was supposed to be part of the mainland until lieut. Kool, of the Dutch uftv,• passed through the strait that separated it. The London missionary society's agents, in their steamer the Ellattgotcan, have also lately found that what was considered the south cape of Papua is detached from theMainland, and have called it Stacey island. The Fly river has been ascended 160 miles by the same parties. The whole of the south-eastern coast to the eastern extreme of the island, and continuing to the Louisiade archipelago beyond, is fringed with dangerous coral reefs, and, as during the monsoons the currents acquire great velocity, the danger of is considerable. Capt. Moresby has dis cbvered a new passage at the s.e. point of the main island, China strait, which is navigable for large ships, and apparently free from dangers; it is considered that this discovery will lead to more rapid communication between China and Australia. The tides, however, at springs, run at the rate of 5 or 6 knots, but more careful and elaborate surveys will doubtless render navigation more safe and expeditious in these waters.
There cannot be a doubt that in an island 'of such vast extent as Papua, not only does the character of the human family greatly diverge,• but there may possibly exist several dis tinct races. With our little knowledge, two distiuct races are admitted, viz., the Papuans, so called from the Malayan "frizzled hair," and the Haraforas. The Papuans are said to resemble the Australian aborigines, but, as a rule, are stouter. The Haraforas are distinguishable from the Papuans by lighter color and straighter hair; they also exhibit greater activity of body. / Except in the swampy districts, the climate is not unhealthy, though the temperature varies greatly, the thermometer sometimes indicating 95° Fahr. by day, and falling to 75° by night. On the s.w. coast, the east monsoon or rainy season begins about the middle of April, and ends in September; the dry season is from September to April, and on the n. coast they are just reversed.
The island is everywhere clothed with the most luxuriant vegetation, cocoa-nut, betel, sago, banana, bread-fruit, orange, lenion, and other fruit-trees lining the shores; while in the interior are abundance of fine timber trees, as the iron-wood, ebony, canary wood, the wild nutmeg, and the massooi, the fragrant bark of which is a leading article of export from the s.w, coast. In the districts of the Arfak and Amberbakin mountains the sugarcane, tobacco, and rice are cultivated.
The natural history of the western part of Papua has been recently examined by Mr. This naturalist established the fad that a deep channel in the bed of the ocean, running w. of Celebes, and e. of the great islands of Java and Borneo, now known as Wallace's line, separates two regions, in which the islands rise from shallow waters, and which are totally unlike each other in their botany and zoology. The islands on either side of this line he supposes to be the relics of submerged continents. Those on the west, or the Great Malay islands, belong to the continent of Asia, and have its plants and animals. Those to the east of the line, on the other hand, including Papua, have a flora and fauna resembling those of Australia. The latter island has a dry climate and stunted vegetation. Papua, on the contrary, has a warm and moist climate, pre-eminently fitted to produce a varied, luxuriant vegetation; and it is clothed from end to end with magnificent forests. Insect life is, as might be expected. abundant
and varied; the Papuan species being remarkable for fine forms and beautiful colors. Still more interesting to the naturalist is the variety of birds, of which 120 species are singers, 30 parrots, and 28 pigeons. Those of land species which have been examined belong to 108 genera. 29 of which arc found exclusively in Papua. The beautiful birds of paradise are peculiar to the island, and distinguish it from all other regions. In con trast to this variety of birds is the small number of mammals. The great pachyderms and quadrurnana of the Malay islands are wanting, and the mammals are 2 bats, 1 pig, 10 marsupials, 1 cetacea, and 1 carnivora. There is one true kangaroo similar to those of Australia. The climbing kangaroos take the place of the monkeys of the Asiatic area. It is believed that Wallace's line, or one nearly coincident with it, separates two varieties of the human race, the Malay's and the Papuans, or rather areas in which one of these races predominates.
Mr. Alfred Wallace, in his Malay Archipelago, says of the Papuans: " There has been much difference of opinion about the races of the Oceanic region, but it is generally admitted that they belong to four different types—those of (1) the Malays; (2) the Negritos or Papuans; (3) the Polynesians; (4) the Australians. The most distinguished of recent ethnologists class the Malays with the Mongols; the Negritos or Papuans, and the Polynesians, with the negroes of Africa; widely the Australians from both. They do not recognize any fundamental distinction between the dark Papuans and the light-complexioned Polynesians. The western parts of the island are inhabited by the former, the eastern parts by the latter. ' The Papuans are well made, have regular features, intelligent black eyes, small white teeth, curly hair, thick lips, and large mouth; the nose is sharp, but flat beneath, the nostrils large, and the skin dark brown. They are," Mr. Wallace says, "superior in stature to average Europeans, but have long and thin legs, and the splay foot of the negro." He thinks the Papuans superior to the Malays in intelligence. In the western parts, they are divided into small distinct tribes, frequently at war with each other. The men build the houses, hollow the trunks of trees into canoes, hunt and fish; while the women do all the heaviest work, cultivating the fields, making mats, pots, and cutting wood. Their food consists of maize, sago, rice, fish, birds, the flesh of wild pigs, and fruits, etc. "They arc copper colored, of a light active build, often with very good features, which they paint; but the men's teeth and mouths are. much disfigured by constant use of betel-nut. The hair is usually worn frizzled out into a huge mop. The women's hair is always cut short. Their weapons appear to be spears, swords, clubs, and stone hatchets, but no bows and ar:ows were seen. amongst them. Occasionally human jaw and spinal bones are worn as bracelets and ornaments. They appeared to take pleasure in making us understand that they had eaten the original owners of the bones; but these bones, as well as the few skulls exhibited in their villages, appeared to be of an ancient date. The houses are built after the Malay fashion, on poles raised 5 or 6 ft. above the ground, and consist of one large apartment." The natives of Humboldt's bay have a temple in every village, though nothing is known of their religion.