New Guinea.

Manawatu Standard, Volume 4, Issue 129, 8 May 1883, Page 2

New Guinea.

(New Zealand Herald) .This magnificent island, the third and almo t the th(? second largest of the island continents of the woild will, if annexed, be the most conspicuous territorial addition to the Colonial Empire of Englnnd that has taken place during the lifetime of the present generation ; for thoqgh the western portions ol Pupia are claimed under certain shadows-- riJShts by Holland, there can be lit' lo doubt that occupation by AngloSaxon enterprise will ultimately lead to the abs; rption of the whol^ inland. That it is m large pars a terra incognita is admitted, but enough of it has been long knowu from the report ot travellers who have visited its coast regions and penetrated its waterways, to le-.d us to believe that under Anglo-Saxon eaterprise this vast island is capable of becoming one of the grandest of England's colonies. Rumours of its vast deposit* of gold are among the earliest traditions ot old voyagers ; its stup nious jvoalth-ot tropical. .vegetation has been the theme of more recent travellers' tales, while the excellence .of its harbors, and the size ot its rivers attest that wnutever may be its natural resources and their future development, nature has provided adequate accommodation for its future commercial requirements, however great. But not the least noteworthy peculiarity of this vast sub* tropical island is th^ large proportion of it situated at such an elevation as to make the climate af the most temperate character, and necessarily suited to I European constitutions. From every sea surrounding, the prospect pr sented | to the eye of voyagers coasting around is that of mountains of vast height, and generally capped with snow, leading to the conclusion that though the coast lands are low and generally unhealthy, while of extraordinary fertility and productiveness, the interior, and m fact the greater poi'DiCn of the island, must consist of elevated plateaux and mountain rangec, the climate of which, like that of Quito m the Andes, and the elevated valleys of the Himalayan, must attain that perfection of atmospheric luxury which is said to be only found at high altitudes under tropical skies. When we consider that these lofty peaks are the continuation of the gold-bearing range that has continued \ from Victoria m the south through its entire extent of line of goldfi^ld that have enriched those three colonies, and that m New Guinea this range^attaino its highest elevation, one can hardly iesist the impression that among those lofty heights and deep ravines thare may bejiidden a wealth destined yet to startle the world. Altogether m this addition of an island almost unexpiored, m extent more than double that of the British Islands, with every variety oi extreme and temperate climes, and consequently every variety of pissible pro* duction, it is impossible to overestimate the impetus that this will bring to the commercial ontprpuse of the colonies.