:y£.:^ > M' %m m 1^^ THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS LIBRARY 9/0 7QQ|U OF THE •JNIVERSITV of ILLINOIS. THE EARTH AND ITS INHABITANTS iLi^ S-/M- ^, THE UNIVERSAL GEOGRAPHY By elisee reclus EDITED By A. H. KEANE, B.A. VICE-PRESIDENT, ANTHROP. INSTITUTE; COR. MEMK. ITALIAN AND WASHINGTON ANTHROP. SOC. PROFESSOR OF HINDUSTANI, UNIVERSITY COL., LONDON; AUTHOR OF "ASIA," ETC. VOL. XIV. AUSTRALASIA ILLUSTRATED BY NUMEROUS ENGRAVINGS AND MAPS LONDON J. S. VIRTUE &: CO., Li.AriTED, 294, CITY ROAD ^5 \o nrNTED BY J. S. VI'iTUR AND CO., LIMITED CITV EOAD CONTENTS. The Oceanic HEjnspHEEE 1—39 Extent and Fonnation of the Oceanic Basins, p. 1. The Antarctic Lands, p. 4. Oceanic Exploration, p. o. Cook's Voyages, p. 10. Exploration of the Antarctic Waters, p. 12. Bathymetric Researches, p. 16. Atmospheric Currents, p. 20. Marine Currents, p. 23. Drift Ice, Icebergs, and Floes, p. 25. Volcanic Agencies, p. 2S. Coralline Formations, Atolls, p. 30. Oceanic Flora, p. 34. Inhabitants of the Oceanic Regions, p. 37. II. The Mascaeenhas — Reiwion, MATmiTrtrs, Rodeigites 40 — 03 Flora and Fauna, p. 41. .Inhabitants, p. 42. Mauritius, p. 43. Reunion, p. 46. Rodrigues, p. 52. The Keeling Islands, p. o4. Christmas, Amsterdam, and St. Paul, p. 56. The Austral Islands, p. 59. Marion, Prince Edward, the Crozets, and Kerguelen, p 60. Macdonald and Heard, p. 63. III. Indonesia (The Eastern Aechipelaoo) 64 — 242 Oeneral Survey, p. 64. Historic Retrospect, p. 67. Progress of Exploration, p. 69. Climate, p. 70. Flora, p. 71. Fauna, p. 73. Inhabitants, p. 76. Sumatra and Neighbouring Islands, p. 79. Phy.sical Features of Sumatra, p. 80. Krakatau, p. 87. Rivers of Sumatra, p. 90. The "West and East Sumatran Islands, p. 92. Flora and Fauna, p. 94. Inhabitants, p. 95. The Battas, p. 90. Tlie Menangkabaoa and other Sumatran Malays, p. 101. The Nias and Mentawey Isl.ands, p. 103. Topography of Sumatra, p. 106. Administration, p. 115. Sunda Islands between Sumatra and Borneo, p. 115. Bangka, p. 117. BiUiton, p. 119. Borneo, p. 120. Exploration, Political Divisions, p. 121. Physical Features, p. 123. Rivers, p. 126." Climate, p. 130. Flora, p. 131. Fauna, Inhabitants, p. 132. Dutch Borneo, p 137. Brunei and British Borneo, p. 142. Labuan, Sufaw.ak, p. 144. North Borneo, p. 146. Java and Madura, p. 149 Volcanoes, p. 150. Rivers, p. 162. Climate, Flora, Fauna, p. 164-5. Inhabitants, p. 166. Topography, p. 182. Administration, p. 193. Bali, p. 196. Lombok, p. 201. iSambawa, p. 203. Flores, Solor, Allor, p. 206. Sumba, p. 208. Timor and Rotti, p 209. Serwatty, p. 215. Tenlmber and Kci, p. 216. Celebes and Adjacent Lslands, p. 219. Chmate. Flora, F.auna, p 224, Inhabitants, p. 224. The Southern Moluccas: Burn, Coram Amboyna, Banda, p. 229. The Northern Moluccas : Obi, Bat jan, Tidor, Temate, Halmahera, Morotai, p. 235. IV. The Philippines and Strnj 243—273 Climate, Flora, Fauna, p. 252. Inhabitants, p. 253. Topography, p 261. Administration, p. 270. V. Micronesia 274 — 292 The Mariana (Ladronc) Islands, p. 274. Pelew (Palaos), p. 277. The Caroline Islands, p. 280. ^Ib^L iv CONTENTS. CHAP. f-ion VI. New Guinea and Adjacent Islands (Papuasia) 293 — 317 Progress of Discovery, p. 293. Physical Features, p. 297. Rivers and Islands, p. 300. Climate, Flora, Fauna, p. 301. Inhabitants, p. 303. Topography, p. 306. British New Guinea, p. 311. German Possessions in New Guinea, p. 315. Melanesia 318 — 351 Admiralty Islands, Bismarck Archipelago, Solomon Islands, p. 318. Physical Features, p. 319. Climate, Flora, Fauna, p. 323. Inhabitants, p. 324. Santa Cruz and the New Hebrides, p. 330. Inhabitants, p. 333. New Caledonia and the Loyalty Islands, p. 337. Climate, Flora, Fauna, p. 341. Inhabitants, p. 343. Topography, p. 347. VIII. Atjstkalia and Tasmania 352 — 420 General Sirrvey, p. 352. Progress of Discovery, p. 353. Physical Features, p. 358. Rivers and Lakes, p. 365. Climate, p. 368. Flora, p. 371. Fauna, p. 374. Inhabitants, p. 375. Economic Condition, p. 387. Western Australia, p. 395. South Australia, p. 398. Queensland, p 403. New South Wales, p. 407. Victoria, p. 414. Tasmania, p. 418. IX. New Zealand and Neiohboueinq Islands 421 — 456 Physical Features of South Island, p. 424. Physical Features of North Island, p. 430. Climate, p. 437. Flora, p. 438. Fauna, p. 439. Inhabitants, p. 440. Topography, p. 448. X. The Fiji Islands 457—465 General Survey, p. 457. Climate, Flora, Faima, p. 459. Inhabitants, p. 460. Topography and Administration, p. 464. XL Equatoeial Polynesia 466 — 488 General Survey, p. 466. Climate, Flora, Faima, p. 473. Inhabitants, p. 474. Tonga, p. 483. Samoa, p. 483. Tahiti, p. 485. Tuamotu, the Marquesas, p. 487. XII. Hawad (The Sandwich Islands) • . 489—497 General Sm-vey, p- 489. Mauna-Loa, p. 490. Maui, p. 492. Flora, Fauna, p. 494-5. Inhabitants, p. 495. Topography, p. 497. Appendix • 498 Index 505 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. MArS PRINTED IN COLOURS. Equatorial Africa ...... 1 Sunda Strait 184 Australia, Tasmania, and New Zealand . . 352 PAGE Sydney and Environs 408 New Zealand and the Smaller Polynesian Groups ....... 456 PLATES. Group of Natives, North Queensland Frontispiece View taken at Tasman Peninsula Tofacepmje 8 Port Moresby, South Coast of New Guinea Louis-Philippe Land, Antarctic Ocean Port Louis — Statue of Boui'donnais Piton D'Enchein, Reunion Saint-Denis, Reunion .... Island of St. Paul — View taken from the North-East Dayak DweUings on the Rejang, West Borneo Palombang- — View taken near the Kraton in the Sacred Grove ..... Dayak Women, Borneo ..... The Bromo Volcano, Dasar District, Java Street View in Bata\-ia ..... Village of Tjimatjan, near Tjanjui', Java View taken from the Genting Bridge, Surabaya 1 9'i General View of Mcnado .... 22S Amboyna ....... 232 Banda-Niera and Great Banda . 234 General View of Mount Mayon . . . 24G Pueblo of Civilised Natives, Manilla District . 252 Port of Manilla — General View Village of Saypan— Mariana Islands 34 202 276 Group of Koyari Chiefs, South-East New Guinea . . . .To -face page Tambu and Group of Santa-Ana Natives, Solomon Archipelago General View of Noumea, taken from the Ar tHlery Barracks .... View taken in the Blue Mountains, Australia View taken at Middle - Harbom', Sydney Victoria Scenery — Forest near Eemshawe, North-East of Melbourne General View of Sandhurst (Bendigo), Vic- toria ...... General View of Hobart, Tasmania . General View of Launceston, Tasmania . Sources of the Waimakariri, New Zealand The Pink Terrace of Roto-Mahana before the Eniptionof 1886 .... Queenstown and Lake Wakatipu General View of Lo^^J^a, Fiji Archipelago Landscape in the Tuamotu Archipelago . View taken at Moorea, imder Mount Rutui, Tahiti View of Waimca, Kauai Island, Hawaii , 304 324 346 300 408 414 416 418 420 420 434 452 464 473 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. LIST OF ILLUSTKATIONS. The Great Oceanio Hemisphere (Western Section) The Great Oceanic Hemisphere (Eastern Section) Explorations of the Paciiii Fii-st Circumnavigation of the Globe from West to East and East to West Dates of the Cliief Discoveries in Oceania Explorations in the South Polar Waters Northern Promontory of the Antarctii Mainland ..... Depths of the Austral Seas Ice Field traced by Dumont D'UrviUe Volcanoes of the Pacific Zone of the Coralline I.slands Mauritius ...... Port Louis ..... The Grand Brule .... The Three Cirques .... The Maeina of St. Denis St. Pierre Rodiigues ..... Keeling Islands .... Amsterdam . : . . . St. Paul Kerguelen ..... Indonesian Submarine Plateau . Comparative Areas of Holland and the Dutch East Indies .... Parting Line of the Indonesian Faimas Inhabitants of Indonesia . PuLO Brass Liohthouse, Sumatka . The Merapi Volcanic Range Krakatau and Neighboiu-ing Islets befon the Eruption .... Krakatau and Neighbouring Islets after the Eruption . Range of Dispersion of the Ivrakatau Ashes Steamek boene on the Keakatau Wave INLAND to TeLOKH-BeTONO . Alluvial Plains of the Musi Basin A Stxmatean Jungle — View taken in the State of Deli Okano Batta .... Orang Atjeh .... Lake Toba and the Batta Country Inhabitants of Simiatra Kota-Raja and Olch-leh . Padang and Environments Highlands East of Padang Palembang DeU . Riouw Archipelago Bangka Ivina-Balu Barito Delta Scene in Bokneo, neas Sarawak Navigable Streams and Chief Routes of Explorers in Borneo .... 3 53. 7 54. 55. 58. 1 57. 3 58. 59. 29 .63 31 64 H 65 46 66 47 67 49 68 50 51 69 53 70 55 57 71 58 72 61 73 65 74 75 68 76 74 77 77 78 81 79 83 80 Dayak Types, Borneo . Banjermassin ..... On the RrvEK Amandit, Dutch Bokneo Lower Course of the Mahakkam Brunei ...... Sarawak ...... Sandakan. ..... Chief Volcanoes in Java . Gede Volcano ..... Javanese Landscape — Mount Gede . Dieng ...... Gunong Sewu ..... South- West Slopes of Kelut Tengger and Semeru Lemongan ..... Nusa Kembangan . Inhabitants of Java .... Empeeoe and Empeess of Sukakarta Comparative Increase of Poijulation in Java and Holland ..... Coffee Plantation, Java Zones of Wet and Dry Rice Fields and Coffee Plantations on Mount Sivmbing Teak Forests, Selnarang and Siu'abaya Railways in Java .... Steamship Lines in Indonesia . Batavia in 1628 .... Batavia and Port of Tanjong Priok . Semarang. ..... Magelang and Bmni-Budhur . Merapi and Jokjokarta . Patjitan Surabaya and Madura Strait . Administrative Divisions of Java Bali 109 96 110 97 111 98 114 99 116 100 118 101 124 102 128 103 129 104 Palace of the Sultan of Bulelano, Bali Lombok Strait .... Central Part, of Sumbawa Larantuka Strait Timor and Neighbouring Islands View in a Foeest near Kupang, Timoe Kupang .... Tenimber. Explored Regions of Celebes Saleyer .... Minahassa The Tondano Cascade, Minahassa Macassar and South -we.st Region of Celebes Administrative Divisions of Celebes Burn ..... Port of Amboyna KUwaru ..... Banda Group ..... Empires of Temate and Tidor . Teniate, Tidor, and Dadinga Istlmius View taken at Teenate . . Den.sity of the Population in Dutch Indonesia ..... PoUtical Divisions of Indonesia LIST OF ILLUSTRATION'S. 106. The thi-ee Issthnmses of Indunesia and the 163. Philippines 244 1G4. 107. Southern Part of Lui!on .... 247 165. 103. Central Part of Luzon .... 248 166. 109. Lake Bombon ...... 249 167. no. Earthquake of 1880 .... 251 168. in. Geoup of Neqeitoes .... 254 .169. 112. Chief Inhabitants of the Philippines 255 170. 113. lFuo.iO Indian 257 171. 114. Manilla 202 172. 115. EnvTTons of Manilla .... 264 173. 116. Samar and Leyte 266 174. 117. Do -Do and Strait of Gnimaras 267 175. 118. Sulu Archipelago 209 176. 119. Density of Population of the Philippines . 271 177. 120. Provincial Division.s of the Philippines . 272 178. 121. Mariana jVrchipelago .... 275 179. 122. Pelew Islands . . ... 278 180. 123. Geneeal View of UAiAU 281 181. 124. Ruk Islands 283 182. 125. Tap 285 183. 126. Ponapo . ■ . 287 184. 127. Arhno 289 185. 128. Marshall Archipelago .... 290 186. 129. Chief Explorations on the Coasts and in the 187. Interior of New Guinea 294 1 88. 130. Lacustkine Village of Tupuselei, Motu 189. Tereitoey, New Guinea 295 190. 131. Mountains of New Guinea 298 191. 132. MacCluer Inlet and Onin Peninsula 299 192. 133. Waigeu, Batanta, and Salwaty 307 193. 134. Dorei 308 194. 135. Port Moresby ...... 312 195. 136. KOYAEI DWEIXINO, NEAR PoET MOEESBY, 196. New Guinea 313 197. 137. Astrolabe Bay 316 198. 138. White Bay 321 199. 139. San Cristobal 325 200. 140. Neu-Lauenburg (York) Island 329 201. 141. Vanikoro ....'.. 331 202. 142. New Hebrides 332 203. 143. Geoup of New Hebeibes Natives 334 204. 144. New Caledonia 339 205. 145 Native of Maee, Loyalty Isles . 342 200. 146 Native of Maee, Loyalty Isles . 343 207. 147 New Caledonian Man .... 344 208. 148 New Caledonian Woman 345 209. 149 Noumea 348 210. 1.50 Dwelling of a Native Chief, New 211. Caledonia 349 212. 151 Isle of Pines 350 213. 152 Comparative Areas of Australia and the 214. British Isles 354 215. 1.53 Chief Routes of Australian Explorers 355 216. 154 MacDouall's Itineraries .... 357 217. 155 Australian Alps . . ... 359 218. 156 Bass Strait 363 219. 157 Torres Strait 364 220. 158 The Great Barrier Reef .... 367 221. 159 Isothermals of Alistralia .... 309 222. 160 Rainfall of East Australia 370 223. 161 Inhabitants and Languages of Australia 224. about 1850 380 225. 102 Lalla Rookh, the Last Tasidinian 384 226. Density of the Australian Population . 386 Increase of the Australian Population . 387 Encampment op Austealian Squattees . 389 Gold Mines of South-East Australia . 390 Australian Railways at the End of 1887 . 392 Australian Colonies ..... 393 King George Sound ..... 394 Perth and its En\-irons . . . .396 Adelaide 400 Adelaide, Spencer and St. Vincent Gulfs . 401 Port Darwin ...... 402 Brisbane and Moreton Bay . . . 405 Botany Bay 40S Sydney in 1802 409 Newcastle . . . . .411 Norfolk Island 413 Melbouene, View in Boceke Steeet . 415 Melbourne and Hobson's Bay . . .417 Hobart and the Derwent River . . 420 View taken at Antipodes Island . .423 Tasman Glacier ..... 426 Fiords of South- West New Zealand . 428 Breaksea and Dusky Sounds . .429 Cook Strait 431 Lake Taupo 433 Lake Tarawera ..... 435 Tattooed Maoei Chief .... 442 King's Country ..... 444 Railways of New Zealand . . . .447 A Sheep Pen, New Zealand .448 Auckland ...... 449 Kaipara 450 Christchurch and Akaroa Peninsula 452 Port Chalmers . . . . - 453 Chatham Island ..... 464 Pro^-inces of New Zealand . . 455 Fiji Islands . . . . . .458 The Royal Family, Fiji . . .461 Suva and Lcvuka ..... 4G5 Trend of the Polynesian Islands . . 467 Volcanic Islands of Eastern Polynesia . 468 Tonga-Tabu 460 Samoa ....... 470 Gambler Archipelago . . .471 The Marquesas . . . . .472 Easter Island 475 Tattooed Native, Marquesas Islands . 476 Samoan Women 477 Religions of Oceania . . . .479 Inhabitants of Oceania .... 480 Equatorial Polynesia, by Tupaia . .481 Movements of the Oceanic Populations . 482 Apia 481 Tahiti and Moorea ..... 485 Papeete 486 Nuka-Hiva 487 Political Dirisions of Oceania . . . 488 Hawaiian Islands ..... 490 Craters of Mauna-Loa and Kilauea . 491 , Lava Steeams of Kilauea . . 492 Ceatee of Kilauea, Hawaii . . . 493 Hawaii ....... 494 Honolulu . . . .495 General View of Honolulu . . . 497 OF THE UNIVERSITY of ILLINOIS, 1*1— ii'^ ixB- , a. ■■•'-■' Mai-Moumpna ' iO^ ^ T 1 >= 'n g : ''■' """ . .?..m.i» ^ 1 tTurnvtmi -^ / V s[y the Provencal Guillaume le Testu.* Lastly, Torres, who had accompanied the Queiros expedition, successfully navigated the dangerous laby- rinth of reefs and islets separating Australia from New Guinea. His name has been justly given to the strait which, with rare boldness and seamanship, he traversed from sea to sea in the space of two months. But Spaniards and Portuguese had no longer the monopoly of these oceanic regions, which had been shared between them by the famous Bull of Alexander VI. The illustrious English seafarer, Francis Drake, repeated fifty-seven years later the exploit of Magellan, first circumnavigator of the globe, and after him the routes of the Pacific were further surveyed by Cavendish and some Dutch mariners. By the close of the sixteenth century Dutch traders had even already founded factories in Java, whence their power gradually spread from island to island, everywhere displacing that of the Portuguese. In their turn the Dutch sailors took up the work of discovery in the southern waters, Tasman especially enlarging our knowledge of the Austral lands. Thus were revealed to the western world the west coast of Australia as far as Torres Strait, Tasmania with its basalt headland, New Zealand and its active volcanoes. But such was at that time the intensity of international rivalries between the chief trading peoples, that the discoveries already made by the Spanish or Portuguese pioneers remained unknown to or overlooked by the Netherlandish explorers. Although Torres had actually demonstrated the existence of a passage separating Australia from New Guinea, Tasman maintained forty years later that both lands belonged to the same continent. The second half of the eighteenth century was the decisive epoch in the scientific exploration of the South Sea Islands. Henceforth exploring expeditions were no longer undertaken in the interests of a single nation, or of some powerful trading company, but rather for the benefit of the whole of the civilised world. At the same time the more accurate observations now made imparted far greater authority to the reports of the explorers themselves. The longitudes in the southern waters were for the first time determined by the method of lunar dis- tances by Wallis in 1766. Thenceforth the enormous errors of the early seafarers, with discrepancies of from one thousand to two thousand miles, became impossible, and mariners were no longer doomed to beat about for weeks and months together in search of large archipelagoes already reported by their predecessors. Owing to this uncertainty, numerous explorers had to abandon the attempt to sight the Solomon * Major. Juin-iia! of /!„• R.„j,(l Geui/riiphirn/ Surh-I,/, IST'i. 10 AUSTEALASIA. group discovered by Mendana de Neyra. Its very existence was questioned, and the Spanish sailor's account was attributed to fantastic apparitions, clouds on the horizon simulating the outlines of reefs, coastlands, forests, or villages. On the other hand, other groups became decomposed, and the same island was sighted in apparently different places, thus receiving several names from successive observers. At last the application of astronomical processes put an end to this bewildering fluctuation in the oceanic insular regions. Cook's Voyages. The epoch of methodic exploration in the South Sea, begun bj- AVallis, may be said to have closed in 1827 with the discovery of the two great Fijian islands by Fig. 4.— FlKST ClHCnitNAVIOATION OF THE GlOBE FEOM WeST TO Ea3T AND EaST TO W"e9T. Scale 1 : 450,000,000. 0*Mend,ar,oFGreen>v.cl-. Dumont d'Urville. During the intervening sixty years, rendered memorable by the voyages of Carteret, de Bougainville, Cook, Vancouver, and Laperouse, the geographical work of oceanic research was completed in all its main features. Thenceforth nothing remained and nothing still remains to be done, except to fix more accurately the position of the island groups, to trace their outlines more carefully, indicate all the reefs, survey the doubtful landmarks, and efface those that had been erroneously inserted on the official charts. Amongst the explorers of the last century, the first place belongs unquestion- ably to Cook. The year 1769, when the illustrious navigator began his net- work of researches in the Pacific, may be said to rank next to 1521, date of Magellan's voyage, as the chief turning-point in the history of oceanic discovery. Landing at Tahiti, Cook began his gigantic labours with his memorable observa- COOK'S VOYAGES. 11 tions on the transit of Venus, thus determining a precise longitude in the centre of the Pacific. He then completely circumnavigated the two great islands of New Zealand, surveyed the east coast of Australia, and rediscovered Torres Strait. In his second voyage he explored more especially the Austral seas on both sides of the polar circle, but advancing in the opposite direction from that taken -Dates of the Chief Discotekies in Oceania. /A ^^ 3 1567 '' StrJ768 CJ77-f T JSxJ C.//7S ■fJ606 /770 Mend.anoFGreeri/. M. 1521. Magellan, Guafian, Philippines. Me. 1526. MeDezes, yew Guinea. S. 1528. A. de Saavedra, Carolines. S. 1529. A. de Saavcdra, ilarshall. G. 1531. Goillaume le Testu, Australia. V. 1543. Villalobos, Carolines, Ptlem. Md. 1567. Mendana, Ellice, 1-olomon, ^andicich. Md. 1595. Mendaoa, Marquesas, Sta. Cruz. Q. 1606. Queiros, Loto Islands. Fakao/o,Xew Bt T. 1606. Torres, Torres Straits. Louisiades. L. M. 1616 Lemaire, -Viun/u, yew Ireland. H. 1616. HarlOff, Endraehtsland. E. 1619. Edel, Edelsland. L. 1622. Leeawins, Leeuwinsland. N. 1627. Norts, Xuytsland. W. 1628. Witts, Wittaland. T. 1642. Tasman, Tasmania, Xew Zealand. T. 1643. Tasman, Tonga, Fiji, Xew Britain. T. 1644. Tasman, Tasmanland, Carpentaria. D. 1699. Dampier, Xew Guinea. B. 1765. Byion, Gilbert Island. Wa. 1767. Wallis, Tahiti. Ca. 1767. Carteret, Pitcairn, Carteret, low /; Bo, 1763. Bougainville, Samoa, Solomon. C. 1769. Cook. Austral IshnJs. C. 1770. Cook, Xew Zealand, Australia. C. 1773. Cook, Bervel/ Islands. C. 1774. Cook, Savage Island, Xew Caledonic La. 1787. Lap^roiise, Sawaii. Br. 1791. Broughton, ( halham Island. Ba. 1798. Bass, Bass's Strait. Ha. 1810. Hazelburg, Macquarie. Wk. 1811. Walker, Campbell. D. U. 1827. Dumont D'Urville, Fiji. by all previous circumnavigators. He was thus the first to make the circuit of the globe from west to east, according to the rotation round its axis. This event took place over two hundred and fifty years after Magellan's circumnavigation from east to west, following the regular course of the trade winds. Cook's third expedition was directed towards the northern waters, where he penetrated through the strait separating the two continents of Asia and America. He then rediscovered the Sandwich Islands, where he was first received 12 AUSTEALASIA. as a god, but soon after murdered under circumstances that have never been satisfactorily explained. Cook's researches had the effect of once for all exploding the theoretic fancy that on the surface of the globe the dry land should occupy exactly the same space as the oceanic basins. Since the time of Hipparchus the most eminent geo- graphers accepted as an established dogma the perfect equilibrium between land and water ; and it was under the influence of this idea that Ptolemy had traced across the southern part of the Indian Ocean a continental coastline connecting Africa with India. This shadowy seaboard, continually receding from the eager eve of navio-ators, was successively identified by them with New Guinea, New Holland, and New Zealand; and later, every island sighted in more southern latitudes was supposed to be some headland of the long-sought-for continent. Cook, who himself firmly believed in the existence of this Austral world, jjlaced its shores far to the south of the waters reached by his predecessors ; but in any case we now know that the Antarctic continent, or insular group, must be of slight extent compared with the boundless waste of circumpolar waters. When at last convinced of the absence of continental lauds in the regions traversed by Cook, his companion Forster advanced the hypothesis that nature had readjusted the etiuilibrium between the two hemispheres of the planetory orb by depositing on the bed of the Antarctic Ocean rocky masses of greater density than elsewhere. EXPLOKATION OF THE ANTARCTIC WaTERS. Although in the pride of his immense triumphs, Cook placed limits to the genius of man, declaring that no future navigator would penetrate farther south- wards, his record has already been beaten, and since his time the known siirface of the ocean has been enlarged in the direction of the South Pole. The lands discovered in some places are sufficiently contiguous to each other to be regarded as very probably forming a continuous seaboard. They would thus collectively constitute one of the largest islands on the surface of the globe. The most extensive mass of dry land in the Antarctic Zone occurs to the south of Australia. In 1839, Ballenyhad already discovered an archipelago of volcanoes in the immediate neighbourhood of the polar circle. According to his estimate the insular cone of Young Island, which is completely snowclad, would appear to attain an elevation of at least 12,000 feet. Another much lower island was seen to eject two columns of vapour. But the valleys and ravines between the peaks are everywhere filled with ice or glaciers, so that the bare rock is visible only where the action of the waves has revealed the black lavas of the cliffs and headlands surmounted by a covering of white snow. No creeks occur, nor even any strand, except here and there a narrow beach strewn with ashes and shingly scoriae. Sailing to the west of this archipelago, mainly about the sixty-fifth degree south latitude, Balleny thought he sighted land in two places, and even gave the name of Sabrina Land to some high ground dimly seen from a distance. The following year the French navigator, Dumout d'Urville, and the Americun ANTAECTIC EXPLOBATION. 13 Wilkes, were attracted to itese waters in the hope of here fixing the exact position of the south magnetic pole. They again visited the seas explored by Balleny, and both unhesitatingly asserted that they sighted true land, and not merely continuous bands of floating ice. D'Urville gave the name of Adelia to the rugged coast from 3,000 to 4,000 feet high, which he observed to the south and followed westwards across some ten degrees of the meridian, without, however, lauding at any point. Farther west Wilkes also sighted land in four places, and Figr. C — EXPLOKATIONS IN THE SoUTH PoLAR WaTEES. Scale 1 : 100,000,000. Supposed Coutiaent, all the elevated ground, whether scattered islands or continuous land, has received the general designation of Wilkes Land. Nevertheless James Ross, who followed a different track, threw some doubts on the reports of the three navigators who had followed each other in this oceanic region. Nothing, in fact, is more deceptive than the hazy horizons of these southern waters, where the rays of a low sun are refracted on the ice, and where the most practised eye is needed to distinguish between a real rocky crag and a "crystalline mountain detached from some distant glacier." Except at one point, 14 AUSTRALASIA. where he'came close to the bhick rocks of a line of cliffs, Wilkes kept everywhere at a distance of about twelve miles from the ice-fringed land, which appeared to be everywhere covered with hoar-frost. East of the Balleny Islands, he al.so reported a mountain mass on the very spot where James Ross, sailing in an open sea, afterwards failed to touch the bottom with a sounding-line 1,000 fathoms long. But whatever view be taken of the true character of Wilkes Land, it is certain that east of the Balleny Archipelago the sea extends much farther southwards. James Ross explored these waters in 1841 and 1842, each time penetrating nearer to the South Pole than any previous or subsequent navigator. In 1842, the expedition specially equipped for piercing the ice floes reached 78° 9 30", which, however, is still over 800 miles in a bee-line from the South Pole, or nearly 400 miles short of the corresponding point reached in the Arctic Zone. During his first voyage, Ross followed southwards the east coast of a region which he named Victoria Land, and which is lined by imposing mountains such as the glittering ice-capped peak of Sabrina (10,000 feet), and the still loftier Melbourne, rising to an altitude of considerably over 13,000 feet. At the point where the expedition was compelled to turn back, there towered above the ice-bound waters the twin volcanoes of Erebus (12,000 feet) and Terror (11,000 feet), the former of which emitted volumes of smoke, murkj' during the day and ruddy at night. The navigators, who had succeeded in getting ashore at two places on this Austral continent, were prevented from landing near the volcanoes bj' a wall of ice nearly 350 feet high, which formed the escarpment ' of a vast plain at least 300 miles broad. East of Victoria Land the expeditions of Cook and Bellingshausen have revealed the existence of no Antarctic mainland south of the East Pacific waters, or of any land at all, except a doubtful islet reported by Cook, and by him named Stone Island. But in the region south of America, facing Cape Horn and the neigh- bouring archipelagoes, the islands or perhaps the coasts of a great Antarctic land have been seen at several points in the neiglibourhood of the polar circle. Here Bellingshausen discovered Alexander Land, which is probably continuous with the hilly coast of Graham's Land observed by Biscoe in 1832, and more carefully indicated by Dallman in 1874. Then to the north-east of this elevated ground stretch parallel chains of numerous islands, comprising Louis-Philippe and de Join- ville Lands, discovered by 'Dumont d'Urville, the Shetland Isles and Southern Orkneys, already sighted by the English and American whalers, and perhaps even by the Dutch vessel Van Geerifs in 1598. All these are mountainous masses encircled by deep waters where the sounding-line records hundreds of fathoms Avithin a few cable-lengths of the shore. But immediately to the east of these archipelagoes, Captain Weddell, in command of a whaler, forced a passage in 1823 through the floating ice and entered a perfectly open sea, where he penetrated southwards beyond the seventy- fourth degree of latitude. This is the southernmost point yet reached in the waters stretching south of the Atlantic. Farther east — that is, in the direction of Wilkes Land — the only dry land yet seen are the coasts of Enderby and Kemp, extending ANTAECTIC EXPLORATION. 15 to the south of the polar circle. Biscoe, who discovered Enderby in 1831, in vain attempted to land on the island, being everywhere prevented by the masses of ice at a distance of 18 or 20 mUes from the shore. Nevertheless, a whaler subse- quently succeeded in reaching this point. TheYictoria and Louis-Philippe mountains, which of all the Antarctic regions advance farthest northwai'ds, are situated, the Pig. ". — XOETHEEX PeOMONTORT OF THE ANTARCTIC MaIXLANII. Scale 1 : 3,300,000. Depths. 1,000 Fathoms and upwards. 60 MUes. former over against New Zealand, the latter opposite tbe southern extremity of America. Thus mountain ranges and volcanic chains face each other on either side of the Antarctic waters. Since the voyages of Ross — that is to say, for nearly half a century — no scientific expedition has penetrated beyond the polar circle. In 1874 the Challenger approached without crossing it. It is surprising that in these days of daring IG AUSTRALASIA. enterprise the serious prosecution of the work of exjiloration should have been suspended for so many years, more especially as research has been greatly facilitated by the progress of maritime enterprise and the thousand resources offered by modern appliances. Hence it is with a certain feeling of shame that geographers have to record the enormous gaps still occurring along the line of antarctic navigation, and well may ask for volunteers to resume the work of Cook, Ross, d'Urville and other illustrious navigators. At one time it was hoped that the next expedition might have been fitted out in Australia, which lies nearest to the south polar lands, and whose inhabitants are most interested in investigating the meteorological and glacial phenomena of those frigid regions. Between the southernmost point of Tasmania and the coast of Wilkes Land the distance is not more than 1,600 miles. But a scheme advocated in 1888 came to nothing owing to the parsimony of the British Government, which refused to grant the modest sum of £5,000 required to meet the preKrainary expenses. The question, however, has now been taken up by the Germans, and there are some prospects that the influence of Dr. Neumayer may induce the Reichstag to grant a sufficient sum to defray the expenses of a German antarctic expedition. Bathvmetkic Researches. In the f)art of the ocean whose surface has already been surveyed, the exploration of its depths has long been begun, and the density of the marine waters may even be said to be ascertained, at least in a general way. The Indian Ocean presents as a whole a tolerably regular bed, with a somewhat uniform depth of over 2,000 fathoms. As revealed by the soundings of the Challenger and other more recent expeditions, the submarine escarpments of the continent and large islands enclosing this basin on three sides fall rapidly down to the oceanic abysses, so that almost everywhere a depth of 1,000 fathoms occurs within 130 miles of the coasts. Towards 40° south latitude a body of equal depth floods the sill which forms the southern limit of the Indian Ocean, properly so called. Within this normal bathymetric curve of 1,000 fathoms, which is disposed nearly parallel with the continental seaboards, the line of 2,000 fathoms describes a large number of sinuosities, at least to the west and north round about Madagascar, the Mascarenhas, the Seychelles, and the Laccadives. The Chagos archipelago also rises in the midst of abysses flooded by from 2,000 to 2,500 fathoms of water. The mean for the whole Indian Ocean is estimated by John Murray at about 2,100 fathoms, or 450 more than Otto Kriimmel's calculation. The greatest cavities hitherto revealed by the sounding line in this basin occur in the regions lying between the north-west coast of Australia and the islands of Java and Sumatra. Here the vessels engaged in laying the submarine cable have recorded depths of from 2,600 to 2,800 fathoms, and to this abyss Kriimmel proposes to give the name of the " Lemurian Depression." It is a remarkable fact that the deepest chasms in the Indian Ocean have been found at relativelv short distances OCEANIC SOUNDINGS. 17 from the shore, and in the vicinity of the most actiye volcanic area in the Sunda Islands. Along nearly the whole coastline of the Antarctic lands south of the Indian and Pacific Oceans the waters appear to be much shallower, judging at least from the results of the few soundings that have hitherto been taken. It would almost seem as if the greater cavities had been gradually filled in by the ice-borne debris from the austral regions. Nevertheless, an enormous abyss does apparentlj' occur under the Antarctic polar circle to the south-east of the Southern Fig. 8. — Depths of the Austkai. Seas. Scale 1 : 100,000,000. Orkneys, where James Eoss failed to touch the bottom with a sounding line over 4,200 fathoms long. This solitary record, however, will have to be verified by fresh observations. Compared witb the Indian Ocean, which is destitute of islands in its more central parts, the Pacific, everywhere studded with archipelagoes, presents an extremely irregular bed. In many places occur elevated submarine banks, which would be transformed to islands or peninsulas were the sea-level to be lowered a vo].. XIV. c 18 AUSTEALARIA. , few hundred fathoms. The three great Indonesian islands of Sumatra, Java, and Borneo, together with' the Malay peninsula, all rest on a vast flooded plateau, where the water is scarcely anywhere more than forty fathoms deep. The two great oceanic basins are here separated by a sill some 900 miles broad. Australia and New Guinea may in the same way be regarded as forming upheaved portions of a common submarine bank, which also comprises Tasmania in the south, and in the north several insular groups contiguous to Papuasia. But the two regions of the Eastern Archipelago and Australia are separated by a trough over 500 fathoms deep skirting the east side of Timor, while depths of over 2,000 fathoms have been recorded to the south of Ceram. In the Pacific properly so called most of. the archipelagoes with their dependent chains of reefs also rest on elevated banks, which like that of Central America are nearly all disposed in the direction from north-west to south-east. In the vast semicircle of continental lands sweeping round from the Cape of Good Hope to Cape Horn, the archipelagoes of the Pacific would thus appear to be the scattered frag- ments of a circle resting eastwards on the American seaboard. The disposition of these outer and inner curves maj^ be compared to" that of many large breached craters, within which have been developed regular craters of smaller dimensions. The deep cavities limited on either side by the elevated banks have received from the English and American explorers names which recall either the vessels employed in the hydrographic surveys of the South Seas, or else the naturalists who have laboured with the greatest zeal in these bathymetric operations. Thus the circular cavity to the west of Tasmania over 2,000 fathoms deep has been named " Jeffrey's Trough." Here the line recorded at one spot a dejjth of no less than 2,600 fathoms. On the east side of Tasmania in the direction of New Zealand occurs another chasm of larger size and equal depth (Thomson's), which is con- tinued in the north towards Queensland by that of Patterson, thirty or forty fathoms deeper. Those of the Gazelle, running parallel with the general axis of the oceanic islands, that Is, in the direction from the north-west to south-east, are somewhat shallower, nowhere exceeding 2,300 fathoms. At their western extremity they are connected with those of Carpenter, which begin at Torres Strait and Papuasia, and terminate between New Caledonia and the New Hebrides. At the deepest point the plummet here recorded 2,630 fathoms, or about three miles, and an equal depth occurs in the Nares pit to the north of New Guinea and New Britain. The cavities are still deeper towards the east, where those of Hildgard and Miller have 3,080 and 3,305 fathoms respectively. North of the Carolines the Pacific waters are far less obstructed by insular groups, and, as might have been expected, are proportionately deej)er than those of Polynesia properly so called. The cavities named from the ChaUenger, to which we are indebted for so many important researches in oceanic physiography, offer the enormous depth of 4,575 fathoms between the Carolines and the Marianne group, while farther east in the direction of the Marshall Islands other chasms have disclosed depths of considerably over 3,000 fathoms. Lastlj% the whole of the North Pacific region between Japan and California presents a vast elliptical OCEANIC SOUNDINGS. 19 trough encircling a shallower central area, whose axis is formed by the Sandwich Islands and the reefs continuing them towards the north-west. The pits named from Wyman (3,300), east of Hawaii, as well as those of Belknap (3,100) and Ammen (3,094), south and west of the same group, belong to this circular depres- sion, which farther west towards Japan takes the name of the Tnscarora, the American ship which here revealed the greatest depth yet recorded in any oceanic basin. This chasm of 4,650 fathoms, sinking nearly as low as the highest moun- tain rises above sea-level, is situated about 240 miles to the east of the southern extremitj- of the Kurile Archipelago. As in the Indian Ocean, the greatest depths would thus seem to occur also in the Pacific in the neighbourhood of igneous areas, that is, along the line of active volcanoes which curves round from Japan to the peninsula of Alaska. These chains of burning mountains may thus be said to represent the true coastline of the North Pacific basin. Beyond them the waters are comparatively very shallow, except in one part of the Bering Sea, where depths of 500 and even 1,000 fathoms have been recorded. The projecting mainlands of North-east Asia and North-west America rest on a common submarine base, which approaches very near to the surface. In Bering Strait itself the mean depth is little over 20 fathoms, and nowhere exceeds 30 fathoms. Between these shallows, here scarcely separating the two continents, and the profound abysses of the North Pacific the transition is verj^ sudden. At some jooint the soimdings have revealed precipitous inclines which would be regarded as steep slopes even in Continental Alpine regions. Except in the neighbourhood of California the Eastern Pacific waters have been less carefully surveyed than the Australasian seas. The whole space, some 12,000,000 square miles in extent, comprised between the Polynesian archi- pelagoes and the American seaboard from Mexico to Chili, was still unsounded before the expedition of the Italian vessel, the Vettor Pisani, in 1885. Now however, we possess a series of thirteen soundings between the coast of New Grenada and the Sandwich Islands, where 3,140 fathoms was the greatest depth recorded by this expedition. Allowing for the irregularity of the intervals between these soundings, the mean depth of the marine bed in this part of the East Pacific Ocean would appear to be about 2,300 fathoms. Before the Vettor Pisani expedition the velocity of the waves caused by great seaquakes was the only available means for determining the depth of the waters in this section of the oceanic basin. The .specimens brought to the surface during the various exploring expeditious present on the whole a remarkable uniformitJ^ In the vicinitj' of the land, and especially about the great fluvial estuaries, the mud and claj's of the marine bed are formed by deposits of terrestrial origin mingled with fragments of shells and corals. Farther seaward, in depths ranging from 500 to 1,500 fathoms, the sedi- mentary matter consists of triturated shells and the calcareous remains of animal- culas. The mud dredged in these waters contains from ninety to ninety-five per cent, of carbonate of lime. But according as the depths increase this proportion diminishes, and in aby.^ses of 2,000 to 2,500 fathoms the prevailing formation is c2 20 AUSTRALASIA. everywhere a clay formed of foraminifera, radiolaria, diatoms, and other remains of minute organisms mixed with particles of pumice and various decomposed products of volcanic origin. Neither gravel nor the bare rock has anywhere been discovered on the deep bed of the Indian Ocean. The slight proportion of carbonate of lime in clays lying at great depths is due to the carbonic acid present in the water. The countless calcareous organisms falling as dust from the upper marine waters become completely dissolved before reaching the bottom. But sharks' teeth and the skeletons of cetaceans occur abundantly in the argillaceous deposits, from which the remains of extinct and living animals are often fished up together. Nodules of iron of cosmic origin arc also found interspersed in the same clays. Atmospheric Currents. As attested by the very name of " Pacific," given to the great ocean by its first discoverers, storms are less frequent in this basin than in the Atlantic, at least in the tropical latitudes with low tides. This is due to the vast uniform surface presented by an immense extent of the South Sea far from the neighbourhood of continental seaboards, which owing to the great differences in their reliefs give rise to abrupt changes in the climate and the course of the winds. The waters are usually the least ruffled and navigation safest in the Eastern Pacific regions, where vessels sail for thousands of miles without meeting a single island. Here also the trade winds blow with the greatest uniformity. Those from the north- east prevail with great constancy in the^troiDical zone some 7,000 miles broad comprised between the Revilla-Gigedo and the Marianne groups. The south- eastern trades have a less extensive range of about 3,000 miles between the Galapagos and the Marquesas. But the course of the atmospheric currents is interrupted and frequently turned backwards by the thousand independent centres of attraction formed by the insular groups, some mountainous, others scarcely rising above the surface, which are scattered over the West Pacific equatorial waters. The normal trades are here often replaced by the alternating winds, which follow in the track of the sun. During the winter of the southern hemisphere the south-east trades are most regular ; but in summer their ascendency is contested by northern and north- eastern breezes. Frequently also dead calms set in, while occasionally the con- flicting currents give rise to cyclonic movements. A remarkably mild temperature usually prevails in the oceanic archipelagoes, surrounded by waters which are subject to less vicissitudes of heat and cold even than the atmosphere itself. Between the hottest and coldest month on either side of the equator within the tropics the mean temperature of 72° to 77° F. has an extreme range limited to from four to eight degrees. Nevertheless, the oscilla- tions for the whole year range from twenty-eight to thirty-six degrees according to the position of the insular groups. The rainfall also shows discrepancies of as much as tenfold and upwards, accord- 'NlVERSlTYoflLUNOlS. OCEANIC AEEIAL CUEEEXTS. 21 ing as the slopes of the islauds are exposed to the moist or dry wiuds. Thus while certain valleys enjoy a copious and even an excessive annual supply of moisture, certain low-lj'ing islands in the neighbourhood of the equator receive scarcely a single shower except at long intervals. "West and south-west of the PoljTiesian islands properly so called, the vicinity of the great insular masses, such as New Guinea, Australia, Celebes, and Borneo, attracts the aerial currents more powerfully in the hot seasons than at other times. Hence are developed here, not merely gentle breezes, as in Eastern Oceania, but regular monsoons of longer or shorter duration, according to the diverse conditions of the environment, the extent of dry land, the altitude of the highlands, the super- ficial area of spaces destitute of vegetation. In these regions the south-east trades prevail during the winter season of the southern hemisphere ; but in summer the normal currents set from the west or nortt-west, and are usually accompanied by moisture-bearing clouds and heavy downpours. Thus the normal meteorological system is regulated by two uniformly alternating currents setting in contrary directions, and of essentially different character, one bringing fair the other foul weather. Nevertheless, the endless intricacies of creeks, bays, inlets, straits, and channels cause numerous irregulai'ities and local breezes, by which the whole system is in many places greatly modified. On the very verge of the range of the monsoons the atmospheric currents are deflected from their regular path. The waters of Torres Strait between New Guinea and Australia, obstructed by innumerable shoals and reefs, and averaging not more than some 10 or 12 fathoms in depth, are heated by the tropical suns to a much higher degree than the deep oceanic basins to the east and west. The consequence is a considerable increase of temperature in the circumambient atmosphere, which thus becomes a focus of attraction for all the surrounding- currents. The north-east trades veer round so as to set directly up the strait, where they blow with great violence during the winter months. On the other hand, the summer monsoons, which prevail especially in December, January, and Feb- ruary, cease to set in the direction of the south-east and are deflected towards the strait about Port- Moresby, thus depriving the York peninsula of its due share of moisture. In the centre of the labyrinth of islands between New Guinea and Borneo the aerial sj'stem is so disturbed b}- the various modifying conditions of the environ- ment, that it is not always possible to determine with certainty the true character of the current, whether a trade- wind or a monsoon, or to decide to which should be attributed the moisture-bearing clouds. Here the annual rainfall is generally very copious, in some islands, such as Sumatra, exceeding 160 inches. The aver- age temperature (78° to 82° F., according to the aspect of the seaboard) is also higher than in the South Sea Islands ; it is also more uniform, varying not more than four or five degrees between the hottest and coldest months. The yearly range is, in fact, less than the daily variation between the morning and afternoon. Owing to this equable regime the Eastern Archipelago has been called the " hothouse " of the great terrestrial botanical garden. •22 AUSTRALASIA. West of Borneo and the Philippines the meteorological conditions are again modified by the dijfferences in the outlines and elevations of the great insular masses. Here mariners no longer speak of trade winds, and recognise the monsoons alone. That of the south-west, sweeping over the Sunda Strait and Sumatra, prevails somewhat regularly from the middle of April to the middle of October, in the more open waters stretching awaj' to Formosa. But it is occasion- allv interrupted by the south-eastern winds, and on the insular and continental seaboards its course is fringed by lateral breezes, eddies, and back-currents, which enable sailing craft to beat up against the monsoon. This south-west wind which prevails in summer is followed in winter by the north-east monsoon, which is in fact the normal polar current. Like the south- west monsoon it blows throughout half the year, although most intensely in December and January. Both seasons are accomjjanied by rains, as well as by sudden gales and storms. But the terrific cyclonic movements of the China Sea, here known as typhoons, that is, Un ftmg, or " great winds," occur chiefly during the south-west monsoon in June or July, or else towards the September equinox when the normal annual currents are reversed. These fierce whirlwinds, which are generally developed in the east, move with spiral action in the direction of the west or north-west. They are usually more intense in the vicinity of the land than on the high seas, and fall off rapidly towards the south. Hence the typhoons rarely extend their range towards the equatorial regions in the waters stretching south of Lucon, largest of the Philippine Islands. Beyond the Sunda Archipelago, that is, in the open sjDace presented by the Indian Ocean as far as the Mascarenhas and Madagascar, the winds are less influenced by insular or continental seaboards, and consequently here acquire a far more regular course. The zone of the south-east trades, which occupies the section of the ocean comprised between Australia, Madagascar, and the equator, is uniformly displaced northwards and southwards according to the alternation of the seasons themselves. Thus it is shifted to the north of the equator with the movement of the sun towards the northern hemisphere, while at other times its range seldom extends much beyond the 5° of south latitude. But round about the central part of the ocean, dominated by the regular system of the south-east trades, there stretches the vast semicircle of lands between South Africa and Australia, which are fringed by a zone of alternating monsoons setting landwards during the hot and seawards during the cold season. In no region of the globe have the monsoons a more regular course than in the northern section of the Indian Ocean between Somaliland and Sumatra. The south-west monsoon with its escort of thunderstorms and rains prevails from the middle of April to the middle of September throughoiit the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal. It is followed by that of the north-east, that is, the polar current, which lasts from the middle of October to the middle of March. But in the southern hemisphere the atmospheric system is less regular on the coasts of Australia, Madagascar, and the African mainland; nor is the contrast between land and nater so sharply marked in this region. Here also, as in the China Sea, the clash M-VEIXE CUBEEXTS. 23 of the conflicting winds at times gives rise to tremendous hurricunes, especially at the change of the monsoons and during the summer heats. These disturbiiuces are most disastrous in the neighbourhood of the Mascarenhas, although they also occasionally spread havoc over the waters of the Gulf of Aden and the Bay of Bengal. On their outer borders in the direction of the poles the region of the trade ■winds is skirted by zones of variable currents, the mean result of which generally takes the direction from west to east. Being enclosed towards the north, the Indian Ocean has naturally one only of these zones comprised mainly between 28° and 60° south latitude. But the Pacific, as well as the Atlantic, has its two systems of variable winds, one in the northern the other in the southern hemi- sphere, the latter merging westwards in that of the Indian Ocean, eastwards in that of the Atlantic, and thus completing the circuit of the globe. The discovery of these oceanic regions dominated b}- the western currents, that is by the counter trade winds, has been of paramount importance in the history of maritime research. Guided by his knowledge of the Atlantic winds, Urdaneta was thus enabled to direct vessels across the Pacific towards the shores of the Jfew World, while by fol- lowing the corresponding zone of variable winds in the southern hemisphere Cook successfully accomplished the circumnavigation of the planet in the contrary direction to that followed by Magellan. Marine Currents. The movement of the marine corresponds to that of the aerial currents in the great oceanic basin, but the former, belonging to a more stable element, are naturally of a more constant character than the latter. They represent, so to say, the fly-wheel of the great terrestrial mechanism. Hence the rythmical displace- ments of the waters across the boundless oceanic spaces have been of even greater moment than those of the atmosphere in the history of human progress. If the trades and coimter-trades have enabled European navigators the more easily to traverse the ocean between the Old and the Xew TTorld, and thus hastened the work of exploration amongst the oceanic islands and austral lands, to the marine currents was largely due the dispersion of mankind and gradual peopling of half the globe. The prominent feature in the vast system of oceanic movements is the great stream which in the equatorial seas sets in the same direction as the apparent course of the sun between the shores of the New World and those of New Guinea and the Philippines. The liquid volume which thus trends from east to west has a mean breadth of probably over 3,000 mUes, for it is occasionally observed ranging from 26^ south to 2-1° north latitude, but with a reflux or a zone of calm waters in its central parts. The whole body of equatorial seas moves with a velocity varying from 20 to 40 miles a day according to the seasons and the surroundings, and to a depth which certainly exceeds 750 fathoms in the axis of the stream. And this prodigious moving mass traverses nearly one-half of the 24 AUSTRALASIA. circumference of the planet. Compared with such an oceanic current all the rivers flowing from the continental regions seawards sink into insignificance. The discharge is at least 70,000 millions of cubic feet per second. This vast central current, main branch of the system of secondary streams developed in the rest of the ocean, gives rise to two great lateral backwaters, one in the North Pacific, the other in the Southern Ocean. Taking the same course as the monsoons of the Caroline Archipelago, the waters of the equatorial stream are deflected towards the north-west in the direction of Japan ; then on approaching the Chinese seaboard they follow the coast towards the north-east, and under the name of Kuro-Sivo, or " Black Stream," expand into a vast curve across the North Pacific. Although gradually losing the character of a current in the strict sense of the term, it sets slowly along the coasts of British North America, the United States, and Lower California, ultimately rejoining the equatorial current. To this gieat stream in the northern corresjjonds another in the southern hemisphere. South of the equatorial seas a liquid mass passing east and west of New Zealand turns south to the austral waters, and by a curve symmetrical with that of the Kuro-Sivo merges west of Chili in a littoral current, which skirts the American coast till it becomes again absorbed in the equatorial stream. An analogous movement takes place in the Indian Ocean, where the waters of the hot zone also set slowly in the direction of the west. At Madagascar they ramify into two branches, which flow southwards, and in the Antarctic regions form a junction with a return current, which after coasting the West Australian seaboard rejoin the equatorial waters. But although analogous in their main features these three great movements present many striking differences in their details, according as they are affected by the course of the winds, the depths of the seas, the form and disposition of the neighbouring lands. In many places the more sluggish waters quicken their speed, and in the very heart of the sea is thus developed a sort of river, whose water is distinguished from that on either side both by its colour and velocity. The friction against its liquid banks causes it to oscillate in short waves like those of a fluvial rapid, while the conflict of waters of varying temperature gives rise to fogs spreading over vast spaces. Such phenomena are observed chiefly about the Kuro-Sivo of Japan and its eastern extension across the North Pacific. Each counter current has also its lateral streams, which penetrate into the straits and inlets, as well as its tribiitaries of cold water flowing from the polar seas. An incessant interchange goes on between the tepid floods of the equatorial regions and those of low temperature coming from the frigid zone. These polar waters move bodily in the direction of the equator, in order to replace the losses caused by evaporation under the tropical latitudes. According to the course of the winds, the form of the marine bed and of the seaboards, this collective displacement becomes decomposed in secondary and more rapid streams, some of which flow by the side of those setting in the contrary direction from the equator, while others passing underneath them continue their course at lower depths. At first sight it might be sujjposed that all the polar streams, being colder and MARINE CUREKXTS. 25 consequently relatively denser than the equatorial, should in all cases plunge beneath the more tejjid waters with which they come in contact. But some, being- less saline, owing either to their slighter evaporation or to their mingling with the fresh water of the melting icebergs, are in fact lighter than the surrounding warmer masses, and consequently rise to the surface. Naturalists engaged in exploring the oceanic depths endeavour to detect the course of these super- imposed currents setting in opposite directions by ascertaining the temjaerature at certain intervals along the line of soundings. This is one of the most delicate of marine operations, the full significance of the recorded phenomena being itself at times very difficult to appreciate. But by carefully comparing the results of observations taken in different places they are able gradually to arrive at trust- worthy conclusions. The normal sequence of temperatures from the surface to the bottom has already been determined. The upper layer being in contact with the atmosphere, its tem- perature coincides with that of the local isothermals, while the deeper waters are scarcely above freezing-point, the intermediate spaces showing a regular transition between the two extremes. All anomalies in this gradual transition, all abrupt changes are assumed to indicate the presence of disturbing currents. Thus in the austral seas, between 34° and 66° south latitude, the gradation of temperature is modified by the neighbourhood of floating ice. At from 500 to 1,100 feet below the surface a cold layer intervenes between the upper strata heated by the summer suns and the lower waters whose temperature decreases normally downwards. This cold layer, which oscillates about the freezing point, is evidently due to the melting of the enormous icebergs always present in these latitudes. Of the special cold currents either setting from the poles or rising from the lower depths, the most remarkable for its influence on the climate of the coastlanda is the stream named from Humboldt, and known also as the Peruvian Current, which skirts the western shores of South America, and which is from 20° to 22° F. colder than the neighbouring waters. The North American seaboard is also washed by a frigid stream, which flows southward to the equatorial seas. A small part of this stream may perhaps in Bering Strait intersect a branch of the tepid water setting towards the Arctic Ocean ; but the great mass of the cold water trending southwards comes from the Alaska seas and other inlets of the North Pacific. The marine waters are thus being everywhere constantly displaced, and in this way the southern floods with their corresponding flora and fauna are carried northwards, while the regions of the torrid zone are tempered by contact with the polar currents. The climates of the two different zones blend in a new climate, thanks to the intermingling streams, or else flow side by side in opposite directions, since to every displacement corresponds an opposite movement. Even the great equatorial stream has its counter-stream, which answers to the atmo- spheric zone of calms, and which, especially from June to October, sets in the direction from west to east, that is, from New Guinea to Equador. It is precisely in the axis of the equatorial stream, and especially south of the line, that this 26 AUSTRALASIA. general backward movement of the oceanic waters malces itself felt. It has an estimated mean breadth of three hiindred miles ; but it follows a somewhat irregular course, and in many places merges in lateral backwaters. The Indian Ocean has also its counter equatorial stream skirting the north side of the current which sets towards the west. Students of historical migrations attach the greatest importance to those parallel currents flowing in ojDposite direc- tions, and thus facilitatiug the movement of peojjles from continent to continent. Drift Ice — Icebergs and Floes. Round about the Antarctic ice-cap the approach to the islands and mainland is obstructed by continuous streams of drift ice and floes, which are constantly drifting Fig. 9. — Ice Field traced by Ditmont D'Ueville. Scale 1 : 1,330,000. u,0.:M,> about, in one place grouped together in the form of gulfs or marine inlets, in another disposed like projecting headlands, elsewhere developing long narrow passages into which navigators cannot venture to penetrate without extreme cau- tion. Ranging in height from 10 to 14 feet, but here and there interspersed with irregular groups or " bunches," resembling erratic boulders, these masses no longer present an insurmountable obstacle to mariners provided with the powerful appli- ances of modern mechanics, and with vessels specially constructed to resist the impact or pressure of floating ice. Beyond these shifting barriers stretch comparatively open spaces which are occupied only by great icebergs, either isolated or accompanied by a cortege of lesser blocks. Explorers who have penetrated into these Antarctic seas about the polar circle, or even bej'ond 70° south latitude, have observed that these icebergs DIUFT ICE. 27 drifting northwards with the current differ both iu their form and origin. Some, which break away from steep upland valleys, present a great diversity of outline and appearance. According to the lines of fracture or the tilt of the glaciers shooting them seawards, they rise above the surface in the form of domes, peaks, or needles. Others again, which are usually of vast size, take the shape of rect- angular blocks with almost level upper surface. These are not of glacier origin, but have been detached from the icy barrier skirting the flat coastlands at varying distances. They do not melt even in summer. During the fine seasons of 1841, 1842, and 1843, Ross found that only on eighteen days the temperature rose three or four degrees above freezing point. Some were fringed with transjDarent stalac- tites, which this explorer was unable to explain, as he had never observed the ice melting. As far as can be judged from the few observations hitherto made, the frozen masses, 160 to 180 feet high, are simply the land ice gradually impelled seawards by the pressure of the more or less inclined masses covering the interior of the continent. Owing to their specific gravity thej' project for distances of even 10 or 20 miles beyond the coastline, while still adhering to the rocky bed. In the neighbourhood of the barrier Ross found a depth of 250 fathoms, which is precisely the depth at which icebergs rising 180 or 200 feet above the surface must, so to say, " lose their footing," and float away freely. The weight of the icebergs being about nine-tenths of that of marine water, nine-tenths of their volume must neces- sarily remain .submerged ; but the mass being generally broader at the base than the summit, the depth of the submerged walls must be estimated at seven or eight times the height of the exposed clifl's. Once detached from the continental sheet of ice by some rectilinear form of breakage, the huge flotsam sets out on its long journey towards the equatorial seas. Some of the blocks present a regular wall 5 or 6 miles long with arched openings at the base. They look almost like some street frontage gone adrift, at times sparkUng in the sun, but more frequently wrapped in vapour, like some misty phantom of the brain. A nearer view reveals a frowning stronghold, faced by mighty bastions ; embattled ramparts or gloomy recesses where the angry waters disappear amid the flanking towers ; overhanging cornices with snowy draperies pendent from the summit. The icy cliffs, standing out at a distance with even surface of uniform duU colour, are now resolved into an endless variety of tints and outlines. Throughout the whole thickness of the walls follow the parallel parting lines of the successive snowy layers crystallized by pressure and the weather, drawing continu- ally closer with the superincumbent weight, here and there warped to serpentine curves or else fractured with sharp fissures. The prominent parts are of a dazzling whiteness, others shaded in blue, each slope, each crystal aperture the loveliest azure, and at night the floating mass is all aglow with an opal phosphoi-escence. It drifts slowly with the current, incessantly lashed by the waves breaking against it, as against some rocky shoal. The crews of passing vessels often hear the continuous thunder of the waters rushing through its cavernous recesses and dashing against the inner walls. Then the sustaining pillars at last give way, the arched vaults 28 AUSTRALASIA. break with a crash, and the scattered fragments of the crystalline mountains lose that tabular form which is so characteristic of the soutliern as compared with the northern icebergs. Gradually breaking into smaller pieces, the debris floats away in long convoys, where it is no longer possible to distinguish those of marine from those of glacier oi'igin. According to the quantity of the drifting ice and the velocity of the currents the fragments advance to a greater or lesser distance northwards, as a rule, however, seldom penetrating much bej^ond the 55° of south latitude. Yet they have not unfrequently been met much nearer the equator, especially to the west of New Zealand and in the South Atlantic, where they have been seen as far north as Tristao da Cunha, and off the Cape of Good Hope under the thirty- fourth parallel. On an average the austral advance 240 miles nearer to the equator than the northern icebergs. The largest observed by the Challenger was about 250 feet high ; but Cook recorded one over 330 feet, while several fully one-third higher were measured by Wilkes. They range as a rule from 1,500 to 3,000 feet in breadth, yet none of those seen by the naturalists of the Challenger carried any fragments detached from the rocky mountain slopes, although such cases were frequently observed by Ross, Dumoiit d'Urville, and other explorers. A sketch by John MacNab, who accompanied Balleny's ex- pedition of 1839, represents an iceberg bearing a black rock embedded between two cr\ stal nijjpers. Another huge mass seen by Weddell was so covered with blackish claj' that at a distance it would certainly have been taken for a cliff. Volcanic Agencies. Drift ice thus contributes in some measure to raodifj' the form of the continents by transporting debris of all kinds to the islands scattered for thousands of miles over the ocean, or depositing them on the marine bed and in this way perhaps laying the foundation for future barrier reefs. But other ageucies are also at work, in one place enlarging, in another diminishing the contours of the oceanic lands. The researches of naturalists have shown that during the course of long ages these agencies have accomplished considerable changes in the geograjjhy of the Pacific islands. In the work of modification the chief jjart has been played by the submarine igneous forces, and the coralline " island builders," which strew the seas with their marvellous structures. Volcanoes are far more numerous and energetic in the Pacific basin and sur- rounding continental seaboards than on the opposite shores of the Old and New World washed by the Atlantic. The fires of Iceland, the Azores, the Canaries, the Cape Yerd Islands and West Indies, pale before those which follow at intervals around the vast semicircle formed by the coasts of the mainlands sweeping round from Cape Horn to the Cape of Good Hope. The craters are reckoned by hundreds in this "fiery circle " some 20,000 miles in extent, which reaches from the northern island of New Zealand to the southern shores of Chili. Here the chain of burn- ing mountains, occasionally interrupted by wide intervals, especially north of New VOLCANIC AGEXCIES. 29 Ze;ilanrl, compTises the active cones of tlie Xew Hebrides, the Santa-Cniz and Solo- mon groups, the chain of the Philippines, and of Japan, where Milne reckons 129, of which thirty-fiTe are active, the Kurile Archipelago with sixteen, the Aleutian Islands with thirty-four, of which ten are active. Through the Alaskan peninsula the series is connected with those of the west coast of America, which are continued southwards to the Bridgeman and other cones and westwards to the New Shet- land Islands. Here rises the breached crater of Deception Island with its circular haven IS or 20 miles round and oOO feet deep, whose flanks consisting of alternate Fig. 10. — Volcanoes of the Pacific. Scale 1 : 200,000,000. strata of ice and ashes discharge rivulets of thermal waters. Lastly, this focus of activity is connected by the arc of a circle passing by the south pole with the three lofty cones of Erebus, Terror, and Melbourne, the first of which still casts a lurid light over the dreary waste of snow. Between these giants and Xew Zealand the vast circuit is completed by a succession of islands and headlands, partly at least composed of lavas. Within the circuit itself occur the lines of faults, through which have been vomited mountains of scoriae or ashes, and most of these cones run in parallel lines 80 AUSTRALASIA. or are disposed iu curves. The Mariannas, the Tonga and Samoan archipelagoes have all their volcanoes, and towards the centre of the circuit of North Pacific burning mountains rises the group of stupendous Hawaiian craters. Beyond the circuit towards the Indian Ocean, a formidable igneous chain, beginning to the west of New Guinea, comprises a line of islands west of Timor, Flores, Sumbawa, Sombok, and Biili, together with Java with its forty-five cones, of which twentj^-eight are still active. West of Java the volcanic chain no longer runs westwards, but is intersected at a sharp angle by another line of fracture traversing Sumatra with its sixty-seven cones, of which five are still active. On the opposite side of the Indian Ocean rise the insular cones of the !Mascarenhas and Comoro group, while Madagascar itself is studded with hundreds of extinct craters. Others, such as those of St. Paul and Amsterdam, follow in the austral waters, here rising amid the surrounding ice floes. New Zealand, the Sunda Islands, Japan, the Kuriles and Hawaii are amongst the regions that have been most profoundly modified by igneous agencies, at least during the historic period. But the most active centre on the surface of the globe is probably the Sunda Strait, which marks the precise spot where the two volcanic axes of Java and Sumatra intersect each other on the edge of the submarine bank separating the Sunda plateau from the deep abysses of the Indian Ocean. Here is situated the famous island of Krakatau, which lost two-thirds of its area during the eruption of 1883, when other islands rose to the surface, and the atmosphere became charged with volcanic dust wafted by the winds round the periphery of the globe. Coralline Formatioxs. — Atolls. The changes caused by the coral builders, although accomplished at a much slower rate and without any sudden convulsion of nature, are none the less even more important than those due to igneous agency. In the Pacific alone Dana enumerates two hundred and ninety coralline islands, which with the inner lagoons cover a total ai'ea of no less than 20,000 square miles.* If to these be added, surfaces large enough to afford space for a village or clump of cocoauut palms, the islands and islets must be reckoned by mmy thousands which have been constructed by the polypi in the Indian and Pacific Oceans, and especially in the central and western parts of the South Sea. These organisms aie unable to carry on their operations in waters whose winter temperature is less than 68° or 70° F. But the zone where they find the necessary thermal conditions offers on either side of the equator a variable breadth, in some places exceeding 3,500 miles, Everj^ where within these wide limits, living colonies are able to establish them- selves on the shores and shallows flooded to depths of 130 to 150, and under certain conditions of from 300 to 320 feet. But they are unable to live in waters too highly charged with sedimentary or alluvial matter, and the barrier reefs are cou- * United Stales Exploring Expedituin, vol. x. CORALLINE FORMATIONS. 31 sequently interrupted bj' large fluvial estuaries. Nor can they secure a footing on too rapidly shelving rocks. Hence certain coasts which vre should expect to be formed of "living" coral are found to consist only of " dead " matter. The work is also hindered or arrested altogether in certain storm-tossed seas, where the deeper and colder waters are churned up and driven landwards. Thus may perhaps bo explained the absence of corals along a great part of the arid and parched seaboard of Somaliland. But apart from these few interruptions, the shores and islands of the equatorial zone are everywhere fringed or encircled by coral reefs. Besides the polypi, or true coral builders, of which there are numerous species, other organisms also secrete calcareous matter, and thus contribute towards the enlargement of the di'v land. Account must also be taken of the seaweeds, algaj, nulUpores, and the like. Fig. 11. — Zone of the Coeaxline Islands, Scale 1 : 12ii,oiX»,000. r 30° JO" • i ^5, /9a fs// ^ ■ MsfJS/7/T£S r ^ , ,<•• '■'- '-' Ma^3^^// f * ' /'■'■■'' ^?'' ""'- ''■ Pb/sw Cewo/ifjes ^« ' a"*** "' * ** ■ *?». o- ° .. . \ ^"?T-,, » g, ^ 0- •^ ^^f^tf:sa^ 20 '!'"" 20° f -f^ ^, Ne« eUt/st/amo •> •<■!* * " oV ' ' • ''- . TifJ^/a/ Merldlar.oF IflO-Greerw ict, ISO- AtoUs. Barrier Eeefs. Upheaved Lamia. — ^^— ^— — ^— . l,8iX) Miles. some of which develop a solid crust on the rocky surfaces, like the lichens in northern latitudes, while others accumulate in thick deposits on the beach. Being thus gradually raised by the petrification of successive generations, the reefs con- tinue to grow with the new Hfe destined to disappear and become fossilised in its turn. This growth of the living rock proceeds as a rule at an extremely slow rate, not more than 38 or 40 inches in two hundred or three hundred years ; but the field of operation is limited only b}- the boundless extent of the marine waters, and the yearly result consequently represents hundreds of millions of cubic yards added by all these zoof)hytes to the solid crust of the globe. Even islands situated in an area of depression and slowly subsiding when com- pared with the surrounding sea-level may be fringed by a band of reefs growing at a more rapid rate, and thus gradually rising above the surface of the water. The 32 AUSTRALASIA. polypi flourii-h best as a rule on the outer rim of tlie reefs, where they are exposed lo the fresh currents and wash of the tides, and here their buildings most rapidly rise to high-water level. Then their further growth above the surface and trans- formation to islands or continental seaboards is the work of storms. Huge blocks detached from the encircling reef are thrown together in rude heaps, and gradually consolidated by fi-e.sh additions. Then the dry surface is weathered and prepared for the reception of the seeds brought by wind and water. Here the seafowl build their nests, the gei'ras strike root, grasses and shrubs spring up on the new land thus born of the tempest. The form and appearance of the upheaved coral structures differ greatly accord- ing to the regions where they have been Constructed. The least noteworthy are the barrier reefs which fringe the insular and continental shore lines, and which rest on a foundation of shelving rocks. But in many places the reefs are not in contact with the coasts around which they have grown up, but are developed at some distance seawards, leaving here and there a navigable passage, or at least a flooded channel between their inner edge and the mainland. Some of these formations extend for hundreds, and in the case of the Great Barrier Reef of Australia for over 1,000 miles along the coast. Others, such as the annular reef of New Caledonia, completely encircle the island, which remains as a central nucleus to the sj'stem. A slight upheaval would change to dry land the inter- mediate space between the island and the ring, thus doiibling or trebling the extent of the raised surface. Lastly, there are thousands of systems which have no central nucleus, and which consist of nothing but a perfect or fragmentary ring enclosing an inner lagoon either still communicatiug with or separated from the sea and gradually silting up with the accumulating sands and organic debris. Some of these lagoons have even been transformed to freshwater basins by the slow action of the rains. To all annular reefs has been extended the term afo/l from those of the Mal- dive Archipelago, the most regular and numerous group found in the whole ocean. Every possible transitional form occurs between the barrier reef skirting the mainland and the perfectly circular atoll lashed on its outer rim bj^ the stormy seas, and enclosing an inner lagoon of smooth water. Most of the forty thousand rocks and islets in the Maldive Archipelago are so disposed as to form atolls within atolls, that is to say, each fragment of a ring is itself a ring. The study of the coralline reefs led the illustrious Darwin to form some bold generali.-ations on the slow oscillations of the terrestrial crixst. Finding that the barrier reefs and outer walls of the atolls rise in many places above deep waters, he concludes that these rocks were entirely built by the same polypi who are still piling up similar structures. But as they can work only in the surface waters where the ceaseless ebb and flow brings them the materials of their edifices,' the great elevation of so many coralline rocks would seem to attest a gradual subsi- dence of the marine level. The first colonies began their operations within about 120 feet of the surface ; but according as the structures rose the ground sank, and CORAL FORMATIONS. 83 so the reef continually subsiding at the base and rising at the summit, grew to a far greater thickness than 120 feet. Thus was explained the formation of barrier reefs at great distances from the shore. At one time they fringed the coast, which slowly sank with the general movement of subsidence, while the reefs continued awash, thanks to the incessant labour of their coralline inhabitants. The mainland, which formerly served to supjDort the superstructure, gradually sank deeper and deeper, thus continually retiring from the outer barrier of the steadily rising coral reefs. The passage also became gradually enlarged, and by the disappearance of the central nucleus itself the inner waters were at last transformed to a lagoon. Certain archi- pelagoes, such as the Low Islands, are compared by Dana to a vast cemetery, where every atoll marks the site of an engulfed land. According to this theory it would therefore be easy to determine the character of the oscillating movements to which the oceanic islands are subjected. The reefs raised to great heights above the sea would thus indicate an area of upheaval, the fringing coralline rocks would imply a state of comparative stability on the seaboards, while the barriers and the atolls might be likened to floats placed on the sites of submerged lands. Most of the Pacific islands — that Is to say, all those that foUow from Pitcairn In the Low Archipelago to the Philippines along a Hne passing north of Tahiti and Samoa — would thus belong to a zone of depression, and these scattered groups might be regarded as fragments of a vanished continent, stretching across the south side of the North Pacific Ocean. Such is Darwin's theory, which, however, can scarcely be applied with any probability to all the oceanic lands girdled by coral reefs. "Wherever the rocky pedestals supporting the superstructures of living polypi themselves consist of calcareous secretions to any great depth, there can be no doubt that subsidence has really taken place. But verifications have hitherto been made only at a limited number of points, and in the absence of direct observations It would be rash to do more than regard subsidence as very probable wherever the outer walls of the coralline Islands plunge rapidly — as, however, they rarely do — Into abysmal depths. Thus near Enderbury, In the Phoenix Archipelago, the soundings reveal 1,800 fathoms within 3 miles of the shore, 900 fathoms at 1,400 yards from Danger Island, near Vanikoro, while one of the reefs at Tahiti Indicates a seaward slope of 72 degrees. On the other hand, observations made in the vicinity of certain coralline islands show that at the foot of an escarpment less than 200 feet high, there stretch vast platforms where fragments of volcanic origin have been found scattered amongst crumbling blocks of coral. In this case it is qiilte possible that eruptive cones eroded by the waves to a slight depth below the marine surface may have served as foundations for the coral-builders, or else that their structures have been raised on rocks entirely formed by other organisms working at considerable depths. But many protracted observations must still be made before the diverse coralline Islands can be classified according to their origin and history. Several groups, such as the Low Archipelago, Fiji, the Pelew, Solomon, and Tonga Islands, supposed by VOL. XIV, I) 34 AUSTEAIASIA. Darwin to occuiiy a zone of subsidence, are on the contrary now known to belong to an area of ujjheaval. Oceanic Flora. An oceanic basin coTering over half of the planetary surface from Behring Strait to the Antarctic regions must naturallj^ present everj' gradation of climate, and consequently also a great diversity of animal and vegetable life. In the neighbourhood of the continents the oceanic islands partake more or less of the adjacent floras and faunas. Nevertheless the Eastern Archipelago is the only insular group which can be regarded as forming part of the Old World from the standpoint of its natural history. The Indian flora, scarcely arrested by the inter- vening shallow waters, continued to advance from island to island towards the south-east. In this insular region it has even developed a marvellous wealth of forms, rivalled only in some few privileged districts of the neighbouring main- land. Thanks to the periodical return of the monsoons, the currents and counter- currents, the Indian flora has also spread to the clusters of small equatorial groups, some of which contain an extremely limited nvimbor of endemic plants. On the surprising resemblance presented by the native vegetation of remote islands certain naturalists base a strong argument in favour of a former vast expansion of oceanic lands, which are at present broken into a thousand scattered fragments. But while widely separated lands offer a great analogy in their plant life, others again lying in close proximity often present the most startling contrasts. Thus Madagascar possesses an independent flora, and in this respect is by no means an African island, as might be supposed from its geographical position. More than half of the local species hitherto discovered are absolutely indigenous. The volcanic Mascarenhas group also possess such a large number of peculiar forms, that these islands may be regarded as so manj^ distinct botanical stations. In the Pacific Ocean the Hawaiian Archipelago also constitutes a separate vegetable zone ; of all tropical insular groups it jDossesses the relatively largest mmiber of endemic plants. In the Galapagos group also more than half of the species are of local origin. Although this arcliipelago lies near the American mainland, and is exposed to the direct influence of the equatorial current setting from the coast of Ecuador, each of its six islands to some extent even constitutes a special centre. Thickets of plants belonging to a single genus and growing on analogous soils are nevertheless formed of different species in the different members of this remarkable group. The flora of the AustraKan continent is one of the most characteristic on the globe, although its northern and north-western shores approach close to the islands forming part of the Indian vegetable zone. The contrast is very marked between York peninsula in north Australia and the south coast of New Guinea, yet the shallow intervening strait is studded with islands, by which plants might with apparent ease have migrated to and fro. Nor is Australia altogether destitute of species of Indian origin, for in the forests of the north-western regions no less # .^1'.' k LiSfiAKIf OF THE 'jNlVERSITY of ILLINOIS, OCE.\KIC FLOEA. 35 than a hundred different trees are found which have come from the Asiatic continent. But the typical forms are the same throughout the whole of Australia, where the vegetation everywhere jDresents a great uniformity of aspect. In the woodlands the prevailing tj'pes are those of the eucalyptus, acacias, casuarinas, and trees with slightly developed foliage or leaves pointing vertically downwards. The open stepj^es are overgrown chiefly with diverse kinds of scrub and brush- wood. The Australian indigenous flora is extremely rich in forms, in this respect yielding only to that of the Cape regions. New Caledonia, although lying 800 miles from the coast of Queensland, offers in its vegetation a surprising resem- blance to that of Australia ; yet the distance is too great to assume any consider- able interchange of species. On the other hand the New Hebrides, lying immediately to the east and north-east of New Caledonia, are connected with the Indian zone by their luxuriant tropical flora. Norfolk Island, also in the East Australian seas, is distinguished by its endemic vegetation, which includes one of the finest species of araucarla, a palm, some thistles and tree-ferns. It forms a transition between Australia and New Zealand, which differ altogether in the character of their respective floras. According to Grisebach, that of New Zealand shows more afiiuity with the Araucanian of South America than with that of the neighbouring continent. Its evergreen woodlands are the richest in the world in tree-ferns, and consequently give a better idea than any others of the aspect of nature in the geological epochs when the great crj'ptogamous plants prevailed. But on the whole this flora is comparatively poor, which is doubtless due to the isolated position of the archipelago in the South Sea. Notwithstanding its proximity to the Chilian seaboard, the island of Juan-Fernandez is connected with the New Zealand zone through the high projiortion of its tree- ferns. The impoverished floras of the oceanic islands south of the forty-fifth degree of latitude scarcely deserve mention when compared with those of the corresponding latitudes in the northern hemisphere. Although lying as far from the south as do Havre and Cherbourg from the north pole, Kerguelen Island possesses only eighteen flowering plants, or about five times less than Spitzbergen. This poverty is due partly to its arid soil and isolated position, partly also perhaps to the extreme uniformity of the annual climate and to the deficient simlight in those foggy Austral regions. The lands lying nearer the antarctic snows still jdosscss a few stunted growths, although passing na\'igators might suppose their rockbound shores absolutely destitute of vegetation. The first explorers who ventured into the antarctic seas speak with a sort of awe and horror of these dreary wastes, and endless succession of bare cliffs, sands, and snows with peaks lit up by watery sun- beams or wrapped in mists, according as the clouds gathered or were dispersed by the boisterous winds. " Cursed lands ! " they exclaimed, " abode of everlasting Q-loom ! " D 3 86 AUSTEALASIA. Oceanic Fauna. The oceanic -world has also its special faunas, although their distribution presents the greatest contrast, according to the direction of the atmospheric and marine currents, the greater or less isolation and accessibility of the insular groups. The seabirds of strong wing and keen vision, who sweep over the waters for hundreds of miles at a stretch, have a very wide range, limited north and south only by the climatic conditions. They accomplish long migrations as easily as the fish, and are able to spread from island to island, like the plants whose germs resist for months the action of the marine water. But apart from these aquatic fowl, who dominate the aerial spaces, most of the local animals are confined to their respective insular domains, their migration from one region to another being mainly due to the conscious or unwilling intervention of man, or else to the facilities occasionally presented by geological changes in the distribution of land and water. In no other way does it seem possible to explain the existence of species common to many remote islands as well as to these lands and the neighbouring continents. On the other hand, forms peculiar to a single island or archijjelago must be regarded as of strictly local origin or development. However they may have reached their present habitation, here their evolution into distinct forms has been accomplished. But such characteristic types are chiefly confined to the lower members of the animal kingdom. Madagascar, which almost ranks as a continent in virtue of its peculiar flora, is no less original in its fauna, which with one or two exceptions appears to be almost entirely local. The Mascarenhas also constitute an independent centre, which till recently comprised some birds badly equipped for the vital struggle, and conse- quently destined soon to disappear after the arrival of man. Notwithstanding its proximity to the Indian and Indo-Chinese peninsulas, the Eastern Archipelago cannot be regarded as a simple zoological dependency of the mainland. On the contrary, it appears to be itself the centre of dispersion for nimierous forms, the Malay peninsula and Indo-China having apparently received from the archipelago as many immigrants as they have sent thither. If the elephant, rhinoceros, and tiger have reached Sumatra from the continent, Borneo, or at least the region of which this island is a fragment, has given in exchange the orang-utan and several other peculiar insular forms. So rich is Malaj'sia in large mammals that this region should be regarded as still forming part of the Asiatic world. The parting line between the Malaysian and Australian zoological zones passes to the east of Celebes, which island forms a little centre of its own, very distinct in many respects from all its neighbours. Australia, the home of the marsupials, presents in its fauna, as in its flora, a character of antiquity which has led some geologists to regard it as one of those regions whose surfaces have never been re-moidded or seriously modified b}^ natural agencies. Nevertheless, comparatively recent Tertiary formations are now known to occupy a large extent of the continent. The marsupials, unknown in the OCEANIC FAUNA. 37 Old World except ia the Indo-Chinese lands, which in this respect may be considered a dependency of Australasia, are here represented by no less than thirteen genera and over a hundred species. On the other hand, there is a total absence of apes, pachyderms, and riuninants, while the carnivora, rodents, and edentata are far from numerous. In its lower fauna Australia is no less original, its birds and Lizards being quite distinct from those of the Asiatic continent. New Zealand also forms a separate zone, which has long been destitute of any characteristic mammals except a rat, and perhaps one species of otter. On the other hand, it possessed two remarkable families of bu'ds, the apteryx and dinornis, which, Kke the dodo of Mauritius, have perished since the arrival of man. New Zealand had no less than fifteen species of these birds, which belong to the ostrich family. Farther east the Polynesian islands are completely destitute of mammals, beyond some small species of bats and rodents. Reptiles are also rare ; while bii'ds, thanks to their power of flight and natation, have been distributed in considerable numbers throughout the archipelagoes. In the same way man himself, passing in his light outriggers beyond the straits and broader marine channels, has gradually colonised nearly all the islands of Pol}Tiesia. Inhabitants of the Oceanic Regions. Before the arrival of the Europeans, the oceanic islanders had already estab- lished communication with each other, and long migrations had taken place, in one direction towards Madagascar, in the other towards the remote eastern islands of the Pacific. The populations of diverse origin occupying the Eastern Archipelago, who are connected either by affinity or by commercial relations ^^'ith the people of South-east Asia, have long played the part of agents in promoting the intercourse that has been maintained from one extremitj' of the ocean to the other. The natives of Madagascar are at least partly related to the Malays of the Eastern Archipelago, who have gradually spread their domain from island to island east- wards, everywhere intermingling with the aborigines, or else colonising unoccupied lands. Nearly all the idioms spoken throughout this vast domain, from Madagascar to Easter Island, from the African to the American waters, are regarded as more or less closely related members of the one great Malayo-Polynesian linguistic family. Nevertheless the extreme branches of this widespread family present profound differences, while from the connection must be altogether excluded all the Australian and extract Tasmanian languages, and many also current amongst the Papuan and Negrito inhabitants of New Guinea, the Philippines, the Andaman, Nicobar, and a few other groups. But while their common speech attests a general movement of migration throughout the whole extent of the Indian and Pacific Oceans, the marked contrast in their phj'sical appearance indicates such a great diversity of origin, that many writers have grouped the oceanic populations in fimdamentally distinct brown or dark races. But however this be, such physical differences between the inhabitants 38 AUSTRALASIA. of the various insular groups, or of uplands and lowlands, may be largely explained by the intermingling of the two streams of ethnical migration. While one great wave gradually advanced along the line of the equator between Africa and America, another stream set in the transverse direction, between the south-east extremity of Asia and the Australian continent. Like the marine currents themselves, these waves of human migration intermingled or intersected each other in their onward movement across the oceanic lands. To the stream which followed the direction of the equator was due the diffusion of a common form of speech, while the transverse current passing from hemisphere to hemisphere across the narrow marine gulfs and inlets brought from the Asiatic mainland the populations differing in appearance and usages, and gradually displaced the different cultures. The various dark populations at present scattered over the oceanic islands originally followed the route of the Malay j^eninsula, possibly also that of land_s now vanished or flooded by the shallow waters of the Java Sea. But the same highway was afterwards taken by the Malays and other kindred people, by whom the dark races were displaced, absorbed, or driven to remote islands and upland regions of difficiilt access. The Samangs and Sakais of the Malay peninsula, the Andamanese Islanders, the Negritos of the Philippines, the New Guinea Papuans, and the Australians, although for the most part greatly differing amongst them- selves, are generally regarded as belonging originally to the same group as the black jjopulations of India — Santhals, Gonds, Kohls, Mundahs, and others. But how profoundly the primitive type must have become modified in this wide area during the course of ages, when the emigrants advancing southwards dwelt under diverse climates, exposed to difficulties of diverse nature, compelled to modify their manner of life in a thousand ways, brought into friendly or hostile contact with distinct peoples, and intermingling in different proportions with all these new elements. Wc arc separated only by a period of two thousand years from the dawn of historic times in the Eastern Archipelago ; yet this comparatively short period suffices to show the profound influence exercised on the southern maritime peoples by the civilisation introduced from Asia. At the beginning of this era the Hindus were the teachers of the popidatious of Java, Bali and Sumatra. Their influence is known to have even reached Borneo, and their far-reaching activity is well attested by nimierous moniunents, local names, writing systems, religious legends, and social visages. The Arabs who succeeded the Hindus, both as instructors and promoters of commercial intercourse, also commanded a large measure of success in this insular region, where many millions at present profess the Mohammedan religion, and where even Arabic family names are current from the Comoros to Borneo. On the other hand, the action of the Chinese has been less direct and of more limited extent. They keep more aloof from the natives, and have never attempted any religious propaganda like the missionaries from India and Arabia ; yet in several districts the Chinese constitute the substratum of the population. The race has been incessantly renewed by the constant stream of immigration maintained for many generations from the Celestial Empire. INHABITANTS OF THE OCEANIC REGIONS. 