he high mountain
regions one may find the alpine plants of Europe, New Zealand, the
Antarctic islands, and the Andine heights of South America. Still
another strange feature is to be found: while the forest trees are
Australian kinds, the plants that make the forests a thicket are the
rattans and other jungle plants of India!

New Guinea is noted for birds of beautiful plumage, especially birds of
paradise, of which there are many kinds. Among the insects is one
commonly known as the "praying" mantis. It is related to the grasshopper
and is found also in many other parts of the world. In New Guinea the
praying mantis is three or four inches long and at first sight seems to
be nothing but a broken twig. In various parts of the world it is known
as "preacher," "nun," "soothsayer," and "saint." It has received its
name from the fact that it rests in a sort of kneeling position, holding
its forelegs in a devotional attitude.

Its character, however, is anything but saintly; it is a most vicious
wretch that may well be called the tiger of the insect world. The
devotional attitude is the position in which it can best seize its
insect prey; for when an unsuspecting insect lights on what seems to be
a green twig, snap!--those blade-like forelegs armed with sharp spikes
come together like scissors, and the unlucky victim is cut to pieces in
an instant.

John Chinaman has discovered a use for the praying mantis--a very
practical use, too. John and his near-by friends capture a lot of the
insects, carry them to a convenient bungalow, turn them loose in a
cockpit, and bet on the survivor. When the insects are turned loose
there is business on hand, for they go to work at once, cutting one
another to pieces by the most approved methods of surgical amputation.
The owner of the survivor wins.

The native Papuans much resemble the bushrangers of Australia; they are
Negritos, with black skins and woolly hair. There are a few tribes of
natives that much resemble the peoples of Samoa and Hawaii; there are
also other tribes that resemble the Malays of southeastern Asia.

The Papuan tribes of the coast are about as degraded as the bushrangers
of Australia. Some of the tribes are cannibals who have a fondness for
sailors that have been wrecked on the shores of New Guinea. They are
neither better nor worse than most of the other tribes of islanders.
Like other islanders, too, they are tractable and easily governed by the
Europeans who t