Volume 14 Australasia - dana ward's homepage

302 AUSTRALASIA.period the phenomena are reversed on the northern slojjes, the lofty X)wen Stanleyrange completely interceijting- the south-east trade, and producing calms orvariable breezes in the sheltered waters north of Papuasia.Half Australian in some of its aspects, New Guinea presents a less varied florathan Indonesia, although the western peninsula seems to belong to the same zoneas the Moluccas. Here are found the nutmeg and other Moluccan plants, whilethe acacias and eucalyj)tus of the eastern regions recall the neighbouring continentof Australia. In general the two floras may be said to overlap each other in NewGuinea, alternating with the dryness or moisture of the contrasting slopes. Wherethe slopes are exposed to droughts the prevailing forest trees are the eucalyptusand other Australian species, and here occur vast savannahs of the so-called" kangaroo grass," while the streams are fringed with the bread-fruit tree, themango, pandanus, areca, and cocoa-nut palms. But there are also a large numberof indigenous forms, and Beccari enumerated no less than fifty varieties of thepalm peculiar to the great island. Amongst the more valuable local si^ecies is thesassafras goheianum, the bark of which yields the precious iiia^soi oil, so highlyprized as a febrifuge in the Malay Archipelago.Notwithstanding the great diversity in their relief, climates, and generalphysical aspects. New Guinea and Australia jDresent remarkable resemblances intheir 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 whichcan be explained only by assuming a former continuity of land between bothregions. The present Torres Strait by which they are now seiDarated is evidentlya comparatively recent event in the history of the planet.The animals, however, have had to modify their habits in order to adapt themselvesto their different environments. Thus one of the New Guinea kangaroos,formerly a jumper, is now a climber. His tail has become smaller and coveredwith hair, his paws have been furnished with claws, and he moves from branch tobranch with short springs. Instead of grazing he feeds on the rich foliage of thetrees, but he is stiU rather awkward at climbing, and would soon be exterminatedwere the local forests infested by rapacious beasts.The whole mammalian fauna is limited to a pig, some bats, mice, and monotremes,with over thirty species of the characteristic marsupials, one of which is nobigger than a rat. The dingo, or wild dog, which everywhere accompanies thenatives, came with them at some remote age from foreign lands ; like the Australiandingo it never barks, it lives almost exclusivel}' on fruits and vegetables, andits flesh is said to be excellent.In its avifauna New Guinea partakes both of the Australian and Malaj^sianregions. In the north-west peninsula and neighbouring islands alone Wallaceand other naturalists have enumerated at least two hundred and fifty species ofland birds belonging to one hundred and eight genera, of which sixty-four arepeculiar to the zone of Papuasia, the ^Moluccas, and North Australia. Some of