THE

NEW GUINEA.

HE island of New Guinea lies close to the northern extremity of Queensland, being separated from the mainland by Torres Strait. Excluding Australia itself, New Guinea is the largest island in the world, and lies between the equator and 12° south, and between 130° 50′ and 134° 30′ east longitude. Its greatest length is 1,490 miles, and its maximum breadth 430 miles, its area being about 234,770 square miles. It is occupied by British, Dutch, and German colonists; the British portion includes the south-east of the island, with an area of 90,540 square miles, of which 87,786 are on the mainland, and 2,754 square miles comprise various groups of islands. The eastern end of the possession is very mountainous; moving westward, the various chains unite to form a great central cordillera, which attains its highest point in the Owen Stanley Range, where Mount Victoria rises to a height of 13,200 feet above sea-level. Conspicuous also in the eastern portion of the island are Mount Suckling (12,228 feet), Mount Obree (10,246 feet), Mount Yule (10,046 feet), and Mount Brown (7,940 feet). The mountains follow the coast, and are distant from it about 20 to 50 miles; at the head of the Gulf of Papua the ranges become broken and considerably reduced in height, as well as further removed from the seaboard. The western portion of the possession may be generally described as low and swampy, densely clothed with forest; dense forest growth is also characteristic of the mountains. New Guinea is a well-watered country; its two largest rivers are the Fly River, with its tributary (the Strickland), and the Purari. The Fly River has a total length of 600 miles, but some portion of its upper course lies within Dutch territory. The river has been navigated for a great distance, and it is said that small steamers of fair draught can ascend over 500 miles. The Purari rises in German territory, and is navigable for a considerable distance from its mouth. There are many other rivers, but, as they have not been explored, no detailed description of them can be given. The southern and south-east coast-line is well indented, and several fair harbours exist.

Lying as it does just under the equator, the climate of New Guinea is very warm, but as no extensive range of observations has been made, the maximum and minimum temperature cannot be definitely stated. At Port Moresby the average shade temperature at 9 a.m. is 81.6° Fahrenheit, with a maximum of 94°; this would argue very high

maximum daily temperature, but not greater than along some portions of the northern coast of Australia. The rainfall varies greatly in different parts of the island; at Port Moresby the quantity recorded in 1901 was 54 inches, but this was probably in excess of the average; at Dogura on the north-east coast, on the opposite side of the island, the average is 59 inches; but at Samarai, at the south-east end of the island, the rainfall registers between 120 and 130 inches per annum. At Daru, in the west of the possession, the average is about 85 inches, but a fall of nearly 150 inches has been registered, and it is probable that equally great rainfall is experienced in the central mountains.

THE

NEW ZEALAND.

AREA AND. BOUNDARIES.

HE Colony of New Zealand consists of the three main islands named respectively North Island, Middle Island, and Stewart Island, together with the numerous subsidiary islands which from time to time have been added to the territory by proclamation. The group is situated in the South Pacific Ocean about 1,200 miles to the south-east of Australia. That portion of the Southern Ocean which lies between the Australian Coast and New Zealand is now distinguished as the Tasman Sea, in honor of the first discoverer of New Zealand and Tasmania. Including outlying islands, the total area embraced within the limits of the Colony is 104,471 square miles, of which the North Island with adjacent islets constitutes 44,468 square miles, the Middle Island with adjacent islets 58,525 square miles, and Stewart Island with adjacent islets 665 square miles.

THE NORTH ISLAND.

Coastal Features.

This island is, as its name implies, the northernmost of the group, and is separated from the Middle Island by Cook Strait. In shape it is peculiar, consisting of a roughly square main body, with projections stretching from each corner, the longest being to the north-west. This remarkable northward peninsula is about 280 miles long, and from 53 to 8 miles in breadth, and is almost cut in two by the Hauraki Gulf on the eastern side, and the Manukau Harbour on the west. On the narrow isthmus intervening, the town of Auckland has been built. At the extremity of the peninsula lies the headland of Cape Reinga, from which, according to Maori legend the souls of the dead were plunged into the abode of departed spirits. A little to the eastward is North Cape, and to the west Cape Maria Van Diemen. Off the point lie the rocky islets known as the Three Kings, the scene of several disastrous shipwrecks. Proceeding down the western coast from Cape Maria Van Diemen, the first inlet of importance is Ahipara Bay, with Reef Point at its southern entrance. Next come Kiapara Harbour and Manukau Harbour. Lower down is Kawhia Harbour, with Albatross Point on the southward entrance. Here the coast takes a westerly sweep and forms the North Taranaki Bight. On the extremity of the western projection of the island is situated Cape Egmont, with the prominent landmark of Mount Egmont standing a

little distance inland. Sweeping round to the south the coast line forms the capacious South Taranaki Bight. Port Nicholson and Palliser Bay are situated in the southern prolongation of the island. Rounding Cape Palliser a long stretch of unindented coast line leads up to Kidnapper's Point at the southern entrance to Hawke Bay. Passing Poverty Bay and East Cape and turning westward the Bay of Plenty is entered. Next comes the Hauraki Gulf, off which are situated the Barrier Islands, with Aiguilles Point on the extremity of the Great Barrier. The eastward coast line of the northern peninsula possesses numerous indentations, the most remarkable of which is the Bay of Islands with Cape Brett at its southern entrance. This inlet is one of the finest harbours in New Zealand, being superior to that of Auckland as regards facility of entrance, and possessing deep water and good anchorage in almost every part. As the name implies, the surface of the bay is diversified by numerous small islands, and these, with their verdurous slopes and lustrous beaches, together with the many beautiful bays and headlands on the mainland, constitute a scene which, for charm, stands almost unrivalled.

