, 1912-05-18
FLORA AND FAUNA OF BRITISH NEW
GUINEA.
Flora.

374 miles traversed on foot, except where
we occasionally met q native track going in
the desired direction. 1t was surprising
that over rough coral ranges and valleys
trees Of considerable size and dense scrub
gould find Il roothold and sufficient nourish-
ment. The roots spread all over the sur
face of the rocks. constituting steps and
ladders mp The steep mountain sides, without
which their ascent would have been most
difficult. A remarkable fact was that we
saw no grass whatever, except Il little reedy
grass near the rivers during our whole trip.
OF the economic fora, by far the most
important was sage (Sagas RHmphii). We
found these useful storehou4es of nourishing
food growing as far north rs we penetrated,
and up to an elevation of $500 feet. 1t had
previously been considered that sugo only
grew along the coast and i'll the alluyipl
mud of river banks. near the s-a-level. TuiS
constitutes the staple food OF Ml the inland
natives we met, except the inhabitants If
the Sanibregi villages, who live principally
upon sweet potatoes, the elevation 5000
feet) being too great for sage Wild bread
ftuit trees are fairly humorous The lrHt,
unlike the Samoan breadfruit, ls full of large
seeds nearly the size Of wnlnuts These,
when roasted, are palatnble aud make a good
substitute for potatoes. The natives when
hungry eat the pith Of n small palm that
grows p!entIfully over Il large area of the
country trnversed by us In time Of scIrci-
ty our police aul carriers consumed n good
deal of this. 70 our pliates 1t had Il wntery
aud woody taste that was far from agreea-
bic; in fact, when ,hun9rg | tri@t to eat it,
but in each instance 1t made me sick. | col
lected the seeds of several in llgeu1us fruits,
which, while not very polata5ie might have
b,ao, i,,nroVal hV 1nltIvntI(u. If tboSa Ayara
lost with the other things
Cultivated i'll the native gardens we found
sweet potatoes, taro, yn'ns, sugtr-caue, nnna-
mas, bette. nut, anil ginger, the las manned
cultivated as Il medicine. Maze is unknown.
No coconnut trees were seen Oh the whole
trip until we reached the lower water 0! the
Kikur river, n0r are there ANY mango trees
or tapiOcN. The natives grow Il green yege-
table, the leaves Of which they boil IN tam-
boos. 1t makes Il very good substitute for
cabbage and appears to contain II lot Of
vegetable oil.
Tobacco is cultivated IN every native gar
dau, which might lend one to suppose it was
Indigenous the n'me, however, tends 10
show that it is an introduced plant. iii is
universally called "Suku" by the buAlnneu,
which is evidently derived from "kuku,'
the coastal name. In one of the gardens on
the .|n0auWatGfS Oh me hlKOt L lOuut II IVA
plant (lkuropiper nAGth yStirttu) althou III
l saw no evidence Of the manufacture Of The
beverage. "t''.
F0naa.
The wild pig, Judging 10y the amount Of
ground that is rooted up, Is plentiful every
where. 1t is the chief source of meat-snp-
/ ply for the natives, I'm lis continually being
hunted with dogs, the killing weapons being
i bow and arrow and a spear. The only animals
domesticated are the pig aud the dog Tho
wallaby is very soprce, owing to. the absence
of grass. C~ass0warles are fnirlyi plentiful.
their black plumes forming u favourlte head
dres. FIXING foxes are very numerous.
Their flesh IS much relished by the bushmen.
Tree rats were occasionally seen, and the
streams abound in fish of excellent quality.
Two or three were shot with u rife, but as
we had neither 6shingeliues nor nets this
luxury was usually ,deried. us. The natives
catch the fish by spearihg them aud by fish
traps composed, of stoueE OF pickets across
the streams. The little black stingless bee
is common everywhere, aud the honey and
comb is much priced for food and as a dress
ing for. the hair. "t
Cockatoes both black and white, and pi-