Chapter X: Part I: The Primary Varieties of the Human Species (7)

1. _The affinities with Protonesia._--Much has to be done in this department; especially in regard to the indication of similar habits and customs; and in respect to the explanation of undoubted and important points of difference. Indeed, at the present moment, the proof of the Protonesian affinities with Polynesia is almost wholly philological. Still, of its kind, it is satisfactory and scientific. That isolated Malay words were to be found far beyond the proper Malay area was known as early as the time of Reland. By Marsden, Crawfurd, and others, the list was enlarged. The evidence, however, that the grammatical structure of the South-Sea languages was equally Protonesian with the vocabularies, forms the most valuable part of a late publication--the posthumous dissertation of W. Von Humboldt on the Kawi language of Java. In this the Tagala of the Philippines is taken as the sample of a Protonesian grammar in its most elaborate and complex form; a starting-point which explains the structure of the Polynesian and Malagasi tongues in a manner far beyond any amount of elucidation that could have been drawn from the comparatively simple structure of the proper Malayan.

For all questions of this sort the great work just named is the thesaurus and repository. It is also the thesaurus and repository for all facts connected with the history of the Hindu influences on Protonesia.

The other ethnological phænomena, _not_ philological, that naturally belong to this part of the subject, will be noticed under the third head.

2. _The differences between Polynesia and Micronesia._--Some of these have been noticed. None, however, have been of equal importance with the difference of language. The exact appreciation of their import is difficult.

The fact of the bow and arrow being either not used at all, or used but little (according to the American explorers in their _games_, but not in their _wars_), must be taken as _relative_, rather than as a simple _negative_, fact.

_a._ It is used in Kelænonesia.

_b._ The parts of Polynesia where it is used (Samoa, De Peyster's Islands, and Tikopia) are the parts nearest to Kelænonesia.

The absence of the tabu in Micronesia is, probably, less of an unqualified fact than it seems to be. In the Proper Polynesian form, and with the Polynesian name, it has probably no existence. In more than one Micronesian island, however, certain objects are held sacred, certain objects are generally prohibited, and certain objects are prohibited under certain conditions.

_The Polynesian custom of drinking kava not Micronesian._--What applies to the tabu applies here. Kava, under the name of _kava_, and prepared, as in Polynesia, from the fermentation of the _root_ of the _piper methusticon_, is not drunk in Micronesia. _Shiaka_, however, is a beverage at Ualan (and probably elsewhere); and _shiaka_ is a fermentation of the leaves of the _piper methusticon_.

The _differentiæ_, then, between Polynesia Proper and Micronesia are subject to criticism; so much so that instead of saying that a Polynesian custom is wanting in Micronesia (or _vice versâ_), we should rather say that the Polynesian habit takes a modified form. Above all, the criticism applicable to all _negative_ statements is preeminently applicable here.

Facts of the same sort with the _kava_, and _tabu_ observations, are to be found in other matters, _e.g._ the Micronesian sails by the stars, the Polynesian by the flight of birds. The Micronesian canoe is an amphisbæna, _i.e._ it can be paddled either way, and it is generally simple. The Polynesian, on the other hand, is often double, and almost always an outrigger: so much so that the appearance of Cook's vessels, on the discovery of Tahiti, was hailed by the natives as a fulfilment of one of the prophecies of Mawi; which was to this effect:--That a canoe such as never had been seen by any native before--a canoe without out-riggers, should at some future time visit the island. Now so impossible a thing was a canoe without out-riggers in the eyes of the Tahitians, that the prophecy was laughed to scorn. So in order to gain credence, Mawi launched his wooden dish upon the waters, which swam as he said the strange canoe should swim. Afterwards, when Cook sailed towards the islands, his ship was held to be the prophesied canoe; and at the present moment English vessels have been called _Mawi's canoes_.

The sum, perhaps, of all the distinctions of the sort already indicated, will give between Polynesia and Micronesia, the difference between a Dutchman and an Englishman; certainly not less--probably more. Probably more, because the very considerable difference in the details of the two mythologies has yet to be added. A brief notice of these may be found in Prichard's chapter on the Marianne Islanders; and this reference is all that our space allows. That the difference, however, of the superstitions is _not less_ (probably _greater_) than the difference between the languages is a safe conclusion.

The differences in the general moral character of the two divisions lie within a small compass. Coldness of manner in general, less tendency to bloody warfare, less laxity amongst the female part of the population, and less cannibalism, are points wherein the Micronesian character has the advantage. The Micronesian domestic arts also, such as dyeing and weaving, are in advance of the Polynesians.