39 At present the preponderating influence has passed to the peoples of Western Europe. All these lands inhabited by Malays, Negritos, Papuans, ^laoris, and other Polj'nesians, belong poKtically to one or another European power, or are already regarded as coming within their legitimate sphere of action or that of the United States. Thus like Africa, the oceanic world is almost entirely parcelled out amongst the Western nations. Commanding a thousand marine highways, including that through the Isthmus of Suez created by themselves, these nations have far out- stripped their Hindu, Arab, and Chinese forerunners in rapidity of action, material strength, and dominant civilising influences, while still increasing their hold of these regions at the ver)- antipodes of the European world. In this political, commercial, and ethnical expansion of the cultured peoples of the West, the foremost place belongs unquestionably to the Anglo-Saxon race, the British and American branches of which seem destined jointly to absoi-b the whole of the Pacific insular lands. The yoimg but vigorous colonies of Australia and New Zealand may be said already to constitute an oceanic Britain, forming a sort of equilibrium with that of the Northern hemisphere, and serving as a sure founda- tion for the futui-e spread of the English language, social and political institutions, throughout the Eastern seas, from Auckland Island to the Sandwich Archipelago, from Torres Strait to Easter Island. The great ethnical divisions of the people occupying the oceanic region correspond in a general way with the geographical distribution of the insular groups themselves. Madagascar forms a little world of its own, where the Malay imm i grants, and the aborigines of African descent have already been merged in a single nationality with absolute uniformity of speech. The Eastern Archipelago and the Philipjnnes are mainly inhabited by the Malays, closely related to those of the Asiatic peninsula to which they give their name. But amongst them still sui'vive isolated communities of different origin, dark and dwarfish peoples by many supposed to be of Dravidian or Kolarian stock. The Pelew, Marianne, Caroline, and Marshall groujis stretching north of the equator and of the Melanesian lands, and to which the collective term Micronesia has been fittingly applied, offer a mixture of races constituting an ethnical transition between the Malays, the Papuans, and the natives of the smaller insular dependencies of Japan, Farther south the expression Melanesia, indicating the black complexion of the great bulk of the inhabitants, has been similarly ajjplied to Papuasia, or New Guinea, ^vith the adjoin- ing groups of New Britain, Now Ireland, the Solomon Islands, New Caledonia, and the New Hebrides. Till recently the Australian continent also belonged to an aboriginal dark race of homogeneous type, with scarcely a trace of Malay blood except here and there on the north and north-west coastlands. Lastly all the eastern islands, from Hawaii to New Zealand, constitute the watery domain of the large brown Polijnesian race, which also preserves a remarkable imiformity of type, except in Fiji and a few other places, where it has been modified by intermixture with the aboriginal Melanesian element. CHAPTER II. THE MASCAKENHAS. Reunion — Maukitius — Rodrigues. HE term Mascarcnhas, origiually applied iu 1513 by the Portuguese navigator, Pedro de Mascarenhas, to the single island of Reunion, has gradually been extended to the whole group, which although geologically distract, presents great uniformity in its outlines, climate, productions, and history. Long united politically under the sovereignty of Franee, the different members of the archipelago still remain sister islands, at least in the homogeneous character of their white populations. After the conquest, however. Reunion alone was restored to France, England retaining possession of Mauritius, the most important if not the largest, together with its natural dependency, Rodi-igues. They have jointly a superficial area of 1,600 square miles, and a population in 1888 of nearly 560,000. This gives a density of 350 to the square mile, although the hiUy districts are mostly unin- habited. The two chief islands, of nearly equal size and configuration, are irregular oval cones of volcanic origin rising from great depths to considerable elevations above the surface. Reunion, the larger and higher, has alone a still active crater ; but in economic importance it is far surpassed by Mauritius, the north-eastern island, which has the advantage of a natural haven serving as a convenient harbour of refuge in those stormy waters. This port has consequently become the centre of an active export trade, and the headquarters of various industrial enterprises in Madagascar and other parts of the Indian Ocean. Being exposed to the same regidar south-east trade winds and land breezes, and equally well watered on the windward side, both islands are subject to the same climatic conditions. Thus the mean annual rainfall in Mauritius is about 150 inches, in Reunion 160 to 165 inches, while both are frequently devastated by the same destructive cyclones. These tremendous hurricanes, which are developed between 5° and 10° S. latitude, sweep over the Indian Ocean in an oblique dii-ection towards the south-west. In the Mascarenhas waters, or farther west near Madagascar, they are deflected to the south and again to the south-east, thus taking the opposite direction to the regidar trades. Although occurring at every season, they are rare J THE M/\.SCAEENHAS. 41 in winter, and most frequent between December and April, but especially to be dreaded in Februarj', when the waters are churned up, giving to the seas the appearance of a boiling caldron. Dui'ing the storm of February 26th, 1860, many vessels foundered, and cargoes to the value of £120,000 were swallowed up by the waves, while tweutj-- three thousand native huts were swept away by the still more terrific gale of 1868. Occasionally huge blocks of coral are torn from the reefs and borne by the raging waters far into the interior, looking as if hurled across the land by some tremendous submarine explosion. Flora and Fauna. Owing to their oceanic origin the Mascarenhas have an independent flora and fauna, differing not only from those of the Asiatic and African continents, but also from those of Madagascar and neighbouring islands. It is no longer possible to determine the exact nature of the local flora before the arrival of the first settlers, as since that time most of the forests have been cleared and cultivated plants intro- duced, while some three hundred wild species have supplanted the indigenous forms. Except the citron, Eeunion appears to possess no fruit-tree peculiar to itself. Nevertheless botanists still enimierate over five hundred endemic plants in the Mascarenhas and Seychelles. Of the forms common to other regions, the Asiatic are more numerous than those of African origin. Of twenty-two varieties of the pandanus, these islands possess as many as twenty, and of these nine are peculiar to Mauritius, four to Ileunion, three to the Seychelles, and two to Rodrigues. The large proportion of ferns and orchids imparts to the vegetation of the Mascarenhas a distinct place among insular floras. Most naturalists admit that all the mammals at present foimd in the island — a Madagascar lemurian and centetes, a wild cat, a hare, some rats and mice — have been introduced by the colonists. Some lizards, snakes, and frogs also occur ; while the land tui-tles, fonnerly so nimierous that they "paved" the beach, have been exterminated by the fishermen. The deer, still met in Mauritius but extinct in Reunion, were introduced by the Portuguese, and efforts have recently been made to acclimatise the ostrich. Strange to say, the islet of Ronde, about 16 miles north of Mauritius, forms a separate biological kingdom, possessing one peculiar species of cabbage-palm, some lizards, two snakes, and relatively more monocotyledonous plants than any other region in the world. These islands were formerly noted for their large wingless birds, such as the dodo and the aphanapterix, the " solitary " {pezo2>haps solitaria), the giant water- fowl larger than a man, a species of lori, as well as many others, the non-fossilised remains of which have recently been discovered by Clarke in Maiu'itius. But a few decades after the arrival of the Europeans all these helpless birds, apparently dating from the Miocene epoch, had already disappeared, falling an easy prey to the rats, dogs, cats, and pigs of the settlers. Quite recently the aledorcenas nitidis- sima, a species of pigeon, has become extinct in Mauritius, just as the akcforcenas rodericana, another variety of the same genus, had already died out in Rodrigues. 42 AUSTEALASIA. Inhabitants. Like the Seyclielles and neighbouring insular groups, the Mascarenhas were completely uninhabited till the year 1616, when Pronis, governor of Fort Dauphin in Madagascar, transj)orted twelve mutineers to Reunion. But these, as well as a few French and Malagasy who established themselves at St. Paul in 1655, soon disappeared ; and the first permanent settlement, consisting of two Frenchmen and a few Negro slaves, was delayed to the year 1663. Living a free life in the midst of abundance, with no enemies to fight or governors to oppress them, the little settle- ment prospered, villages were founded in the midst of plantations, and trade was opened with the mother country. Then came the French East India Company, which monopolised the commerce of Bourbon (Reunion), while Cerne was seized by the Dutch and by them renamed Mauritius in 1598. But the Dutch settlement having been abandoned, Mauritius was occupied by the French of Boui'bon in 1715. These early settlers, mostly from Normaudj', Brittanj^ and Sautonge, were the ancestors of most of the white populations which now inhabit the Mascarenhas and Seychelles to the number of about eighty thousand. These islands of the Indian Ocean offer a remarkable instance of tropical lands where the European race has succeeded in establishing itself, although later intermixture makes it impossible now to determine the real proportion of whites amongst the present miscellaneous elements. But the French Creole families are known to be very fruitful, averaging about two hundred and fifty children to one thousand married women, or one-third more than in France. But the Europeans, including some English since the occupation of Mauritius, Rodrigues, and the Seychelles by Great Britain, constitute only a minority of the present population, which comprises the descendants of Malagasy, Kafir, and other African slaves emancipated by the French Republic. This measure, however, was successfidly resisted by the planters, and the blacks did not acquire their indepen- dence till about the middle of the present centmy. Although they are greatly inferior in number to the rest of the inhabitants, their French Creole jargon has become the common medium of intercourse for all — French, English, Chinese, Arabs, Malays, and Hindus. The abolition of slavery obliged the planters to introduce coolies from China, Malaysia, India, and especially Malabar, the term " Malabar " being now commonly applied to all the Hindus of whatever origin. Every precaution was taken to protect the freedom of these coolies, but on most of the plantations the old treat- ment of the Negro slaves continued to be appHed to the hirelings. The immigra- tion of the Indians, now more numerous in Mauritius than all the other elements combined, has also been carried out in violation of the natural laws. Owing to the scarcity of women but few families coidd be established, and polyandria became the rule on the plantations. The few children of these households were greatly neglected, and the excessive infant mortality had to be compensated by continuous fresh importations from China and India. To the Chinese was due the introduc- tion of leprosy, to the Hindus the so-called " Bombay fever," which in 1866-8 MAUEITIUS. 4:3 swept away seventy-two thousand souls, or one-fourth of the popuhition of Mauritius. And although these epidemics have decreased, the general poverty is greater than ever, owing chiefly to the rapid growth of the population, in which the Hindus arc steadily acquiring the predominance over aU other sections of the community, in wealth and influence as well as iu numbers. Mauritius. Although forming a link in the great semicircular chain of islands, Mauritius appears never to have been connected with any other land, but to have been independently upheaved. Consisting entirely of basaltic rocks, it is probably older than Reunion, its coasts being much more indented, its hills more eroded, and its craters more obliterated. The great central mass is encircled by plains of reddish clay formerly clothed with dense forests, but now laid out in plantations and gardens and studded with villages. The central plateau is dominated by the Piton du Midi (2,000 feet), consisting exclusively of horizontally disposed columnar basalt, but exceeded in altitude by the Black River peak, cvdminating point of the island (2,730 feet). Above the picturesque hills in the northern district rises the remark- able obelisk- shaped Pieter Both (2,700 feet) sui-mounted by an enormous globular block, which adventui'ous cHmbers have occasionally scaled by means of ropes and ladders. The periphery is encircled by fringing reefs and islets with here and there a few navigable channels giving access to the harbours. Cliffs of marine origin now rising above the surface, show that Mauritius has undergone a change of level since its first upheaval. La Ronde, La Plate, Le Coin de Mire, and other islets near the north coast are covered with refuse which attest the former existence of an active volcano in these waters. Mauritius has become almost completely disafforested, all the magnificent timber, matted together with a network of creepers, as described by Bcrnardin de Saint-Pierre, having entirely disappeared. These clearances have had the usual result of disturbing the discharge of the streams, which are alternately flooded and nearly dry watercourses. At the foot of the hills are also formed temporary meres, whose deadly exhalations are diffused far and wide. The droughts are longer, the rains more sudden, more copious and irregidar, and extensive tracts formerly under cultivation are now barren -wastes. The only large town is the capital. Port Louis, on the east or leeward side, with a haven sheltered by coral reefs, and defended by forts and batteries. Founded by Matie de la Bourdonnais in 1735, to replace an older port on the south-east coast, Port Louis has gradually monopolised the whole trade of the island. But although presenting a pleasant aspect towards the sea, it lacks the splendour and elegance one would expect to find in one of the chief commercial centres in the Indian Ocean, with a population of over seventy thousand. Many of the suburbs, and even some of the busy quarters, being occupied by the Hindus and Malagasy, have a poverty-stricken and neglected appearance, while much of 44 AUSTEALASIA. its former trade has been diverted elsewhere by the opening of the Suez Canal. Nevertheless, the exchanges still average considerably over £5,500,000 yearly; the port is always crowded with shipping, and connected by regular steam service with Europe through the Suez Canal, as well as with Madagascar and Reunion. Fig. 12. — Mabeitius. Scale t : 750,000. b.Tsb oF Oreen The staple produce and exports are sugar and rum, the island possessing over two hundred and fifty sugar mills, and forty distilleries, yielding on an average from fifty to eighty thousand tons of sugar, and five thousand gallons of rum, worti altogether from £160,000 to £200,000. Other articles of export are vanilla. h • , J B ..??. ,'^-i ■t LIBRAHy OF THE ^"^'^'eRSlTy of ILLINOIS. •5ioNmii"^JLisa3MNn 3H.I JO MAUEITITTS. 45 aloe fibre, and cocoanut oil, the imp orts being European wares, rice from Bombay, maize and cattle from ITadagascar. The whole island is intersected by railways connecting the capital with the chief groups of plantations and residences of the wealthy classes. On the north- east Kne, six miles from the capital, lie the sugar works of Pamplemousse, and close by the famous garden, founded in 1768 by Poivre, for the cultivation of tropical plants. Here are aome of the finest avenues in the world, and the place is still better Fig. 13. — Poet Locis. Scale 1 : 125,000. 640 Feet and upwards. known as the scene of Bernardin de Saint-Pierre's " Paul and Virginia. " To the north-east lies the reef-fringed isle of Amber, where was wrecked the Saint-Giran, as related by this charming writer. Such also is the power of the popular imagina- tion, that travellers are shown the very graves of the two lovers. The railway running from Saint-Louis towards the south-east traverses the "Wilhelm's Plains, where Curepipe, lying about the geometrical centre of the island and 1,800 feet above the sea, has become the chief health resort in Mauritius. The experimental tea plantation of this district contained in 1887 over twelve 46 AUSTBALASIA. thousand plants in good condition. The south-east line terminates on the east coast at MaJii-bourfj, marking the site of one of the earliest Dutch settlements. Mauritius is a crown colon}', whose governor, as well as the five members of the executive council, is named by the Queen. According to the modified constitution of 1884-5, eight of the twenty-seven members of the legislative council are ex-officm members, nine are appointed by the governor, and ten elected by citizens enjoying a certain income. The defensive forces consisted in 1887 of four hundred and forty-three men, and half of the military expenditure is defrayed by the home Government. The legislation, partly French and partly English, is extremely complicated, affording ample scojje for endless litigation, to the great benefit of the lawyers. Although there is no State religion, both the Catholic and Anglican Churches receive State aid, the latter out of proportion to its numbers. Grants are also given to a certain number of schools, which, however, are scarcely numerous enough to afford primary instruction to one-fom'th of the children. Mauritius possesses several scientific and literary institutions, and a considerable number of periodicals, as many as six daily papers appearing in the capital. The revenue, although exceeding £700,000, scarcely covers the expenditure, and there is a public debt of over £800,000. The official currencj' is the Indian rupee of ten to the pound sterling, and the metrical system is obligatory since 1878. With the exception of Sokotra, all the English islands in the Indian Ocean, including even the Chagos and other groups belonging geographically to India, depend administratively on Mauritius. Eeunion. The largest of the Mascarenhas, officiall}' designated as " He de la Reunion," but also still known by its old name of Bourbon, presents a smaller extent of arable land and is consequently less densely peopled than Mauritius. The surface consists chiefly of hills and steeply escarped plateaux, fringed by a narrow belt of plains and gently inclined slopes. Hence most of the central parts are nearly uninhabited, the population being confined mainly to a restricted zone of coast- lands. But although it has preserved its romantic aspect. Reunion, like Mauritius, has lost its primeval woodlands, which formerly descended to the water's edge, and earned for the island the title of " Eden." The main axis is disposed, not north-oast and south-west like that of Mauritius, but uorth-west and south-east, and in this direction are disposed all the higher crests. At the entrance of the gorges occur a few narrow alluvial or shingly plains, but elsewhere the escari^meuts rise everywhere abruptly from the water's edge to the plateaux occupying the interior of the island. In the central parts, where the land has been eroded by the running waters, the upland plains exceed 5,000 feet in mean height, the partiug line between the two slopes rising in some places even to an altitude of over C,500 feet, and culminating in the Piton des Neiges, about 10,000 feet. Mount Cimandef ("Bonnet Pointu"), a regular pyramid forming a northern shoulder of this piton, although only 7,300 feet, seems to be the EEUNIOX. 47 highest point of the island when seen from the north-'n'est between St. Denis and St. Paul. Towards the eastern extremity the erxiptive lavas have developed two masses, whose cre.sts exceed 7,600 and 8,000 feet. Here is situated the semicircular Grand Enclos, whose two outer ramparts stretching seawards completeh' enclose the Grand Brule volcano. The cirque, averaging from 800 to 1,000 feet, is perhaps the most regular formation of this kind in the whole world. It encloses a space of about 40 square miles in extent, the encircling walls having a total length of 28 or 30 miles. Farther west occur similar formations, and in recent Fi,?. 14.— The Gean-d Bcfxt. Scale 1 : 100,000. years a second "enclosure" has been developed within the first round about the central crater. Here eruptions are still frequent ; towards the end of the last centiuy thej- occurred at least twice a year, and between 1800 and 1860 as mauj- as twenty copious discharges were recorded by M. Maillard. The outbursts are at times accompanied by showers of ashes and other igneous matter, such as those slender threads of obsidian which the Hawaii islanders call the " hair of the goddess Pele." In many parts of the Grand Bride roofs of hardened scoriae conceal the hollow passages through which the Hquid lava streams were formerly discharged, and these incrustations, which easily give way, are a source of great danger to Tuiguarded wayfarers on the flanks of the volcano. Indications of upheaval to a height of 250 feet have been observed on the 48 AUSTRALASIA. soutli-west side of Reunion, where old coralliae beaches are seen rising above the jiresent coastline. But owing to the great depth of the surrounding waters, coral reefs, such as. those that completely encircle Mauritius, are somewhat rare on the shores of the sister island. Besides its symmetrical volcanic formations. Reunion is also remarkable for the wonderful cirques formed by the erosive action of the tropical rains. On the west side occur three of these vast funnel-shaped basins with intervening narrow ridges radiating from the central mass of the Gros Morne, the whole being thus disposed " like a three-leaved shamrock." These deep chasms — Cilaos, Mafate, and Salazie — sources rcsjoectivelj^ of the rivers St. Etienne, Galets, and Mat, have each their thermal waters, of which the most efficacious is that of Mafate, which abounds in sulj^hur. In the neighbourhood rises the isolated mountain mass of the Piton d'Enchein, with a romantic lakelet at its foot. In their general disposition the insular streams present the character of Alpine torrents, destructive in their upper courses, and farther down depositing the debris produced by their erosive action. The vastness of these erosions may be judged from the fact that the Salazie cirque alone has been excavated to the extent of no less than 3,000,000 ciibic feet. The process of denudation is still going on, and even Increasing, owing to the destruction of the forests on the mountain slopes, the hand of man thus tcndmg to transform a naturally fertile Island Into a barren rock. The dwarf bamboo {hainhusa alpina), locally known by the name of "calumet," forms on the hillsides a sharjjly defined vegetable zone between the altitudes of 4,500 and 5,000 feet. Farther up the plateaux and higher summits are partly clothed with the hubertla, a large shrub with gnarled twisted stem, which throws off numerous smooth branches bearing large clusters of yellow blossom. As in Miiui'itius, the chief Industry Is the cultivation of the sugar-cane, combined with sugar refining and the distillation of rum. Since the wars of the Empire the sugar plantations have gradually supplanted all other cultivated plants on the coastland ujo to an altitude of from 2,800 to over 3,000 feet, jdelding an average yearly crop of thirty thousand to forty thousand tons. Formerly the annual crop was estimated at sixty thousand tons, but this industry has suffered much from various forms of blight as well as from the competition of beetroot sugar. During the last century coffee was the staple product in Bourbon, where a native variety {cqffca Mauriciana) had been discovered, but at present the only important coffee plantations are those of St. Leu and St. Pierre. The clove, which formerly contributed to enrich the island, has ceased to be grown, but on the other hand vanilla has become one of the chief articles of export, the yield amounting In 1887 to about a hundred and fifty thousand pounds more than that of any other colony, and alone sufficient to supply the whole of Europe. Neither tea, the vine, nor cotton are grown, but cinchona has lately been acclimatised, and in 1888 as many as 20,700 of this valuable plant were already flourishing In the Island. But, as in Maiiritlus, the development of these plantations has been attended by a corresponding reduction in the growth of alimentary plants, and notwith- 4t ■>*«#. .^, #^ LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY of ILLINOIS. REUNION. 49 standing its fertility, the soil no longer yields sufficient corn, vegetables, or fruits for the local demand. Consequently these provisions, as well as cattle and other live stock, have now to be imported, chiefly from Madagascar, and rice for the coolies from Bengal. The extension of the plantations, owned by a few great proprietors, has also had the effect of driving the old settlers from their small holdings, which can no longer be worked profitably, and compelling them to swell the number of idle hands in the large towns. The great landowners have thus Fig. 15.— The Theee Cikques. Scale 1 : 200,000. gradually absorbed everything except a few ilcttcs or isolated plots in the upland vallej^s. The competition of European wares has hitherto prevented the development of any local manufacturing industries. No attempt has even been made to utilise the inexhaustible deposits of titanic iron thrown up by the waves on the beach at St. Leu, although these sands contain a mean proportion of over fifty per cent. of pure metal. Reunion has a small commercial fleet, but nearly all the foreign VOL, XIV, p 50 AUSTRALASIA. trade is carried on under the French flag, and especially by the steamers plying regularly between the Mascarenhas and Madagascar. Topography of Reunion. Sf. TJciiis, present capital of the island, is not the oldest French settlement, having been preceded by St. Paid, founded by pioneers from Fort Dauphin (Madagascar), on the north-west coast. It occupies the northern extremity of the island between two small rivers, and is a fine European city of some forty thousand inhabitants, well laid out with regular streets and some handsome public buildings Pis'. Hi. — The Maeina of St. Denis. such as the governor's palace, town hall, barracks, hospital, lyceum, and museum. A large space in the very heart of the town is occupied by a beautiful botanic garden. But St. Denis, lying on the windward side of the island, is exposed to the full fury of the cyclonic gales, and as it possesses no large sheltered harbour, the shipping, on the approach of these hurricanes, is obliged to quit the open road- stead and take refuge on the high seas. Nevertheless a brisk trade is carried on, especially in sugar, of which nearly twenty thousand tons were exported in 1886. Till recently the safest, or rather the least dreaded, seaport on the west side of the island was Sf. Paid, lying " under the wind " some 28 miles from the capital, on a semicircular bay protected on the north by the triangular i^eninsula OF THE UNIVERSITY of ILLINOIS, REUNION. 51 of Pohite des Galetn. But this place oifers few facilities for trade, and is moreover frequently exposed to the so-called " vent de St. Gilles," a sort of back-current from the regular monsoon, sweeping round from the east to the west side of the island. A harbour of refuge, however, has lately been constructed at a cost of no less than £2,700,000, to the north of St. Paul, under the shelter of the Pointe des Galets. The basin, which is accessible to the largest vessels frequenting these waters, has an extent of over forty acres, with a depth of 26 feet. This port is Fig. 17.— St. Pieree. Scale 1 : 12.000. conveniently situated towards the centre of gravity of the productive parts of the island, where it is least exposed to the violence of the cyclones. Some of the blocks used in constructing the sea-waUs weigh as much as a hundred and twenty tons. South of St. Paul follow the half-deserted towns of St. Leu and St. Louis, and beyond them the prosperous seaport of St. Pierre, with a weU- constructed harbour and solid breakwater enclosing an outer basin 30 to 50 feet deep. Here is the terminal station of the coast railway, which describes a curve of 75 miles round half the periphery of the island through St. Paul, the Pointe des E 2 52 AUSTEALAPTA. Galets, St. Denis, to Sf. Brnoif. This line is a remarkable piece of engineering work, abounding in deep cuttings, bridges, embankments, and tunnels. Beyond the villages of St. Joseph and St. Fhilippc on the south coast, the zone of inhabitable and fertile lands is interrupted by the eruptive rocks discharged from the Grand Brul^ and several secondary craters. But after passing St. Rose the main highway round the coast leads to St. Benoit, which may claim the title of a town, and which is approached by a handsome bridge here crossing the River des Marsouins. The railway from St. Benoit to St. Denis passes by Bras-Pown, one of the few places in the island which is not under the protection of some patron saint. Administration. Reunion is represented in France by a senator and two deputies, while the local administration is entrusted to a governor, assisted by a council, which is composed of the chief officials and two of the leading citizens. Thei'e is also a general council of thirty-sis members elected by the cantons, and judicial matters are controlled bj- a procureur-general. The mother country votes a yearly subsidy for the suj^port of the officials and of the garrison, numbering from three thousand to four thousand men. But public works and instruction are pro- vided for by the direct and indirect taxes, constituting a considerable local burden. The island is divided administratively into eight cantons and sixteen communes, tabulated in the Appendix. RODRIGUES. Within a recent period Rodrigues, the Diego Ra'is of the Portuguese, was supposed to be of diifcrent origin from other members of the Maseareuhas grou.p. Although it had been classed by Bory de Saint- Vincent and other naturalists amongst volcanic lands, Iliggin* had described it as a mass of red and grey granite underlying sandstones and limestones, and this erroneous description had sufficed to cause this island to be regarded as a remnant of the " Lemurian " continent. Rodigues, however, is not formed of granite rocks, but like Mauritius and Reunion, consists of lavas ejected from the depths of the sea. Here are even seen superb columnar basalts, amongst others those of Thunder Mountain, which rises on the north side, above the banks of Oyster River. The shafts of the columns in this place exceed 200 feet in height. The lava formations are continued seawards hy plateaux of cavernous reefs, which more than double the extent of the island, and which render Rodrigues inaccessible to shii^ping, except through narrow and dangerous passages. But on the other hand, the surrounding waters are exempt from cyclonic storms ; the south-east trade winds blow with great regularity, while the island is of too small extent to give rise to shifting currents. * /'rnren/iiir/x of the Iluijiit Ocoririiplncdl Socieh/, l.S4a. EODRiaUES. 53 Rodrigues, which is administered by a commiissioner dependent on the governor of ^Mauritius, had in 18S6 a population of less than two thousand, a number relatively ten times less than that of the neighbouring island. Formed of disiutegrated volcanic rocks, naturally fertile, and abounding in water and fruits, the island was formerly covered with forests, which have been destroyed by conflagrations. Xothiag is now seen except brushwood and here and there a few Fig-. 18. — EODEIGTTES. Scale 1 : 135,000. EasboFGreenv..;cK Depths clumps oipandanus cakoa. But although it no longer deserves the name of the " earthly paradise " given to it by Le Guat in the seventeenth century, Rodrigues might easily support large numbers of settlers. It even still exports considerable quantities of maize, haricot beans, fruits, fish, and cattle to Mauritius. The outlet for this trade is the little town of Port Mathurin, on the north coast. Ihe turtles which down to the beginning of the eighteenth centiu-y swarmed 54 AUSTEAI.ASIA oa the banks of Rodrigues, have completely disappeared, driven away or exter- minated by the reckless way the fishery was conducted. About the year 1760, as many as thirty thousand were conveyed in eighteen months to Mauritius. Although visited from time to time by the Portuguese and Dutch, Rodrigues was not permanently occupied till 1691, when the Protestant refugee, Le Guat, resided here for over two years with seven companions. Before the abolition of slavery, a considerable Negro j)opulation was employed on the plantations ; but since then large numbers of the emancipated hands have withdrawn to Mauritius, distant about 880 miles. In 1843 the population had thus fallen to about two hundred and fifty souls, but since then it has again increased, mainly by the arrival of blacks, who find employment in clearing and reclaiming the land on the slopes of the hills. There are only two small centres of population, Port Mathitrin on the coast, and Gabriel in the interior, near Mount Limon (1,320 feet), culminating point of the island. On the southern slope are seen, at variovis elevations, old coralline beaches pierced with caves. In one of these grottoes were discovered the remains of the jWcsc^; /(//«, or " solitary," and of other birds belonging to extinct species. During the Napoleonic wars, Rodrigues enjoyed considerable strategic import- ance. After its seizure by the English, it was made the raUying-point of the expeditions organised in India against Mauritius, and thus contributed to the reduction of all the Mascarenhas Islands. The Keeling Islands. Beyond Rodrigues no lands are met in the direction of the Eastern Archipelago for a distance of some 2,300 miles, the expanse of waters being first broken by the small circular group of the Keeling Islands, so named from the English navigator who discovered them in 1609. They are also known as the Cocos Islands, from the cocoanut palms lending a fringe of bright verdure to these low-lying islets. Although lying about 600 miles from the Sunda Strait, the Keeling Archi- pelago had its origin, probably, in the same terrestrial movements that gave rise to the Asiatic islands, for it exactly faces the fissure now separating Java from Sumatra, and is disposed in a line with the volcanic islets in the middle of the strait. Hence it may be assumed that the Keelings rest on an igneous foundation upheaved from the bed of the ocean. At little over a mile from the entrance to the atoll, Fitzroy failed to touch the bottom with a line over 1,000 fathoms long, so that the submerged slopes of the plateau must be inclined at an angle of little less than forty-five degrees. This atoll, visited by Darwin during the voyage of the Beagle, in 1836, has become in geographical literature one of the most frequently quoted examples in favour of the great naturalist's ingenious theory of subsidence and ujjheaval of the marine bed. According to this view, the circular group of islets may be regarded as the embattlemeuts of the lofty THE KEELING ISLANDS. 55 coralline tower, slowly built up by the polyps as the base of the structure slowly subsided. Since the preparation of the first chart of the group, indications of upheaval have been observed The beach has been raised and enlarged, some of Fig'. 19. — Keelino Isl/Ujd.s. Srale 1 : 135,000. '96°B0- Eosb ohGreenwlc Depths. Em Sands and reefs ex- posed at low water. 6,400 Feet and upwards. the channels have been closed, and lagoons formerly communicating with the open sea are now inaccessible to shipping. The atoll, which is interrupted by numerous breaches, and which opens out broadly towards the north, consists of some twenty elongated islets occupying at high water a total space of about six square miles. The only spontaneous growths 5C AUSTRALASIA. are the cocoanut palms aud about thirty other species, the germs of which have drifted with the current from Java, sweeping round by Australia. But numerous alimentary plants, as well as domestic animals and rats, now a formidable scourge, have been introduced by man. Hare, the first colonist, settled on the islands with about a hundred slaves. But at present the archipelago has become one large plantation, whose owner, who is also the governor, employs some five hundred Malays in working his vast palm-groves. All the inhabitants — men, pigs, poultry, and the very crabs — live mainly on cocoanuts. Water, of pluvial origin, is procured from wells, which are sunk in the sands and which rise and fall with the tides. Formerly the group was considered a Dutch possession ; but it was occupied by the English in 1856, and attached to the government of Ceylon. Since 1886, however, it depends on Singapore. Christmas Island. The triangidar island of Christmas, lying 240 miles south of the coast of Java, appears also to have risen like Keeling from the marine bed. Depths of over 3,000 fathoms have been recorded in the waters flowing between it and Java. But although also covered with cocoanut palms, Christmas is not an atoll. Almost completely encircled by fringing reefs, it is entirely of calcareous coralline origin. Three distinct shore lines at the respective elevations of 40, 140, and 170 feet above the jjresent sea-level seem to indicate three succes- sive periods of upheaval. Amstekdam and St. Paul. Both of these islets, Ij'iug in the southern region of the Indian Ocean, about midway between the C'ape of Good IIoj)e and Adelaide in South Australia, are masses of eruptive rocks ejected from the abysmal depths and unconnected with any other lands. Neither plants, animals, nor fossils indicate any former connection with the Mascarenhas or Madagascar. Within five miles of St. Paul dej^ths have been recorded of 1,200 fathoms, so precipitous are the sub- marine escarpments. Although only forty-sis miles apart, the two islands themselves present great differences in their geological constitution, so that they most j^robably never at any time formed continuous land. They are considered to belong politically to Great Britain ; nevertheless fishermen from Reunion have often endeavoured to make them French territory, and in 1843 a trading company landed some troops to take possession of these waifs in the name of France. On his return voyage after the death of Magellan, El Cano passed not far from "a very high island, situated under the thirty-seventh degree of latitude, which seemed uninhabited, without any trees and with a circumference of about six leagues," a descrij)tion answering very well to the island afterwards named New Amsterdam, or simply Amsterdam. AMSTERDAM AND ST. PAUL. 57 The discoverer of St. Paid is unknown, although the name already occurs in a geographical document of the sixteenth century. At the beginning of the following centui'3' both islands wore well known to the Dutch navigators, and Van Vlaming was the first to land on them iu the year 1696. Since that time they have been frequently visited, too often unwillingly, by shipwrecked crews, and since 1841 St. Paul has been permanently occupied by a community engaged in Fig-. 20. — AilSIEEDAM. Scale 1 ; 90,000. 77°3+-EasboP Greenwich Depths. 124 Feet and upwards. fishing and otter-hunting. Recently, also, they have been the object of scientific expeditions, notably in 1874, when the French naturalists stationed at St. Paul to observe the transit of Venus utilised the occasion to study the geological structure and prepare charts of both volcanic masses. It has often been jjroposed to establish a port of call at St. Paul on the route to Australia. But under this latitude, although correspoutliug to that of I'alermo 58 AUSTEAT-ASIA. and Athens in the northern hemisphere, the climate is so inclement, the west winds blow at times with such fury, and the islands offer so few resources beyond fish, that a residence on them is always regarded as a painful exile. Amsterdam, which is much the larger of the two, attains an altitude of -3,000 feet in its highest summit, which is nearly always wrapped in fogs. It has the Fig. 21.— St. Paul. Scale I : 4ri,000. East of G 160 Feet and upwards. form of a somewhat regular rectangle, whose longest axis is disposed in the direction from south-east to north-west. On the west side have occurred extensive landslips resulting in precipitous cliffs over 2,500 feet high, against which the waves beat with great fury, so that it is seldom possible to land on this side. The summit, which has rarely been ascended, presents a boggy surface dotted V' ^ .1' ^ \^ iMIiiMiiimM I \"\ liililiill M^^^^^^^^^^^^^ V ^i i OF THE UNIVERSITY of ILLINOIS, AMSTERDAM AND ST. PAUL. 69 over with cones from wliich lavas have been discharged. In 1792, at the time of d'Entrecasteaux's visit, the island was in flames, caused either by the burning of the dense mass of reeds growing on the plateaux, or b}^ the craters, possibly at that time in full activity. At present they are perfectly quiescent. St. Paul, which is live or six times smaller than Amsterdam, presents a typical instance of a breached marine volcano of perfectly regular form. The circular crater, now flooded by the sea, opens towards the north-east, and is enclosed by escarpments and taluses from 760 to 900 feet high. Thus is formed an extensive harbour of refuge completely sheltered and 240 feet deep, but barred at the enti-ance by two projecting peninsulas of debris, which shift their form with the waves, and which have at times been joined in a continuous rampart, preventing all access to shipping. Thermal springs abound on the margin of this basin, where by merely brushing aside the surface sands enough hot water may be collected to boil the fish captured close by. A comparison of the early descriptions with those of modern explorers would seem to show that the underground energies have greatly diminished since the discovery of the island. The thermal sjjrings are apparently cooler, the gas jets less abimdant, the hot spaces less extensive. Moreover the island is itself diminishing through the rapid destruction of its shores. Everywhere the coast is carved into cliJffs, and on both sides of the entrance to the flooded crater huge fragments have broken away from the flanks of the volcano. Towards the north- east the coast is fringed by several rocky islets, of which the most striking are La Quille, a horizontally stratified pyramidal mass, and North Island, a basaltic colonnade affecting the form of a circular temple. The flora comprises from thirty-five to forty species of mosses and lichens, and about fifteen of herbaceous growths. The trees planted by the fishermen and the botanists of various expeditions have not succeeded, while the vegetables, such as potatoes, sorrel, and carrots, have much degenerated. The cabbage alone thrives to a surprising degree, tending even to acquire arborescent proportions. A few butterflies, and even a bee, have been found, but no land-shells. The pigs let loose on the island survived only a few years, but the cats, mice, and rats have become acclimatised. "Thrown together by a common fate, they dwell peacefully in the same retreats." Amsterdam, less studied because less accessible than St. Paul, appears to have a richer flora and faima. It is even said to possess one or more small quadrupeds, including a weasel. Here the French expedition of 1874 discovered about fifty plants, of which as many as twenty-three were indigenous species. Amongst the larger growths is the phylica arborea, a shrub which had not previously been met beyond the Atlantic basin. The Austral Islands. Several insular groups follow eastwards in the regions of the Indian Ocean strewn with floating ice. liut these cold lands, girdled round by breakers and 60 AUSTRALASIA. buffeted by fierce gales, are too inhospitable to afford a permanont home to man. Here shipwi'ecked mariners have often i^assed an anxious time daily sweeping the horizon in search of a friendly sail. Whalers have also established more or less permanent stations in the neighbourhood of the fishing-grounds. Lying on the ocean highway between Great Britain and Australia, in the track of the western trade winds, these islands are fortunately well known, and have even been carefully studied, especially by the naturalists of the Challenger expedition of 1874. All are of volcanic origin, rising above the surface of waters over 1,500 fathoms deep. Marion, Prince Edavaed, and the Crozets. Marion, so named from the navigator who discovered it in 1771, is the highest of the western group, lying over 720 miles to the south-east of the Cape of Good Hope. It is exclusively of igneous formation, its central cone rising to a height of over 4,000 feet, and even in summer covered with a snowy mantle down to 1,000 feet above sea-level. The periphery of this central cone is studded with secondary craters presenting the appearance of excrescences on its flanks, while heaps of red scorise, here and there moss-grown, descend to the water's edge. Prince Edward, so named by Cook, attains an altitude of 2,000 feet. The Crozets, also discovered by Marion, form an archipelago of several islands, one of which. Possession Island, exceeds 5,000 feet. Hog Island takes its name from the animals here let loose by an English captain to supply the whalers and shipwrecked crews ; but Rabbit Island would now be a more appropriate name, for the swine have been replaced by thousands of coneys, which make their burrows in the heaps of scoria). Kerguelen. Kerguelen, by far the largest of all these groups, was discovered in 1772 by the French captain whose name it bears, and who again visited it the next year, when he found it to be an island, and not a peninsula of the great southern continent sought for by all navigators in the Austral seas. It was again explored in 1776 by Cook, who proposed to call it Desolation Land, a name which it certainly merits, to judge from the reports of the whalers, the naturalists of the Challenger expedition, and of those sent the following year from England, America, and the United States to observe the transit of Venus. Kerguelen, which lies near the fiftieth degree of south latitude, and which is surrounded by some three hundred islets, rocks, and reefs of all sizes, was formerly almost inaccessible to sailing vessels. Nevertheless it offers, especially on its cast side, a large number of deep bays, creeks, and islets, affording shelter to ships that have succeeded in threading the maze of outer channels and passages. These indentations on the seaboard present the same fjord-like formations as those observed on the shores of the north polar regions, which were at one time completely covered by an ice-cap. I KEEGUELEN. 61 The Kerguelen mountains, all of igneous origin and either of columnar or terrace formation, are not disposed in any regular system, although the main axis runs on the whole in the direction from north-Tvest to south-east. According to the reports of the whalers, the underground forces are still active, and a mountain in the south-west is said to emit vapours. Mount Ross, the highest summit hitherto measured (6,100 feet), lies near the southern extremity of the island, while the eastern and south-eastern peninsulas are respectively occupied by Mounts Crozier (3,300 feet) and Wyville Thomson (3,200 feet). Glaciers Fig. 22. — Kebotjelen. Scale 1 : 1,600,000. Depths. & descend from the upper valleys of these highlands, and at least at one point on the west side reach the seacoast. Towards the west the snows and ice covering the interior, and easily confused at a distance with the overhanging banks of white clouds, render an accurate survey of the craters, crevasses, and lava streams almost impossible. But near the seaboard are seen numerous volcanoes, whose craters are now filled with snow or water. The east side, where fair weather prevails, receives less moisture, and here the snow line is arrested at a mean elevation of 1,000 feet above the sea. 62 AUSTRALASIA. Formerly the island enjoj^ed a very different and much milder climate, for in the valle}'s the argillaceous schists here and there overlie fossil wood at everj' stage of transformation, in one place almost still fresh, in another half petrified, or even changed to pure silica. In the cavities of the basalt rocks are also found layers of coal varying from a few inches to over a yard in thickness, and overlying more recent eruptive rocks. So numerous are these deposits that it has been proposed to convert Kergueleu into a coaling station on the ocean highway between England and Australia. Were the project realised, this now useless French possession might acquire a certain commercial value. There can be no doubt that cattle might also be reared on the island, where the sheep landed by the expedition under Captain Ross throve well. Sheep-farming has succeeded excellently on the Falkland Islands, which have the same climate as Kerguelen, and an analogous fauna and flora. The present climate of Kerguelen is very equable, varying little from winter to summer. According to Studer, the difference of temperature throughout the year is only 18° F., ranging from 32° in winter to 50° in summer, with a mean of 39° or 40°. But there is an excess of moisture, and high gales are alwaj-s blowing either from the north or west, and are often accompanied by hail, snow, or rain, though at times also by clear, bright skies. Sometimes these gales are displaced by north-easterly winds bearing copious rains, fogs, and a higher temperature ; but the normal direction of the atmospheric currents is from the north-west. To these incessant storms the naturalist, Studer, attributes the fact that the local insects, esiDecially the flies and butterflies, are destitute of wings, which could lead only to their destruction, by exposing them to the risk of being blown seawards with no hope of return. Even the strong-winged albatross never builds on the north-west side of the island, which bears the brunt of the tempest and is wrapjDed in eternal fogs. His home is on the shores facing the clear blue skies. The Kerguelen flora is extremely poor, resembling that rather of an antarctic land than of an island situated in the temperate zone and corresponding in latitude to the valley of the Somme in the northern hemisphere. Hooker, who spent a winter on the island, failed to discover more than eighteen flowering plants, to which further researches have only added three, making twent3'-one altogether in a total of about a hundred and fifty species. Nearly two-thirds of the vegetation consists in fact of algas and mosses, and even of the phanerogams about one-third are monocotyledons, a proportion occurring nowhere else in the whole world. After traversing the zone of large algse {macrocystis pyriferd), some of whose rope- like stalks are 200 feet long, the observer comes upon a narrow zone of grass, followed by j)lants of the saxifrage type, mosses, and a few graminaceae sprouting in the cavities of the rocks. On the slopes of the hills azoreUa sekiyo develojas extensive beds saturated with water, where the exj)lorer sinks to his knees at every step. The onl}^ plant producing anj' effect on the landscape is a gigantic species of cabbage, whose botanical name {pringJea antiscorhutica) sufiiciently indicates its value to seafarers condemned to long periods of a coarse salt meat diet. This species is peculiar to Kerguelen, being found nowhere else in the KEEGUELEX.— HEAED. 63 Indian Ocean. The lijcllin, another flowering phmt, resembles an Andean growth, and three species also supposed to be indigenous in Kerguelen are so like their congeners in Tierra del Fuego, that botanists are inclined to regard them as simple varieties ; lastly, one of the local growths is of Australian origin. But on the whole, the Kerguelen flora is most akin to the Fuegiau, a fact doubtless due to the marine currents setting steadily eastwards. The only bii'd peexiliar to Kerguelen and the Marion and Crozet groups is the chionis minor, about the size of a pigeon, and not unlike an allied species common to the Falkland Islands and Tierra del Fuego. There are no land mammals, reptiles, or batrachians, and the fur-bearing seals and other cetaceans stiU swarm- ing in the Kerguelen waters at the beginning of the century have already become rare. In 1843 over five hundred whalers found occupation in these seas, but in 18~4 not more than five or sis were employed in the capture of whales. The otters are also threatened with extermination, and have already become so scarce that they are no longer regularly hunted. But a number of vessels are stUl engaged in the capture of the huge sea-lions, one of whom yields as much as a ton of oU. These and other seals still find some shelter from their human enemies in the bays along the west coast, whither the fury of the elements prevents the fishers from following them. Some of these fishers, who had collected a vast quantity of oil on the south-west point of Kerguelen, had to wait for years before a single ship ventured through the breakers to take in a cargo, and growing impatient they at last set fire to their whole stock, whence the name of Bonfire Beach given to this part of the coast. The most frequented haven is Christinas Harbour, at the north-west extremity of the island, the position of which is indicated at a distance by a basalt rock assuming the apjjearance of an imposing triumphal arch. MacDoxai.d and Heard Islands. MacDonald, lying to the south-east of Kerguelen, is a mere rock fringed by breakers and inaccessible to fishers. But Heard is visited both by whalers and seal-hunters. Except at the black lava headlands, this island is entirely covered by a white mantle, two vast snow-fields concealing the hills round about Big Ben, the chief summit, which is said to be loftier than Mount Ross in Kerguelen. But although supposed to be over 6,000 feet high it was completely invisible at the time of the Chalknrjer expedition, all the heights above 1,000 feet being wrapped in dense fog. The climate of Heard is even more inclement and stormy than that of Kerguelen. The fierce south-east polar winds prevail very generally in these southern latitudes, and are miich dreaded bv mariners. CHAPTER III. HE EASTEEN ARCHIPELAGO (INDONESIA). General Sura'ey. /yVr^J^TlNDONESIA or Insiiliiidia, that is, " Insular India," as the Dutch -^ " T-^Xiii have rightly named this region, is better known to English readers as the Eastern, Asiatic, Malay, or East Indian Archijoelago, and sometimes by the simpler and somewhat more convenient expression, Malaysia. It constitutes, if not a political, certainly a well-defined geographical area. The submarine bank on which stand the two great islands of Java and Sumatra terminates abruptly towards the Indian Ocean in steep escarp- ments plunging into the very deepest abysses of the whole basin. Java is continued eastwards by a chain of smaller islands extending to the north-east of Timor, and evidently forming part of the same region ; the volcanoes traversing this long line of islands attest the action of the same geological forces. South of Paj)uasia the narrow igneous zone is deflected northwards, as if to mark the eastern limits of Indonesia proper. One of the lines of volcanic forces traverses the island of Halmahera (Jiloh), while another touches the north-east extremity of Celebes, thus enclosing this great island within the fiery semicircle sweeping round from Sumatra. Borneo, largest of all the Sunda Islands, and of almost continental proportions, is even more closelj^ connected with the same group than Sumatra and Java, for it stands entirely on the same scarcely submerged marine plateau. The three great islands are separated by shallow waters less than 50 fathoms deep, where vessels can everywhere ride at anchor. Thus an upheaval of about 40 fathoms would suffice to enlarge the Asiatic continent by an extent of nearly 1,500,000 square miles. In many respects the Philippines might also be regarded as forming part of the same natiu'al region as Indonesia, for the semicircle of volcanoes is continued across this archipelago, while its two chief members, Mindanao and Luzon, are both attached to Borneo by chains of islands, islets, and shoals. But the Philippines already belong to a different climate, and they are almost everywhere washed by deep waters. The Sulu waters, flowing between Borneo and the PhiKppines, present abysses of over 2,200 fathoms. OF THE UKIVERSITY of ILLINOIS, IXDONESIA. 6S I.ndo-Malaya and Austro-Malaya. But Malaysia itself, as has long been shown by Wallace,* forms two perfectly distinct physical regions, the Indo-Malayan, comprising the three great islands of Sumatra, Java, and Borneo, connected by a shallow marine bad, and the Austro- Malayan, the twot chief members of which are Celebes and Jilolo, both rising above oceanic waters of great depth. Striking contrasts of climate, floras and faunas, as well as of human populations, are presented by these two main divisions of the Eastern Archipelago. Nevertheless both are characterised by certain common features, in virtue of which they may be regarded as collectively forming Fig. 23. — Indonesian Stxbm.^kine Plateau. Scale 1 : 48.000,000. T.^iV"^ .^-^ Depths an oceanic world distinct from Asia, of which they constitute a south-eastern continuation. All these Indonesian lands have a total estimated extent of nearly 700,000 square miles, or nearly six times the superficial area of the British Isles. But the oceanic region over which these lands are scattered is far more extensive. From the northernmost extremity of Sumatra to the last of the Tenimber islets, the distance across the Indian Ocean is no less than 2,800 miles ; while between Lombok and the north point of Borneo, Indonesia develops an extreme breadth of about 700 miles. Within this vast expanse are comprised one island larger than • The Malay Archipelago, the first edition of which appeared in 1808. t Excluding New Guinea, which is not here considered. VOL. XIV. F 66 AUSTEALASIA. France, anotlier exceeding Great Britain in size, two surpassing Ireland, seven more extensive than Corsica, and dozens bigger than Malta. The seas are every- where studded with countless tanahs, jmlos, or nusas, as the smaller islands and islets are variously called, some settled, others uncultivated, or thinly if at all inhabited. To the traveller lost in the maze of these innumerable insular groups, Indonesia seems a boundless oceanic world. Coasting the larger islands for days and weeks t'lgether in some native prau, he is bewildered by the constantly shifting tropical scenes, the endless varietj' of lauds and of peoples at all stages of culture, and whose very names are unknown to him. Headlands with extinct or still smoking volcanoes, coral banks, or insular forests, which seem to spring from the surface of the water, are landmarks that indicate his f)rogress through these inter- minable island-studded seas. As a region of transition between the Asiatic and Australian continents, Malaysia presents a strange contrast with the corresponding transitional region of the arid Arabian jDeninsula between Asia and Africa. In the richness of its insular development, the infinite variety of its landscapes, its brilliant vegetation, the number of its animal species, the diversity of its populations and abun- dant resources, the East Indian surpasses even the West Indian insular world itself. The Central American archipelago yields also to the Asiatic in historic importance, as well as in the economic value of the relations that have been developed between these two regions and the rest of the world. The relatively small island of Java alone has a larger population and more abundant products than the whole of Central America and the Antilles ; while numerous straits between the islands offer to interoceanic traflBc more extensile and commodious highways than the future Panama and Nicaraguan Canals can ever hope to become. Traversed in its entire length bj' the equinoxial line, Indonesia might well be called the garden of the world, not only, like the interior of Africa, because of its high annual temperature, but also and especially thanks to its fertile and copiously watered soil, its exuberant vegetation, and the costly and varied nature of its i^roducts. The very energy displayed by the igneous forces under the Sunda Islands and adjacent lands contributes to make this region one of the centres of terrestrial activity. Here the land quakes and is rent asunder even more frequentlj- than in the Central American and West Indian areas of volcanic disturbance. Java, the most densely peopled and one of the best cultivated and most productive islands in the world, is also the most violently agitated by iinder- ground convulsions as well as the scene of the most numerous active craters. These remarkable lands are not inhabited by independent native populations. A few unreduced tribes still find a refuge on the Sumatran plateaux, in the forests of Borneo and other islands ; but numerically they represent but a very small fraction of the Indonesian peoples. The more or less civilised Malayan populations, who have commercially exercised so much influence throughout the oceanic domain, and whose colonies have spread over an enormous expanse from Madagascar to Polynesia, have never been fused into a compact national body, INDONESIA. G7 and their conquests have been the work of one or another isolated group. Numerous petty Malay states have thus been founded, but the race has created no great empires. The diversity presented by their domain, divided into a thousand little insular mother countries, is thus reflected in their historic evo- lution. But the political unity, which has failed to be spontaneously developed, is being accomplished under foreign supremacy. The Europeans, who have occu- pied the whole of America, two-thirds of Asia, and one-half of Africa, have also made themselves masters of the Eastern Archipelago. A single European power, and one of the least importance in a military sense, dominates almost exclusively in this vast insular world comprised between Indo-China and Aus- tralia. Historic Retrospect. Under the guidance of Arab pilots, the Portuguese navigators and Italian travellers appeared early in the sixteenth century in the Sunda waters, and in 1511, Albuquerque, already master of the great city of Malacca, secured for his nation the political preponderance in the Malay world. The very next year the first consignment of nutmegs was shipped, in the Banda group, direct for Lisbon. In order more rapidly to explore every part of their new domain, the Portuguese resolved that all vessels, whether Malay, Chinese, or Javanese, trading with Malacca, should henceforth be commanded by a European captain. In this way the Eiu'opean mariners in a few years became familiar with the labyrinth of Indonesian maritime routes, thus securing for themselves the monopoly of the spice trade between the Moluccas and Lisbon. Doubtless the Spaniards, led by Magellan, soon appeared on the scene, in their turn claiming the exclusive right to the possession of the coveted " Spice Islands." In virtue of Alexander VI. 's famous bull, dividing the world recently dis- covered, or yet to be discovered, between the two Iberian powers, to Portugal fell all the lands situated in the far East. But Spain on her part claimed these same lands, as lying in the far West beyond the New World, and to put an end to these conflicts the Portuguese were fain to redeem by purchase the islands in dispute. Of these they remained peaceful possessors for nearly a century ; but in 1596 the Dutch flag, which had been excluded by Philip II. from the direct trade with Lisbon, had already discovered the road to the East. The broad-beamed Dutch vessels made their appearance before Malacca and helped themselves to the spices of the native factories. Such was the commercial enterprise inspired by the two brothers Houtman, who bore the Portuguese a grudge for their imprisonment in Lisbon, that within seven years the Amsterdam and Antwerp shippers had equipped fifteen fleets for the Eastern Archipelago, comprising altogether sixty- five vessels. In 1600 the new arrivals secured a strip of territory in Sumatra, and in IGIO they obtained a footing in Java, where they erected a fort, afterwards 68 AUSTEAI.ASIA. replaced, despite the English, by that of Batavia, the central point of their future conquests. At this period the Portuguese had become too enfeebled to continue the struggle with Holland, which in 1609 had already wrested the Moluccas from them. At present, of their former vast empire in the Eastern seas, there remains nothing but the eastern half of Timor with a contiguous islet. Holland thus became a great political and military state, ruling over many kingdoms, disposing of considerable forces, with redoubtable admirals and brave captains at her service. Nevertheless, the trading company, to which the Nether- lands Government had in 1602 granted a monopoly of the commerce with Indonesia, found itself jjowerless to defend its vast possessions when its English rivals had become masters of the sea. At the end of the eighteenth century the Spice Islands, regarded as the most valuable of all colonial possessions, had fallen into the hands of England, and in order to prevent her from seizing the whole of the Malay Archipelago, the privileges of the company were purchased by the Dutch Fig. 24. — Comparative Areas of Hollajto and the Dutch East Indies. Sciile 1 : 48,000,000. East oP Gr States, then known as the Batavian Republic. But Java and its dependencies passed, none the less, into the power of the Engli.sh, by whom they were not restored till 1816, after the Napoleonic wars. Since that time Holland, notwithstanding her insignificant size compared with its Eastern possessions, has remained undisputed mistress of all the insular groups which she had acquired at the close of the last century. She has even extended her sway over several islands not previously claimed by her, while her effective control has been enlarged and strengthened in the interior of Sumatra, Borneo, and Celebes. The northern part of Borneo alone had hitherto remained beyond the influence of the Dutch, and this circumstance has enabled a British company recently to acquire a considerable portion of the great island. This new English domain, with the neighbouring priucipalitj' of Sarawak, acquired by a British soldier of IXDONESIA. 69 fortune * some years ago, and the adjacent Sultanate of Brunei, togetlier with the Portuguese section of Timor, are the only regions in Indonesia which ai'e not regarded as officially dependent on the Netherlands. Nevertheless in the vast archipelago there still remain some unreduced tribes, and even nations, such as that of Atjeh, in the north of Sumatra. Since Germany has in her turn become a colonial power, she has acquired or claimed territories ou the African continent even more extensive than Indonesia. But their economic value may be estimated at zero compared with the Dutch East Indies, which many far-seeing politicians already regard as a not very remote inheritance of the German Empire. Possibly in anticipation of this future acquisition, the German Government has occupied a large part of New Guinea and neighbouring archipelagoes, with the view of extending eastwards this vast insular domain. Progress of Exploration. The already extensive historical and geographical literature relating to Indonesia is being constantly increased by new works. Explorers, either acting indejjendently or grouped in learned societies, are ceaselessly at work, investigating the material and moral conditions in the Malay world. Amongst the documents already published some are of the highest scientific value, for the Eastern Archi- pelago is one of those regions which most abound in interesting facts bearing on physical phenomena, the distribution of animal and vegetable species, human migrations, the evolution of mankind, and other problems connected with political and social economy. But what this encyclopaedic labour still lacks is the co-operation of the natives themselves. For the most part savage hunters, or toiling under hard taskmasters, they have but few representatives in the republic of letters, and those who do take part in the current of contemporary studies are not sufficiently unbiassed to judge of things as they really are. Thanks to the facilities of locomotion and free intercourse, the time has passed when privileged companies and Governments, jealous of their commercial monopolies, prevented geographers from publishing the charts and other results of their surveys. In the sixteenth century the Dutch and Spaniards made it a capital offence for any writer to publish the logs of their navigators. Copies of charts and maps acquired at great expense were entrusted by the Netherlands Government to their skippers, to be returned to the Admiralty archives after each voyage, the punishment of the lash, branding, or banishment being reserved for the traitors who disclosed them to strangers. Even in dangerous waters, where the perils of the deep were exaggerated by legendary reports, pilots were refused to ships in distress. But all this has changed, and at present certain parts of Indonesia are better * Sir James Brooke, better known aa Rajah Brooke, who purchased this territory from the Sultan of Brunei in 18-11. 70 AUSTEALASIA. known, at least in their outward aspects, than many regions of Eastern Europe. But on the other hand the interior of several islands is delineated on our maps, not from accurate surveys, but from incomplete itineraries or vague native reports. Nevertheless, the geodetic network is gradually spreading from island to island across the Malay lands, and sooner or later the whole of the archipelago will be represented with the same accuracy and minuteness of detail as Java and some parts of Sumatra and even of Celebes, which are already figured on excellent topographical and geological charts. Meanwhile, as to the population, it is still impossible to give even a rough estimate of the actual numbers for the whole area. The official statistics distinguish for the different islands the number of inhabitants returned bj' the regular census, a systematic calculation or a more or less plausible estimate. Lastlj-, there are regions for which not even a conjecture can be hazarded. ClIM.\TE OB' IxDOXESI.\. The Sunda Islands lie within the zone of the alternating trade winds and monsoons. But the normal course of the aerial currents is constantly modified by the shifting of the centres of attraction due to the returning seasons and to local phenomena. At Batavia, taken as the headquarters of the hundred and fifty-one meteorological stations scattered over the Archipelago, the " good monsoon," that is, the south-east trade wind, prevails during the northern summer months, and especially from June to September. At this time the atmosphere is usually drier than during the " bad monsoon," which mainly comprises the period from December to March, when a much larger quantity of moisture is precipitated. Nevertheless, this contrast of the seasons is not alwaj^s very sharply defined, especially in the interior of the large islands. No month is altogether rainless, and even during the so-called dry season the atmosphere along the seaboard is charged with 80 per cent, of relative humidity, while during the rainy season it is nearly at the point of saturation. For the whole of Indonesia the mean rainfall, according to Voyeikov, exceeds 120 inches. But in many regions it is very difficult to distinguish the true alternation of the seasons, and form a correct idea of the normal succession of wet and fine weather. Even to the east of Celebes the moisture is brought chiefly by the south-east trades, while the west monsoon is accompanied by clear skies. In a shifting and uncertain zone between Siimatra and Timor the two opposing currents are, as a rule, accompanied by about an equal quantity of moisture. On the other hand, in the endless labyrinth of islands, the normal direction of the lower winds and marine breezes is modified by every strait and streamlet. In a vertical direction also — that is, ascending from the sea-level to the mountain tops — considerable changes are observed in the general course of the winds. The western monsoon affects the lower atmospheric masses only, its thickness never exceeding 6,500 feet. Hence its force is mainly felt about the foot and lower slopes of the hills, as for instance at Buitenzorg (920 feet) in the western part of Java. In this district, one of the most abundantly watered in the FLORA OF I>rDONT:SIA. 71 whole of llalaysia, it often thunders every day for months together. So accustomed does one grow to the continual peals echoing from height to height, that the stillness of cloudless evening skies causes a feeling of surprise. But the higher aerial spaces belong entirely to the zone of the south-eastern trades, which sometimes rise, sometimes fall, and by clashing with the western monsoon occasionally produce extremely violent local cyclones. But in the higher regions they always pi-edominate, as shown by the smoke from the lofty craters, which invariably sets towards the west. No spectacle is more impressive than that of a western monsoon driving hard towards the east, while the long streak of volcanic vapours is seen through a break in the clouds to be setting in the opposite direction across a background of blue skies. In these upper regions the atmosphere is much drier and far less frequently disturbed than lower down. Analogous climatic changes take place in the direction from west to east. The western parts of Java are more humid than the eastern, and these receive more rain than Timor still farther east. The summer and winter temperatures also become less equable in the same direction. In the Sunda Islands the variation from month to month is less than 2^ F., the extremes being greater between day and night than between the hot and cool seasons. If the nights are colder and the days warmer in the dry months, compensation is afforded by the rainy months, when the temperature varies little throughout the twenty-four hours. At Batavia the rise and fall of the glass rarely exceeds 18° F. during the course of the year ; but in Timor the discrepancy is much greater, the eastern islands of Indonesia already coming within the influence of the Australian climate.* Flora. The Indonesian flora, comprising over nine thousand flowering plants described by Miguel, belongs to the same zone as that of India. But going eastwards it becomes gradually moditied, approaching more and more towards the Australian types according as the atmosphere becomes drier and the climate less equable. In Timor, for instance, the character of the vegetation is already far more Australian than Indian. Here the eucalyptus, casuarina, and acacia predominate, but instead of developing large forests they grow in open thickets, as on the neighbouring continent. In the western regions of the archipelago vegetable life is extremely vigorous. Despite the constant clearings and incessant struggle of the peasants against • Temperatures and rainfall in various parts of Indonesia according to observations varying from five to thirteen rears : — Yearly Hottest Coldest 8. Lat. Temperature. 3Ionth. Month. Rainfall. Padam (Sumatra) . 0°56- 79° F. 81° F. (May) 78° F. (Nov.) 190 inches Palembang ,, . . 2° 50' 81° 81°-5 79° (Jan.) 120 ., Banjermassin (Borneo) S'S-t" 81= 8r-8 79° (Dec.) 90 „ Batavia (Java) . . 6° 11- 78° 79° (May, Oct.) 77° (Jan., Feb ) 78 ., Buitenzorg , , . . 6° 37' 77° 76° (Sept.) 7(5° (Feb.) ISO ,, Banjuwangie . . 8° 17' 79° 81° (April) 80° (Julv) Amboyna .... 3° 41' 78°-6 81° (Feb.) 77° (July) loO .. 72 AUSTRALASIA. spontaneous growths, certain Javanese forests still maintain their ground, rivalling in splendour those of Brazil and Columbia. Vast districts in Java, probably occupying one-fourth of the whole area, are no doubt covered with savannahs, where nothing flourishes except the alang [imperata arundinaceu), in which horse and rider disappear together. In the midst of these boundless seas of a light- green herbaceous growth, little is seen except a few scattered clumps of trees But these savannahs are due to the action of man destroying the forests, either to clear the land or to destroy the tigers and snakes, and in any case the large timber, when left to itself, never fails to recover its lost ground. Forests of acacias and mimosas, which give little shade, also flourish on the slopes of the limestone hills. But on the moist and fertile coastlands and well-watered heights the surface is overgrown with a surprisingly vigorous vegetation. Here every stem is covered with epiphytes, their branches are matted together by the creepers ; while the tall palms, seeking light and air, burst through the surrounding foliage, forming, as it were, a forest above a forest. The Sunda Islands have their peculiar species of palms, amongst others, two varieties of the sago {metroxylon Ruinphii or sagus) and the corypha {gebaiig), which grows in a narrow zone at an elevation of about 450 feet, immediately above the coast forests. The liana-palms {rattan or rofang) twine round the other trees, hanging in festoons from top to top sometimes for a space of three or four hundred feet, and thus binding together whole forests in a compact mass into which it is impossible to penetrate without the aid of the axe or fire. Some species of bamboo also acquire the trailing habits of the lianas, occasionally growing to a length of 130 feet ; others are armed with thorns and form dense thickets shunned even by the wild beasts themselves. The marvellous development of the parasitic plants in the Sunda Islands is well seen in the blossom of Rnfflemi, which grows on the roots and branches of a species of cissKS. In Sumatra one variety bears enormous flowers over seven feet round. On the slopes of the mountains the various growths are disposed vertically according to the climate, ranging from the tropical zone of the coastlands to the temjDerate region of the topmost crests. Nevertheless, curious associations are sometimes observed amongst plants belonging naturally to different areas. Thus in Sumatra, the oak is found in company with the camphor-tree. On the same seaboard there are also met certain teaks, which in Java occur only at considerable altitudes on the flanks of the mountains. On the northern uplands of Sumatra are found certain pines intermingled with casuarinas. Here is the southern limit of those conifers, whose true home are the Himalayas. Amid this endless variety of forms each island of the archipelago has its own share of endemic growths. Thus in the Sumatran flora, comprising over two thousand six hundred known phanerogams, Miguel enumerates a thousand and forty-nine which are not met in Java, although separated from the larger island only by a narrow strait. Even the western and eastern divisions of Java itself, differing but slightly in their climates, present considerable contrasts in their local floras. Not only the Moluccas, long famous for their valuable sjiiccs, but all FAUNA OF IXDOXESIA. 73 the other islands in the archipelago, possess plants which occur nowhere else on the surface of the globe. In three years the botanist Beccari discovered over two hundred absolutely new species in the single district of Sarawak, on the north- west coast of Borneo. In the same island the summits of the mountains form so many secondarj- islands, with independent growths recalling the types of remote lands in more temperate climates. At an elevation of 8,500 feet, on the flanks of Kina-Balu, in Xorth Borneo, are met certain forms belonging to genera which elsewhere occur only in Xew Zealand. Fauna. Going eastwards the flora is gradually modified with the changing climatic conditions, whereas the transition from fauna to fauna are for the most part of an abrupt character. While the species in the western islands as far as Bali are of the Indian type, those of the eastern regions, beginning with Lombok, present the characteristics of Australian zoological life. Two worlds as different as Europe and America here lie side by side, separated only by a strait less than 20 miles broad. But the two islands of Bali and Lombok, composed largely of igneous rocks, are probably for the most part of comparatively recent origin. Hence what is now a narrow channel was formerly a wide branch of the sea. Nevertheless the striking contrast between two faunas on the same chain of islands presenting such great uniformity in their physical constitutions must still be regarded as a most remarkable phenomenon. One of the salient features of the terrestrial crust is this very range of volcanic islands evidently springing from the same fault in the submarine bed and stretching from the islet of Krak- atau to that of Xila for a distance of 2,200 miles. Yet this line of eruptive rocks is intersected precisely in the middle by an abrupt parting-line between two distinct faunas. The inference is irresistible that the formation of the Sundanese volcanoes is of relatively recent date. The sudden contrast of the Indian and Australian animal forms shows that here the distribution of land and water, as well as the planetary life itself, has greatly changed during the course of the later geological ejjochs. Between Borneo and Celebes, which however are separated by a much wider strait than that of Lombok, the contrast between the animal species is no less remarkable, nearly all the forms of the two regions belonging to distinct families. "VVe must therefoie conclude that here also the lands characterised by different faunas have remained disconnected since extremely remote geological times. But Celebes, unlike Lombok, formed no part of the Australian world. On all sides its isolation appears to be complete, dating evidentlj' from a period of vast antiquity. On the other hand both their fauna and their flora attest the ancient con- tinuity of the three great islands of Sumatra, Java, and Borneo, which are separated only by shallow waters from the Asiatic mainland. Wallace enumerates forty-eight species of mammals common to the continental and neighbouring insular ilalay lands. Sumatra, with its long mountain range disposed parallel 74 AUSTRALASIA. witt the Malay peninsula, has a fauna which may be regarded as almost identical with that of the mainland. Borneo, being farther removed, already presents a certain originality in its animal forms. Still more marked characteristics are offered by Java, notwithstanding its proximity to Sumatra, with which it is farther connected by intervening islets affording resting-places to birds of passage. From the fact that Java possesses more endemic birds and insects than either Borneo or Sumatra, it may be inferred that it was the first to be detached from the mainland. Borneo doubtless still formed continuous land with Indo-China at a time when Java was already surrounded on all sides by the marine waters. Fig. 2.5. — Paetixo Line of the Indonesun Faujjas. Scale 1 : 32,500,000. Depths. Hence the zoological data formally contradict the Javanese tradition to the effect that the physical rupture between Sumatra and Java was quite a recent event, dating only from about the year 1000 of the new era. But the zoological exploration of Indonesia is still far from being concluded. The region best known to naturalists is the western section of Java, although much attention has also been bestowed on the district of Padang in Sumatra, those of Sarawak and Banjcrmassiu in Borneo, the island of Bangka, and certain peninsulas in Celebes. But all this forms biit a small fraction of the vast Indonesian domain, and the future doubtless reserves many surprises for the naturalist. FAUXA OF INDONESIA. 75 At the same time the explorations already made suffice to give some idea of the teeming animal life in the western parts of the archipelago. During six j^ears of research, Wallace alone collected over a hundred and twenty-five thousand zoolo- gical specimens. The Indonesian mammals comprise over one hundred and seventy species, amongst which twenty- four belong to the ajje fainily. In Sumatra and Borneo occur two species of the orang-utan, that "wild man" who has been so often described, and who, by his intelligence and moral qualities seems to approach nearest to civilised man. The si-amang, nearlj- as tall as the orang-utan, has his home in Sumatra ; while all the western islands have their long-armed gibbons and long- mouthed lemuroids. Sumatra and Borneo are still the refuge of a species of elephant, apparently in no way differing from the Indian variety, as well as of a tapir, which is also met on the adjacent mainland. Both islands have their rhinocoroses, and Borneo and Java their wild cattle resembling those of Siam and Burmah. The Sunda group has no less than thirty- three species of carnivora, amongst which are the roj'al tiger and the almost equally formidable leopard. There are also as manj' as fifty different kinds of the bat family, and a great number of rodents, the squirrels alone being represented by twenty-five species, nearly all distinct from those of the mainland, but outwardly not unlike the tupaias, or insectivora, of which about ten varieties have been observed, mostly peculiar to the archipelago. Besides those recently introduced by man, there are about three hundred and fifty species of birds, some of which, notably the parrakeets, are distinguished by their gorgeous plumage. The ophidians and other reptiles, somewhat rare in most oceanic lands, are, on the contrary, very numerous in Indonesia, where the estu- aries are infested by crocodiles, and the forests inhabited by pythons over thirty feet long, and by the much-dreaded spectacled snake. Hundreds of species of fishes swarm in all the rivers, while thousands and thousands of the insect order have already been collected and classified in the European museums. Such is the multitude of the butterflies, that Wallace speaks of them as forming a characteristic feature of the insular scenery. The "oruithoptera," which, thanks to their size, majestic flight, and brilliant colours, make a greater show than most birds, are met in swarms about the verge of the forests and cultivated lands. A morning stroll in the more fertile districts of Malaysia is almost sure to reveal three or four, and often as many as eight species of papilio, of which naturalists have already enumerated about one hundred and thirty kinds. Borneo alone possesses thirtj-. the largest number yet found in any single island. The diversity of these species, however, diminishes gradually going eastwards, while their size increases in the same direction. Such is the poverty of the fauna as we approach the Australian continent, that Timor offers no more than seven species of land mammals apart from fifteen kinds of bats. Passing from Borneo to Celebes, the naturalist is less struck by the reduced number of species than by their new forms. Celebes, having been longer isolated than the neighbouring lands, presents greater originality in the asjDcct of its fauna. Lying about the parting-line between the Simdanoe and Australian 76 AUSTRALASIA. domaiiis, it forms in some respects a connecting link between botli ; but most of its species are altogether peculiar, so that this great island constitutes an independent zoological world. Of the three hundred and fifty kinds of birds inhabiting the Sunda group, ten onlj' have reached Celebes, where there are no less than eighty found nowhere else. Of its twenty-one mammals, including seven bats, eleven are also peculiar to the island, while the local butterflies are distinguished from all their congeners elsewhere by the outward form of their wings. The Moluccas, lying at the eastern extremity of Indonesia, resemble Timor and Celebes in the poverty of their mammals, of which they have only ten, not counting the ubiquitous bats, and of this number there is reason to believe that about half, amongst others the cynopithek, confined to the island of Batjau, have been introduced by man. The typical forms of this insular group approach those of Australia, being of the marsupial order, and comprising amongst others the heli- deus ariel, which outwardly resembles a flying squirrel. On the other hand, the Moluccas have a marvellous wealth of birds, their avi- fauna being richer than that of the whole of Europe. Although the exploration of this region is still far from completed, naturalists have alreadj' discovered two hundred and sixty-five kinds of birds, of which one hundred and ninety-five are terrestrial, and most of which, such as the parrakeets, pigeons, and kingfishers, rival in beauty of form and gorgeous plumage those elsewhere found in the tropical zone. The numerous insects also, and especially the butterflies, form the admiration of explorers by their size and the metallic lustre of their wings. The little island of Amboj-na alone contains more remarkable varieties of lepidoptera than many vast continental regions. Here, in fact, these animal forms may be said to have reached the highest possible pitch of develojDment. Most of the species are pecidiar to the Moluccas, while the genera and types connect this insular fauna with that of New Guinea. Although the Asiatic continent seems to be continued from island to island far into the Pacific Ocean, both Celebes and the Moluccas already belong zoologically to another region of the globe. IXHABITANTS OF INDONESIA. The Eastern Archipelago is shared as well by different races of mankind as by different faunas, but the parting-lines do not coincide for the human and animal forms. While the zoological domains are separated by the Lombok Strait and the broad Macassar Channel, the limits of the Malayan and Papuan races, with the allied populations, have been shifted much farther towards the east : this line traverses the islands of Jilolo and Burn, and then trends south-westwards in the direction of Timor and Sumbawa. The inhabitants of the islands lying on either side of these limits again present considerable differences amongst themselves, either offering various shades of transition between the true Malaj's and intruders of other races, or else belonging to a really original type, the possible survivors of some primitive stock. At least fifty languages are current in the archipelago, and each insular group requires to bo studied apart with the territory occupied by it. IXHABITANTS OF INDONESIA. 77 In the Sunda Islands and Celebes, as well as in a part of the Moluccas, the dominant, if not the exclusive race, is the Malayan, which constitutes the bulk of the population, or which at least has absorbed and assimilated most of the other ethnical elements. But whatever resemblances they may present to each other throughout the archipelago, these Malayan peoples are everywhere divided into natural groups, according to the geographical environment, their diverse inter- minglings, their diet and different degrees of barbarism or culture. The Malays, properly so called, who closely resemble those of the neighbouring peninsula, and who have given their name to the whole race, occupy the coastlands of Sumatra and Borneo, with the intermediate islands. The Javanese, as indicated by their name, inhabit the greater part of Java, and have also spread farther east Fig. 26. — IXHABITiXTS OF IsDON'ESIA. Scale 1 : 45,000,000. m Malays of divers Indonesians ! Amianiites. Papuans- Negritos, nationalities. Batta, Dyak. Minahassa, Alfuru. to the two islands of Bali and Lorabok. The Sundanese dwell in the western districts of Java, on the shores of the Sunda Strait separating that island from Sumatra. The Bughis hold the south-western peninsula of Celebes as well as the north coast, and all the adjacent i.slands. Lastly, each separate land has its more or less pure or mixed populations, bearing an endless variety of tiibal names. The term " Alfuru," however, collectively applied in Celebes and farther east to all the wild tribes driven from the coastlands to the interior, has no racial significance. It simply indicates the social condition of the populations which have kept aloof from the Mohammedan Malays, some of which are of lighter complexion even than the Javanese, while others resemble in colour and aspect the dark Papuans of Xew Guinea. 78 AUSTRALASIA. Amongst the Indonesians are still found savage peoples, such as the Battas of Sumatra, the Bornean Dyaks, the " Alfurus," that is "Free" or "Wild," of Celebes, and most anthropologists are iucliiied to regard them as a primitive population of light colour who occuj)ied the archipelago before the arrival of the Malays. To them is in a special manner applied the term " Indonesian," as if they were the representatives of the original masters of this oceanic region. But in the north-eastern islands near New Guinea and the Philippines, there occurs yet another ethnical element quite distinct both from the Papuans and Malaj's, characterised b}' black or blackish skin and crisp hair. These natives, who resemble the Andamanese and the Negritos of the Philippines, would appear to be the true autochthones, still older than the fair Indonesians of Sumatra, Borneo and Celebes. In the western islands they have been exterminated, in the eastern driven to the uj)lands of the interior, just as the Indonesians themselves have been encroached upon in the large Sundanese islands. This remarkable phenomenon of distinct human as well as animal species dwelling in contiguous islands, under the same or analogous phj'sical conditions, finds its explanation in the history of the jjlanet itself. Such contrasts are the outcome of different epochs, which are here placed, as it were, in juxtaposition. But during the course of ages all these heterogeneous elements must have long been subjected to like influences, for all, or nearly all, the current Malay, Papuan, Indonesian, and Negrito languages seem to constitute a single linguistic family, and this family itself has been affiliated by Hodgson and Caldwell to the Dravidian of Southern India. As commonly understood, the term " Malay " is practically synonymous with " Mohammedan." The Indonesian, whether black, bronze, or fair, who accepts the Moslem faith and acquires a knowledge of the Arabic letters, becomes ij'so facto a " Malay." Still, the great bulk of the population belongs probably to the same stock. Without j)rejudging the question of the origin of the Malay race now dominant in the archipelago, it may be asked where was its home in the times anterior to the historic period ? Did the Malays .reach this region through the peninsula named from them, or had they any other centre of dispersion, as for instance, the plateaux in the interior of Sumatra ? According to Van der Tunk, their very name, interpreted by him in the sense of "wanderers," " vaga- bonds," would indicate their foreign origin. In all the lands occupied by them the banks of the rivers are " right" and " left " not according to the course of the stream seawards, but in the reverse way, as if the colonists had in all cases penetrated from the sea against the current into the interior. Marked resem- blances have also been observed between the Malay houses and their praus, so much so that in man}' places their villages i^reseut the appearance of stranded fleets. The insular as well as the continental ]\Ialays, although short, or at most of average height, are of robust constitution, with a ruddy brown, at times olive, complexion, and in the women, who are less exposed to the sun, approaching nearer to a decided yellow. The hair of the head — for all are nearly beardless — is INHABITANTS OF INDONESIA. 