Two Years Among the Savages of New Guinea.: With Introductory Notes on North Queensland.Pitcairn, W. D.
History
Two Years Among the Savages of New Guinea.: With Introductory Notes on North Queensland.
Pitcairn, W. D.
New Guinea -- Description and travel
"We were camped two nights on Mount Victoria, the 11th and 12th of
June, at an altitude of 12,452 feet, that is, about 670 feet from the
top of the highest peaks. The temperature rose in the middle of the day
to 70 deg.. In the morning the grass was quite white with frost until the
rays of the sun reached it. Icicles were brought into the camp, the
largest one being over an inch in diameter, and seven or eight inches
long. Mount Victoria is, during this season at least, emphatically a
dry mountain. The crest of Mount Victoria runs from south-east to
north-west, and may be described as composed of six different peaks,
but they might be divided differently by different observers. The
north-west one and the south-east one are a few feet higher than any of
the others. The distance between the two is from a mile to a mile and a
quarter in a straight line. I ascended to the top of all the peaks, the
central ones being most difficult of access, which I climbed only after
tremendous exertion. Mount Victoria is far from being the isolated
block it has been customary to represent it. It is simply the eastern
end of the Owen Stanley Range, which runs without a break, as one
continuous whole, from the south-east end of Mount Victoria until the
range meets Mount Griffith and Mount Scratchley; the length of this
part of the range is about 20 to 25 miles.
"Mr. Cameron's calculations and my observations make the height of
Mount Victoria 13,121 feet, an estimate that comes very near to that
given on maps and charts, 13,205.
"The north coast was for several hours in the forenoon plainly distinct
from the top of Mount Victoria. This mountain is some 15 to 20 miles
nearer to the south than to the north coast. The country lying between
it and the north coast is far less mountainous than that between it and
the south coast.
"Looking from the top of Mount Victoria, only two great mountains are
seen between the Owen Stanley Range and the north coast; these two are
Mount Gillies and Mount Parkes. They are probably from 7,000 to 8,000
feet high. A valley, some two or three miles long, lies between Mount
Parkes on the north, and the ends of Mounts Scratchley and Douglas on
the south; this valley widens out and separates Mount Victoria from
Mount Parkes.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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