The northern part of Borneo is British territory, and the British also control the States of Sarawak and Brunei; the rest of the island is a part of the Dutch East Indies. The British are more interested in the minerals and jungle produce, such as gutta-percha, rattan, rubber, and birds' nests, than in the cultivation of plantations. The Dutch, on the other hand, are trying to establish the great plantations there that have made Java famous. Already these are producing great quantities of sago, tobacco, and sugar. There are no large cities and only a few ports with good harbors, but German steamships make the rounds of the ports and carry the produce to Singapore, the clearing-house of the East Indies. Scarcely one hundred and fifty miles north of Australia lies Papua, or New Guinea. Next to Greenland it is the largest island in the world, and in many ways it is the world's wonderland. It was one of the first large bodies of land discovered after the discovery of America, and one of the last to be settled by Europeans. Most likely dry land at one time connected Australia and New Guinea, for the animal and plant life of the two are much the same. Even the Great Barrier Reef that skirts the east coast of Australia extends part-way around New Guinea. Of all the islands southeast of Asia, New Guinea is the most interesting. It is rich beyond measure with things useful and beautiful. Sugar-cane grows wild from sea to mountain; wild oranges, lemons, and limes can be had for the picking; and land adapted for growing rice, coffee, tobacco, rubber, cocoanuts, and cinchona is plentiful. There are mountain summits clad in everlasting snow, healthful plateaus abounding in delightful scenery, and dank coast plains in which lurks the deadly jungle fever. Dense forests cover most of the island, but the forest trees of the East Indies are not to be found except here and there in the northwest neck of the island. The famous eucalyptus abounds in the lowland regions; so also does the nipa-palm. Pines, much like the kauri pine of New Zealand, grow in the high plateaus. Most singular of all, in the 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!