79 black, hard, ani coarse to the touch ; the face rather round than oval and somewhat flat, with small nose but wide nostrils, thick lips, prominent cheek bones, and black eyes. But for their complexion and dress they might often be taken for Chinese. The resemblmce is even closer to the Khmers (Cambojans), with W'hose language the Malaj' presents a great analogy even in its grammatical structure.* Physically the Malays are distinguished by their well-balanced frames, delicate articulations, small hands and feet. Like the members of all other human families, the Malays of the different islands present marked diversities according to their pursuits or professions. The corsair or the trader cannot be judged by the same standard as the mechanic or the peasant. But the great bulk of the natives, occupied with husbandrj', are sociable if somewhat taciturn, of a kindly disposition, ever ready to render each other mutual aid, extremely courteous and considerate for the privileges and feelings of others. The labourer is careful not to awake his fellow workman by a touch of the hand; the creditor hesitates to remind the debtor of his obligations; altogether the demeanour and conversation of the Malays are certainly superior to those of their white rulers and pretended " civilisers." But although in some respects highly cultured and for centuries possessing a written literature, the Malays do not appear to be as richly endowed intellectually as other nations, notably the Papuans, who are at present greatly their inferiors in civilisation. According to those travellers who have associated most intimately with them, their chief mental defect is a certain feebleness of understanding, a lack of boldness or vigour of apprehension. They are timid, without power of independent action, hence disposed to submit unresistingly to foreign influences. Thus the}' formerly accepted Buddhism and Brahmanism at the hands of a few Hindu missionaries. Then came the Arab traders, who soon persuaded most of the popiilations to adopt Islam ; and now a handful of Dutch officials, supported only by a few mercenary troops, suffices to hold thirty millions of human beings in a state of subjection little removed from slavery. SlMATKA .\NU XeIGIUSOURING IsLAXDS. Apart even from the adjacent archipelagoes geologically dependent on Sumatra, this island is one of the largest in the world, being exceeded in extent only by Neiv Guinea, Borneo, Madagascar, Australia, and the polar regions of Greenland and the antarctic lands. Its surface, which has not yet been regularly surveyed, is estimated at over 175,000 square miles, or thirteen times the area of Holland, to which it is politically attached, if not yet completely reduced. In the northern highlands and forests it is still occupied by independent populations, and the interminable war with Atjeh, begun in 1873, has taught the Dutch people what it costs to attemjit the subjugation of a brave nation determined to defend its autonomy against all odds. Until the island is completely "pacified" it will be impossible to obtain * Fontaine, Aynionnier, Keane {.iiistralasiti). 80 AUSTRALASIA. accurate returns for the whole population. But from the partial statistics already taken in the conquered provinces, combined with the systematic estimates made for the independent districts, it may be inferred that the number of inhabitants, although still comparatively slight, has considerably increased since the middle of the present century. According to Veth, the population of Sumatra and the western islands in 1 869 was somewhat less than two and a half millions ; at present it certainly exceeds three and a half millions, and possibly even four millions. Were it peopled as densely as Java, which its fertile soil and abundant resources might enable it even to surpass, Sumatra would have a population of not less than seventy millions. Sumatra presents some features in common with Madagascar. Both are nearly of the same extent and outward foim, that of an elongated oval ; both have one nearly rectilineal coast, that facing towards the high sea, and another, washed by shallower waters, of irregular outline and indented with creeks and inlets. These two seas encircling Sumatra, the boundless ocean to the west, the shallow island- studded waters to the east, are said bj' some etymologists to have earned for the island its Sanskrit name of Samantara, that is, " placed between two ; " but there can be little doubt that its name is really derived from Samudra, which in Sanskrit simply means the "sea," but which was the designation of an ancient kingdom on the north coast. During the predominance of Hindu influences Sumatra shared with the adajcent island the name of Jam, being distinguished from its neighbour by the epithet of " Little," not as being thought smaller than the " Great Java," but because of its inferior commercial importance. The native names of Sumatra are Pertjeh and Andalas. It remained unknown to Europeans till the first years of the sixteenth century. Ludovico di Barthema visited the north coast in 1505, and four years later a Portuguese fleet made its appearance in these waters. The Dutch, present masters of Sumatra, did not present themselves till the close of the century, in 1598. Physical Features of Sumatra. As in Madagascar, the highlands and mountain ranges, largely composed of stratified rocks resting on a granitic foundation, are developed not in the centre of the island, but for the most part in the vicinity of the western or oceanic coast. The orographic system, however, is of far more regular formation than in Madagascar, running from one extremity to the other along a scarcely deflected axis, presenting in some places only a single main range, in others breaking into two or three parallel chains. These ranges are connected by secondary transverse ridges enclosing verdant plateaux and cirques diversified by tranquil lakes and winding streams. In these upland regions, at a mean altitude of about 3,000 feet, are grouped the largest villages, and here the fertile soil is turned to best account. Here also the climate, far cooler than on the coastlands, is suitable even for Europeans, so that the elevated Sumatran tablelands would seem to combine all the advantages destined to render a country populous, rich, and prosperous. SUMATRA. 81 The Siimatran mountain svstcm certainly forms a soutliern ami more reo-ular extension of the Arrakauesc, which, terminating- on the mainland in the lieadiaiul of Cape Negrais, east of the Irran-addi, afterwards describes the elongated curve of VUI,. XIV. r; 82 AUSTRALASIA. the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The Barisan Mountains, as the Suraatran ranges are collectively called, begin to the north of Atjeh with the islet of Pulo Brass (2,300 feet), on which has been erected the beacon known to mariners as the "Sumatra Lighthouse." Eastwards stands the insular mass of Pulo Wai (1,370 feet), beyond which on the mainland rises the volcanic Selawa Janteu (5,650 feet), known to the Dutch as the Goudberg, or " Gold Mountain." This imposing and almost completely isolated cone is followed along the north coast by other crests, for the most part less elevated, and indicating the border of the still unexplored Achinese plateau. The range terminates near Diamond Cape (Jambu Ajer) in a Tafelberg, or Table Mountain, whose highest terrace stands at an altitude of 5,300 feet above the sea. Bej'ond the hills on the coast is seen the summit, 4,000 feet high, of the still unvisited Samalanga volcano. But the main range, which has its origin to the west of the Goudberg and of the Atjeh valley, develops a much loftier series of crests along the oceanic seaboard. Here the Abong-Abong and Luseh, said to be volcanoes but not yet explored, are reported to attain the respective elevations of 11,300 and 12,200 feet. South of these lofty summits, whose cones rest on a crystalline formation some 3,000 or 4,000 feet high, the mean altitude of the highlands is considerably reduced, and here the system branches into parallel chains enclosing the Toba plateau, and tao, or " sea," of like name. This basin, called also Silalahi, forms a lake of clear water 500 square miles in extent, whose shores are studded with hundreds of Batta villages. In its waters are mirrored the cones of extinct or still active volcanoes, one of which, the Dolok Simanabum, emitted dense vapours in 1881. On its flanks, as well as on those of a neighbouring volcano, may be distinguished from below a broad belt of a golden colour, consisting probably of crystallised sulphur. The Pusuk Bukit, another cone on the western margin of the lake, also possesses extensive sulphur deposits, whence the Battas draw their supplies. The island rising in the centre of the basin was itself a volcano, which has been attached by eruptive scoria) to the mainland and to the Pusuk Bukit. Lake Toba stretches in the direction from north-west to south-east, parallel with the main Simiatran axis. Its overflow is discharged to the south-east, towards the strait of Malacca. The amphitheatre of hills, whose spurs branch off towards the east coast, again converges south of the Toba plateau in a single main range, which resumes its normal direction parallel with the west Sumatran seaboard. In this part of the Barisan highlands some volcanic or other peaks exceed 5,000 feet in height. From one of the cones are emitted wreaths of sulphurous vapours, and another is pierced by a crater whose walls are lined with a ycllo-\\- incrustation of .sulphur. The range is flanked on the west by superb lateral spurs, which from a distance seem to be the dominant summits. Such are the Malintang (5,000 feet), and the Pasomau, which European geographers have named Mount Ophir, not on account of its gold mines, which have no existence, but in allusion to the natural SUMATRAN HIGHLAXDS. 83 wealth of the great tropical island. Being completely isolated in appearance, and rising just five miles north of the equator, about the exact centre of the oceanic coast of Sumatra, Ophir stands out as the most conspicuous insular landmark for mariners navi^atino; the neio^hbourino- waters. Hence till recently it was supposed to be the culminating point of the island, and a far greater altitude was assigned to it than the 9,600 feet to which modern explorers have reduced it. Mount Ophir has two chief summits besides several partly obliterated craters. Farther on the main range proper is interrupted by the broad valley of ihe The Merai'I Voi.caxic Ran'oe. Scale 1 ; 730,000. "^W'^^^PTTT ^^ "1^ LTsl oF Ureen 320 Feet and upwards. river Masang, south of which a transver.se volcanic ridge trends west and east ou the border of the Padang uplands. The westernmost volcano of this system has lost its mountainous aspect, nothing remaining except the vast periphery of the base, which now forms a wooded enclosure. The crest has disappeared, doubtless blown away by some tremendous explosion, and about half of the old crater (1,520 feet) is now flooded with the oval-shaped Lake Maninju, called also Danau, or the " Sea." This basin, which discharges westwards to the Indian Ocean, is fed by a few slightly thermal and alkaline springs nuuh frecjuentcd by the 84 AUSTRALASIA. natives. Gaseous eruptions take place from time to time in the depths of the lake, and then the atmosphere becomes charged with sulphurous exhalations, while the fish perish in thousands. East of this lacustrine basin, which greatly resembles the Italian Lake Bolsena, rises the still perfect Singalang volcano (8,800 feet), scarcely less imposing than its eastern neighbour Merapi, whose highest peak attains an elevation of 9,400 feet. This volcano, as indicated by its very name (Moro Api, " destroying fire "), is the most restless of the seven or eight still active burning mountains in Sumatra. None other has discharged such copious lava streams over the surrounding plains, and even during the present century it has been the centre of numerous disturbances. Its summit, of a red colour and destitute of vegetation, terminates in a group of three craters, each encircled by recent lavas. The local Malay legend has converted Merapi into a sort of Ararat, whence their first parents descended as the flood- waters subsided. The Sago volcano (7,450 feet) stands out like a bold landmark at the north-east corner of the Padang uplands. This region is throughout its whole extent a mountainous terrace-land somewhat clearly marked off by two longitudinal ridges, on the west the main Barisan range, en the east that of Ngalau Saribu. The plateau is likewise skirted on the south by another transverse chain, which like the northern ridge has also its "corner stone," the Talang or Sulasi volcano (8,440 feet), rising immediately above the west side of the city of Padang. Thermal waters and sulphurous vapours escape in abundance from crevasses of this mountain, which, however, does not terminate in a crater properly so called. On its flanks are rich sulphur beds extensively utilised by the natives. The lowest depression of the quadrilateral of outer ridges enclosing the Padang uplands is flooded by a lake, whose long axis is disposed in the same direction as Sumatra itself and its mountain system. The Siugkarah Sea, as this basin is called, teems with fish, yielding an abundant supply for a large number of the surrounding populations. Its level has been lowered some three feet by the destruction of a rocky barrier at the head of its emissary, the river Umbilien, which is one of the main branches of the Indragiri. Three other lakes, one a tributary of Singkarah, are disposed in terraces on the south-east slopes of Mount Talang.* South of Talang the Barisan chain presents only a single ridge skirting the seaboard at a mean distance of fifteen miles from the ocean. In this section of the system, but to the east of the normal line of crests, rises the isolated Korintji (12,200 feet), known also by the name of Indrajjura, or " City of Indra " ; for this peak, which contends with Luseh for the first rank amongst the Sumatran summits, was supposed, like the great mountains of India, to be the everlasting abode of the gods. Vapours are almost constantly emitted from its crater, a * Lakes of the Padang plateau : — Aie^i in Greatest Altitude. Square Miles. Depth. ManinJH 520 feet 40 510 feet Sing-kavah 1,100 ,, 45 890 „ SUMATEAN HIGHLANDS. 85 chasm visited by Veth and Van Hasselt, aud by them described as developing a vast circumference and several hundred yards deep. Like the Padaug volcanoes, this majestic mountain has also its little lacustrine system in the vallej-s excavated at its base. Here rises a torrent, which after skirting the east slope of the volcanic chain falls into the danau or "sea" of Korintji, whence an emissary escapes towards the river Jambi. Farther south follow other volcanoes disposed in a line with the general axis of the island, but for the most part extinct. Kaba and Dempo, however, are still the theatre of frequent and violent convulsions. Kaba (5,500 feet), which is visible thirty miles to the north-east of Benkulen, towering above the Suikerbrood (" Sugar- loaf"), terminates in two craters, one inaccessible, and both rent by crevasses, whence issue jets of vapour. In 1875 Kaba entered on a period of activity, the eruptions lasting three years, and covering the surrounding hills and valleys with sand mixed with chemical substances fatal to plants and animals alike. Even now, whenever the sandy banks of the neighbouring streams give way the fish die in thousands. Dempo (10,560 feet), which rises some sixty miles to the south-east of Benkulen, is also the scene of constant disturbances. But Sawah, one of the old craters, no longer bursts into flames, so that the natives are able to ajiproach without danger and offer their sacrifices in the midst of tlie heaths and rhododen- drons. The new crater, named Merapi like the great Padang volcano, stands 8-iO feet higher up, and is the abode of the deta for whom the offerings are intended. Some sixty feet below the circular rim is seen a lakelet sparkling like a sheet of quicksilver ; presently a black speck in the centre of the glittering surface begins to expand and assume the form of a funnel, in which the water suddenly dis- appears. In a few minutes the rocks resound as with the rumbling of thunder ; the din grows nearer, followed by a flash as of lightning, and the water, trans- formed to vapour, issues in a dense jet from the crater, into which it again soon subsides. Thus every fifteen or twenty minutes the lake vanishes and reappears in the form of a magnificent geyser some hundred feet high. Farther south another ranau* or " sea," floods an elevated cirque (1,720 feet), which seems to have been an old crater, and which is encircled on three sides by extinct volcanoes. It is extremely deep in the centre, and in one place thermal .springs from the neighbouring Mount Siminung raise the temperature too high for animal life. Southwards the Barisan system again bifurcates, one branch continuing in the normal direction south-eastwards to Cape Tjina (China), where it merges in low hills over against Princes Island and the south-west extremity of Java. The other or volcanic branch trends more to the east, where it is indicated from afar by the lofty summits of Mounts Besagi, Sekinjau, Tebah, and Tangkamus (7,520 feet). This last, better known as the Keizers Piek, or "Emperor's Peak," rises near the southern extremity of Sumatra, on the Bay of Samangka, and is probably connected by a submarine fault with the islet of Tabuan. On the mainland the vol- * RanaUy danati^ tao are various dialectic forms of the same word, meaning sea, or any large expanse of water. 86 AUSTRz\XASIA. canic chain is continued by Mount Tangka (3,460 feet), round Lampong Bay to the south-eastern headland of Sumatra, and thence through a line of islets and reefs across the Sunda Strait, here only sixteen miles wide, to the opposite coast of Java. The extinct cone of Eaja Bassa (4,460 feet), southernmost member of the chain of sixty-six Sumatran volcanoes, does not lie in the normal direction of the main axis, and seems to have originally stood on an island afterwards attached to the mainland, either by upheaval or moi'e probably by a shower of scorias and ashes. Raja Bassa forms part of a transverse volcanic ridge, whose axis intersects that of Fig. 29. — Khaeatau and Neiqhbotjrixg Islets befoke the Eruption. Scale 1 : 150,000. the Sumatran system, for it runs in the direction from north-cast to south-west. To this scarcely perceptible ridge belong the two islands of Sebesi and Krakatau in the Sunda Strait, and the system is also perhaps continued under the Indian Ocean for some six hundred miles to the Keeling Islands, which lie in a direct line with Raja Bassa and Krakatau. But yet another volcanic fault intersects that of Sumatra and Krakatau in the Sunda Strait. This is the great Javanese system, running due west and east, and marked by so many formidable igneous cones. Thus at this focus of undei-ground forces the terrestrial crust is, so to say, starred with tremendous fissures, and here the destructive agencies have at times, and even quite recently, assumed a character of stupendous grandeur. KEAKATAU. 87 Krakai'au. Till recentlj' Krakatau, rising to a height of 2,270 feet, was hailed with joy by mariners crossing the strait, and vessels confidently rode at anchor under its shelter in depths of from 25 to ;30 fathoms. The last recorded outburst, that of 1680, had already long been forgotten by the natives. But in the month of JNIay, 1883, the fiery demon again awoke : on one of the northern shoulders the ground was rent asunder, flames burst forth, detonations and discharges of vapours and ashes followed in rapid succession. But so far the display differed in no respect from similar manifestations Fisr. 30. — Krakatau axd Neighboijeixo Islets after the Eeuptiox. Scale 1 : 150,000. tobO Feet 80 to 320 Feet. 320 to 960 Feet. 960 i'cet and i-pwards. observed in so many parts of Indonesia, and excursionists from Batavia even landed on the island and approached the crater. But after three months of groanings and rumblings the volcano put forth all its strength, and in a few hours the whole topography of the Simda Strait was changed. At Batavia, 90 miles distant, the uproar was so terrific that an eruption was supposed to have occurred in the immediate vicinity, and every moment the ground was expected to open. In all the surrounding waters, as far as the China Sea, in the Bay of Bengal, throughout half of the Indian Ocean as far as Rodrigues, the detonations were clearly hoard, and every wht re the people wondered 88 AUSTRALASIA. what mighty fleets were engaged in deadly combat in the neighbouring seas. The commotion shook the atmosphere for a vast space, estimated at the four- teenth part of the planetary surface ; the underground mutterings heard in the American island of Caiman Brae, almost at the antipodes of Krakatau, may even have proceeded from the same source. The clouds of ashes ejected to a height of sixteen, or according to one report twenty-one miles, fell in dense Fig. 31. — Range OF Dispebsion of the Keakatau Ashep. Scale 1 : 15,000,000. c/f//vA seA. Essb oF Gregnw.ch 105° masses over a vast space round about the island, which had been blown to pieces. Within a range of nine miles the bed thus formed was over three feet thick ; in the interior of Sumatra, ninety miles off, some places were covered two or three inches deep, and the surface of the water was still powdered in the Indian Ocean beyond the Keeling Islands, a distance of 720 miles. The debris was wafted as far as the shores of Madagascar, and the displacement of rocks in the form of KEAKATAU. 89 ashes and pumice was estimated at as much as 630 billions of cubic feet. The whole terrestrial atmosphere would even ajjpear to have been charged with the impaljDable volcanic dust as far as the upper limits of the aerial spaces, at least according to Norman Lockyer's theory, attributing the marvellous afterglows of the following autumn months to the igneous particles ejected by Krakatau on August 2Gth, 1883.* The seas also were agitated around the whole circumference of the globe, as attested by the readings of the mareographs at various oceanic stations, and in the Indian Ocean by the great marine wave which in thirteen hours was propagated as far as the Cape of Good Hope. The reports of the fugitives from the threatened villages and of the crews of vessels near the scene of the distui-bance created an impression that the field of destruction had even been still more widespread. But after the ashes were dispersed, and skippers could again venture into the Sunda Strait, the spectacle revealed to them seemed none the less harrowing and bewildering. The coast towns of Anjer and Tjaringi on the Javanese side, Beneawang and Telokh-Betong on that of Sumatra, had disappeared, while no trace remained of the numerous villages lately dotted along both shores. The cocoanut forests which fringed the seaboard to the foot of the hills had been swept clean away ; a huge wave 100 to 120 feet high, caused by the sinking of the volcano, had dashed against the coast, * Times, December 8th, 1883. 90 AUSTRALASIA. cariying away headlands and excavating new inlets. All the work.s of man were destroyed, and over forty thousand persons, overtaken during the terrible morning, " blacker than the night," were overwhelmed in the deluge of waters rolling in from the sea, or in the showers of mud and ashes falling from above. Within the limits of the strait one man alone, a solitary lighthouse-keeper perched on his watch-tower 130 feet above an isolated rock, escaped scatheless in the midst of the surrounding pother. So dense was the darkness that he failed to notice the mighty wave that submerged the lighthouse all but his lantern. Of Krakatau itself nothing remained but the southern volcano ; all the northern heights, or about two-thirds of the island, some eight or ten miles in circumference, had been blown to pieces, giving place to an abyss where the sounding-line a thousand feet long failed to touch the bottom. From the breached wall of the southern volcano rolled a continual avalanche of stones, while the dust from the crumbling remains rose in clouds to the sky. But if some lands had vanished, others, formed by vast heaps of pumice and ashes, were raised from the bed of the sea. The island of Verlaten was more than doubled in size, and heights appeared where the plummet had lately revealed depths of 230 feet. Other islands, such as Sebesi, which had recently been covered with forests and human habitations, now presented to the view nothing but a bare surface of whitish rock. To the new islands were added the floating masses of pumice, forming bars at the entrance of the baj's and for weeks and months blocking the passage to the shipping. Gradually the action of the waves and marine currents swej t the strait clear of these floating islands and heaps of emerged scoriaj ; but the submarine crater which was opened to the north of Krakatau had held its ground. The geological .studies made on the spot show that this crater hod previously existed, and that the northern j)art of Krakatau was on the contrary of recent formation. What remains of the volcano and adjacent islets of Verlaten and Lang are the three outer fragments — the tripod, so to say — of a mountain over 6,500 feet high, which at some former time rose above the present eruptive crater. Rivers of Sumatra. Although .slower than the underground forces in their geological work, the Sumatran rivers have been more powerful agents in modifying the aspect of the land. The territory shown by its horizontal alluvial formation to be the creation of the running waters may be estimated at nearly one-half of the whole island. The sedimentary rocks are seen disposed like strands along the base of the coralline limestone cliffs, which formed the primitive coastline on the eastern slope of the Barisan uplands. Over two-thirds of the eastern seaboard is of quite recent geological formation, and is still continually growing by the addition of fresh deposits. On the west side of the island the action of the streams is far less considerable. The catchment basins are not here of siiflficient extent to convey seawards any great quantity of sedimentary matter. Nevertheless, even on this slo^ie the SUMATRAN ElYERS. 91 alluvial lands are also of great extent. The enormous volume of rain water precipitated on both slopes of Sumatra explains the exceptional importance of this fluvial action. On an average Padung receives a mean annual rainfall of about 150 inches ; Palembang, on the opposite side, is still more copiously watered, and all the heaviest downpours fall on the advanced slofies of the mountains, so that little is lost by evaporation or infiltration before the streams reach the plains. The Asahan, which receives the overflow of Lake Toba, belongs to the eastern slope. Farther south follows the Rokau, which enters the strait of Malacca through two mudd}' estuaries. It has a course of about 120 miles, nearly half of which winds through low-lying lands created and levelled bj' itself. Both the Siak and the Kampar disembogue in the labj-rinth of marine channels washing the muddy shores of the archipelago lying to the west of Singapore. Although navigable for over 60 miles from their mouth, these two streams wind through almost uninhabited plains, whose climate is fatal to strangers. Beyond the Kampar follows the Indragiri, which like it rises near the west coast on the Padang jjlateau. After traversing Lake Singkarah it flows under the name of the Umbilien through early Tertiary formations rich in carboniferous beds. Farther on it escapes from a region of plateaux through a series of falls and rapids, and after running for some distance parallel with the Kampar, mingles its waters with those of Amphitrite Bay. Near its mouth the southern and much smaller basin of the Reteh also contains some carboniferous rocks. Vessels ascend the Indragiri for many miles inland, but not as far as the neighbourhood of the coalfields. The Jambi, whose farthest headstreams rise north and south of Indrapura, culminating point of the island, has the largest area of drainage and rolls down the greatest volume of water. At the town of Jambi, 60 miles above its mouth, it is nearly 500 j^ards broad and over 16 feet deep, at low water, and during the floods its volume is more than doubled. Steamers drawing three feet ascend the Jambi and its main branch, the Hari, for 360 miles from the sea, while small canoes penetrate 100 miles higher up. The Musi, or Palembang river, which also rises on the uplands near the west coast, collects the waters of the eastern slope for a space of about 200 miles before entering the low-lying plains. Here it divides below the city of Palembang into several branches, which ramify into endless channels and backwaters amid the surrounding swamps. The Susang, or main branch, which falls into the Bangka Strait near its north entrance, preserves sufilcient water to give access to large vessels during the floods, and to smaller craft throughout the rest of the year. But the other branches all merge in other streams to the right and left, developing shallow lagoons, expanding into broad morasses, or mingling with marine waters through the dense mangrove forests. These half submerged, uninhabited and, for the most part, almost uninhabitable tracts cover a total area of some 5,000 square miles. According to the local traditions, which however maj- have been inspired by the undeniably rapid encro;:chments of the land on the sea, the whole of this 92 AUSTRALASIA. region of the Musi delta has been formed during the historic period. Even the city of Palembang, now Ij'ing in the interior far above the estuary, is said to have been originally founded on the coast itself at the mouth of the river. The man- groves, by which these low-lying tracts are overgrown, contribute to the enlarge- ment of the dry land by arresting the sedimentar}' matter amid their branches. Fig. 33. — Alldtial Plains of the Musi Basin. Scale 1 : 4,000,000. — t" M JNT01<^-> n'"^- I 'I Old Shore -line. Recent formations. and by shedding their fruits beyond the river banks in the muddy waters, where they take root. The West and East Sumatran Islands. West of Sumatra runs a chain of islands disposed parallel with the west coast. Abysses over 1,000 fathoms deep separate this chain from the Nicobar Archipelago ; but with Sumatra it is connected by the incline of the now submerged intervening slopes. These islands form, so to say, an advanced coastline of the neighbouring mainland, and consist of the same Tertiary formations as those of the adjacent shores. Lying on a marine bed at a mean depth of not more than 60 fathoms, they stand on the very edge of the submai'ine Indonesian plateaux. Immediately SUMATEAN ISLANDS. 93 to the west the oceanic bed sinks rapidly, and within 60 miles of the islands the sounding line reveals depths of over 2,500 fathoms. Beginning in the north-west with the island of Babi, the chain terminates in the south-east with Engano,* over 720 miles distant. The isolated islet of Christ- mas, 300 miles farther on, might also perhaps be regarded as belonging to the same system, lying as it does in a line with its axis, but this point is rendered somewhat doubtful by the distance and the great depths of the intervening waters. Excluding this rock, the western islands, which beyond doubt depend geographi- cally and geologically on Sumatra, have a total superficial area of about 6,000 • Telanjang of the Malays, Taigoeka of the native.'), and probably the Engano, or • ' Deception Island," of the Spaniards. 94 AUSTEALASIA. square miles, with a collective population estimated at three hundred thousand. On the other hand, the islands of the east coast, resting on the common Indo- nesian submarine plateau, are for the most part distinct from Sumatra, and require to be studied apart. The low-lying alluvial lands separated by shallow channels from the scarcely emerged f)lains which have been created by the Sumatran rivers, are certainl}' natural dependencies of the great island. Such are Rupat, Bengkalis, Padang, Eangsang, Rantau, and others lying about the mouths of the rivers. But those situated farther seaward, and of a hilly and even mountainous character, are of diiferent origin, belonging physically to the Malay Peninsula. Like that region, they are of granitic structure, with surrounding laterite beds. Moreover they lie exactly in a line with the main axis of the peninsula, of which they constitute a southern extension now broken into frag- ments by marine erosions. But while the sea destroys in one direction, the rivers reconstruct in another. They carry in solution the debris of the Sumatran highlands, depositing the sediment to the right and left in beds steadily advancing seawards, and thus gradually enlarging the great island towards the east. Unless the marine currents undo this work and keep the straits open by their scouring action, these must at last be silted up, and then the eastern archipelagoes of Riouw and Lingga, with Bangka and its satellites, will become attached to the Sumatran coast, lost as its were, like erratic boulders, amid the sands and clays of recent formation. Flora and Fauna of Sumatra. Like the rest of Indonesia, Sumatra lies within the zone of alternating mon- soons, the south-eastern or regular trade wind from Ma}' to Sej)tember, and the north- western, bringing most of the moisture, and prevailing from November to March. The Sumitran flora and fauna are distinguished from those of the adjacent lands by a large number of curious species. Such are the great raJfJesup, the gigantic arum {ainoyphophaUiis tiffejium^, growing to a height of over IG feet ; and those astonishing fig-trees, whose branches bury themselves in the ground, and then throw off their fruit, like so many small mushrooms. The character of the flora changes gradually southward. Thus, while the Merkus pine prevails in certain highland districts north of the Equator, no conifers at all are met farther south. Nevertheless, certain contrasts between Sumatran and Javanese floras on either side of the Sunda Straits are still striking enough to have attracted the attention of botanists. Characteristic of Sumatra, as compared with Java, is the great relative extent of the tracts overgrown with along and (jlaga, grasses over three feet high, which stifle the young arboreal growths, and exhaust the soil wherever they become predominant. In Java they are arrested at about 3,000 feet, but in Sumatra they descend to within 800 feet of sea-level, and during the historic period their range has been much increased by careless husbandry. Of all the Indonesian lands, this island abounds most in graminiferous species possessing great economic value. Here flourishes the majestic dnjahalanops IXHABITAXTS OF SUMATRA. 95 camphor, for the produce of which the Chinese formerly paid its weight in gold ; from this region Europe also received its first consignments of gutta-percha {geta pertja), of which famQy there are scTeral varieties. Sumatra was also probablj- the centre of dispersion of the cinnamon j)lant, of which it possesses ten species, a larger number than occurs in any other region. The Sumatran fauna differs even more than its flora from that of the neigh- bouring island. It possesses the orang-utan, confined however to a district on the north-east coast, besides other remarkable apes, such as the galeopithecus, or flving lemur. The elephant, exterminated in Java, is still common in the northern jungle, where, according to the natives, two quite distinct species are found. The small species of rhinoceros met in the Sumatran forests also differs from the large Javanese variety ; but, notwithstanding the statement of Marsden, the hippopotamus does not appear to be a member of the Sumatran fauna, which, including domestic animals, comprises, according to Hagen, sixty species of mammals and one hundred and twenty of birds. Inhabitants of Sumatra. The Malay populations of Sumatra are diversely intermingled with other elements presenting considerable contrasts in the different pro^-inces in their social usages and degrees of culture. Thus the Achinese, or people of Atjeh, in the extrtme north, regard themselves as a nation quite distinct from the other islandei's. Their nobles claim Arab descent, and really seem to be of mixed origin. For the five centuries preceding the arrival of the Portuguese, the trade of Indonesia was largely in the hands of the Arabs, who intermarried with the native women. B3' the end of the twelfth century the kingdom of Atjeh had embraced Islam, and later became a centre of Moslem activity, with its theologians, who cultivated Arabic letters, and its sectaries, who preached a new pantheistic creed, dying for their faith like the martjTS of the western world. Although in recent times Arab influence has much diminished, the Achinese have preserved numerous usages introduced by their instructors ; and their Malay dialect, written in the Arabic character, has been affected by many foreign elements. The nobles wear the flowing robs and turban, like the merchants of Jeddah, although the women do not go veiled. The Achinese, to whom the virtues of courage and industry are not denied, are stigmatised as cruel and treacherous, like all peoples who dare to defend their liberties. Skilful agriculturists, they raise heavy crops of rice and sweet potatoes, deriving from the soU the resources which have enabled them to maintain the struggle against the Dutch for fifteen years. Like the Hindus and Indo-Chinese, they are said to have succeeded in taming the elephant, employing him as a beast of burden. They also display much skill in working the precious metals, and as silk and cotton weavers, and construct solid vessels with which thny carry on an extensive traffic with the surrounding lands, and occasionally scour the seas as dreaded corsairs. The chief centres of their trade bcvond Sumatra are Pcnau^ 96 AUSTRALASIA. Fie -Oeang Batta. and Singapore, whence they import the opium, of which they have become inveterate smokers. The Battas. South of Atjeh the hilly plateau is occupied by still independent peoples partly converted to Islam, such as the Gayus, of whom little is known beyond the name, and who are said to dwell on the banks of the freshwater lake Laut Tawar- Beyond them are the mj'sterious Alas, and the Batta or Battak* peof)le, centred about the Lake Toba basin. According to the missionary Nom- menscn, they num- ber altogether about three hundred thou- sand, divided into two distinct groups, the northern Battas, who trade with the Achin- ese, and the southern, whose relations are mainly with Deli and Sibogha. Beyond the lacustrine region, which they regard as the cradle of their race, they are widely spread, as far south as Mount Ophir and eastwards to the mouth of the Bila. The natives of the Tapanuli district on the western slope are also Battas, reduced by the so-called Padri or " Fathers," fana- tical Mussidmans, who gave them the choice of the sword or the Koran. Altogether the jDure or mixed Battas of the mainland, and exclusive of the Nias islanders, said also to belong to the same stock, are estimated at about a million. The pure Batta type resembles that of the Bornean Dyaks and " Alfurus " of Celebes, affiliated by most anthropologists to the primitive races allied to the Polynesians, who formerly peopled Indonesia, and who, after expelling or exter- minating the Negritos, were in their turn driven out or partly absorbed by the Malays. The Battas of the plateau are much fairer and taller, with more abun- * Batta, singular ; Battak, plui'al. INHABITANTS OF SUMATEA. 97 dant hair and beard than the Malays of the coastlands, while the intervening populations present ever_v shade of transition between the two extremes. Although the national name has been referred to the Sanskrit Bhata, or " Savage," they must nevertheless be regarded as a civilised people, bearing even some resemblance in their carriage and features to their former Hindu instructors. But Indian influences, still active in mediaeval times, have been for the most part gradually replaced bv those of the Mohammedan Malays, and especially of the northern Achinese. Some Christian missionaries, especially Germans, have also been at work amongst them, 1 i '.-1 Tiji li Fifc. 30.-Orano Atjeh. but with little result " beyond the sjjread of scepticism at the spec- tacle of so many con- flicting religions. In 1867 the Euro- peans first penetrated to Lake Toba, the heart of the Batta country. But when their visit was re- newed six years later, a national council was held to discuss the question whether the punishment of death should not be inflicted on the strangers by ^ whom their " holy ^ land " had been dese- *■ crated. Now, however, they have grown ac- sjj/^ customed to the ap- ' .= ~^ pearance of the whites, ' ',t F ^^^ffS^""'''^~i^' and no longer throw ^i""™ any obstacles in the way of their explorations. In 188-'3 the communities dwelling on the south side of Lake Toba were even obliged to yield submission to the Dutch arms. Despite these foreign Hindu, Moslem, and Christian influences, the Batta civilisation still preserves some remarkable original features. Although engaged, like their neighbours, with tillage, cultivating both rice and maize, they are specially distinguished as stockbreeders, and possess numerous herds of horses and buffaloes, besides goats and swine. These are fattened for the national feasts, the oidiuary diet being limited to fruits, com, and roots. The islanders eschew the use of betel, so dear to the other Malays, but they are great tobacco smokers, and masti- VOL. XIV. 11 98 AUSTRALASIA. cute a mixture of lime and gambir leaves {loicaria gamUr). Tliey neither tattoo the body nor practise circumcision, but mark the arrival of the youth at the state of manhood by filing their teeth. The industries are well developed, the men being skilful workers in iron and jewellers, the women weavers and potters. They build elegant houses, some of which resembk Swiss chalets, with two stories rising above a ground floor reserved for the domestic animals. In soni« districts, when a man wants a house the whole communit}' len-ds a hand to build one, and in several jjlaces a number of families lUg. 37. — Laxe Toba and the Batta Countey. Scale 1 : 926,000. reside together under one roof, a sort of stronghold surrounded by palisades to prevent surprises. Each village possesses a sort of " town-hall," where all valu- able objects are kept and where strangers are publiclj^ entertained. Amongst the most carefull}^ preserved treasures are books and other records, carved on wood, or inscribed on bark or leaves, for most of the Battas can read and write. But unlike the coast Malays, who have adopted the Arabic characters, they still preserve the old alphabet introduced by the Hindus, but written from right to left on smooth bark, or from bottom to top on the bundles of reeds that constitute their archives. IXUAEIT.VXTS OF SUMATRA. 99 The language, which contains many Sanskrit words, diifcrs eor.sidprably from the coast Malay, and possesses a richer vocabulary. It moreover comprises special forms, such as the jargons of the women, magicians, and thieves. The young men and women correspond by letters written on foliage, and forwarded through a postal system which utilises as letter-boxes the bollow trunks of trees at the crossings of the highways. The Batta commune constitutes an autonomous group repre.'sented rather than administered by a rajah or pauuisiik, and deliberating in common. Village groups have also been developed, forming so many little rejjublics connected together by a federal union ; lastly, traces of an ancient kingdom seem to bave survived in the expressions of almost religious veneration till lately lavished on a prince resident at Bakara, a large village at the south-west end of Lake Toba, recently conquered by the Dutch. All the members of each community are supposed to be connected by the ties of kindred, although not holding equal social rank, and although the lower classes may even be pledged or sold by order of council for debts, crimes, or offences. The penal code is severe, beheading being till lately, and possibly still, the sentence pronounced for grave crimes, such as treason and armed revolt, but not simple murder or homicide. An extraordinary and altogether unique provision of the written code was that the outraged community should avenge itself by eating the criminal, who in some cases was even devoured alive. His nearest kin, as mem- bers of the commonwealth, had to share in the feast, and even supply the salt, lime-juice, and other condiments. But except as acts of justice, cannibalism was not practised, nor were women ever subjected to this treatment. At present the Battas assert that the custom has fallen into complete abeyance, but on this point their veracity is open to suspicion. There is reason to think that slaves are also des- patched, to attend their masters beyond the grave, and that they are obliged first to masquerade at the pit's mouth. According to Junghahn and otber writers, anthro- pophagy is of relatively recent introduction, a statement, however, which is at variance with the testimonj^ of the old writers. Arab tradition and the first Euro- pean visitors describe the Sumatran highlanders as cannibals devouring the infirm and aged. As soon as they felt themselves incapable of work, the " grandfathers " hung by their arms from the branch of a tree, while the family and neighbours danced round about, shouting, " ^Yhen the fruit is ripe it falls." And when it did fall they fell upon it, chopping it into " mincemeat." Such feasts were usually held in the season when the limes ripened. The least mercy is shown to prisoners of war, regarded as guilty of " rebellion against the conqueror." Most wars are, moreover, of a very sanguinary nature. The Batta jurisprudence not permitting a commime to be enslaved or deprived of its land, the only way of being revenged on it is by killing off a large number ; and the festoons of human heads decorating the rajahs' residences siifEciently attest the zeal with which the work of extermination is carried out. In several districts this internecine strife checks the growth of the population, which is farther reduced by the prevalent practice of abortion. Late marriages are the H 2 100 AUSTEALASIA. rule, owing to the high price of the bride, although another form of union, of matriarchal origin, also exists, according to which the husband is purchased by the wife. Being regarded as merely so much movable property, he may even be seized for debt, and bequeathed as a legacy to the testator's heirs. Traces survive of the Hindu religions, for the Battas recognise a triune diety, Creator, Preserver, and Destroyer ; and also admit the existence of other divinities and genii, to whom they give the slightly modified Indian name of dipbata (devate). Fig. 38. — Inhabitants of Sumatra. Scale 1: 15,0fK100O. But religious worship enters very little into their daily life. They can scarcely be said to have any regular ceremonial, and there are only one or two temples in the country. The natives are mostly satisfied with invoking the little idols they always carry about with them in pouches, and are most concerned in circum- venting the evil spirits by ingenious devices. Family groups and whole com- munes have been known to secure the protection of some powerful patron by burying a child alive, under the belief that its spirit will henceforth watch over their plantations. Chiefs and nobles are supposed to survive in the after-world. IXHABITANTS OP SUMATRA. 101 On the d;iy of their death a rice-field is sown, and at the harvest, presided over by the corpse, a feast is given in honour of the dejjai-ted, now assumed to have taken his place amongst the benevolent genii. After the feast he is buried near the house of which he has become the guardian spirit. To the Batta family are generally supposed to belong the little wild tribes of Orang-Ulus and Orang-Liibus, who occupy the upland valleys north of Mount Ophir, and who appear never to have been brought within Hindu influences. They have been compared with the most savage inhabitants of Borneo, like them going almost naked, dwelling in huts made of branches or in the hollow trunks of trees, and armed with the blow-pipe and poisoned darts. They cultivate no arts, not even that of husbandry, living mainly on fruits, roots, snakes, and insects, besides the rice and salt deposited by the traders in certain fixed places in ex- change for the local produce brought thither by the " men of the woods." They have a large breed of dogs, who warn them of the approach of the traders, and scent out any tigers lurking about. The MEXAXGKAii\os axd other Simatean Malays. The ancient kingdom of Menangkabao, which succeeded the still older Hindu empire of Adityavarma, comprises south of the Batta country the most densely peopled part of Sumatra in the hilly region of the Padang uplands, and on the west slope of the island. The true form of the word is Mpnang-Karhau, or the " Victory of the Buffalo," which is explained by the local legend of a fight between a Suraatran and a JaA"anese buffalo terminating in the triumph of the former. This tradition may perhaps symbolise some conflict, or even a long struggle between the natives and the intruders from the neighbouring island. The natives ultimately triumphed, and their customs consequently prevailed over those of the Javanese and Hindus. They are at present regarded as Malays in a pre-eminent sense, and their speech is held to be the purest form of the Malay language. Despite their conversion to Islam and the conquest of Menangkabao by the Dutch, the old institutions of confederate village communes and of matriarchy still hold their ground. The population is divided into sulais or clans, each with its own chief, chosen from some privileged family, and its council, consisting of all male adults. All the village chiefs are again grouped in a district council, the district thus organised usually taking its name from the number of kotas or villages of which it is constituted — the " Seven," the " Nine," the " Ten," the '• Twenty," the " Fifty " Kotas, and so on. No man can marry within his own kota or sutu, so that unions are all essen- tially exogamous. The husband helps his wife or wi\es in the management of the household and in cultivating the land, but his children belong to the mother, and must remain in the maternal village to inherit the maternal propertJ^ The father's inheritance, on the other hand, goes to his sister's children in his native village. Such is the uii/'/;l East oF Greenw ch ^ V^\ i J..!^ milk-white limestone rocks known by the name of Gunong Sewu, or the " Thou- sand Mountains," and developing a long line of cliffs on the southern seaboard. The highest peaks rise to about 2,000 feet ; but most of the " thousand " eminences scattered over the plateau range from 100 feet to little over 200 feet. They are separated by winding valleys shaded by the finest forest trees. Some of the narrow longitudinal dales, mostly overgrown with tall grasses, JAVA. 159 are closed, at both extremities, the water which accumulates during the wet monsoon escaping through underground luirangit, or channels, seawards. The Gunong Sewn district is described by Junghuhn as the loveliest in Java, its shady avenues, gently sloping hills, grassy dells and villages surrounded by gardens recalling the sjdvan beauties of more temperate lands. North-east of the Gunong Sewu and of a more elevated semicircle of other sedimentary hills, the Gunong Lawu rises in nearly isolated majesty to an altitude of 10,800 feet. The three domes of this volcano, which was formerly venerated by the worshippers of Siva, are not pierced by craters; but vapours still escape from the deep crevasses on the south side. The Gunong Willis (8,500 feet), some 50 miles beyond Lawu in the same igneous range, no longer presents the form of a volcano. The supreme cone was probably blown away during some prehistoric explosion, and now nothing remains except a long, irregular, and craterless eminence. Thermal sjDrings and solfataras, however, still attest the existence of underground forces, both here and in the smaller Mount Pandan (3,000 feet), which stands out on the plains to the north of Willis. South of Surabaya and its fluvial delta, Java is occupied by a transverse system of other volcanoes, of which the Gunong Kelut (5,750 feet), lying nearest of Willis, is the most dreaded by the natives. Its crater, at least 650 feet deep, is flooded by a fresh-water tarn, whose contents were estimated by Junghuhn in 1844 at 2,000 millions of cubic feet. During eruptions, when the igneous outlet lies below the lake, the liquid mass is converted into steam, which rises in dense volumes emitting flashes of light and then falling on the slopes in tremendous downpours of water mixed with the sands ejected by the volcano. Channels of trachj-tic scoriae furrowing the flanks of the mountain from summit to base recall the rush of these sudden torrents, which deluge the surrounding plains, sweeping away the crops, uprooting forest trees, and razing the villages to the ground. In 1848 the regular detonation of the gases which changed the lake into clouds of vapour, produced an uproar that was heard throughout nearly the whole of Indonesia. The Macassar people in Celebes, 500 miles off and under the lee of the explosion, were terrified by what seemed like the roar of artillery, and despatched vessels to scour the neighbouring seas. The other volcanoes of this system are extinct, or at least have retained but a feeble remnant of their former energy. The triple-crested Kawi, whose highest peak, the Butak, attains an altitude of 9,500 feet, has preserved no solfataras, and only a solitary thermal spring; the mighty Arjuno (11,000 feet), where the Sivaites formerly offered sacrifices, emits vapours only from one fissure, while Penanggimgan (5,500 feet), last of the chain south of Surabaya, appears to be completely quiescent. Nevertheless, in the main axis of the system, some 12 miles from Surabaj'a, two mud volcanoes have made their appearance, which are about 30 feet high, and which are usually active at the turn of the tide. From one are ejected fragments of bricks, which must come from the Hindu structures of the ancient city of Mojo-Pahit, which formerly stood much farther to the west. 160 AUSTRALASIA. -Tenggeb and Semeku. Scale 1 : 300,000. The Arjuno chain is connected by a ridge scarcely 1,650 feet high with another igneous grouj), comprising the Tengger and Semeru volcanoes The former has the largest crater in Java, while the latter, to the south of it, is the highest peak in the island (12,100 feet). From its crater was discharged in 1885 a lava stream estimated at over 10,000,000 cubic feet, the first of the kind recorded in Java, where till recently the volcanoes were supposed to eject no molten matter, but only solid substances, such as ashes and stones. Semeru takes its name from the Indian Meru, the holy mountain at all times venerated by the Hindus and Tibetans. Tengger (9,000 feet) is of extremely regular form, and from its summit are emitted at short intervals columns of vapour and scoria;, black by day, red at night. It was formerly probably as high as Semeru ; but of the ujtper part all "has disappeared except the outer walls, which form a vast enclosure about 15 miles in circuit, here and there interrupted by gaps and breaches and rising in some places 1,650 feet above the inner plain. This level plain, which was formerly the crater, and which has a mean altitude of over 6,500 feet, bears the name of Dasar, or " Sea of Sand," mostly con- sisting of the finest dvist, ^ ,,., movable in dry weather, but — ^■^— — ^^^^^— — ^— 6 Miles. •' changed by the rains to the consistency of clay. From the centre rise a few sandy hills, one of which, the Bromo, still constantly ejects smoke, and has at times been the scene of tremendous out- bursts. Its crater is alternately flooded by a small lake and filled by a mass of molten lava. The term Bromo is merely a corruption of Brahma. The last Javanese who professed the Hindu religion took refuge on the slopes of Tengger, and their descendants still celebrate feasts in honour of the Devo-Bromo, or "God Brahma." b^.t.t- - . ' :^, LIBRARY OF THE JNlVERSITYofltLlNOlS, VOLCANOES OF JAVA. ICl A cliain of hills, crossed by a pass 830 feet high, connects Mount Lemongan on the east with another igneous system whose numerous peaks are collectively known by the name of Ajang. Before 1844 this hilly region, which also comprises a broud forest-clad plateau, was completely unknown ; but in that year it was discovered by Junghuhn, the indefatigable explorer of Java. Close to the summit of Argopura, the highest peak (10,200 feet), he noticed the ruins of a temple of Siva, and other structures scattered round about explain the name of this summit, which in the Kavi, or old Javanese, language means the "Mountain City." One Fig:. 64. — Lemonoan. So lie 1 : 150,0W. C: :)'^l'''l- J1-. m-_ East oF Greenwich of the sanctuaries, corroded by the acid vapours, shows that during the last iive hundred years the quiescent volcano has been the theatre of at least one disturbance. The Gunong Ringgit (4,150 feet), which projects seawards at the north-east extremity of the Ajang range, is also at present quiescent ; but towards the close of the sixteenth century it was rent asunder ; enormous quantities of ashes were hurled in the air, and when the sun reappeared after three days of darkness caused bj^ the dense volumes of black clouds, it was found that all the surrounding villages had disappeared with their inhabitants. The traces of the eruption are still visible, although the mountain has now neither crater, solfataras, nor thermal springs. Like the western extremity ol the island, the east coast facing Bali is also dominated by volcanoes. A circular plateau, which was formerly perhaps a vast NOL. XIV. M 162 AUSTRALASIA. crater, is encircled bj' a diadem of lofty peaks, such as the Rami (11,00U feet) on the south-west, Kendeng on the north-west, Kukusan on the north-east, Merapi and others on the south-east, often collectively known as the Gunong Ijeu, or "Isolated Mountain." The waters that collect on this plateau were formerly confined in a lacustrine basin, but now escape northwards through a gorge between Kendeng and Kukusan. The crater of Rann at the time of Jungbuhn's visit had a circuit of about three miles and a depth of no less than 2,400 feet, being the deepest of any yet explored in Java. But all these encircling volcanoes are now extinct or quiescent except Merapi, whose crater, like that of Kelut, is flooded by a freshwater lake, which, during eruptions, is changed to steam and precipitated in the same way on the surrounding district. During the outburst of 1817, houses and inhabitants were swept awaj', and the strait flowing between Java and Bali contracted by the formation of new land. The south-eastern' head- land of Java, formerly an island, has thus been joined to the mainland by showers of scoriae, while the extinct Baluran (4,300 feet), at the north-east extremity, is separated only by a sill 50 feet high from the Gunong Ijen system. The island of Madura, close to the north coast, has a somewhat irregular surface of limestone rocks, the highest of which, Tambuku, at the east end, has an elevation of little over 1,500 feet. As in Java itself, Yerbeek's .survey shows that in Madura there is no trace of triassic, Jurassic, or chalk formations. Although the igneous are far less extensive than the sedimentary rocks in Java, this island receives its characteristic aspect from its forty-five conspicuous volcanoes with their lateral cones, lavas, and scoriae. As the mariner approaches its shores, his gaze is irresistibly attracted by these lofty symmetrical cones, towering above the wooded plains, now purpled in the solar rays, now of a jmle blue, standing out against the deeper azure of the sky, at times surmounted by a wreath of white vapours, at sunset flushed with pink like the snowy Alpine peaks. At different epochs, but especially during later tertiary times, all these burning mountains have taken part in the transformation of the island ; even during the historic p^iod more than twenty of them have contributed greatly to modify the profile and contours of the land, transforming what was before a chain of separate islands, like the Lesser Sundas, into one continuous insular mass stretching from ]5ali to Sumatra. This action of the underground agencies appears also to have been aided by a process of slow upheaval, which is still going on ; in many places, the beach and coral reefs have thus been I'aised twenty, thirty, and even fifty feet above the present sea-level. ^ RivEKs OF Java. Owing to the position of the volcanic ranges, lying for the most part much nearer to the Indian Ocean than to the inland seas, the northern are far more extensive than the southern fluvial basins, scarcely any of which are navigable. The north-western plains about Batavia are watered by numerous streams, the largest of which is the Tarum, which rises on the slopes of the southern volcanoes, EIVEES OF JAVA. U18 and, after escaping from the Randong plateau through a gorge iu the northern range, reaches the sea to the east of Batavia Bay after a course of about 140 miles, of which 50 are accessible to small craft. The observations taken on the spot show that its delta is encroaching on the sea at a mean rate of rather moi-e than 22 inches yearly. But the main fluvial artery of the northern slope is the Solo (Bengawan, Fig. 6-5. — NusA Kembanoax. Scale 1 : 650,000. East oF Gr Deptha. Sambaya), whose farthe.'^t waters rise in the " Thousand jMountains," within i or 8 miles of the Indian Ocean. After the confluence of the two chief branches north-east of Mount Lawu, the main stream pierces a rocky gorge, beyond-which it becomes navigable for vessels of a considerable draught. It would even be accessible to large sea-going ships but for the banks at its mouth covered only by 6 or 7 feet of water. In its navigable part, the Solo, which has a total length of 300 miles, flows first to the north-east and then to the east through tho M 2 164 ■ AUSTRALASIA. natural depression between the two parallel sections of the island to its delta in Surabaya Strait over against the western extremity of Madura. At its southern entrance this shallow passage receives another large river, the Brantas or Kediri, which, although ranking next in size to the Solo, is scarcely navigable except during the floods. The Brantas, which also rises very near the Indian Ocean south of the Kawi volcano, is remarkable for the quantity of sediment it washes down, and for the disproportionate size of its constantly increasing delta. On the southern slope of the island the chief streams are the Progo, whose farthest waters flow from the Sindoro and Sumbing volcanoes on the west, and Merapi and Merbabu on the east ; the Seraju, fed by numerous tributaries from the Sumbing, Slamat, and other volcanoes, and navigable in its lower course ; lastly, the Tanduwi, whose headstreams descend from the Sawal Mountains, and whose broad estuary is accessible to steamers. In its lower course the Tanduwi winds through a vast marine inlet, which has been transformed to a rawa, or marshy plain, by the alluvial matter washed down with the surrounding torrents. Of the original inlet nothing now remains except the shallow Segara Anakan, which is already nearly cut off from the high sea by the long rocky island of Nusa Kembangan. This island itself, which has greatly contributed to the silting up of the inlet by preventing the sedimentary matter from being carried sea- wards, is now separated from the mainland only by a narrow muddy backwater ; it may already be regarded as forming an integral part of Java, from which it was formerly detached by a broad intervening channel. Climate. The Javanese climate resembles that of the other western Indonesian lands. ofi:ering the same alternation of the two trade winds, which here assume the character of monsoons. Both are accompanied by a certain quantity of moisture, the western being as a rule the more humid and attended by the more stormy weather. Being partly sheltei'ed from the west winds by Sumatra, Java receives less moisture than the uplands of that island. The atmospheric currents are also modified by the disposition of the mountain ranges, running in the direction from west to east. The south-east trade frequently veers round to the south, while the west monsoon is shifted to the north. The northern and southern seaboards thus present a great contrast, due to the direction of these winds, and an analogous contrast is offered by the eastern and western extremities of the island owing to the gradual increase of dryness as we approach the Australian Continent. Other differences arise from local conditions, but most moisture falls everj^- where on the westei-n slopes exposed to the "bad" monsoon. Above 2,600 feet the alternation of land and sea breezes is no longer observed, and at 5,000 feet the west monsoon loses its strength. Still higher up a neutral zone prevails, while the highest summits are subject to the south-east trade alone. Several days seldom pass without rain on the uplands, and almost every evening has its local FLORA OP JAVA. 165 thunderstorm. The mean annual rainfall, as deduced from the records of a hundred meteorological stations for the last eight or nine years, would appear to vary from a little over 40 to nearly 200 inches.* Flora. The Javanese flora, as described by Miguel, comprises altogether over nine thousand phanerogams, of which three thousand have native names, a strong proof of the remarkable power of observation of the inhabitants. Thanks to its numerous volcanoes, following each other like islands in the sea, Java presents an endless variety of vertical vegetable zones, ranging from the perennial summer of the lower slopes and plains to the wintery, or at least autumnal upland regions. As a rule, the strictly tropical zone scarcely' rises above the 2,000 feet line, beyond which few palms are met. Nevertheless the areng {liomssus gomutua), which yields a fermented drink, sugar, cordage, foliage for thatching, and many other useful articles, is everywhere found in the interior as high as 4,600 feet. The finest trees flourish between 2,000 and 6,500 feet, their aspect becoming more European the higher they ascend. Here such western species as the oak, majjle, and chestnut, are found associated with the lakka {myristica inem) and the rasamala (liquidambar aUingiana), giant of the west Javanese woodlands. In the higher regions the vigour of the vegetation is gradually' diminished, the thickets consisting for the most part of shrubs and small plants, such as the myrtle, acacia, thorn, elder, woodbine, and especially the woody gnaphalium and the agapetes, a species of heath. Several of ' the volcanic crests, even when emitting no gaseous exhalations, are completely bare ; yet some ancient travellers attributed the noxious emanations to the presence of trees, such as the antyiar, to approach which was supposed to be fatal. But this plant {anfiaris to.ricaria) is in itself in no way dangerous, although it yields a upas, or poisonous sap. It is met in all parts of Java, as well as of other Indonesian regions, where it is used for poisoning arrow and spear heads ; it kills by paralysing the action of the heart. Next to the cocoanut, the areng and bamboos, one of the most valuable indigenous plants is the jati or teak (fecfoiiia granclk), which is not found in many other parts of the Eastern Archipelago, and the range of which even in Java has much diminished during the historic period. It is comparatively rare in the western provinces, and its true home lies between the Japara headland and Madura, in the Rembang residency, where it occupies more especially the drier districts on the plains and tlie slopes of the hiUs to a height of over 800 feet. But extensive teak forests also occur everywhere in the central and eastern provinces, and this valuable trefe has been planted along the highways and in unoccupied s])accs. F.\f.NA. Like Sumatra and Borneo, Java also presents some distinct animal species. Of • Mean rainfall of Situbondo, East Java, between 1879-8(i, 16 inches : of Buitenzorp, West Jara, 195 inches. 1G(5 AUSTEALA8IA. about a Iniiulved mammals five or six, and of two hundred and seventy kinds of birds, forty are peculiar to this island. But, strange to say, certain animals characteristic of the other large Indonesian islands are not met in Java ; here are neither the elephant, the tapir, nor the orang-utan, but instead the elegant dwarf- deer, a perfect miniature of the common European deer. Of the large mammals, the most remarkable are the rhinoceros and wild ox, but the former have become very rare and are already restricted to the western provinces. The tiger still infests the jungle in various parts of the island, and hundreds of human beings yearly fall victims to its ravages. As in India, when their teeth are worn they often become man-eaters, and in the province of Bantam whole villages have had to be displaced in consequence of their depredations. The crocodiles are also very dangerous in certain river.s, although causing fewer deaths than the tigers. The tokei, a lizard of gigantic size, is so named from its cry, which a stranger might fancy uttered by a human being. The insular dependencies of Java present some peculiarities in their faunas. Bawean especially almost constitutes a little zoological world apart, and even Nusa Kembangan, which is scarcely more than a peninsula of the mainland, has a woodlark {jiferopus aicrriinus) not found in Java. Inhabitants. The natives of Java do not all belong to a common national group. The Malays, properly so-called, are represented only by immigrants, and are in the ascendant only in a section of the province of Batavia, whither they have been attracted by trade and political influ^ences. The rest of the island is occupied by the Sundanese, the far more numerous Javanese, and the Madurese, three groups distinguished chiefly by their languages. Excluding the Malay enclave of Batavia and the north coast, where the Javanese language has prevailed, the western part of Java is inhabited by the Sundanese as far as a transverse line drawn from Cheribon Bay to the mouth of the Tanduwi. The term Sunda given to this region is of very ancient date, and the Sundanese, or " Men of the Soil," that is, aborigines, thanks to the hilly nature of their territory, have better preserved their primitive usages than the other inhabitants of the island. They are as a rule taller, more robust, and healthier ; but they are regarded as relatively barbarous, and in the cohipany of Malays or Javanese, they are themselves ashamed of their dialect, which is looked on as a sort of rude patois. Less developed than the Javanese, it differs little from it in the primitive stock of words and structure, but it contains far fewer Sanskrit terms, Hindu influences having been relatively weak in the Sundanese highlands. Yet the people at onetime accepted Buddhism, and afterwards Islam. They have also suffered much from invasions, and the word pi'eaiig, which gives its name to the Preanger Regencies, is said to have the meaning of " Land of Extermination." In the upper Ujung Valley, near the western extremity of the island, about a thousand Sundanese, known by the name of Badui, still i^ractise pagan rites inter- J TXHABITAXTS OF JAA'A. Ifi7 miugled with traces oi: Buddhism. These highlanders are distinguished from their Mohammedan neighbours by their honesty and more correct morals. Amongst them murder, theft, and adultery are unknown, and visitors guilty of any mis- demeanoHr are banished from the commune, The heads of the villages take the names of " father " and " source of joy." The Javanese proper, representing over two-thirds of the population, occupy all the central provinces east of Cheribon Bay, as well as the northern seaboard between Cheribon and the Sunda Strait, and the whole of the south-east coast. Their ancient liturgical language, the Kavi, that is, " cultivated," contains a large number of Sanskrit words. It has been preserved from oblivion by old documents and inscriptions, and numerous traces survive, especially in Javanese poetr}'. The great scenes of Hindu mythology are still commemorated in the national legends, poems, theatrical representations, and those wajaiigs, or marionettes, in which the natives take such delig-ht. Fig. 66. — Inhabitants op Java. Scale J : 11,000,000. Sundanese. Malays. Javanese. Madurese. Tenggerese. Amid the Javanese populations, there still exists a communifj' of about three thousand fugitive Sivaites, who have preserved both their Ilindu practices and their ancient dialect largely affected by ' elements derived from the sacred language. These are the Tengger people, who have taken refuge on the plateau of that name. Here they occupy large houses where several families reside imder one roof, and where they keep alive the sacred flame, which has never been extinguished since it was brought ages ago from the shores' of India. Modern Javanese is divided into several provincial dialects, each of which, like the Sundanese, comprises two forms, the "high" and the "low" {Kiomo and Ngoko), the first used in addressing superiors or equals when treated ceremoniously, the second employed amongst friends or in addressing inferiors. The differences between the two forms are profound, affecting the Aocabulary, the phraseology, . 108 AUSTRALASIA. and to some extent even the grammar. Intermediate between the two is the Madyo, current amongst intimate friends. The dialect of the island of Madura differs sufficiently from Javanese to be regarded as a distinct idiom. It is spoken not only in Madura, but also in the eastern parts of Java, where it is even encroaching on the Javanese, just as the latter is upon the Sundanese. All three are written with characters derived from the Indian Devanagari. Physically the Javanese are noted for their graceful forms and delicate features. They are rather below the average height, but always of sHm and supple figure, and even better proportioned than other Malays. The complexion varies from a pale yellow to a deep olive, according to occupation, diet, and locality. The nose, without being flat, is but slightly prominent, the mouth firm, the eyes broad and well opened, the face round, with a kindly courteous expression, often sad, plaintive, or resigned. Princes wear a moustache in the Hindu style. Altogether the Javanese are an extremely mild race, although by some accused of being fanatical, faithless, spitefid, and revengeful. Inhabiting a land well suited for tillage, they early became agriculturists, and long raised sufficient to supply the local demand. However rapidly the population increased, the produce was always superabundant in a region where a few hours' labour sufficed to procure three daily meals of rice with fish and a little buffalo meat, and where the climate enabled the natives to dispense with clothes, fuel, and even houses. Hence the Javanese naturally acquired the peaceful habits of the peasant, and a communal life became highly developed in the rice-growing districts where collective labour was required. On the other hand, a certain timidity of character was fostered by the tremendous energy of the natural forces by which they were surrounded — terrific thunderstorms, yearly fatal to hundreds and destructive to houses and villages ; volcanoes belching forth torrents of scoriae, molten lavas, and dense volumes of smoke and ashes turning day into night; igneous outbursts, by which whole populations with their dwellings and crops were at times swept away in a few hours ; inundations spreading havoc far and wide, and all these horrors increased by the wild beasts prowling about the habitations of man. But from man himself came still worse perils and plagues. The early history of the country following the stone age is wrapped in obscurity, but we know that for the last twenty centuries, the inhabitants of the island have always had foreign rulers or oppressors. The highland tribes may here and there have maintained their independence, protected by their rocky fastnesses, dense forests, rugged heights, or even the crater mouths themselves. But the agricultural lowlanders, scattered over a region with scarcely any natural bulwarks, were at all times exposed to foreign invasion, and had everywhere to bend the neck to the yoke of servitude. The very form of the island, a long parallelogram disposed in transverse avenues by volcanic ranges, prevented the development of a compact nation with a certain political cohesion and capable of presenting a firm front to • invading- hosts. J IXIIABITAXTS OF JA\A. At the dawn of Indonesian history, Hindu propagandists, arriving proliably Fiir (i7- -KMI'FRnU ANI> IsMTTiESS OF SUEAKARTA. lll'nu^;ll liuiiiiah, Siani, and Caiuboja, were already at work converting the 170 AUSTRALASIA. Javanese aborigines to Brahmanism. At the time of the visit of the Buddhist pilgrim, Fa-hian, early in the fifth century, the Brahman form of Hinduism prevailed throughout the island. Later, it was aliiiost everywhere replaced by Buddhist tenets, although the rites still practised round about a few inaccessible volcanoes recall the traditions of Siva'ism. Numerous Hindu states, whose names are preserved in hi.story or legend, and whose splendour is reflected in the mighty ruins of their cities and temples, were successively constituted, especially in the central and eastern parts of the island. During the period of Indian ascendancy, nearly the whole of Indonesia was twice, in the thirteenth and fifteenth century, reduced under the power of a single master. But the Arab Mohammedans were already contending with the Hindu dynasties for the supremacy in Java. In 1478, they destroyed the capital of Mojo- Pahit's empire, which stood near the present city of Surabaya, and during the two or three ensuing generations, they successively overthrew the petty Hindu princi- palities that had hitherto held their ground. But these conquerors were iu their turn soon replaced by others. The Portuguese, too weak to reduce the island, did little more than found a few factories on the seaboard, and take part as adventurers in the local civil wars. But the Dutch, who appeared on the scene in 1596, in a few years felt themselves strong enough to assume a dominant position in the coimtry. In 1619 they erected the fort of Batavia, centre of the sovereignty which gradually spread over the rest' of Java and the Eastern Archipelago. Notwithstanding some local insurrections and a war. of succession, which shook their power to its foundations, between the years 1825 and 1830, they have, on the whole, found in the Javanese perhaps the most svibmissive and resigned nation known to history. Cases are mentioned of unhajopy wretches who quietly submitted to take the place of their chiefs con- demned by the suzerain authority to imprisonment with hard labour. It is sur- I^rising that such a docile people, yielding so readily to bondage, should have never- theless preserved their gentleness, sense of justice, probity, and other good qualities. The rapid increase of the Javanese population is commonly appealed to in proof of their material and moral progress, and consequently of the beneficent results of the present administration. Assuredly, if the numerical growth of a people were an indication of prosperity, the Javanese would have to be regarded as amongst the happiest of nations. AVithin a century, apart from the Chinese and other immigrants, their numbers have augmented tenfold by the excess of births over deaths alone. In 1780, a series of exterminating wars had reduced them to little over two millions ; in 1888, they were at least twenty-three millions, and the annual increase now ranges from three hundred thousand or four hundred thousand fo half a million. The density of the population is already far greater than that of Holland and nearly equals that of Belgium ; and as two-thirds of the soil is still unfilled, there appears to be no reason why this density should not be tripled, when the whole island is reclaimed. Nevertheless there has been an occasional ebb in this steady flow of human vitality. In 1880, a famine, followed by a series of epidemics; reduced the popula- INIL\B1TAXTS OF JAYA. 171 tiou of the jirovince of Bantam by one hundred and sixty eight thousand ; in 1848 several districts of Semarang also suffered much from the same cause, while in the seven central provinces the population diminished by three hundred and fifty-four thousand in four years. But after periods of drought, the families again increase, and the gaps are soon filled to overflowing. A certain number of Javanese emigrate to Borneo, Sumatra, and other island?, but this outflow is greatly exceeded by the immigration, especially from China. The Cliinese already number over two hundi-ed and twenty thousand, the majority being Pernakans, that is, born in the island of Javanese mothers. But the paternal type is little modified by the crossing, and even after several generations the descendant of the Chinese may still be recognised under the Javanese national garb. The children receive a Chinese education from teachers either introduced from China, or who have passed their examinations there. In general, this element is much dreaded by the other inhabitants of the island. As brokers, contractors, farmers of monopolies, pawnbrokers, smugglers, and opium dealers, Pi?. 68. — COJIPAEATITE IxCKEASE OF PoPULATIO:^' IX JaTA AXD HoLLAXD. i T" E 20 '5 10. 5 n J0}C^^^ / 20 != 5 1 "^ 1 ; T"' "1 i f>/ether/anc/s ' 1 760 1790 1800 1810 I8S0 1830 1840 IS50 1850 1870 1880 they appropriate the better part of the profits on all transactions. By loans and credit they forestall the very crops and legacies ; on their arrival they are your humble servant, but presently your master ; " they expand like the lotus," and in 1885 their estates in Java had a collective value of considerably over £11,000,000. The Europeans look on them as rivals in the wholesale trade, yet are fain to avail themselves of their services in acquiring a knowledge of men and things. Even the Dutch Government, while on its guard against their indepen- dence of character, their common national sentiment and secret brotherhoods, is compelled to employ them in numerous offices needing order and careful attention. Hence the decree of 1837, absolutely interdicting Chinese immigration, had soon to be revoked, although access to the island was still rendered difficult to the " Children of Han " by landing and resident charges, poll-taxes, passports, special imposts on the several industries, and other harrassing burdens. They have still to pay a special income-tax, and the result of this policy is that they increase at a less rapid rate than the Javanese. ]7-2 AUSTRALASIA, Although less munerous than the Chinese, the Arabs, being Moharainedans of the " chosen race," have a I'elatively greater influence, and those especially who have made the pilgrimage to Mecca are venerated as saints. Yet they follow the same pursuits as the Chinese, and as business agents and dealers live at the expense of the native peasantr-y. Till lately the Javanese Arabs were more or less mixed descendants of the former masters of the land ; but during the present century their numbers have been increased by direct immigrants from Hadramaut. The men, being engaged chiefly in the sale of European wares, all speak Malay, but in other respects they keep aloof from the natives, and in the family circle care- fully preserve their mother tongue. All learn to read and write, and some are regarded as well versed in questions of Mussulman theology, jurisprudence, and grammar. The European population, even comprising the Eurasi;ius, are a mere handful, lost, so to say, in this great sea of Oriental elements. But they are the ruling class, and consequently command an influence out of all proportion with their numbers. Officials who marry native women bring up their children with great care, and in the second generation the " nannas " or half-caste women are regarded as belonging to the white race. Their educatioij. is often provided for by the Government, as is also that of the signos or liplaps, as the half-bred men are here called, not without a slight touch of contempt. They receive appointments as notaries, clerks, surveyors, and are reputad to be intelligent, but indolent, effeminate, and excessively vain. Their families are said not to be very numerous, and appear to die out in a few generations, the fact being that they simply become absorbed in the surrounding populations. With them have alieady been merged the few Portuguese who arrived in the sixteenth century. European immigration was formerly discouraged by the Administration, which regarded the Dutch East Indies as a domain to be worked for the benefit of the (State, and not as a colony opened to private enterprise. According to the decree of 1818, which long remained in vigour, no European in any capacity had the right to settle in Batavia, or elsewhere in Java, without the special authorisation of the governor-general, and even then could not remove more than five or ten miles from his residence, according to the locality. But although access to the island is now no longer interdicted, few Europeans settle permanently in the country. The excessive mortality, which formerly earned for Java the title of " Cemetery of the Whites," is probably ten times less than in the last century. The maladies by which they were decimated are now better understood, while they have learnt to live more like the natives, and in accordance with sanitary principles. Their dwellings are built in salubrious places, and the health resorts are situated at various altitudes, so that the climate may be graduated for invalids and convales- cents. Nevertheless, the mortality is still high, and at times the colonial forces suffer terribly, especially from the so-called beri-ben, apparently a kind of low fever or anaemia. The immigrants also tend to lose their moral tone, becoming less vigorous and energetic after a protracted residence in the country. J IXILIBITAXTS OF JAVA. 173 The first law for all Europeans is to uphold the prestige of their race, and to maintain their ascendancy' by a sort of religious terror. Till lately the natives would fall prostrate by the roadside at the approach of a white in his carriage ; those carrying an umbrella hastened to close it, at the risk of a sunstroke, and in the presence of an oiEcial the masses still preserve a solemn silence. For the same reason, no European could accept servile work, and when condemned for a breach of discipline the military were sent to Holland to undergo their sentence. Before 1864, no Javanese was allowed to learn Dutch, or send his children to a white school. An exception, however, was alwaj-s made in favour of the Malavs proper, whose language has long been the lingua franca of the Eastern Archi- pelago, as well as the official idiom for the transaction of public business and the administration of. justice. Till lately it was always written in Arabic characters, which are now being gradually superseded by the European orthographic system. The Dutch government also discourages the Christian missionaries, so that the Javanese, nominal Mohammedans, are still pagans at heart, worshipjDcrs of their ancestry and of the forces of nature, and attributing to the spirit world all the events of their daily existence. But they have also preserved numerous Hindu practices, while still celebrating the Mussulman feasts with ever-increasing fervour. Amongst them have sprung up some fanatical sects, notably that of the Xaksyi- bendi, and since they are now permitted to make the pilgrimage to Mecca, some thousands return yearly from the Prophet's shrine dressed as, and calling them- selves, Arabs. The Mohammedan schools are "continually more and more fre- quented, and most of the peasantry observe at least the evening devotions. Some Christian legends have also been introduced into the national mj'thology. Like their remote kindred, the Madagascar Hovas and the natives of the Moluccas, the Javanese would have embraced Christianity had their rulers commanded them to do so ; but the very opposite policy has been pursued, and missionaries, unless of Dutch nationality, have often been refused permission to settle in the country. Scarcely 11,000 Javanese are classed in thq census papers as members of any Christian church. In order to avoid all needless contact with the natives, the Dutch ofiicials carry on the administration largelj- through the agency of local chiefs. Certain Java- nese " Regents," descendants of princely families, have preserved a semblance of authority, upholding their rank and dignity by means of rich emoluments and a share of the public revenues. But in return they have to accept the advice of the Dutch " Residents " stationed at their courts. The action of the real rulers is thus masked from the natives, who have themselves no share in the choice of their ofiicials. They are, however, allowed to elect the village- chiefs entrusted with the distribution of lands, public works, statute labour, and salaries ; but these chiefs or communal mayors are liable to be removed at any moment, should they fail to satisfy the central authority. 174 AUSTRALASIA. Economic Coxiiition of Java. Tlie slave trade was abolished in the Dutch East Indies at the end of the seventeenth century, and slavery properly so-called has ceased to exist in Java since 1860, when nearly five thousand slaves were emancipated. But can the rest of the people be regarded as freemen so long as tliey are subjected by Government to forced labour ? While the authorities were satisfied with collecting the taxes on the crops fixed by Sir Stamford Raffles during the British occupation, the results were financially bad, and the public deficit went on increasing from year to year. But in 1832, the Governor-General Van de Bosch received full power to modify existing arrangements, and the very next j'ear the people had to adapt themselves to the famous " sj'stem " of culture and taxation, which was largely modelled on that of the tobacco monopoly in the Philippines. Neverthe- less, the change was effected without causing a crisis, the Government edicts being largely conformable to the adat, or old customs observed by the native rulers. In virtue of this " system of culture," which was to rei^lace the land-tax by a sort of Government monopoly of the croj)s themselves, each agricultural circuit of the vast Javanese " farm," was placed under a controller, who reserved a fifth of the land for the public service. Here the Administration, or its grantees, in- troduced at its option the cultivation of economic plants, exacted throughout the commune every fifth working-day (later every seventh), and de facto regulated all the works, encouraged and coerced the workers. At the end of the 3-ear, it took over from the producers the various exports, coffee, sugar, indigo, tea, tobacco, cinnamon, pepper, " at the market price," after deducting two-fifths for the taxes, and a fixed sum for transit charges. But this " market price " has alwaj's been fixed by the Government far below the real value, and, according to official statistics, the Javanese peasantry have been defrauded, since the introduction of the " system,'' to the extent of some £80,000,000. On coffee alone, the " staple of the Dutch Colonial regime," the plunder of the natives to the benefit of the home budget amounted, between 1831 and 1877, to the enormous total of £68,000,000. The real market price, after deducting the impost, has occasionallj' been three times in excess of the price officially announced to the natives. Hence it is not surprising that b}' the Minister Van de Putte and many other Dutch statesmen this wholesale plunder of the Javanese has been denounced as a " wretched system." On the other hand, an administration which yielded a considerable " colonial bonus " to the mother country, often over £2,000,000 yearly, could not fail to find many admirers, although the bulk of the native population meantime remained poor and half famished. Certain political econo- mists have even ventured to hold up the procedure of the Dutch Government in Java as a model of political wisdom. However, the era of direct agricultural monopolies seems to have run its course. The Achinese war, followed by the ravages of insects on the coffee plantations and the necessary increase of the public expenditure, have brought about a KCOXOmC CONDITION OF JAVA. 175 deficit, showing once more that monopolies end in the ruin of states as well as of the plundered Of late years, the system has been gradually modified. Statute labour has been abolished, at least on paper, except for works of l)ublic utility, such as roads, harbours, canals and administrative buildings. Lands held bv the communes in virtue of hereditary right have been ceded to 17C> AUSTRALASIA. them absolutely ; the cultivation of tea, tobacco, iudigo, cochineal and cinnamon has been left to private enterprise, the Government retaining the monopoly only of sugar till the year 1890, and of coffee until the question is settled by legis- lation. The system of forced labour, that is, of slavery in disguise, has had the natural consequence, of retarding the intellectual and moral progress of the people. The structures in different parts of the island dating from the Hindu epoch show that the knowledge of industrial, scientific and artistic processes has greatly deteriorated since those times. Doubtless the initiative came from the Hindus, but the works executed under their control attest the advancement made by their disciples. But decadence was inevitable under an Administration which for nearly three centuries closed the schoolroom to the natives, lest they should learn to think and thus attempt some day to bridge over the gap separating them from their masters. Even now, for a population o£ some twenty-three millions, Java possesses only two hundred native schools, attended by some forty thousand scholars. In the Javanese communes the land has remained unallotted, the sovereign being still regarded as the supreme proprietor, while the collective usufruct of the cultivated parts belongs to the peasantry. The cultivators thus form with the communal land an organic whole, the so-called dessa, and they can scarcely under- stand any other system of tenure. Efforts have in vain been made in some places to introduce that of private holdings amongst the poor cultivators of the plains. Doubtless there exist a certain number of plots inherited in the family ; but the communal organisation everywhere prevails. Even where the jungle is cleared by private enterprise, it lapses after a certain time to the commune, which, according to the adat, or " custom," is the true owner and collectively responsible for the taxes and the statute labourers. As in the Slav mir, each member of the dessa keeps his cottage and garden, while all have equal right to the woods and waste lands. But the tracts under tillage are distributed to the families either every year, or every two or three years according to the districts. Unfortunately the enormous increase of population during the present century has had the consequence of reducing to a mere fraction the portion assigned to each individual, in some places five acres or even less, while the government abstains from helping the communes by the grant of public waste or fallow lands. On an average, the Javanese cottage is worth about sixteen shillings, and the revenue of each family plot five pounds at the utmost. The peasant finds it diSicult to earn an equal sum on the Government plantations, so that the whole population sees its substance constantly diminishing, and itself threatened with still deeper poverty, although it at least contrives to live despite the imposts and forced labour. Would they fare better were the principle of private property established in the 40,000 communes, and were most of the holdings rapidly reduced to proportions too small for any practical purpose, or even bought up altogether, leaving the bulk of the peasantry without any property ? Would not the condition of Java then ECONOMIC CONDITION OF JAVA. 177 become aualogous to that of Ireland, and depopulation become inevitable ? lu the province of Bantam under the British administration the greatest impulse was given to the development of large estates, and here also the laud, belonging mostly to absentee owners, is the worst cultivated, here the indigent classes are most numerous, famines most frequent and often attended by bread riots. The famous novel of Max Ilairkiar, which deeply moved the public conscience of Holland, described in eloquent language the deplorable condition of the Bantam peasantrj', and since then there has been no change for the better. The staple crop is rice, which in many districts constitutes the exclusive food of the people. Hence, despite the enormous annual production, the export of this grain is slight compared with that of Burmah and Cochin China. The rice-fields exceed a total area of 5,000,000 acres, covering not only the marshy low-lying tracts and regularly irrigated slojaing valleys, but also the so-called Tcgah or drj' grounds, yielding the most nutritive varieties, as well as the flanks of the mountains to a height of over 4,000 feet, below the zone of coffee plantations. After the harvest, the ditches and reservoirs are emptied, and a second harvest made of the myriads of fish that swarm in these waters during the year. Fevers are endemic in the Saicah, or wet rice districts, but are less fatal than in other regions lying even farther from the equator. This is due to the fact that the Javanese do not allow the waters to stag- nate, but always keep up the current, and also jjlant a curtain of large trees round their villages. In Madura, where the surface is nearlj^ everywhere gently undulating, scarcely any rice is grown ; here the chief alimentary grain is maize. Although the Javanese peasantry never drink coffee, those residing in the pre- scribed coffee districts have to cultivate a strip of 600 feet, and to sujiplj' fresh plants in case of failure. It is from this source that Holland derives, or has hitherto derived, her " colonial bonus," and consequently to it the natives are indebted for the oppressive system of forced labour. The coffee plant was not introduced till towards the close of the seventeenth century ; yet Java produces from a sixth to an eighth of the 3-ield of the whole world, or an average of about 150 million pounds, valued at £2,000,000. Since the end of the Napoleonic wars, when this island was restored to Holland, the yield had gone on increasing from decade to decade till recently. Now, however, although several private capitalists have entered into competition with the Government, it seems to be at a standstill, or rather to have entered a period of decline. In 1876, the destructive htmileia rastatrix, which had already wasted the plantations of Ceylon, made its appearance in Sumatra, and three years later attacked those of Java. Precautions have also to be taken against other paVasites, such as the xi/lotricus quadrupes, the combined attacks of which have reduced the Government crojj from nearly 80,000 tons in 1879 to less than 18,000 in 1887. The Javanese cofifee-planters have now great hopes of the Liberian variety, which resists both the hemileia fungus and the xylotricus borer. But merely to replace over 200 million plants' would alone be tantamount to an economic revolution. 