the west and north; the south-east monsoon also is often wet, especially in the east and south districts. Torres Straits are healthier, though the heat is great and the amount of salt in the air is trying to many. From July to September the force of the south-east monsoon there is such that even steamers cannot always face it and the tide together. Flora. The flora is mainly that of the Indian Archi pelago, which predominates even in the islands of Torres Straits ; but on the shores of the Gulf of Papua, and inland, Australian vegetation is represented by Eucalyptus, acacias, and Pandanus ; and Australian types are found as far north as Humboldt Bay. Over great part of New Guinea dense forests prevail, clothing the mountains to a height of several thousand feet, the timber of enormous height, though the species are fewer than in the great islands of the archipelago. Among them various kinds of Ficus, Casuarina, Araucaria, Dammara, Podocarpus, Calophyllum, Aleurites, Ebenacex, Canarium, Durio, Wormia, and many species of palms. The trees are matted with creepers (Bauhinia, Bignonia, Asclepias, &c.), with a dense undergrowth of brushwood, ferns, and lycopodiums, but their density often makes the herbaceous vegetation poor. Of the smaller growths are great reeds and grasses covering the swamps and open spaces ; aloes, aroids, orchids, Scitaminese (ginger, cardamum, &c.), Laurinese, Piperacese (betel and others, wild and culti vated), Myrtacese, Viniferss, pine-apple, nutmeg, cotton shrubs, Urticese, Apocynese, Malvacex, Papttionacex (Butea, Erythrina^ Clitoria, Mimosa, &c.) 3 Justices, and Begonise; and in the mountains a sub-alpine flora, oaks, rhododen drons, vacciniums, epilobiums, Umbelliferx, &c. Among cultivated plants are the banana, papaya, orange, sugar cane, maize, millet, taro (Arum esculentum), Abelmoschus Manihot, Jambosa, yams, sweet potato, and pumpkins, and among the Amberbaki the dry rice. The cocoa-palm grows everywhere ; the sago-palm grows wild in abund ance in the swamps, and in the north-west each hill tribe, apparently to avoid collisions, draws its supplies from a different district of the coast. They have also in the hills a tree called " sali," with top and pith resembling sago. Tobacco of good quality is brought down from the interior, and an illustrious antiquity is claimed for the plant by a tradition which describes it as the miraculous fruit of a woman named Heva. In some places the kava of the Pacific (Piper methysticum) is used. At Doreh a cotton plant (G. vitifolium} grows wild, and is also cultivated. Fauna. New Guinea is very poor in Mammalia. According to Mr Wallace (Geographical Distribution of Animals), there are as yet known, besides a peculiar form of pig, some mice, and various Pteropidx, four families of marsupials, all Australian, viz., Dasyuridee, Peramelidse, Macropodidse, and Phalangistidx, with nine species Among them are a Dendrolagus or tree-kangaroo and several cuscus. There are also two echidnas. The large animals reported by travellers may possibly be gigantic marsupials akin to those found fossil in the Queensland Pleistocene. The wealth and beauty of the avifauna are great. Count Salvadori gives 1028 species, belonging to 321 genera, for the Papuan subregion (i.e., from the Solomon Islands westwards to, but excluding, Celebes). Of these about 470 are peculiar to New Guinea and the adjacent islands, including Aru. The more numerous and important genera are pre-eminently Australian in character, with many species peculiarly developed. There is also, as might be expected, a considerable number of Malayan forms, some common to the whole region, some only found here and at other far distant spots in it. The most remarkable orders, besides the birds of paradise, which are only found in New Guinea and the neighbouring islands, are the honeysuckers, flycatchers, parrots, kingfishers, and pigeons, all rich in special forms. Birds of prey are rare; vultures, pheasants, woodpeckers, and finches absent. Mr Wallace attributes the unusually large number of " beauti ful " birds, 50 per cent, of the whole, to the numbers of parrots, lories, cockatoos, pigeons, and kingfishers, and to the absence of thrushes, shrikes, warblers, and other dull- coloured groups. Of snakes, which may migrate freely on floating timber, we find out of 24 genera (belonging to 11 families) 6 Oriental, 4 Australian, and only 4 specially Papuan; of lizards 3 families with 24 genera, of which only 3 are peculiarly Oriental, 3 Australian, 6 Papuan. The Amphibia (6 families with 8 genera), for which the salt water is a barrier, have no western affinities, and those not of wide distribution are almost exclusively Australian, a fact of obvious geological significance. The Lepidoptera are numerous and singularly beautiful, as are the Coleoptera, which Mr Wallace says often display the metallic lustre characteristic of the plumage of the New Guinea birds. Population. The population consists of a great number of isolated tribes, differing much in appearance and language. The level of civilization varies, but seldom reaches even the average Pacific standard. They have no single name for New Guinea, nor any idea of its extent, only using terms signifying "great land," to distinguish it from the adjacent islands or from Australia. The name Papua is a Malayan term signifying frizzled, in reference to the hair ; and, as distinguishing the peoples so characterized from the Australians, the term "Papuan" is by some writers thought more suitable than "Melanesian,"