NEW GUINEA.

Grey River Argus, Volume XIII, Issue 1534, 4 July 1873, Page 2

NEW GUINEA.

■:, The news that Captain Moresby, pi H.M.S. Basilisk, had taken formal pdssession of the vast island of New Guinea •as British territory/ is justly regarded in ■Melbourne as "most important. ",And it 'comes quite in the nature of a surprise ; but whether true or not, a few wor^s about the country in question may not come amiss to those who have had few, opportunities of learning anything about it. Prominently amongst the -best authorities on the subject must stand forth Mr Alfred Russell Wallace, whose admirable work entitled " The Malay Archipelago " is- thus quoted from by the Daily. Telegraph:— f "JSTew Guinea, is, according to Mr Wallace, perhaps the largest known island in f¥or continuation\of news see 4th page.)

the world, enclosing a somewhat greater area than that of Borneo j though the Rev. Mr Abe", the well-known missionary to the Dyaks, disputes the assertion. However, New Guinea is as nearly as possible about the same size as France, being 1,400 miles long and about 400 in the widest part. It lies almost immediately under the Equator, the most southerly portion touching the eleventh degree of south latitude, while the whole length is comprised between the 31st and 165 th degree of longitude, "errors and omissions excepted." It stands north of the Gulf of Carpentaria, and is separated from Cape York by Torres Straits. Though one of the chain of islands which almost connect our continent with Asia, it differs in many respects from Borneo— so much so that Mr Wallace has no doubt that New Guinea is as essentially Australian as Borneo is Asiatic. He draws the line at some important island between the two, and mainly bases his argument upon the distribution of animals, showing that all those found in Borneo are* found in Asia, and all, or nearly all, those discovered in New Guinea are to be met with in all parts of Australia. It ia just possible that the knowledge of this fact may have had some slight influence upon the British Government in authorising the aunexation of an island which may once have formed a portion of the Australian continent. " New Guinea was discovered by the Portuguese in 1511, and taken possession of by the Dutch in 1628, but though it has nominally been held by the Netherlands ever since as a tributary to the Sultans of Tidore, they have enforced their claim only to a portion stretching from Cape Bowland, east of Hnmboh's Bay, to the Cape of Good Hope. The population in this portion is estimated at 220,000, and in that held by the Papuans it is said to number about 800,000. The island is indented by several bays, into which large rivers, thickly studded with islands, flow with great volume. All these islands are well timbered, and contain profusions of tropical fruit, with myriads of brightly-plumaged birds. The island boasts of several mountains, the loftiest yet discovered being 13,205 ft, while two others are over 10,000 ft, and 9000 ft. Large tracks of swampy ground occur between the mountains, and, taken on the whole, the place does not seem to be very favorable for ordinary agricultural settlement. The principal exports would appear to be tortoiseshell, pearls, resin, spices, ebony, and— we regret to say itslaves. Owing to the hostile character of the Papuans, but little can be known of the interior of the country, and it is scarcely necessaiy to say that, if it has any mineral rerources, they have not yet been developed. The climate has not been found very healthy by Mr Wallace, who suffered severely from fever and dysentery during his residence in the islands. The mammalia are only 17 in number. The country is very strong in bats, and possesses a pig of a peculiar species, but we regret to say that the peculiarity is not, in any of the works before us, very minutely described. Tho kangaroo there are rather smaller than oura, and do not seem to have been taught how to use their tails in jumping ; but they beat ours in the respect that they can climb trees and feed upon the grateful foliage of the tropics. The opossums of New Guinea are provided with wings, and some of the other marsupials are, though only about as large as our rats, found even more efficient in surreptitiously entering dwelling places and pocketing any stray provisions. Birds of paradise, parrots, and cockatoos, are to be met with in almost endless variety, and the grasshoppers and some other insects attain to a very uncomfortable size." We shall quote some description of the race by which the island is inhabited at some other time.