178 AUSTRALASIA. Java ranks next to Brazil in the production of coSee, and also holds the second place in the markets of the world for that of sugar, in this product being exceeded by Cuba alone. The crop, which, however, varies greatly from year to year accord- ing to the rainfall and other climatic conditions, averages one-tenth of that pro- duced by the rest of the world. There are several local varieties of the cane, whose cultivation is one of the old industries of the island. In 1808, the yield rose to 5,800 tons, but it did not acquire its present gigantic" proportions till the second half of the century. The share of the Government in this industry declines each year in virtue Fig. 70. — Zones of Wet and Dry Rice Fields and Coffee Plantations on Mount Sumbino. Soaie 1 ; 160,000. of the law obliging it to gradually abolish statute labour, and to grant concessions to private enterprise. Some of the plantaticms, especially in the Jokjokarta and Surakarta districts, are supplied with machinery in no respects inferior to that of the finest sugar mills in Euroj)e. The tea industry, introduced from Japan in 1826, has never acquired a development sufficient to enter into serious competition with the Chinese and Indian growers. The plantations laid out by Government in all parts of the island did not prove very profitable, and since 1865 the industry has been completely ECONOMIC CONDITION OF JAVA. 179 abandoned to piivate speculators. The yield averages about 6,000,000 pound.s ; but the leaf is of iudiffereut quality. Other economic j^lants, such as cacao, the clove, and cinnamon, are not extensively grown, and even pepper, formerly the chief resource of the province of Bantam, has ceased to be a profitable industry. Of the 25,000,000 cocoanut trees, about 10,000,000 are fruit-bearing. Despite great commercial vicissitudes, tobacco has become one of the important Fig. 71. — Teak Fokests between Semarano and Suhabaya. Scftle 1 : 2,500,000. Easb of Greenwicli exports, besides supplying a considerable local consumption. This industry has also ceased to be a Government monopoly, and is now largely in the hands of Chi- nese speculators. But they are not allowed to cultivate opium, and have to pur- chase this drug from the Government, which imports it from India, Persia, and Asia Minor. Indigo, formerly one of the most jealously preserved mo opolies, is now also surrendered to free labour, and still continues to be an important article of the export trade despite the competition of the coal-tar dyes. Neither jute, cotton, nor any of the other textile plants are extensively cultivated. Amongst N 2 180 AUSTRALASIA. these is the kapok or raudu [eriodendruii anfracluosum), the fruit of which yields a down utilised by the native weavers. The sarne plant is used for building purposes, but in this resj^eet a vastly more A'alu- able tree is the teak — the Jati of the Javanese, which still covers an extent of about 2,500 square miles. Recently, also, some of the cleared spaces have been replanted with the no less valuable cinchona, first introduced from Reunion in 1852, and again directly from South America in 1854. Within nine years of that date, there were already 1,140,000 cinchona plants either in the nursery-grounds or the forests of Java ; but the variety selected was one of the least valuable, and it had even to be replaced by others of more medicinal value, notably the calmnja, which had been successfully introduced into the uplands of British India. In 1888, the Government enclosui-es contained over 3,700,000 of the best varieties, growing at different altitudes between 4,000 and G,500 feet. By careful selection and grafting, plants have been obtained whose bark 3'ields from 11 to 13 per cent, of quinine. Java lacks a suflScient number of domestic animals for agricultural operations. In the western province of Bantam, the proportion of horses, oxen, and buffaloes is only 94 per thousand of the population, but this proportion increases somewhat steadily eastwards until, in the extreme east, it rises to 830 per thousand. But everywhere the live stock has diminished during the second half of the present century, while the popidation has rapiidly increased. The Javanese horses of Arab stock have diminished in size, but not in mettle and staying power. The Cheribon trotters and the Kedoc cart-horses are highly spoken of, although none can compare with the Sumatran ponies in form or vigour. The produce of the fisheries, which employ about fifty thousand hands, is all required for the local consumption, except the sea-slugs and sharks' fins exported to China. Java also yields the very finest quality of edible birds' nests, also des- tined for the Chinese market. To the traditional industries, such as weaving, dj'eing, krisses, and other arms for which the Javanese have always been famous, the manufacture of heavy machinery has recently been added for the sugar refineries, the harbour works and railways. An ancient monopoly of the Jokjokarta regency are the gongs and musical instruments for the Gamclangs, or native bands, bells, cymbals, drums, and bars of copper or bamboo which the players strike with a hammer to accomjjany the theatrical representations and native ballets. The most skilled craftsmen are the Chinese, who are usually employed, especially by Europeans, wherever taste and execution are objects of consideration. The carriage roads are well planned and kept in excellent repair, and are often supplied with footpaths and supplementary avenues for heavy traffic, especially between the chief towns. The main artery is the great military route, 780 miles long, running from Anjer, in the exti-eme west, to Banjuwangi, in the extreme east, and constructed by the terrible Daendels, still remembered by the natives as the " Master of the Great Thunder." The torrents and even rivers are crossed by ingeniously planned bamboo bridges, which, despite their frail appearance, are extremely solid works. The first railway, connecting Batavia TB.VDE OF JAVA. 181 ■with Buitenzorg, was opened in 1872, and since then the network of lines, as originally planned and suggested by the configuration of the island, has been slowly developed. When completed, the S3'stem must obviously comprise two coast lines running from one end to the other, and connected at intervals by transverse lines through the valleys separating the volcanic ranges. But this system is far from complete, although the three great ports of Batavia, Semarang, and Surabaya are already connected with the rich inland districts. More than half of the railways, as well as all the telegraph lines, belong to the State. The latter are connected with the Indo-European system through Singapore, and with that of Australasia through Timor. The steam navigation companies, whose craft ply regularly between Europe and Batavia, as well as from port to port round the coast of Java and through - Fig. 72. — Railways in Java. Scale 1 : ll.OOO.OOn. Depths. ■ Steam Tr.imways. out Indonesia, alread}' own over sixty steamers, with a collective capacity of nearly 100,000 tons. The largest share of the Javanese trade is still carried on with Holland, although the law of 1874 abolished all differential dues on foreign vessels touching at the insular ports. The entry and clearing charges were also, at the same time, greatly reduced on a large number of commodities. All the Government exports are shipped for Holland by the privileged Ilandrl- Matttschap2)ij (" Dutch Trading Company "), founded in 1824, and in the imagination of the people confounded with the State itself. The original Dutch East India Company, after realising millions by its long monopoly of the trade with Indonesia, became bankrupt at the end of the last century with a debt of £10,000,000. Since the declaration of free trade in 1874, the movement of the exchanges with Great Britain has acquired considerable importance. England takes especialU' 182 AUSTRALASIA. raw sugars in exchange for cotton goods and hardware. China,, the United States, and France also share to some extent in the general export trade. The Javanese sailors are surprisingly daring and agile, swarming up the ship's shrouds almost with the nimbleness of the monkey. Topography. At the beginning of the seventeenth century, the chief outport was Bantam, situated near the north-west extremity of the island on a well-sheltered semi- circular bay, but obstructed by mudbanks. Here the Dutch founded their first factory in 1596 ; but it is now a mere village almost hidden by the surrounding foliage. Although Bantam has given its name to the province, the capital of the Fig. 73. — Lines of Steam Navigation in Indonesia. Scale 1 : 48,000,000. S^'»^i:=*^'>^ cp> 'i' '-y" O) '^ Ku(.»n| Lasb oF br-eenwich residency has been removed to the small town of Serang, some six or seven miles farther south, while the local trade has been diverted to Anjer, which was nearly destroyed by the Krakatau eruption of 1883. Bataria, the Jakatra of the natives, present capital of Java, and of all the Dutch East Indian possessions, occupies an area out of all proportion with its population, stretching from the harbour in a straight line for over twelve miles inland. The vast space, however, is not continuously built over, but rather occupied by several distinct quarters, connected together by canals, routes, and avenues. The old town had been founded in 1619 on the coast along the right bank of the Liwong, while the citadel with its four sharp bastions stood on an artificial islet at the entrance of the estuary. Batavia gradually acquired the aspect of a Dutch city with its canals and dykes, its many storied and gabled brick houses ; but a shower of ashes ejected from Mount Salak choked the canals, con- I TOrOGEAPHY OF JAVA. li Fig. 74.— Batavia in 1628. Scale 1 : 20,000. verting the lower quarters into swamps and causing the land to advance seawards. Batavia thus became still more unhealthy than before, and at the same time lost the advantage of its marine position. At present it lies considerably over a mile from the coast and the canalized river has had to be extended the same distance to reach deep water. Leaving the old town to the Malay custom-house offi- cers and the teeming Chinese population, the Europeans have ■ established their new quarter some miles farther south on more, elevated ground, every- where planting broad avenues and laying out gardens and shriibberies. The central quarter of Welterreden, com- prising the chief public build- ings and large hotels, combines the aspects of a fine city and magnificent park, where flourish most of the tropical plants distinguished b}' the splendour of their flowers and foliage. Round about this dis- trict and beyond the extensive grassy tract of Koning's Plein ("The King's Plain") other quarters have sprung up on the western slopes, and these also are everywhere inter- spersed with gardens and shady groves, the favourite eveningpromenade of the Euro- ^.w Yards. peans. Northwards, a district of suburban residences,- skirting the canal, stretches away to Old Batavia, and is continued southwards as far as Mcester Conie/w, another group of scattered quarters separated administratively from Batavia proper, but all belonging to the same system. The whole is encircled by the palm-groves of the native kampongs. Batavia is the seat of the oldest and most flourishing learned societies in the Eastern Archipelago. It also possesses a medical school, libraries, a museum, and some periodicals of high scientific value. The maritime quarter of Tanjong Priok, also forming part of Batavia, is of 184 AUSTRALASIA. quite recent foundation. Till lately Batavia had no harbour, and large vessels were obliged to ride at anchor in the roadstead, which, however, is perfectly sheltered by quite an archipelago of small islets. The canal was accessible only to small steamers and river craft, while the approaches were being yearly invaded by the Fig. 75. — Batavia and Poet of Tanjono Peiok. Scale 1 : 60,000. 32 Feet i upwai c sedimentary matter brought down by the Liwong and Angkee rivers. Between 1817 and 1874, the shore-line advanced at the rate of 35 yards a j'ear, so that it became necessary to remedy the evil by constructing piers in deep water. At first it was proposed to establish the port near the island of Onrust, north- LiSfJASy OF THE I NiVERSiTK Of ILLINOIS, SU N D A \ Telolvli Betoen^ :v,. "Beniawan^ A-tt'U s.iiS/m Jlaj'z.ej's JSaai • _ or Ba - 1 Sejnan^a ''H J^6jnoeyoohfi J . TitfiOCJU) . rwiJlmibii; East of Greenvricli _oaf' oJ JLajnpojig I.La^oendx I , Sehoelsoe «^^ ^^:::=^-^i=^- J.Sehesi W/ Varksihi T.hhaJinfaii ^ Dedpdi nmc J^j'iLSeji £Uajui Twvede Punt JsraJIoofd Pajnea^ idjeg^ D. Seaboard snept by the tvata cU\ IJie Uffhthjoiux LONDON. J, SVi STRAI T Z50 f^^OO. 500 nfn^ardU. tJie e/iiption of Erakatau in 188 S. re mduMb^dbyred dvts. E & C° LIMITED. 1 I TOPOGRAPHY OF JAVA. 185 west of the roadstead, whicli already possessed a naval arsenal ; but after much discussion, the engineers at last decided in favour of the Tanjong Prick Point, which is distant only 6 miles to the north-east of the old town. Here the land, somewhat more elevated than the neighbouring coast, projects seawards towards a line of upheaved beds, which are continued in the direction of the east. Two immense stone jetties, 2,140 and 1,960 yards long respectively, now project from this point, curving round at their northern extremity so as to leave for shipping an entrance of about 500 feet. The space thus enclosed comprises nearly 500 acres, and affords good anchorage for the largest vessels. Repairing basins, graving and dry docks, and building yards complete the harbour works, which are connected with the rest of the city by a road, a railway, and a canal crossing the intervening marshy plain. The two large towns of Tawjcrang and Bikasi to the east, both inhabited by Chinese, may be regarded as direct dependencies of Batavia. Bekasi is even connected by rail with the capital, of which it forms a suburban retreat ; but not a single descendant is now to be found of the Dutch Boers, who settled in the district about the middle of the eighteenth century. In Tangerang and neigh- bourhood some 40,000 or 50,000 peasants are occupied during the " dead season " in plaiting hats, mats and boxes of bamboo fibre, which are bought up by Chinege traders for the market of Paris. In 1887, the district of TjUongok alone exported about 1,200,000 hats, valued at nearly £f^0,000. Farther south the advanced spurs of the Gede volcano are resorted to by most of the Europeans, who can here breathe a pure and invigorating atmosphere. In 1774, Buifenzorg, that is " Sans Souci," was chosen as the site of an official health- resort, and this place has by successive enlargements become a vast residence, now usually occupied by the Governor-Generals of the Dutch East Indies. Lying 880 feet above the sea, on a wooded slope between the Liwong and Dani river valleys, Buitenzorg commands a superb prospect of the surrounding forest-clad gloomy gorges and undulating heights rising in one direction towards Mount Salak, in another towards Gede. Xowhere else in Java is the indigenous vegetation more exuberant or more varied than here, and no botanic garden in the world is richer or better organised than that of Buitenzorg, whose magnificent avenues wind round about the government palace. Here are cultivated no less than 9, -'300 different species of plants. But Buitenzorg is not sufficiently elevated to be regarded as a sanitarium. Hence invalids and convalescents usually prefer the station of SuHlang-Lnya, which stands at an altitude of 3,560 feet on the northern slope of Gede, near the vast nursery grounds of Tjibodas. This is said to be the most salubrious spot in the whole of west Java, and hundreds of soldiers stricken down during the Atjeh campaigns have here recovered their health. South of Buitenzorg the railway, after crossing the main insular watei'-parting, and leaving to the south thinly peopled districts sloping down to Wijnkoops Bai/, and the port of Plahuan-Ratu, passes eastwards by the important stations of Stikabumi Tjanjur, into the vast basin of the Tarum. Here is the port of Tjikao, 186 AUSTRALASIA. which before the opening of the railway was the only outlet for the produce of the whole district. Farther east, at an elevation of 2,470 feet, stands Bandong, the picturesque capital of the " Preang regencies," almost completely concealed by the surrounding forest vegetation, and commanded northwards by the long crest of the Tangkuban Prahu ridge. At present (1889) the railway terminates beyond Bandong at TJitJalenlia, b\it is to be continued across the plateau down to the Manuk Valley, where it will throw off a branch south-westwards to the town of Ganif. Then climbing the eastern hills it will fall by long inclines down to TJilatJap, the most sheltered port on the south coast, and already connected by rail with the northern slope of the island. Even at low water there is a depth of 17 or 18 feet on the bar, and from 30 to 35 in the harbour, which is protected by the island of Kembangan, and defended by fortified lines. East of Batavia the marshy coast, fringed by mangroves and mud banks, has no harbours west of Cheribon Bay. Indramaju, in the Manuk delta, which grows the best rice in the island, is a small riverain port accessible onl}' to vessels of light draught. The populous find productive province of Cheribon has a large number of small towns and large communes, but no cities of great size. Cheribon, the capital, which takes its name from the Tji-Ribon torrent on which it is situated, occupies only a secondary position amongst the commercial centres of Java. Tegal, capital of the province of like name, has a roadstead exposed, like that of Cheribon, to the north and east winds, so that vessels run some risk in shipping the produce of the interior brought down by the railways, connecting this place with Balapiiknig and Pangka. The largest town on the north coast between Batavia and Semarang is Pekalongan, which occupies both banks of the river of like name. Pekalongan formerly enjoyed a monopoly of the indigo trade, and the native women wove highly esteemed coloured fabrics. Semarang or Samarang, lying near the centre of the curve formed with the rest of the coast by the peninsula of Japara, is one of the three great ■ Javanese marts. At the close of the last century it stood first, and still rivals Batavia and Surabaya, exporting large quantities especially of sugar, coffee, tobacco, and indigo. Yet it has no harbour, and large vessels calling here are obliged to anchor consider- ably over a mile from the shore in waters exposed to the fury of the west nionsoon. Boats and steam launches alone can penetrate into the city through the Banjir canal to the west, and the canalised river to the east, on which have been erected the chief public buildings. If a harbour is constructed it will probably have to lie further west, near Krowelang Point, for at Semarang deep water of 25 or 30 feet occurs only some five miles from the coast. In the marshy plain between the canal and the river rises a star-shaped fort strengthened by bastions and a moat, and close by is one of the two artesian wells which supply the place with pure water. As in Batavia the inhabitants are grouped according to their nationalities, the Europeans, here numbering several thousands, being chiefly centred in the Bojong LiotiARY OF THE UNIVERSITY of nUNOIS. TOPOGRAPHY OF JAYA. 187 quarter, whicli lies above the low-lying tracts near the spurs of the hills to the south. Pleasure resorts are also scattered to the south-west at the foot and on the flanks of the Ungaran volcano, whose terraced slopes are crowned by the ruins of Hindu temples. Semaraug is abundantly supplied with means of communication, roads, railways, steam trams, canals, and steamers, one line of navigation connecting it with the Fig. 76. — SEMAEANa. Scale 1 : 60,009. ancient city of Japnra. During the Hindu epoch, Japara, whicn gives its name to a province, was a great emporium, and down to the close of the last century it was still frequented by shipping. But its port has been gradually closed by the coral reefs, and its trade having been transferred elsewhere, Japara is now nothing more than a dull administrative centre. In the rich valley stretching southwards one of the chief places is Demak, whose mosque is famous in the Mohammedan world as being the first erected in Java. Farther east follow the large markets of Kudm and Patti, and on a broad 188 AUSTRALASIA. estuai-y accessible to ships of average size, tlie ancient city of Jawann or Joana. South of Semarang the railway gradually rises in the direction of Amhnrawn , which the Dutch have selected as their chief strategic station in the interior. Here the vast fortress of WiHem I., 1,G80 feet above sea-level, commands several natural routes radiating in all directions. Fig. 77. — Magelanq and Buru-Budhue. Scale 1 : 130,000. Towards the south east, on the first slopes of Mount Merbabu, stands the town of Sakdif/a, where in 1811 was signed the capitulation sur- rendering the Dutch East Indies to Great Britain. At present Salatiga is one of the chief health-resorts of Java. Mfif/elinifj, capital of the province of Kadii, occupies the centi'e of a magnificent plain watered by the river Progo and fertilized by the ashes of the surrounding volcanoes. Some nine or ten miles to the south of this enchanting spot a small eminence near the Progo is crowned by the pyramidal temple of Buru-Budhur, the finest Hindu ruin in Java. Standing on a square plat- form, 540 feet on all sides, the edifice rises in seven retreating storeys to the central dagoha, or dome, a solid mass of masonry tower- ing above thousands of sculptured stones and bas- reliefs, representing battles, hunts, shipwrecks, domestic ^^^^»^_^_^^-^^^-^^^— »~ '6 Miles. , • 11 scenes, triumphal proces- sions, in which is figured the elephant, an animal unknown in Java. At the angles of the terraces are monstrous carved idols, while at intervals are throned effigies of Buddha of the traditional solemn and conventional type. Thus are intermingled in these sculptures the cults of Siva and Sakya-Muni. This superb monument, which has been compared, for vastness of proportions and finish of details, to the Cambojan East oF Green V T TOPOGRAPHY OF JAVA. 189 temple of Auklior-Vat, has lost a lai'ge uumber of precious carvings, carried olf by native princes and officials to embellish their palaces and gardens. But enough still remain to give an idea of the prodigious architectural work executed in the eighth or ninth century by Javanese artists, under the guidance of their Hindu instructors. The discovery has recently been made that the base of the building is surrounded by a revetment, or stone facing, which masks inner walls richly carved and covered with inscriptions. Here archaeologists hojie to find valuable data on the historj' of the edifice and of the country. Lying on the southern slojje of the island, both Magelang and the equally Fig. "S. — Mehapi and Joejokaeta. Scale 1 : 500,0(10. . '''M/a^Vl I' ,0/ 1 oV I 7' picturesque Piinrorcjo, capital of the j^roviuce of Bagalcn, have their natural outlet in the port of TjUatjap. Here the fertile and thicklj'-peopled coastlauds are traversed by a railway running parallel with the seaboard. North of this line lies Ba))Jumas, capital of the province of like name. But the central station of the insular railway sj-stem is the city of Solo, or Suralica-ta, the ancient Kartamirn, capital of one of the few remaining- native " regencies." In population Surakarta holds the second rank, and would even be the first were Batavia and Meester Cornelis regarded as forming two really distinct cities. Its numerous quarters, lining the banks of the Pepe, a western 190 AUSTRALASIA. affluent of the Solo, occuj)y a vast space, in the centre of which stands the kraton, or royal palace. This structure, with its inner courts, harem, barracks, kiosks, and gardens, forms a town of itself, with a population of ten thousand within its Fig. 79. — Patjitan. Scale 1 : 100,000. ::^:-7"'^^i-y«)\v-,-L «ri f~-~v^' *^" -r ■■•t- i ^ vxTF^ Easb oPGreenwich Depths. 0to32 Feet. 32 to 80 Feet. 80 Feet and upwards. — 33 Yards. enclosure. But close by is the Dutch citadel, whose guns command the Imperial court and all its surroundings. Jokjukarta, or Jokjo, capital of the sultanate of like name, takes at present TOPOGRAPHY OF JAVA. 191 oiilv the fiftL place amongst the Javanese cities ; but it has preserved its national character far better than Surakarta, or any other town subject to European or Chinese influences. Jokjokarta, which in tlie la^st century "bxrre i,f»H-i. 600 Fathoms and upwards. is known to the natives by the name of Selaparang or Selaparan, and to the Malays as the Tanah Sasak, or Land of the Sasak people. It presents about the same superficial extent as Bali, but is less known owing to the more rugged character of the land, and the lower state of culture of its inhabitants. Since the middle of the eighteenth century it has been a political dependency of Bali, although the Balinese themselves form but a fraction of the popidation. 202 AUSTEAI.AglA. The Strait of Lombok separating the two islands, altlioiigh little more ttan twenty miles broad at its narrowest point, has a deptb of no less than fire Inmdred fathoms. This apparently unimportant ehannel may thus be said to form the natural limit of the shallow Java Sea, which has an average depth of considerably less than one hundred fathoms. The current in the Strait sets with a mean velocitj^ of four miles an hour in the direction from south to north, and Wallace has shown that for the distribution of animal and vegetable species this passage forms in many respects the chief parting-line between the Indian and Australian domains. The Areng palm (areiiga sacrharifera) is not found in Lombok, which also lacks the teak, orchids, heaths, and mosses peculiar to the Javanese flora. In the animal kingdom the differences are still greater, Lombok possessing neither the tiger nor any other members of the feline family. Most of the Javanese and Balinese birds are also unknown in the neighbouring island, which on the other hand possesses several Australian species, amongst others the remark- able tncf/cqwdius gouldii, a species of turkey, which buries its eggs under a heap of earth and foliage 6 or 7 feet high and 40 in circumference. Here also are found the Australian cockatoos, which, however, reach as far west as the islet of Paudita (Penida), separated only by shallow water from Bali. But the transition of species may be followed from island to island, and according to Martin, the true parting- line between the Asiatic and Australian forms should be placed rather to the north-west of Timor. Like Java and Bali, Lombok is intersected by two parallel ridges, sedimentary in the south and volcanic in the north. The former, which scarcely exceeds 1,000 feet in height, is continued both east and west beyond the coast-line, and is inter- sected at certain points by a few prominent masses of scorice. It is also connected with the northern volcanoes by some still older eruptive tufas, which form in the centre of the island a water-parting for the streams flowing in one direction towards Lombok Strait, in another to that of Alias. The volcanic chain begins over against Bali with Mount TVangsit (4,000 feet), which is followed eastwards by several other extinct cones. The system merges towards the middle of the range in the massive Renjani group, from the centre of which rises the peak of . Api, or " Fire," whence are still emitted wreaths of sul^Aurous vapour. The highest summit of this group, usually known as the Lombok peak, is one of the loftiest, if not the culminating point of Indonesia ; but this majestic cone has not yet been ascended, and its altitude is variously estimated at from 11,000 to 13,800 feet. The Sasaks, who form the great bulk of the population, differ physically but little from the Balinese and speak a language of the same stock, but approaching nearer to the Sumbawa dialect, although written with the Balinese alphabet. The natives are all Mohammedans, but disj^laj' little religious fervour, as is shown by the general absence of mosques. Politically they are subject to the Balinese intruders, who are represented by a colony of about twenty thousand scattered over the western parts of the island. LOMBOK.— SUMBAWA. 203 Mataram, the capital of the kingdom, lies on a plain about four miles from the east coast. The neighbouring port of Amjmnan is a flourishing place composed of four Kampongs, which are inhabited by as many distinct nations : Malays, Baliuese, Bugis of Celebes, and Sasaks. Mataram, where the Balinese alone enjoy the privilege of riding on horseback, is a well-kept place with broad streets lined by shady banyans. A little to the south lies the Sasak village of Karang- Assem, which was the capital of Lombok before the Balinese conquest ; but since the year 1849 it has been subject to the foreign lajah. The rolling plains stretching east of Mataram towards the Sasan hills are described by "^Vallace as perhaps the most highly cultivated in the whole of Indonesia. For a space of some hundred square miles all the streams are dis- tributed with admirable art in a network of irrigating canals, which encircle the flanks of the hills, and rise from terrace to terrace like the seats of an amphi- theatre. " Each terraced plot consists in some places of many acres, in others of a few square yards. ^Ve saw them in every state of cultivation : some in stubble, some being ploughed, some with rice-crops in various stages of growth. Here were luxuriant patches of tobacco ; there cucumbers, sweet potatoes, yams, beans, or Indian corn varied with the scene." * The chief crops are rice and coffee, which arc shipped at Ampanau. The Sasaks also export a small but fiery breed of horses and a peculiar sjDecies of duck, which walk nearly erect like penguins, and which are locally known as "Baliuese soldiers." In Lombok the penal code is very severe, theft and adultery being capital ' offences. In certain cases torture is even inflicted before death, and gamblers and opium smokers are punished with the bastinado. The rajah, who is represented in the Balinese province of Karang-Assem by a viceroy, maintains a force of about 20,000 men, well drilled and supplied with the best fire-arras. SfMBAWA. Simibawa, the correct form of which is Sambava, is larger than Bali and Lombok taken together. It really consists of several distinct lands, which a slight subsidence would decompose into a small archipelago, and which a corres- ponding upheaval would connect with the neighbouring islets, such as Moyo in the north, Sido and Tengani in the south-east. Towards the centre Sumbawa contracts to a narrow isthmus scarcely twelve miles across, and here a broad inlet penetrates from the Sunda Sea far inland, ramifying here and there into lateral creeks completely sheltered from all winds. Farther east the coast is again in- dented by similar fjords, such as Tjempi Bay on the south and Bima on the north . side. The surface is for the most part mountainous, developing distinct masses of eruptive origin, and comprising altogether as many as twenty- two active or extinct Tht Malay Archipelago, fiftt edition, p. 161, 201 AUSTEALASIA. craters. In tlie south, however, occur some sedimentary formations, which form an eastern continuation of the Javanese, Balinese and Lombok limestone system. The south-western extremity of the island also consists of a non-volcanic promon- tory terminating in a regular plateau, which, like so many similar formations elsewhere, takes the name of Tafelberg or Table Mountain. The Ngenges (5,370 feet) and Lanteh (5,260 feet) volcanoes in the west are succeeded farther east by the far more imposing Timboro (Tomboro, Tambora), which projects on the north side beyond the normal coast-Hue, its broad slopes Fig. 8.5. — Central Part of Sujibawa. Sc.ile 1 : 1,500,000. Oto32 Feet. S2 to 320 Feet. 320 Feet and upwards. — 30 Miles. here completely filliug an extensive peninsula. At present its loftiest peak rises to a height of 9,900 feet ; but it is said to have had an elevation of over 13,000 before the year 1815, when it still formed the culminating point of the Eastern Archipelago. But on the evening of April 5 th in that year, a tremendous explo- sion took place, which was heard as far as Celebes, Borneo, and Sumatra, and which was accomiDanied by a prodigious shower of ashes burying all the sur- rounding lands and waters in darkness for ten consecutive days. In the neigh- bouring seas the floating masses of pumice exceeded a yard in thickness, and SUMBAWA. 205 these debris represented at least 100, aud accurdiug to some autliorities over 500, cubic miles of matter ejected or blown from the mountain on this occasion. The 12,000 inhabitants of the surrounding district were all buried imdcr the rain of scoria; ; but probably as many as one hundred thousand perished during the famine and epidemics caused by the destruction of the forests, the loss of cattle, the ruin of the irrigation works and the general havoc spread over the adjoining islands by this terrific outburst. Over 40,000 Sasaks died of hunger in Lombok, and the population of Sumbawa, which in 1815 was about 170,000, was still only 75,500 in 1847. Even at present the Timboro peninsula remains almost a com- plete desert. Throughout a great part of Indonesia the " night of ashes " was long con- sidered the chief event in history, and served as the starting point of a new chronological era. The eastern part of Sumbawa is often agitated by violent earthquakes, and here also are numerous volcanoes, such as Dindi (5,160 feet), Soro Mandi (4,570 feet) and Aru Hassa (5,550 feet) near the north coast, and towards the south-cast angle Sambon (4,130 feet), and Lambu (4,G50 feet). Lastlj- the islet of Sangeau, called also Gunong Api (6,900 feet), is still in a constant state of agitation, einittiug at short intervals jets of vapour and ashes. ■ The Malayan inhabitants of Sumbawa have been much influenced by the cultured peoples of Celebes, with w'hom they carry on a large part of their trade, and by whom they have long been governed. The Bugi language of South Celebes is current, with other Malay dialects, in some districts of the north coast, while that of Macassar is the only literary standard in the island. Nearly all the natives profess Islam, but some groups of Orang Dongo, or "Highlanders," occupying the forests south of Moimt Aru Hassa, are still pagans, though preserving a few practices dating from the early visits of the Hindu missionaries to their moimtaius. They call the spirits by the Sanskrit name, dcra, and offer them fruits and flowers. At night torches alone are used, the light of lamps being regaixlcd as ill omened. The property of the departed is shared equally amongst all the kindred, a share being also reserved for the deceased. The cattle are sacrificed on their graves, and the other articles burnt or buried for their use in the other world. These high- landers keep aloof from all direct contact with Europeans, and their barter with the outer world is confined to certain clearings in the forests on the verge of their territory. Sumhawa, capital of the western state which bears the same name, lies on a bay on the north coast exposed to the north-west winds. At the time of the Timboro explosion, only twenty-six of the inhabitants escaped alive, but at present it has a mixed population of natives and Celebes immigrants numbering altogether about six thousand. This place exports cotton, sandalwood, sajjanwood (cvsaJpinia, or " red wood '"), and an excellent breed of ponies. Bima, on the east side of the bay of like name, is almost the onl v market in the section of the island lying cast of Timboro. It is the capital of a native state which also comprises the old breached crater of Grili Banta, east of Sapi strait, the 20G AUSTEiVIiASIA. Koniodo group, a few other islets, and the Mangkarai district in the west part of Flores. Formerly the large island of Sumba also formed part of this state. The port of Bima is one of the best in Indonesia. The inlet, which here penetrates over fifteen miles inland, is no less than sixty-five fathoms deep at its entrance, and opposite the capital, where it expands to a land-locked lake, it affords large vessels perfect shelter in depths of from twelve to eighteen fathoms. The European merchants and the Dutch officials who keep the sultan under control, reside in a separate quarter known as the Kumpoiig Wolanda, or "Dutch Village." In the neighbourhood are some Hindu tombs, dating probably from the epoch when this part of Sumbawa was tributary to the Javanese Empire of Mojo-Pahit. Here also have been discovered some undecipherable inscriptions, whose origin is un- known. Flores, Solor and Allor Archipelagoes. These members of the "Little Sundas " constitute so many links in the long chain of volcanic islands which stretches eastwards to Timor, and then curves gently round north-eastwards to Nila. Flores and its eastern neighbours are entirely of igneous origin, lacking even the sedimentary limestones that are con- tinued from Java through Bali and Lombok as far as Sumbawa. The southern headlands of Flores are all volcanic mountains with extinct or still active craters. Although abovtnding in natural products of all sorts, these lands have hitherto been somewhat neglected by their European masters. The vast Indonesian Empire is too extensive to have yet been sj-stematically survej-ed and opened up through- out its whole extent. Till 1809 the Dutch and Portuguese were still contending for the eastern part of Flores and the adjacent -archipelagoes, and although all were then assigned by treaty to Ilolland, their exploration has since remained nearly at a standstill. No accurate returns have yet been made of the population, which is roughly estimated at about four himdred thousand for Flores and the Solor and Allor groups, which have a collective area of 9,000 square miles. Conspicuous amongst the chain of volcanoes stretching along the north side of Flores are Rokka, or Ombuu Soi-o (6,900 feet), and farther east, in the Endeh district, a name sometimes applied to the whole island, Gunong Keo, or Roma, believed to be the culminating point (9,200 feet). South of the village of Endeh (Ambogaga) rises the Gunong Api, and the natives report to the north of the same place the Gunong Kingo, which is said to have been the scene of several eruptions during the historic period. At the south-east corner of Flores stands the double-crested Lobetobi volcano, one of whose cones, the Laki-Laki, or the " Man " (7,160 feet), is always smoking, while the other, Perampuan, or the " Woman" (7,460 feet), is covered on the inner walls of its crater with incrustations of sulphur. The extinct Kabalelo (7,o00 feet) commands one of the passages of Larantuka Strait, facing the island of Solor ; the strait itself takes its name from another volcano, called also Ilimandiri (5, 180 tVet), at the north-east extremity of Flores. This moun- FLOEES. 207 tain is at present quiescent, but at its foot are numerous thermal springs, tlirough which the subterranean heats still manifest themselves. Near the village of Geliting on the north coast, mention is made of another crater, which, however, has not yet been identified. South of the Tanjong Bunga, or " Promontory of Flowers," whence the Portu- Fig. 86. — Laeantitka Strait. . Scale 1 : 1,000,003. E,t;5 of: Greenwich Depths. 100 to 1,000 1,000 Fatbcms Fathoms. and upwai-ds. guese term, Flores, a channel about l,-300 yards broad at its narrowest part sepa- rates this i.sland from the islet of Adonare, and farther south from Solor, which, although the smallest member of the group, gives its name to the archipelago stretching east from Flores. Adonare is much more poijulous as well as larger, and farther cast follows the still more extensive I.omblem. The two islands of the 208 AUSTRALASIA. Allor group, Pautar iind Ombaai, visited by Pigafetta, companion of Magellan, and described by bim under tbe name of Maluva, are also larger tban Solor, while round about tbe cbief lands are scattered a large number of reefs and islets. All are billy and from many lava streams have been discharged. The highest cones are Lamahale (5,000 feet), in Adonare, and LobctoUe (4,900 feet), which forms the northern headland of Lomblem. . The inhabitants of Flores and of the neighbouring islands are of a mixed cha- racter. Those of the coastlands, who for the most part speak the Malay dialect of Biraa, belong to the same groujoas the natives of Siimbawa, and, like them, con- struct their dwellings in the Malay fashion on the solid ground, and not raised on piles after the manner of the Papuans. Nevertheless the natives of the interior both in Flores and Solor appear to have a darker complexion than those of the seaboard, and are said to betray both in their features and usages a marked affinity to the Papuan inhabitants of New Guinea. Like the peoijles of Sumbawa and Lombok, nearly all claim to be followers of the Prophet. But the Portuguese, who, down to the middle of this century, occupied the eastern jDart of Flores with the adjacent archipelagoes, displaj^ed far greater zeal than their Dutch successors for the conversion of their pagan subjects. Hence some of the Malays in these islands still call themselves both " Portuguese" and " Christians." They may even have some Portuguese blood in their veins, and priests from Timor pay occasional visits to their communities in order to baptise the children, solemnise marriages, and bless the graves of the departed. Larantuha, an old Portuguese stronghold at the foot of the volcano of like name and on the west side of Flores Strait, has become the capital of the Dutch possessions in these waters. The place is yearly visited during the north-west monsoon by a fleet of native craft from Celebes, returning with the south-eastern trade-winds, and exchanging textiles, pottery, and hardware for mother-of-pearl, sea-cucumbers, edible birds'-nests and other local produce. The Celebes traders also visit a few other seaports, such as Adonare, in the island of the same name, Lawaijaug, capital of Solor, and AUor KatjU, at the north- west extremity of Ombaai. These places with their archipelagoes all depend administratively on the province of Flores, while the district of Mangeraai in Flores itself is attached to Sumbawa. SUMBA. This island, called also "Sunda," although lying in the deep waters of the Indian Ocean outside the line of the Sunda Islands proper, forms a little world apart from the surrounding lands. Separated from Komodo and Flores by an arm of the sea some 60 miles broad and over 100 fathoms deep, its quadrilateral mass is disposed, not oast and west, parallel with the Little Sundas, but in the direction from north-west to south-cast. It possesses no active volcanoes, and igneous rocks appear to occupy but a small portion of its surface. Nearly the whole of the island, in fact, is believed to be of sedimentary formation. The south coast consists SUMBA. 209 entirely of limestone cliffs pierced by caverns, which are frequented by myriads of edible-nest builders. Towards the centre the somewhat level surface presents the aspect of a plateau rising to a height of 2,000 feet above the sea, and develojDing ranges of hills and mountains only on the north side. Amongst the numerous names, such as Sumba, Chandana or Chindaua, given to this island, there is one, that of Sandalwood, which it scarcely deserves any longer, i'oi' this valuable tree, which formerly covered the coast-lands, almost entirely disappeared during a terrific explosion and is now found only in the heart of the island. There arc two v-arieties, the red and the grey, the latter being the more valued and much used in the powdered state as a cosmetic and medicinally. Sumba also f)ossesses some gold deposits, and was regarded as one of the legendary " Golden Isles." Notwithstanding the generally peaceful disposition of the natives, who are divided into numerous small communities, the interior is still little known. The estimate of the population, till recently ranging from 200,000 to 1,000,000, is at present about 400,000, a relatively large number for an area not exceeding 4,300 square miles. The people are all of Malay stock, but speak a j)eculiar dialect unintelligible to the surrounding populations. Like their eastern neighbours of the Savu group, they have preserved the worship of ancestry mingled with rites and tenets which attest Hindu influence. Thus, they speak of a trinity of mysterious deities, the Good, the Protector, and Evil One ; but the offerings of the "elders " are made, not to these superior beings, but to the ocean waves, to the forest trees, to the rocky headlands and the graves of their forefathers. There are neither temples nor priests, unless the heads of families and the old men of the tribe can be regarded as such. In the Savu islands, however, the title of priesfis borne by the executioner, who beheads the criminals condemned b}' the rajahs. Naucjamexni, on the north coast, where there is a small Arab trading settle- ment, is the chief maikct in Sumba, and from this port are forwarded hardy little ponies to all parts of Indonesia and even to Mauritius and Australia. This island jointly with the Savu group (Great Savu, Ranjuna, and Dana) constitutes an administrative district dependent on Timor. The population of Savu exceeded 30,000 in 1869, when half of the inhabitants of the archipelago were swcjit away by an outbreak of small-pox. At present the population is estimated at 16,000 in a total area of less than 200 square miles. According to AV^allace the natives resemble the Hindus or Arabs in physical appearance much more than they do the Malay's. Timor and Rotti. Like Sumba, Timor, largest of the Little Sundas, lies beyond the line of volcanic islands. Disjjosed in the direction from south-west to north-east, it forms an acute angle with that chain, which, in crossing, it appears to have deflected from west and east to the same south-west and north-east direction parallel with itself. Hence the links of the Sunda volcanic chain lying farther \UL. XIV. 1' 210 AUSTRALASIA. eust bend rouud to the north-east in such a way as to continue the axis of Timor as far as IVihi. It seems, therefore, probable that in the general modelling of the terrestrial crust, Timor and these islands have been subjected to a common process of folding in some remote geological eijoch. Like Sumatra and Madagascar, Timor presents towards the Indian Ocean a far more regular coast-line than towards the inland northern waters. Notwith- standing its geographical importance at the south-east corner of Indonesia over against Australia, it has been so little studied that the population can only be approximately estimated. Politically it is divided in nearly equal proportions between Portugal and Holland ; but the Portuguese half, which depends adminis- tratively on Macao, and which comprises fifty-four " kingdoms," some still com- JTig. 87. — TiMOB AND Nbiohbouking Islands. Scale 1 : 6,600,000. Pepths. pletely independent, is said to have a population of half a million, while the Dutch section appears to contain scarcely half that number. • The Malay term Timor, that is, the " East," shows that this island long formed the eastern limit of navigation in Indonesia. According to tradition the natives were savages, ignorant of agriculture, and living only on the chase and fishing, when the first Malay immigrants landed on the south coast, where is now the petty state of Waiwiko-Waihali. These settlers, who introduced rice and maize and iron implements, are said to have come- from Teruate towards the close of the TIMOR. ■ 211 fourteentli century, and soon made tbemselves masters, everywhei-e imposino- d3-nasties supposed to owe a certain vague allegiance to the Sultan of Ternate. The first European arrivals were the Portuguese, who appear to have secured a footing at Lifau, towards the middle of ihe north coast, about the year 1520. Soon after they raised a fort at Kupang, now the chief station or the Dutch, who first made their appearance in 1613. The desolating wars of the two rival powers and their native alKes were continued almost uninterrupted!}' down to the present century, when they were replaced by diplomatic negotiations, the treaty of 1859 finally settling the question of the frontier line between the respective states. According to the partial explorations round the coast and in the interior, Timor seems to present a backbone of mountains and plateaus, consisting mainh' of schists, sandstones and limestones ; but on both slopes these older formations underlie chalks and argillaceous deposits of great thickness. The coral reefs fringing the south-west coast have gradually been upheaved several hundred yards above the present sea-level. In some places the rocks of the primitive system tower up above the surrounding formations in the form of obelisks and citadels, one of which, Mount Leeu, in the south-west, attains an elevation of 4,000 feet. Farther east follow stdl more lofty peaks, although within the Dutch or western province none of the summits reach an altitude of over 6,500 feet. In the Portuguese • division the surface is of a more rugged aspect, and here the Kabalaki peak, visited by H. 0. Forbes, exceeds 10,000 feet, while Mount Alias, close to the frontier and near the south coast, is said to rise 11,500 feet above the Indian Ocean. The existence of true volcanoes has not yet been placed beyond doubt, although mention is made of a Mount Ilun-bano in the west, which was the scene of an eruption in 1856, while Bibiluto in the Portuguese territory is said to have ejected ashes the following year. In several districts porphyries and serpentines have cropped out above the sedimentary rocks, and the islet of Kambing, between Samau and the south-west extremity, terminates in a sort of crater, ■within which are several mud volcanoes, 10 to 30 feet high, resembling the Sicilian maccahde. Mud volcanoes also occur in Landu, between Samau and Eotti. In Timor the seasons are much more sharply defined than in the large islands of Western Indonesia. During the south-east monsoon, prevailing from May to October, the winds blowing from the neighbouring Australian continent bring no moisture, the vegetation withers, and wherever the slopes are covered with grasses. or scrub, they assume red, yellow, or greyish tints. The brooks and even the rivers run dry, and are not again flushed till the return of the western monsoon, when vegetation revives and the land resumes its verdant aspect. The northern slope of the island enjoys the most copious rainfall, and consequently here the streams are most voluminous, the forests most extensive, and the population most numerous and prosperous. But the southern slope is far from being so arid or unproductive as it has been described by travellers who have visited it only during the dry season. The same contrast between the two slopes is also presented by the respective p2 21-2 AUSTEALASIA. Horas uud faunas. The side facing Austntlia abounds must iu forms characteristic Fitr. SS— ViKW TAKKN IN A FoKEST NE.IE Kur.VN-rt, TiMOR. of that continent, while the opjjosite side belongs more to the animal and TnroE. 213 vegetable zones of the Sundas and Moluccas. But Timor is on the whole com- paratively poor in biological species, and in this respect forms joart rather of the Australian than of the Asiatic world. Here occurs the eucalyptus, a peculiarly Australian plant, while the vegetation of the interior often recalls the African flora. The only feline animal is a long-oared wild cat, and the largest quadruped is a species of deer resembling one found both in Java and the Moluccas. The only member of the simian family is the Cercopitheciis eijnomolguK, and t^^•o-thilds of all the mammalian species belong to the widespread bat family. The most dreaded animals are the green trigonocephalus and the crocodile, from whom the rulers of Kupang claim descent. At the accession of a new rajah, his subjects thronged to the waterside to render homage to his saurian relatives : the first that came to the surface was regarded as his Majesty's cousin ; a beautiful maiden, gaily decked and perfumed, was presented to him as his consort and devoured amidst (he applause of the multitude. The natives of Timor are not classed with the Malaj's properly so-called, and ajipear to be more akin to the Bornean Dayaks. Despite the statements of several writers, there are no dark or Papuan tribes in the island, all the inhabitants of which have the light, yellowish complexion of the Malay, and differ from each other rather in their dress and arms than in stature or features. They are divided into a large number of distinct clans or communities, speaking according to Crawfurd as many as forty different idioms. ' The largest ethnical group is that of the Ema-Velus (the Belunays of the Dutch), who occupy all the eastern section and a great part of the centre. They claim to have come from the Moluccas, and attribute the same origin to their western neighbours, the Timorese properly so-called ; whom, however, they also call Ema-"Davan, or " Javanese." Some Bugis, Chinese and European traders are settled in all the seaports, and a half-caste people, the so-called " Black Portuguese," have become established especially in the northern princijaalities of Ambenu, Okusse and Noimuti, forming a Portuguese enclave within the Dutch frontier. The natives who have not yet been brought under the influence of the Protestant and Catholic missionaries have a somewhat developed animistic form of religion. They worship Usi-Neno, " Lord of Light," who dwells in the Sim, and whose wife is the moon. The stars are the abode of an inferior order of deities ; but while paying reverence to these remote divinities, the Timorese address their supplications chieflj"- to the natural objects round about them, the mountains and rocks, trees, running waters, and the like ; they also make offerings to the souls of the departed; who are regarded as the indispensable intermediate agents for all communications between man and the higher divinities. The laws of pomaji or taboo are as intricate and as carefully observed as amongst the Polynesians and some Malagasy tribes. In fact the religious ideas pervading the oceanic regions are so uniform that thej^ can scarcely have been independently evolved, and point rather at a common civilisation at one time diffused throughout the whole area from Madagascar to the remote South-Sea Islands. 214 AUSTRALASIA. In Timor every village has its temple bid away in some sacred grove and surrounded by a stout enclosure. Each petty state has its special sanctuary, a ballowed spot wbicb the profane dare not approach, for in it dwells the lulik, or tutelar genius, seated in the centre of the edifice on a stone cast down from heaven by the Lord of Light. There are also evil spirits, to which are sacrificed black victims, the animals with red coats being reserved for the protecting deitios. The Timorese tattoo various parts of the body with thorns, file the teeth to a point, and often dye them red " in order not to look like apes." The usages Fig. 80. — KuPANO. i-'oale 1 ; 30 '.000. connected with marriage and inheritance differ greatly in the different districts. In some places exogamous, in others endogamous rites prevail. In one tribe the succession is from father to son : in another through the female line. The young men in some communities can neither marry nor enter the public assemblies" until they have carried ofp one or more heads, as in Borneo, but only in open warfare or else at funeral ceremonies. The penal code is very severe, death being the penalty for most crimes ; but as ransom is allowed, the poor are the chief victims. As in many other places, the rulers, " children of the sun," never die, but only TIMOR. 215 fall asleep, and are not buried till long after the beginning of the "trance." In some districts they are exposed in open coffins on the branches of the trees ; in others the wives have to keep them night and day for months together, until reduced to the state of dried muminies, and then buried with all their treasures beneath cairns corresponding in height to the rank of the deceased. They were formerly accompanied by an escort of slaves, as they still are by a dog to lead the way iu the region beyond the grave. To prevent their return, the route follo\\ed by the funeral procession is carefully blocked by a strong bamboo palisade. Kiqmng, capital of the Dutch territory and of the neighbouring islands, is one of the unhealthiest places in Indonesia. It lies at the south-western extremity of Timor, on the south side of a deep inlet too confined for the air to circulate freelj-. Yet its official position and safe harbour have made it the chief trading place in the island, with a motley population of about seven thousand Timorese, Mala3'8, Chinese and Europeans. Its principal exports are sandalwood, horses, excellent oranges and beeswax. The neighbouring fishing grounds and oj'ster beds j'ield great varieties of fish, besides pearls, tortoise-shell, sea-cucumbers and shark's fins for the Chinese market. The people of Rotti prepare large quantities of a much- esteemed palm wine, and rear an excellent breed of little ponies, " about the size of Newfoundland dogs." Afapupii, another seaport on the north coast near the Portuguese fioutier, lies in the province of Filarang, which is said to be one of the richest iu copper ores, though mining operations have scarcely yet been seriousl}^ begun. Dilli, administrative centre of the Portuguese territory, is a less important place than Kupang, and appears even to have entered on a state of decline, the population having fallen from over five thousand about the middle of the century to little more than three thousand in 1879. It is even a more unhealthy town than its Dutch rival, but has the advantage of a good roadstead, from which it presents a pleasant appearance. Its exports are chiefly coffee of superior quality,, wax, and sandalwood; rice being the c staple import. The wheat grown on the plateaux and slopes to a height of about three thousand feet is much esteemed. North of Dilli rises the steep rock of Kambing, the only islet be3-ond Timor which the treaties have left to the Portuguese ; it has a population of about two thou- sand. The Zuid-Wester (Seewatty) Islands. These " South-western " groups, so-called because mostly Ij'ing to the south- west of Amboyna, their administrative and commercial centre, are better known by their English name Serwatty, which, in fact, is a corruption of the Dutch " Zuid- Wester." The southern and more numerous islands form an eastern extension of Timor, of which they are, so to say, merely scattered fragments. But the central chain, of which Wetter forms by far the largest link, belongs to the volcanic Sundanese system, while Gunong Api (the "Burning Mountain"), with a few scattered rocks farther north, are supposed by Junghuhn to constitute the eastern 21G AUSTRALASIA. extremity of another igneous range indicated at intervals by a few islets rising above the surface. But however they maj' differ in their sedimentarj', volcanic, or coralline origin, the Serwatty groups resemble each other in their political and commercial history. The most striking in form and relief are naturally the igneous islands, conspicuous ardongst which is the superb but now smokeless cone of Gunong Api. Wetter (Wetta), facing the north coast of Timor, is traversed by a line of craters, amid which the timid natives have taken refuge. Kisser (Kissa), lying farther east and nearest to Timor, is also mountainous, and in the last century was chosen as the administrative centre of the whole group ; but it suffers fropi a deficient rainfall, and its inhabitants have often been driven by famine to emigrate to the surrounding lands. Eoma, which follows to the north-east, is on the contrary productive enough to export some of its superabundant produce. The chain is continued north-eastwards through Damma, with its smoking crater and thermal springs, to Nila, with a still active cone, and Sarua, the last eastern links in the Sundanese igneous system. The southern chain, stretching between Timor and Timor Laut, begins with Letti, most densely peopled of all the Serwatty Islands ; it is followed eastward by Moa, also very populoiis and noted for its peak, the "Buffalo," which looks like a reduced copy of Teneriffe. The neighbouring Lakor is a mere coral bank rising little more than twent_y feet above the surface. Luang is also fringed with reefs, where are taken the most highly prized sea-cucumbers in the whole archipelago. Sermatta, forming a long chain of steep hills with no accessible creek, is little visited by skippers, whereas Babber (Baba), with its numerous islets, including the lovely little AVetang, is much frequented by native craft. During the- last century, when the Company kept a factory and a fort in almost every island, the natives of Serwatty had mostly become Christians, adopting a dark costume and European names as an outward sign of their conversion. In 1825 and 1826 the chaplain accompanying Kolff's expedition had scarcelj' landed in a village, when he was surrotmdcd by these "Christians," entreating him to solem- nise their marriages and baptize their children. Some could still read and write, and, as they were nearly everywhere looked on as a superior race, they had suc- ceeded in imposing a kind of slavery on those natives who had remained pagans. Their authority is now all the greater that they claim the title of Anak Compani, or " Children of the Company," on the ground of descent from European fathers and native women. But of late years Islam has made considerable progress in the Archipelago. The natives of several islands, especially Wetter and Kisser, are designated by the name of Alf uru ; a term, however, which has no ethnical value, and which is indifferently applied in many places to the indigenous inhabitants, what- ever their origin, that have hitherto resisted Mohammedan and Christian influences. The Soitth-Eastern GRours : Tenimher and Kei. These groups were named the " South-Eastern Islands " by the Dutch in refe- rence to Amboyna, their chief political and trading station in those distant waters. TENIin?EE. 217 On the other hand the Macassar navigators gave to the largest of the Tenimber Archipelago the name of Timor-Laut, or "Seaward Eastland," to indicate its position in reference to Celebes. From the geographical standpoint they may be regarded as collectively forming the eastern limit of the Indonesian world; bej'ond Fig. 90. — Tenimeee. Scale 1 : 1,700,\ the Malays when it was seized by the Portuguese in 1538. The Dutch occupation dates from the erection of Fort \laardingen in 1665, after which trade rapidly increased tiU 1846, when Macassar was declared a free port, to the detriment of its commercial prosperity. A chief item of the export trade is the lakalava extract from the pulp of the badu plant, long known in Europe by the name of Macassar oil. The roadstead is well sheltered from all winds hj the numerous chains of islets and reefs forming the Spermonde Archipelago. Although held by the Dutch for over two centuries, the province of Macassar has but few good roads. The most important is the route skirting the coast north and south of the capital, leading northwards to Maros, residence of a vassal prince, and running thence through several petty states to Tanette. Another highway running east crosses the rugged region north of Mount Bonthain, reaching the east coast at Sinjai and Baking JVipa. The southern route, after passing Goa {Gowa), residence of a former powerful sovereign, traverses Glisong, Takalar, and other coast towns inhabited by daring mariners. On the south coast of the Macassar penins-ula the chief place is Bonthain [Banfaeng), which has succeeded Bulakomba as capital of the district. "Other "kingdoms" occupy the eastern slope of Macassar and of the two penin- sulas radiating eastwards ; but their capitals are mere hamlets, like the numerous fishing stations on the creeks and sheltered straits of these waters. Bajoa, the port of Boni, at one time the most powerful state in Celebes, is an active centre of trade. But the eastern shores of Celebes present little but a monotonous succes- sion of headlands, inlets, and wooded tracts, mostly destitute of inhabitants, and visited onh* by the Orang-Bajo, the " Gipsies of the sea," in quest of trepang and tortoise-shell. Farther north the shores of the gulf of Tolo or Tomaiki, with all their natural advantages, present the same desolate aspect. Even most of the adjacent islands are deserted, and of the Sula (Xula) Archipelago the only inhabited islands are Sula Besi and Sula Taliabo. The Togean Archipelago also, which lies in the northern gulf of Tomini (Gorontolo), has a mixed joopulation of not more than four hundred souls. Parigi, at the neck of the northern peninsula, occupies a favourable position for trade at the narrowest part of the connecting isthmus, and within 21 miles of the Bay of Fains on the opjiosite coast. Palos itself, lying in a fertile district on a deep and well-sheltered bay, enjoys quite exceptional com- mercial advantages. q2 228 AUSTRALASIA. North of Parigi tlic peninsula still continues (o contract between the Bays of Dondo and Tomiui. But the whole region is almost depopulated', and Tumini, which gives an alternative name to the vast Gulf of Gorontolo, is an obscure hamlet comprising some ten or twelve native cabins. Gorontolo [ITolontalo) which gives its name both to the gulf and to the northern peninsula of Celebes, lies in a Kg. 96. — Adiiinistkative DrrisioNS of Celebes. Sc.ile 1 : 12,500,«IO. Government of Celebes. Eesitlence of Menado Eesidence of Temate. Residence of Amboyna. ^ Residence of Timor. Portuguese Territory. 210 Miles. dried-up laevistrine plain at the mouth of a narrow valley watered by a torrent which issues from Lake Limbotto. Beyond this point the coast is almost unin- habited as far as the shores of Minahassa, where follow the two jDorts of Bclaixj and Kema. These places are connected by good routes across the i^eninsula with Menado, capital of the province, and northern rival of Macassar in political and commercial LISRARV OF THE UNlVERSlTy of ILLINOIS, CELEBES. 229 importance. Menado (Manado), tlie Wenang of the natives, lies on a spacious inlet open to the -west and sheltered on the north by several islets, one of which, Mcnado Tinea, or " Old Menado," marks the site of the old town, which was abandoned in 1682 for the present more secure position on the mainland. Here a pleasant little Dutch quarter gradually sprang up roimd about the foot of Kieuic-Ainsterdam. But the town itself is little more than a vast garden dotted over with rural dwellings and crossed by shady avenues, each terminating with a lovely view of sea, islands, and extinct or still smouldering volcanoes. The district is enriched by cultivated grounds, which have replaced the primi- tive forests, and which are traversed by good roads giving access to the magnifi- cent plateau of Tondano, with its coffee plantations, its woodlands, romantic winding lake, and waterfall of the river Menado. A little to the west of Tondano stands the village of Rurukau, 3,y00 feet above the sea, being the highest group of habitations in Minahassa, if not in the whole of Celebes. The political and administrative in no way correspond with the natural divisions of Celebes.' Thus Sumbawa, one of the lesser Sunda Islands, forms part of the Macassar " government," while the petty states on the Gulf of Tolo belong to the Sultanate of Ternate, and consequently depend politically on a remote eastern islet. The greater part of Celebes is still divided amongst local rulers, some classed as direct or indirect feudatories, others as allies, and others again as still completely independent. Thus the districts under direct Dutch administration occupy but a relatively small part of the territory ; and even here the old adminis- trative measures have been partly maintained, the authoritj- being exercised by native regents under the control of Dutch Eesidents or Assistants. The system of government varies also in the numerous native " kingdoms," most of which a^e electoral monarchies limited by custom, the authority of the notables, and priestly influence. Wajo, on the east coast of Macassar, is an oligarchy of powerfid families, with a prince elected as nominal chief, and a council of forty delegates, including some women. The various Bugi states constitute similar oligarchies, where the nominal sovereign merely executes the pleasure of his vassals. The Southern MoLrccAS : Bueu, Ceram, Amboyxa, Baxda. A submarine bed less than 100 fathoms deep connects Celebes and the Xula (Sula) Archipelago with Burn, westernmost member of the Moluccas. On the other hand this oval island forms a Knk in a chain disposed in the form of an arc comprising Ceram, Goram, sundry islets, and in the Kei group intersecting another chain of upheaved lands, the already described South-Eastern Islands. The chain of the Southern Moluccas, sweeping round some 450 miles first west and east, then south-east parallel with Xew Guinea, is well defined by deep waters both north and south. Thus Ceram is separated from the Korthern Moluccas by an abyss of over 1,500 fathoms, while on the opposite side the Banda Sea has a depth of 3,000, and at one point near the Banda volcano 4,280 fathoms. Precisely in the centre of this sea rises the submarine plateau of Lucipara, marked by a few 230 AtrSTEAlASIA. reefs appearing above the .surface. Witli the exception of Amboyna and Banda, which do not lie along the general axis of the Southern Moluccas, all these islands are situated beyond the Indonesian volcanic zone. The small island of Amboyna, and the still smaller cluster of the Banda islets, formerly enjoyed a commercial importance far beyond that of the larger islands in these waters. They even still retain their political supremacy, though the centre of gravity will probably be eventually shifted towards Buru and Ceram, Fig. 97.— BuKU. Scale 1 : 2,000,000. 127° East op Greenwich Depths. 1,000 Fathoms and upwards. which have already outstripped them in population, and which also j)osses8 excel- lent havens. Despite its fertility and abundant natural resources Buru is still one of the least-known lands of Indonesia. Near its rock-bound west coast it culminates in the lofty Mount Lamandang, or Tomahu (8,540 feet), with which are connected other mountain masses falling gradually eastwards, but more elevated and precipi- tous along the southern than the northern side. The whole system is disposed in a semicircle with its convex side facing eastwards, and leaving in the centre of the island a large crater-like depression flooded b}' Lake Wakoholo, 1,900 feet above sea-level. The east coast is indented by the superb Bay of Kayeli, which is encircled by an extensive plain enclosed by an amphitheatre of hills. A geo- graphical dependence of Buru is the hilly and reef-fringed islet of Amblauw, off the south-east coast. The islets of Manipa, Eelang, and Bonoa, connecting Buru and Ceram, are THE SOUTIIEEN MOLUCCAS. 231 mere geograpliical fragments of the latter. Amboyna with the Uliasser group (Oma or Haniku, Saparua, and Nusa Laut) all rest on the same submarine plateau as Ceram. Amboyna is formed as it were by two peninsulas, Hitu and Ley-timor, connected by a sandy isthmus little over a mile wide. Although regarded by "Wallace as of igneous origin, European residents deny the existence of any Tolcano in Amboyna. Ceram, or Serang, largest and loftiest of the Southern Moluccas, is covered by a dense forest on its western slope known as Howamul, or "Little Ceram." The island culminates in Mount Musaheli (9,710 feet) ; its preyailing formation appears to be granite. Its shores are encircled by fringing reefs, and the islands continu- ing the mainland south-eastwards are mainly formed of coralline Hmestones. Goram, one of the largest of these groups, consists of a rocky central nucleus, rormd which the polyps have constructed their coral reefs. But others, such as Manawoko and Matabello, arc composed exclusively of upheaved coral. The little Banda group presents a marked contrast to all the surrounding lands in its complete isolation, and the incessant activity of its Gunong Api, or "Bui-ning Mountain." Of the six islets of the cluster, three. Great Banda '(Lon- thoir), Banda Neira, and the Yolcano, are so disposed as to form the margin of an inner lake, probably representing an old crater of vast extent. Both Bandas are clothed with verdure to their summits, while the superb' cone of Api presents on its lower flanks a mere fringe of vegetation, and higher up nothing but heaps of rocks whitened with saline efflorescences. The craters emit constant wreaths of vapour, and all the Banda Islands are subject to frequent earthquakes. In this neighbourhood is best seen the curious phenomenon of the " Milky Sea," the water during the months from June to September appearing white at night and illumiaed by a strange phosphorescent glow. Lying between Indonesia and New Guinea the Southern Moluccas participate of both regions in their climate and animal and vegetable forms. But land mam- mals are almost completely absent, while on the other hand each island presents some original tj'pes. Noteworthy are the Marsupials (Ciiscus), allied to those of New Guinea ; the babirussa, which has reached Burn from Celebes, and especially the huge pythons which attack and devour man. The Moluccas are amazingly rich in birds, mostly resembling those of Papuasia. In Ceram alone Wallace enumerated fifty-five indigenous species, including a remarkable helmeted casso- wary five or six feet high, the wings being replaced by groups of " horny black spines like blunt porcupine quills." The surrounding waters also teem with every variety of marine life, and in the ports and creeks of AmbojTia alone Bleeker found no less than seven hundred and eighty species of fishes, nearly as many as occur in all the European seas and rivers. Amboyna also presents larger and more beautiful butterflies than ^ny other spot on the globe. Yet by a strange and inexplicable contrast the eastern part of Ceram, with all its wealth of vegetation, is extremely poor in animal forms. The "Alfurus," or uncivilised natives of the Southern Moluccas, are allied, not to the Indonesians of Celebes, Borneo, and Sumatra, but to the Papuans of New 232 AUSTRALASIA. Guinea. Those of Burn, ab.surdly supposed by some to be the western home of the Eastern Polynesians, are of middle size, with deep brown complexion and huge " mop-heads." Most of their settlements are on the coast, where, as in Coram, the type has become largely modified by crossings with Malays and other immigrants. In Amboyna Hindu features are even said to occur, and here the language would seem to betray former Asiatic influences. Except in Ceram most of the Alf urus have discontinued head-hunting and their other ferocious practices. All believe in a Supreme Being, creator and pre- server of all things, great judge, rewarder of good and punisher of evil in this life and the nest. But he is honoured by no worshii?, prayers and incantations being reserved for the innumerable beneficent and malevolent spirits, who dwell in the rocks, the trees, the streams, and the wind. These are appeased by wizards and astrologers, who also heal maladies, make the crops prosper, and preserve mariners from the dangers of the deep. Marriages are exogamous, and the women as well as debtors are treated with remarkable kindness. In the interior Mohammedanism has hitherto failed to gain a footing, but on the coastlands its influence is predomi- nant, and steadily increasing with the ascendency' of the Malay intruders. On the other hand Christian missionaries from Amboyna have already bajjtized some thousands of Ceramese and other islanders. In some villages the Christians are in the majority, and on the coast of Ceram facing Amboyna all the natives are at least nominally Orang Sirani, or " N-azarenes." The general spread of Christianity is mainly the result of the early proselytis- ing zeal of the Portuguese, many traces of whose occupation still survive. In the first year of the seventeenth century the Dutch seized Amboyna and Banda, where they endeavoured to monopolise the trade in the famous spices " worth their weight in gold." They ordered the destruction of the nutmeg and clove forests every- where in their domain except Amboyna and Banda, and even here the number of plants was strictly limited by numerous decrees. For two hundred and fifty years Amsterdam was the only market in the world where nutmeg, cloves, and mace could be procured ; but this policy was followed by many evils, such as the depopu- lation of formerly flourishing islands, the spread of piracy, and the debasement of the natives condemned to forced labour on the plantations for half a year. All industries were sacrificed to the cultivation of the spice plants, and the monopoly itself became so burdensome and disastrous that it had at last to be abolished in 1860. Since then the yield has been greatly reduced in Amboyna, but the Banda growers, favoured by the conditions of soil and climate, still compete successfully with those of other spice-growing lands. Amhoyua, the native Amhon, capital of the Eesidence of the Southern Moluccas, lies on the south side of the bay of like name at the foot of Mount Soj'a ; it comprises a central trading quarter and suburbs with broad shadj^ avenues stretching for some distance in various directions, with a total population of thirteen thousand. It is commanded by Fort Victoria, and is now a free port, where the largest vessels ride at anchor in ten or fifteen fathoms of water. Amboyna is the centre of the religious establishments for all the surrounding LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSlTyofttUNOlS. THE SOUTHERN MOLUCCAS. 238 regions ; here resided Yalentijn, and here died Eumpliius, the pioneers of scientific exploration in Indonesia. The chief port in Burn oifers all the material advantages for a great centre of trade, but on this magnificent and ■well-sheltored harbour nothing is seen except the obscure village of Kaijcli, with a mixed population of about two thousand Fig. 98. — Poet of ^VxDOYN.t. Scale 1 : 80,000. Mussulmans, Christians, and Chinese. The shores of Ceram also present no centres of population beyond a few groups of cabins occupied h\ Malays, some Moham- medan and Christian Alfurus, and a few foreign traders. Of these groups, known as negerijcn, from the Hindu nagar, a town, the chief are Amahai, centre of the Dutch administration on the south side, and on the north Wahai, a fortified village with an extensive harbour. 23 1 AUSTEALASIA. The islet of Kilwaru, off the east point of Ceram and near the ring-shaped Gisscr, presents the aspect of a little " Malay Venice," where the pile-dwellings are so closely packed that the ground can nowhere be seen, and the whole island looks like a floating village. Lying on the only deep channel across the subma- rine banks of Ceram Laut, Kilwaru is a busy mart, the chief entrepot of the trade between Amboyna and New Guinea. East of Amboyna, the chief town of the Uliasser group is Sapania, in the island of the same name, near the shore of a good haven, and at the converging point of two routes which cross the island at its narrowest parts. But despite Fig. 99. — KiLWAEU. Scale 1 : 25,000. these natural advantages, Saparua has less than two thousand inhabitants, nearly all Christians. The surrounding plantations jdeld a larger quantity of cloves than Amboyna, though the crops are very precarious. A good harvest will exceed 340,000 lbs. for the whole Amboyna group, while that of bad years will fall below 56,000 lbs. The fortified town of Bcnida, or Neira, in the island of like name, occupies one of the most picturesque positions in the Eastern Archipelago. It lies on the north side of Banda Bay, on the slopes of Mount Papenberg, amidst the loveliest nutmeg plantations in the world. The opposite island of Great Banda is almost covered iM ■Pi MliBiiiiiiSliS , LISRARV OF THE ■!NiVEPSlTY(if "'iNi THE SOUTHEEN MOLUCCAS. 285 with the same shmib, and M'ith others of larger growth planted for protection. 'The light volcanic soil, the shade, and the natural moisture of the climate are all conditions most favourable for the nutmeg, which here grows almost spontane- ously, whereas in SingajDore, Pulo Pinang, and other places successful crops can be raised only by most careful cultivation. A fringe of cocoanut trees encircles the base of the neighbouring Grunong Api, which is inhabited by the descendants of immigrants from Buton. The islets of Fig. 100. — Banda Gkoup. Scale 1 : 115,000. Esstcr Greenwich 250 Fathoms and upwards. Run and Eozengain are also occupied by small colonies of cultivators, descended for the most part from transported convicts. The residence of Amboyna is divided administratively into the four districts of Amboyna, Burn, the Uliasser group, Banda, and the three circumscriptions of Ceram. The Noktherx Moluccas : Obi, B.\tjan, TinoK, Teenate, Halmahera, MOROTAI. This northern group, of which Halmahera forms the centre, is completely enclosed on all sides by deep waters. On the west it is separated from Celebes by 236 AUSTEALASIA. abj'sses of over a thousand fathoms ; on the north and north-west occur troughs of two thousand fathoms ; southwards, a chasm of fifteen hundred fathoms yawns between Obi and the Southern Moluccas ; lastly, towards the east, depths of five hundred fathoms, with a sill of over two hundred and fifty fathoms, mark the part- ing line between the insular world and the islands depending on Papuasia. The Northern Moluccas are mainly disposed longitudinally north and south, whereas the southern group runs east and west. The total area exceeds 6,000 square miles ; but with the exception of the so-called "Little Moluccas" (Ternate, Tidor, Mak- jan, Motir, Kayoa) none of the islands are thickly peoijled, while some even have no permanent residents at all. The two islands of Tifuri and Mayu, which depend politically on Ternate, may be included in this group, although rising in deep waters to the east of Minahassa. The term Molucos was originally restricted by the Portuguese to tJie " Little Moluccas " of modern geographers, but has gradually been extended to all the eastern islands producing spices. Igneous energy is far more active in the northern than in the southern group, and a whole range of active craters skirts the western edge of the archipelago. In the northern section of Batjan (Batchian) occur hot springs, and a gej'ser which, like those of Iceland, contains much silica. Farther north, beyond the basalt rocks of Kayoa (Kajoa) rises the Makjan volcano, which was partly blown away during the eruption of 1616. Motir also (1,020 feet) forms a burning mountain, which was still active down to the close of the last century. The southern por- tion of Tidor, a little farther north, consists of a perfectly regular cone, the highest in the Moluccas (5,720 feet), which emits vapours from time to time. Its neighbour, Ternate, somewhat lower and of less symmetrical form, is one of the most restless volcanoes in the whole of Indonesia ; from the Dutch occupation at the beginning of the seventeenth century down to 1862 no less than eighty-four eruptions were recorded ; the mountain is fissured in all directions, and vapours are constantly emitted from the seven craters opened on its flanks. Earthquakes are also frequent, and the town lying at its base has scarcely recovered from one disaster when it is overtaken by another. Farther north, the volcanic axis of the Little Moluccas strikes the projecting coast of Halmahera, and here also rise three eruptive cones visible from Ternate. In the same direction follow other centres of igneous activity, such as the Gunong Tarakan (Tafelberg), and Tolo, facing the island of Morotai (Mortai), whose scorioe forming barriers across the marine inlets have converted them into complete land-locked lakes. Halmahera, or the " Great Land," presents in its outlines a curious resemblance to Celebes, consisting, like that island, of four ' mountainous peninsulas rooted in a central nucleus, and all disposed in similar directions. The trachytic island of Morotai, with the adjacent clusters, which appear to have been formerly attached to the northern peninsula, also correspond to the Minahassa region of North Celebes, while the southern and south-eastern peninsulas are similarly prolonged by the islands of Damar and Gebe. THE NORTHERN MOLUCCAS. 237 Tlie Xorthern Moluccas, where tlic iiolitical ascendency is centred in tlie two volcanic islets of Tidor and Ternatc, are distinguished, even more than the southern group, by their i^eculiarly specialised local forms. Thus Morotai possesses charac- teristic birds unknown in Ilalmahera, from which it is separated only by an island- sluddcd strait twenty-four miles wide. The fauna, both of Morotai in the extreme north and of Damar in the extreme south, is much more allied to that of the remote Papuasia than the JMoluccas. Specially remarkable is the fauna of Batjan, in Fig. 101.— Ejipihes of Teen'ate issn Tidoe. Scale 1 : 20,0:0,000. ^■' taslj oFGreenwtcb <=^ Former possessions of Tidor. Kingdom of Batjan. Islands formerly divided between Temate and Tidor. whose spice forests is found the baboon-like cynopithecu.s, which here reaches its farthest eastern range. The dominant element in the Little Moluccas are the Malavs, who, after secur- ing a footing in Temate and Tidor, overran the whole archipelago. But inter- marrying. with the Alfuru women, their type has been variously modified. An- other intruding element are the Orang Scrani, that is, the Nazarenes or Christians, who are partly descended from Portuguese ancestors. But they have long forgot- 238 AUSTRALASIA. ten, if not their origin, at least their language and even their Catholic faith ; they now speak Malay mixed with a few Portuguese words, and call themselves Protes- tants. Through crossings with the natives they have become as dark as the Papuans, and greatly resemble the Brazilian half-castes of the Amazons. The Orang Serani are almost the only natives of Indonesia who eat the " flying-fox," that huge bat which is at times seen suspended by hundreds from the branches of dead trees. The Alfurus, or aborigines, are now found chiefly in the central parts of the northern peninsula in Ilalmahera. Although many are as fair as the Malays, Pig. 102. — Teexate, Tidok, and Dadinoa Isthitos. Scale 1 : 600,000. E^sb oFG eenwch Depths.' Wallace and others regard them as but slightly modified Papuans, with the coarse features, nearly aquiline nose, frizzly hair, and vivacity of the New Guinea natives. In other respects, and especially in their usages and social institutions, they resemble the Alfurus of Coram and Burn. The little island of Kayoa, north of Batjan, is occupied by a few hundred natives tributary to the Sultan of Ternate. The more fertile Makjan is also far more densely peopled ; in former times its importance made it a bone of contention between the rival sovereigns of Tidor and Ternate. Afterwards it passed succes- sively from the Spaniards to the Diitch, who ruined it by compelling the ruler of Ternate to destroy its clove plantations. THE NORTHEEX MOLUCCAS. 289 Nearly all the Northern Moluccas are rliviclcd between the two sultanates of Tidor and Teruate, which are themselves for the most part now merged in the 240 AUSTE.'VLASIA. Dutch administrative division known as the Residence of Ternate. One of the most remarkable phenomena in the history of Indonesia is the extraordinary political importance acquired by these two insignificant islets. At the very time when the Italian republics of Venice, Pisa and Genoa were enjoying a marvellous prosperity, these eastern Malay communities were, under analogous conditions, acquiring vast colonial empires stretching far over the surrounding archipelagoes and continents. Trading settlements from Tidor and Ternate were founded in all the markets of Malaysia, and their ascendency was maintained as long as their operations were limited to trade. But decay set in as soon as their sultans became rich potentates surrounded by thousands of slaves, levying heavy tribute and plundering the surrounding regions' with their armies of mercenaries and piratic fleets. At present these sultans retain little beyond an empty title. The so-called Fig. lOi. — Density of the Population in Dutch Indonesia. Scale 1 : 45 noo.OOO. EasboFGre Iiihabit;mt8 to the Square Mile. □ B g H to 10. 10 to 20. 20 to 100. 100 to 300. Each square represents a population of 100,000. — ^-^— — ^— 600 Miles. " kingdom " of Tidor comprises the central part of Ilalmahera with its two eastern peninsulas, besides the western shores of New Guinea with the adjacent islands. To Ternate are nominally assigned the northern peninsula of Ilalmahera with more than half of the south, the Sula Archipelago and about one-third of Celebes. According to the local -chronicles a treaty of peace was concluded in 1322 between the Molucca States, in virtue of which the first rank was awarded to the Kolano of JailoUo (Jilolo) in Ilalmahera ; but in 1380 the Sultan of Ternate acquired the ascendency under the title of Kolano Maloko, or " Prince of the Moluccas." Since that time the relations between the various local states has been modified by the wars between the Portuguese and Sj^aniards, and by the arrival of the Dutch. At present the Jailollo prince is a mere vassal of Ternate, which in its turn is fain to recognise the suzerainty of Holland. In 1879 all slaves were oiBcially declared free throughout the whole of these territories. THE NOETHEllX MOLUCCAS. 241 The capital of Tidor is a mere village on the west side of the island ; but Ternate is a real tewn, although it has suffered much since the opening of the ports of Celebes to free trade. It is doubtless itsslf also a free port, but it has lost many of its Chinese, Bugi, and Arab traders, and has ceased to be the chief market for the feathers of the bird of paradise. The ruins of buildings overthrown by the earthquakes are scattered amid the modern dwellings, and the old Portuguese and Dutch forts have recently had to be rebuilt. Behind every stone houte is a second structure in light wood where the sleeping apartments are contained, and where little risk is run in case of any sudden shock. The slopes of the neigh- bouring volcano are covered with orchards, which yield the finest durians, mangoes, and other fruits. East of Ternate is developed the deep inlet of Dadinga Bay, by which the northern peninsula of Halmahera is nearly severed from the rest of the island. The connecting isthmus is commanded at its narrowest part bj' Fort Dadinga, the Fig-. lOJ. — PoLTTicAL Dmsioss OF Indonesh. Scile 1 : .511,000 000. strongest strategic point in the whole island, and the only place where the Dutch keep a garrison. Here the isthmus is scarcely two miles across, and although the route pre.'ients some difficulties, praus can be transported in three days from bay to bay, thereby saving a detour of 240 miles. North of Dadinga Bay follows that of Jailollo, formerly a flourishing capital which for a time gave an alternative name to Halmahera, now a mere hamlet surrounded by old cultivated tracts now over- grown with coarse grass and scrub. These regions, so popular and flourishing in mediaaval times, have been almost entirely depopulated by slavery and monopolies. Of the other villages in Halmahera the best known is Galela, which lies on an inlet in the north-east of the northern peninsula over against the island of Morotai. The Alfurus of the surrounding district, the most skilful and indus- trious peasantry in the whole island, are usually known as Galelas from the name of this place. Tabcllo, which lies farther south, and which is defended by numerous reefs and islets of difiicult access, was long dreaded as a dangerous nest VOL. XIV. K 242 AUSTRALASIA. of corsairs. In 1837 the Diitcli authorities removed four hundred of these pirates to the island of Saleyer, where they received allotments of land to cultivate. The large island of Morotai, which forms the north-east extremity of the Moluccas and of the whole of Indonesia, became entirely depopulated in conse- quence of the constant incursions of the corsairs. Thus the vast colonial empire of Holland, comprising over five hundred islands and too extensive for all its natural resources to be developed, terminates towards the Pacific Ocean in lands which were formerly thickly inhabited, but which are at present deserted. As shown by the statistical charts, Java, Madura, Bali, and Lombok are the only islands where the population is grouped in considerable masses. The eastern members of the Sunda group are far more sparsely occupied, while the other regions, such as Borneo, Celebes and the Moluccas, are relatively speaking almost uninhabited. In the Api^endix will be found a table of the Dutch possessions, with their administrative divisions, areas, and populations. CHAPTEE IV. THE PHILIPPINES. HE term Magellania, given to the Philippine Archipelago in honour of its illustrious discoverer, has shared the fate of other denomina- tions, such as the Western Isles and the Archipelago of Saint Lazarus, all of which have yielded to the name conferred on this group by Lopez de Villalobos to flatter his master, Philip II. All these islands are also in a general way designated as the Spanish Indies, rivalling as the)' do the Dutch East Indies in extent, picturesque beauty, and the infinite variety of their natural resources. Luzon, the largest member of the group, has alone an area of 40,000 square miles ; Mindanao, next in size, is very nearly as extensive; five others are each over 10,000 square miles in extent, while round about these larger masses is scattered a vast labyrinth of no less than two thousand satellites of aU sizes. Luzon and its neighbours scarcely yield to Java, Sumatra or Celebes, in the splendour of their tropical landscapes. Perhaps they even offer greater variety from season to season, thanks to the more marked alternation of the monsoons, due to their greater distance from the equator. The vegetation of the seaboard, which comprises the same or corresponding species, is fully as dense and leafy as that of Indonesia ; the shores are everywhere deeply indented by bays and inlets; island-studded lakes reflect the surrounding woodlands ; the horizon is bounded by lofty crests and cones wrapped in vapours. The inhabitants also, whether aborigines, Malays, Chinese, or half-castes of every shade, present many curious ethnological studies, and appear on the whole to offer more originality than their kindred of Dutch Indonesia. The action of their Spanish rulers, however violent at times, has weighed less oppressively on the natives, whose primitive character has consequently been less profoundly modified than in the Sunda Islands. Some members of the vast archipelago, as well as the more remote districts in the larger islands lying beyond direct Spanish control, have even remained unexplored, wtile even the regions directly administered by Europeans are still but imperfectly known. No methodic and detailed study of the Philippines has yet been made ; the maps and charts are extremely defective, except for the seaboard, in the survey of which the leading maritime nations have co-operated. The oflicial returns themselves, being left to careless functionaries and parish priests, too often give superficial and even contradictory results, while for the uncivilised K 2 2i4 AUSTRALASIA. natives not even approximate estimates are available. Nevertheless the present population may be fixed at not less than seven millions, or more than nine millions, in a total area of about 118,000 square miles. Although forming a group quite distinct from Indone.sia, from which they are separated by two marine abysses, one nearly two thousand five hundred, the other over two thousand five hun- Fig. lOB.