NEW GUINEA.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5266, 8 February 1878, Page 3

NEW GUINEA.

Much interest has been excited by recent, reports of gold discoveries iu New Guinea, the value of which it is not very easy to determine. The presence of gold there has been proved to demonstration, but the question whether the precious metal exists iu paying quantities or not has yet to bo answered. The following descriptive and historical account of this remarkable island, taken from the Queenslander of the 26th January, is well worthy of perusal:—

“ New Guinea, with tho exception of Australia and Borneo, is the largest island in the world. Its greatest length is 1500 miles, its greatest breadth 100 miles, it!? area 250,000 square miles, its population probably about 1,000,000. It is situated precisely at tho point where the Indian Ocean merges into the Pacific, and stretches from south-east to northwest between the tenth parallel of south latitude and the Equator. The coast of the island is very much indented. At the south-east corner lies a great inlet enclosed by coral reefs, called the Now Guinea Bight. The eastern shore of this bay is bold and rocky, with high peaks in the vicinity. The western shore resembles very much the seaboaad of Holland, being low and swampy, interspersed with forests, and drained by innumerable fresh-water streams not unlike canals. ‘ The entire coast on this side seems like the delta of an immensa river, with tortuous channels and anabranches in all directions, and having mud banks, with an average of tvyb fathoms of water running out a long distance to sea, so that vessels cannot approach within ten miles of the land.’ Tho chief openings in the north coast are Humboldt Harbor, and Geelvink Bay. What was formerly thought to be part of the mainland of New Guinea, Captain Moresby, of the Basilisk, has recently proved to be a numerous group of islands. In this archipelago he discovered a passage which shortens the ronto to China by 800 miles. In New Guinea occur some of the loftiest mountains in Australasia. One great chain, whose summits are crowned with everlasting snow, in the centre of the island, and running southeast, is terminated only by the ocean. , The culminating points are Owen Stanley (13,200 ft.), Suckling (11,000), Obree (10,200), and Yule (10,000 ft.) The part of New Guinea best known to Europeans is tho shore washed by Torres Strait; with the north coast the whites are less acquainted; and tho , interior of the island is almost wholly unexplored. It is generally believed, however, that far inland the vegetation is varied and luxuriant. ‘The entile country, so far- as is known and can bo ascertained, is covered with dense forest, and spreads hero and there into wild vast alluvial plains, formed by the continued deposit of the groat rivers which flow through it. Much of the timber is of gigantic size, and comprises, amongst others, the camphor tree, the sago palm, and tho wild nutmeg. The natives cultivate with varying success rice, maize, yams, coooanuts, sago, sugar cane, bananas of various kinds, and other tropical productions. The

animal's are few and mostly marsupial";'there being twctjjpceies of kangaroos which - live- in trees. There are known to.be sixty species of birds..-remarkable for' the beauty,.of. their plumage • amongst them are innumerable flocks of parrots, and amongst sailors the place has acquired the name of ‘ Land of Cockatoos.’ The inhabitants of New Guinea comprise a strange combination of races, in which mixture the Malays, Jews, and Papuans seem to be the predominant elements. The Malays have settled chiefly on the western side of the island. The Papuans, of aboriginal population, are so called from the lively resemblance their hair bears to a mop, the name Papuan signifying mob-headed. ‘ They are of small stature, and have large eyes, lips (if immense thickness, and nostrils of great breadth. The men paint their bodies in hideous fashion, and go nearly naked ; and the women wear petticoats' of strips of the pandanus leaf, frequently one layer over another, in the form of a flounce ; and both men and women wear large, rude, and

heavy ornaments hanging from their ears and noses.’ Another tribe, the Horaforas, inhabit the Central districts. They live in huts built among the high branches of trees, reached by laddei-s, which are drawn up during the night. The Papuans subsist by trading and fishing ; the Horaforas are engaged mostly in agricultural pursuits. Several European countries have at one time or another entertained the idea of planting a colony on the shores of New Guinea, but so far the Dutch alone have succeeded in making a permanent settlement on the island. They lay claim to all the territory west of Humboldt Harbor, but the only place they exercise any influence is along the shore of Geelvink Bay. The chief Dutch settlement in New. Guinea is the town of Dorey, in the north-east. For a vivid description of Dorey the reader is referred to that given in. Wallace’s ‘ Malay Archipelago ’— a description which through want of space we are unable to

reproduce here. Of late years several mission stations have been established at various places along- the coast. The Rev. W. G-. Lawes, of the London Missionary Society, for example, whose, name is now figuring so prominently in the newspapers in connection with the reported gold discovery, exercises a sort of patriarchal authority. over a congregation of christianised natives at Port Moresby and Mill Island, reputed the healthiest locality in New Guinea. Twenty, five miles west of Port Moresby stands LeaLea, a village rendered somewhat unsalubrious ■ by the exuberant fertility of the-soil on which it is built. -Mauumanu, another mission station, is situated near the mouth of a noble river. The surrounding country is low and swampy, and generates diseases frequently fatal to Europeans. ‘ Fever and ague •prevail 'from January to April, rendering migration ■ for those months necessary, especially to Europeans.’ Among many other scattered villages ■may be mentioned Baruuo (on Jaufax Harbor), Samoa, and Boera, whica has a good port. All [Commerce is usually carried on under the Dutch; flag. No country has as yet, however, advanced any pretensions to the region east of Humboldt Bay. Some of the inhabitants are ; cruel and rapacious, and regal'd with a jealous , eye the intrusion of strangers. But those who live in the coast villages and have reaped the benefits of Mr. Lawes’ sojourn in the island, are move affable, and are not averse to visits from Europeans. The Chinese and Malays carry on an extehsive'tratfic with the more peaceably disposed islanders,'and procure from them tortoiseshell, pearlshell, massoy bark, bird of paradise feathers, buclie-de-rner, edible birds’ nests, and trepang.” 1