The Malay archipelago : the land of the orang-utan ... - Wallace Online

XXXIX.] NATURAL HISTORY OF THE PAPUAN ISLANDS. 441to New Guinea, where they are to spend some years in circumnavigatingthe island, ascending its large rivers as far as possibleinto the interior, and making extensive collections of its naturalproductions.^The Mammalia of New Guinea and the adjacent islands, yetdiscovered, are only seventeen in number. Two of these arebats, one is a pig of a peculiar species (Sus papuensis), and therest are all marsupials. The bats are, no doubt, much morenumerous, but there is every reason to believe that wliatevernew land Mammalia may be discovered will belong to themarsupial order. One of these is a true kangaroo, very similarto some of the middle-sized kangaroos of Australia, and it isi-emarkable as being the first animal of the kind ever seen byEuropeans. It inhabits Mysol and the Aru Islands (an alliedspecies being found in New Guinea), and was seen and describedby Le Brun in 1714, from living specimens at Batavia. A muchmore extraordinary creature is the tree-kangaroo, two speciesof which are known from New Guinea. These animals do notdiffer very strikingly in form from the terrestrial kangaroos,and appear to be but imperfectly adapted to an arboreal life,as they move rather slowly, and do not seem to have a verysecure footing on the limb of a tree. The leaping joower of themuscular tail is lost, and powerful claws have been acquired toassist in climbing, but in other respects the animal seems betteradapted to walk on terra firma. This imperfect adaptation maybe due to the fact of there being no caniivora in New Guinea,and no enemies of any kind from which these animals have toescape by rapid climbing. Four species of Cuscus, and the smallflying opossum, also inliabit New Guinea ; and tliere are fiveother smaller marsupials, one of which is the size of a rat, andtakes its place by entering houses and devouring provisions."The birds of New Guinea offer the greatest possible contrastto the Mammalia, since they are more numerous, more beautiful,and afford more new, curious, and elegant forms than those ofany other island on tlie globe. Besides the Birds of Paradise,which we have already sufficiently considered, it possesses anumber of other curious birds, which in the eyes of the ornithologistalmost serves to distinguish it as one of the primarydivisions of the earth. Among its tliirty species of parrots arethe Great Black Cockatoo, and the little rigid-tailed Nasiterna,the giant and the dwarf of the whole tribe. The bai'e-headedDasyptilus is one of the most singular parrots known ; whilethe beautiful little long-tailed Charmosyna, and tlie greatvariety of gorgeously-coloured lories, have no parallels elsewhere.Of pigeons it possesses about forty distinct species, amongAvhich are the magnificent crowned pigeons, now so well known1 The most important of the natural liistory travellers who have since visited NewGuinea are the Italians Becoari and D'Albertis, the Germans Meyer and Pinseh, Mr. II.O. Forbes, and several English atid GermaTi colleetors.2 Among the more interrstiiig Mammalia since discovered are a species of Echidna,allied to the sjiiny ant-eater of Australia.