^TiiE THREE Isthmuses of Indonesia and the Philippines. Scale 1 : 18,000,000. dred fathoms deep, the Philip- pines are connected with the southern lands by three long- ridges, partly rising above the surface, partly covered by shallow water. Of these three isthmuses the north- western is the mo.st regular and best develoj)ed, being constituted for over half its extent by the long narrow island of Paragua. Between Mindoro and the north-west point of Borneo the deepest parts of the sill limited by Balabac and Bangney do not average more than twenty- five fathoms. Balabac Strait between Paragua and Borneo is occupied by reefs resem- bling in outline the alluvial islands of a delta, and formed under the influence of the marine current which, during the south-west monsoon, sets strongly towards the Sulu Sea. The second isthmus is formed by the Sulu Archipelago, which connects the north-east ^ ^ point of Borneo with the ' ' ^ ^J' western extremity of Min- to 1,000 l,noO to 2.000 2 000 Fathoms •' Fathoms. Fathoms. and upwards, dunuo. But here the shallow '""'"""'■ channel, through which the deep waters of the Sulu Sea communicate with the still deeper Celebes Sea, is traversed by a system of alternating currents over two hundred and fifty fathoms in depth. Lastly, east of the nearly circular trough of the Celebes Sea the penin- sula of Minahassa, with the Sanguir Archipelago and other islands, develop a third isthmus sweeping round to the southernmost point of Mindanao. This connecting THE PIIILIPriXKS. 245 ridge is also broken b}' numerous openings, the broiidcst and deepest of wlaich lies off the coast of Mindanao. As shown by the submarine explorations of the Challenijer, the two basins enclosed between the Philijipines and Borneo resemble the Mediterranean in the temperature of their lower depths. The cold waters of the oceanic depths are unable to penetrate across the intervening isthmuses into these inland seas, where the thermometer nowhere records less than 50^ F. These three lines of partly emerged, partly submarine, ridges, stretching from Indonesia towards the Philippines, continue their main axis in the interior of this archipelago, and constitute a great part of its relief. Mindanao, least kno\^n of the whole group, although one of the most remarkable for its volcanic phenomena, is formed, at least in the west and centre, by the prolongation of the two eastern ridges, indicated seaward by the Sulu and Sanguir Archipelagoes. The Sulu axis, whose normal direction is south-west and north-east, comprises all the western peninsula of Mindanao, while the Sanguir axis, running south and north, strikes the southern point of the same I'egion at the Saragani volcano. Beyond this point it first continues its northerly trend and then gradually sweeps round to the west. East of this mountain range another parallel chain occupies all the eastern section of Mindanao bordering on the Pacific Ocean. A broad survey of the whole orographic system shows in the same way that, from the southern point of Mindanao to the northern extremity of Luzon, the relief of all the islands is disposed in a line with or parallel to the southern isthmuses. Thus the coast range of the east side of Mindanao is continued north-west in a graceful curve through the islands of Leyte, Masbate, Ticao, and Burias ; in the east is developed a parallel curve formed by the island of Samar, the Camarines peninsula in Luzon, and the Isla del Polillo. On the other hand the islands of Bohol, Cebu, Negros, and Panay are disposed in a line with or parallel to the Sulu Archipelago, while Miudoro and the main section of Luzon form the north- eastern extension of Paragua and Borneo. In many places volcanic or other masses mark the points of intersection, and it is noteworthy that in Luzon, most rugged of the Philippines, all the cordilleras converge like the ribs of a dome in the culminating crest of Caraballo. Xorthof the Philippines the mountain ranges, interrupted by broad straits, are continued through Formosa and the Liu-Kieu group towards Japan. The whole surface of the Philippines is essentially mountainous, the only plains that occur being the aUuvial districts at the river mouths, and the spaces left at the intersection of the ranges. Most of the surface appears to be formed of old rocks, especially schists, and, in the north of Luzon, granites. Extensive coal-fields are found in the central islands, especially Cebu and Negros, and in many places these carboniferous beds seem to have been buried under more lecont lavas. Later Kmestones have also been developed by the coral-builders round all the seaboard, and there is clear evidence that along extensive stretches of the coastline these formations have been upheaved to a considerable height above sea-level. They form at some points broad horizontal tables round the headlands, and here arc found shells and other marine remains belonging to the same species still living in 2-46 AUSTRALASIA. the surrounding waters. But about the Gulf of Davao, in South Mindanao, the contrary movement of subsidence has taken place, as shown by the dead or dying forests invaded by the sea. The Philippines abound in minerals. The natives collect gold in the alluvia of all the islands, but especially in the province of Benguet, Central Luzon, and about the north-east point of Surigao, in Mindanao. Copper is common in the Lepanto hills bordering on the same central district of Luzon, where from time immemorial the natives have extracted the ore and wrought it into implements and ornaments. The blacksmiths also have at hand an excellent iron ore for their arms and instruments. Cebu is said to contain lead-glance yielding nearly half of its weight in pure metal, while the solfataras of many extinct volcanoes have formed inexhaustible deposits of sulphur. Extinct or still active craters are relatively as numerous in the Philippines as in the Eastern Archipelago, and all seem disposed in regular axes coinciding with those of the islands themselves. In the islet of Dumaran, at the north-east end of Paragua, rise the two active cones of Alivancia and Talaraquin, and Sulu has also its burning mountain, which, however, appears to have been quiescent since the eruption of 1641. Sarangani, or Sangil, at the southern extremity of Min- danao, hasalso been at rest since the seventeenth century. On the range running thence northwards stands the Apo volcano, which was ascended by Montano in 1880, and found to be the highest in the Philij^pines (10,-310 feet). The islet of Camiguin, belonging to the same coast range, forms another igneous cone, which was the scene of a violent outburst in 1871. West of Apo follow in the direction from south to north several cones, such as Sugut (Cottabato), Macaturin, and Malindang, all probably extinct, but apparently connected through the western islands with the Taal volcano in Luzon. Along this line occiirs the still active Malaspina or Canloon, in the northern part of Negros (9,0-40 feet). The eastern coast range in Mindanao, consisting mainly of basalts, appears to contain no volcano, unless the large and deep lake Mainit, near the extreme head- land of Surigao, is to be regarded as an old crater. The coast range is continued northwards through the island of Leyte, where the argillaceous soil, near the wooded crater of an extinct cone, yields about one-fourth of pure sulphur. But the igneous energy of the Philippines is concentrated mainly in Luzon, where the superb Bulusan volcano stands at the southernmost extremity connected by a narrow isthmus with the peninsula of Camarines. Farther north follow the craterless Poedal, and on the Gulf of Albay, the Albay, or Maj'on volcano, the most dreaded as well as one of the highest (9,000 feet ?) in the whole archipelago. Mayon, which is of almost perfectly regular form, covers at its base a circuit of over eighty square miles, its flanks are clothed with forests to a height of about two thousand feet, but higher up little is visible except deposits of scoria;, which are very difficult to scale. Nevertheless, both Jagor and Von Drasche reached the summit, the latter in 1876, when no trace could be detected of a crater properly so called During its frequent eruptions Mayon ejects little lava but prodigious 1 LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY of ILUNOIS VOLCANOES OF THE PHILirPINES. 247 quantities of ashes cover the surrounding districts fur and wide. In 1S14 the town of Daraga was buried and the ejected matter was wafted as far as Manilla, two hundred miles distant. Nazaraga (4,445 feet), a craterless dolorite cone, and JIalinao, which appears to have been quiescent for ages, continue the igneous chain northwards to Iraga, the scene of a disturbance in 1641, when the little Lake Buhi was formed by a sudden Pig. 107. — SoTJTHEKN Part of Luzon. Scale 1 : I,5(ju,000. 100 Fathoms and upwards. landslip. East of this lake the Tihi valley presents the most remarkable group of thermal, sulphurous, and silicious springs in the whole archipelago. They are copious enough to develop a rivulet of hot water, which the people of the neigh- bourhood utilise for culinary purposes. The springs precipitate considerable quantities of silica, covering the surface with dazzling white incrustations, and one jet of water and vapour has a temperature of no less than 226" F. At the neck of the Caramuan peninsula stands the broad-based Ysarog (Isarog), 248 AUSTRALASIA. whose slopes occupy the whole space between the buys of San Miguel aud Lagonoy, terminating in a regular cone, 6,450 feet high. Ysarog has been quiescent through- out modern times, and the only sign of former energy appears to be a spring of carbonic acid near the summit. The northern part of the Camarines peninsidais dominated by the two volcanic masses of Colasi and Labo (Tetas de Polantuna), which, however, have no craters, and apparently have been at rest since prehistoric times. Majayjay (6,500 feet) and San Cristobal (7,660 feet), south-east from Manilla, are also extinct. But west of them stands the volcano of Taal, which, although only 780 feet high, is one of the most remarkable in the Philippines. It occupies, with two other lesser cones, rig. lOS.— Centeal Past or Luzon. Scale 1 : ?,600 000. =MANILLA.-^ ^=.^' Fast oF G an islet in the middle of Lake Bombon, which is separated from the China Sea by a low narrow isthmus. Taal, whose flanks are furrowed by deep gorges, terminates in an enormous crater, out of all prof)ortion with its size. "Purgatory," as the natives call this crater, has a circumference of over 4,300 yards, and contains in its depths secondary craters, numerous crevasses emitting vapours, and two blue lakelets charged with sulphuric and hydrochloric acids in the proportion of over six per cent. Formerlj' the two other volcanoes in the island — the Great and Little Binintiang — ejected ashes alternately, and the bed of the lake itself was occasionally in a state of erujition ; but since 1749 all the underground forces have been centred in Mount Taal, which casts up showers of pidverised rock, but VOLCANOES OF THE PHILIPPINES. 249 no lavas. The last outburst in IHHo destroyed all traces of vegetation in the island. Bombon, wbicli is nearly 640 feet deep, was probably a vast crater, of whicli the islet with its three volcanoes is merely the central cone, while the walls of tufa, over 600 feet high, encircling the north and east shores of the lake, arc the remains Fig. 109.— Lake Bombon. Scale I : 300,000. ^ ^r i^- { Lasb cF bf-eenwich ISl'e' of the original rim of the crater. But, like that of the island of Saint Paul, this crater was formerly open towards the sea, as shown by the present intervening barrier, which is entirely composed of eruptive scorias. The water of the old inlet, thus converted into a lake, is still somewhat saline, although constantly renewed by rain water, and although the overflow is carried off by an emissary running south-west to the coast. The marine fauna inhabiting the lake has gradually adapted itself 250 AUSTBAI.ASIA. to its modified environment. The great Lake Bay, or the Laguna, south-east of Manilla, was also probably an ancient marine gulf cut off from the sea by the narrow isthmus of recent formation on which stands the capital of the Philippines. According to Semper, the Laguna is inhabited by the shark and another sea-fish found in the neighbouring marine waters. The peninsulas and islets in the northern part of the Laguna, as well as the island of Corregidor, at the entrance of Manilla Bay, consist of igneous rocks, but all have been quiescent throughout the historic period. The contradictory statements of Spanish writers leave it doubtful whether any outbursts occurred in the seventeenth century at Mount Aringay, or Santo-Tomas (7,530 feet), which rises above the east side of Lingayen Bay. Data, lying to the north-east of Aringay, is certainly quiescent, although, like several other cones in this group, it is encircled by thermal springs and solfataras. No other volcano occurs between this district and the northern extremity of Luzon, where Cagud (3,920 feet), at the terminal headland, constantly emits wreaths of smoke. Beyond this point the igneous system is continued under the sea to the island of Camiguin (2,415 feet), which contains a productive solfatara. In the neighbour- ing Babuyan, an active volcano rose above the surface in 1856 ; four years later it had attained a height of nearlj^ 700 feet, and since then has continued to grow, its present elevation apparently being about 800 feet. The reefs of Dedica, on which the new volcano stands, would themselves appear to be the remains of an old burning mountain. In this vast igneous chain, which extends from Sangil for about 1,000 miles northwards, the last member is Babuyan Claro, whose fiery cone, over 3,000 feet high, lights up at night the dangerous waters of the Sea of Formosa. This great island is connected with the Philippines through the reefs and islets of the intervening Batanes (Bashee) Archipelago. Few regions are more subject to undergroimd disturbances than the Philippines. Despite the numerous "safety-valves" which, according to certain theories, are offered by the active volcanoes to the subterranean forces, this archipelago ma.y be said to be in a continual state of tremor. The seismographs of the Manilla Obser- vatory are constantly vibrating ; the crust of the earth is incessantly quivering with undulations, normally running in the direction from west to east, and few years pass without some disaster caused by these oscillations. The city of Manilla has been frequently wasted by such convulsions, and most of its public buildings and European houses built of stone were levelled to the ground by that of 1863, the most terrible on record. The no less violent shock of 1880 was far less disastrous, the edifices having in the interval been constructed on u plan better able to resist the effects of these oscillations. During the earthquake of 1880 Taal and several other volcanoes were in full eruption, and a submarine crater, between the island of Polillo and the east coast of Luzon, rose above the surface ; but the following year this heap of ashes had entirelj- disappeared, washed away by the waves. The disposition of the mountain ranges in parallel chains has afforded space for the development of some considerable streams both in Luzon and Mindanao. The EIVERS OF TIIK rHILimXES. 251 most copious is the Cagaj'an, or Rio Grande, which after a course of over 200 miles between two Cordilleras in Luzon enters the sea through a broad estuary facing the island of Camiguin. The Agno, which reaches the coast on the south side of Lingayen Bay, receives the waters and auriferous sands of the Benguet Cirque, a limestone amphitheatre, supposed by some to represent an ancient uj)heaved atoll. The Pampangan, which traverses the vast plain of like name, after receiving the Fig. 110.— Earthquake of 1S80. Scale I : fi.SOO.OOO. C. Bo/saa/o/* /s/n a/' M/nJorv Ea^b oF Greenwich overflow of several lakes joins the sea on the north side of Manilla Bay, where it has developed a broad delta projecting beyond the old coast-line. The Pasig, which falls into the same bay, is only 12 miles long; but like the Russian Neva acquires great importance as the emissary of the Laguna, and because Manilla, capital of the Philippines, stands upon its banks; small, flat-boltomed steamers ply on the Pasig, between the lake and the sea. In Mindanao the largest river is the Agusan or Butuan, which is navigable for over 252 AUSTRALASIA. 60 miles from its mouth. Another stream, also known as the Rio Grande, is said to rise in Lake Magindanao, in the centre of the island, flowing thence south-west and north-east to lUuna Bay in the Celebes Sea. Ci.i.MATK, Flora, Fauna of the Philippixes. The climate of the Philippines is essentially maritime and trojiical ; in other words, the temperature, normally very high, oscillates within verj' narrow limits. Thus the heat, varj'ing little from month to month, is useless to distinguish season from season, and the year, as in Indonesia, is divided rather by the alternating- wet and dry monsoons.* The polar current from the north-east prevails from October to April, the moist south-west monsoon for the rest of the year. The change of the trade winds is always dreaded, being often attended bj' sudden bagnios or typhoons, which rise in the Pacitio, and sweep across the archipelago to the north of Mindanao, wrecking vessels by the dozen, demolishing villages, destroying thousands of lives, and spreading ruin far and wide. The typhoon that struck Manilla in 1882, the most terrific on record, travelled at the prodigious velocity of 140 miles per hour. At present a submarine cable communicating with Hong-Kong signals the approach of these storms, thereby greatly diminishing their disastrous eifects. Lying between Indonesia and Formosa, the Philippines present in their flora and fauna a natural transition between these two regions ; nevertheless they also possess a number of characteristic species, which in some cases are even confined to a single island. Mindanao, the least-known region of the archipelago, appears to be also the richest in special vegetable forms. The sixtj- species of large trees in its forests, yielding valuable timbers for ship-building, cabinet-work or carving, include a myrtacea {XantJiostcmum vcnlugonianum), an almost incorruptible wood whose range extends to Australia. The halete, or banyan, is very common through- out the archipelago, where it often attains enormous dimensions. Palms also are numerous, while the cinnamon, clove, and pepper grow wild in the southern forests. The tea plant has been discovered in Luzon, and is now cxiltivated in the botanic gardens with good results. In 1882 botanists had alreadj' recognised 1,163 genera and 4,583 species of plants in the archipelago. No carnivorous animals occur except the ngiao, a species of wild cat, although the natives speak of a tiger or leopard in Paragua. Amongst the other mammals are the wild boar, dangerous in some districts, two sf)ecies of antelope, several varieties of the deer family, the Macacus cynomolgns and other apes. Birds are very nimierous, and the gallinaceae especially are represented by some siiperb foims, such as the labuijo and bulicsigay. The neighbouring seas abound in animal organisms of all kinds, and some of the rivers team with fish. Amongst these is the curious dalag, or snake-head {Ophiocfphalus), furnished with water-pouches on either side of the head, which enable it to remain long out of its natural * Mean annual temperature of Manilla from 1870 to 1880, 82' F. ; highest (September), 97° ; lowest (February), o9°; rainfall about 100 inehes. LISRARV OF THE ■JNIVERSITy of ILLINOIS. lyilABITANTS OF THE PHILIPPIXES. 253 element ; it is met browsing far from the streams, and even climbing up tbe stems of palm-trees. All the venomous orders of snakes are rej^resented in the local fauna, and crocodiles grow to an enormous size, some having been met about 30 feet long, at least according to De la Gironniere. IXHABITANTS OF THE PhIMPPIXES. The aborigines, graduallj' driven back or exterminated by the intruding JIalays, have disappeared altogether from some of the islands, and in the others are now met only in scattered tribal or family groups. The full-blood Aetas (Atas, Itas), as these Negritoes, or " Little Negroes," are collectively called, do not number at present more than twenty thousand in the whole archipelago ; but traces of Negrito blood may be detected in large sections of the population, which presents everj' shade of transition in physical appearance, culture, and usages, between the Negrito and Malaji elements. The pure blacks are most nirmerous in the island of Negros, but they are also found in all the other islands, excej)t the archipelagoes north of Luzon, and apparently Samar, Leyte, Bohol, and Sulu. The Negritoes fully deserve their name, for the average height is under five feet. The head is relatively large, with bright eyes, high forehead, abundant frizzly and at times almost woolly hair, slender extremities, calf almost absent, and great toe often standing wide apart. The wrinkles of the face combined with their projecting jaws give them at times quite a simian aspect. The Aetas speak Malay in their intercourse with their more civilised neighbours, but amongst themselves they use words of unknown origin, supposed to be derived from the primitive language which was still current in the seventeenth century. It appears, however, that many of their tribes must have been subject to Malay influences from very remote times, for the dialects spoken in some districts undoubtedly belong to the Malayo-Polynesian family, although the Aetas them- selves are sprung from a totally different ethnical stock. Most of the tribes practise tattooing ; circumcision is also very general, and in some parts the women artificiallj' deform the skulls of their children. Except in the vicinity of populous districts little clothing is worn beyond a loin-cloth hy the men, and a short skirt by the women. In some places they build huts of branches and foliage, and even pile-dwellings like those of the Malays ; but elsewhere their only protection from the inclemency of the weather are frail screens of pahn-leaves, which are placed against the .sun, wind, or rain. In the provinces where they are gradually becoming civilised, they clear and till the land, raise poultry and pigs, and enter into trading relations with the Malays. But being unable to reckon beyond four and five, they are easily cheated, and they have evidently a profound sense of their own inferiority, reserving the term irio, or " men," to the dominant race. Apart from the Negritoes, the Chinese settlers, the Europeans and half-castes, the entire population, at least north of Mindanao, is of Malay origin and speech. At some unknown, but certainly very remote epoch, the Malay ancestors of the 254 AUSTRALASIA. present inhabitants effected a pcrinaueut footing in the archipelago. The term Fio-. 111.— Gkotjp of Negkitoes. V?> balunyay, or boat, still applied to the villages, recalls the time when these mariners, TXHABITANTS OF THE PHILIPPINES. 25£ encamping on tlie beach, continued to lead much the same lives as when scouring the high seas in their praus. As was the case with the sampans or junks of the more recent Chinese settlers, every balangay became the cradle of a Malay colony. In general the Philippine Malays resemble those of Indonesia, except that in Fig. 112.— Chief IxuABiTAXTs of the Philippixes. Scale 1 : 12,000,000. Vicols. Visaynsand Ilocanos, Zambalas and C.gavanes. jviuureu. Pagasinsnes, ™ Qnn] E3 573 [Ti ''"K^ilt' «---" nayaks. Ke^i.oes. Chinese. some places, and especially Luzon, a slight transition is presented towards tlie Chinese t^^.e. Thus the oblique eyes, rare amongst the southern Malavs is on the contrary a distinctive feature of the northern Malays. Independently" of then- special local characteristics and dialects, all are broadly grouped in thr;e classes 256 AUSTRALASIA. according to their religion and pursuits. Those who have accepted the authority of the whites and the ministrations of the Catholic clergy are called Iiidios, or " Indians," and this class is gradually merging in a common nationality. Tho.se of the south, who remain followers of the Prophet, are collectively knowu as Moros, or " Moors ; " lastly, the tribes that have maintained their independence, or submit impatiently to the foreign yoke and still practise their old pagan rites, form the class of Ixfieles, or " Infidels." Of the Indios the most civilised are the Tagals (Ta-Gala), who number 1,500,000, and are steadily increasing, less by the excess of births over deaths than b^' the gradual assimilation of the surrounding tribal groups. The Tagal domain, which comprises all the central parts of Luzon, is slowly encroaching on all the other populations of the island. Thus in the north it has already absorbed the territory of the Pampangos and Pangasinanes, in the north-east that of the Aetas, in the south-east that of the Vicols, while the islands of Mindoro and Marinduque have also become " Tagalised." The Tagals are met everywhere along the sea- board, and are in fact the chief pioneers of European culture throughout the arclii- pelago. Be.sides them there are other groups of Indios, even in Luzon, such as the Ilocos or Ilocanos on the west coast north of Lingayen Bay, and the Ibanags or (Jagayanes in the extreme north and neighbouring islands. The Vicols, or Bicols, who occujiy the Camarines peninsula, with the islands of Catanduanes, Burias, Ticao, and half of Masbate, greatly resemble the Tagals, and like them were already somewhat civilised before the arrival of the Spaniards. They number at least 400,000, including the Cimarrones and a few other groups who still keep aloof in the more inaccessible hilly districts. The third great ethnical division of the Indios are the Visayas, or Bisayas, who are estimated at 2,500,000, and who give their name to the cluster of islands comprised between Luzon and Mindanao. They have also formed several settlements on the coast of Mindanao itself, and to the same division belong the inhabitants of the Calamianes Islands and of Paragua, although their darker colour and wavy hair betray evident traces of Negrito blood. The Visayas had formerly the habit of " painting them- selves with fire," whence the term Pintados applied to them by the Spaniards. But since their submission and acceptance of Christianity, they have discontinued this practice, as well as that of head-hunting, formerly universal. The " Moors," who occupy the Sulu Archipelago and the southern shores of Mindanao, comprise, like the Indios, a considerable number of distinct tribes or nations, united by the common ties of their Mohammedan faith and social usages. Amongst them are groups resembling the Borneau Dayaks, the Bayos of Celebes, and other Malayan peoples. The aristocratic families are Arabs, or else from Bor- neo or Ternate, while traces of crossings with the Chinese and Spanish renegades may also be detected. The roving habits of these corsairs, who were continually carrying off the women from all the surrounding regions, have made the Moors one of the most mixed populations in the extreme East. Their essentially feudal institutions caused the whole social organization to rest on piracy. By the side of the sultans were their almost equally powerful vassals. IXHABITAXTS OF THE PHILIPPINES. 257 the dafu, each of whom, with the reservation of the homage due to his suzerain, became projjrietor of the hmds conquered and wealth plundered by his retainers. The tao maraliai/, or " good men," that is, the free warriors, accompanied them on their predatory expeditions, while the sacopo, or lack-land class, were reduced to a state of serfdom. Like the Norman knights they issued forth in search of adven- ture, to do battle against the infidel in the name of the true faith, or to acquire renown by carrying off women, slaves, and treasure. In the early years of the Fig. 11.3. — Ifuoao Ixdi.vn. sixteenth century they were beginning to overrun the Philippme Archipelago, and but for the intervention of the Spaniards there can be no doubt that the Tagals -woidd at present be Mohammedans. Piracy in these waters was not entirely destroyed till the latter half of the present century by the Spanish occu- pation of the Mindanao seaboard and the Sulu Archipelago. The pagan populations, often confounded by the Spaniards under the general name of Igorrotcs, still form a considerable section of the inhabitants both in Luzon and Mindanao. The Igorrotes, properly so called, dwell cast of the Ilocos, in the VOL. xiv, .s ' 258 AUSTRALASIA. Eeiiguet Valley and surrounding- liilly districts. North of tliom are the Tingui- anes, whose Christianity is limited to the possession of crucifixes used as talismans ; eastwards the upper Cagayan basin is held by the Ilongotes, If ugaos, Catalanganes, Irayas, and other pagan tribes. The Tingiiianes, whose complexion is almost white, are regarded by most observers as half-castes of Chinese origin, whereas the Igorrotes appear to be Tagals, who have hitherto preserved their primitive religion and usages. They believe in a sujjreme God, and in other deities in whom are personified the phenomena of nature. To these they offer sacrifices, although their chief worship is that of their aiiifos, or ancestors, whose souls rustle in the foliage of the sacred tree planted at the entrance of every village. These anitos also appear at times in the form of animals, and in many parts of Luzon, as in Celebes, the fish ponds are stocked with eels which are tended by the natives with filial piety. Strict laws of solidarity bind together the family group, and all outrages must be avenged by death ; hence the hereditary feuds, and the prevalence of head-hunting amongst these tribes. The Ifugaos use the lasso to seize the passing foe and drag him suddenly under the sharp knife. Amongst the Igorrotes certain practices survive pointing at former Brahmanical influences, and the very term dicata, applied to the national deities, is of Hindu origin. In Mindanao, the " Infidels " comjjrise numerous communities, which are often grouped by the whites under the collective name of Jlanobos. But this term should properly be restricted to the natives of the north-east, who occupy the Agusau basin and the Surigao peninsula. Some of those dwelling near the coast have been conquered and converted by the Spaniards, others in the interior present the Malay type of the Yisayans more or less modified by Negrito crossings. But most of the tribes appear to be of the Indonesian stock, which is closely allied to the eastern Polynesian, and characterized by high stature, fair complexion, and well-proportioned figures. The lobe of the ear is usually pierced for the introduc- tion of bone and other ornaments ; the teeth of the young men are filed according to a different pattern for every clan ; the heads of the children are artificially de- formed in many communities, and various systems of tattooing prevail amongst the different tribes. The expres.sion "Land of Terror," ajiplied by Montano to the eastern regions of Mindanao, might with equal truth be extended to nearly the whole island. When the Manobos, led by their high priest with his divine talisman, have suc- ceeded in sui'pi'ising their sleeping enemies, they slaughter all the men and carry away the women and children into slavery. After the victory the high priest opens the breast of the victim with the sacred knife, plunges the talisman in the flowing blood, and eats the heart or liver raw. The Maudayas, who slay for honour, have a special term, hagani, to designate the hero who has cut at least fifty heads, and who has alone the privilege of wearing a scarlet turban. Yast territories have been transformed to solitudes by this incessant intertribal war- fai'e. Of foreigners settled in the Philippines the most numerous are the Chinese. INHABITANTS OP THE rillLlITINES. 259 From time immemorial their colonies have fringed the seaboard, aud in uearlj' all the tribes traces may be detected of Chinese crossings. According to the imperial annals, the native princes sent envoys aud tribnte to the " Children of Heaven," and objects of Chinese workmanship found in the local graves show that trading relations had long been established between the two regions. Three times during the seventeenth century the Chinese of Luzon rose against their Spanish masters, and each time the revolt was quelled in torrents of blood. After all manner of harassing restrictions were imposed on these troublesome immigrants, they were expelled in mass or massacred in 1763, soon after the temporary occupation of Manilla by the English. But with them trade disappeared,, and despite the con- tempt of Europeans and the hatred of Tagals, they had soon to be recalled, so that at present every town in the archipelago has its Chinese quarter. In 1887, they were estimated altogether at fifty-three thousand, almost exclusively men, most of whom return to China after making their fortune, and generally leaving behind them a family of half-castes. These half-castes, who resemble the Chinese much more than the native type, found new homes in their turn, and, thanks to their surprising vigour, they constitute at present the majorit}- of the bourgeois class in most of the towns. Although the Spaniards made their appearance forty-four years after the death of Magellan, the conquest of the archipelago is still far from comijlete. Although by an abuse of language spoken of as a colony, it is really a military possession, in which the whites are mainly officials, who control the natives, but found no permanent settlements in the country. The Spanish Creoles, however, who have not maintained the purity of their blood, are perfect^ acclimatised, and become the heads of numerous more or less mixed families. The white element, in which are also represented some Peruvians and Mexicans, numbers altogether about four- teen thousand, a proportion not greater than that of the Dutch in Indonesia. Apart from the wild tribes in Mindanao and elsewhere, the inhabitants of the Philippines are amongst the most civilised in the extreme East. In most of the provinces the villages of the Indies are well kept and far superior, in many res- pects, to the irregular groups of cabins still to be seen in so many European lands. Each dwelling is isolated in the midst of a flowery garden, and separated from the adjoining plots by rows of palms and bananas. The houses are all raised on piles about seven feet above the ground, thus recalling the time when the natives dwelt on alluvial lands on the shores of lakes or the sea. The timber framework of these houses is carved with the greatest care and often with much taste ; while the well-swejDt and polished apartments are fitted with good furniture aud Chinese ornaments. Except in the territory of the Ilocos and some other parts, each familj'^ has its little independent plot of land, and this system of small free lodgings prevails throughout most of the archipelago. Apart from a few Chinese half-castes nobodj' owns extensive domains, but all have enough, taking one season with another, to support their families and leave a little for the feasts and holidays. In the thickly peopled provinces the land is divided and subdivided into innumerable allotments 230 AUSTEM.ASIA. for the cultivation of rice, sweet potatoes, and other alimentary produce. All the plots belong to the cultivators themselves, who sell only the surplus of their crops, and this surplus, bought up by Chinese and other middlemen, constitutes the great bulk of the commodities exported by the Manilla merchants. But the exports are still far less than they might be, for the cultivated lands are estimated at not more than 4,500,000 acres, or scarcely one-fifteenth of the whole oth the crocodile and the dugong, formerly numerous on the coast, have oecome extremely rare, if thsy have not already disappeared altogether. The first vertebra of the dugong is considered the most precious object that a chief can bestow on a subject, being a distinctive mark of an order of nobility. When a happy mortal is judged worthy of this honour, his fingers are bound tightly THE PELEW ISLAISTDS. 279 together, and the hand is then thrust by sheer force through the narrow aperture of the bone. The distinction is thus often purchased with the loss of a finger. The Pelew islanders have a darker complexion than the natives of the Marianas and Carolines, and most of them have crisp or frizzly hair. Although there has evidently been a mixture of Malay and Pohiiesian elements, the Papuan type predominates, and the southern islands lying nearer to the New Guinea coast belong ethnically to the Papuasian world. According to Semper many might bo taken for Jews, while others are distinguished by small eyes, flat nose, and massive jaws. Formerly all pierced the cartilage of the nose ; but this practice is falling into abeyance, although connected with a religious legend. The teeth are blackened by means of an earth which causes the gums to swell and prevents mastication for several da}'s. The body is also painted a bright j'ellow, and tattooed ; not so elaborately, however, as by the Caroline islanders. The practice is even falling off owing to the dangerous nature of -the operation ; nor has it any longer a sacred character. On the other hand some of the Pelew dames wear beauty spots, like the fashionable ladies of the eighteenth century in Europe. Wilson, being ignorant of the native language, fancied that the people had no form of belief. But although there are scarcely any religious ceremonies, their mythology is very intricate, and the kalifca, who act as mediators with the spirit world, are very powerful, often more so than the chiefs themselves. These magicians of both sexes can raise the souls of the dead, cure ailments, disjjel or evoke public calamities. Their powers are hereditary, and five of them enjoj' a supremacy over all their associates throughout the archipelago. The privileges of the kalites and of the chiefs combined with the belief in spirits have surrounded the existence of the natives with a multiplicity of prescriptions and observances. The life of each individual is regulated by strict' rules, and many places and things are moncjul, that is, tabooed. The women are respected and may even acquire authority whether as kalites or supreme chiefs. They form sisterhoods, whose privileges are recognised, and some travellers have reported that in criminal cases the}^ are judged by their peers. Traces of a former matriarchal system still survive. Thus power is inherited, not from father to son, but from brother to brother, and the sister ranks before the wife of the chief. The men also of the different "castes, noble or military, are grouped in brotherhoods, and possess special pai or " clubs," into which no one can penetrate without their consent. These clubs are relatively sumptuous edifices, which are carefully decorated with carved and painted figures. A symbolic group is set iip in front, and on the walls are disposed rows of wooden images painted in red, yellow and black, some representing religious myths, others recording social scenes and constituting a sort of national history. There is also a graphic system analogous to the Peruvian quippos, consisting of cords and strings, which serve to exchange ideas according to an elaborate method of knotting. In the Pelew Islands there are almost as many petty states as villages. But, thaaks to the support of Wilson after his shipwreck in 1783, the "king" of the 260 AUSTRALASIA. island of Koroer, south of Babelthuap, acquired a sort of suzerainty over tis neighbours. His successors, however, have lost much of their ascendancy, and most of the other chiefs hold themselves as fidly his equals. These chiefs bear different titles, one of the most significant being tnad, or " death," meaning that the potentate's mere glance is fatal to his subjects. But associated with him is a J;rci, a sort of military " mayor of the palace," often more powerful than the mad him- self. Round him are grouped the rupalcs, or vassals, each with his suite of fierce retainers. "War, the essential occupation of this feudal system, is carried on with relentless cruelty, the victors sparing neither women nor children. The chief object of the hostile raids is to obtain skulls ; for " the great Kalite," say the natives, "likes to eat men," and the heads are consequently laid at the feet of the magicians, his representatives on earth. But even during warfare the rights of hospitality are still respected, and any fugitive who succeeds in penetrating to the house of the hostile chief has nothing further to fear. To this intertribal strife is mainly due the moral and material decadence of the islanders, who are no longer the simple, kindly people described by "Wilson at the end of the last century. Even Miklukho-Maklai, with all his sj'mpathy for inferior races, speaks of them as false and rapacious. Since the arrival of the Europeans the social conditions seem in other respects to have undergone a complete change. The natives are more civilised, at least outwardlj' ; they ornament their dwellings with engravings and photographs ; they possess iron implements, firearms, and even books ; many speak a little English or Spanish, while their mother tongue has been enriched by numerous European words, required to express the new ideas. The age of stone has passed away, or survives only in the local currency, which is of jasper or agate for the chiefs and nobles, of stones of less value, glass or enamelled beads, for the lower classes. But with all thi, .he population continues to decrease, having fallen from probably fifty thousand at the end of the last century to little over twelve thousand at present. III. — The Caroline Islands. The archipelago formerly known as the " New Philippines," and afterwards named the Carolines in honour of Charles II. of Spain, is spread over a consider- able expanse. From the westernmost island of Ngoli to "Ualan in the extreme east the distance in a straight line is no less than 1,800 miles, with a mean breadth of about 350 miles. Thus the Caroline Sea comprises an area of about 640,000 square miles, where the total extent of some five hundred islets disposed in forty- eight clusters is estimated at no more than 500 square miles. The water, however, is very shallow, and several of the insular groups are enlarged by extensive reefs. The greatest depths occur at the western extremity of the archipelago, the 'Challenger Trough" in the north, the "Nares Trough" in the south, with an intervening submarine bank connecting the Carolines with the Pelew group. The Carolines were discovered by the Portuguese in 1527, when Diogo da THE CAEOLIXES. 281 Eocha readied the western i.sland of Ngoli or ilatalotes. He was followed in 1542 by Saavedra and Yillalobos, who traversed the Caroline Sea and sighted some 282 AUSTRALASIA. of its islands ; others were seen hj Legaspi, conqueror of the Philippines. But their position not having been accurately determined, it was impossible to identify them, and every passing navigator laid claim to their discovery. The existence of the lands south of the Marianas was well known ; but instead of endeavouring to fix their position, mariners rather avoided them, owing to the dangerous shoals by which they were surrounded. No serious attempt was made at an accurate survey till about 1686, when the first " Caroline," from which all the rest were named, was discovered by the pilot Lazeano. This was perhaps Yap, or else Farroilep (Farraulep), which lies on the meridian of the Marianas some 340 miles south of Guam. Then Cantova prepared the first rough chart of the region round about Lamurek (Namurck) in the central part of the archipelago ; but the scientific exploration of the Caroline Sea was first undertaken by Wilson and Ibargoita towards the close of the eighteenth century. Between 1817 and 1828 occurred the memorable expeditions of Kotzebue, Freycinet, Duperrey, Dumont d'TJrville and Lutke, after which nothing remained except to fill up the details and explore the interior of the several islands. This work of exploration has been stimulated by the question of sovereignty lately raised between SjDain and Germany, and finally settled by papal arbitration in favour of the former power. The names of the islands, islets and reefs strewn over the Caroline waters are far from being everywhere clearly defined. Except for some of the larger lands, such as Yap, Ponape and Ualan, custom has not yet decided between the native appellations variously pronounced by the seafarers of different nation- alities, and those given to the difEerent groups by English, French, or Russian explorers. Most of the Carolines are of coral formation, upheaved some few yards above sea-level, and many lack sufiicient vegetable humus for trees to strike root between the fissures of the rocks. Some, however,, have gradually been clothed with dense verdure down to the water's edge, and here native settlements have been formed beneath the shade of the cocoanut palm, the bread-fruit tree and the dark green barringtonia. Some of the groups form perfectly regular atolls, where lagoons accessible to boats through narrow channels are encircled by a verdant fringe. Satoan, one of the circular islands of the Mortlock group, consists of no less than sixty islets, some a few miles long, others mere pointed rocks, but all disposed symmetrically round the periphery of the coralline enclosure. Others again, such as Ruk, Ualan, and Ponape .(2,860 feet), attain considerable elevations, and these are often clothed to their summits with magnificent trees of few species, con- spicuous amongst which are the superb tree-ferns. This evergreen forest vegeta- tion is supported by copious rains, which fall on the slopes of the hills especially during the south-west monsoon. The fauna, like that of the Marianas, is extremely poor, the mammals being represented only by a dog with pointed ears and long pendent tail, and a single species of rat, which is said to have taught the natives the art of obtaining palm- wino by gnawing the crests of the cocoanut palm to get at its sap. The vegetation THE CAEOLIXES. 283 also affords shelter to some lizards and iguanas, while the sandy beach is visited by turtles during the season. The population of the Carolines is variously estimated at from twenty thousand to thirty thousand souls, two-thirds of whom are concentrated in Ruk, Ponaj^e Fig. 124. — EiTK Islands. Smle 1 ; Sm.OOO. BOO Ftithoms and upwards. and Yap. Owing to its proximity to the Philippines, Yap has been chosen as the centre of the administration for the Western Carolines and the Pelew Islands. Although the great majority of the natives are of Indonesian stock crossed by sundry foreign elements, the various insular groups present considerable contrasts 284 AUSTRALASIA. in their physical appearance. The western islanders with their fair complexion resemble the Yisayas and Tagals of the Philippines ; those of the central islands have a red coppery colour, while farther east the natives of the Seniavin group are almost black and like the Papuans. In TJalan they are still darker, with slightly crisp hair. The people of Nukunor and Satoan are descendants of Samoau immigrants, as is evident from their physique, language and usages. Lastly, in some of the islands the European element is already so strong that most of the children present a type approaching that of the whites. The population has certainly decreased since the arrival of the Europeans, but not, as has often been asserted, in virtue of some mysterious and inevitable law affecting inferior races. Epidemics little dreaded in the "West doubtless become terrible scourges in Oceania, and such is the terror caused by measles, for instance, that in Yap and elsewhere the people combine to attack the infected villages, and stamp out the plague by killing the victims and compelling the others to withdraw for some weeks to the interior. Nevertheless the maladies introduced by foreign sailors do not suffice to explain the disappearance of the race, which has suffered still more from the raids of these foreigners, who carry off the natives to work on the plantations in Fiji and other archipelagoes. After the Caroline Islanders have thus been swept away, philosophic travellers indulge in meditations on the fatality which dooms the so-called inferior races to perish at contact with the civilised whites. Nevertheless there are certain favoured spots such as Lukunor, " pearl of the Carolines," in the Mortlock group, where the population is even rapidlv increasing by the natural excess of births over the mortalitj', and where every inch of the land is carefully ciiltivated. Taken as a whole, the Caroline natives are a mild, hospitable, industrious, and peaceful race. They allow their women much freedom, treat their children with great tenderness and faithfully observe the laws of friendship, comrades becoming brothers by an interchange of names. In certain places, notably Ualan, the people had no weapons of any sort, no strife or warfare. They even still lead simple, peaceful lives, except in the neighbourhood of the factories and missions, where their habits have been modified by contact with Europeans. Tattooing is extensively practised, the systems varying greatly according to the localities, tribes, and social position. Some of the chiefs and nobles are further distinguished by badges such as the white shell worn on the hand by the aristocratic families in Yap, where combs of orange-wood and ebony are reserved for the free men. Their food consists chiefly of the rima or bread fruit, the taro {arum csculeiifHin), the sweet jjotato introduced from the Philippines, iish and other marine fauna. They cultivate no rice, which the j^lantcrs are said to have vainly attempted to introduce into the archipelago. The dwellings, in general much smaller and far less commodious than those of Melanesia and Papuasia, are in many places mere roofs of foliage resting on the ground and entered on all fours through openings afc both ends. But every village possesses one spacious and more carefully con- structed building, which serves at once as a boat-house, a hostelry for strangers, a refuge during rainy weather, and a playroom for the children. Although they THE CAEOLES'ES 285 purchase hatcliets, saws, and knives from tlie traders, tlie people Lave scarcely yet outlived the stone age, most of their implements still consisting of shells, fish- bones and the like. In the eastern islands the American missionaries, vrho arrived in 18-19, have- Fig. i2o. — Yat. Sc-Ue 1 : 350,000. Essb on G Submarine Reefs. converted some thousands of the natives ; hut hundreds have returned to their ancestral practices, while in the western groups the prevailing religion is still animism associated with the worship of trees, of mountains, of everything that lives and moves, the fear of the spirits of air, and homage paid to their forefathers. 286 AUSTEALASIA. Mucli veneration is shown for the dead and for those animals, such as lizards and eels, into whose bodies they are supposed to have migrated. The Polynesians of Nukunor and Satoan are the only natives who have carved wooden idols before which they prostrate themselves in solemn adoration. But the religious rites vary greatly in the different islands, and in respect of customs and institutions the Caroline tribes are broken into endless fragments. Even some of the smaller islands are divided into " several kingdoms " incessantly at war, or else maintaining an " armed peace." Most of the chiefs succeed by hereditary right, while others are elected by their peers. They are usually regarded as owners of the common territory, and most of the produce is their property. Although since Eurojiean skijajjers have monopolised the trade of the Pacific islands, they have ceased to make distant voyages in their famous outriggers, the natives of the Carolines are still daring navigators, for whom the deep has no terrors. Their pilots are able to navigate the high seas guided only by the stars and the direction of the waves. Formerly they maintained schools of navigation and astronomy, where the young of both sexes were, taught the relative position of the constellations, the hours of the rise, azimuth, and setting of the stars, the revolutions of the planets, the course of winds and currents, the divisions of the circle, the direction of remote archipelagoes from the Philippines in the west to Hawaii in the east. The horizon was divided into twelve, and even twenty-eight and thirty-two arcs of a circle, and in some atolls there were sj)ecial names for thirty-three stars or stellar groups by which they- were guided on the boundless ocean. They visited the Marianas, over 250 miles distant, without any intermediate station and even against cross currents. The pilots of the Caroline and Marshall groups possess the so-called nieclos, a sort of chart ingeniously constructed with shells or pebbles to represent islands, and bits of stick for the equator, the meridian, the route to follow, the degrees or periods of navigation and the cross currents. They understand the compass almost at a glance, and soon learn to make long voyages by the magnetic needle. Tajj (Vap, Giiap), the large island lying nearest to the Philippines, is the most Europeanised in the archipelago. The centre of government for the Western Carolines and Pelew group is stationed at Tamil, near the chief roadstead ; here also are settled the foreign traders, mostly Germans, who export copra and beche-de-mer. The natives, formerly much given to trade, have lost nearly all their traffic, and profit little by the movement of exchanges. For currency they still use shells and other objects pierced with holes and strung together, like the Chinese coins. Ponape, largest and formerly most populous of the Carolines, is likely to acquire great importance as a re- victualling station for shipping ; several ports accessible through passages piercing the reefs are sheltered by the encircling barrier, and the foreign traders have already extensive plantations on the island. On the coralline clifEs near the east side are seen the remains of prehistoric struc- tures consisting of thick walls which are built of huge basalt columns placed horizontally, and measuring from 26 to 36 feet in length. The natives have no tradi- THE CAEOLINES. 287 tions associated with these ruins, several of which are partly submerged, the land having subsided since the time of their erection. But the chief edifices raised by the former inhabitants of the Carolines are those found in Ualan at the eastern extremity of the archipelago, and especially in the adjacent islet of Lele. Here some of the walls, 20 feet high and over 12 broad, are formed of enormous basalt blocks brought from great distances. Several of Fig. 1-2S.— PONAPE. Scale 1 : 100,0130. Submarine EeefB. the ruins, now overgrown with vegetation, appear to rise above the reefs like verdant islets. Ualan is the central station of the American missionaries, whose posts are scattered over the surrounding groups. Although Catholicism is the only Christian cult permitted by the colonial administration, the Spanish Government has been compelled by a revolt of the natives to recognise the accomplished fact and to leave these converts the fi'ee exercise of their Protestant relic-ion. 288 AUSTRALASIA. lY. — Eastern Micronesia : Marshall, Gilbert, and Ellice Archipelagoes. These gi'Ouj)S, which stretch east of the Carolines about 2,-500 miles trans- A'ersolj^ to the equator, all belong to the same geological formation, and are all disijosed in the same direction. From the geograiihical standpoint they should be studied together, although inhabited by different ethnical populations. The Ellice and part of the Gilbert Islands are in this respect Polynesian lands, while the more important Marshall groujj belongs to Micronesia. I'olitically also thej- form different areas, being already distributed ofEcially amongst two European powers. The Marshalls, whose trade is monopolised by Hamburg merchants, form part of the German colonial empire, whereas in 1886 the Gilbert and Ellice Archipelagoes were declared to lie within the sphere of British interests. But were priority of discovery to confer any right of possession, all shoiild certainly be assigned to Spain. The San Bartolomeo sighted by Loyasa in 1525 was probably one of the Marshalls ; but in any case the " Jardines," so named by Alvaro de Saavedra in 1529, certainly belonged to this group, as did also the Pescadores visited by other navigators during tke sixteenth century. In 1567 Mendana de Neyra also sailed through the southern Ellice group. None of these islands, however, were exactly determined before the systematic exploration of the Pacific two centuries later. In 1767 Wallis firsPsurveyed two members of the Pescadores ; then Marshall and Gilbert, returning from Port Jackson in 1788, traversed these regions of Eastern Micronesia, and studied in detail the position and form of tlie groups henceforth known by their names. Other designations, however, have also been given them, and the Gilbert, for instance, have been called the Kingsmill and the Line Islands. Marshall and Gilbert were followed by other English navigators, and then at the close of the Napoleonic wars Kotzebue and Chamisso made their memorable expedition through the Micronesian atolls on board the Russian vessel, the Iturik. In 1823 Duperrey also visited two important members of the Marshall group, and since then interesting memoirs have been jjublished by traders and missionaries long resident in various parts of these archipelagoes, whose collective area may now be estimated at about 350 square miles, with a total population of fifty-five thousand. Nearly all the islands in the three archipelagoes, which rest on a common marine bed less than 900 fathoms deep, are disjwsed in the direction from north- west to south-east. A moderate ui^heaval of this bed would unite them all with the Samoan Archipelago in a long narrow stretch of dry land. "With the excep- tion of three or four islands probably upheaved by igneous action, all the Marshall, Gilbert, and Ellice groups are of low coralline formation, rising little more than five or six feet above sea-level, except where shifting dunes have been formed by the winds. Some of these coral islands have been united by the marine alluvia in conti- nuous lands without break or lagoons. But most of them are atollts with an outer circuit of islets and reefs, and a central lagoon offering shelter to boats, and some- 1 EASTERN MiCEONESIA. 289 times even to large vessels. From the peculiar cliaracter of this formation the EUice group has even been called the " Lagoon Islands," and is habitually so named by the missionaries. Seen from a distance all generally present much the same aspect : below, the white zone of breakers ; above, a fringe of green foliage. In all these low-lying clusters the highest land is an eminence in Pleasant Island, one of the Gilberts, which is scarcely 230 feet high. Most of the Marshal' and Gilbert atolls are remarkable for their eccentric forms. Fig. 127. — Aehno. Scale 1 : 275,000. Eas'tor breenwicW Depths. Very few are circular, a fixct doubtless due to the irregularity of the igneous founda- tions on which the coral-builders have raised their structures. Triangles and trapezes prevail in the Marshalls, where Arhno resembles a bull's head and horns, while others are suggestive of such curious objects as shuttles, stirrups, or harps. Nearly all the atolls have continuous fringing reefs on the east side alone, the west side being traced only by a line of white surf. The reason of the contrast is not difficult to understand. On the west face the slow and sluggish waves roll VOL. XIV. u 290 AUSTIL\J.ASIA. over the reefs without destroying them, whereas ou the east the far more furious breakers displace and heap up huge fragments, which are gradually bound together in a compact mass by the shells and sands. The seeds of plants drifting with the current strike root on the ground thvis prepared : shrubs spring up and in course of time the reefs are covered with dense forest. Of all these wooded atolls Maraki Fig-. 128. — Maeshall Aechipelago. Scale 1 : 8,fi5O.0OO. r^ 2,000 Fathoms and upwards. in the Gilbert group is the most picturesque. Seen from the mast-head it looks like a green garland floating on the blue waters ; here also nearly all the islets have become united in a single unbroken ring. The climate of the Marshalls is one of the most delightful in the oceanic world. Here the normal tropical heats are tempered by the north-east winds which pre- vail rrgu'arly from November to February, and which at other times are replaced EASTERN MICEOXESIA. 291 by breezes from the east and south-east, or else internipted by calms. Storms are to be dreaded chiefly in October and November. Being also further removed from the continents than the Marianas and Carolines, the Marshall group eujoys a more oceanic climate. At the same time its flora and fauna are much poorer, although still compara- ti\ely rich for lands of coralline origin. To the fifty-nine species of plants found in the archipelago by Chamisso subsequent explorers have scarcely added any new forms; one alone seems jDeculiar to the Marshal'ls. The most useful plant is the 2)an- danus odonitmhnu^, of which there are some twenty varieties, and from which the na- tives derive their chief nourishment. Both the pandahus and the bread-fruit tree grow to greater perfection here than in any other oceanic region. There are also several distinct varieties of the cocoa-nut palm ; but this plant is less used for food since the development of the export trade in copra and cocoa-nut oil. There are no indigenous mammals or birds ; but the goats, jjigs, and cats intro- duced from Em-ope have multijjlied rapidly, and the domestic poultry have reverted to the wild state. The indigenous populations become gradually modified in the direction from north to south. Thus the natives of the Marshalls resemble those of the Carolines, and like them belong to the Micron'esian group, whereas the people of Ellice are of nearly pure Polynesian stock, Kke those of the eastern archipelagoes. Between these extremes stand the Gilbert islanders, of mixed descent but fimdamentally ]Micronesians. They are the finest race in this oceanic region, tall, sometimes even gigantic, often with quite European features, and occasionally acquiring a somewhat Jewish cast from their slightly aquiline nose. Except in the remoter islands not yet vjsited by the missionaries the old dress — a loin-cloth and fringes — as well as the practice of tattooing have been abolished, and the few ornaments now worn are flowers or foliage inserted in the pierced lobe of the ear, bird's feathers and necklaces. In 1817, when Chamisso explored the Marshall group, the natives, still free from the influence of traders and missionaries, seemed to be possessed of high qualities, intelligence and enterprise. Everywhere was presented a picture of IJcace, love of work, and domestic harmony, combined with a strong sense of equality, even in the presence of the chiefs. Yet these pojiulations, which seemed to give promise of a prosperous future, are preciselj' amongst those that have most rapidly declined. The young are carried off by consumption ; all initiative is killed by the introduction of European wares ; there is no longer any necessity for exercising the faculty of thought, and listlessncss takes the place of an active life. In some of the islands not a single article of native manufacture is now to be found, and here the villages resemble the wretched suburbs of some American city. Traditions still survive of former cannibal i^ractices, at least in some of the groups. Other sanguinary rites also prevailed, as in the Ratak Isles, where the mother was allowed to keep her three first children ; if a fourth was born she had to bury it with her own hands. But much tenderness was shown for the 292 AUSTEALASIA, survivors, who, in case of the mother's death, were at once adopted into other families. In general the wife was much, respected, the men performing all the hard manual labour, and leaving to the women notliing hut the preparation of food and the weaving of sails and matting. Their religion was little more than a kind of spirit-worship, and the temples were merely a square space between four stones, or under the shade of a rock or some high tree. The influence of the priests was but slight compared to that of the chiefs, most of whom enjoyed absolute power. Hager speaks of a ruler who, having learnt the alphabet, beheaded all those whose progress was more rapid than his own. The social hierarchy is clearly defined. Under the iroiij, or royal class, from whom are selected the kings in the female line, come the nobles, the land- owners, and last of all the j)oor, who may be deprived of the land they cultivate without compensation, and who are restricted to one wife. Amongst this proleta- riate class were till recently recruited the labourers for the plantations in Samoa. But in the Marshall archipelago the population has so greatly fallen off that scarcely sufficient hands now remain for the cultivation, of their own palm- groves. Even in the barren and relatively more populous Gilbert group the supply of living freights has been nearly exhausted. Since 1864 European traders have been settled in the Marshall Islands. Although mostly representing German houses, they have to compete with the missionaries, as well as with English, American, Hawaiian, New Zealand, and even Chinese dealers. In order to secure their commercial preponderance against these rivals, they induced the German government to extend its "protection" to the archipelago in 1885. To this protectorate were added the two little groups of the Brown (Eniwetok) and Providence Islets, which, according to the conven- tion with Spain, should rather have been included in the zone of the Caroline Islands. Jalitit has become the administrative centre of the German possessions, as it had already been the commercial centre of the Carolines, the Gilbert and all other groups in these waters. Plantations and factories have also been established in Milli, Namorek, Arhno, Majuro, Likieb, Ebon, and elsewhere. The religious stations are chiefly under the direction of Hawaiian missionaries, who are much disliked by the traders. Conflicting interests have given rise to dissensions, which have in aU cases been settled by the protecting power in favour of the Jaluit dealers. North of the Marshalls are scattered a few clusters, which should be regarded as belonging, if not to the same groups, at least to the same geographical zone. Such amongst others is Cornwallis or Gaspar Rico. The islets and reefs following in the direction of Japan are separated by abysmal depths from the subiuuriue bank above which rise the Marshall atolls. In the Appendix will be found a table of all these archipelagoes, with their respective areas and populations. CHAPTER VI. NEW GUINEA AND ADJACENT ISLANDS. (Papuasia/ ^ HIS vast region owes the appellation of New Guinea, conferred on it by the Spanish explorer, Ifiigo Ortiz de Retis, in 1545, to the resemblance observed by him between its inhabitants and those of Guinea on the West African seaboard. Next to Australia it is the largest continental mass in the Pacific, and exceeds even Borneo in extent. From the north-west to the south-east extremity the distance in a straight line is nearly 1,500 miles, exclusive of the groups and chains of islands by which the mainland is continued in both directions. At the broadest part it is over 400 miles from north to south, and the total area is estimated at 314,000 square miles, or 326,000 including the Aru Islands and other adjacent groups" scattered like fragments round a shattered continent. New Guinea, which is thus half as large again as France, seems destined to take an important part in the future evolution of the oceanic lands, for it is abun- dantly watered and rich in various natural resources. Hitherto, however, it has remained almost entirely excluded from civilising influences. The fringing reefs, marshy coastlands, dense forests, and even its very vastness have protected it from white intruders, while the scattered indigenous populations, divided into endless hostile tribes, have nowhere merged in a compact nationality. Progress of Discovery. But although still unexplored to any great extent, Papuasia has already been partitioned amongst three European powers. Holland, which had laid claim to the whole island for over half a century, is henceforth recognised as mistress of the western section as far as 14P east longitude, while the rest of the territory has been divided between England and Germany by the treaty of 1885. To England is assigned the south-eastern slope, facing Torres Strait ; to Germany the northern seaboard washed by the Pacific. The honour of having discovered New Gxiinea belongs to none of its present political rulers. A letter addressed bv the Florentine Corsali in 1515 to Julian doi 294 AUSTRALASIA. Medici mentions the existence of a very extensive region stretching east of the Moluccas, and the reference was probably to Papuasia. But most historians attribute its actual discovery, or at least that of some of its contiguous islands, to the Portuguese Jorge de Menezes. The " good haven of Versiya," where this navigator wintered in 1526-27, was perhaps the present Warsai, near the north- west extremity of the mainland. But, however this be, there can be no doubt as to the direction followed by Menezes's immediate successor, the Spaniard Alvaro de Saavedra. In 1528 this explorer cast anchor near an " island of gold," which seems to be one of those situated in Geelvink Bay, and the following year he coasted a land south of the equator, which extended south-eastwards across several degrees of longitude, and which was certainly the New Guinea seaboard. Sixteen years later Retis gave this region the name it now bears, and took j^ossession of it for Fig. 129. — Chief Exploeations on the Coasts and in the Interioe of New Guinea. Scale 1 : 24,000,000. h?jsb oF Green the Spanish crown. At that time, however, it was still uncertain whether it was an island or a part of the Australasian mainland. Doubtless some charts dating from the sixteenth century already represent Papuasia as an island ; but on others, notably that of Valentijn, prepared in the eighteenth century, it still figures as a part of Australia. Yet its insular character had already been practically demonstrated in 1G06 by the Spanish pilot, Torres, who had penetrated into the dangerous strait named from him, and who had at the same time surveyed the south coast of New Guinea. But this discovery, carefully concealed as a state secret in the archives of Manilla, had at last been forgotten by the Spaniards themselves. It was again brought to light, however, by Dalrymplc during the temporary occupation of Manilla by the Engli.sh in 17(i2 ; and in 1770, Cook, resuming the itinerary of the Spanish navi- gator, traversed the strait which he supposed he was the first to visit. Henceforth NKW GUINEA. 295 the great island assumed on the charts a form somewhat approaching- its real outlines. .mm jr During the interval, various parts of the seaboard had been coasted by other 296 AUSTRALASIA. mariners, such as William Jansz, who, in IGOO, reached Ihe Aru Archipelago and the south-west side of New Guinea. Ten years later, Le Mairc and Schoutcn discovered the Schoutcn Islands, north of Geelvink Bay, and in 1G23 Carstensz advanced as far as Valsche Kaap at the extremity of the island of Frederik Hendrik. Other seafarers, amongst whom Tasraan, also visited the north and south coasts : yet, at the close of the seventeenth century, Papuasia was still so little known that its western end was quite wrongly described by Rumphius, who even extends it to the north of the equator. Attention was again attracted to the great island by the fear that the English might succeed in founding settlements on the seaboard and deprive the Dutch Company of their monopoly of the spice trade. Dampier had, in fact, already coasted the north side, and determined the independent insular character of the New Britain and New Ireland Archipelagoes. Hence Wijland was despatched to the same waters, and the northern seaboard was traced to its eastern extremity, and even beyond it to the Massim or Louisiade Archipelago, which was at that time supposed to form part of the mainland. Yet old Spanish charts studied by E. T. Ilamy and carefully compared with the Dutch documents, show that Torres and his precursors in the sixteenth ccnturj^ had already determined, in a general way, the form of the eastern section of New Guinea. The era of modern exploration in these regions begins with Cook's expedition. Before the close of the eighteenth century, Forrest, MacCluer, and d'Entrecas- teaux si;/veyed long stretches of the seaboard. But the Napoleonic wars inter- rupted these peaceful operations, which were not resumed till the general pacifica- tion. Duperrey, Dumont d'Urville, and Belcher were amongst the first navigators who then found their way to the New Guinea waters. Kolff sailed through the strait between the island of Frederik Hendrik supposing it to be a river, and in 1828, this explorer founded on Triton Bay, over against the Aru Archipelago, the first military station occupied by Europeans on the Papuan seaboard. Fort Bus, afterwards abandoned owing to the insalubrity of the district, was thus the com- mencement of the work of annexation, which has since been prosecuted slowly but irresistibly. In the same year, 1828, the Dutch Government officially announced the formal possession of the great island as far as 141° east longitude, substituting throughout that region the sovereignty of Holland for that of her vassal, the sultan of Tidor. Meanwhile the greater part of the interior remains still imexplored. Learned naturalists, such as Jukes, Wallace, Cerruti, Beccari, d'Albertis, Bernstein, Meyer, Raffray, and Forbes, have already penetrated at different points considerable dis- tances inland. But despite these isolated efforts, the physical features of the land, with its popidations, products, and natural resources, still remain almost less known than those of any other region of the globe. Long journeys are rendered extremely difficult, and often impossible bj^ the malarious climate of the coastlands, ihe total absence of stations on the breezy plateaux of the interior, and the often too well grounded hostility of the natives, who justly distrust the white strangers coming with a revolver in one hand and a bottle of brandy in the other. To complete PHYSICAL FEATUEES OF NEW GUINEA. 297 tic work of disco vciT without friction, explorers are needed, such as Mikhikho !^^ak- lay, whose rule of conduct was to be ever discreet, forbearing, truthful in his dealings with the aborigines, and who, in the midst of imminent perils, alwaj's remained faithful to his resolutions. But such heroes are rare, and there are few who have " demonstrated by experience that in every part of the world man is still human, that is to say, a sociable being, possessed of good qualities, with whom it is right and possible to enter into relations on a footing of mutual justice and kindness." — {Letter of Tolstoi to Miklukho Mahlay.) Physical Features of New Guixea. New Guinea has nothing of the massive, form characterising the Australian continent, which it separates from the equatorial waters. It has been compared to a gigantic bird whose head is represented by the north-west peninsula, the neck b}- the narrow isthmus between Geelvink Bay and Etna Bay, the tail by the south-eastern prolongation fringed by numerous little parallel peninsulas resem- bling the plumage. The surrounding waters are so shallow on the south side that a sudden subsidence of some fifty fathoms would suffice to connect Papuasia with Australia ; while the Louisiade Archipelago would form a continuation of the mainland towards the south-east. But in other directions its shores are encircled by profound chasms of over one thousand fathoms, such as the Nares Trough on the north side, and the Carpenter. Trough (1,320 fathoms) between the Louisiades and the great Barrier Reef of East Australia. Even the narrow channel separat- ing New Britain from the north-east coast is over 500 fathoms deep. At the north-west extremity some islands of considerable size, such as Mysol, Salwaty, Batanta, and Waigiu, indicate the beginning of the relief which on the mainland rises to great elevations. The Arfak hills, which skirt the north side of the Berau Peninsula, terminate at the entrance of Geelvink Bay in a precipitous headland, 9,520 feet high. The Gulf of Berau, better known as MacCluer Inlet from the navigator who explored it at the end of the last century, penetrates over 120 miles inland, almost completely separating the north-western peninsula from the rest of the great island. The two regions are connected only by a narrow range of hills, and even these were recently supposed hj Strachan to be pierced at one point by a channel flowing between Geelvink Bay and Mac- Cluer Inlet. But the naturalist, A. B. Meyer, who had crossed from sea to sea, had already demonstrated the non-existence of any such communication. Accord- ing to the missionary Geiseler, who resided, in 1867, in a village on the isthinus, boats may cross from coast to coast by utilising two streams flowing in opposite directions between the rocky water-parting, which is, at one point, only "a quarter of a mile " broad. It is uncertain, however, whether the " mile " in question is German or English. South of JIucCluer Inlet the seaboard is indented bj- the deep Arguni Bay, a long, narrow, fjord-like formation winding between the steep escarpments of the surrounding: hills. The Onin Peninsula enclosed between these two inlets stands at 298 AUSTRAT,AS1A. a considerable mean elevation, though still lower than the Beraii uplands, with but few svimmits exceeding 3,500 feet. Farther east rise the superb crests of Genoffo (4,915 feet), at the entrance of Arguni Bay, and Lamansieri (2,450 feet), at the foot of which are the ruins of Fort Ikis. Beyond this point the coast-range is again interrupted by other inlets, such as Triton and Etna bays ; but farther cast it merges in the loftiest mountain range not only in New Guinea, but in the whole oceanic world. This system, which is still very imperfectly explored, begins at Cape Burn with the Lakahai headland (4,500 feet), after which follow eastwai'ds a succession of crests continually increasing in altitude and rising even above the snow line, one of the glittering peaks having an elevation of 1G,750 feet. These snowy summits, to which has been given the Fig. 131. — Mountains of New Guinea. Scale 1 : 24,000,000. 2,000 Fathoms and upwards. name of Charles Louis in ignorance of their native appellation, are probably con- tinued eastwards to the crests seen by d'Albertis to the north of the Fly Eiver basin, and are doubtless connected either by lofty plateaux or by other highlands with the ranges skirting the north coast. Here JMount Gaiitier or Tabi attains an altitude of 6,500 feet ; Moixnt Cyclops, farther east, is nearly as high, while the system terminates opposite New Britain in the mountains, 11,500 feet high, to which the French navigators have given the name of Finisterre. The last head- lands present in many places the aspect of regular fortifications, the step-like ramparts being formed of old coral beaches successively upheaved at various geological epochs. Earthquakes are of most frequent occurrence in this region of the mainland, which lies nearest to the volcanoes of Melanesia. The orography of tlie south-eastern peninsula has been more extensively eur- rrTTSIC.\L FEATUEES OP NEW GITINEA. 299 \oytcl, thanks partly to the proximity of Australia, and partly to the more con- tracted form of this region, rendering it accessible to explorers penetrating inland from both coasts. Here the highlands lying within the territory annexed to the British colonial possessions have received English names. The north-west chain, under the same meridian as the Finisterrc highlands, begins with the Albert range, followed south-eastwards by Mounts Yule (10,000 feet) and Owen Stanley (1 0,200 feet). This twin-crested mountain, which dominates the whole peninsidar system, was first ascended in 1888 by the Australian explorer, Martin. Eastwards, the range gradually diminishes in height, and then branches off Kg. 132. — JMacClxter Inlet A^•D 0^^N Pexinsula. Scale 1 : 4,000,0110. . _^ Easb oF.br-eenw.ch 80 Feet and upwards. into two ridges forming the extreme south-eastern fork of New Guinea, and reap- pearing at intervals in the Moresby and Massim (Louisiade) archipelagoes. The channel here separating the mainland from ITayter and the other eastern islands has received from Moresby the name of China Strait, because it offers a direct route for vessels plying between Aiistralia and China. The shores of this channel present some of the most enchanting scenery in the whole of Melanesia. Owen Stanley was the first to determine, in 1848, the completely insular character of the eastern archipelago. East of the China Strait, the south-east extremitj^ of New Guinea is continued 800 AUSTRALASIA. seawards by a chain of reefs and islets which terminate 300 miles farther on in the Louisiade groiip. All these lands are disposed from west-north-west to east-south-east in a line with the main axis of New Guinea itself. South- east Island, the largest member of the Louisiades, is surrounded by reefs also dis- posed in the same direction. In the north the Calvados rocks run parallel with South-east Island towards Rossel Island, whilst Saint- Aignan is similarly disposed in the north-west. The Entrecasteaux group, lying north of the terminal peninsula of the main- land, has the same conformation, and serves as the base to a semicircle of reefs which encloses one of the largest lagoons in the tropical seas, often known by the name of the Lusencay Lagoon, from one of its reefs. Above this reef rise the Trobriand, Grandiere, and other clusters of islets, all of which lands probably at one time formed part of the mainland. The peninsula now terminating at the eastern headland of the Finisterre range no doubt formerly extended through the intervening reefs eastwards to the island of Muyu or Woodlark. Rivers and Islands of Neav Guinea. Although lying so near the somewhat arid Australian continent. New Guinea being situated in the equatorial zone and traversed by lofty ranges, which intercept the moisture-bearing clouds brought by both monsoons, receives a rainfall sufficient to feed several large rivers. Of these the most copious appear to be the Amberno, or Mamberan, and the Fly. The former, to which the Dutch have also given the name of Rochussen, drains the snowj^ Charles Louis range, and reaches the coast east of Geelvink Bay, where it develops a vast delta with numerous branches fringed by the nipa palm and casuarina. For a long distance seawards the water is white or greenish, and the mouths of the Amberno are avoided bj^ shipping through fear of the surrounding shallows. On the southern sloj)e the chief artery is the Fly river, discovered bj' Black- wood in 1845, and named after his vessel. This voluminous stream has been visited by Jukes, MacFarlane, and d'Albertis, the last of whom ascended it for a distance of about 500 miles to a point within sight of the lofty highlands where it has its origin. All the branches of its delta have not yet been explored, and it is still doubtful whether the numerous channels flowing south of the Fly exactly opposite the York peninsula, Australia, are independent streams or only branches of the delta. Islands of alluvial formation project seawards at the mouths of the rivers, but in many places the coast is fringed by coral islands, for the most part clothed with vegetation. Jlany of these being eroded by the waves look at a distance like masses of verdure suspended in mid air. Off the seaboard are also several large islands, which should be regarded as forming part of the mainland. Such are Korrido, Biak, and Jobie in Geelvink Bay, and on the south side Frederik Ilendrik (Frederick Henry), which is little more than an island in appearance. It is separated from the Klapper-Kust ( " Cocoa-n\it Coast " ) merely by a narrow CLIMATE OF NEW GUINEA. 801 winding canal, wliich unglit easily be blocked, by a snag or a sandbank. Several islets, especially in Torres Strait, are disposed in such a way as to form natural harbours, a fortunate provision for shipping in the vicinity of a rock-bound coast with but few inlets, and for hundreds of miles destitute of a single sheltering creek. According to Wallace the Aru Archipelago must also be considered, like Fredeiik Ilendrik, as a part of New Guinea, separated from the mainland only by shallow waters. The river-like channels by which it is intersected and disposed in regular blocks like the quarters of a city seem to indicate that this archipelago was formerly a marshy plain, whose channels represent the branches of the rivers by which it was traversed before its separation from the mainland by a slight sub- sidence of about 300 feet. " When the intervening land sank down we must suppose the land that now constitutes Aru to have remained nearly stationary, a not very improbable supposition, when we consider the great extent of the shallow sea, and the very small amount of depression the land need have undergone to produce it." * Climate — Flora — Fauna. Tlianks to its geographical position, under the same mean latitude as Sumatra, Papuasia is essentially a hot and moist region, without great oscillations of tempera- ture, without excessively prolonged rains or droughts. This region has neither the cold nor the sultry heats of Australia, and observers have recorded no tcmpera- tui-cs higher than 89° Fahr. or lower than 68° Fahr.f As in the eastern archipelago, the alternation of the seasons is regulated bj' the trade winds, which, for a portion of the year, set regularly from south-east to north-west, and at other times veer round to different quarters according to the various centres of attraction. The lofty ranges by which the island is divided into two precipitous areas of drainage also cause a sharp contrast between the succession of the seasons on either side. During the winter of the northern hemisphere, from November to April, when the vapoui's of the Pacific are brought by the north-east trade wind, the slopes facing northwards receive an abundant rainfall, while droughts, varied by a few occasional showers, prevail on the opposite side turned towards Australia. During the other half of the year the south-east trades, which are always accompanied bj^ rains, blow steadily on the south-east seaboard, that is, on all that part of the island which is not sheltered by the Australian continent. West of Torres Strait this continent again modifies the direction of the normal currents which come from the south-west and west, and which also bring a considerable quantity of moisture from the Indian Ocean. During this * A. R. Wallace, The Malay Archipelago, chap, xxxiii. t ObservatioDs made by Miklukho Maklay at Hermitage Point (5" 23' S. lat ; 145° 40' E. long.) : — Highest Temperature ...... 88° F. Lowest ,, 70° F. Mean „ 80° F. Rainy Days 150 Rainfall 94 inches. 302 AUSTRALASIA. period the phenomena are reversed on the northern slojjes, the lofty X)wen Stanley range completely interceijting- the south-east trade, and producing calms or variable breezes in the sheltered waters north of Papuasia. Half Australian in some of its aspects, New Guinea presents a less varied flora than Indonesia, although the western peninsula seems to belong to the same zone as the Moluccas. Here are found the nutmeg and other Moluccan plants, while the acacias and eucalyj)tus of the eastern regions recall the neighbouring continent of Australia. In general the two floras may be said to overlap each other in New Guinea, alternating with the dryness or moisture of the contrasting slopes. Where the slopes are exposed to droughts the prevailing forest trees are the eucalyptus and other Australian species, and here occur vast savannahs of the so-called " kangaroo grass," while the streams are fringed with the bread-fruit tree, the mango, pandanus, areca, and cocoa-nut palms. But there are also a large number of indigenous forms, and Beccari enumerated no less than fifty varieties of the palm peculiar to the great island. Amongst the more valuable local si^ecies is the sassafras goheianum, the bark of which yields the precious iiia^soi oil, so highly prized as a febrifuge in the Malay Archipelago. Notwithstanding the great diversity in their relief, climates, and general physical aspects. New Guinea and Australia jDresent remarkable resemblances in their respective faunas. On the one hand lofty mountains, rain-bearing winds, well-watered valleys, large rivers, vast ever-green woodlands ; on the other, boundless plains, whore waterless and stony tracts are varied by thorny scrub. Yet the mammalian fauna belongs to a common centre of dispersion, a fact which can be explained only by assuming a former continuity of land between both regions. The present Torres Strait by which they are now seiDarated is evidently a comparatively recent event in the history of the planet. The animals, however, have had to modify their habits in order to adapt them- selves to their different environments. Thus one of the New Guinea kangaroos, formerly a jumper, is now a climber. His tail has become smaller and covered with hair, his paws have been furnished with claws, and he moves from branch to branch with short springs. Instead of grazing he feeds on the rich foliage of the trees, but he is stiU rather awkward at climbing, and would soon be exterminated were the local forests infested by rapacious beasts. The whole mammalian fauna is limited to a pig, some bats, mice, and mono- tremes, with over thirty species of the characteristic marsupials, one of which is no bigger than a rat. The dingo, or wild dog, which everywhere accompanies the natives, came with them at some remote age from foreign lands ; like the Austra- lian dingo it never barks, it lives almost exclusivel}' on fruits and vegetables, and its flesh is said to be excellent. In its avifauna New Guinea partakes both of the Australian and Malaj^sian regions. In the north-west peninsula and neighbouring islands alone Wallace and other naturalists have enumerated at least two hundred and fifty species of land birds belonging to one hundred and eight genera, of which sixty-four are peculiar to the zone of Papuasia, the ^Moluccas, and North Australia. Some of FAUNA OF NEW GUINEA. 303 these are remarkable for their beauty, original forms, and brilliant colours. Such are the (joura coronata, loveliest of the pigeon family ; the large black cockatoo and the nasiterna, the "giant and dwarf" of this tribe; lastly, the marvellous birds of paradise, called by the Malays the " birds of God," and formerly supposed to live always on the wing, ever-soaring heavenwards. They were also believed to have no feet, because the skins prepared for the Moluccan markets had the legs amputated, and even Linnaeus gave the name of puradisea upuda to the large variety. The cassowary is also found in New Guinea, but birds of prey are almost completely absent, and to this circumstance is due the development of so many other species with gorgeous plumage. Amongst the numerous reptiles occurs the curious chondropi/thon pukhcr, which forms the transition between the xVmerican boas and the pythons of Asia.. Although the exploration of New Guinea is still far from complete thousands of insects have been discovered, fully as remarkable as the birds for their surprising wealth of forms and genera. Inhahitants of New Guinea. The population of New Guinea, variously estimated at from half a million to two millions, comprises a very large number of groups differing greatly from each other in stature, complexion, shape of the skull and other physical features, as well as in their usages and mental qualities. Several tribes approach the Indo- nesian type, as found in Borneo and Celebes, while others resemble the Malaj's, and are described by travellers as belonging to this race. Wallace, Virchow, Hamy, d'Albertis, and other ethnologists also believe that the Negritoes are repre- sented in New Guinea as a distinct race, and not merely as degenerate I'apuaus, as supposed bj"^ A. B. Meyer and Miklukho Maklay. Communities of Polynesian origin are also numerous, especially in the south-eastern districts, and endless intermingUngs have taken place between contiguous groups. But, although there is no ethnical uniformity, as seemed probable from the reports of the early explorers, the Papuan element, whence the great island takes the name of Papuasia, certainly predominates over all others. This element is found almost unmixed on some parts of the north coast, and according to several authorities it even occurs in all parts of the Oceanic world. Formerly it reached as far as Hawaii and New Zealand, where it has been replaced by the Polynesian stock. This term Papua, said by Crawford to be derived from the Malay expression pua-pita, that is, " black, black," is by most writers explained to mean " frizzl}'," from the natural texture of the hair, the trait by which most strangers are arrested. The natives give themselves no collective name, and the special appellations by which the various tribes are known are usually found to be of topographical origin. The languages, as niunerous as the tribal groups, are sufficiently distinct in many places to prevent the natives of neighbouring villages from understanding each other. According to Lawes no less than twenty-five idioms are current along the section of the southern seaboard stretchina' for about 300 miles to the cast of Torres 804 AUSTRALASIA. Strait. The best-known native dialect is the Nofur (Nufor), of Dorey and the adjacent islands in Geelvink Bay. Some of those that have been hitherto studied, as, for instance, the Motu of the south-east coast, belong undoubtedly to the great ]\Iala}'0-Polynesian linguistic family ; but it would be premature to assert that all the New Guinea languages are members of that widespread oceanic group. On the whole the Papuans are somewhat shorter than the Polynesians, the average height being about 62 to 64 inches. They are well-proportioned, lithe, and active, and display siirprising skill both in climbing trees and in using the feet for prehensile purjDoses. Most Papuans have a very dark skin, but never of that shiny black peculiar to the Shillvxks of the White Nile, the Wolofs of Senegal, and some other African peoples. The eyebrows are well marked, the eyes large and animated, the mouth large but not pouting, the jaw massive. Amongst the north-western Papuans, regarded by "Wallace as representing the type in its purity, the iiose is long, arched, and tipped downwards at the extremity, and this is a trait which the native artists never fail to reproduce in the human effigies with which they decorate their houses and boats. Another distinctive characteristic of nume- rous tribes is their so-called mop-heads, formed by superb masses of frizzly hair, no less abundant than that of the Brazilian Cafusos, and, as in their case, possibly indicating racial interminglings. But this feature is not constant any more than is the dolichocephalous, or narrow shape of the skull, although both are very gene- ral. In Mabiak and some other islands of Torres Strait the heads of the children are lengthened by artificial means almost to a point, and the young women of many tribes on the mainland carry loads supported by a strap round the forehead, which has the contrary effect of compressing the skull to a circular form. Some Papuans still go naked, but the majority wear at least a sort of bark loin- cloth or skirt of vegetable fibre, or else a rattan cane to which is suspended a shell or some foliage. Tattooing is not universal, nor do the Papuans, properly so-called, ever decorate themselves with designs and arabesques like the Poly- nesians. The tattooing is, moreover, generally effected by burns or incisions, and not by the pricking operation common amongst the mixed populations of the south- eastern districts. Bamboo combs are worn in the hair, little bits of stick or bone are passed through the cartilage of the nose, the body is also painted and orna- mented with earrings, bracelets, and pendants of bone, shells, polished pebbles, the vertebra) of fish, and even human teeth. In • sign of mourning they daub themselves in white, yellow, or black, according to the tribes, and the women of Katau, near the FI3' delta, express their grief by covering themselves from face to knees with a network of Kttle strings. Certain tribes on the shores of Astrolabe Bay studied by Miklukho Maklay are amongst the least civilised in Papuasia. Till recently they were unacquainted with metals, still using stone, shell, or wooden implements exclusively ; they were even incapable of producing fire, so that when the embers died out it had to be borrowed from the next-door neighbour. The old men assured the Russian traveller that till within a recent epoch fire was altogether unknown, and flesh was eaten raw, which caused scorbutic affections to prevail. Such is also probably LIBRARY OF THE IKIVERSITYoflLUNOlS. i IXIL\BITANTS OF NEW GUIXEA. 