General Physical Characteristics.

The main body of the North Island is mountainous, although there are some extensive stretches of plain country, portions of which are of surprising richness and fertility. In the northern peninsula the ranges do not rise to any great altitude, Tutanoe, the highest point, having an elevation of 2,570 feet. Southward from East Cape the highest summit is Hikurangi, which reaches 5,530 feet. On the west coast, south of Whaingaroa Harbour, are Mount Karehoe and Mount Pironghia, reaching an altitude, respectively, of 2,370 and 2,800 feet. The volcanic summits to the south reach a much greater elevation. One of the most remarkable is Mount Egmont, in the New Plymouth District. This is an extinct volcanic cone, 8,260 feet in height, and the summit is clothed with perpetual snow. Rising abruptly from the plain, it presents a sublime spectacle, the cone being one of the most perfect in the world. Tarawera is the well-known volcanic summit in the celebrated Lake District, and rises to a height of 3,600 feet. Farther down are the Te Whaiti Range leading to Kaimanawha, near Hawkes' Bay, and the prolongations to Kaweka and the Ruahine Range, ending in the Tararua and Haurangi at Cape Palliser, these successive ranges forming the backbone of the island to Cook's Strait. The Tongariro Mountain in the Lake Taupo District consists of the united outflow of lava from several distinct cones. Ngauruhoe, the highest of these, reaches 7,515 feet. From Nguaurhoe, the Red Crater, and Te Mari discharges of lava took place as recently as 1868, and steam and vapours are still given off from various vents, accompanied by considerable noise. Ruapehu lies south of the Tongariro group, and reaches an elevation of 9,008 feet, being in part above the line of perpetual snow. This mountain is in the solfatara stage, and possesses a crater-lake

which occasionally is troubled by slight eruptions giving rise to large volumes of steam. In March, 1895, an eruption took place, when several hot springs were formed, while the heat of the lake increased. The sides of the depression occupied by the lake are covered with ice and snow, and the water, which is 300 feet below the surrounding crater rims, is inaccessible except with the use of ropes and ladders. This area and the three craters on Tongariro are situated in a straight line which if produced would pass through the boiling springs of Tokaanu on the southern edge of Lake Taupo, the volcanic country north-east of the lake, and White Island, an active volcano in the Bay of Plenty, about 27 miles from the mainland.

The district occupied by the hot springs constitutes one of the most remarkable and interesting features of the North Island. They are found over a large extent of country from Tongariro, south of Lake Taupo, to Ohaeawai in the extreme north, a distance of about 300 miles, but it is in the neighbourhood of Lake Rotorua, about 40 miles north-east of Lake Taupo, that the principal seat of hydrothermal action is encountered. Many of the hot springs have been proved to possess remarkable curative powers in certain complaints, and the Government has taken considerable pains to render them accessible to the visitor in search of health. The beautiful Pink and White Terraces in this district were almost completely destroyed by the eruption of Mount Tarawera in 1886, but it is stated that natural agencies are at work which will in time renew them. Some of the hot springs assume the form of geysers, and eject boiling water, fragments of rock, mud, &c., to a considerable height.

Of the plains, the principal are those in the Hawke's Bay District; the Wairarapa Plain in the Wellington District; the West-Coast Plain, stretching from near Wellington to some distance north of New Plymouth; and the Kaingaroa Plain, which stretches in a north-easterly direction from Lake Taupo to the Bay of Plenty. A great portion of the last-mentioned is, however, covered with pumice sand and is unfit for agricultural or pastoral occupation.

The principal river in the North Island is the Waikato. Rising in the Central Range, near Ruapehu, it flows into Lake Taupo, thence flowing north-westward it enters the ocean a short distance to the south of Manukau Harbour. The river is navigable for 100 miles from its mouth by small vessels. The Thames rises in the high land near the Lake District, and after a course of 100 miles enters the sea at the Firth of Thames. Several small streams, including the Tarawera, drain into the Bay of Plenty. The Wairoa, Waikari, and Mohaka fall into Hawke Bay. The Wanganui flows into the South Taranaki Bight, and the Hutt into Port Nicholson.

A large number of streams drain the Auckland peninsula, their courses necessarily being very short. There is, indeed, little of the North Island that can be passed over without meeting a stream of ever-running water.