Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 17.djvu/420

Rh tions, as at Santa Cruz and Banks's Islands (North New Hebrides). They believe much in sorceries and omens; but prayer and offerings (usually of shell money ) are addressed mainly to the spirits of the (recently) dead, and there is another class of spirits, called Vui, who are appealed to when incorporate in certain stones or animals; of one or two such the divinity is recognized generally. By the villages a space shadowed by a great banyan tree is often set apart for dances and public meetings. A certain sacredness attaches also sometimes to the Casuarina and the Cycas. An important institution is the club-house, in which there are various grades, whereon a man's rank and influence mainly depend, his grade being recognized even if he goes to another island where his language is unintelligible. In like manner a division into two great exogamous groups prevails, at all events throughout the northern islands. It would therefore seem that the present diversity of languages in the group must be of relatively recent origin. These languages or dialects are numerous, and mutually unintelligible, but alike as to grammatical construction, and belonging to the Melanesian class.

Principal Authorities.—Lieut. A. H. Markham, R.N., in ''Roy. Geog. Soc. Jour.'', 1872; Brenchley, Cruise of the Curaçoa; Rev. R. H. Codrington, &quot;On Religious Beliefs and Practices in Melanesia,&quot; in ''Jour. Anthrop. Inst.'', vol. x.; Walter Coote, Wanderings South and East. (C. T.) 

NEW IRELAND. See .

 NEW JERSEY. The State of New Jersey, one of the original colonies which formed the United States of America, lies between 38° 55' 39".65 and 41° 21' 19" N. lat., and 73° 53' 51" and 75° 33' 3" W. long., and is bounded on the E. by the Hudson river, Staten Island Sound, Raritan Bay, and the Atlantic Ocean, on the S. by Delaware Bay, on the W. by the Delaware river, and on the N. by the State of New York, their common boundary being a straight line from the west bank of the Hudson river in latitude 40° N. to a point on the north bank of the Neversink river at its junction with the Delaware. The extreme length is 167$3/8$ miles, and the width ranges from 59 to 32 miles; and the State has an area of 7576 square miles, and is divided into 21 counties and 223 townships.

Physical Features.—New Jersey lies entirely on the Atlantic slope of the United States. In the north and north-west it is traversed by the Appalachian chain; the Red Sandstone belt, intersected by trap dykes, and extending from Massachusetts to South Carolina, occupies the central portion; and the lower half of the State is a part of the level sandy tract, covered with pine woods, which borders the Atlantic from New York to Florida.

The ridges of the Appalachian chain in New Jersey may be grouped in two main ranges—the Blue or Kittatinny Mountains and the Highland range. The first of these is an almost unbroken ridge from the New York State line to the Delaware Water Gap, and is the highest ground in the State, being at the Water Gap 1479 feet above the sea, and at High Point, near the New York line, 1800 feet high. Its level crest is clothed with forests, but the slopes are to a great extent cultivated. The Highland range, on the other hand, consists of a number of detached ridges, the highest of which is 1488 feet above the sea. These vary greatly in their surfaces; many admit of cultivation to the summit, while others are so covered with loose stones or bare rock that cultivation is impossible. The mineral wealth of the range is considerable.

The Red Sandstone central region is traversed by a number of irregularly distributed trap dykes, which are rough and wooded, and rise in the midst of a rich and productive district. These vary much in elevation, the highest being 868 feet. In southern New Jersey there are no rocky eminences or elevations worthy of the name of mountains. Its rounded hills are all earthy, and the results of denudation or erosion; the most elevated—the Navesink highlands—are about 400 feet high.

The southern half of the State is a great plain, sloping gently from its centre towards the Atlantic and the

Delaware, and has been eroded in the Drift period. It contains tracts of gravelly loam largely used for market gardens and vineyards. Extensive tidal marshes border the Atlantic and Delaware Bay, to the extent of nearly 300,000 acres. The Delaware river and bay receive all streams flowing from the western half of the State; the Passaic and Raritan are the most considerable rivers entirely within New Jersey. In the north-western part are many beautiful lakes abounding with fish; the largest is Lake Hopatcong, 5½ miles long by 4&frac13; to 1¼ miles wide.

Geology and Minerals.—Nearly all the geological periods, except the Coal-measures, are represented in the State. It may be stated in a general way that all the stratified formations cross the State from north-east to south-west; that the Highland range, to which they run parallel, is made up of the oldest rocks in the State; that almost all of the Palæozoic rocks, which are next in order, lie on the north-west side of these mountains; that the Triassic rocks lie next to the mountains on the south-east; and that the Tertiary and recent formations are then found in succession towards the south-east. The Azoic rocks occur mainly in the Highland range, and here consist chiefly of syenitic gneiss and white crystalline limestone, the former greatly predominating. This limestone is found chiefly on the north-west border of the gneiss, interstratified with and conformable to it. Magnetic iron ore abounds here, and occurs in beds or veins interposed between the strata of the gneiss. New mines are constantly being discovered, and the supply seems inexhaustible. Graphite is also found and worked. Valuable deposits of zinc ore occur in the crystalline limestone, and large quantities of excellent lime are made from this rock. The Potsdam limestone is found in comparatively small quantities, always near the borders of the gneiss and limestone. Magnesian limestone, found between the Highland range and Kittatinny Mountains, is extensively used for making lime, and contains hæmatite iron ore. Hudson River slate (used for roofing and flagging) exists most largely on the south-east slope of the Kittatinny Mountains. Water lime and Lower Helderberg limestone, which produce the Rosendale cements, are found in quantity along the north-west foot of the Kittatinny. Red sandstones and shales underlie the region immediately south-east of the Highland range, extending from the Hudson to the Delaware. They are in regular layers, dipping gently to the north-west, and form an excellent building material. Copper occurs in this formation, and was worked at an early period. To the south-east of the Sandstone formation follow plastic and fire clays, due to the decomposition of a ridge of granite which once formed the eastern edge of the Red Sandstone valley; these furnish clays of the purest and most refractory kind, suitable for fire-brick; very pure quartz sand is also found here, to mix with the clay, and kaolin, although not yet of the best quality. The greensand, marl, and sand beds occupy a belt some 90 miles long extending from Sandy Hook to the Delaware near 