305 still the state of culture amongst the iuland tribes cut off from all relations with the outer world ; but most of the populations dwelling on the seaboard, and visited by Malays, Bugis, or European and American seafarers, have long enjoyed a much higher degree of civili'sation. Some tribes are still exclusively hunters or fishers, whereas others till the land, making extensive clearings in the forests, where they plant the sago tree, surround their huts with bananas, sow maize, taro and tobacco, and even export their agricultural produce in exchange for European goods, especially arms and hardware. Till lately they used no weapons except stone- headed or poisoned darts and arrows, bamboo knives, bone daggers, wooden spears arid clubs. Some of the natives also possess musical instruments of primitive form, such as flutes, drums, and trumpets. However backward they may be in other respects most of the Papuans are 2ndowed with a highly developed artistic feeling, and as carvers and sculptors they are far superior to most of the Malayan peoples. Having at their disposition nothing but bamboos, bone, banana leaves, bark and wood, they usually design and carve with the grain, that is, in straight lines. Nevertheless, with these primitive materials they succeed in producing extremely elegant and highly original decora- tive work, and even sculpture colossal statues representing celebrated chiefs and ancestors. Thanks to this talent they are able to reproduce vast historic scenes, and thus record contemporary events. Xumerous tribes have their annals either designed on foliage or depicted on rocks in symbolic writing. The skulls of the enemies slain in battle, which are carefully preserved to decorate the houses, are themselves often embellished with designs traced on masks made of wax and resin. On the banks of the Fly river these skulls are also used as musical instruments. All Papuan dwellings, even those of inland districts, are erected on rows of piles on the model of those insular villages which are surrounded by water at everv tide and inaccessible except by boats. These clusters of habitations, which from a distance look like upraised reefs of eccentric form, present a perfect picture of what the European lacustrine towns must have been some three or four thousand years ago. Stakes of unequal length sunk deep into the muddy bed of the shallow bays serve to support a flooring of planks interlaced with lianas and more or less polished with stone implements ; in the centre is the hearth formed by a bed of glazed earth, and in front runs a little verandah, serving as a playground for the children and a workshop for the fishermen. The houses are connected together by means of slight wooden galleries, along which the natives with their prehensile feet pass fearlessly, while underneath the crocodiles swim sluggishly about, attracted by the refuse of the kitchens. Now also European craft, and even small steamers, thread the mazes of these floating villages, casting anchor before the large building which serves at once as temple, hotel, exchange and market. In the interior the Papuans have preserved tbe same type of structure as on the sea- board. But the ingenuity of the natives is displayed above all in the construction of their boats. At the approach of bad weather they lash two, three, and even four of these praus in a single floating mass, which rises and falls with the waves with- voi.. xiv. X 806 AUSTRALASIA. out ever founaering. Some of the latakoi, or tradiug craft, carry as many as six rectangular sails or large mats made with the bark of the sago palm, each sup- ported by two vertical masts springing from the gunwales of the praus. Other boats hoist only a single sail double the height of the mast, oval and hollowed out at top so as to leave two points, which at a distance resemble the horns of some prodigious animal gliding through the water. The natives also contrive to make simple canoes quite seaworthy by means of a platform which is attached at its two extremities to a pointed boom or spar serving the purpose of an outrigger. Although formerly much dreaded by passing seafarers, most of the New Gruinea peoples are of mild disposition and habits. The women are respected and the children treated with extreme kindness. The slaves, also, in the few districts where they exist, enjoy the same food and wear the same clothes as the free men. Homage is paid to the dead with flowers, songs, and ceremonies, but the funeral rites differ greatly in the different tribes. Some bury the deceased immediately after the "obsequies," others wait till the body has been dried by fire or the weather, while elsewhere the bones are distributed amongst the relatives, the son wearing his father's maxillary as an armlet. A very common practice is to sculpture the so-called kan-ars, that is, little figures representing the deceased, or rather the life that has escaped from them. At the son's death the karvar is planted on his grave, with his arms ; he is thus followed to the other world by his father's image, while he leaves his own to his children. The houses and boats, which serve as temples, are also decked with the effigies of their ancestors, the worship of whom, combined with that of the good and evil spirits dwelling in the trees, the rocks, the winds, and storms, constitutes the religion of all the aborigines. Mohammedanism, however, has already invaded the small archipelagoes off the west coast and even some parts of the mainland. Christian missionaries have also established stations at various points of the sea- board, which are at least becoming so many centres of civilising influences. Topography of New Goixea. The Dutch, as heirs of the Sultan of Tidor, who retains the nominal suzerainty without the right of levying tribute, are the ofiicial masters of west New Guinea as far as 141° E. longitude. But on this vast domain they do not possess a single town, whence their direct authority might be gradually extended over the interior. Thire are, however, a few ports of call visited aft more or less frequent intervals by their ships of war to protect the commercial operations of the few European traders, and especially to show their flag and maintain their authority in the eyes of the natives. At the north-west extremity of New Guinea the island of Walgpit, that is, " Land of Water," seems to be admirably situated to serve one day as a centre of trade for the insular populations of this region. The deep inlets indenting the south coast might afford shelter for whole fleets, while a magnificent roadstead is formed by the coralline islet of Gemien lying near the shore. Unfortunately TOrOGEAPHY OF NEW GUINEA. 30-; T\'uigeu, although fertile and tliickly peopled, produces nothing for exportation. The natives, of mixed Malay and Papuan descent, are indolent, like all other islanders for whom the sago tree yields a superabundance of food with little effort Fig. 133. — Waiqeu, Batanta, and Salwatt. Scale 1 : 1,500,000. 250 Fathoms and upwards. on their part. In the interior there are no independent Alfuru tribes, and all the inhabitants recognise the rajah, who resides at Samsam, at the head of the inlet by which the island is nearly divided into two parts. The isthmus of Fak-Fak connecting the two nearly equal sections is scarcely 200 feet high. But the most X 2 H08 AUSTRALASIA. frequented market in this western archipelago of New Guinea is Snniafe, at the north-east point of the ishmd of Salwaty. On the Dutch mainland the best-known and busiest station is Dorei, at the foot of the Arfak hills, at the entrance of Geelvink Bay. Close to the coast are three Fig. 134.— Dorei. Scale 1 : 900,000. 50 Fathoms and upwards. pile villages sheltered on the north side by a wooded headland, and visited by a few Malay and European traders. Here is also a long- established missionary station ; but although well received by the natives, the preachers of the gospel have hitherto failed to form a small congregation of neophytes. TOPOGRAPHY OF NEW GUINEA. 809 The Papuans of Dorei are known by the name of JMafur or Nofur, a term supposed by some to have the same origin as the word Alf uru, which in Portuguese would have the meaning of "outsiders," or "savages." But Van Hasselt interprets it in the sense of " discoverers of fire," and these natives are justly proud of the sublime invention attributed by other peoples to the gods. The neighbouring highlands are occujiied by the Arfak people, much dreaded head- hunters, who have nevertheless given a friendly welcome to those travellers « ho ventured to visit them. West of Dorei on the north coast lies the station Amberhahen {Amherbaki) , that is, " Amber Land," which is inhabited by Papuans of the same stock as the Mafurs, and like them peaceful and friendly and even more skilful agriculturists. Their villages consist of very high cabins perched on the interlaced stems of the bamboo. The territory west of them is occupied by the Karons, one of the few New Guinea peoples who have not been unjustly accused. of cannibalism. They eat the bodies of their enemies slain in battle ; but they are probabU' not of Papuan race. Although averaging about 5 feet 4 inches in height, they would appear to belong to the same stock as the Negritoes of the Philippine Islands ; and according to the naturalist Raffray are characterised by robust, thick-set frames and limbs, large round head, very prominent superciliary arches, thick lips, broad flat features. They dress their frizzly hair in long tresses, which hang loosely over the temples and forehead, and practise a kind of tattooing with large raised welts. According to the Malays who have visited them, the Karons do not eat sago like the coastlanders, but feed on the sprouts of another palm that grows in a dry soil, and also devour all kinds of reptiles and insects. Thej^ are accused, though not on direct evidence, of eating their own offspring when all the slaves and captives have been consumed, leaving only two children to each family. Further south and more inland dwell the Gebars, who, like the peoples living on the shores of MacCluer Inlet, are also reputed cannibals. South of Dorei one of the most important coast villages is Wdirur, lying not far from the narrowest part of the isthmus, across which a portage might easily be established between the Geelvink and MacCluer Gulfs. This place is visited by Malay traders, who purchase the nutmegs here growing wild. Other stations follow round Geelvink Bay, such as Wandammen on the south and Arojjen ( Waropen) on the east side. Then beyond the Amberno delta occur a few ports of call occasionally visited by Dutch skippers. But here the population is very scattered, and foreign trade has fallen off since the middle of the century. The dealers, following the usual plan of making advances to the natives in order to secure their produce beforehand at nominal prices, run the risk of being murdered by their debtors, and in some places do not venture even to land, but wait off the coast the arrival of the native craft laden with local produce. Humboldt Bay (Telokh Liutju), the easternmost inlet within Dutch territory, is inhabited by some of the rudest coast tribes in New Guinea. Such is their ignorance that they are even unable to extract the oil from the cocoanut.s that fringe all the western parts of the bay. 310 AUSTRALASIA. Along the whole of this seaboard the mainland is less frequented than the adjacent islands. Those of Geelvink bay have each some busy markets, the most important of which is Aiisiis, on the south side of Jobi or Jappen. The inhabitants of the station greatly resemble the Mafurs of Dorei ; but the interior of the island is occupied by much-di-eaded savages, who are accused, rightly or wrongly, of cannibalism. On the Dutch territory facing the Moluccas the most frequented station is Sekaar, which stands on a small bay at the southern entrance of MacCluer Inlet. The traders from Ceram penetrate in this direction as far as the port of BJntuni in search of sago and nutmegs ; but they never venture to approach the northern shores of the gulf, whose inhabitants are dreaded as pirates and man-eaters. Here the most powerful "rajah" is the jDrince of Atti-Atti, an insular ■ group of some twenty houses lying west of Sekaar, and occupied by a motley population of nominal Mohammedans. The rajah of this place is the representative of the Sultan of Tidor in these waters, and the tribute of the villages along the coast is collected by him. Thanks to his intervention the Tidor suzerain and the Dutch Govern- ment itself have ceased to be myths for the natives of these districts ; in the Karas archipelago, in tjie Island of Adi, and as far as Namatotte and Aidiima, near the bay where formerly stood Fort Bus, the authority of the Netherlands is fully recogni.sed; but farther eastwards the power of the " Company " is no longer anything more than a name. The Papuans of these regions are said by travellers to approach the African Negro type more than any others ; formerly they carried on a trade in slaves, and according to the early exjilorers at times even sold their own children into bondage. The Aru, that is, " Mother-of-Pearl," Archipelago, lying about 90 miles south of the New Guinea coast, enjoys far greater commercial importance than the trading places on the mainland. Dohbo, the commercial centre of the group, commands a well-sheltered channel in the islet of "VVamma, one of the coralline rocks in the north-west of the archipelago. During the season from March to May whole fleets of praus assemble here from Ceram and the surrounding islands, from the Kei Archipelago and even from Macassar. According to Wallace the exports of Dobbo, chiefly mother-of-pearl, tortoise-shell, holothurite,- birds of paradise and edible birds'-nests, have a mean annual value of £18,000. During the busy period the houses are unable to afford accommodation to the numerous traders flocking hither from all parts of Western Indonesia ; but after the fair the place is completely deserted. The Aru Archipelago depends on the Ambnyna Residence, and usually once a year a Dutch commissioner comes round from the capital to make his general inspection and deliver judgment on pending cases. His intervention, however, is little needed, for during his absence the people administer their own affairs fairly well, having neither murders nor thefts to punish. According to von Rosenberg, some groups of Negritoes dwell near the fisheries in the eastern part of the archipelago. The Alivurus (Alfurus) of the Aru Islands claim descent from an ancestral tree, and are regM-ded by Riedel as of the same stock as the Australians BEITISn NEW GUINEA. 811 of Xorth Queensland; others think they came from Timor and Tenimber, while "Wallace considers that they belong to the pure Papuan type. They eat the flesh of the dog, supposing that this diet will always keep them brave and strong ; but with their sago cakes they also take a few slices from the bodies of deceased relatives. The foreign religions, whether Christian or Mohammedan, have hitherto made scarcely any progress amongst these islanders. British New Guinea. Even before they became the official rulers of southern Papuasia, the English had already extended their jurisdiction over all the inhabited islands of Torres Strait to within sight of the great island. Hence the Australian colonists had only very narrow waters to cross in order to take possession of their new domain. The proximity of the Australian continent in fact gives quite an exceptional importance to this British territory. It is accordingly the best known, or rather the least unexplored region .in the whole of New Guinea ; here the itineraries of travellers reach farthest inland, and here attempts at colonisation have been essayed on the largest scale. Australian speculators are already demanding the concession of vast tracts to be converted into plantations and cultivated by native labour. Meantime the Government, fully alive to its responsibilities, has issued salutary measures tending to protect the aborigines from extermination or from the evils usualh' resulting even from peaceful contact with the white. The sale of fire-arms, or alcoholic drinks and of opium to the local tribes is absolutely forbidden, as is also the indiscriminate recruiting of the natives for the labour markets else- where. The portion of British territory conterminous with Dutch New Guinea seems to hold out the brightest prospects for future settlement and material progress. Here are the rich alluvial lands watered by the numerous navigable branches of the Fly River, and at the same time lying nearest to the Australian mainland. The intervening shallow and island-studded waters of Torres Strait are only about 100 miles wide, reckoning from the mouth of the Baxter Eiver to Cape York at the northern extremity of the York Peninsula. Nevertheless the vast and fertile delta region is stiU. entirely held by Papuan wild tribes, and the nearest station of white traders and missionaries lies, not on the mainland but on the reef-fringed islet of Saibai, off the coast to the east of the mouth of the Mai Kasa. "When the syndicate of the Australian colonies sent an expedition in 1885 to establish British authority over the officially annexed territory, the site of the future capital was fixed at Fort-Moreshy, an inlet opening to the south-west of the superb Owen Stanley highlands, and sheltered by a chain of reefs from the fury of the surf during stormy weather. At this point white coralline cliffs take the place of the muddy mangrove-covered shores which skirt the mainland to the north-west. The basin of the roadstead, which is approached by a wide entrance, has a depth of from 24 to 40 feet almost close inshore. Here also is one of the largest and most salubrious native villages on the whole seaboard. Even at the 812 AUSTRALASIA. time of the discovery in 1873, its double row of huts, shaded by cocoanut palin- groves, had as many as eight hundred indiistrious inhabitants occupied with agriculture, trade, and pottery, and doing a hirge traffic with the villages aloug Fi^. l;j.3. — POKT-MOEESEY. Scale 1 : iOO.OOt^, r.sUPGreenwicK E3 SO Feet and upwards. the north-west coast, which took the excellent Port-More.sby earthenware in exchange for sago. yiuce that time the native town has considerably increased in size, while the BRITISH NEW GUINEA. 818 European quarter, which in 1885 had only a group of houses helonging to the Fig. 136. — KoYAKi DwEiiiNO, keae Poet-IIorksby, New Guinea. missionaries and the depots of a British trader, now boasts of its Governmont 314 AUSTEALASIA. "palace," barracks, court-house, prison, and other structures symbolising European administration. Port-Moresby is the only haven in British New Guinea where foreign skippers are authorised to land their wares ; nor can any colonists settle in the place without special permission. It is already connected by a submarine cable with the Australian continent. In 1887 not more than about twenty whites, officials, traders, and missionaries, were resident on the mainland of the British territory. Most of the dealers carried on their operations with the natives from their ships without ever landing. The explorer and naturalist, 0. H. Forbes, had founded a small settlement at Sogere, in the interior, about 50 miles north-east of Port-Moresby, and it was from this point that he organised his expeditions to the surrounding highlands. Gold miners, hitherto attended with but little success, have also established a few camping grounds at some distance inland, and a white traveller may now wander alone without danger throughout most of the southern regions in British territory east of the Fly River. But it is chiefly through the action of native teachers trained by the mission- aries that European influence is slowly making itself felt amongst the highland populations. The Protestant seminary at Port-Moresby sends every year a certain number of young educated natives to the villages along the seaboard and in the islands, and thanks to them the languages current in this region are already well known. These teachers have been most successful especially as gardeners, and the enclosures of the villages are already in many places well stocked with vegetables and fruit trees till recently unknown in the country. Beyond Port-Moresby no European houses are anywhere to be seen except on the Hula headland some 60 miles south-east of the capital, and in a few islets near the coast. The Government, however, has acquired South Cape and Stacey Island, at the south-east extremity of New Guinea, in anticipation of a future strategical and commercial establishment in this region. Plantations have been recently begun in South east Island, the chief member of the Louisiade Archipelago. Here the Island of Vare, or Teste, has already become a station much frequented by skippers engaged in the coasting trade. On the whole the British is much more thickly peopled than the Butch section of New Guinea. In some districts, and especially on the shores of Papua Gulf between the Fly Delta and Yule Island, fhe population is very dense, large villages following in succession from creek to creek. The Aroma country, south-east of Port-Moresby, is also well peopled, while the Louisiade and Entrecasteaux Islands are fringed with hamlets round their poripherj'. The natives of these archi- pelagoes, however, are much dreaded, and seafarers shipwrecked on their shores have often been devoured by them. They have the reputation of being all powerful magicians, of whom it is related that they can tear out the eyes, the tongue, the heart and entrails of their enemies without the victims' knowledge. Some of the tribes are of Papuan origin, and closely resemble those of western New Guinea. These are for the most part agriculturists, while those engaged in trade and navigation appear to be half-castes, the Polynesian type predominating I BRITISH NEW GUIXEA. 315 amongst many of them. To tliis mixed race belong the Motus of Port-Moresby, who manufacture and export vast quantities of earthenware, and whose language has become the lingua franca of the traders along a large part of the seaboard. Their complexion is relatively fair, not unlike that of the Tahitians, and in their attitude, physiognomy, and usages they also recall the eastern Polynesians. Of all the New Guinea peoples they practise tattooing to the greatest extent. The designs, with which they cover a great part of the body, bear a surprising resem- blance to Greek and Latin characters. At the sight of these fine torsos, which seem clothed with inscriptions, one feels involuntarily tempted to decij)her the writing, as if it contained the personal history of the bearers. The Koyari, who occupy the first slopes of the mountains back of Port-Moresby, have near their villages little dohos, or houses, perched on the tree tops, where they take refuge in case of danger, and whence the}' hurl stones on their assailants. It was perhaps these dobos that gave rise to the legend of certain Papuan peoples living in the trees, and springing from branch to branch like monkeys. The Kojari and the neighbouring Koitaj)u of kindred stock have a much darker com- plexion than the Motus. The aborigines of the British territory must be included amongst those popula- tions, who have developed no distinct form of government, all the male adults being practically equal. Doubtless each village has its so-called " chiefs," who owe this title either to age or to personal valour in warfare, or else to their superior skill and potency as magicians. But this moral ascendency gives them no authority over the tribe, and the consequence is that the British Government is unable to utilise them as officials in the way it would wish. All its efforts aim at giving the tribes a monarchical constitution, by appointing some distinguished member of the community to be henceforth a paid functionary, and at the same time the representative of his fellow-tribesmen, and responsible for their conduct. The general administration of British New Guinea has meantime been delegated by the home Government to the Australian colony of Queensland. The German Possessions ix New Guinea. The Gorman territory, officially designated by the name of Kaiser "Wilhelms- land, is not administered as a state colony by oificials from Berlin. Its manage- ment is simply left in the hands of a trading company, which, mider the protection and control of the Government, endeavours to make money by laying out planta- tions, establishing trading stations, and exporting local produce. Men-of-war visit these waters to give the German traders the necessary prestige, and, when required, to lend them active assistance. Numerous expeditions have revealed the form of the coast Hue in all its details, but the old French, English, and Russian names of the prominent headlands and other geographical featui-es have been gradually replaced by German appellations. Very little of the nomenclature given to this region by the first explorers now remains on the maps, and the natives no longer salute strangers by the title of mis AUSTRALASIA. " Monsieur," as they had learned to do from Dumout d'Uiville and other French navigators. The capital of the German possessions in New Guinea is Finhvli-lidfcn, so named in honour of the German explorer Finsch, who has surveyed most of the country Fig. 137.— Astrolabe B.\y. Scale 1 : 42D,uixi. and best described the hind and its inhabitants. Finseh-hafen lies near the extremity of the peninsida, which projects to the north of Huon Bay ; at this point the coast is deeply indented by a winding inlet, where large vessels can lide at anchor in 60 or 70 feet of water completely sheltered from all winds. GERMAN NEW GUIXE.V. §17 The first liouscs of the settlement were erected towards the end of tlie year 1885 on a round ishmd, which has been connected by an embankment with the main- land. Cisterns have also been constructed to husband the rain-water, there being a total absence of springs in the coralline limestones of the island and surrounding shores. At the first arrival of the Germans the district was comparatively well-peopled, but most of the natives have since emigrated in order to avoid being obliged to work on the plantations of the whites. A Protestant mission has been established in the vicinity, and communication with the civilised world is maintained by a steamer plying between this station and the Australian settlement of Cooktown on the east coast of Queensland. In the Appendix will be found a table of the islands which may be regarded as geographical dependencies of New Guinea. The German islands off the north coast form part of the Melanesian Archipelagoes, while those of Torres Strait on the opposite side of the great island are attributed to Australia. CHAPTER VII. MELANESIA. LL the islands lying north-east of New Guinea as far as the equator have been declared German possessions by the treaty of partition with Great Britain. Towards the west the German waters are limited by the meridian of 141° east longitude, but eastwards the Pacific Ocean is left open for future annexations. Till 1885 the limit was indicated by 154° east longitude, but that limit was effaced the next year when the north-western members of the Solomon group, Bougainville, Choiseul, Yzabel, and all the neighbouring lands to the north of 8° south latitude, were pro- claimed German territory. The islands thus officially annexed to the empire have an estimated superficial area of over 30,000 square miles, with a population of pro- bably about three hundred and fifty thousand. Like the New Guinea possessions, these insular groups are assigned to a trading company, which at the same time exercises political functions. According to the terms of the treaty the southern section of the Solomon Archi- pelago falls within the sphere of British influence. I. — North Melanesia : Admiralty, Bismarck and Solomon Islands. These oceanic lands are amongst those that have longest remained unnoticed. In 1567 Mendana, guided bj' the pilot Hernando Gallego, landed on Yzabel, one of the large islands to which he gave the collective ' name of the Solomon Archipelago, doubtless with the hope or pretension of having here discovered that aurifei'ous " land of Ophir " whence the King of Judasa imported the gold for the Temple of Jerusalem. Mendana spent six months in exploring the islands, which he was at last obliged to leave through lack of provisions and water, after quarrelling with the natives whom he had come " to convert to the true faitb." Later he returned to colonise the archipelago which he had discovered, but died before reaching it. The route to the Solomon Islands was thus lost, and remained unknown for two himdred years afterwards. Its position had been too vaguely indicated to be followed with any certainty, while Gallego's report had been kept secret, lest he should direct the mariners of other nations to these islands henceforth claimed by Spain. The record of this route has only recently been discovered in the Spanish archives, and translated into English by H. B. Guppy. XOETH MELANESIA. 819 Two hundred years after Mendaiia's voj-age, Carteret, in 17G7, followed the next year hy Bougainville, and in 1769 by Surville, again sailed through the straits and channels discovered by the Spanish navigator, but without identify- ing them ; in fact, they fancied they had discovered new lands and accordingly gave them new names. It was reserved for Buache and Fleurieu, by patient investigation and comparative studies of the early itineraries, to restore to the Spanish mariners the glory of having first explored these Melanesian regions. But while navigators were in vain seeking the lost route to the Solomon group, they visited other lands lying nearer to New Guinea. In 1616 the Dutch sailors, Le Maire and Schouten, surveyed the " Twenty-five Islands," since Carteret's time known as the Admiralty Archipelago ■ they also discovered Birara or New Britain, which, however, they mistook for the northern seaboard of New Guinea fiinged with numerous islets. Tasman, who also visited these lands in 1643, fell into the same error, which was not corrected till the year 1700, when Dampier, passing southwards, penetrated into the strait that bears his name, and thus determined the insular character of the Admiralty group ; but much still remained to be done, and the systematic survey of these waters, begun in the last century by Carteret, Bougainville, and d'Entrecasteaux, and continued in 1827 by Dumont d'Urville, is only now being gradually completed. For the inland exploration of the islands little has hitherto been done. Missionaries, traders, adventurers, naturalists, such as Mildukho-Maklay, Finsch, Guppy, have visited various parts of the Melanesian groups and published the results of their studies ; but no methodical survey of the whole region was begun till the year 1884, when New Britain and New Ireland were occupied by the German Government. Unfortunately', one of the first official acts of that jiower was to change the geographical nomenclature, in which names of English and French origin prevailed. Doubtless, some of these arbitrary terms might with advantage have been suppressed, and replaced by those current amongst the natives themselves. But the maps have been modified in the spirit of a mistaken, or aggressive patriotism, without considering whether the new terminology could be justified by the physical aspect of the islands, the nature of the soil, population, or comparative geography. The chief insular group has thus become the Bismarck Ai'chijielago; Tombara, or New Ireland, is henceforth to be known as New Mecldenburg ; York Island has taken the name of New Lauenburg, and Birara, or New Britain, that of New Pomerania. Most of the mountains and ports have been similarly "re-baptised," with a cynical defiance of international etiquette and indifference to the fitness of things. Physical Features of North Melanesia. The North Melanesian lands are disposed in the form of two transverse curves. The northern, beginning with Tiger Island, about 100 miles north of the New Guinea seaboard, stretches eastwards through the groups of Ninigo or Exchequer, the 3iO AUSTRALASIA. Hermit and Admiralty to New Hanover, which is followed by the elongated island of Torabara, disposed in the direction from north-west to south-east, in common with all the members of the Solomon Archipelago. The southern curve runs at first parallel with the New Guinea coast, where the extreme limit of the chain is marked by Vulcan Island within ten miles of the mainland. The sj-stem is then continued at intervals b}' Dampier (Kar-Kar), Long and Rook, beyond which the curve, ceasing to follow the New Guinea coast south-eastwards, sweeps round through Birara (New Britain) east and north-east transversly to Tombara. Both curves thus converge and somewhat overlap about York Island in St. George's Channel. Like moat other insular chains disposed in the form of arcs of a circle, these two ranges of the North Melanesian islands consist in a great measure of volcanic lands. Vulcan, at the western extremity of the southern curve, forms a superb peak from which wreaths of smoke constantly issue. Its shores are festooned with a gai'land of plantations and its slopes clothed with forest growths to a height of over 3,000 feet, beyond which nothing is seen except a scanty hei-baccous vegeta- tion as far as the summit, 5,000 feet above the sea. Aris, near this smoking cone, is a long extinct breached crater ; but Lesson, lyino- farther west, is still active. These waters have often been the scene of violent commotions, and when Dampier penetrated through the strait bearing his name, the atmosphere was charged with vapours and ashes ; flames were reflected from the clouds, and the sea was covered far and wide by floating pumice ; but at present all the numerous igneous cones dotted over this maritime region are quiescent. Birara, largest member of all the IMelanesian groups, is too little known in its central parts to determine the character of the rocks concealed beneath the uniform mantle of verdure clothing all the mountain slopes. But Cape Gloucester, at the extreme point overlooking Dampier Strait, is known to be a still active volcano, while round about rise numerous eruptive cones with an average height of about 6,500 feet. A low reef in the cluster of the French Islands scattered to the north of Birara is also an upheaved igneous mass, one of whose springs forms a geyser. Farther east a promontory on the mainland, 3,940 feet high, consti- tutes, with two less elevated crests, the group of still-burning mountains known as the "Father" and his two "Sons." Lastly, Blanche or "Wliite Bay, at the northern extremity of Birara, appears to be itself a ruined crater encircled by an amphitheatre of hills. In the midst of the waters, which present an almost lacustrine aspect, stands a steep circular eminence, while the peninsula enclosing the bay on the east is surmounted by another triplet of volcanoes, known as the "Mother" (2,100 feet) and her two "Daughters." In the neighbouring seas the water has often been seen to boil up, and some of the islets have even been l>artly blown away. Igneous energy seems to be less active in the western section of the northern curve forming the chief insular chain of North Melanesia. The Exchequer and Hermit groups are vast atolls resting on a rocky bed whose true character has not NORTH MELANEi?IA. 321 yet been determined. The Admiraltj- Archipelago consists mainly of coralline rocks, and here a mass, 2,970 feet high, occupying the centre of the large island of Taui, is alone said to be of plutonic origin. Among the less elevated hills in New Hanover, Tombara (New Ireland), and Fig. 138.- White Bat. Scale 1 : 170,000. Sands and Reefs exposed at low water. neighbouring islets no igneous cones have j^et been discovered, but the volcanic .system again reappears in the Solomon Archipelago. Here, the large island of Bougainville consists from one extremity to the other of a continuous igneous range describing a regular curve whose concave side faces north-eastwards ; Balbi, its culminating peak, has an altitude of 10,170 feet ; but Bagana, situated in the VOL. XIV. V 822 AUSTEALASIA. central part of the island, is the only cone which still ejects vapours and ashes. The upraised cones scattered over Bougainville Strait are also composed of lavas, but appear to have long been extinct. Choiseul, which forms the south-eastern continuation of Bougainville, and which rests on the same submarine bank, presents a greater expanse of lowlands, former marine and coralline beds. Yzabel and Malaita (Malanta), in the northern division of the Solomon group, also consist of igneous ranges whose culminating crests rise resiDCctively to altitudes of 3,900 and 4,270 feet. But the eruptive masses in both islands are of very ancient date, and have been modified to great depths by weathering. Up to a height of 500 feet the hills are encircled by calcareous terraces slowy deposited by the surrounding marine waters. The southern chain of the Solomons, running parallel with the northern, begins with Treasury (Mono) Island, lying some 60 miles south of Bougainville. Guppy describes this island as an anciently submerged volcanic peak covered by several hundred feet of deposits, then encrusted with coral reefs, and finally elevated above the sea to a height of nearly 1,200 feet. At one time it appears to have subsided to a depth of about 1,800 fathoms, so that, adding its present height, there must have been a subsequent upheaval of no less than 12,000 feet.* The groiip of islands stretching from Treasury in a south-easterly direction contains some not yet entirely extinct cones. Vela la Velha (Vella Lavella), 3,000 feet high, has some fumeroles and a solfatara. Narovo, or Eddystone, is also furrowed by crevices whence escape sulphurous vapours. But on New Georgia, largest member of this cluster, nothing occurs except a range of quiescent or extinct crests. When the Spaniards first reached these waters, the islet of Savo, (Sesarga) at the north end of Guadalcanar, was in full eruption. Guadalcanar, largest of the southern Solomons, is covered with .supei'b cloud-capped moimtains rising to heights of from 6,000 to 8,000 feet. San Cristobal (4,100 feet) is also of volcanic origin; but all traces .of activity have disappeared, and the coast is now fringed bj' coralline headlands. Santa- Ana, at the southernmost point of the Archipelago, is, like Treasury, an ancient volcano, which, after subsiding some 1,500 or 2,000 fathoms below the surface, was again upheaved with a calcareous depo.sit encrusting its primitive eruptive rocks. Atolls and low islets are scattered over the Pacific to the east of the Solomons, forming an irregular chain of extensive surf-beaten reefs. Here the atoll of Ongtong-Java or Candelaria, called also Lord Howe or Leueneuwa, is especially dreaded by mariners, its oval circuit of reefs having a periphery of at least 120 miles. The Solomons are also fringed in many places by barrier reefs, which rise above the surface in deep waters. East of Yzabel one of these coralline ramparts is repiorted to be considerably over 100 miles long ; New Georgia, Bougainville and Choiseul are similarly fringed with reefs, which render more than half of their seaboards inaccessible to shipping. The straits flowing between * T/ie Solomon Islands, i^. 102. NORTH MELANESIA. 828 these barriers and the islands have an average depth of from 350 to 400 fathoms. But the greatest cavity yet revealed in the Melanesian waters occurs towards the centre of the semi- circle formed by the Bismarck Archipelago between New Britain and New Ireland, where the sounding line plunged into an abyss of 780 fathoms. Climate, Flora axd Fauna of North Melanesia. The North ]Melanesian lands arc comprised entirely within the zone of the south-east trade winds. For more than half the year, from May to September, or even from April to November or December, the wind sets steadily in the normal direction ; then it yields to the west or north-west monsoon, a variable and shifting current, but still humid, like the trade wind, for it also traverses a wide expanse of water before reaching the islands. Hence there is at least one rainy day in three, at times one in two, throughout the year, and both the Bismarck and Solomon Archij^elagoes have a mean annual rainfall of not less than 150 inches in the immediate vicinity of the seaboard,* and far more on the higher slopes where the moisture-bearing clouds are first intercepted. According to GujDpy, the discharge aA'erages from 440 to 480 inches at heights of 6,000 to 7,000 feet in the upland valleys of Guadalcanar facing towards the south-east trades. These mountain slopes ajipear to be the most copiously watered of any oceanic lands, and are elsewhere surpassed in this respect only by the escarjjments of the Khasi Hills in the Brahmaputra basin. During a single downpour of ten hours Guppy recorded over 1 1 inches of rain in the neighbourliood of the coast. The least healthy season is that of the variable winds accompanying tlie west monsoon. Thanks to the abundant rainfall, the North Melanesian flora, which greatly resembles that of New Guinea, is both rich and varied. Even the low coral banks disappear in many places under the large trees, the seeds of which have been brought by the winds, the marine currents, and the birds. On the hillsides the forests extend in a continuous, impenetrable mass, their leafy canopies rising here and there over 150 feet above the ground. One of the most widespread of these foreign growths is the banyan fig, with its thousand pendent tendrils twining round and at last choking other species. This incessant struggle between the banyan and the other giants of the woodlands forms a familiar theme of many local legends. One of the most remarkable products of the cryptogamic flora in the Solomon group is a mass of vegetable matter which resembles the yam, but which is found resting upon the ground without roots or any connecting stems. Guppy dwells with admiration on the surprising knowledge displayed b}' the natives in botanical matters. They clearly distinguish between species almost identical in appearance, and in this respect show themselves far better naturalists than any educated Europeans except specialists. The North Melanesian fauna also greatly resembles that of New Guinea, but * Rainfall at Santa-Ana off south-east coast of San Cristobal in 1883, 125 inches ; at Ugi, east of San Cristobal, 14C-24 inches. — (Guppy). y2 324 AUSTEALASIA Polynesian are intermingled with Papuasian forms in the Solomon Islands, which lie on the borders of the two zoological domains. According to native report anthro- poid apes still survive in the large islands of Malaita, Guadalcanar and San Cristobal ; but they have never been seen by any European zoologists, who have mot no indigenous mammals except the pig, the dog, and a small species of rat4 Of birds the pigeon is the most common and the chief agent in the dispersion of plants. Powell asserts that in the volcanic islands the megapodius (brush turkey) often lays its eggs in the fissures of the rocks emitting hot vapours. The reptiles, so poorly represented in most oceanic islands, are somewhat numerous in the Solomons, and several species are even peculiar to the Mela- nesian Archipelagoes. Specially noteworthy are the enormous toads, which were formerly worshipped with snakes in the island of Yzabel. Crocodiles, still venerated by the islanders, abound on the coastlands, and live both in salt and fresh water. They are little dreaded, and according to the local legend are dangerous only to unfaithful wives. The Solomon Archipelago marks the easternmost limit in the range of these saurians, which are not met again till the American continent is reached. Inhabitaxts of North Melanesia. The Melanesians belong undoubtedly to the same stock as the New Guinea Papuans, although representatives also occur amongst them both of the Malay and Polynesian types. A Micronesian enclave is also found in the little Exchequer group, consisting of some fifty isles and islets. San Cristobal, in the Solomon Archijielago, is probably the land pointed to as the cradle of their race in the legends of the South-Sea Islanders. This land of Pure, which was indi- cated to the pilot Queiros as the original home of the Oceanic tribes, and which Hale sought to identify with the island of Buru in the Moluccas, would seem much more probably to have been Baura, that is, the island whose name the Spaniards afterwards changed to San Cristobal. But however this be, the prevailing features amongst the inhabitants of the seaboard in the Admiralty, Bismarck, and Solomon groups are those of the Melanesian or Papuan type. The tribes of the interior, often spoken of as bush- men, are very little known ; but certain indications would seem to imply that the Negrito element is largely represented amongst them. The legend of tailed men said to live in the interior of New Britain is widespread. A great variety of idioms prevails throughout the archipelagoes, although, so far as is known, all would appear to be derived from a common source. The North Melanesians are for the most part of mean height and well-propor- tioned, with a deep brown or blackish complexion and abundant frizzly or crisp hair. The finest group are those of Bougainville, who surpass all the others in stature and strength, but who are also of a darker colour and distinguished by their brachycephalic or round heads. The same form of the skull, however, prevails amongst many other Melanesians, a fact first placed beyond doubt by Miklukho LIBRARY OF THE •INIVERSITY of ILLINOIS. NOETH MELA^^ESIA. 325 Maklaj' to the surprise of most ethnologists, who regarded the dolichocephalic or long shape of the head as specially characteristic of this Oceanic group. A large number of Melanesians, especially in the Admiralty Islands, have long teeth projecting beyond the mouth, a featiire which imparts to the phy- siognomy a somewhat ferocious and even bestial expression. But this feature is less conspicuous amongst the men, whose teeth are covered with a dark varnish from the habit of betel-chewing, than amongst the women and children, whose teeth are white. Some natives, especially of New Britain, are also met, the toes of whose feet are all connected together by a common membrane.* Ulcers under the soles are veiy general, and in the Solomon Archipelago at least two-fifths of Fig. 139. — SiN Ceistobax. Scale 1 : 1,700,000. East ofiGreenv Depths. 250 Fathoms and upwards. the inhabitants are afflicted with large .sores caused by a parasite [tinea circinafa tropica) ; in some islands nearly the whole population has to entertain these troublesome guest.s. Skin diseases, also, are not less prevalent than amongst the Caroline islanders, while the baneful habit of eating argillaceous clay is common in the Admiraltj' group. Most of the old people are carried off by pulmonary affections, and when the mortality becomes excessive in a village, the inhabitants migrate to some other place declared by the magicians to be more propitious. As a rule the JMelanesians are less affected than the Polynesians hy the morbid influences caused by contact with the whites ; but on the other hand certain islands arc being graduallj- depopulated by the universal practice of infanticide. In Ugi, oft' the east coast of • Romilly, The JVcstcni Pacific and New Guinea. 326 AUSTRALASIA. San Cristobal, nearly all the children of both sexes are killed by their parents, and the population is recruited by the purchase of young slaves on the neighbour- ing island ; on reaching the adult age these slaves become free. The Melanesians do not practise circumcision, and the jirevalence of this rite in any community is a sure proof of Polynesian descent. Tattooing is the rule, performed, however, by incisions with sharp stones, not by pricking, as amongst the South-Sea Islanders. In Santa- Ana, at the southern extremity of the Solomon group, the youths do not acquire the privileges of manhood until they have sub- mitted to this rite, and during the operation they are obliged to dwell apart and live on the blood of a sacred fish. In Bougainville, on the contrary, tattooing is interdicted to the young ; but after marriage both sexes embellish the person with rows of knobs in the form of peas, the number and disposition of which indicate the rank of the individual. Like most savages the Melanesians pay great attention to their toilet ; they daily spend hours in the water, rubbing the body and painting it red, excej)t in time of mourning, when bathing is forbidden. The hair is dressed in various ways, either as an enormous globe, or tower-shaped, or else fashioned by means of claj' and ochre into a compact red mass. Such is the labour required to keep the hair properly dressed that in Treasury Island some of the old women shave it off altogether in order to find time for their household duties. Instead of clothes some of the more savage tribes load themselves with orna ments of all kinds, necklaces, bracelets, fantastic trinkets, tufts of foliage and the like. The cartilage of the nose is generally pierced for the insertion of small boars' tusks, or else strings of shells, while bits of stick, bone, and other objects are introduced into the pierced lobe of the ear. Warriors distinguished for their prowess in the battlefield wear festoons of human teeth, vertebra) or finger joints, a thigh bone suspended on the breast completing their military decorations. In Matupi and many other islands the currency still consists of strings of shells, replaced elsewhere by dogs' teeth, and in the cannibal districts by necklets of human teeth ; empty bottles serve the like purpose in the Admiralty group. Incessant warfare prevails in certain islands not only between the seaboard and inland tribes, but also between the coastlanders themselves. This is due to the necessity of procuring heads to decorate the chief's house and the war canoes ; captives are also needed, to be slaughtered on certain solemn feasts, so that their souls may protect the plantations or bring success to the fishermen. Fiu'ther victims are required to grace the funeral obsequies of the chiefs. The body is placed erect in the grave, then buried up to the neck, after which a fire is kindled to consume the flesh, the skull being then carried off and set up in the canoe, serving the purpose of a temple. But the grave has still to be filled in with the youngest wife, a child, and the most valued treasures of the departed, together with the offerings of his friends. Then the miscellaneous contents are crushed, broken to pieces and covered with stones, while the assembled multitude utter cries of grief ; occasionally the very palm groves are felled, so that the owner's trees may share in the universal mourning, or else accompanj' him to the other world. NORTH MELANESIA. 327 As a rule the slaves owned by the chiefs are well treated ; but the terrible prospect constantly stares them in the face of being at any moment clubbed and eaten in honour of some tribal victory, the launching of a canoe or other festive occasion. According to Romilly one of the most appreciated dishes of the New Ireland cuisine is a mixture of sago, cocoanut and human brains. Cannibalism is probably nowhere more rampant than in Arossi (San Cristobal), where as many as twenty people are at times cooked and consumed in a single day. A chief visited by Brown had a cocoanut palm on which seventy- six notches indicated the number of human beings devoured up to that time (1883). Anthropophagy regarded as a religious rite is still almost universally practised in the Melanesian Archipelagoes ; in Santa-Ana, however, it has fallen into abey- ance ever since it was tabooed by the chief after an epidemic. In some other islands, also, the influence of the whites has caused it to disappear, and the natives who still indulge are at least so far ashamed of doing so that they deny it in the presence of strangers. Human remains are also being gradually replaced in many places by the bones of swine in the decoration of houses and war canoes. The Melanesian villages, mostly composed of two rows of huts built stoutly enough to stand the climate for five or six jears, jjresent every type of con- struction prevalent in the oceanic world. Isolated groups raised on jjiles are characteristic of one district, dwellings standing on the ground of another, while elsewhere, notably in Yzabel, the people live in fortified trees accessible only by ladders or notched beams. Everj' village has its tamhu, a sort of " town-hall," built with the greatest care, embellished with curious wood-carvings, and set apart for public assemblies, for the reception and entertainment of strangers, and for housing the chief's war canoes. In New Britain this mansion is at times decorated with statues sculptured in a chalky stone, which is .said to be cast ashore by the tidal and earthquake waves. Of all the large Melanesian islands New Ireland appears to be the most densely peopled, especially on the west side. Coasting along the seaboard, sea- farers everywhere observe the smoke rising from human habitations, and in some places the shore is thickly fringed by cocoanut palms, which supply the staj^le of food. The population may be roughly estimated by the number of these trees, twenty of which represent on an average one person. The cabin of every native is con- sidered as a sacred place by his neighbours, who dare not enter it except at the risk of their lives. Like some of the Micronesian islanders, the Melanesians construct admirable and highly decorated boats, most of which carry a square instead of a pointed sail as in Polynesia. Thej' are daring and skilful navigators, as well as intelligent husbandmen. In the forest clearings, generally at some distance from the villages, the fields planted with yams, sweet potatoes, taro, bananas, and sugar-cane are well tilled by the women. The produce of these plantations is supplemented by other alimentary plants, such as the sago, cocoanut palm, and bread-fruit tree. The women also weave the matting with, pandanus leaves, and make the earthen- ware, while the men manufacture the agricultural implements, clubs, spears, bows 328 AUSTEALASIA. and arrows, and other weapons, whicli vary considerably in the different islands English is everj'where the language of commercial intercourse. Notwithstanding the murder of many whites, afterwards served uj) at the public banquets, Loth Catholic and Protestant missionaries have penetrated into many parts of the Melunesian Archipelagoes. A mission founded in San Cristobal having brought about a general massacre had to be removed to Woodlark Island ; but the priests were driven from this place also, and have now taken refuge in Rook Island, near Dampier Strait, at- the south-west extremity of New Ireland. The influence of the missionaries, more or less neutralised by that of unprin- cipled traders and mariners, has hitherto been little felt. The Melanesians still continue to worship their good and evil spirits, as well as the grand phenomena of nature. They also venerate those animals that thej' fear, in one jilace the shark, in another the crocodile. Little care is taken of the sick, who, in most of the islands, are even abandoned to their fate when all hope of recovery is lost — they are taken to the dead-house, a cocoanut is placed on their mat, and they are left to die alone. The political systems differ greatlj^ in the various insular groups. In the Admiralty and Bismarck Archipelagoes the tribes have no chiefs, or rather those bearing this title owe it to the foreign traders. Here no one pi'esumes to dictate to his neighbour; all the members of the community are equal, and deliberate without the control of superiors on the common interests. On the other hand the power of the hereditary chiefs has been firmly established in most of the Solomon Islands. Although, as a rule, there are as many states as villages, some of the more powerful chiefs rule over whole clusters of islets and even over extensive tracts on the larger islands. Thus the " King " of Shortland in Bougainville Strait holds sway over all the islanders in that channel, as well as over the neigh- boviring tribes in Bougainville and Choiseul. The more powerful dynasties are generally constituted by the rulers of the smaller islands, whoso inhabitants are more restless and daring than the settled agricultural populations of the large islands. The policy of the German Government is at present directed towards consolidating the power of the more influential chiefs, and gradually transforming them to paid officials. There are no towns in German Melanesia. The " colony " of Port-Breton, founded in 1879 on the south coast of Tombara, in the most arid part of the island, has been completely abandoned by its French immigrants, to whom such golden promises had been held out, but who fonnd nothing but famine and sickness in " New France." Nothing remains of the settlement except a few sheds sheltering some merchandise from the weather. The political and commercial capital of the German Melanesian possessions occupies a perfectly central position between New Guinea and the Bismarck Archipelago. The first station was Mioko, in the still waters stretching south of York Island (New Lauenburg) ; but this port was abandoned in consequence of the fetid odours emitted by the neighbouring shoals which are exposed at low water. Choice wiis then made of the thickly peopled island of Jlrifiipi, which lies farther I NOKTH MELANESIA. 329 west, and which is nothiug but an upraised crater in the older crater of Blanche Harbour. But the village having been half destroyed by a volcanic eruption, the centre of the administration was again shifted, this time to the islet of Keraivara, which is situated south-west of Mioko, and which has the advantage of a roadstead accessible to the largest vessels. Not more than a thousand tons of copra are annually exported from this place. Fig. UO.— Neu-Lauenburg (Yoke) Island. Scale 1 : I7ii.ri.iii. Ea 25 Fathoms and upwards. 3\ MUes. The officials of the trading company which represents the German power in these waters have hitherto been mainly occupied in superintending the emigration, or rather the transportation, of the natives carried off to work on the plantations of the whites. The slave markets have certainly been replaced by markets of "free labour ; " but the difference between the operations of all these labour vessels is 380 AUSTRALASIA. little more than nominal, and thousands of natives " engaged " to work in remote places have perished of despair and hardships. Some German writers have advocated the establishment of a convict settlement in Melanesia. The islands in Dampier Strait, occupying a central position between the New Guinea coast and the northern archipelagoes, have been mentioned as the most convenient locality for this purpose. A table of the chief North Melanesian islands, with their extent and estimated population, is given in the Appendix. II. — South Melaxesi.\ : Santa-Cruz and New Hebrides. These two insular chains, although evidently belonging to the same geological system as the Solomons, are not disposed quite in the same direction, their longi- tudinal axis running north-north-west and south-south-east. The two clusters comprise some fifty isles and islets, besides countless reefs, and a few groups scat- tered over the eastern waters on the highways leading to Fiji and Samoa. Alto- gether Santa-Cruz and the New Hebrides, with the more remote Tikopia and Anuda, have a collective area estimated at from 5,000 to 5,500 square miles, with a total pojmlation approximately computed at about seventy thousand souls. The Santa-Cruz Archipelago was discovered in 1595 by Alonzo de Mendana, during the unsuccessful expedition undertaken to rediscover the Solomon group visited by him twenty-eight years previously. His companion, Queiros, when exploring the same waters in 1606, was the iirst to sight the New Hebrides. Casting anchor in a bay on the coast of Espiritu-Santo, he supposed he had reached the Australian continent, and accordingly gave to this " mother of so many islands " the name of Australia. It was in this island of Merena, or Espiritu-Santo, that he founded the "New Jerusalem," the city whence the true faith was to be spread over all the scattered lands of the Pacific Ocean. But Queiros never returned to this region, which remained unvisited for a himdred and fifty years till the time of Bougainville. But the very name of the " Great Cyclades," given to the New Hebrides by this navigator, shows that he made no systematic survey of this archipelago, which is disposed not in circles but in chains. In 1774, six years after Bougainville, Cook visited the same group, which he studied more in detail, and to which he gave the name of the Scotch Islands, which has since been maintained in geographical nomenclature. After Cook's visit the coasts of the central islands still remained to be surveyed, and some more remote groups to be discovered. In 1789, Bligh, driven from his shij) by the mutineers of the Bounty, and compelled to make his way across more than half of the Pacific, had the good fortune to come upon the Banks Islands, lying to the north of the New Hebrides. The previous year Laperouse had navigated the same parts of the ocean ; but he never returned to announce his discoveries. His vessel was wrecked on a shoal off Vanikoro, the southernmost member of the Santa-Cruz group, though the scene of the disaster remained unknown until \ SAXTA-C'RUZ.— NEW HEBRIDES. 331 discovered thu-ty-uiae 3ears afterwards by Dillon. The fatal rock lies to the west of the island in one of the channels piercing the circuit of fringing reefs. Although now well known to mariners in the South Seas, and frequently visited by labour vessels and missionaries, neither the Santa- Cruz group nor the New Hebrides" have yet been annexed by any Eui-opeau power. The former come, no doubt, within the sphere assigned to British influence by the treaty concluded with Germany ; but the New Hebrides, which also seemed destined to become an English possession, have been disputed by France, and some of the islands have even been temporarily occupied by small French garrisons. Protes- Fig. Ul. — Vaxikoeo. Scale 1 : 375,000. S&'bo East oF Gne 60 Fathoms and upwards. tant and Catholic missionaries, inspired by religious rivalries. New Caledonian and Fijian speculators in search of labourers for their plantations, clamoured for the intervention of their respective governments in favour of their particular interests, and for some years the political fate of the archipelago remained in suspense. This uncertain situation has even been indefinitely prolonged by a recent treaty which place's the group under joint British and French protection, a state of things which may probably, sooner or later, result in the partition of the archipelago between the two rival powers. Like the other insular chains in the "V\'estern Pacific, both archipelagoes arc of 882 AUSTEALASIA. U2.— New Hebrides. Scale 1 : n sno.OOO. volcanic origin, as is evident from the regular cones strewn with ashes and lavas, which occur in nearly all these Melanesian lands. According to Dana, the almost total absence of coralline reefs must be attributed to the activity of the igneous forces; although lying between Ne\v Caledonia and Fiji, so rich in corals, neither Santa-Cruz nor the New Hebrides have a single atoll, and the only complete fringing reef is that which encircles the island of Vanikoro. Tinakoro, a northern member of the Santa- Cruz group, is in a constant state of eruption, while a volcano 1,870 feet high, in the islet of Urepara- para, Banks Archipelago, shows a breached crater facing north-east- wards and now flooded by the sea. Copious thermal springs well up on the shores of Vanua-Lava, in the same neighbourhood ; both the island of Ambrym (3,590 feet), in the centre of the New Hebrides, and the precipitous Mount Lopevi (5,000 feet), culminating point of that group, are active volcanoes, as is also the wooded Mount Yasova, in Tanna (Tanna Aij)eri), near the southern extremity of the chain. Vapours, ashes, and lumps of lava are ejected from this crater at in- tervals of six or eight minutes, especially in the months of Jan- uary, February, and March. Port Resolution, an excellent harbour in Tanna, was tilled up by an earth- .quake in 1878. Submarine disturbances are of frequent occurrence in these waters, where vessels have occasionally to force their way through dense masses of floating pimiice. Besides the still restless craters a number of other insular cones were formerly the scene of igneous convul- sions. Many places show indications of comparatively recent upheaval, and Ormieres speaks of mangrove roots encrusted with shells lying some iO feet above the present sea-level. Easb'cf L-r,;,5n,-.,ch 170° Depths. •2,000 Fathoms and upwards. 180 Miles. SAXTA-CEUZ.— NEW HEBRIDES. 833 Climate — Flora — Favxa, The climate varies considerably in the different insular groups, which are scattered over a space of more than 12° of latitude (10" to 22° south latitude). Hence the mean temperature varies from 3° to 4° or 5° Fahr. between the two extremities of the archipelagoes. Nevertheless the movement of winds and rains is everywhere the same in these waters. The southern trade wind blows regularly during the summer of the northern hemisphere, from Jlay to October, while variable breezes alternate with the trades throughout the rest of the j-ear. Heavy rains, storms, and even cyclones visit the archipelagoes during the prevalence of the western gales. Owing to the abundant moisture the vegetation is dense and the mountains mostly forest-clad. For Europeans, the climate of the New Hebrides, and especially of the west or more humid side, is extremely insalubrious ; the same region appears to have also become less healthy for the natives themselves, who are now decimated by consumption. Thanks to the great fertility of the soil, the flora of these archipelagoes comprises a large number of forms not occurring elsewhere. Such are a species of myrtle, which gives a pungent odour and grows to a height of over 40 feet, and a variety of cedar, with olive-like foliage, which grows much higher and which might supply masts for large vessels. Nearly all the New Hebrides trees are highly resinous, and the white, transparent substance oozing from them is much valued by the few European manufacturers acquainted with its properties. In the New Hebrides sandalwood is mainly in demand for the export trade. In these archipelagoes the alimentary plants are chiefly of western origin. Although the Indian vegetable world is here still represented by a number of forms, the New Hebrides also belong to the New Zealand domain, as shown by the dammara, the araucaria and about a hundred varieties of ferns. With few exceptions, the fruit trees, such as the cocoanut, sago, bread-fruit tree and banana, are the same as those found in the other oceanic lands. But of all plants the most important is the yam, which constitutes the staple of food for the natives. The years are reckoned by the yam harvests, and for the hands carried off to work on the Queensland, Fiji, or New Caledonian plantations, the period of contract service, is estimated not by years but by j'ams. The indigenous fauna is extremely poor in mammals, the only primitive species being rats and bats. The pig has been imported, and even quite recentlj' the natives of Tanna and Mallicolo beheld with surprise the first dogs introduced from the Society Islands. The nutmeg pigeon is found also in Tanna. Ixiiabitaxts. Santa-Cruz and the New Hebrides occupy a transitional zone between the Melanesian and Polynesian worlds, and their populations consequently present a great variety of types according to the extent of intermixture or the juxtaposition of the two races. Every island off'ers some contrast with its neighbours, and even 834 AUSTRALASIA. on the same land the tribal groups often differ greatly in appearance, customs Fig. 143.— Group of New Hebkides Natites. and language. As in the Solomon and Bismarck Archipelagoes, the coast and SANTA-CEUZ.— NEW HEBEIDES. 335 inland populations form well-nuirkcd divisions, generally designated, in the " Pigeon English " of these- waters, bj^ the names of Man-saltwater and Man-bush. But according to Otto Finsch, the Melanesian is on the whole the dominant type even in the southern islands of Yate, Erromango and Tanna. Navigators have noticed that the natives of these southern islands are as a rule stronger, taller and better built than those of the northern section. But judged by our normal standard of beauty they cannot be considered handsome. The forehead is low and retreating, the face broad, with two prominent cheek- bones, the nose flat and the lips thick. In several islands the head of the children is deformed by means of boards, which have the eifect of lengthening the skull from back to front, while at the same time contracting and lowering it. To this artificial deformation is perhaps due the fact that, according to Professor Flower, the Vanikoro and Mallicolo islanders are the most dolichocephalous or long-headed of any known race. Hair and beard ai'e woolly, or frizzly, and the complexion almost black in the New Hebrides, where the people embellish themselves by piercing the lobes of the ears and the cartilage of the nose, by . gashing arms and breast, decking the head with shells, foliage, or tufts of grass, and embellishing the body with paintings in red ochre, lime, and diverse pigments. But tattooing in the strict sense of the term is somewhat rare, and in the southern islands absolutiily unknown. Many use wood ashes to impart a fine golden tint to the hair, which in Tanna the height of the fashion requires to be arranged in a multitude of small tresses tied at the roots with vegetable fibre. To complete this part of the toilet of a gay warrior is said to take no less than three or four j'ears. At the time of the discovery the natives went naked, or wore nothing beyond a strip of pounded bark, leaves, or cocoanut fibre. Some of the islanders described by Cook fastened the waist so tightlj' with a girdle of cordage as to look like large ants. At present most of the New Hebrides people have adopted European materials for all or part of their apparel. Their dwellings are not raised on piles like those of the Papuans and western Melanesians, but consist, for the most part, of simple roofs of palm-leaves suspended on four stakes. While the bulk of the popidation in both archipelagoes is evidently of Mela- nesian stock, the fine Poljmesian race is in almost exclusive possession of the more easterly islets of Anuda (Cherry Island) and Tikopia (Barwell). They are easily recognised by their tall stature, robust frame, long hair and bright countenance. The people of Futuna and Aniwa, the " Madeira " of the New Hebrides, towards the southern extremity of the group, are also Polynesians; the very names they have given to" their new homes are taken from the lands in the vicinity of the Tonga Islands. Judging from the description given of them b)' Queiros, it is highly probable that the natives of the Taumaco or Duff Islets, north-east of Santa- Cruz, also belong to the same family. Those of Nukapu, a chief member of the Santa-Cruz cluster, are the issue of a crossing between the two oceanic elements, for their language is essentially Polynesian, closely related to the Maori, while their usages connect them with the Melanesians. 330 AUSTRALASIA. In the New Hebrides tlie women are as a rule very harshly treated. Many things permitted to the husband are declared " taboo " for the wife by the chiefs and priests. The latter are potent wizards, who control wind and rain, conjure or expel the spirits and ailments, hold converse with the ancestry, the gods of the tribe, and communicate their pleasure to the living. They formerly presided at the cannibal banquets, for anthropophagy, till recently more prevalent in eastern Melanesia than in any other oceanic' region, had assumed a religious character. Prisoners of war and the enemy slain in battle ■were devoured, in order to acquire their strength and courage ; but the taste for human flesh had also introduced the cu&tom of eating their own dead, or else exchanging them for those of friendly tribes. These practices could not fail to earn for the Santa- Cruz and New Hebrides natives a reputation for ferocity and wickedness. Nevertheless there can be no doubt that in the mutual relations between Melanesians and whites the latter have been far more treacherous and cruel than the former. If Bishop Patteson was killed in the island of Nukapu in 1871, he fell by the hand of a man who had just been robbed of his children. According to Markham, the natives of Erro- mango who murdered the missionary Williams make use of firearms only against the whites, whom they regard as kidnappers. In their local wars between kindred tribes they would consider it disgraceful to employ the new weapons. Cannibalism survives only in a small number of islands ; in the southern groups, the most frequented by Europeans, it has become a mere tradition. In point of fact, several of the New Hebrides, although not officially annexed by any European power, belong none the less to the whites, who govern the jDeople and make them work on the plantations, thus gradually reducing them to the condition of the proletariate classes in Europe. Anatom (Aneitium), lying nearest to New Caledonia, is exclusively in- habited by Christian converts who can both read and write. In some other islands, also, the Christian congregations already outnumber the pagan element. But Espiritu Santo, largest of the New Hebrides, despite the brilliant future predicted for it by its discoverer, Queiros, is one of those that have been least visited by Europeans, and that still possess but slight economic value. Its vast and perfectly sheltered "port" of Vera Cruz, where "four thousand vessels Hiight easily find room," has remained almost deserted ; nor has any planter yet settled on the banks of the " Jordan." In 1828 the discovery of sandalwood in Erromango gave rise to a nefarious traffic with China, which gradually ceased w:ith the disappearance of the forests. The traders added to the traffic in sandalwood that of "living ebony," and especially of women. The commercial centre of the New Hebrides is the island of Vat^, or Efat, better known by its English name of Sandwich. Some European settlers have established themselves near Fori Havammh and in other parts of the island, where they cultivate maize, rice, cotton, tobacco and coffee ; in 1882 the coffee planta- tions alone comprised one hundred thousand shrubs. But Sandwich, althoxi»h i FREXCH MELANESIA. 387 remarkably fertile, is one of the most insalubrious islands in the whole archi- pelago. The New Hebrides planters forward corn, fruits, pigs and poultrj^ to Noumea, capital of New Caledonia, and a large part of the archipelago is owned by a New Caledonian company. ■ In the Appendix will be found a table of the Santa Cruz and Now Hebrides groups, with their areas and populations. III. — French Melanesia : New CALEnoxiA and the Loyalty Islands. New Caledonia, one of the largest oceanic islands east of Australia, has an area of nearly 7,000 square miles, and about 8,000 including the adjacent islets and the Loyalty group. It also enjoj's exceptional importance from its position on the great highway of nayigatiou between Sydney and San Francisco. But, what- ever be its present and future economic yalue, its notoriety has hitherto been mainly due to the part it has played as a French convict station since 1864, and especially since the fall of the Commune. So small has the earth become that no event can happen without being felt as far as the Antipodes. After having been a place of exile for thousands of Frenchmen involved in political and social storms, this Melanesian land has become the jail of other thousands condemned by the laws of their country, and subjected to experiments in a new order of penal treatment. In fact, New Caledonia is less a colony, as it is conventionally called, than a region affording .scope for philanthropy and criminal jurisprudence to test their respec- tive reforming and punitive systems. The political destiny of New Caledonia presents but few elements of permanent stability. Annexed to the French colonial empire in 1853, owing to a shipwrecked crew having been eaten by the nalives, this remote oceanic land has, so to say, no military or commercial basis to facilitate its retention as a French possession. It is over 4,000 miles distant from Cochin China, and nearlj' 3,000 from Tahiti, the chief French island in the East Pacific, while it is surrounded on all sides by large British colonies or territories — peninsular New Guinea in the north-west, the southern section of the Solomon Archipelago in the north, Fiji in the east, New Zealand in the south-east, and in the west the vast Australian continent, with its thriving and expansive populations. Strictly speaking, New Caledonia is a geo- graphical dependency of Queensland, and the irresistible progress of Australia scarcely leaves a doubt that the natural force of gravity will sooner or later draw it within the political sphere of the neighbouring continent. Already most of its commercial and industrial undertakings are organised by British speculators, and English terms enter largely into the " bichlamar " jargon, which serves as the medium of intercourse between the whites and the natives in their mutual trading and shipping relations. Owing to its remoteness from the highway followed by the Spanish galloons plying between Mexico and the Philippines, New Caledonia, notwithstanding its extent, was one of the last oceanic lands discovered by explorers. It was first sighted in 1774 near its northern extremity bj' Cook, who afterwards skirted the VOL. XIV. z 333 AUSTRALASIA. east coast, and discovered, at the south-east end, Kunie, to which he gave the name of the Isle of Pines. Sixteen years hiter d'Eutrecasteaux coasted the west side and surveyed the reef lying over 150 miles farther north. ' The Loyalty Islands still remained unknown, and Butler, who discovered them in 1800 or 1803, did little more than annonnce their existence. The systematic oxploration both of this group and of New Caledonia itself was reserved for Duniont d'Urville in 1827. But much remained still to be done before the coast- lines, with their fringing reefs, could be accurately laid down, and New Caledonia had already been declared a French possession before the discovery, in 1854, of the fine roadstead of Noumea, which has become the commercial centre of the colony. Now, however, New Caledonia is one of the best-known lands in the oceajiic world. It evidently forms with the j^arallel Loyalty group a geographical whole, although the surface rocks are of different geological formation. Disposed exactly in the same direction, from north-west to south-east, they are, in fact, two mountain ranges, one of which, the western, is completely upraised in a continuous mass, while the highest summits of the other still lie below the surface as foundations for the superstructure of insular coralline banks. Roefs and shoals, also resting on submerged primitive or volcanic rocks, continue both ranges seawards, and between the two flows a deep marine trough, where the sounding line has failed to touch the bottom in 350 fathoms of water. Compared with the other oceanic lands, the New Caledonian orographic sj^stem harmonises with the general disposition of the upraised chains. It forms a folding in the earth's crust parallel with that which caused the upheaval of the Solomon group. Excluding the reefs and contiguous islets the large island presents the form of a very elongated regular oval, 250 miles long with a mean breadth of not more than 30 miles. Nearly the whole of the surface is covered with hills and moun- tains of very irregular form and elevation. The south-eastern uplands form isolated masses separated by intervening plains, partly marshy and studded with small lakes, whose overflow is discharged in various directions. These plains are perfectly level, while the escarpments of the surrounding hills rise abruptly as if from deep water. The soil is a hard and ferruginous clay, interspersed with nodules of black and red iron, and for the most part completely arid. In some places are seen scanty tufts of grass, and in a few more favoured spots ajjpear dense thickets rising like green oases in the midst of the barren steppe. Farther north and near the east coast, which, on the whole, is rather more elevated than the opposite side, the Humboldt Peak attains an elevation of over 5,300 feet, and was long supposed to bo the culminating point of the island. Some 12 miles to the west, and near a bay ramifying into several creeks, stands the rival eraineuce of the Dent de Saint Vincent (4,750 feet). North of these heights the whole breadth of the land is occupied by mountains, which, however, gradually fall in the direction of the north-west, where few summits exceed 3,000 feet. But towards the north-east extremity these uplands assume the aspect more of a coast- range, and here attain their greatest altitude in the Panie Peak (5,385 feet), and in another rounded crest nearly 5, GOO feet high. FRENCH MELANESIA. 339 In New Caledonia tbe prevailing formations are sj-enites, serpentines, dioritcs, metamorphic schists, and trachites. The very pumice cast up as flotsam by the waves attests the existence of former eruptive centres. The great geological resem- blance of these rocks to the East Australian ranges at one time held out expectations of rich auriferous discoveries ; but the financial results of the local mining opera- tions have not hitherto been encom-aging. The metals which really occur in abundance, and which may j-et contribute to the industrial prosperity of New Caledonia, are iron, nickel, cobalt, antimonj', and chromium. Copper mines have also been worked, and coalfields, though of little economic value, have been dis- covered at the foot of the serpentine rocks on the seaboard. Fig. 144. — New Caleponia. Snlr. I : 5,(X»-i noo. 1,000 Fathoms and upwards. New Caledonia is at least doubled in size by the reefs skirting its shores and extending it in the direction of the north-west and south-east. The hydrographic surveys of Chambovron and other explorers leave no doubt of the existence of these fringing and barrier reefs on the east side, though their presence had been denied by Darwin and Dana. Towards the southern extremity, however, the encircling coralline rocks disappear below the surface, at first a few yards, ther from 16 to 20 fathoms, forming, north of the central passage, near the Isle of Pines, a continuous bank, above which ri.*e at intervals chaplcts of coral, sonic z 2 840 AUSTRALASIA. emerging, some still covered by water. In its middle and northern sections Chambeyron's "great barrier reef " everywhere presents a uniform mass from 200 to 1 ,000 yards broad, interrupted only by a few passes, which give access to a broad and deep sheet of smooth water flowing between the reef and the mainland. This basin is about 6 miles wide and from 25 to 30 fathoms deep towards the centre ; but the navigation is endangered by a few hidden shoals occurring near both margins. Seawards the great reef sinks rapidly, and then at a mean distance of 450 j'ards plunges abruptly into depths of over 350 fathoms. Nowhere else does Darwin's hypothesis regarding the slow subsidence of fringing coralline reefs appear to be better supported than in these waters. The coral builders work with surprising rapidity on the New Caledonian reefs. North of the mainland the two branches of the fringing barrier do not converge, but, on the contrary, grow wide apart and stretch for a distance of 160 miles before they become reunited north of the Huon, Fabre, Leleizour, and Surprise islets. Between this perfect atoll and the north end of the great island, the lagoon, enclosed by the two barrier reefs, is occujjied in its central part by the Belep group, which comprises the islets of Art and Pott. The Loyalty chain, built up by polypi, presents in a summary form the whole history of coralline islands. The Petrie and Astrolabe reefs in the north are dangerous shoals, awash with the surface and grouped as atolls. Uvea, following southwards, is a semi-circular coral plateau, perfectly horizontal, with a mean height of 50 to 60 feet, and enclosing a lagoon 9 fathoms deep. Lifu, largest member of the archipelago, is also an ancient atoll, which has been upraised at successive epochs to an altitude of 300 feet. The observer easily distinguishes the three terraces marking three consecutive upheavals, and disposed in abrupt scarps like the outer cliff at present washed by the waves. Mare, or Nengone, some 30 feet higher than Lifu, develops five horizontal terraces, which indicate a corresponding number of changes between the level of land and sea. Having risen above the surface at a more remote period than the other islands. Mare is also more fertile, better wooded, and relatively more densely peopled. To judge from the numerous shells of still surviving species which occur on the upper terraces and which partly retain their colours, the last upvvard movement must have taken place in recent geological times. With a mean annual rainfall of about 40 inches, New Caledonia is abundantly watered by numerous streams, one onlj' of which is sufficiently copious to deserve the name of river. This is the Diahot, which rises at the foot of the Panie Peak and flows parallel with the east coast to Harcourt Bay, between the two north- western promontories of the island. Including its windings the Diahot is over 60 miles long, and in its tidal reaches is accessible to craft drawing 8 or 10 feet of water. The Toutouta, which falls into Saint Vincent Bay, north-west of Noumea, as well as several other rivulets, flows for a large part of its course, below the sur- face, and near its source in Mount Humboldt develops a copious cascade at a height of 4,000 feet above the sea. Judging from their high temperature some FRENCH MELANESIA. 341 brooks api^ear to be fed by thermal springs. Owing to the absence of hills to intercept the rain-water, none of the Loyalty group have any permanent streams, while the moisture collected in the limestone cavities is so charged with impurities that the natives mostly prefer cocoanut milk. Climate— Flora — Faiina. ■ Lj'ing entirely within the torrid zone, New Caledonia has a mean temjjerature of over 70° F. But despite the moderating influence of the surrounding waters, the difference is considerable between that of summer and winter. The Austral summer is the season of rains, of variable winds and storms, which at times assume the character of real hurricanes. But they are seldom felt in the northern part of the island, where the trade winds with their regular atmospheric phenomena prevail during the summer months. Although the average rainfall is about 40 inches, some districts, especially in the north, occasionally suffer from long droughts. One of the most remarkable facts is the surjirisiug salubrity of New Caledonia. While so many other lands under the same equatorial zone are justly dreaded, especially by European settlers, white labourers can here till the soil with impunity, at times even in marshy districts. This privileged climate can be explained neither by the influence of the trades or the sea breezes, nor by the porous nature of the coralline coastlands, for the other oceanic regions within the tropics enjoy the same advantages. The fringing reefs, however, are all " living," not "dead," corals, as in the New Hebrides. But according to the natives and colonists, the true cause of the excellent climate is the nianU {melaleuca leiica- dendron), a beneficent plant, which flourishes alike on the arid slopes and in the swampy tracts, and which would appear to be for New Caledonia what the eucalyptus is for Australia. This member of the myrtle family, which in appear- ance resembles the birch, supplies to perfumery the volatile oil of the cayaput, like the other variety of melaleuca found in Burn, one of the Moluccas. While presenting great rliversity according to the varied nature of the soil, the New Caledonian flora is on the whole extremely rich, regard being had to the small extent of the island. Brongniart enumerates 1,300 species, of which 1,100 are dicotyledons, a fact which lends support to the theory that New Caledonia is but a surviving fragment of a much larger region now submerged. In the volcanic districts, the conifer, myrtle, and casua'rina families are represented by several special forms ; but in the same districts there is an almost total absence of herbaceous vegetation, so that stock-breeding is here absolutely impossible. Even gardens cannot be laid out on this thankless soil. The sedimentary formfttions, which prevail in the northern districts, have a different flora in which both forest and grassy tyi^es are represented in great variety ; but here the indigenous vegetation has already been modified by confla- grations and clearings, and partly replaced by intruding plants, which are every- where encroaching on the older forms. Amongst them is the audropogon aUionii, 312 AUSTRALASIA. a grass whose seeds arc liaiiiilcss i'm- horses and horned catlle, hut fatal (o sheep. Sandalwood, foiiiioily a (jliief source ol' wealth, has nearly disappeared, and the finest forest trees still surviving are the danimara, araucaria, and ehony. As in most other oceanic lands the fauna is extremely poor, the only indigenous mammals being a rat and a large variety of bat. The only reptile is a snake very I'ig. 14.3. — Nati\'e op M,ui]!, LoYALrsr Isles. common in the marshy districts, and the only noxious vermin are a centipede, a spider, and a scorpion. Of the 107 .species of birds hitherto observed by naturalists several are common to New Zealand, to Australia, and even the Sunda Islands ; but some are peculiar to New Caledimia, as, for instance, the Kagu {rhuinchetiisjuhafiis), which shows certain affinities both to (he heron and the stork, but which, like the apteryx and some other local species, is already tlircatcned with extinction. FEEXC'II MELANEf^FA. Imiaiutan rs. 343 The discovery of polished jade liatcbets in Ihe qiuiternary formations of New Caledonia attests the presence of man in these oceanic lands from a very remote epoch ; attempts have even been made to discriminate the descendants of the primitive element amongst the present tribal groups. But, however this be, the kaitakiis* or " men," belong mainly to the Melancsian family, as shown by Fill U6 — Native of jrAKic, Loyalty Islfs. their almost black, or at least deep brown complexion, highly prominent cheek- bones, and crisp or frizzly hair, naturally of a black colour, but in many districts still dyed yellow or white with lime. The lobe of the ear is also jiiercod for the insertion of wood, bone and other ornaments, and the heads of the children of * This now familiar Polynesian term denotes no particular race, but is commonly applied hy tbe French in a collective sense to all the inhabitants of New Caledonia and the neighbouring archipelagoes. 844 ArSTRALASIA. toth sexes are artificial!}' deformed, the object being to elongate that of the boys and shorten that of the girls. Tattooing has become rare, and is scarcely practised at all except by the women, who puncture arms and chest by a painful process, which leaves an indelible blue ijattern. The custom of smearing the body with soot is also falling into abeyance according as clothes take the place of the primi tive rudimentary costume. I'atriarchal right prevails among the New Caledonian tribes. AH power and Fig. 147. — New Caledonian 'Man. property are inherited by the eldest son whether by birth or adoption ; but although the idea of property is thoroughly developed, custom requires all produce to be shared in a brotherly way amongst the members of the community. When provisions abound, all, even the dead, have their portion ; the emigrant also presents all his earnings to the chief to be equally distributed throughout the tribe. But amongst the tribes themselves there exists scarcely any political union ; FRENCH MELANESIA. 3i5 80 many clans, so muny nations, now allies now enemies, and all speaking different dialects, though of a common stock language. Nevertheless, the tribes are usually grouped during hostilities in the two confederacies of the Ots and Wawaps. Each group is constituted under a monar- chical form, with a chief whose person is sacred, and to whom all owe not only deference, but also forced labour for the plantations, structures, fisheries, and transport of provisions. In the native villages, the chief's house is at ouce Fij;. 148— New Caledosiam Woma>'. />. <" M\.^ ■= recognised by its size and its pointed cone terminating in little wisps of straw and a few tillits, or bark banderols. The dwelling of a great chief is still more ornamented, for the chief is the " sun " of his tribe, and at his death the luminary is said to have " set." He is bound to summon the council of elders on all serious occasions, such as judicial inquiries and sentences, proclamations of war or peace, the organisation of the pilii-pi/ti, or national festivities and banquets. 