Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 14.djvu/499

* NEW GUINEA. 439 NEW GUINEA. portion is divided between the British on tlie south and the Germans on the north, their ter- ritories having been defined respectively in 1884 and l.SSG. TopoGKAPiiv. The waters on the south of the island are so shallow that if the sea fioor were elevated 300 feet New Guinea would form a part of Australia and the I^ouisiade Archipelago in the southeast would be a part of the main- land. Oceanic depths encircle the island on the other sides. Around it are scattered a consid- erable number of islands, some of which were un- doubtedly torn away from the greater land mass. In many places the coast is fringed with coral reefs and islands, most of them covered with vegetation. The vastness of the island, together with the marshy eoastlands and ilense forests and jungle, hindered exploration and white enter- prises till the last decades of the nineteenth century. The interior has not been adequately •explored, and most of the western half of the island, under the Dutch flag, is still unknown except along the coasts. There are a sufficient number of indentations on the coasts to provide excellent harbors as the country develops. Port JVIoresby, with a population of 1000 natives and 50 Europeans, has wharves for shipping, and is the seat of government and the chief port of Southeastern Xew Guinea ( British Xew Guinea ) ; Samarai and Daru, islands near the mainland, provide the other ports for this colony. Friedrich ilhelmshafen is the most important port of the northeast of the island, or Kaiser Wilhelmsland ((.lerman Xew Guinea), and vessels ti'ade at a few points in Western Xew Guinea, the half of the island which is possessed b.v the Nether- lands. A large part of the coasts are fronted by low and marsliy plains suitable for rice-growing; but the interior is very rugged and so densely covered with tropical vegetation that progress is extremely difficult, excepting along a few rivers. Xearly everywhere paths have to be cleared with hatchets, and a mile of advance is often a hard day's work ; under such circumstances explora- tion has been very slow; but the sum total of the work of many explorers has given a fair iilea of the interior, excepting in Dutch Xew Guinea. Through the eastern half of the island stretches range after range of mountains extending from northwest to southeast, the eastern ranges cul- minating in the Owen Stanley Mountains, whose Tiigliest peaks. Mount Victoria (13.200 feet I and Mount Albert Edward (13,000). are supposed to 'be the loftiest elevations of British Xew Guinea. The eastern mountains are of igneous origin, the central masses schistose, and the western ranges chiefly sandstone. The parallel chains of the Kaiser Wilhelmsland ranges are also stupendous and may be seen far out at .sea long before the coast lands come into view. The two lofty peaks ■of the Bismarck range are supposed to be from 15,000 to 20.000 feet high, probably the highest sununits in Xcav Guinea. It is thought that the German mountains may be the eastern prolonga- tion of great ranges in Dutch Xew Guinea still Tinexplored. The geological structure of the German mountains has not yet been studied. Tjofty mountains, snme of them 10.000 feet high, fringe long stretches of the north coast of Dutch Kew Guinea : and farther south the long range of the Charles Louis Mountains extends far east with elevations of 12,000 to 1G,000 feet, some of them said to be covered with snow, tliougli this statement is not authoritatively reported. The Dutch coast mountains ap])ear to be of ter- tiary limestone executing the Cyclops, which are of volcanic origin; the great mountains of the interior are chiefly composed of slates and sand- stones. Kvcrj'where between the mountains ex- tend wide or narrow plains filled with high grass or dense jungle and scrul). IIyDiiOGK.piiY. The central mountain ranges form the water parting between rivers (lowing to the south and the north. X'avigation may be developed more extensively than on most of the great islands of the world. The largest river is ' the Fly, whieli, rising on the British-German border, has a course of 020 miles to the Papua Gulf and may be ascended hv steam launches for 500 miles. -The Purari, fartlier east, is navigable by steamboats for 120 miles. The Kaiscrin Augusta River in Kaiser Wilhelmsland has been ascended by a sea-going steamer for ISO miles. The Ottilia is navigable, and it is believed the Marga will be useful as a means of transporta- tion. Little but the mouths of the Dutch rivers can yet be laid down on the maps, but the depth and breadth of some of the outlets indicate im- portant streams. Climate. As the island lies just south of the equator, the climate is hot in the lower altitude?, with a small annual range and an average tem- perature of about 79° F. The climate is usu- ally agreeable at elevations of 3.500 feet and water freezes during the night at 10,000 feet. .Bain falls nearly every week in the year, but the quantity is subject to large variation, tiie precipitation at Port ^loresby, for example, averaging 37 inches a year, while that of Sam- arai, farther east, is 126 inches, and at Daru, farther west, 82 inches. jMalarial fever of a mild tyi)e is common on the lower grounds, but the climate away from the swamps is not inimical to the health of white men. The dense vegetation found ever_ vhere shows the great natural fer- tility of the soil. Flora. The rich flora is transitional between that of the Malay Archipelago and that of Aus- tralia. It varies with altitude and climate. Slany varieties of grass and flowers are found even on the tops of the high mountains. The great forests of the south are chiefly cypress, cedar, and ebony. In Kaiser Wilhelmsland there is a great variety of cabinet timber, banyan trees, tangled vines, and the rarest of orchids. The gutta-percha tree has recently been discov- ered, and the Germans intend to cultivate this valuable commodity. The cultivated plants are rice, sugar, maize, yams, bananas, breadfruit, anrf other tropical ])roducts. The massoi tree supplies spices, medicines, and dyes, an<l the pros- pects of the rubber industry are promising. The natives make cloth from the bark of the paper nuilberry and other trees, and obtain fibre from the banana, eoeoanut. and the ai^rial roots of the pandanus. Some of the aborigines live exclu- sively on sago, others on yams and taro, and bananas or sweet potatoes are the staple food of other tribes. There is no agricultiire in our sense of the word, except that the Germans have introduced tobacco and cotton farming with some success. It is expected that coffee, tea, and vanilla will ultimately be valuable crops. Fauxa. Wild swine are common, but there