New Britain, by Germans called NEU-POMMERN, an island of the Western Pacific, separated from the north-east coast of New Guinea by the Dampier Strait. The interior is almost wholly unknown. In the forest-clad interior there are several volcanoes, active and quiescent, the highest being the Father (3900 feet). The climate is hot and moist. Cocoa-nuts, yams, bananas, bread-fruit, betel-nuts, and similar fruits are the chief products. Fish are caught in great numbers. The natives, cannibals, of the Melanesian division, are warlike, but suspicious and crafty. They make handsome canoes, with sails and outriggers, earthenware vessels, baskets, mats, &c. The sling, stone axe, and spear are their favourite weapons. They worship good and evil spirits. Area, 9600 sq. m. The population of the several islands is not known.
See Romilly, The Western Pacific and New Guinea (1886); Powell, Wanderings in a Wild Country (1883); and Parkinson, Im Bismarck-Archipel (1887). For map, see NEW GUINEA.