3i6 AITRTEALASIA. Every village possesses a supreme tahn, a sacred image carved in hard wood, embellished with bat skins and set up on a long pole with its face turned towards the east. According to some authorities the chiefs and nobles are, for the most part, of Polynesian origin, and are distinguished by their physical aj^pearance from their Melanesian subjects. Not only is the complexion said to be lighter, but the forehead would appear to be higher and broader, the nose straighter, the lips thinner, the figure taller, the carriage more haughty. This Polynesian element is naturally most widely rej^re rented on the east side facing the oceanic homes of this race. Like so many other insular populations, the New Caledonian kanakas appear to be dying out. " We are not like our forefathers," said a chief to Brenchley, " they were numerous and wise ; we are neither." Travellers estimated at about sixty thousand the population towards the middle of the present century, and in 1886 they had already been reduced to twenty-three thousand. At the same time this diminution must be partly attributed to the constant massacres followed by cannibal feasts, for the enemy slain in battle were always devoured. The bodies were fairly divided amongst the warriors, who in their turn distributed the " joints " in equal portions amongst their families. When the European mariners first made their appearance the natives had never seen any other meat except that of their fellow-creatures, and fancied that the beef distributed to the crews was the flesh of gigantic human beings. The iusurrectioa of 1878 cost the lives of a thousand natives, besides one thou- sand two hundred transported to the Island of Pines and other jilaces. Never- thele-is the losses caused by wars and revolts are trifling compared to the numbers who perish by ailments, such as consumption, introduced by the Europeans. Drink also claims many victims, since the invasion of the dealers in " tafia." Alliances between the white convicts, soldiers or settlers, and the native women are rare, because the kanakas hold in great contempt the tai/o carahou)^, or " people of the prison." Hence there is no hope of a half-caste race gradually absorbing the whole native element by fresh unions. Little success has attended the attempts of the landowners to employ native labour on their plantations. The tribal groups themselves possess reserves, the collective enjoyment of which is guaranteed to them by the state. Hence they naturally prefer to cultivate maize, manioc or taro on their own account, than to toil on the tobacco, sugar, or cofl'ee plantations of the whites. Hence, also, the accusations of the inveterate indolence brought against them, and the efforts to replace them by hands " engaged " in other islands, and held in a sort of slavery by advances difficult to refund under several j-ears of hard work. Over two thousand labourers have thus been introduced, chiefly from the Loyalty and New Hebrides grouf)s. The' political convicts transjDorted in 1872, to the number of about four thousand five hundred, have nearly all left the colony. Some few, who had developed j)rofitable industries in Noumea, have alone declined to take advantage of the free pardon granted to all in 1880. Ordinary convicts number at present about twelve LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY of ILLlNGi. FREXCII :^IKLAXESIA. 347 (bousaiul, of wlioiu the niiijoiily are enipldyed on the public works ; as man}' as twelve hundred have been handed over to mining or industrial companies, and some six hundred enjoy a relative measure of freedom in the agricultural peniten- tiaries, where they cultivate their own "concessions." The conWcts thus gradually merge in the class of the free citizens, who, though still far inferior in numbers to the criminals and their keepers, cannot fail ultimately to predominate, being continually recruited by the descendants of convicts restored to their civil lights. Uut most of these families must die out, because very few women are transjjortod to New Caledonia ; at present they number scarcelj^ one hundred and fif tj' in the whole island. Nevertheless, some families are perpetuated, and, as hapjjened in Australia, the offspring of these convicts have already begun to protest against a further importation of the criminal classes from Eurojje. Free immigration is but slightly developed, and the "colony" still piossesses fewer colonists than officials. Doubtless the government offers to all immigrant labourers a free grant of ten acres of arable land and fifty of pasturage, on the condition of residing a few j-ears on the estate and bringing it under cultivation. But the es.says at coloiii-sation have hitherto been so disastrous that the unfortunate squatters have had to be restored from time to time to their native land. The competition of penitentiary labour deprives the small holders of all hope of success. The most numerous and flourishing settlers are the Australians, some hundreds of whom have settled in the agricultural districts, where they devote themselves chiefly to stock-breeding. With their knowledge of the climate, of the natives and the local economic conditions, they are able to face the difficulties of colonisation in its initial stages with more confidence than the ignorant peasantry imported from France. Large estates have already been created, and so early as 1880 one .speculator owned as many as 42,000 acres in a single holding. Yet stock-breeding, the only industry of these extensive landowTiers, possepses but a slight relative importance. In the whole of New Caledonia there are less than 100,000 head of cattle, scared}' 20.000 sheep, and but a few hundred horses introduced from Norfolk Island. A total area of 50,000 acres is reserved by the state for all the agricultural penitentiaries. TopoGKAi'iiy. Notniicd, or Port-, as it was called during the first years of the occupation, is the capital, and the only town in New Caledonia and its depen- dencies. It has a population of four thousand, or about one-half of all the resident civil and military Europeans. Founded in 1854 after the submission of the Nguea, or Numea tribe, it occupies a favourable commercial position towards the southern extremity of the island on the side facing Australia. Here a wide opening in the outer barrier reef commimicates with several roadsteads, all perfectly sheltered by the neighbouring hilly penin.sula and adjacent islands. The lai-gest expanse, opening in the north-west between the islet of Nou and the Duces peninsula, is spacious enough to receive a whole fleet. The whole trade of 348 AUSTRALASIA. New Ciik'clonia is at present centred in Noumea, which, as a town, is still in its infancy, but for which an abundant supjjly of water has been brought from a distance of 11 miles. The chief thoroughfares are planted with trees ; a fine garden encircles the government palace, and pleasant walks winding up the slopes of the encircling hills lead down to the inlets on the opposite side of the peninsula. Fig. 149. — Noumea. Scale I : U'O.CKX). Ji,-ryfor-v/a/' ^ Sou/^n Depths. Beyond this peninsida the main highway from Noumea ramifies in various direc- tions through the island. Noumea is surrounded by "penitentiaries," or convict stations, such as those of the island of Nou, with three thousand inmates, of the Ducos peninsida, where eight hundred Communists were detained, and of Montravel, set apart for military criminals. Others are engaged on the public works in and about the cajjital, while the Marist missionaries employ a large number on their gardens and plantations at Saint-Louis, east of Noumea. FRKXC'H MELANESIA. 349 Farther north follow along the west coast the military posts and settlements Fig. loO. — DwELLFNa of a Nattve Chief, New Caledonia. of Bouloujmri, near Saint Vincent liay; Foa and Teremba, or Urai, markets for 850 AUSTRALASIA. the surrounding farmsteads; Boiirai/, the most important agricultural centre in tte island, connected b}' good roads with the rising port of Gouaro ; Gomen, on a spacious and safe roadstead, with a mladcro for the preparation of tinned beef. The middle course of the Diahot, towards the north- east extremity of the island, is the richest mineral district in French Melanesia. Here the Balade mountain is traversed in all directions by metalliferous veins, including gold, copper, pyrites, and nickel. At the time of the discovery in 1872, crowds flocked Fi's- lol.-IsLE OF Pines. Scale .1 : 350,000. ba=tcRGreenw,cK Jjeptlia. 160 Feet and upwards. to the spot from Australia, hamlets sprang up in the midst of the wilderness, mining companies were formed, and the district began to assume the aspect of a Queensland cantonment, when a financial crash brought about the ruin of all these undertakings. Since then a mining association, supported by the government, has made all further competition impossible ; the Australians have retired, and the mining population is reduced to a small group at Ouegoa, guarded by a mili- FEEXCH MELANESIA. 351 tary post. Most of the ores are shipped at Caillou, on the Diahot estuary. The road from this port leads across themountaiu down to the historic village of Balade, the first sighted by Cook in 1774, and the first occupied by the French in ISoS. Kuuala, founded in 1859, may be regarded as the ciipital of the east coast ; it lies near a deep inlet, completely sheltered by a hilly peninsula, and is both a mining and agricultural centre. The nickel of Kanala, Hoaailou and Thio, worked almost exclusively by Australian miners, who spread the English language amongst the natives, is the richest and purest hitherto discovered in any part of the world. A few short railways traverse the mining districts ; but the general communi- cations are still in a backward state, notwithstanding the fact that the government has at its disposal over ten thousand labourers. The inhabited islands depending on New Caledonia — Art and Pott in the north, the Island of Pines at the southern extremity of the barrier reefs — have neither large villages nor frequented ports. The last mentioned is a penal settlement, where the three thousand Communists, formerly working in the forest clearings, have now been replaced by Kanaka exiles, invalid or aged convicts, and others condemned to perpetual banishment. In the Lojalty group the centre of administration is established at Chepenehe, in the island of Lifu, a port frequented by traders from Sj-dney. Some 300 miles west of New Caledonia, a large atoll, comprising the islets of Chesterfield, Bampton and Avon, occupies the centre of the waters flowing betw eeu New Caledonia and the Great Barrier Reef south of the Coral Sea. In 1878, France took possession of this group, though it had been discovered by English navigators in 1793, and afterwards surveyed by British exploring expeditions. Great Britain and Australia have accordingly protested against this political annexation. Chesterfield and the neighbouring islets, formerly much frequented by whalers, have some guano deposits worked by a few traders. Administration. Till 1860, New Caledonia was regarded as a dependency of the French Oceanic establishments, of which Tahiti was the centre. Now it is administered by a Governor assisted by a Colonial Council, comprising the chief local officials, two notables, and some municipal delegates. Noumea is the only commune possessing a municipal council, the colonists in the rest of the island being represented by an elective Colonial Council, and in France by a special delegate to the Colonial Office. The judicial system is the same as in France, the native chiefs acting as magistrates for crimes committed in the tribe. The police, also, are recruited from the natives in Noumea and throughout the island. New Caledonia proper comprises the five circumscriptions of Noumea, Kanala, Bourail, Oubache and the North. The yearly budget varies from £80,000 to £120,000, and since the occupation the colony has cost France altogether £8,000,000. CHAPTER VIII. AUSTRALIA AND TASMANIA. HE very name of Australia recalls the mimerous voyages which, previous to Cook's decisive expedition, were undertaken in search of a vast Austral continent supposed to balance in the south the immensely preponderating extent of upheaved land in the northern hemisphere. But, reduced by the illustrious navigator to its true proportions, this southern region can no longer be considered as a "make-weight" to the continents Ijnng north of the equator. Nevertheless, it is still extensive enough to be regarded as one of the great sections of the globe comparable to the southern divisions of Africa and America. It may thus be considered as one, of the three southern continents which are connected with those of the north either by narrow isthmuses, or by continous chains of islands. The insular lands uniting it with the Asiatic peninsulas belong themselves in great measure to the Australian zone by their climate and natural productions. The Austral mainland is, more- over, considerably increased in extent bj' a submarine bed fringed with barrier reefs. Its superficial area with that of the adjacent islands scarcely exceeds three-fourths of that of Europe ; but with the other lands stretching from New Guinea to New Zealand, the whole area of the upraised land in this part of the South Sea is very nearly equal in extent to the European continent. General Survey. Eut in other respects what a profound difference between these two antipo- dean lands ! Relatively speaking, the one is the mo&t densely, the other the most sparsely peopled division of the world, the discrepancy between the two being in the proportion of a hundred to one. At the same time it should be remembered that Australia has but entered on the career of its evolution in the common stream of human culture, while its new occupants have already made astounding progress in numbers and influence. Still, this region is" far from enjoying the advantages in physical constitution and climatic conditions that have made Europe a privileged section of the globe. Compared with this favoured region, Australia presents the heavy, shapeless outlines of a rough-hewn block, being, for the most part, deficient in lofty mountain ranges, extensive river basins ramifj'ing in all directions, fertile LiSRARy OF THE 'JNlVERSlTy of ILLINOIS AUSTRALIA TASMAr A AND NEW ZEALAND. J E 80 CO LIMlTEn AUSTRALIA. .353 alluvial plains, deep marine inlets penetrating far into the interior, and those other diversified features which impart to Europe the aspect of an organised body with proper adjustment of parts. Nevertheless, civilised man is able by science and industiy to make himself more and more independent of his inconvenient surroundings, and to turji their limited resources to the best account. The underground reservoirs of water are brought to the surface by simple mechanical appliances ; scrubby tracts are continually brought under cultivation ; artificial highways supplj^ the want of navigable routes. Habitable regions are stcadil}' encroaching on the wilderness, and become daily more accessible. The Australian continent has thus rapidly assumed a position in the com- mercial world which it could never have acquired before the age of railways and steam navigation. In many respects it has become the first of British colonies, and from the political standpoint, even without fleets and armies, its immense reserve of growing strength contributes greatly to consolidate the vast colonial empire of Great Britain. The great navigable highwaj^ connecting England, through the Mediterranean and Red Sea, with her immense Asiatic possessions is continued south- eastwards across the Indian and Pacific Oceans, until, at about an equal distance, it meets the Australian continent, which has for ever become the exclusive appanage of the Anglo-Saxon race. The longer maritime route from London, round the Cape, to Melbourne and Sj-dney, has also, for intermediate station, the British South- African colonies. Thus, during his long voyage of nearly 16,000 miles across half the circumference of the globe, the ciris BrifcnmicKS touches Eiiglish territory alone ; everywhere he sees his social and political insti- tutions firmly established, everywhere he hears the familiar soimds of his mother tongue ; he moves from hemisphere to hemisphere, but scarcel}' feels that he has quitted his native land. To appreciate at its full value the influence exercised, if not by England, at least by the English element, in the history of mankind, the United States must be added to Great Britain with its innumerable colonies and boundless possessions. With this large section of the terrestrial surface inhabited by over one hundred millions of his kindred, the Englishman may look forward with full confidence in the destiny of his race. The Russian continental world, embracing half of Europe and of Asia, is more than balanced by the British Oceanic world, which sweeps round the whole periphery of the globe. Progress of Discoveky. The first voyages of discovery extended by the Portuguese to the Australian Seas remained unknown, or, at most, left nothing behind except vague rumours indelibly traced on a few cartographic documents. That island of " Great Java," already figuring on the maps dating from the first half of the sixteenth century,* presents .such accurate contours as to leave no doubt of the presence of some * R. H. Major ; Ear!;/ Voyages to Terra Aiistralis, now called Australia. VOL. XI v. A A 864 AUSTRALASIA. unknown Lusitanian mariners in these latitudes. Even Torres' expedition of 160(3, through the reef-studded strait seiJarating New Guinea from Australia, was forgotten, and would, perhajDS, be still buried in oblivion but for the learned researches of Dalrymple. To the Dutch navigators is due the accurate knowledge of a great part of the Australian seaboard, and the name of New Holland given by its discoverers to this region has not yet been quite forgotten. Towards the middle of the seven- teenth century, while this appellation still prevailed in geographical nomenclature, a considerable section of the coasts had already been explored. In 1606, the Diiyfkcn, equipped by the Dutch for a voyage of discovery, had probably touched Fig. 152.— Comparative Areas of Austealia and the British Isles. Scale 1 : 40,000,000. the eastern shores of the Gulf of Carpentaria, and advanced along the coast as far as Cape Keer-weer, or " Return." In 1616, the EeiuIracM skirted the west side of the continent, and till recently the name of this vessel still figured on the maps. Three years later Edel discovered the south-west point of Australia, and he was followed by the captain of the Leeuu-iii, who, with Peter Nuyts, successfully navigated the southern waters, while in the north and north-west, other Dutch mariners sighted lands to which they gave the names of Witt and Arnhem. The discovery of the western half of the continental periphery was completed in 1644 by Abel Tasman, who had, two years previously, sailed round a great part of the EXPLORATION OF AUSTEALIA. 355 island of Van Diemen's Land, which now bears his name. He had, however, failed to determine its insular character. It was reserved for Cook to lead the way in the exploration of the east Austra- lian seaboard, and to confirm the anticipations made by Desbrosses on the chart accompanying his historical work on the voyages of discovery in the Austral Seas.* In 1770, Cook, after discovering Botany Bay, sailed northwards between the mainland and the Great Barrier Reef, and then penetrated into Torres Strait, thus at last placing beyond doubt the insular character both of New Guinea and Australia. Fig. 153. — Chief RotrTES of Austkaliax Explorers. Scale 1 : 40,0i»j,ikX'. _ 'Tl-.^ur^^*- \ \ Ea:,b :P Green. But it was still uncertain whether Tasmania was the soitth-eaptern promontorv of the Austral mainland, and numerous navigators visited this island and cast anchor in its harbours before the question was decided by Bass, who first sailed through the strait now bearing his name. This event occurred in 1798, ten years after the foundation of the first British colony on the coast of New South Wales. The exploration of the interior had also commenced bj' short expeditions between the seaboard and the east slopes of the Blue Mountains, but these ramparts were not crossed till the year 1813, when some stockbreeders were driven by a long drought to seek fresh pastures farther inland. • Sistoire do Xarigadonii aiijr Tores Auslrales. A A 2 356 AUSTRALASIA. Our knowledge of the Interior was doubtless greatly enlarged by the search for grassy lauds, and after the discovery of gold in 1851, by the sudden rush of miners to the still unknown alluvial plains and rocky vallej's of the eastern regions. But far more was accomplished by the disinterested expeditions of travellers who never hesitated to risk their lives in the cause of science and geographical dis- covery. And, in truth, the work of Australian exploration has cost the lives of many daring pioneers and distinguished naturalists, such as the botanist Cunning- ham, the learned Leichhardt, Gray, Burke, Wills, who, with numerous comrades, fell victims, either to the spears of the natives or to the hardships, himger, and thirst of toilsome journeys across inhospitable lands and the trackless wilder- ness. 4.nd of those more fortunate pioneers, who brought their expeditions to a successful issue, how many proved themselves true heroes, displaying all the energy, resolution, and endurance of which man is capable ! For days and weeks together they had to study the soil and scan the horizon in search of some stream- let, mere, or " water-hole." Fellow-travellers had to disperse in the midst of the desert in quest of a little moisture to quench their burning thirst, indicating as their rallying-point some distant rock, from which they might easily be beguiled by a treacherous mirage. Then the weary ploddings across sandhills, over shingly plains, through salt marshes, and thorny scrub ; the deviations in search of stray horses ; the intolerable heats beneath brazen skies, followed by the .dangerous chills of night ! Altogether the history of Australian exploration forms a chapter in the records of heroism, which gives the most exalted idea of the greatness of man. In the series of essays which followed year after year, the decisive journey was that made in 1862, after two failures, by MacDouall Stuart, whose itineraries to the right and the left resemble the movements of the antennoe of puzzled ants. He first succeeded in crossing the Australian continent at its broadest part, from Saint Vincent Gulf to the north coast, opiDosite Melville Island. Australia was thus severed, as it were, in two by a transverse route, along which stations sprang up at intervals, as so many places of refuge, or starting-points for future explorers. From these headquarters, which reduced by one-half the distance to be traversed, it became possible to penetrate far into the surrounding wilderness, and in 1873 Warburton at last reached the west coast. The network of itineraries was now rapidly extended in all directions, east and west, as well as north and south, and the preliminary rough survey of the continent may be regarded as already accom- plished. The inland regions are known in their main featui-es, while the details are being gradually filled up by the partial expilorations undertaken in connection with the telegraph ser^'ice, or in quest of springs and grazing grounds. Never- theless there still remain vast spaces, especially in the west, where no European has j'ot succeeded in penetrating, and the blank spaces, even on the latest maps, between the routes of Giles, Forrest, and Warburton represent altogether an area of some 300,000 square miles, or considerably more than double the whole extent of the British Isles. EXPLORATIOX OF AUSTE.ILIA. 357 '¥ig. 154. — MacDoUALl's iTINEEAKIEa. Scale 1 : G.OOO.WO. 23 lljuly .;_ July. V'-'' ^ '^J""' J.. V) ;' 20 may The explorations carried out iu recent years by the ChaUengcr and other vessels have determined with tolerable accuracy the submarine bed on wbich Australia stands, and which may be geologically regarded as forming with the mainland a jjartly uji- heaved continental mass. In the north New Guinea, with the clusters and chains of adjacent islands, such as the Louisiades and Aru, all rest on the com- mon pedestal, being united with Australia by the reefs dotted over Torres Strait and neigh- bouring waters. The Gulf of Carpentaria and the north- western seas nearly as far as Timor belong to the same sub- marine bank, which in the soulh stretches far seawards, and in the south-east develops a long submerged peninsula, above which rises Tasmania, and which advances over 900 miles into deep water. On the east side tbe New South Wales seaboard is washed by abysses of over 2,000 fathoms, while the north-east coast is fringed by the Great Barrier Reef, which is connected by a sill less than 1,000 fathoms deep witb Norfolk Island and the nortb-west peninsula of New Zealand. This connecting line between the continent and its most remote geological depen- dencies is disposed towards the south-east in the same direction as New Caledonia, the Loyalty, and New Hebrides groups, and other upraised lands in tbis section of the South Sea. It is noteworthy that in this vast aggregate of Australasian lands the continent itself presents the least diversity of relief. Even the loftiest Australian ranges are of secondary importance compared with the New Guinea and 6 EasbcFGr 358 AUSTRALASIA. New Zealand orographic systems, and are surpassed even by the mountains of the Solomon Archipelago. This circumstance strengthens the hypothesis, according to which Australia forms a single geological unit with the lands uovv scattered to the north and east. New Guinea, Melanesia, and New Zealand would thus be nothing more than the margin of the primitive Austral continent, over half of^hich now lies submerged beneath the intervening shallow seas. Numerous examples of similar formations occur elsewhere, as in South America, in Africa, and, in a general way, round the great Oceanic basin from the Cape of Good Hope to Cape Horn, where the loftiest crests also rise immediately above j)rofound marine abysses. Physical Features. — Mountain Systems. As in other Australasian regions, the highest mountains on the mainland occur in the neighbourhood of the seaboard and on the side facing the deep Pacific waters. The chief continental crests are disposed in such a way as to form an outer crescent sweeping round from York Peninsula to Wilson's Promontory, over against Tasmania. Beyond this elevated rim the land falls so uniformly us to suggest to the early explorers the existence in the interior of a " Caspian " dejiression, into which flowed all the surrounding .streams. But instead of this imaginary central sea there exists nothing beyond a few small basins without any outflow, while nearly all the important rivers flow directly to the coast. Never- theless the plains traversed by them stand at a very low level, in consequence- of which disposition of the land the seaboard has been excavated far into the interior both on the north and south sides, where have been respectively developed the Gulfs of Carpentaria and Saint Vincent. Between these two indentations, which are the largest on the whole continental perijahery, the intervening plains scarcely anywhere exceed an altitude of 500 feet above sea-level. West of this depression the surface again rises, and towards the centre of the continent several of the summits exceed 3,000 feet in elevation. The chief range, known as the Australian Alps, begins in Victoria, and after presenting its convex side towards the South-east, trends round to the left and is continued by other chains northwards. The Yass, a headstream of the Murray, is regarded as the northern limit of the Australian Alps proper, which have a total length of about 250 miles. These highlands deserve the name of Alps less for their altitude than for the large number of their collective groups, spurs, offshoots, lateral or parallel ridges. They are almost everywhere of easy access, the most rugged escarpments being usually situated about midway between base and sum- mit, while higher up the slopes are more gently inclined, and extensive grassy or sparsely wooded plateaux form the pedestal of domes and crests which may be ascended even on horseback. The culminating peak, Mount Townshend, in the Kosciusko group. New South Wales, attains a height of 7,350 feet. In many of these upland valleys the snows never melt, and in winter from May to November even the plateaux remain shrouded in a white mantle. A few neves are found in the higher ravines of the Kosciusko Mountains, and traces of ancient glaciers in various parts of the range. In the Bogong Hills (6,630 feet), THE AUSTRALIAN ALPS. 859 which lie west of the farthest sources of the Murraj-, a frontal moraine clams up a little fluvial valley at an elevation of 2,950 feet. In the Australian Alps the prevailing formations are of great age, consisting of granites and Silurian masses interspersed with porphyries, diorites, and basalts. Here and there tertiary rocks overlie the valleys, but are always disposed horizon- tally, whereas the surrounding strata have been diversely folded and dislocated. Fig. 1.55. — AusTEAiiAN Alps. Scale 1 : o,25u,000. East oF Greenwich Depths, Notwithstanding the intervening depressions the same general features reappear farther west in the Yictoria highlands, and even in Tasmania, which belongs in great measure to the same geological epoch. The Pyrenees, which, run parallel with the coast north-west of Melbourne, and the Grampians, whose irregular forms stretch farther west, are also of Silurian formation, though less elevated than the Alps, ilouut "\niliam, the culminating point in the Grampians, being scarcely 5,6.00 feet high. But nowhere in Australia have igneous formations been more developed than SCO AUSTRALASIA. in tliis region of West Victoria, where volcanic cones are reckoned by the hundred — some simple eruptive craters, others real mountains 2,000 feet high — belonging to every successive period between paleozoic and tertiary times. Several of the craters are perfectly circular basins now flooded by lakes of great depth, such as the Blue Lake, which occupies the upper cavity of a volcano belonging to the Gambler group in South Australia, and which is no less than 675 feet deep. Others, which formerly discharged lava streams covering vast expanses, are now mere grassy or wooded cirques. All the older volcanoes are on the mainland except Tower Hill, near Warrnambool, which rises above the surface of the neigh- bouring waters. Like the Australian Alps the Tasmanian mountains are formed of granites and Silurian deposits. But geologists have hitherto failed to determine the presence of volcanoes properly so-called, although in many places eruptive rocks have formed transverse barriers over which the running waters fall in cascades down to the plains. Nearly the whole island is covered with irregular mountain masses, which attain their greatest elevation in the north-west, here culminating in Cradle Mountain (5,065 feet). Several other peaks exceed 4,600 feet, but the land falls towards the south-east, where the seaboard is penetrated by deep fjords. Viewed as a whole Tasmania presents the outlines of half an oval, eroded on the north side facing Australia in the form of a regular concave curve. Here the intervening waters of Bass Strait were at some former epoch undoubtedly replaced by an isthmus connecting both regions^ and of which nothing now survives except a few granite islets. But immediately east of the strait the marine abj^sses jjlunge into depths of over 2,500 fathoms. From the geological standpoint AVilson's Promontory, the southernmost point of the Australian continent, is an island like those scattered over the shallow waters of the strait. "Were the mainland to subside some 300 feet the two inlets to the west and east of the headland would be connected by a second marine channel. North of the Australian AIjds the highlands skirting the seaboard ramify into several parallel chains, the main range running at a mean distance of 45 or 50 miles from the Pacific. Each chain and each ti'ansverse ridge has its separate name, while the whole system is sometimes designated by the common appellation of the Blue Mountains, a term more specially applicable to the mountains lying to the west of Sydney, and long regarded by the early settlers as an unsurmountable ram- part towards the interior of the continent. Although the highest peaks, such as Sea-view, west of Port Macquarie towards the north of New South Wales, scarcely exceed 6,000 feet, while most of them fall "below 5,000 feet, they have in many places been carved by erosive action into rocky cirques with vertical walls of an imfiosing aspect. The ranges fall precipitously seaward, while on the opj)osite side they frequently present the appearance rather of a gently inclined tableland, the ground sloping somewhat uniformly in the direction of the plains watered by the Murray. Exten- sive cavities, where the rivulets now escape through breaches in the periphery, appear to have formerly been lacustrine basins. Such amongst others on the LIBRARY OF THE INIVERSITV of ILLINOIS. GEOLOGY OF AUSTEALIA. 361 western slope of the mountains are the Liverpool Plains, which are dotted over with isolated basalt rocks. Like the regions in the north of Europe, Australia also h;id evidently its glacial epoch followed by a lacustrine period. In the northern section of ^ew South Wales the water-parting gradually falls in the direction of the colony of Queensland, where few summits attain an elevation of 2,000 feet. In some districts the mountain system is even completely inter- rupted, the parting line between the two slopes being formed by scarcely per- ceptible undulations. But eminences exceeding 3,000 feet reappear north of the tropic of Capricorn, where a granite ridge skirting the seaboard runs north- westwards to the neck of York Peninsula, here merging in a small water-parting of moderate elevation. Between the Australian Alps and the granites of North Queensland the pre- vailing formations are carboniferous of various ages, some dating from paleozoic, others from mesozoic times. Here also occur some granites and porphyries, and on the western slopes a few volcanoes and lava fields. It is in this section of the Australian highlands and on the northern slopes of the Victoria Mountains that are scattered those auriferous deposits that have so greatly stimulated the develop- ment of Australia. All belong to different periods of the tertiary epoch and rest on a rocky bed of the Silurian sj-stem. Most of the deposits f;ll old fluvial channels, the so-called " gutters," and in some districts they attain a thickness of over 300 and even 600 feet. West of the " backbone " of the continent the depression comprised between the Gulf of Carpentaria and the Murray estuary is largely occupied with cretaceous formations. From these mesozoic strata and the vast plains of tertiary origin it is evident that Australia, formerly considered as the " old " continent in a pre- eminent sense, has also had its revolutions, its alternating upheavals and subsi- dences, like other great divisions of the globe. Beyond the chalk zone begin the little-known regions intersected at long intervals b}' the itineraries of a few daring explorers. We know, however, that granites and primitive rocks occur in South Australia on both sides of Spencer Gulf, as well as . round the margins of the saline basins in the interior. The northern peninsulas facing Melville Island have also their granites and metamoi-- phic formations. Lastly, the south-western regions are to a great extent consti- tuted of slightly elevated granite plateaux traversed here and there by a mountain range from 1,800 to 2,000 feet high. All these chains and ridges are named after the early explorers or statesmen distinguished in contemporary politics. The MacDouall group, lying east of the overland telegraph lino, abounds in precious stones, some of which have been doubtfully or wrongly described as " rubies." The " desert sandstone," comprising over one-third of Australia, is probably of more recent origin than any of the continental mountain systems. But owing to the general absence of fossils its age cannot be accurately determined, although the upheaval of the plateaux, hills, and plains in this arid wilderness is by most geologists referred to isliocene times. In North Queensland it overlies cretaceous formations. Its numerous depressions have been produced by meteoric agencies, 362 AUSTEALASIA. heat and cold, wind and raiu, and in several places the surface has been excavated many tens and even hundreds of yards, leaving here and there masses of harder rocks, which indicate the original level of the novr vanished formations. In north-west Australia lies the region to which Gray has given the name of "Pillar Land," from the myriads of sandstone columns rising above the surrounding plains which have been irregularly excavated. This region is carpeted with flowering plants and festooned with belts of verdure, while the work of erosion is still con- tinued by running waters partly flowing below the surface. About the very centre of the continent stands another of these geological witnesses, which is known as " Chambers's Pillar," and which rises 150 feet above an eminence itself about 100 feet higher than the surrounding plain. This column, one of the most regular formations of the kind on the surface of the globe, forms a conspicuous landmark much utilised by the early explorers as a rallying point, and convenient site for a cache or storehouse of provisions. It is about ten feet by twenty in cross section, of nearly equal compass from top to bottom, and formed of a soft white sandstone like the hill on which it stands. The upper part of the pillar is of a red tint, and its preservation is perhaps due to the greater hardness and durability of this topmost layer (Wallace). Like the Sahara, the Australian desert has its region of dunes stretching west of the overland telegraph on the north-west continental slope. Here the chains of sandhills follow each other with perfect regularity, rolling away like the waves of the sea for a distance of about 350 miles in the direction from east to west. Consisting entirely of red particles, without a blade of grass to relieve their fierce glare, these dunes are described by Sturt as producing a "terrible" effect, and no traveller ventures to traverse them without a sense of awe. Beyond this dreaded region a few verdant and flowery oases are seen here and there in the dreary wilderness. The aspect, however, of the Australian desert changes with the dry and wet seasons, so that the descriptions of the same district by different explorers often present great discrepancies. The observations made by geologists on the main features of the continental periphery lend much probability to the hypothesis of a general upheaval of the Australian seaboard. Its shores, after having been submerged under the waters, which at one time covered about half of the surface, were again gradually upr lised above the level of the surrounding seas. The coasts are fringed by upheaved beaches, in which are embedded banks of shells similar to those still surviving in the neighbouring waters. Numerous lakes, which were, till recently, marine inlets, have preserved their oceanic fauna, while others have been gradually changed to freshwater basins, or have even been completely evaporated. Shoals and reefs formerly concealed below the surface now show their black rocks above the level of the sea. A careful study of the whole region stretching to the north of Spencer Gulf leaves no doubt that this tract of dry land at one time formed an archipelago with numerous islands separated from each other by shallow straits. Bass Strait itself, which forms the southern limit of Australia proper, would be changed to dry land THE AUSTR.1LIAN SEAS AXD ISLANDS. 3G3 by a general upheaval of less than twenty-five fathoms, and Tasmania, which was long supposed to form part of the neighbouring continent, really belongs to it from the geological point of view. The presence of glaciers probably contributed to preserve the primitive form of the Tasmanian seaboard, all the south side of which is carved into creeks and inlets, evidently ancient fjords which have main- tained their original depth and outlines. A close resemblance to the sea which formerly flooded South Australia, is pre- sented by the channel at present separating this continent from New Guinea. Between Cape York and Mount Cornwallis at the narrowest part of Torres Strait Fig. 15G. — Bass Steait. Scale I ■■ 5,553,000. Depths. 100 Fathoms and upwards. the water is nowhere more than eleven or twelve, while the average scarcely exceeds seven fathoms. It was shown by the accurate surveys of the F/i/ and Bramble (1842—1847) that, even by keeping to the windings of the deepest channel, a vessel drawing over 30 feet could only pass through in perfectly smooth water. The rocky islets in this strait, whether isolated or grouped in clusters, consist exclusively of porphyries or syenites, like the rocks in the northern peninsula of Queensland, of which they evidently form a seaward extension. East of these reef-fringed islets, between which flow channels perfectly free 3G1 AUSTRALASIA. from shoals, begins the true " Coral Sea," which is studded, not with rocky heights, but only with a dangerous^ labyrinth of coralline masses, and which taken as a whole may be compared to a long submarine bank gradually falling east- wards to a mean depth of 20 fathoms. Ilere is the true coastline of the Australian continent, and as happens on so many other upraised or submerged seaboards, the parting line between the continental plateau and the abysmal depths of the Pacific Ocean is marked by an igneous chain. The volcanoes, however, of the Coral Sea have all become extinct during the present geological epoch, and none of them are of any considerable size, the largest being Murray Island, which lies within the zone of the Great Barrier Reef. Although so near the Australian mainland Fig. 157. — ToEEES SiiiAiT. Scale 1 : 7,750,000. of which it is a geological dependence, this island is distinguished from it by its vegetation. The beach and even the lower slopes of the hills, which rise to a height of 600 or 700 feet, are clothed with a continuous forest of cocoanut palms, trees which all travellers assure us were not found in Australia before the arrival of the European immigrants. The rampart of reefs forming the outer coastline of Queensland and connecting Australia with New Guinea has a total development of no less than 1,500 miles, without counting minor indentations. It begins at Cape Sandy, where the main- land projects seawards off the convex curve of the east coarst, and is at first inter- rupted by broad straits ; but the rocks and shoals soon press closer together, and at last merge in a continuous barrier presenting but few openings accessible to THE GREAT BAEEIEE EEEF. 3G5 sliips. The early explorers anxiously skirted the long line of breakers during the day, and at dusk veered off to a safe distance from their everlasting roar ; yet shipwrecks were of frequent occurrence. Now, however, all the accessible passes Fig. 1-58. — The Great Baeeiee Reef. Scale 1 : 11,800,000. are known, and vessels freely navigate the inner waters under shelter from (he fury of the ocean waves. Before the introduction of steam navigation, the channels of the Great Barrier, 366 AUSTRALASIA. notwithstanding their dangerous reefs, presented, with Torres Strait, the only route for vessels passing from the Pacific to the Indian Ocean. Here the south- east trades set regularlj' throughout nearly the whole year, whereas off the south coast of Australia the south and south-west winds blow almost constantly and are often stormy. Within the Great Barrier the surf is seldom dangerous, and here the ordinary roadsteads, sheltered by a rock or an islet, form jreally safe havens. Seafarers navigating these seas are also aided by the clear atmosphere and the extreme limpiditj' of the water. At a distance of over a mile the sailor at the mast-head readily detects the existence of shallows 30 feet below the surface, thanks to the contrast presented by their greenish tints with the deep blue of the neighbouring abysses. Rivers and Lakes. Aiistralia is as inferior to the other continents in the extent and abundance of its watercourses as it is in the elevation of its mountain ranges. Of all those reaching the coast the Murray or Goolwa, discovered in 182i by Hume and Hovell, is the only river draining a large extent of country. This great artery receives all the running waters belonging to the inland watersheds of the Gram- pians, the Pyrenees of Victoria, the Alps, and the JN^ew South Wales coast ranges. From its furthest headstream, the Condamine, rising in Queensland, to its estuary in South Aiistralia, the distance is at least 1,200 miles, and the whole extent of the catchment basin of the Murray exceeds 400,000 square miles. It is thus larger than those of the united Tigris-Euphrates, of the Danube, and the St. Lawrence ; but what a difference in its voliune ! — the mean annual discharge being only about 12,000 cubic feet per second, or less than that of the Seine. The Murray waters are scarcely deep enough for small steamers to ascend its lower course even during the floods. During the ten years between 1877 and 1886 the Darling was accessible to craft of light draught only for fifty seven months altogether, while none of its affluents are navigable except for small boats. The fluvial basin itself has been rightly named, not from its longest upper branch, but from the headstream "which, thanks to the direction of its course parallel with the main axis of the Victoria mountain ranges, receives the largest quantity of water. The Murray rises in the Australian Alps on the frontiers of Victoria and New South Wales, and during its westerly course is gradually increased in volume bj' the torrents descending from the Victoria uplands to its left bank. Its northern affluents, the Lachlan-Morrlimbidgee, and especially the Darling, have a far longer course, but roll down a much smaller quantity of water. Many of the sub-tributaries even lose themselves in meres and swamps before reaching the banks of the main stream. All these running waters. expand over the surface in shallow temporary lakes, and, being, destitute of regular sandy or gravelly beds, scarcely deserve the name of rivers. On the east slope of the New Soiith AVales and Queensland coast-ranges the streams are relatively more copious, thanks to the heavier rainfall and the closer RIVERS OP AUSTRALIA. -^ 367 texture of their rocky beds. But between the hills and the coast thev have no space to develop long courses, and most of them are lost in the ocean as soon as they escape from the mountains. On this slope the largest rivers are the Fitzroy and the Burdekin, which, through openings in the coast-ranges, receive some con- tributions from the opposite side. On the western watershed of Queensland the Gulf of Carpentaria is encircled by fluvial basins, such as the Mitchell, Norman, Flinders, Leichhardt, Albert and Roper, which usually send down very little water, but whose channels excavated to great depths in the rocks bear witness to the great force formerly exercised bv their currents. The more arid north-west seaboard has scarcelj' any streams that can compare in magnitude even with those of the east coast ranges. Amongst the more important in this region are the Victoria, discharging into Queen's Channel, the Fitzroy, a little farther west, and quite on the west side of the continent the Grey, the Ashburton, Gascoyne, and Murchison, nearly all of which watercourses are for the greater part of the year mere chains of half dried-up morasses. Still more arid is the great southern bight, which for a space of 1,200 miles between the south-west corner of the continent and Spencer Gulf, is unbroken by a single fluvial estuary. Throughout this vast and almost waterless tract not one of the few rivulets developed in the interior has sufficient force to reach the coast. Temporary freshets are caused by the heavy downpours in most of the desert regions, and on these occasions the sudden appearance of a real current rushing along in a usuallj- dried-up. river bed is hailed with a sort of ecstacy by the few spectators of the rare phenomenon. Long before the arrival of the stream its distant roar is heard as it sweeps down with the shrubs and trees torn from its banks; then the noise grows louder, presently a thread of water is seen winding through the sinuosities of the ravine, as if in search of an outlet, and this is followed with a tremendous crash by the raging torrent which soon fills to overflowing the winding valley. Amongst the watercourses which run out in the depressions of the interior there is one which, at least for the extent of its basin, may be regarded as a true river. This is the Barcoo, or Cooper's Creek, which also bears other names in the various districts through which it flows, and whose headwaters traverse the Queens- land pasturages for a distance of over SoO miles. The upper affluents converge in a common channel, which after running south-westwards parallel with the Darling, wanders in an uncertain course from swamp to swamp, and at last merges in the extensive depression of Lake Eyre together with other watercourses flowing from the solitudes of Central Australia. The total length of Cooper's Creek cannot be less than 1,200 miles, but it does not flow continuously throughout the year, and its course is often indicated only by meres and morasses. The lacustrine basins themselves vary in extent and form according to the greater or less abundance of the rainfall and intensity of the evaporation. At one season they present the aspect of extensive inland seas with surf-beaten shores, and stretching beyond the horizon without visible shoals or 3(J8 AUSTRALASIA. islands ; at anotlier tbey are mere quagmires reflecting the glittering mirage, or else argillaceous tracts covered with white saline efflorescences. During protracted droiights these so-called lakes may be crossed on horseback, provided the traveller avoid the bays and inlets of the periphery, where the treacherous muds and bogs are longest maintained by the underground waters filtering through from the surrounding lands towards the lateral creeks. From the disposition and outlines both of Lake Eyre, and of Lake Torrens, which forms its southern continuation in the direction of Spencer Golf, it seems probable that these now isolated basins were formerly marine inlets communicating freely with the South Pacific. The terminal depression, however, which is certainly the lowest cavity on the Australian continent, still stands some 65 or 70 feet above the present sea-level. Another depression towards the centre of Australia is occu- pied by "Lake" Amadeus, alternately a shallow lagoon, morass, or saline waste. In the arid region of West Australia there also occur several depressions of like character, which are commonly designated by the name of lakes. In the thoroughly esi^lored basins, such as that of the Darling, the fluvial discharge is so slight compared with the rainfall that some observers have sought for an explanation of the discrepancy in the existence of underground rivers flowing beneath the surface clays, and carrying either to the sea or to some subterranean reservoirs the greater part of the running waters. Some portion, however, of the rainfall, instead of being carried off in river beds, remains on the ground in certain shallow basins, which in the Darling pasturages are known by the name of " gilgies." On these level tracts, where the rains spread out in stag- nant sheets without the force required to excavate a fluvial channel, the onlj^ depressions where the water can be collected are the fissures formed in the arid soil during the dry season. Under the action of the heavj^ downpours the sides of these crevasses are washed away, the bed of the cavities thus formed is levelled, and water-holes are gradually developed, which vary in depth from 4 to 5 or 6 feet, and in size from a few feet to over a hundred yards in circuit. Some of these natural gilgies have even been enlarged by the natives, and converted into reservoirs capable of containing considerable quantities of water. Climate. The climate of Australia is written on the surface of the land, its more salient features being clearly indicated by those bare rocks, those treeless- plains and waterless depressions which occupy the greater part of the continent. Although surrounded by marine waters, Australia is of too massive a form to enjoy an insular climate, such as that of Europe with its deeply indented seaboard. Owing to the diyness of the atmosphere, due to the slight relief and the monotonous contours of the coastline, the meteorological conditions are essentially of a continental character. Lying half within the tropical and half in the south temperate zone, this region presents, from the York Peninsula to the terminal point of Tasmania, a CLIMATE OF AUSTRALIA. 869 long succession of graduated isothermal lines, with a mean temperature ranging from 78° or 80° F. in the extreme north to not more than 54° in the extreme south. But this gradual decrease does not correspond uniformly with the change of latitude, for the normal averages are often greatly modified, raised in one place, lowered in another, by the influence of the prevailing winds, marine currents, and mountain ranges. Thus the temperature is diversely affected by the backward flow of the equatorial and polar currents, which meet on the coasts of Queensland and New South Wales. The contrasts are also always great between the opposite slopes of the higher ranges, while iu the deserts of the interior, as in the African Fig. mo. — ISOTHEKILSXS OF AUSTRAI-IA. Scale 1 : 45,000.000. Sahara, the extremes of heat and cold present enormous discrepancies, according to Sturt as much as from 16° to 122° F. and even more.* In Australia the normal wind is the south-east trade, which prevails in the lower, while the oppo.site north-west trade sets regularly in the higher atmospheric * Climate of various Australian tOTvns : — Latitude. Somerset, N.E. . 10' 45' S. Brisbane, E. . . 27° 28' . Sydney, E. . 33' 52' . Melbourne, S. . . 37° 49' . Adelaide, S. . . 34' 57' . Perth, S.W. . . 31" 57' . vol,. XIV. san temperature. nighest. Lowest. . 78° F. — — . 69' 8' . 133° . 37° . 92° . 104' . 35° . 99' . no' . 27' . 94' . 113' . 34° . 88' 112' . 32° 86 inches. 63 48 64 20 33 870 AUSTRALASIA. regions. Nevertheless, the regular direction of these currents is considerably modified by the great centre of attraction formed by the arid solitudes of the interior. The trades being deflected towards the coast are changed to easterly and even north-easterly winds. Fig. 100.— Rainfall of East Australia. while marine breezes set scnie 1:30,000,000. j^l^^jj^ ^^ j-o^^d the Sea- board. In the north-west the winds blowing from Indonesia in the winter are simply the north-east trades, which, coming from the northern hemisphere, change their direction with the change of zone. Between these two zones of the south-east and north- west monsoons the neutral region, shifting with the seasons from east to west and north to south, cor- responds in a general way with the York Peninsula. But in the south of Australia the prevailing westerly gales, which are often ver^^ strong and even tempes- tuous, find an unobstructed course from the Indian to the Pacific Ocean, and are consequently seldom de- flected from the normal direction. On the mainland itself the changes of the dominant currents, espe- cially in summer, are usually accompanied by sudden squalls known bj' the name 6ooMii£3. of "bursters." The baro- meter falls rapidly, clouds of dust are stirred up), the storm gathers, peals of thunder echo from the welkin, and the rain comes down in torrents. In Melbourne these sudden gales from the interior are called " bricklaj'ers," from the destructive whirlwinds of dust accompanying them. In (he cultivated districts of the Australian coastlands no summer passes without several visitations of hot winds analogous in their effects to FLORA OF ArSTE.VLTA. 871 the African scirocco.. Under their action the temperature rises suddenly, both men and animals feel a sense of exhaustion, the vegetation droops, and if the wind lasts long enough the foliage becomes blighted and withers as if frost-bitten. The rainfall diminishes rapidly from the coast towards the interior of the continent, and the quantity received by the inner slopes of the coast-ranges is scarcely' more than one-half that of the slopes facing seawards. Thus the forty inches received by Sydney is reduced to less than sixteen on the western plains of New South ^Yales, and the supply of moisture is certainly much less in the cential regions, where the winds arrive deprived of nearly all their vapours. At the station of Charlotte "Waters, in the heart of the continent (26^ 29' south latitude), the mean annual discharge is only five inches, and at times a whole year passes without a single shower. Hence the greater part of Australia is too arid for European settlements, or for the development of agricultural enterprise. Never- theless, the colonists have had the immense advantage of finding a perfectly healthy climate in all the districts where they have built their towns or established cattle farms. Salubrity^ remains in the eyes of the immigrants from Great Britain the special privilege of Australia, and is regarded by them as a compensation for many material disadvantages. Notwithstanding the changes required by a new social life, the Anglo-Saxon suffers no inconvenience by migrating to the Austral hemi- sphere, and the average period of existence is even said to be higher in his new home at the antipodes. That people advanced in years here enjoy " a new lease of life" has become a local saying in most of the settled districts. Flora of Aistrai.ia. The Australian flora presents a highly original character. Few other vegetable zones are so well defined, offering as it does a most astonishing contrast even to that of New Giiinea, from which it is separated only by narrow and shallow waters. This originality must be explained by the long ages that have elapsed since the separation of the southern continent. But it still seems surprising that a region physically so monotonous compared with Europe, and moreover of smaller extent, should jjossess so many more botanical forms. These are estimated altogether at about 12,2-")0, of which number as many as 7,550 are quite peculiar to Australia. The only vegetable zones which present a comparatively richer or more varied flora are the southern extremity of Africa and the island of New Caledonia. There must be some coinmon cause for the extraordinary concentration of distinct species in these three regions of the southern hemisphere, where the floral world appears to have increased in variety according as the lands themfelves diminished in superficial area. Nor is it the tropical, but, on the contrary, the temperate part of all three zones that presents the greatest proportion of vegetable foi'nis ; and these forms are again more numerous in the arid western section than in the romantic eastern division of the Australian Continent. Hence the submeigcnce of the land must have been greater on the side facing the Indian than on tliat turned towards the Pacific Ocean. B B 2 872 AUSTRALASIA. The splendour and exuberance, if not the variety, of vegetable growths depends above all on the abundance of the rainfall. Thus the lovely family of palms, which might be supposed restricted to the trojjical part of Australia, seems almost independent of latitude, here following the seaboard far to the south of the torrid zone. No members of this group occur on the arid west side of the continent. A narrow belt of palms is seen only along the northern and eastern shores as far south as New South Wales, where the slopes of the hills beyond Sydney in 35° S. latitude are still shaded by the Ikistona, which here grows to a height of over 80 feet. In its palm flora, as in so many other respects, Australia resembles South Africa. The pandanus penetrates southwards no farther than Moreton Bay, on the Queensland coast, and in general the Australian trojjical is less original than the temperate flora. Numerous Indian and Malayan species give it in many places an Indonesian aspect ; but there also occur in the tropical zone a few forms of quite a special character, which, however, occupy a very narrow area. Such are, near Hanover Bay on the north-west coast, those remarkable capjiariv, which grow to a considerable height, and whose branches, laden with fruits as large as cocoanuts, bend gracefully over in the form of a vast canopy. The stem is always inflated, bulging out like a pumpkin and giving a sickly appearance to the plant. Its fruit, however, is excellent, and the white gum obtained by incision of the bark resembles macaroni both in flavour and colour. Amongst plants restricted to a narrow range botanists have also discovered on the New South Wales uplands some forms belonging to the north European regions. Of these Hooker enumerates 38, including varieties of the ranunculus, gentian, and myosotis. Since the arrival of the whites the vegetation has been greatly modified, and some northern forms have not only invaded Australia, but have spread thence to New Caledonia and other South-Sea Islands. According to Hooker there are at present over 200 perfectly acclimatised European plants in the Sydney district, where they grow freely without the aid of artificial cultivation. Amongst the 950 species of trees which attain a height of at least 30 feet the most common are those with small slender leaves, throwing off but slight evapora- tion and affording little shade. The genus acacia is represented by no less than 320 species, some almost destitute of true foliage, but overladen in spring-time with fragrant blossom. The casuarina also lacks a fully developed foliage, but is covered with little rigid branchlets, and often presents a black, withered appear- ance. This family is very numerous, as is also that of the so-called grass-tree {xantliorrlicea), which is characterised by a large tuft of wiry, grass-like foliage shooting up from the stem, with a spike like a bulrush in the centre, which is covered in summer with a mass of white blossom. In Queensland is met another curious forest plant, the bottle-tree, so named from its shape. But the Australian tree in a pre-eminent sense is the eucalyptus, or gum-tree, of which there are about a hundred different species. Amongst these is the famous eucalyptus globulus, to which have been attributed so many curative properties, and which is said to exceed all other trees in mean height, with AUSTE.ILDIN FLORA. 873 perhaps tlie single exception of the iceUingtonia of California and Oregon. But this prerogative is by others assigned to the Rcgnans variety of eucalyptus amygdalina, which attains its greatest size on the mountain slopes of eastern Victoria, where trunks have been measured no less than 480 feet long.* Gums 420 feet high are by no means rare in the gorges of Victoria and Tasmania ; but farther north scarcely any are met exceeding 200 feet. Those growing on the Tasmanian uplands shoot straight up like bamboos, without any branches below a height of 50 or 60 feet. When the wind whistles through the ravines, the strips of bark hanging from these tall stems clash together with a weird, creaking sound as of moaning spirits. Growing only on the slopes of the hills, the giant gum-trees are not seen to full advantage from a distance. In Australia there are scarcely any dense forests with a tangled growth of interwoven branches and creepers, as in most tropical regions ; nor are there many woodlands with close-set stems, as in the pine and fir plantations of north Europe. As a rule, the trees lie wide apart, like those of the English parks, and beneath their shade stretches the grassy sward, where formerly grazed herds of kangaroos, now mostly replaced by flocks of sheep. Till recently these open wooded tracts covered the greater part of the western slope of the New South "Wales and Queens- land uplands ; but farther west, towards the centre of the continent, they give place to scrub, usually consisting of thorny plants, such as acacias, dwarf eucalj'ptus or spinifex {triodia irritans), growing together in thickets. North of the 28° south latitude, where this scrub prevails, men and animals often find it impossible to make way, and many travellers, unable to force a path through the spinifex, have been fain to change their route or retrace their steps. The dense growths of eucalyptus cUimosa, the mallie of the natives, are also a great obstacle to explorers, though they may still be traversed. They have the appearance of tall bulrushes, growing to a height of 10 or 12 feet before throwing off any branches, and completely covering the ground with a uniform sea of verdure, in which the wayfarer disappears, while laboriously striving to force a passage. The cuttings made for highways across these mallie thickets are as sharp and clearly defined as those of roads flunked by walls. Of the scrubby tracts the most easily penetrated are those composed of melakuca, a shrub which resembles the myrtle, and which grows in clusters with free intervening spaces. The natives of the desert regions are acquainted with a plant, the pitchouri {duboisia liopu-oodii), whose leaves reduced to powder sustain them on long journeys, and keep oil the pangs of hunger. When fighting they continually chew these leaves, which appear to have the effect of exciting their warlike spirit to a pitch of frenzy. A beginning has long been made in the process of disafforesting Australia. About the year 1860 some stockbreeders entertained the idea of extending their grazing grounds by clearing away the forest growths that clothed the slopes of the hiUs. The process of felling the eucalyptus and other large trees would have been too slow and two expensive ; hence the squatters had recourse to the more expe- ditious plan of barking the stems. This practice spread rapidly, and by 1880 at • George Sutherland, amongst others, declares this to be " imdoubtedly the largest tree in the world." 37i AUSTEALASIA. least three-fourths of the forests iu the basin of the Hunter had already disap- peared. The time seems approaching when scarcely a single tree will be left in the boundless pastures of the interior. This ruthless destruction of the woodlands has had the effect of transforming the most charming landscapes into dreary monotonous wastes. But strange to say, the clearing of the forest tracts has not been followed by any decrease in the annual rainfall, while such a luxuriant herbage has been developed, that in some places a thousand sheep find an abun- dance of food where scarcely a hundred could formerly be kept. The eucalyptus and other trees, whose roots ramified far and wide in search of moisture, left little for the o-rasses, which sprang uj) in the rainy season and perished on the return of the drouo-hts. Now, however, the pastures receive the full benefit of the whole supply, which sufficiently explains their improved condition. Fauna of Australia. Like the flora, the Australian fauna presents a strikingly individual physiog- nomy, attesting the long succession of ages during which this southern continent has been sej)arated from the Asiatic mainland. Of its 160 species of mammals scarcely any correspond with those of the northern regions, except some rats, mice, and the dingo, a half-wild dog, which probably accompanied the first human immigrants, and the remains of which are found amongst the bones occurring in former cave-dwellings. There is no elephant, no rhinoceros, no monkey, nor a single member of the feline group. The characteristic species are, in fact, mainly marsupials, which scarcely occur in any other region of the globe, except in America, where several varieties of the opossum family occupy a wide range. The fossils discovered in the Australian quaternary deposits show that at some remote period the continental fauna resembled that still surviving, but was repre- sented by animals of far larger dimensions. The diprotodon, a sj)ecies allied to that of the kangaroos, Avas nearly as large as the elephant, and others rivalled the rhinoceros in size ; one variety of carnivorous phalanger was as formidable as a lion, and birds of the emu family surpassed the largest ostriches in proportions. Of all Australian mammals the kangaroos and kindred forms are by far the most numerous. There occur some fifty distinct species of these marsupials, one of which, the great red kangaroo, is over 5 feet high and weighs as much as 225 lbs., while others are no bigger than a hare or even a rat. The other chief repre- sentative animals of the Australian fauna are the pcrameUdce, locally known as " rabbits," which have the marsupial pouch like the kangaroo, but which run on all fours like other quadrupeds, and not by a series of hops on the hind legs ; the phalangcrs, which live in trees and feed on leaves ; the phmcolomijs, or wombat, which burrows in the ground and feeds on roots ; the carnivorous dosyurida', with bear-like tail, which prey on mice, birds, and even small live-stock ; lastly, the anomalous oniitliorhynchus, or duck-bill, a monotreme oviparous mammal allied to the marsupials. The Australian avifauna is very rich, comprising 630 species, or 130 more than FAUNA OF AUSTEAIJA. 875 the European, but, viewed as a whole, it presents less marked features than the order of mammals. Doubtless Australia has its emus, its casowaries, and various species of mcijalojjodius, which does not hatch its eggs, merely covering them with brushwood; but most of the birds found on this continent belong also to the Indonesian and Asiatic zones, thanks to the faculty of flight by which they cross the intervening marine spaces. Birds of graceful form and gorgeous plumage are scarcely less numerous than in New Guinea and the Moluccas ; those whose food is nectar and honey are relatively the best represented, for Australia abounds in flowering trees and shrubs. Nevertheless, whole groups, such as the families of vultures, the pheasants and magpies, are absent from this region of the globe. The crocodile is found only on the seaboard facing the Malay Archipelago, but the venomous species of snakes are very numerous. Other zoological orders, such as fishes, insects, molluscs, also present special types with a great diversity of forms, but already much modified in their general distribution since the introduc- tion of corresponding European species. Even the forests and thickets, formerly seldom enKvened bj- the songsters' notes, now constantly echo with the music of the new arrivals from the mother countiy. Indigenous plants and animals alike have been thrust into the background by the intruding species, just as the Austra- lian himself retires before the strangers of white stock. Not only have the English brought with them all the European domestic animals, but since 1846 they have even imported the Asiatic camels with their Afghan and Baluchi drivers. Thanks to these human and animal immigrants, accustomed to cross vast desert wastes, expeditions have been successfully undertaken, which but for them would have been impossible. Inhabitants of Acstualia. The aboijiginal population before the establishment of the first British settle- ments has been conjecturally estimated at from one hundred and fifty thousand to two hundred thousand. But even were it three or four times more numerous Australia would none the less have to be considered as at that time almost unin- habited, regard being had to its vast extent. All the tribal groups thinly scattered over this boundless region everywhere presented great resemblance in type and speech ; hence most anthropologists agree in looking on the natives as belonging to a common stock, constituting a well-marked independent branch of the human family. Nevertheless, it seems probable that before the Eurojican immigration peoples of diverse origin, either driven before the storm or following long familiar marine routes, had reached the Australian mainland and intermingled with the primitive populations. During his exploring expeditions across the north-western regions George Grey noticed in all the tribes the presence of individuals with relatively light complexion, who seemed to w'ield a certain authority over their fellow tribesmen. According to Grey these warriors represented an element of Indonesian origin, and even their dogs, quite different from the Australian dingo, 876 AUSTRALASIA. resembled the Malay species found in Timor.* On the otlier hand there exist in the islands of Torres Strait peoples with abundant frizzly hair, who belong probably to the same stock as the Papuans. Maer (Murray Island) is inhabited by a dark race differing in no respects from the New Caledonians. But whatever be the origin of these contrasts amongst the natives, whether due to difference of race or to diversity of environment and social life, the ordinary type of the Australians not yet debased by a degraded existence amongst the colonists is much finer than is usually supposed. Those especially who occupy more favoured domains along the fertile river- banks are distinguished by fine figures and a well-developed muscular system, with low but broad forehead, rather flat nose, large mouth, massive jaws, brown animated eyes sheltered by very promi- nent superciliary arches. The natives are generally free from physical defects, and amongst those of West Australia Bishop Rudesindo Salvado noticed only four blind, but not one either deaf, dumb, or insane. Although of dark or blackish complexion, like the Sudanese Africans, unlike them the Australians have no woolly or frizzly hair, being in this respect distin- guished from all other dark races. The beard, also, is much more developed than that of the Negroes proper, while the lijas are never everted so as to show the red inner skin. Their weak point are the lower extremities — spindle legs, flat calves, flat but very small feet. On the whole, they doubtless yield to the Europeans in physical strength, though not in endurance and power of sujoporting pain, but they are by no means the beings of grotesque and repulsive appearance as described by travellers who saw them only in the wretched hovels on the outskirts of large towns, or as depicted by the sjDortsmen who hunted them down like so much game. To believe some accounts, they are little better than animals, intermediate between man and the higher apes, and even more allied to the latter than the former. On the other hand these vilified aborigines have found enthusiastic champions amongst the dominant race. Mitchell, who had taken the black Yuranigh as his guide across the ti'opical regions, expressly declares that the Australians of his escort were " superior in penetration and judgment " to his white assistants, although he had no occasion to complain of the latter. Yuranigh he calls his com- panion, his counsellor and friend, and from the physical point of view regards his superiority as self-evident. As a mere specimen of natural history, what civilised animal, he asks, could have compared with this native for the beauty of his teeth, his powerful digestion, the perfection of his organs of sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch, his staying powers in walking, running, and climbing trees, his healthy constitution, and the intensity of his animal existence ? t As a rule the superior tribes have a coppery rather than a black complexion, while nearly all the skulls are of the dolichocejjhalous or long type. The aborigines appear to be most degraded physically in the arid central region, where man, exhausted and stunted by hunger and thirst, passes his days in grubbing the * JciuriHil of Two Expeditions of Biscovery in North-Western and Western Australia. t Tropical Australia. INHABITANTS OF AUSTRALIA. 877 earth in quest of a few roots and of a little muddy water. Tribes are even said to exist which, together with their dogs, have adapted themselves to the use of sea-water. The finest natives wei'e those of the east coast, where a more beneficent nature supplied food and water in abundance, including, however, certain articles of diet calculated to excite the astonishment and loathing of Europeans. Thus Von Lendenfeld tells us that Mount Bogong takes its name from the grubs which the aborigines here collected in myriads for their daily meals. Although numbering but a few thousand souls, the Australian race is divided into hundreds of tribal groups. In certain districts there are as many languages as communities or scattered family circles. In others, again, the native idioms present great uniformity throughout considerable tracts of country. Thus from the banks of the Hawkesbury to Moreton Bay, a distance of aboiit 350 miles, the natives have little difficulty in conversing together ; so, also, those of the south-west coast, between Hamalin Bay and King George Sound, speak closely related dialects. Another extensive linguistic zone comprises the whole region between Cooper's Creek and the Middle Darling, a space of over 40,000 square miles, and this surprising uniformity of speech is attributed to the extreme dryness of the land, which obliges the tribes to gather round the watering-places in sum- mer, suspending all hostilities, and for the time being merging, as it were, in a common nationality. On the other hand, the tribes of the Lower Darling, where there is never any lack of water or vegetation, have been able to keep aloof for long ages, and their languages have consequentl}' become greatly diversified. The fact is evident from the very names of the different peoples in this region, all of which have exactly the same meaning, though often differing altogether in form. Such are the Baraba- Barabas, the Wati-Watis, the Waiki-Waikis, the Lichi-Lichis, the Darti-Dartis, the Yari-Yaris — terms meaning "No-No," just as by an analogous mental process mediaeval France was divided into the Langue d'Oui and the Langue d'Oc. The rapid divergence of the local dialects is also partly due to the respect paid to the dead requiring the survivors to taboo for a time, and even for ever, a large num- ber of words which bore or seemed to bear a certain relation to the deceased either in sound or sense. But, however they may differ from each other outwardly, all the native idioms present some common points of resemblance. They are polys3-llabic and aggluti- nating by means of harmonious suffixes abounding in vowels. Aspirates are slightly developed, the sibilants are completely absent, and the accent falls usually on the penultimate syllable. Onomatopoeic terms are very common, and all objects perceived by the senses are indicated by numerous synonyms, or at least by what pass as such amongst strangers interrogating the natives. But on the other hand, these primitive tongues are extremel}^ poor in abstract expressions, as well as in the names of numerals. Scarcely any appear to have distinct terms for more than one or fico, while probably none of the tribes can count beyond five. In the absence of accurate knowledge attempts have been made to classify the 378 AUSTEALASIA. Australian languages on the ground of a few common points of resemblance, but these attempts have not proved very successful, often yielding the most contradic- tory results. In any case the Tasmanian idioms, of which a few vocabularies are extant, are regarded as forming an independent group. The islanders themselves were evidently of a different stock, and much more closely allied to the Melanesians than to their Australian neighbours. To the great physical differences of the aborigines correspond moral traits of a no less divergent order. Hence the varying and even contradictory reports of observers, some of whom vaunt their native pride, courage, and respect for their pledged word, while others describe them as cowards, Hars, and traitors. One of the most common charges urged against them is their cruel and oppressive treat- ment of the women, and in most communities this accusation is only too well founded. Instances are not lacking of women who have acquired a certain moral ascen- dancy in the tribe, but as a rule they fare little better than slaves. Not only are they forbidden to eat in the presence of men, but many kinds of food are denied them, while they are required to show in speech and attitude a sort of adoration towards their masters, the least inattention being visited with the severest castiga- tion. The husband may kill and even burn his wife, her friends and relations being powerless to interfere on her behalf. He may throw her body to his dogs, because the wife is his property, which he has the right to use or abuse at his pleasure. Nevertheless, traces still survive in Australia of a primitive matriarchal system, and even now name, kinship, rank, and fortune are for the most part transmitted through the female line. Polygamy prevails amongst the native populations, and in the north-western districts cases occur of powerful tribesmen acquiring as many as ten wives. In some communities exogamy is strictly observed, all marriages contracted with women of the same class being regarded as incestuous, yet amongst others unions between near relatives are held in honour. In one place marriages are effected by a real or simulated abduction, in another the only formality is the payment of the contract price. This purchase of the women by the strong and wealthy members of the com- munity has the effect of condemning the poor and the young men to a state of celibacy, or obliging them to put up with the divorced wives of their elders. The dearth of wives amongst most Australian populations is all the greater that the women are far less numerous than the men ; not, however, because female births are rarer, as has been asserted, but because during their short existence the women are exposed to many more dangers, such as premature confinement, exces- sive hardships, bad treatment, night attacks, and the like. Amongst many tribes infanticide is common, and as a rule it is the girls who are removed either by being buried uHve or knocked on the head immediately after birth. Children who survive the perils of infancy are treated with much kindness ; they are never beaten and grow up freely to man's estate, following their elders to the chase and war.- Nevertheless they have to undergo the severe trials of the IXIIABITANTS OF AUSTRALIA. 879 bora before being admitted as equals into the society of the men. In a large number of tribes two incisors of the upper jaw are broken or extracted. Most of the youths are subjected to circumcision, or else to various kinds of extremely painful mutilations. They are also required to run down a kangaroo in the chase, to remain alone in the forest without food for several days at the risk of their lives, to endure horrid tortures without wincing, and so on. Amongst the Kurnai of South Australia these probations end in a magnetic sleep, after which the yoiiths wake up "men." Then at last the}' are entitled to wear the girdle, bracelets, the fron- tal band, and other ornaments, indicating that they have re;iched the virile state. These initiatory ceremonies are usually concluded with a corrohori, or tribal gathering, held during the full moon, combining the administration of justice, par- liaments, solemn treaties of alliance, and concluding with theatrical representations, midnight dances, feasts, and orgies. Once initiated, the youths may take part in the songs, dances, and oratorical displays. As members of the clan they are branded on the breast or thigh with the kohong, that is, the national embltm, some plant or animal, like the totem of the North American Redskins. But these emblems are at times insignificant enough, a simple ant or spider, or other small insect. The person so marked must henceforth show his respect for the talisman that symbolises the family group, holding himself as the inseparable companion or kinsman of all bearing the same totem, as well as of all natural objects associated with his particular kobong. Thus during the funeral rites care must be taken that the body be buried under a tree regarded as belonging to the same clan. Tattooing is often limited to the figure of the kobong, but in some tribes the body is covered with symmetrical scarifications of a rude design, incised by means of shai'p shells. On the north-east coast the natives also follow the Papuan custom of piercing the cartilage of the nose and introducing a bit of stick or a kangaroo bone, which imj)edes the respiration and obliges those so adorned to keep the mouth open. According to the various occasions of war, feasts, or mourning they paint the face and body in red, yellow, white, or black colours. White is an indica- tion of grief, while red is the sacred colour reserved for the great events of the tribal life. Before the arrival of the Europeans the natives of the tropical regions went naked, or restricted their attire to a few rags or waist-bands of fibre, while in the colder southern districts the women wore a smock or tunic of kangaroo skin. The northern tribes still paint the face and body in various colours, and near Port Darwin the white streaks traced on the black ground of the face give from a distance the effect of a death's head. But the form and pattern of dress and orna- ment, as well as of the dwellings, vary endlessly. In one place the only shelter are the natural caves and rocks, in another a screen of foliage, hovels, and even rude stone structures. The weapons also differ greatly, though the most prevalent are spears, clubs, and darts with fish-bone or flint heads. In certain districts the aborigines still make use of unpolished stone hatchets, but the bow and arrow aro unknown, except along a small strip of the east coast. 380 AUSTRALASIA. The most characteristic weapon is the boomerang, a short curved stick which whirls with a corkscrew motion in the direction of the object aimed at, and after striking returns to the thrower. The inventive genius which devised this remark- able implement has also enabled the natives to invent other ingenious contrivances for the hunt, fishing, and navigation. Yet it is noteworthy that the neighbouring Tasmanians were ignorant both of the throwing-stick and of the boomerang, and even of boats or canoes, although living in an island fringed with clusters of islets. The populations of Torres Strait and of the Arafura Sea, amongst whom the Fig. 161. — Inhabitants and Langdages op Austealia about 1850. Sciile 1 : 40,000,000. Lasb oFb^eenwich _ 600 Miles. The dots indicate the regions where the boomerang was unknown ; the lines mark the range of certain linguistic grnnps- Papuan elements seem in some places to prevail, were also ignorant of the boome- rang, the form of which curious weapon varies greatly in the different tribes. Not only is the tribal territory perfectly defined, but within this collective domain each individual often owns a plot, his right to which is never questioned. No one can cross the boundary without his express permission, the stranger pre- senting himself without arms, and holding green branches in his hand. The aborigines, however, are the most backward of agricultural peoples, the yam being the only plant cultivated by them, just as the dingo is the only animal they have INHABITANTS OF AUSTRALIA. 881 succeeded in domesticating. Nevertheless, industrj- has been so far developed among certain tribes that they appreciate the advantage of taking foreign articles in exchange for skins, nets of vegetable fibre, spear-heads, diverse pigments, and other native produce. This intertribal commerce is carried on through the so-called ngalla icatos, who are solemnly elected to the office, and who act as mediators between their own and other tribes whose languages they speak. Thanks to cer- tain pass-words, signs, and " writing sticks," they are able to present themselves everywhere with confidence, their person being sacred even in time of war. The remarkable development of certain Australian tribes is shown especially by their knowledge of the starry firmament. They give to the different constella- tions the names of legendary heroes, and are able exactly to describe their position according to the eight points dividing the sphere. The path of moon and stars enables them to determine the hours with great accuracy, although the poverty of their idioms in names of the numerals jDrevents them from having am' exact sense of measure, and from combining the primitive elements with sufficient skill to develop a rudimentary geometry. They acquire languages with remarkable facility, and in the mixed schools where the native children are seated by the side of the whites, the latter are not always at the head of the class Their linguistic facvdty is probably due to the extreme delicacy of their sense of hearing. Thej' have no musical instruments except rude drums of kangaroo skin, and in some of the southern tribes a kind of flute on which they pla}' with the nose. But singing is much practised in joy or grief, during the fury of battle, or even to allay the pangs of hunger. Events interesting to the community are also commemorated in song. Like the South African bushmen, to whom they have often been compared, they are fond of figuring human faces and animal forms on their skin garments, on the bark of trees and the face of the rock. The paintings seen by Grey on the banks of the Glenelg in the north-west were in diverse colours, black, red, yellow, white, blue, coated over with a gum which while enhancing the brightness of the tints protected them from the weather. Certain figures reproduced by Grey recall those of Byzantine saints surrounded with their luminous nimbus. This traveller also noticed a head in relief remark- ably well sculptured on a sandstone rock. In the central parts of the continent the most conspicuous objects are images of snakes done in charcoal or painted with ochre. Grey also mentions certain designs traced on a person clothed in a long red robe, which so closely resembled written characters that it was impossible not to associate the representation with the idea of an inscription. It would seem natural to attribute such designs to some casual visitors from the neighbouring Eastern Archipelago, but for the fact that the less rudely executed figures were precisely those which were discovered farthest from the coast. Figures, however, have also been found carved on the surface of the rocks far to the east both in Queensland and New South Wales. Funeral rites vary to a surprising degree from tribe to tribe. In one district the dead are burnt, in another they are buried or else exposed on rocks or the branches of trees. In South Australia, they are interred with the head turned B82 AUSTRiVLASIA. towards the rising sun, and a fire is then kindled near the grave to scare away the evil spirits. In the York Peninsula they are placed on the headlands, and a terrace on a rocky islet at the very extremity of Cape York is covered with an enormous pile of skulls enclosed b}^ a fence of stones and surmounted by a stout bamboo cane. No more solemn site or more in harmony with a deep poetic senti- ment could have been chosen for the necropolis of the community. Amongst numerous tribes, especially in the northern regions, the mother cuts off a finger at the death of each child. Elsewhere the obsequies are accompanied b}' cannibal scenes. When a man dies young or through old age his nearest and dearest consider themselves bound to eat him in proof of their affection. In South Australia, also, the child dying of any illness is devoured, the mother taking the head in the hope of thus restoring the lost one to life ; but in other tribes she is condemned to keep with her the dead body of her child for months together. A common practice is also that of consuming the enemy killed in battle, the motive being to acquire their strength and valour, and to prevent their shades from avenging their death. But in order to achieve this object all that is needed in certain districts is to eat the kidney fat, which is regai-ded as the seat of the soul. Elsewhere the same purpose is secured merely by consuming th.e eyes, in which shone the rage of battle. The Australians believe in charms, incantations, and miracles. 'No malady but has been caused by some hostile magician ; no cure but has been effected by a beneficent wizard. The universe is full of spirits and genii, some wandering about in pain and seeking to reoccupy some new body, others animating the trees and rocks, heaven itself, the storm, clouds, and stars. But the natives do not appear to have idols properlj' so called, though all their surroundings are objects of worship ; in everything they see some formidable or benevolent being, who must be invoked to appease his wrath or secure his aid. The moon-god especially seems to be a potent deity, more powerful than the sun- goddess; for he is born again each month to beget the stars, trees, animals, and men. Thanks to the action of the Christian missionaries the various national myths have gradually assumed a certain biblical aspect, so that some writers have discovered a distant resemblance between them and the Mosaic records. Few Australian tribes show even the rudiments of a state in (heir political organisation. Amongst these mention is made of the Narrinyery people of Murray River, who, according to Taplin, have elective " kings " assisted by a council of ciders ; Init such constitutions are rare, and their existence is absolutely denied by Curr. In any case each head of a family has almost complete control over the destinies of his domestic group. Doubtless the hah/ns, or sorcerers, exercise great influence, and this influence combined with that of age at times secures them real political j)ower. But these are all exceptional cases, and it seems safe to assert that there is at all events no transmission of authority from father to son or through the female line in any Australian community. The universal rule is equality of rights for each family as well as for each tribe. In time of peace all were held to be of equal worth ; but in the course of IXIIABTTANTS OF AUSTEALIA. 