Volume 14 Australasia - dana ward's homepage

—CLIMATE OF NEW GUINEA. 801winding canal, wliich unglit easily be blocked, by a snag or a sandbank. Severalislets, especially in Torres Strait, are disposed in such a way as to form naturalharbours, a fortunate provision for shipping in the vicinity of a rock-bound coastwith but few inlets, and for hundreds of miles destitute of a single shelteringcreek.According to Wallace the Aru Archipelago must also be considered, likeFredeiik Ilendrik, as a part ofNew Guinea, separated from the mainland only byshallow waters. The river-like channels by which it is intersected and disposedin regular blocks like the quarters of a city seem to indicate that this archipelagowas formerly a marshy plain, whose channels represent the branches of the riversby which it was traversed before its separation from the mainland by a slight subsidenceof about 300 feet. " When the intervening land sank down we mustsuppose the land that now constitutes Aru to have remained nearly stationary,a not very improbable supposition, when we consider the great extent of theshallow sea, and the very small amount of depression the land need have undergoneto 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 temperature,without excessively prolonged rains or droughts. This region has neitherthe cold nor the sultry heats of Australia, and observers have recorded no tcmperatui-cshigher than 89° Fahr. or lower than 68° Fahr.fAs 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-eastto north-west, and at other times veer round to different quarters according to thevarious centres of attraction.The lofty ranges by which the island is divided intotwo precipitous areas of drainage also cause a sharp contrast between the successionof 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 thenorth-east trade wind, the slopes facing northwards receive an abundant rainfall,while droughts, varied by a few occasional showers, prevail on the opposite sideturned 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 Australiancontinent. West of Torres Strait this continent again modifies the direction ofthe normal currents which come from the south-west and west, and which alsobring 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 150Rainfall94 inches.