383 ages particular groups had devoted themselves to some special industry which rendered them necessary to the others. One found within its territory an excellent material for the manufacture of stone hatchets, and thus acquired perfection in that art ; another su])plied the best boomerangs, or the finest kangaroo skins, and so on. But throughout nearly the whole of the Australian world the history of the aborigines is already a thing of the past. The race itself is steadily decreasing and dying out. Even the few that still survive are being rapidly transformed by crossings and the adoption of a settled existence. In many districts more than half of the population has been swept away by the diseases introduced with the Europeans, and especially by small-pox, the invasion of which coincided with the landing of the first convicts at Botany Bay. Besides small-pox, whose ravages were continued down to the year 1840, there are other influences at work, some even within the tribes themselves. Such are the monopoly of the women by the old and rich, infanticide and abortion ; but most of all is the irresistible advance of the European settlers, driving to the background the primitive populations which at first regarded these " white men" as their kinsmen returning from the world of spirits. Thrust back towards the wilderness the natives find themselves deprived of their rich hunting-grounds, and many, conscious of the doom pending over them, give up the struggle for existence, and even refuse to perpetuate their race. How could it be otherwise when certain colonial magistrates declare all those to be marauders and poachers who persist in remaining on the territory of their fore- fathers ? The very appearance of European cattle is already the dcath-knell of the aborigines, for this is followed by the extermination or disappearance of the kangaroo, and the native hunters finding no more game are obliged also to retire or perish of hunger. In sixteen months as many as 220,000 kangaroos were killed in the single Queensland district of Warwick. But a war of extermination is waged not only against the native game, but also against the natives themselves. On the borders of many estates, notably in Queensland, which stretches to the confines of the desert, the sheep farms are guarded by mounted police — Australians, Melanesians, or Kafirs — who are instructed to fire on the independent blacks and thus relieve the peaceful squatters from "these troublesome loafers." The island of Tasmania has already been completely " cleared " by the S3'stematic destruction of its primitive inhabitants, who wore estimated at about seven thousand on the arrival of the whites, and who were said to be of a remark- ably gentle and kindly disposition. On December 28th, 1834, the last survivors, hounded down like wild beasts, were captured at the extremity of a headland, and this event was celebrated as a signal triumph. The successful hunter, Robinson, received a Government reward of 600 acres and a considerable sum of money, besides a public subscription of about £8,000. The captives were at first convej'ed from islet to islet, and then confined to the number of two hundred in a marshy valley of Flinders Island, washed by the stormy waters of Bass Strait. They were supplied with provisions and some lessons in the catechism ; their community was even quoted as an example of the 884 AUSTRALASIA. progress of Christian civilisation. But after ten years of residence in this place of exile more than three-fourths of the natives had perished. Then pity was taken on them, and the twelve surviving men, twenty-two women, and ten children, nearly all half-breeds, were removed to a narrow promontory at Oyster Cove, near Hobart, and placed under some keepers, who enriched themselves at their expense. In 1860 the Tasmanian race was reduced to sixteen souls ; in 1869 the last man perished, and in 1876 " Queen " Truganina, popularly known as Lalla Rookh, followed her people to the grave. But there still survived a few half-castes, and Fig. 162. — Lalla Rookh, the Last Tasmanian. in 1884 a so-called " Tasmanian " woman obtained a grant of land fi'om the colonial parliament. On the Australian mainland, also, most of the coast tribes have disappeared. Of the one thousand five himdred natives occupying the Botany Bay district in 1788 not a single descendant can be found, and in the settled districts where a few of the aborigines still linger, all tribal grouping has been effaced. At the census of 1881 the total number in the colonised territory was estimated at some thirty thousand. Since then there has been an apparent increase in some of the colonies, which is explained by the fact that the frontiers have been enlarged so as to include a few hundred tribes till recently independent, and consequently not included in the earlier returns. Nevertheless, some recent statistics seem to show rsrnABITANTS of AUSTEALIA. S85 that there has been a real increase either of the pure or the mixed aboriginal elements in certain " reserves," where the natives are treated with kindness. In the arid regions of the interior beyond the districts settled by the whites the aborigines are probably even leas numerous than in the vicinity of the seaboard. The mixture of white and native blood produces an intermediate race of fair proportions and comely appearance. At present the colonists of European birth and descent have become absolute masters of the continent, where they are. already at least fifty times more numerous than the aborigines. But their beginnings were lowly enough, and whereas the inhabitants of other countries delight in celebrating the heroic virtues of their forefathers and predecessors, the present citizens of the Australian states prefer to trace their descent, not from the first arrivals, but from later immigrants. Those first arrivals were in fact convicts, who, to the number of seven hundred and eighty- seven, were transported in 1778 to Botany Bay, and thence soon after removed to a more favourable locality on the south side of Port Jackson. But the experiment to found a colony with elements drawn from the criminal classes was attended with little success. The prisoners, treated with excessive rigour, especially under the administration of Bligh, thought only of escape, and thousands perished in their repeated attempts at revolt or flight. Large numbers, however, succeeded in reaching the inland tribes, and althoiigh many were devoured, by the natives, others rose to positions of authority and became tribal chiefs, while some played an historic part as conquerors of archipelagoes in the South Seas. Between 1778 and 1820 Australia received from the mother country 28,878 convicts, of whom not more that 3,G61 were women. During that peyiod the births did not exceed 1,500, and so far from becoming self-supporting, these in- voluntary immigrants cost the British Government about £600,000 annually. But a new era opened for the Australasian world with the introduction of free immi- gration in the year 1820. The new settlers soon began to jn-otest vigorouslj' against the continuation of the S3-stem of transportation, and in 1840 their efforts were crowned with success, at least in the eastern provinces, for Tasmania continued to receive convicts till 1853, and West Australia till 1868. At j)resent the original convict element may be regarded as completely merged in the rest of the popula- tion, and all sense of humiliation associated with the early penal settlements has entirely disappeared. The while population, which had hitherto increased at a moderate rate, received a tremendous impulse by the discovery of the gold-fields about the middle of the cen- tury. Since that time it has been multiplied tenfold, rising from three hundred thousand to considerably over three millions in 1889. The mining element con- sisted for the most part of adult males, while other fortune-hunters, traders, artisans, or tillers of the soil, arrive in large numbers without families. Hence the discrepancy between the sexes is all the greater the more copious is the stream of immigration. In Queensland, which receives the largest influx of settlers, the women are least numerous, whereas the equilibrium is already nearly re-established in South Aus- tralia, towards which the tide of immigration has almost ceased to flow. From VOL. XIV. r c ■ 886 AUSTRALASIA. year to ye:ir the disparity diminishes, because the excess of births over the nior- tuhty, which is much higher than iu most other civilised lands, acqiiires more im- purtuDce the more the general 2)opulation increases. This excess is already greater than the whole number of immigrants, and thus are gradually re-established the normal conditions. It is also noteworthy that the mortality is far less amongst Fig. 1G3. — Density of the Austealian Population. Scale 1 : 30,000,000. luiiaLitiUlts pti oquaie 1 m 2 to 4 4 tu 8 Each 9{iiiare represents a population of L'.OOO. ^—^■^__^^^^^— ^_ GOU Miles. 8 anQ upwards the women than the men, so that by the end of the century the Australian popu- lation, like that of Europe, will show a slight- predominance of the fair sex. In the movement of immigration the part taken by the English, Scotch, and Irish jjreponderates to such an extent that all other ethnical elements may be regarded as of no account. Language, institutions, usages, all is English, and iu some places even more English than in England itself.* Many Australians take a certain pride in resisting the current of modern ideas prevalent in the mother country, although their new environment obliges them to strike out fresh paths, severing * I'roude, Uicuiiu ; Aiithouy Troliupe, Amiralia auJ Xcw Zcalaiul. INHABITANTS OF AUSTEALIA. 887 tliem gradually from their European fellow-citizens, and bringing them somewhat nearer to their North American kinsmen, whrim they resemble in figure, bearing, and even features. The German settlers, although numerous, are nowhere grouped in sufficient masses to enable them to live apart from the English, and, in fact, they become rapidly absorbed in the surrounding Australian popxilations. On the other hand, the Chinese, formerly introduced in large numbers hj capitalists to work their planta- tions and mines, had begun to form a powerful class, which threatened to drive the white workmen out of the labour market. Lut the national antagonism aroused by these conflicting interests, by the "yellow danger," as it is called, ^ig. 164— Increase of the Australian- Population. has had the result of rendering a residence in Queensland and the other Australian colonies almost impossible for the " Celestials." Thousands have had to leave the country, while recent laws passed in contravention to the treaties concluded with China, prevent them from landing, except on paj'ment of a heavy fine, besides imposing on them all sorts of vexatious burdens. As in all modern colonies of an industrial character, the immigrant populations have been to a large extent centred in the towns, and owing to this tendency the cities of Sydney and Melbourne alone con- tain nearly a third of the whole Australian population. Yet it is from the land that the settlers in this new world derive their chief resources. A comparative study of the ample statistics now available for the various provinces shows what an important economical position is already occupied by the Australian colonies. Although the vast domain belonging to the Crown has only been utilised to a relatively small extent, .considerably over 100,000,000 acres had already been disposed of to private individuals at the end of 1886, and either brought under cultivation, or devoted to stock-breeding, and especially sheep-farming. Artesian wells, sunk in many of the inland regions, have tapped the underground reservoirs, and transformed extensive arid wastes into good grazing grounds ; projects are also being entertained for husbanding the surface waters by means of dams and other hydraulic works. Australia is the first wool-producing country in the world, ranking in this c (■ 2 338 AUSTRAIASIA. respect even bffore the Unitud States, the Argentine Republic, and Russia. The wool yielded by its twenty-four million sheep being of the finest quality, commands the highest prices in all the markets of the globe, and represents an annual value of about £20,000,000. The stock-breeders also own large herds of cattle, excellent horses and swine, yielding for the export trade considerable quantities of hides, suet, fat, tinned meats, and since 1882 frozen carcasses. The Australian dingo is much dreaded by the sheep-farmers, for he regards the flock as so much game, killing all he cannot devour ; whole folds have been destroyed by the depreda- tions of this animal, which, however, is rapidly disappearing with the natives themselves. The fox has also become dangerous ; but the great scourge of the stock- breeders is the rabbit, which, once imported from Europe, soon found a congenial home in the rolling, grassy, and flowering plains formerly tenanted by the kangaroo. Here the coney has multiplied to a prodigious extent, and although at least fifty millions are yearly destroyed by the shepherds and their dogs, he encroaches more and more on the pasturages to the great detriment of the live-stock. To get rid of this pest-several plans have been tried or suggested, amongst others the complete enclosure of the grazing grounds, and the systematic extermination of the does, thus arresting the propagation of the species. Experiments have also been made at Rodd Island, near Sydney, with " chicken cholera," inoculated according to the Pasteur method, in the hope that the rabbits themselves will spread the contagion. But fears have been expressed that the disease may thus be gradually disseminated among the domestic animals. In 1888 the arable lands comprised a total extent of nearly 8,500, 000 acres, yielding a relatively high proportion of produce, which is largely required for the local consumption. But Australia has already begun to take a prominent position amongst countries exporting wine, sugar, and tobacco. Some of the vintages have even acquired a certain reputation, and the burgundies especially shown at the Paris Exhibition of 1889 were much ajipreciated by French connoisseurs. Other classes of wine, such as bordeaux, champagne, moselle, port, are also success- fully grown ; but the vineyards have unfortunately begun to suffer from the ravages of the phylloxera. Cereals and other alimentary plants are chiefly grown on small holdings, while the Queensland sugar plantations, like the pasture lands of the Darling and of other regions lying beyond the east coast-ranges, are for the most part in the hands of large land-owners. " Despite the laws limiting the extent of land which one person may purchase, or rent for seven, fourteen, or twenty-one years, the tendency in Australia, as in the mother country, is in the direction of vast landed estates. In New South Wales the smallest plot offered for sale is about forty acres, but in some of the colonies allotments of 2,500 acres may be purchased, and syndicates have been formed for buying or renting far more extensive holdings. Certain estates, sheep-runs, or sheep-walks, as they are called, are laid out in the central part with a park, gardeins, and a magnificent residence with turrets, galleries, and conservatories, for the squatter is the true Australian aristocrat, a wealthy citizen, owning sheep by the hundred thousand, administering his IXIIABITAXTS OF AUSTRALIA. 389 doiuaiii throujili agents, and residius in the coast, towns, or even in London or Paris. Thus it has come about that the hiud is already hirgcly mouopolised by a SCO AUSTRALASIA. limited uuuiber of weallliy capitalists, so tliat of a liuiidrcd settlors uot more tliau six are landowners. • The gold-mines which more than aught else have contributed to the rapid development of the population, still form a chief resource of the country. Victoria osjaecially possesses auriferous deposits of immense value, and to them was indebted for its temporary ascendency over New South Wales. But here, as elsewhere, Fig. 1G6.— Gold Mines of South-East Austealia. Scale I ; 7,500,00.). mining operations became continually less remunerative according as the precious metals diminished in relative value. Siuce the discoverj- of the gold-fields in 1851 down to the year 1887, the total quantity of gold recovered by the miners reached the enormous sum of £3'?0,000,000, or more than £8,000,000 a year. The tin- mines, which occur chiefly in Queensland, and the highly pi'oductive copper-mines of South Australia also contribute to feed the export trade of the colonics, while AUSTRALIAN IXDUSTEJES. 391 the Xew Soixtli Wales coal-fields yield in importance only to those of "West Europe, the United States, add Eussia. The coal-mines increase in value according as those of gold fall off, and to them, combined with sheep-farming. New South Wales is indebted for the first place which it now holds amongst the Australian colonies. The silver-mines have but slight economic importance, whilst the salt lakes are scarcely utilised at all, as they yield onh' an inferior article full of impurities. The xVustralian manufacturing industry differs in no respect from that of Great Bi'itain, so far as regards the raw materiiils and mechanical processes ; but it is not yet sufficiently developed to give rise to any considerable export trade to the surrounding oceanic world. The country offers little beyond agricultural- and mining produce in exchange for the manufactured wares imported almost exclu- sivel)' from England, and for the teas received from China. But the total value of this commercial movement is prodigious, regard being had to the relatively slight population of the continent. Amongst trading lands Australia takes a first rank for the value of its exchanges compared with the number of its inhabitants. In this respect, however, the inter-colonial traflac is reckoned as so much foreign trade, because the custom-house tariffs differ in the different states, and are even regulated with a view to protecting si^ecial industries against the competition of neighbouring provinces. This local and foreign commerce employs thousands of vessels, constantly plying along the seaboard and on the highways of navigation converging from all quarters on the periphery of the continent. The main lines of oceanic steamships subsidised by the British Government maintain the communications between the great seaports of the British Isles and the Austral regions ; foreign steamers, also, such as those of the French Messageries and the German Company, touch at the more important Austra-lian ports. Thanks to the combined service of steam navigation and railwaj's, letters have been received in Adelaide from London within twenty-seven days. The colonies have also developed a considerable local ship- ping, and the mercantile marine registered in (he vai ious seaports already equals that of several European trading countries, such as Anstria^IIungary and Greece. In the interior of the continent railwaj-s have been constructed between all the large towns of East Australia, and the c( mplction of the viaduct across the Ilawkes- bury river now places Adelaide in uninterrupted communication with Brisbane by a trunk line over 1,700 miles long, or as far as from Paris to ]\Ioscow. West Australia at the south-west corner of the continent also possesses a few short lines and has just begun the vast undertaking of a coast railway to connect King George Sound with the South Australian system. The government of the latter colony on its part is pushing forward the construction of a trans-continental line between Adelaide in the south and Palmerston on the north coast. Tasmania also is adding a few branches to its main line between Launceston and Ilobart. With the exception of a few mineral and other industrial lines all the Australian railways belong to the several colonies whose territory they traverse. The telegi'aphs, which rti-e al.so maintained by the national budget, connect all 392 AUSTRALASIA. the colonief? with each other, as well as with New Zealand aud Java. Two sub- marine lines will soon be laid from Ceylon to West Australia, and from Sydney to Vancouver Island on the Pacific coast of British North America, aud thus will be completed the electric circuit of the English colonies round the globe. Education being compulsory and free, at least in the Government schools, all children pass a few years in the public schoulS. The average standard of instruc- tion is even higher in Australia thau in England, and as a rule girls attend school longer than boys. The expenditure for educational purposes is very high, amount- Fig. 167. — AUSTEALIAN RAILWAYS AT THE EnD OF 1SS7. Scale 1 : 40,000,000. E,.boFGreenw,,;h . Lines completed. ■ Main Lines in progress. ^^.^— — GOO Miles. ing in 1885 to £5 for each pupil. The Australian press comprises about 800 newspaper,? and other periodical publications. At present Australia constitutes five, and with Tasmania six, separate colonies or states. According to the date of their foundation, their economic interests, and the influence of dominant political parties, these various states frame for them- selves different constitutions ; but all require their fundamental enactments to be ratified by the British Government, and also receive as governor a direct rei^resen- tative of the Crown. Nevertheless a recent controversy between Queensland and the metropolis on the appointment of a governor resulted to the advantage of the colon}'. In the two states of Victoria and Tasmania the institutions are demo- GOVEEXMEXT OF AUSTEALLV. 893 cratic, and the two chambers are elected by universal suffrage, applied in such a way as to give a proportional representation to minorities. In New South "Wales and the other states the upper house is either entirely or partly named by the Crown. According as they grew in power and wealth the Australian colonies felt the need of drawing closer the bonds of union. A federation, authorised beforehand by the Imperial Parliament, has been projected for the purpose of amalgamating the states under the suzerainty of England, and safeguarding the common interests on the mainland and in the South Sea Islands, liut certain questions of 16S. — AUSTBALIAN COLOUIES. Scale 1 : 44,000,000. rivalry and precedence have hitherto prevented the definite constitution of the future federal state of Australasia, which must establish the absolute and perma- nent dominion of the Anglo-Saxon race in the oceanic woild. Albiiry, on the Murray, about midway between Sydney and Melbourne and on the common frontier of New South Wales and Victoria, seems destined by general conseilt to become the metropolis of the rising empire. In anticipation of its future rank it has alrcadj' been named the " Federal City," although it is still possible that this high honour may fall to the share of another place. To the first" conference held in 1886 at Ilobart, New South Wales, South Australia, and New Zeahuid hud sent no dek'gutes, although the I'iji ArchipeUigo 391 AUSTRALASIA. was adequately represented. But iu 1888 a second conference, attended hy dole- gates irom all the Australasian states, discussed the establishment of supreme tribunals for the whole group of colonies. South Australia also, hitherto opposed to all projects of federation, has recently joined the movement. Australia natu- rally looks forward to the time when the confederation will be joined not only by British New Guinea and Fiji but by all the Pacific islands already acqiiired or to be acquired by Great Britain, and thus secure an incontested hegemony throughout 169.— Kino Geokoe Sound. Scale 1 : 230,000. ISO Fret and upwards. the southern hemisphere. In many instances, notably during the recent discus- sions with France on the subject of the New Hebrides and the transport of convicts to New Caledonia, it became evident that the Australians asjiiire soon to be masters in the Austral regions, and proclaim, Kke the North Americans, their " llonroe doctrine" — the Oceanic World for the Oceanians. As a militarjf power Australasia would already present formidable difficulties to a foreign invader, for the adult population between their twentieth and fortieth year exceeds half a million of men thoroughly organised iu volunteer corps, which "U'ESTEEN AUSTR.U.IA. " 395 the coast railways might rapidly concentrate on any threatened points along the seaboard. Moreover, the three strategical positions of King George Sound at the south-west corner of the mainland, the entrance to Port Jackson at Sydney, and some islands in Torres Strait, have been strongly fortified. A fleet of gunboats, torpedoes, and swift cruisers guards the approaches of the seaports, while recent conventions with England provide for a rapid increase of the Imperial nav}-. In 1888 over £800,000 were voted for the coast defences and the construction of forts. Financially Australia is heavily burdened. The possession of seemingly inex- haustible gold-fields fostered a spirit of extravagance to such an extent that the public liabilities, head for head of the inhabitants, are already higher than those of France. But this incumbrance is much less felt, thanks to the rapid develop- ment of the population and of the resources of the land. The annual increase of the population exceeds a thirtieth, while that of the national wealth is still more rapid ; yet the demon of pauperism has already raised his head in Australia. A table of the Australian states, with their respective areas and populations, is given in the Appendix. The administrative subdivisions differ in the various colonies, and even in each state, according to the density of the papulation and the several political and economic interests. They take the various names of counties, boards, shires, municipalities, boroughs, electoral and pastoral divisions. Western Australia. This colony, the first Australian land sighted by vessels arriving from Europe, is the least populous and the least important of all the Australasian states, although its territory comprises about one-third of the mainland. It was founded over half a century ago in 1829, yet its residents of European origin scarcely exceed forty thousand and may possibly be still surpassed numerically by the natives, whose tribes continue to form relatively compact groups in the north western districts. In 1850, when the colony had no more than six thousand inhabitants, the British Government made it a penal station, and by the year 18G8 nearly ten thousand convicts had been introduced into Western Australia. But despite, or possibly in consequence of, this continuous stream of involun- tary colonists, the population increased very slowly until a decided stimulus was given to the movement by the discovery of auriferous deposits in the part of the territory situated between the Irwin and Murchison Rivers. The reluctance of intending colonists to turn their steps towards Western Australia was, however, mainly due to the dryness of the climate, the arid soil, brackish waters, and inferior pasturages infested in several districts by poisonous plants. The greater part of the colony, which stretches north and south from shore to shore, and cast- wards to 129° east longitude, is even still unexplored. The settled parts are, in fact, chiefly situated in the south-west corner of the continent and along the lower reaches of the coast streams, which follow in the direction of the north beyond Perth. Western AustraKa is thus an isolated world . scparaf ed by vast desert 390 AUSTRALASIA. spaces from the other Australasian colonies, with which it communicates only by sea. The dangerous overland routes across the intervening solitudes still rank with those rare and daring exploits which are recorded iu the annals ol: geographical exploration. The centre of the colony is the city of Perth, which has been founded 12 miles from the coast on the banks of the Swan River, at a point where it exj)ands into Fig-. 170. — Pekth AMD ITS Envieons. Scule 1 : 600,000. 80 to 160 Feet. ^— 12 Miles. the form of a lake. This modest capital is connected by road and rail with its seaport of Fremanfle, which lies on the south side of the Swan estuary ; but there is no natural harbour and the open roadstead is so unsafe during the prevalence of the north and. noith-west winds that the shipi:)ing has at times to take refuge farther south in Cockburn Sound between the coast and Garden Island. Never- theless, Fremantle is the busiest port in the colony, and here are shipped the "V^■ESTEEN AUSTEALIA. • 81)7 wools, which have hitherto formed the chief resource of Western Australia. Rolt- nest Island, which partly shelters Gage Road on the west, is fringed with salt beds worked by the convicts and natives for the Government. Farther north follow the three ports of Rockingham, Biinbnn/, and Bus-telton, from which is mainly exported the jarra-wood {eticali/ptiis marginafa), which is highly valued by ship- builders and others for its durable properties and power of resisting the action of termites and borers. In the north-east the Perth railwaj' is continued up the Swan Yallov towards Guildfwd, Yorh, and BevevJeij, flourishing agricultural centres surrounded by pastures and scrub, where sandalwood formerly abounded. A carriage road 2;jO miles long, running south-eastwards to a great extent through barren wastes, places Perth in communication with Alhanij, almost the only seaport on the south coast. The lack of arable lands in the neighbourhood of this place prevents it from developing as rapidly as might be expected from its excellent harbour of King George Sound at the south-west angle of the continent. Albany is a port of call for steamers plying between England and Melbourne, and the terminus of the cable connecting the local telegraphic system with the rest of the world. The British and Australasian Governments are at present occupied with the construc- tion of fortified works around this important strategical point on the south-west coast. In 1826 the Governor of New South Wales stationed a small garrison here to prevent its seizure by the French after the systematic survey of the seaboard by Baudin and Freycinet. French geographical names occur most frequently along this section of the Australian seaboard. Farther east the only settlement on the south coast is Euda {Yircla or TcrgaUa), that is, "Morning Star" in the native language. Although scarcely inhabited Eucla bears the name of a soajTOrt ; it lies on the frontier of the two colonies of Western and South Australia. North of Fremantle the coast is almost a solitude for a spiace of about 180 miles. In this direction lies the Roman Catholic mission of iVi?»- Ntircia, which has been made memorable by the ethnographical studies of Rudesiudo Salvado. Still farther north the work of colonisation has acquired considerable importance in the district of Victoria, which is watered by the river Greenough. The bunks of this w'ver are fringed by wheatfields, and the produce of the districts is forwarded by rail to the port of GririMfon, which stands on Champion Bay. Off this coast flows the Geelvink Channel formed by the chain of the Houtman's Abrolhos islets and reefs. The Victoria district is the chief mineral region of Western Australia, abounding especially in lead, copper, and gold. Beyond it the spacious inlet of Shark's Bay and the north-west coast are annually visited by about a hundred fishing smacks in quest of pearls and mother-of-pearl, for which the chief depot is the village of Roehournr, at the mouth of the Sherlock River. The yearly value of the fisheries exceeds £20,000 ; but nowhere else in Australia have the whites treated more oppressively the native labourers, who have been practically reduced to the position of slaves by a so-called act of " assignation." The whole of the Australian seaboard stretching round to the north-east was uninhabited by any white people before the year 1869, when auriferous deposits 898 • AUSTRALASIA. were discovered iu the billy district bounded ori the south by the course of the Fitzroy River. This event attracted large numbers of gold-hunters to the spot ; villages sprang up, and ports were established along the river-banks and on the shores of the neighbouring inlets. In • 1886, when the mines were f)laced under official administration, this district of Kimbcrley was found to be inhabited by several thousands, mostly connected with the mining industry. Dcrhij, the capital, stands on the east side of an estuary, where the Fitzroy River reaches the coast. The settlement of this part of Australia, which over half a . century ago was already described by George Grey as one of the most promising regions on the continent, is an event of jorimary importance ia the history of colonisation. Although comparatively well watered and fairlj' j)roductive, it had been avoided by the British colonists owing to the heat of the climate. It certainly lies entirely within the tropical zone ; but it occupies a favourable position over against the Dutch East Indies, from which it is separated only by the narrow Arafura Sea. Hence Kimberley is probably destined to become the chief centre of trade and intercourse between the Indonesian and Australian populations, at present almost complete strangers to each other. In some of the estuaries along this coast the tides rise to a height of from 35 to 40 feet. Of all the continental colonies Western Australia has remained longest attached to Great Britain by direct administrative ties. Hithecto not only the Gover- • nor and Executive Council, but even the Legislative Council has been at least partly nominated by the Central Government. In 1889, however, the Imperial Parliament favourably entertained a bill passed by the Legislative Council substi- tuting a responsible government for the hitherto existing rejsresentative system of administration. By this change Western Australia will doubtless soon be placed on the same footing as all the other colonies of the Australian-continent. It is divided into fourteen electoral districts, the franchise being extended to all citizenrj ^^os- sessing landed property of the value of £1,000, or paying a yearly rent of at least £10. The defensive forces comprised in 1889 a volunteer corps of over 600 men. South AusTitALiA. The name -of this colony is scarcely justified by its geographical position, for its territory does not include the southernmost part of the mainland, while on the other hand it stretches right across the continent northwards to the Arafura Sea. It thus comprises all the central region westwards to 129° east longitude, and eastwards to 138° on the Gulf of Carpentaria and as far as 141° on the slope draining to the Southern Ocean. On the north coast it embraces the peninsula skirting the west side of the Gulf of Carpentaria ; on the south the Gulfs of Spencer and S. Vincent form the chief indentations of its seaboaixl, and over a fourth of the mainland lies within its borders. The settlement of South Australia began on the shores of the southern gulfs in the year 1834, and towards the close of 1836 the ofiicial proclamation of the new state was made near the port of Glenelg under a large eiicalyptus, whose now life- SOUTH AUSTRALIA. 309 less stem bears a commemorative inscription. Here the people gather in multir tudes on the anniversaries of the foundation to celebrate the national feast. Free settlers alone have taken part in the development of the colony, where no convicts from bej'ond the seas were ever landed. Nevertheless, the growth of the popula- tion was extrcmcl}' slow down to the year 184G, when the discovery of rich copper- mines immediately attracted numerous speculators and miners. But notwithstanding this stimulus South Australia has lagged far behind the three eastern colonies of "N'ictoria, New South Wales, and Queensland in popxilation, wealth, and trade, lu the years 1885-6 it even presented the phenomenon, unique in Australia, of a temporary decrease in the number of its inhabitants, the emigration to the West Australian mines and to other regions having exceeded the immigration and the natural excess of births over the mortality. Although the climate is one of the healthiest for Europeans, it is dreaded on account of its heats and the lack of invigorating sea breezes, the concave formation of the coast facing the desert causing the j)arching winds of the interior to in-evail. Infant mortality is high, and the acclimatisation of the race presents greater diffi- culties than in most other regions of the continent. Here also consumption, the Australian malady /*«/• excellence, is more common than in any of the other colonies. Another obstacle to progress are the long periods of drought, which occasionally occur, and which render much of the land arid, unsuitable for tillage, and in many j^laces even saline and destitute of vegetation. In the northern districts the torrid climate is still more unsuitable for European workmen, so that the suzerain (jfovernment has been fain to tolerate the introduction of Malay and Chinese labour. Thus nearly the whole of the white population is confined to the southern region between the lower course of the Murray and the east side .of Spencer Gulf. From here also come the copper, wool, and wheat, from which South Australia derives its importance in the British colmial world; for .the production of wheat it takes the first place amongst the Australian states. Essays have been made at. ostrich-farming, while wine-growing has received a great development during the last few years ; wines are already produced, which the growers in the different districts compare to port, sherry and hock. The colony also exports fruits and preserves. Adelaide, the " Model Citj'," capital of South Australia, ranks for population after Melbourne and Sydney, already containing over one hundred and thirty thousand inhabitants in the central quarters and its suburbs. It lies on a plain near the sea not far from the first slopes of the Lofty Range rising to the east, and on the banks of the Torrens River, which often runs dry. The broad streets running at right angles in the direction of the cardinal points dispose the city in a number of regular blocks. Enormous sums have been expended on the con- struction of vast reservoirs in the neighbouring hills needed to supply the cit}' with water. There are also numerous promcnidcs, extensive parks, and one of the most beautiful botanic gardens in tlie wculd. The University of South Australia, the Institute and other leai'ued societies, have their seat in the capital, 400 AUSTRALASIA. where is coiitrecl all the scientific and literary work of the inhabitants. Beyond Adelaide, which, with its suburbs of Jlindmarsh , Noncood, and Kensington, alone contains over a third of the whole colonial population, there are no towns or villages except those exclusively occupied with trade, agriculture, or mining. Adelaide has several ports, the chief of which, Port Adelaide, lies three or four miles to the north-west near a creek which has been artificially deepened and lined rig. 171. — Adelaide. fade 1 : 28ii.onn. [13 to 16 16 to 32 Feet. Feet. e • Lighthouses. with wharves. Glcnchj, situated to the soixth-west, and almost connected with the capital by continuous groups of suburbs and villas, is a port of call for mail steamers. Farther south follows Victor Harbour, on the shore of the Southern Ocean, but connected with the capital by a railway. Another line running north- eastwards to Morfjan, at the chief bend of the Lower Murriiy, places Adelaide in communication with the only line of inland- navigation on the Australian main- land ; above Morgan the Murray is navigated by about forty small steamers. SOUTH AUSTRALIA. 401 The little 'fluvial port of Goolwa, seven miles above the mouth of the Murray on its terminal Lake Alexandriua, exports a considerable quantity of wool. Beyond the river and near the frontier of Victoria, Mount Ganihier, or Gamhierfoii, at the southern foot of the volcano of Kke name, is the most active commercial Fig. 172. — Adelaide, Spe-vceb axd St. Vinxen't Gulfs. Scale 1 : 5,300,000. EastcFGi-een Deptlis. ICO Feet and upwards. , 1.0 Milts. centre in the southern districts. It is connected by rail with the capital, and supplied with water from the lake in the neighbouring crater. Other railways run from Adelaide towards the northern mineral districts, where Gaidcr, Kapunda, and Eoorbxja are the chief centres of the copper mining operations. The deposits of Boom-Boora, near Kooriuga, have largely contributed VOL, XIV. D D 402 AUSTRALASLV. to the prosperit}^ of the colony, having yielded ores to the value of over £4,000,000 between 1846 and 1877. No less productive are the copper mines of Wallaroo, Moonfa, and Kadina, on the east side of Sj^encer Gulf, while Tcdulpa, in the north- east, near the frontier of Victoria, has been enriched by its gold mines. Farther north the railway, penetrating inland through the pastures, deserts, Fig. 173. — Poet Darwin. Scale 1 : 330,000. E.stcf Gre.nw.cK O at low water. and saline wastes, soon advances beyond the mineral districts, and serves only for the transport of wool and some agricultural produce. But when it has pushed its way across the continent this trunk line will be used by most travellers and immigrants bound for the flourishing regions of east and south-east Australia. The two submarine cables already connecting the northern end of this line with SOUTH AUSTRALIA. 403 Banjuwangi, in Java, were broken by a volcanic eruption in the year 1888. They were supplemented in 1889 by a third cable laid between the same Javanese port and Roebuck Bay on the coast of West Australia. This line, which is about 1,000 miles long, serves not only for the local communications of West and South Australia, but also, in case of interruption, for those of the eastern colonies. Pahnerston, the future terminus of the trans-continental railway, already enjoys a considerable trade. Since 1875 Port Bancin, on the east side of which Palmerston has been founded, has been thrown open to the commerce of all nations. This extensive inlet forms one of the largest, most convenient, and best sheltered harbours frequented by seafarers in the eastern seas. The popu- lation of the Norfheni Territory, as this region is oflBcially called, has considerably increased since 1881, when it contained only 4,550 inhabitants. Over four-fifths of the I'esidents are Chinese, occupied in discharging cargoes, in clearing the land for plantations, constructing highways, and working the southern gold-mines of BurriDidie and other districts. Here the employers of labour are vigorously opposed to the laws restricting Chinese immigration. Being unable to employ white labour in these torrid lands, they naturally look to China for tlie hands required to cultivate their plantations. A little traffic has already been developed between Palmerston and the Javanese city of Surabaya, which lies on the future highway of inter-continental trade between Australia and Europe. The essays at colonisation made so early as 182-1 on Apslej' Strait between Melville and Bathurst Islands, as well as subsequent attempts of the same kind made farther east on the Coburg Peninsula, all proved failures owing to the isolated position of the British settlers in a torrid climate and on an unproductive soil, covered with an almost ferruginous laterite. The station of Victoria, founded on the fine harbour of Essington, has never ris' n to the rank of a town. The colony of South Australia is autonomous. The governor, appointed bj' the Queen, is assisted by six responsible ministers chosen by the Parliament, which itself consists of members elected by the citizens. The Legislative Council, or Upper House, comprises twenty-four members, and the House of Assembly, or Lower House, is formed of fifty-two deputies, chosen for three years. The franchise for electors of the Council is limited to about two-fifths of the adult male population, holders of property, or paying a certain annual rent ; but all citizens settled not less than six months in the country have a right to vote at the elections for the House of Assembly. Some thirty municipalities enjoy the privileges of communal autonomy. The armed forces comj^rise over three thou- sand volunteers and the crew of a small man-of-war. Queensland. Its very name is an indication of the recent creation of this colony. Originally it formed part of New South Wales, from which it was not separated till llio year 404 AUSTRALASIA. 1859. But altliougti its political life is shorter than that either of Western or South Australia, it already surpasses both of those states in trade and population. Convicts, however, had been transported to the shores of Moreton Bay so early as the year 1824, and the territory had been thrown open to free colonisation in 1842. The inhabitants of North Queensland, whose economic interests are not always in harmony with those of the southern region, are already demanding the formation of a new state, to comprise the shores of the Gulf of Carpentaria, the York Peninsula, the Torres Strait islands, and British New Guinea. The country is meantime administratively constituted in the three " divisions " of North, Central, and South Queensland, which are regarded as destined one day to form three distinct political states. More than one-third of the inhabitants is still concentrated in the south-east corner of Queensland, the old district of Moreton Bay. But beyond this region centres of population are already very numerous, settlers being attracted to different jjarts by the diverse agricultural and industrial interests. As in New South "Wales there are vast grazing grounds, especially on the western slope of the mountains ; Queensland also possesses rich auriferous deposits, which are scattered throughout the whole colony from the New South Wales frontier to the York Peninsula, and the valleys sloping towards the Gulf of Carpentaria. Its deposits of copper, tin, and coal have also attracted speculators and miners to various parts of the territory, while such alimentary plants as wheat, maize, sugar-cane, tea, ptne-applfis, which do not thrive under the same climate, have had the consequence of developing several distinct centres of colonisation throughout the colony. For the cultivation of tropical plants the growers have had recourse to the services of South Sea Islanders engaged for a term of years, and usually com- prised under the general name of " Karnakies," that is. Kanakas, a word in the Polynesian languages simply meaning " men." But this sj'stem of contract labour, carried on by means of the so-called " labour-vessels," has been a fruitful source of crime and of outrages against the freedom and even the Kvcs of the Oceanic peopks. The presence of the Chinese also has given rise in Queensland to the most cruel injustice on the part of the " representatives of the higher civilisation." Kidnapping expeditions have often been organised in this colony, which have spread havoc and ruin throughout many Melanesian and Polynesian archipelagoes. Briiibanc, capital and oldest town in Queensland, stands on the river of like name, at the point where it expands into an estuary communicating with Moreton Bay some 24 miles lower down. Vessels of average tonnage ascend this estuary to a bridge about 1,150 feet long, which here crosses the river. The port of Brisbane, the most frequented in Queensland, is approached through the fine roadstead of Moreton Baj^, which is sheltered by a long chain of low islands, and connected with the capital by two railways. One of these lines runs north-east in the direction of Sandgate, a favourite watering-place and summer residence ; the other passes south-eastwards through Alberton to the southern entrance of the bay, which is accessible only to boats. Brisbane is suj^plied with an abundance QUEEXSL.\XD. 405 of water, and like the other large Australian towns has a beautiful botanical garden. Ipsin'ch, some 35 miles above Brisbane on a southern afSuent of the river, stands at the head of the fluvial navigation, and receives by water the wares which are thence forwarded to the various stations of the interior. At this point the Fig-. IVi. — BEISBiNT: AXD MoKETOX BaT. Scale 1 : 1,300,000. F 50 Fathoms and upwards. main railway begins to climb the coast range, after crossing which it descends to Waricick in the upper vallej' of the Condamine, chief headstream of the Darling. The trunk line continues to r\m beyond TTarwick westwards through Tooiroomha, Dalbij, and Roma, while a branch connects the system southwards with the Sydney- Melbourne line. Another branch has already been projected to bring Point Parker, on the Gulf of Carpentaria, into direct communication with llic soutliern regions. -100 AUSTRALASIA. 2fari/boroi(gh occupies, 170 miles farther north, a position analogous to that of Brisbane ; it stands on the navigable river Mary, which expands to a broad inlet and reaches the coast through an arm of the sea sheltered on the east side by Great Sandy Island. At Maryborough the river is crossed by a bridge about 1,040 feet long. Sugar is chiefly grown by the neighbouring planters, and there are numerous factories in the district. On a southern tributary of the Mary stands the straggling town of Gijmpie, noted for its gold mines, which were discovered in 1867, and which by 1880 had already yielded a quantity of the precious metal estimated at over £2,000,000. At Burrum, lying to the north, rich coal-fields of excellent quality have been discovered, and productive copper mines have been opened in the north-western district of Mount Perrij, which is connected by a railway with the port of Bundalwry, at the mouth of the Burnett. Rockhampion, another fluvial port, is the largest town in Queensland next to Brisbane. It occuj)ies a fine position in a fertile district, within view of the wooded cliffs skirting the broad river Fitzroy, which is accessible to large vessels. Rockhampton, which lies in the vicinity of rich gold, silver, and copper mines, stands, like Brisbane, at the terminus of a railway, which penetrates far into the interior in the direction of the central plains, and which ramifies to the right and left towards the mining districts. Farther on follow along a deeply indented seaboard the port of Mackai/, whence are exported tobaccos, sugar, coffee, and other tropical produce ; Bourn, or Port- Denison, with easier access than any of the other harbours sheltered by the Great Barrier Reef, and Toivjisril/r, which derives its importance from the gold mines of the Burdekin and its tributaries. Ravenswood and Charters Towers are the chief centres of the mining operations, the latter place producing about £250,000 of the precious metal annually. On the Pacific Coast the last frequented port is Coohtoivn, which was founded in 1873 and soon became a flourishing place, thanks to the vicinity of the Palmer River gold-fields. Cooktown is also the chief market and victualling station of the British and German establishments in New Guinea and the Melauesian Islands. The settlement of Somerset, which was founded at the northernmo.st extremity of York Peninsula in the hope of making it a second Singapore, has remained an obscure village with a bad climate ; but the neighbouring Thursday Island is already a much frequented station, which owes its prosperity to its favourable position on the route of vessels traversing Torres Strait. Since 1877 it has also become the centre of the pearl-shell fisheries in these waters. Here over two hundred craft of all sorts with one thousand five hundred hands find emploj'ment on the pearl, mother-of-pearl, tortoiseshell, and beche-de-mer fishing groimds. A central station of the London Missionary Society has been established on Eriih or Darnley Island, which lies in the eastern part of the Strait. On the slope draining to the Gulf of Carpentaria the two stations of Nornmntown and Biirkefown were till recently nothing more than little rural markets for Kupjilying the stock-breeders of the surrounding districts with provisions and QUEENSLAJS^D.— NEW SOUTH WALES. 407 European wares. Eurketowu had even been almost entirely abandoned, owing to (he insalubritj' of the neighbouring marshes. But the discovery of the Croydon gold-fields made in 188-3 immediately attracted thousands of speculators and colonists to these districts. Point Parker, at present the only seaport of the whole region, is sheltered from the northern winds by the Bentinck and Jloniiiifftoii insular groups. Queensland has not yet severed the administrative ties connecting her with the British Government. The Governor and Legislative Council, that is, the Upper House, are still nominated by the Crown. The members of this chamber numbering thirty-six, are named for life, while the Legislative Assembly, or Lower House, is elected by universal suffrage for five years, and receives no payment for its services. The armed forces comprise a standing corps of 1,650, about 600 volunteers, and 136 cadets. A gunboat and a few marines are charged with the defence of the coast- line, some 3,000 miles in length. New South W.^les. This colony, the oldest on the continent, has recently celebrated its first centenary. But it bears a name which recalls its dependence on England, and which certainly presents a somewhat cumbrous and inconvenient form. Hence it has been frequentl)' proposed to change its official designation for the simple title of " Australia," just as the United States have claimed the exclusive right to the name of "America." But the old designation .still holds its ground, owing chiefly to the protests of the other Australian states against this assumption. Doubtless there was a time when Xew South Wales really comprised all the European settle- ments on the mainland and neighbouring islands. But after the foundation of West Australia, and the separation of Victoria and Queensland from the mother colony, this state was reduced to little more than one- tenth of the continent. Yet even this space remains out of all proportion with its relatively slight population, for its superficial area is stiU far more than twice that of the British Isles. The southern frontier towards Victoria and on the Pacific slope, follows a straight line traced across mountains and valleys between the south-eastern head- laud of Cape Howe and the Pilot Moimtain on the main range. But farther inland the common limit of the two colonies is indicated first by a headstream of the Murray, and then by the 3Iurraj- itself as far as 141° east longitude. Towards Queensland the border line is marked by a mountain range beginning at Danger Point, and then in the Darling basin by the course of various rivers as far as the 29' south latitude, which cons*^itutes a conventional frontier across the boundless inland plains. Since the abatement of the gold fever, which gave a temporary ascendency to Victoria in population and commercial importance. New South Wales has resumed its natural position at the head of the Australian states. She is no doubt less rich in gold ; but the yield of this metal is yearly losing its relative importance in the general economy of the continent, while wool, which has most contributed to the 408 AUSTRALASIA. development o£ the colonies, is produced in the largest quantities in New Soutt. Wales. Here also coal mining, and several other less important industries are far more developed than elsewhere, and the claim to the hegemony among the surroimding j^olitical groups seems strengthened even by priority in point of time. Victoria, Queensland, Tasmania, and New Zealand were, moreover, to a great extent founded by settlers from New South Wales, and the very spot already indicated by Cook has thus become the true centre of the Australasian colonial world. The site chosen in 1788 as the first convict station at the antipodes of Great Fig. 17.5.— Botany Bay. Scale 1 : 160,000. en Britain still remains unoccupied by a town of any si^^e. The shores of Bofftiuj Bay, whose name was long applied to the aggregate of the British possessions in Australia, are dotted round only by a few small watering places and scattered villas, which already form part of the environs of Sydney. The approach to the harbour is indicated by the monument to Cook, who discovered this bay in 1770 ; farther north stands the statue of Laperouse, who sailed in 1788 from this spot on the last expedition, from which he never returned. The names of Banks and Solander given to the two headlands facing each other on either side of the channel also perpetuate the memory of illustrious pioneers in the work of Australian discovery. If the inlet described in glowing colours by these first explorers has ^- Urn L13RASY OF THE OF THE JNlVERSlTyoflLi SYDNEY A^ C to IGfe*T. !atc3:f* LONDON, J. S VIP.' ENVIRONS lyorth IF' F / •' North I The Sound hjXLRi- y.Head ^SL- Otiter NJlead ObeLsJc-hav /n^^r SJiead *' Batte^ <^ I.-:; \ Si. 6, At Outer SJL^aji , . V- Sh^kP " J a ^ / ^lon GirmJifftiJlif Wen^tn-lcySLafC' > Bondi "W&vTcriiry Bondi / Bandj'biry I53°i5' o mOf^ IGVf'upivard.'i. LiSRARY OF THE iVERSITV of ILLINOIS. NEW SOUTH WALES. 400 since been abandoned by commerce, the neglect was not due to any lack of deep waters or of sufficient shelter for shipping, but to the marvellous group of havens which are collectively known as Port Jackson, and which are scarcely rivalled in the whole world for extent, safety, and nautical advantages of every kind. The only drawback is the entrance passage betsveen the headlands, which is scarcely quite deep enough for modern ocean vessels. The anchorage has a total area of 9 Fig. 176.— Sydney iu 1S02. Scile 1 : 33,000. EasbcF Greenwich or 10 square miles, and the .shore-line of the inner waters with their bays and secondary creeks is no less than 50 miles long. Si/diiri/, founded on the soiith side of this magnificent harbour, is the oldest city in Australia, for a cj-cle of a hundred years is still a long period in the history of Eiiropean settlements in the southern hemisphere. At first a simple convict station, and afterwards the headquarters of the prisons scattered over tlie sur- rounding territory, Sydney long remained an obscui-c village built in a forest 410 AUSTRALASIA. clearing at the extremity of a conspicuous headland. At present it is a great capital, whicli competes with Melbourne for the first rank in the oceanic world, and which has already received from its inhabitants the title of Queen of the South. Thanks to the numerous windings of the shores, and the irregular relief of the encirclino' lands, Sydney has nothing of that insipid monotony so characteristic of most Australian and American cities. Instead of resembling a chess-board with square blocks of uniform size and structure, it is laid out with streets of varying proportions running up hill and down valley, and interrupted by creeks, inlets, and ridges, by which the irregular plan of the city is disposed in several distinct quarters. In the centre lies the old town in the form of an open hand stretching its promontories far into the well-sheltered roadstead. Southwards run the fine avenues of Woolomoloo, while animation is added to the bright scene by the steam ferries incessantly plying on the north side between the old quarters, the new town of North Shore and the watering place of Manly with its double beach, one exposed to the ocean surf, the other facing the tranquil inland sea. Every street thus presents a constantly varying prospect sweeping over the surrounding hills, the harbour with its innumerable creeks and bays, the public gardens and more distant woodlands. For few other capitals are more Kberally provided with parks and grassy swards. Moor Park, one of the tracts reserved on the south-east side as a public pleasure-ground, has an area of no less than 600 acres, while another open space in the very heart of the city commands a superb panoramic view of the inland waters and the channels communicating with the Pacific Ocean. A project has been formed to supply the city with fresh water from Lake George, which lies to the south-west amid the Australian Alps ; but in years of unusually protracted droughts this lacustrine reservoir has itself been almost completely dried up. As a seaport Sydney occupies a vital position as the chief centre of the lines of steam navigation in the Pacific, as well as of the coasting trade along the east Australian seaboard. Moreover, the harbour is so vast that room has also been found for the development of an ever-growing inland trafiic for the transport of passengers and the distribution of merchandise amongst the rising markets of the interior. Forts erected on the headlands commanding the seaward approaches defend the city and roadstead, which, however, have never yet been attacked by any enemy. Compared with Melbourne, the only other place which aspires to the first rank on the Australian Continent, Sydney has the great advantage of occupying a relatively more central position in relation to the whole group of Austral Colonies ; it also lies nearer to the oceanic lauds and America, thus facing inhabited regions and not turned, like Melbourne, towards the ice-bound Antarctic lands. Amid its rapidly increasing material prosperity Sydney has also taken a pride in fostering the arts and sciences ; besides the well-endowed university of New South Wales it has founded several museums, learned societies, and a vast well-administered botanic garden. A marine zoological station was lately founded by the Russian naturalist Miklukho-Maklay on an inlet near the capital. NEW SOUTH WALES. 411 Sydney is connected by rail with all tlie important towns and centres of popu- lation in the colony and the neighbouring states of Queensland, Victoria, and South Australia. In May, 1889, was opened the great steel bridge across the Hawkcsbury Eiver between the Capital and Newcastle. This bridge, which has seven spans of Fig. 177. — Newcastle. Scale 1 : 125,000. Ear.t cF Greer, 500 feet each, completes the main coast line, affording uninterrupted communication between New South Wales and Queensland. Panimafta, the nearest town to Sydney, may be regarded as one of its natural dependencies, for it lies at the western extremity of the same bay, at the mouth of the river from which it takes its name. The Paramattan district is spoken of as the orchard of Sydney, and here are grown the finest oranges on the continent. The basin of the Hawkesbury River north of Port Jackson has no towns properly so called ; but the Hunter, flowing still farther north, waters one of the 412 AUSTRALASIA. most densely peopled districts in New South Wales. Newcastle, -n-hich occiipies a triangular promontory on the south side of the estuary, is the second city in the state, and some 20 miles higher up stands Maitland, another busy centre of traffic, comprising two contiguous communes on the banks of the Hunter, which is navigable to this point. Newcastle, as well as the neighbouring borough of Walls- end, owes its name to the rich coal-mines which have been opened on the banks of the Hunter, and which both in quality and abundance compare favourably with those of the north of England. The export coal trade, which represents about two-thirds of the total production in Australasia, yearly attracts to Newcastle over a thousand colliers. Thanks to this industry the traffic of Newcastle, a place founded but yesterday, already exceeds that of many European cities, such as Nantes and Cadiz. Near the coalpits several factories have sprung up. Port Stephens, Port Macquarie, and the other seaports following northwards in the direction of Queensland are little frequented. Along these coastlands the only place of any importance is Grafton, which owes its prosperity to the neighbouring plantations, and to its deposits of gold, copper, antimony, and especially tin. Of these the Vegetable Creek or Emmarille mines are the most productive. On the opposite slope of the water-parting in the pastoral district of New England a few small towns occur at long intervals. Of these Tamworth is the chief intermediate station on the railway connecting Sydney with Brisbane. Bathurst, on another line running from Sydney north-eastwards in the direction of the Darling, is a still more active centre of trade. Lying 2,300 feet above the sea in an upland valley of the Blue Mountains draining westwards to the Darling through the Macquarie River, Bathurst has the as^Ject of an English agricultural town surrounded by corn- fields, pastiire lands, and scattered clumps of trees. Farther on the main line is continued across a region of the same a^Dpearance through Orange, Wellington, and Buhbo to Burlie, which stands on the Darling at the head of the navigation during the floods. Here this watercourse is known by the name of Riverina or the " Australian Mesopotamia." Other railwaj^s, branching ofE from the trunk line between Sydney and the Blue Mountains cross the affluents of the Murray and the Murray itself, touching at several mining or agricultural centres and riverain ports. Of these places, all recently founded, the most important are, Forbes, on the Lachlan ; Gundagai and Wagga- Wagga, on the Morrumbidgee ; and Albiiri/, on the Murray. Albury esiJeciaUy has made rapid progress as a station midway between Sydney and Melbourne, and as the centre of extensive tobacco plantations and vinej'ards jdelding a wine of ex- cellent quality. At this point the Murray is crossed by a long bridge. East- wards, beyond the course of the Darling, occur the silver and lead mines of Silver- ton, which are frequently designated by the name of Wileannia, from a town on the banks of the river. South of Sydney the ports of Wollongong, Kiama, Nowra, and Slioalhnven do a little traffic in coal and agricultural produce. But in this part of New South Wales the chief commercial and industrial centre is the inland town of Goulburn, which stands on an uj^per affluent of the Hawkesbury, 2,180 feet above sea-level. The NEW SOUTH WilLES. 41S Goulburn district, with certain tracts in New England, is the best cultivated and most productive in New South Wales. In 1880 a section of the seaboard between Sydney and WoUongong was set apart as the common inheritance of all Australian citizens. This " national park " of Port Hackiiuj, with its hills, woodlands, navigable streams and inlets teeming with fish, has a total area of no less than 37,000 acres. Lord Howe and Norfolk Islands, with the contiguous islets, depend adminis- Fig. ITS. — NoEFOLK Island. Scale 1 ; 110,000. Depths. tratively on New South "Wales, although they belong geographicallj' to New Zea- land, as shown by the common submarine relief. On the other hand, they may be said to constitute little worlds apart in virtue of their highly characteristic flora and fauna. Lord Howe, 2,800 feet high, has been inhabited since 1840 by a few families, who get a living by supplying passing vessels with provisions. But they do not appear to prosper, judging at least from the emigration, by which tlu> little community has been reduced from three hundred to some forty souls. 411 AUSTRALASIA. Norfolk, over five times larger than Lord Howe, is also relatively more densely peopled. At the time of its discovery by Cook in 1774 it was unin- habited ; it was afterwards chosen by the British Government as a convict station for the more desperate class of criminals, who were at first treated with frightful rigour, many of the unhappy wretches being shot down within the very precincts of the church. Later several more or less successful experiments were made in Norfolk Island on " the reformation of criminals." But the station was abandoned in 1842, and the island again remained uninhabited till the year 1856, when it was ceded by the Government to the Pitcairn Islanders, descendants of British mutineers who had married Polynesian women and overpeopled their native island. These half-castes, who now number over six hundred, enjoy self-government under the presidency of an elected magistrate, but really controlled by Angli- can missionaries, who have here founded a large school for about two hundred young students brought from Melanesia. The results of this system of isolation and strict control have not been satisfactory : the natives have lost the spirit of self-reliance and enterprise, and have become cringing hypocrites with no indus- tries or manly pursuits. Even agriculture decays, and in 1885 not more than 150 acres were imder cultivation. The people seem to weary of life, and even forget to marr}^ so that in 1884 only one-fifth of the adults were living in wed- lock. Like Queensland, New South Wales depends on the Crown both for her Governor and the Legislative Council, which consists of twenty-one members named for life. But the Legislative Assembly is elected by universal suffrage, and at present comprises one hundred and twenty-four members, or two for each electoral district. At each official census this number is increased in proportion to the increase of the electors. The armed forces comprise nearly seven thousand regulars and volunteers, and the budget is much heavier per head of the popula- lation than that of Great Britain or France. Victoria. This is the smallest in extent, but relatively the most densely peopled of all the colonies on the mainland. Yet in this respect it still falls far behind the average of West Europe, the number of inhabitants to the square mile being scarcely eight or nine. In absolute population Victoria is second only to New South Wales, from which it was politically detached in 1851 ; it even temporarily occupied the first place during the height of the gold fever. To this cause of special attraction Victoria adds an advantage of paramount importance for British immigrants in a climate, which is cooler than that of the other Australian colonies, and in its variations more analogous to that of Great Britain. Hence the title of Australia Felix given to this region before the general wish of the people induced the Government once more to inscribe the name of Queen Victoria on the map of the world. In 1851, when it was constituted a separate state, Melboiirnr, its capital, had already been founded sixteen years. But compared with Sydney it was still a LIBRARY ■ OF THE ■INIVERSITY of ILLINOIS. VICTOEIA. 415 place of little importaiice ; nor did the great rush of immigrants take place till after the discovery of gold. At present it is one of the great cities of the liritish 416 AUSTRALASIA. colonial empire. Melbourne, the "Magnificent," claims, like Rome, to be built on seven bills, and in the Yarr a-Ya rra it may also boast of a modest Tiber wit ji muddy or yellowish waters. Although founded at some distance inland it has grown rapidly seawards, and has already lined the beach with monumental quays and facades. The numerous suburbs, each with a town hall and municif)ality, and each forming a chess-board of streets and squares distinct from the central paral- lelogram, stretch to great distances in all directions, and collectively comprise a population of about four hundred thousand, or rather more than one third of all the inhabitants of the colonj-. Far more regularly constructed than Sydney, Melbourne claims also to possess in the Houses of ParUameut, the Governor's Palace, the University, museums, churches, and banks, a number of superb monuments, on which no expense has been spared. The Kbraries alreadj' rival in importance the secondary collections in Europe, and the Observatory, established in the midst of extensive gardens east of the city, is provided with the most costly instruments by the best constructors. The local savants have even largely contributed to the study of the Austral heavens, as well as to the geological exploration of the continent. In Melbourne has been projected that expedition of discovery in the Antarctic seas, which the parsimony of the Central Govermnent has hitherto prevented from being equipped and despatched. Here also has been founded the Australasian Geographical Society. The port of Melbourne, discovered by Murray in 1802 and more specially de- signated by the name of Hobson's Bay, is crowded with shipipiug, amid which hundreds of steamers j)ly from shore to shore of the roadstead. The ocean packets stop seven or eight miles below the city proper, near the quays of Sandridge, or Port Melbourne, and in the Williamstoivn docks at the extremity of a tongue of land near the head of the bay. To the same commercial centre belong also the towns which follow round the vast triangular inlet, the head of which forms the port of Melbourne. One of these satellites of the capital is the town of Geeloitg, a busy centre of numerous industries, such as tanneries, spinning-mills, preserving establishments, and the like. The founders of Geelong hojjed that, being situated nearer the sea, this place would soon outstrip Melbourne as a commercial mart. Qiieenscliff, on the west side of the strait or " Rip," giving access to Port Philiip, is also a dependency of Melbourne, its watch-tower and chief bulwark towards the southern ocean ; east of this gully Nepean Point marks the site of the buildings connected with the quarantine station. The small watering-places dotted round the shores of the inlet and along the adjacent coast are all indebted for their prosperity to the visitors from the neigh- bouring capital. Innumerable villas and Kttle rural retreats are also connected with Melbourne by the twelve railways radiating in all directions from this great centre of Australasian life. Some ten miles to the north-east lies the artificial lake Yan- Ycan, 14,000 acres in extent, which is formed by the River Plenty, a tributary of the Yarra-Yarra. This great reservoir contains about 6,380,000,000 gallons of water, or suSieient to supply the city for a twelvemonth at the daily rate of forty gallons per head. LI3RAKV OF THE UNIVERSITV of ILLINOIS, YICTOEIA. 417 In the thinly peopled hilly district east of ^Melbourne the most important centres of population are Sale in the agricultural coast region of Gripp's Land, and Beech worth in the heart of a rich auriferous country near the sources of the Murraj-. Beyond Melbourne immigrants have been attracted in the largest num- 180. — Melbouene aijd Hobson's Bat. Scale 1 : 850,000. 0to32 Feet. 32 to 80 Feet. 80 to 160 Feet. ISMilBi, 160 Feet and upwards. bers to the region which occupies both slopes of the watcrparting for a space of from GO to 100 miles to the north-west of the capital. Here were discovered the first gold-fields in 1851, and here is situated Ballarat {Ballaarat), the second city in Victoria, standing on ground every clod of which has been washed for the VOL. xiv. E E 418 AUSTRALASIA. precious metal. Since those daj's Ballarat, like Melbourne, has surrounded itself with villas, gardens, plantations, and has even constructed an artificial lake in the vicinity. Other flourishing towns, such as Smyihesdalc, Cresicick, Clunes, Dayles/urd, Kyneton, and Castlemaine, are dotted over the district, beyond which follow the prosperous Sandhurst or Bend'ujo, rival of Ballarat itself, and Eaglehawk, both at the northern extremity of a chain of hills at the approach of the plains watered by the Bendigo and Campaspe affluents of the Murray. Three railwaj's radiate from Sandhurst, one of which, crossing the Mairraj^ on a bridge 1,900 feet long at Eclmca, nms northwards through New South Wales to the flourishing town of Deniliquin. Echuca, the chief riverain port on the main stream, is conveniently situated on a peninsula at the confluence of the Campaspe. Although not quite so thinlj^ settled as Gipp's Land, the western part of Vic- toria has not yet developed any important centres of population. Warrnambool, Belfad, and Portland are small trading places following each other along the coast westwards from Port Phillip ; but Portland is likely to attract a considerable traffic as soon as the roadstead is sheltered by the new breakwater from the fierce south-east gales. In the interior of this region the largest settlements are Ararat and Stairell, both foxmded in mining districts. The Stawell and Sandhurst gold mines are the most productive in the colony ; the latter had been sunk in 1888 to a depth of 2,400 feet. Victoria is one of the Australian states that depend least on the Central Gov- ernment, which is here directly represented only bj'^ the Governor. The Legislative Council, or Upper House, is elected by ballot, each of the fourteen provinces naming three members, one-third of whom retire every two years, so that the whole representation is renewed every six years. The Legislative Assembly, or Lower House, elected by universal suffrage, consists of ninety-four members returned for three years, and receiving an allowance of £300 a year. No allowance is made to the Legislative Council, the members of which body must possess an estate of the annual value of not less than £100, while the electors must own or occupy property rated at £ 1 if freehold, or £25 if leasehold. The land forces comprise nearly five thousand men of all arms, and the fleet, which includes an armoured turret-ship and several gunboats and torpedo boats, is manned by about five hundred hands. Tasmania. Although the smallest in extent of the Australasian colonies, the island of Tasmania, formerly Van Diem en's Land, has a much larger population than the vast territory of West Australia ; relatively to the superficial area it is even the most densely peopled of all these states with the single exception of Victoria. So early as 180-4 it began to serve as a penal station, and the Central Government continued to send thither convicts from Great Britain till 1853, the year before Tasmania entered into the comity of the Australasian States : but after its political separation from New South Wales it received most of its free immigrants from that colony. But the discovery of the gold-fields on the mainland brought LIBRARY OF THE iNiVERSITV of ILLINOIS. TASMANIA. 419 about a reaction, and the Tasmanians ruslied towards the new Eldorado, the prosperity of the island thus diminishing to the advantage of the neighbouring continent. Now, however, a fresh era of pi'osperit}' has set in, and the poinilation continues steadily to increase. Tasmania offers to British settlers a climate which, more than any other in the southern hemisphere, resembles that of their native land. Hence during the dry and sultry Australian summers, numerous temporary visitors come from Victoria and New South Wales to enjoy its fresh marine breezes. As in other Australian colonies, the staple export is wool; but the island also possesses deposits of tjn, gold, and silver ; another source of wealth are its excellent fruits, which grow in such abundance that the greater part rot on the ground. Tasmania, says Troll ope, should prepare jams for the rest of the world. The island contains only two large towns, and these have been founded at (he northern and southern extremities of the depression connecting the two fjords that penetrate farthest inland. Both cities are also connected by a railway, and by a sjjlendid highway, constructed by convict labour. Laitnceston, the northern city, is the chief commercial centre, and already a more important place than the Cornish town from which it takes its name. With its outer port of Georgetown, situated at the entrance of the fjord on Bass Strait, it monopolises nearly all the trade of Tasmania with Melbourne, from which it is distant only a day's voyage by steam. Ilohnrt Town, or simply Hobarf, the southern city, has like Launceston a harbour accessible to vessels of average size, besides an outer port where shif)s of the largest tonnage can ride at anchor. As capital of the island Ilobart possesses the finest buildings and the chief scientific and other institutions in the colony. Its magnificent park, covering an area of over a thousand acres, commands a panoramic view of the surrounding scenery almost unrivalled in Australasia. The western horizon is bounded by Mount Wellington, often snow-clad in winter, and by the other ranges and wooded hills, the headlands fringed with foaming surf. Storm Bay and the winding straits merging in the distance with the Austral_seas. Eastwards Storm Bay is skirted bj- the bold promontory of Tasman Peninsula, broken b}^ numerous secondary headlands, and connected with the mainland only bj' a narrow rocky ridge. At the southern extremity of this peninsula lies the inlet of Port Arthur, which had been chosen as a convict station for the more desjjerate class of criminals, hei-e guarded both by armed sentinels and ferocious bloodhounds. Now that these painful scenes have passed from the memory of living generations. Port Arthiir with its craggy heights, cavernous recesses and seething waters stands out as one of the most romantic spots along the seaboard. At the southern extremity of the peninsula all vessels bound for Storm Bay and the Dcrwent estuary have to double the frowning cliffs of Cape Raoul, whose black columnar basalt rocks are encircled by a white line of breakers. On the west side of the bay the inlet of Oyster Cove, near which perished the last survivors of the Tasmanian race, has been recently converted into an oyster-bed modelled on those of the French coast. The western districts of Tasmania, mostly a rugged mountain region, are EE 2 420 AUSTRMjASIA. almost uninhabited and for the most part even uninhabitable. Here the bare rocky heights, at most covered with almost impenetrable scrub, yield no fodder for cattle, and are clothed in a snowy mantle for eight months in the year. No settlements can be formed in these bleak tracts except at the entrance of a few valleys scarcely sheltered from the prevailing boisterous moisture-bearing winds. 181. — HOBAET A^D THE DeeWENT RiVEE. Soak 1 : 1,250,000 rr-^-^^ '^T^T'^f^rjr^ -::,>^^^-,r VI HOBAPfii to5 atbomfl. 5 to M Fathoms. 50 Fathoms and upwards. 36 Miks. In this inhospitable region, however, are found all the mines of gold, tin, bi.'-inuth and antimonj' that have hitherto been opened in the island. The constitution of Tasmania differs little from that of Victoria except in the number of members composing the two assemblies forming the local parliament. The former, numbering eighteen, are elected for six, the latter for five years. The defen.sive forces comprise nearly 1,000 volunteers of all arms. LIBRARY ■ OF THE JNIVERSITV of ILLINOIS, CHAPTER IX. KEW ZEALAND AND NEIGHBOURING ARCHIPELAGOES. I HE insular lioine of the Maori race, wLich penetrates southwards in the direction of the Antarctic waters, has preserved the name bestowed upon it by its Dutch discoverer. Although the most English of all the Australasian colonics, and often called the " Great Britain of the Antipodes," JS^ew Zealand thus still recalls the memory of the great navigator Abel Tasman, who sighted its western shores in 1642, and who at first named it Staateu Land, in the belief that it might possibly be continuous with the other so-named Dutch territory lying to the south of America. In consequence of a sanguinary encounter with the natives of JIassacro Bay at the north-west side of the southern island, Tasman continued his northerly course to the extreme headland of the Archipelago without determining the insular character of the lands discovered by him. This region was not again visited till the year 1769, when Cook touched first at an inlet on the east coast of the northern island, to which he gave the name of Poverty Bay, a name, however, now belied by the magnificent flocks of the surround- ing pastoral district. Cook then. coasted the seaboard in a southerly direction, and by circumnavigating the whole group showed that it formed no part of the Austral continent which he had hoped to have at last discovered. He again visited these waters on each of his two subsequent voyages, and altogether passed 327 days in surveying the archipelago, the chart of which, prepared bj' him, is remarkable for its surprising accuracy, even in details. Henceforth, nothing remained to be done beyond following the sinuosities of the coast-line and e.xjjlor- ing the interior of the islands. The very year of its re-discovery bj- Cook, the French navigator Surville landed on the northern island, the shores of which were studied three years later by Marion and Crozet. Marion, with fourteen of his men, was here massacred b}' the nalives, and after this period the whalers began to visit the New Zealand \^aters, without, however, founding any permanent settlements on the se.iboard. The earliest attempts at colonisation were duo to the enterprise of Australian immigrants. A missionary station founded at Pahia, on the shores of the Bay of Islands, near the northern extremity of the archipelago, was soon followed by a settlement of fishers and traders, which sjjrang up at Korontrika over iigainst 422 • AUSTRALASIA. Pahiii, and which was peopled by whites and half-castes. A resident magistrate was ajjpoiuted by the British Government with jurisdiction over the Europeans of the rising colony, but without claiming any authority over the natives, who were regarded as a sovereign peofsle. Colonisation in the strict sense of the term, that is, with official occupation of the land, began in 1840 by the foundation of the New Zmhiiid Coiiipaiu/, which purchased territory from the natives and selected a site on Port Nicholson at the south end of the northern island as the capital of ics possessions and the starting- point for the jjeopling of the archipelago. In the same year a French vessel belonging to the Compagnie Nanto-Bordelake cast anchor in Akaroa Harbour, at the extremity of the hilly Banks Peninsula, near the j>resent Christchurch, in the southern island. But when the French landed they found that they had been anticipated by some British officials who had already bought the land. Hence the French colonists had to establish themselves on their domain of 30,000 acres as subjects of Great Britain, and the little settlement became gradually merged in the surrounding English population. This attempt at colonial annexation in the name of France had the effect of stimulating the action of the British Government and territorial companies. The latter, without even awaiting official approval or sanction, hastened to found villages along the seaboard, and to land immigrant families by the hundred. In 1841 New Zealand, ceasing to be regarded as a jiolitical dependency of New South Wales, assumed the title of a distinct colony, and twelve years later, when its white population already numbered some thirty thousand souls, it took its place amongst the Constitutional States of the British colonial empire. This event was followed in 1857 by the discovery of the gold-fields, which made the fortune of the colony by attracting thousands of capitalists' and miners. Henceforth the popula- tion rapidly increased, and the archipelago now ranks as one of the leading Australasian states, as well as relatively one of the most densely peopled. Although separated by Cook Strait the- two large members of the group are naturally comprised imder the collective name of New Zealand, for they form in reality but a single geographical unit, disposed in the same direction, presenting tlie same physical conformation and standing- on a common submarine bed. The North Island, Marion's "Austral France," is the smaller of the two, and is occasionally designated by the Maori name of Ika na Maui, the " Fish of IMaui," in reference to a native heroic legend. Another Maori name is Aotea-roa, that is, the " Great Expanse," or according to Kerry NichoUs, the " Bright Sun." The South Island bears the native appellation of Tevahi Panamu, which, though variously interpreted, probably means " Laud of Jade" (A. S. Thomson). Foveaux Strait separates South Island from the much smaller but steep and elevated Stewart Island (3,000 feet), which was also for a time formerly known as South Island. This is the Raki-rua, or " Arid Land " of the Maoris. The archipelago terminates southwards in the isolated peak of the Snares, which is encircled by a few rocky islets first sighted by Vancouver in 1791. Many geographei-s have called attention to the remarkable resemblance of NEW ZEALAND. 423 New Zealand in its outward form to the Italian Peninsula, disposed, howerer, h I 'li:il li:l!l!.!i!il:.'rilli« II IIIIIIIIM IIt.i.;,,,'.;'ill tlHilllii„ Mi jl. iliiL'lii'iiH..,: ,..it, ltil„OH!.llil M..I'JCMIjmii llTliii, I , „ ll: Wiaijl, lllijlji I iu a reversed direction. Thus the north-west point corresponds to the Cala- 424 AUSTRALASIA. brian pouinsula, wbile tlic nortli-east extremity recalls the " heel " of Otranto. Nevertheless, in their general relief the two antipodal regions present scarcely any analogy. The" general lie of the land is from south-west to north-east, and the submarine exploration of the Pacific also shows that in this part of the ocean the other insular groups are disclosed in a like direction. The same remark apjilies to various other islets, such as the little Auckland Archipelago, the volcanic rocks of Camp- bell and Macquarie, and Emerald Island, discovered at the beginning of this century. North of New Zealand the chain of ujDheaved land becomes slightly deflected and is continued through the Kermadec Islets to the Tonga Archipelago. Lastly, the Chatham, Bounty, and Antipodes groups, lying more to the east, are all disposed parallel to the general axis of New Zealand. The Antipodes, better named the Penantipodes by Waterhouse, who discovered them in 1850, scarcely deserve their name, for they do not stand quite opposite the Observatory of Green- wich, as was supposed by the English explorer. Their position (49° 42' south lat., 178° 43' east long.) corresponds exactly to Barfleur Point on the opjDoeite face of the globe, that is, 120 miles soufh-west of the astronomic point indicated by Waterhouse. The Antipodes are inaccessible granite rocks pierced with caverns . and galleries through which the water rushes with thundering, echoes. Mount Galloway, culminating point of the large island, rises to a height of 1,320 feet. On the west the mainland is continued by two elevated submarine banks, which take a north-westerly direction. One of these banks, terminating in the pyramidal rocks of the Lord Howe group, is sepiarated by deep waters from Moreton Bay on the Queensland coast. The other, forming a seaward prolongation of the north-west peninsula of New Zealand, rises above the surface at Norfolk Island, and again at the Chesterfield Reefs, west of New Caledonia, beyond which it merges in the Great Barrier Reef. These relatively shallow oceanic waters, where the soundings seldom reveal depths of over 900 fathoms, are supposed by some geologists to indicate the line of direction of the now submerged lands formerly connecting New Zealand and Australia in a vast continent corresponding to Africa and South America in other parts of the southern hemisphere. Accord- ing to this view the New Zealand highlands would form the eastern coast range of the drowned continent, although, unlike most other coast ranges, they do not rise above the deepest oceanic waters. The sea is much shallower at the foot of the New Zealand Alps than along the east side of the Australian Aljjs. Physical Features of South Island. The Aljjine chain which gives the South Island such a striking resemblance to the Scandinavian uplands begins with the volcanic group of the Snares, beyond which it traverses Stewart Island, a. fragment of a hilly plateau, consisting, like the mainland, of granites and old sedimentary formations. The backbone of the South Island mainly follows the west coast, which is very steep, with rocky walls rising in many places abruptly above the neighbouring waters. On the other hand the eastern slope is relatively but slightly inclined, but here the fall is NEW ZEALAND— SOUTH ISLAND. 425 broken by ridges running parallel to the main axis and consisting chieflj' of debris that has been carried by ancient moraines down to the valleys. In the southern part the uplands present the aspect, not of a continuous range, but rather of a plateau from 3,500 to 4,000 feet high dotted over with pyramidal eminences some hundred j-ards high. But this plateau gradually contracts northwards until at Milford Sound it is reduced to a mere crest dominated by the tower-shaped Castle Mountain (7,210 feet). Beyond Milford Sound the range rises higher and higher, presenting a succession of snowj- peaks as far as Mounts Earnslaw (9,16-5 feet) and Aspiring (9,940 feet), which may be regarded as the southern limits of the New Zealand. Alps properly so-called. This range, however, is abruptly interrupted by a gorge, no similar example of which is presented by any other large mountain system. Ascending a steep ravine, which is traversed by a foaming torrent, and crossing a sill about 16 feet high composed of debris, we reach a narrow plain sloping imper- ceptibly westwards down to the basin of the river Awarua (Haast). The gorge, which can hardly be called a pass, has like the neighbouring river been named after the late geologist and explorer, Yon Haast, to whom we owe the most careful study of the New Zealand orographic systems. N'orth of the transverse fissure the mountains still contintie to rise, and in this part of the island, about the middle of the waterparting, stands the giant of New Zealand, the " heaven-piercing " Ahravaigi, now Mount Cook, which attains an altitude of 13,200 feet. This glittering peak overtops all other summits, which have for the most part been named after distinguished naturalists, such as Darwin, Lyell, Hochstetter, EHe de Beaumont, and Malte-Brun. North of Mount Cook the Alps maintain an elevation of over 8,000 feet without any great breaks for a distance of about 120 miles, as far as Harper's Pass, which affords a communication 3,500 feet high between both slopes. But although this is the terminal point of the Alpine crest, some lofty masses, such as Mount FrankKn (10,000 feet), still occur in the line of the main axis. Farther on the system ramifies in all directions, the highest ridge continuing to follow the west coast, where the last lofty summit is Mount Arthur, 5,800 feet high. One of the offshoots of this branch sweeps round Golden Bay to Cape Farewell, north-eastern extremity of the island. It was in this district that the natives found the nephrite used in the preparation of the arms and ornaments which were so highly valued by the chiefs. The New Zealand Alps rise high above the lower limit of perpetual snow, which here stands at from about 7,900 to 8,000 feet. Round Mount Cook the snowfields cover many hundreds of square miles, dominated by glittering peaks and discharging glaciers down both slopes of the mountains. On the east side descend such magnificent frozen streams as the Tasman, commanded eastwards by the isolated peak of Malte-Brun, whose outlines vaguely recall those of the Cerviu. In amplitude the Tasman may be compared withthe largest glaciers of the Euro- pean Alps, being 12 miles long, and nearh* 2 broad at its lower extremit}-, which is still 2^340 feet above sea-level ; but the greater part of its surface remains con- cealed beneath heaps of shingle and mud. 42G AUSTEAI.ASIA. On the west side the glaciers, being fed by more abundant snows, descend much lower, that of Cook approaching to within 790 feet of the sea-level. But here the valleys are too short to allow the congealed rivers the same development as on the east slope. On both sides, however, all the glaciers were formerly far more extensive than at present, as shown by the still existing moraines, polished rocks, Fig. 183. — Tasjian Glacier. Scale 1 : SUD.OOO. ' H #^ M % I ■' ■ ■ \ and lakes. According to Green the Now Zealand glaciers have again enfere.l on a period of expansion. While the highlands are still in the glacial epoch, the plains, and especially those of South Island, have reached the lacustrine phase. The beds of the former frozen streams are now partly filled by lakes, which are dammed up at their lower end by old frontal moraines, and which higher up are gradually being filled up LIBRARY OF THE J NIVERSITV of ILLINOIS, NEW ZEALAND— SOUTH ISLAND. 427 by the sedimentary matter washed down with the mountain torrents. Without counting numerous sparkling ponds or tarns less than a square mile in extent, South Island contains about sixty basins, some of which cover an area of over 40 square miles and fill cavities 300 feet and upwards deep. Nearly all these great reservoirs are grouped in the southern part of the island and on the east slope of the mountains. Rising abniptlj' above the western seaboard, the New Zealand Alps have too precipitous a slope on this side to allow the running waters to collect in large basins. But the opposite decKvity and the plains stretching thence to the east coast present numerous depressions where the glaciers have been replaced by lakes, most of which have been formed in the intermediate zone between the uplands and the plains. A straight line drawn across the chief flooded basins from north-east to south-west for a distance of about 200 miles would run parallel to the main Alpine chain, and would represent the direction of the axis of the southern island. The northern group of lakes east of the highest section of the Alps appears to be merely the remains of a labyrinth of inland waters, which formerly occupied the vast llackenzie Plains, and which are now disposed in countless secondary cavities by moraines, heaps of erratic boulders, dams and sedimentary dejDosits. These basins — Te Kapo, Pukaki, Ohau — were formerly much deeper, and are now rapidl}' silting up, just as those farther north have already been filled in which were at one time traversed by the river Walmakariri. The dav may be predicted when the glacial waters of the Waitaki, which now issue in a crystal stream from the flooded depressions, will roll down in a tiu'bid current to the plains. Although its course scarcely exceeds 120 miles in length, the Waitaki is none the less a great river, according to W. N. Blair five times more voluminous than the Thames, although this writer gives no data in support of his statement.* Farther south the Clutha, which receives the overflow of the central gi-oup of lakes, is a much larger watercourse, being compared by the same author with the Nile. It is certainly the first river in New Zealand both for size and A'olume, its catchment basin exceeding 8,000 square miles in extent. The Clutha has also been more thoroughly explored than any other stream in South Island, thanks to the rich gold-fields, which since the year 1862 have attracted thousands of miners to the region about its headwaters. "Wakatipu,' one of the lakes belonging to this sj'stem, is no less than 50 miles long, but only from 1 to 3 miles wide. It thus presents the aspect of a winding river, without visible current, with a mean depth of no less than 1,200 feet, and in its profoundest chasms sinking to 1,400 feet. On both sides the encircling hills jjlunge abruptly into these abysmal watci's. Te Anau, largest of all New Zealand lakes, lies beyond the Clutha basin at the head of the Waiau, a short stream flowing to the south coast. The lake fills a long valley and several tributary branches for a space of 140 square miles, and in its deepest part the soimding line has measured 940 feet. Te Anau is separated by a narrow isthmus from Manapuri (ilanipori), another lacustrine basin, which is also said to be very deep, and which branches into numerous creeks and buys, winding * Scottish Geographical Magazine, Xovemlier, 1887. 428 AUSTRALASIA. between numcroas islands and steej) rocky headlands. Tlie Maoris who formerly dwelt in these now almost deserted uplands never ventured without a sense of awe to approach the shores of this lake, in whose gloomy waters were reflected the dark forest-clad slopes of the encircling hills. The name Manapiiri, that is, " Sad Heart," possibly expresses the sense of melancholy inspired iu them by the god concealed in this silent l