3. _Distribution of Protonesian characteristics._--Which of the two divisions has the most of these? This is partially answered by some of the observations which have just preceded: two other facts answer it more fully.

_a._ The opinions of MM. Durville and Lesson, as to the connexion of the Micronesians with the Mongolians--without being evidence in favour of the Micronesian branch being the more _Protonesian_, of the two, this is, certainly, a fact in favour of its being the more _continental_.

_b._ The opinion of Le Gobien, one of the early Missionaries, "that the Caroline Islanders came from the Philippines."

4. _Details of the distribution within the limits of a single division._--The question as to the particular part of Micronesia, or the particular part of Polynesia, from which the rest of the respective areas was peopled, is so much a part and parcel of the broader question as to the origin of the population _en masse_, that it belongs, in its entirety, to a latter stage of our inquiries. Still there are a few facts which may be noticed at once; and these apply to Polynesia Proper.

Assuming as a postulate, that the direction of the line of population is from east to west (or _vice versâ_), from north to south (or _vice versâ_), &c., it is reasonable to suppose that each isle has been peopled from the one nearest to it, and that _exclusively_. Hence no second source of population is to be assumed _gratuitously_. Upon reasonable grounds, however, it _may_ be assumed; _e.g._ in the Marquesas, it is said, that the difference of dialects for the different islands is scarcely consistent with a population from the Paumoto group exclusively. So also, in the Sandwich Islands, although Nukahiva is the _primâ facie_ source of the population, Tonga elements occur in a degree beyond that in which they are found in Nukahiva itself. Here, also, the inference of a second element is legitimate.

Missionaries and ethnologists, who have applied a sagacious criticism to the problem of the _immediate_ population of Polynesia, have found good reasons for believing that the _first archipelago of Polynesia Proper_ that received a population from some other quarter, and which transmitted it, in different streams elsewhere, was the _Samoan_ or _Navigators'_ Islands. This opinion, the grounds of which may be found in full in the ethnological portion of the United States Exploring Expedition, is, probably, the right one; at any rate it is the proper inference, from the facts known to the investigators.

The last three questions will be better considered after the notice of the _Oceanic Negritos of the Kelænonesian area_.

_THE MALEGASI BRANCH_(?).

The consideration of the Malegasi Amphinesians is deferred
until we treat upon the ethnology of Africa.

II.

_THE KELÆNONESIAN STOCK_.[66]

_Physical conformation._--Modified Amphinesian Negrito. Skin
rough and harsh, black rather than brown or olive. Hair crisp,
curly, frizzy, and woolly(?) rather than straight; black.
Stature from five feet, or under, to six(?).

_Languages._--Not generally admitted to contain a certain
proportion of Malay words--but really containing it.

_Distribution._--Wholly insular; islands often large.

_Area._--New Guinea, New Ireland, Solomon's Isles, Louisiade,
New Hebrides, New Caledonia, Australia, Tasmania.

_Aliment._--Mammalian fauna considerable. In parts, deficient
in ruminants and pachydermata.

_Religion._--Paganism.

_Social and physical development._--Maritime habits rare and
partial. Industrial arts limited. Foreign influences of all
sorts inconsiderable.

_Divisions._--1. The Papua Branch. 2. The Australian Branch. 3.
The Tasmanian Branch(?).

The first question which may present itself to the reader is one as to the difference between the tribes that are now about to be described as Kelænonesian, and those which have already been described as _Blacks of the Malay area_. Both are really Negrito; and it has already been stated that both may be called so. The answer is--that _Negrito_ is an ethnological, _Kelænonesian_, a geographical term. The first denotes black, or Black-like oceanic tribes _wherever found_; the latter black or Black-like tribes when found in definite areas, wherein they form the bulk of the population. Thus, in Amphinesia the Negrito is exceptional, in Kelænonesia normal, and _vice versâ_.

THE PAPUA BRANCH OF THE KELÆNONESIAN STOCK.

_Latitude._--Southern tropic.

_Area._--The islands off the north-west corner of New
Guinea(?), New Guinea, New Britannia, New Ireland, Admiralty
Isles, Louisiade, Solomon's Isles, Vanikoro(?), New Hebrides,
New Caledonia, The Fiji Archipelago(?).

_Direction._--South-east from New Guinea.

_Physical conformation._--Kelænonesians with crisp, curly,
frizzy, and woolly(?) rather than straight hair.

_Probable origin._--North-eastern Protonesia.

Whether we take the Protonesian islands in the line from Timor to Moa, Sermatty, Timorlaut, the Keys, and the Arrus, or begin with the Northern Moluccas, Gilolo, and Morty, we equally reach the great island of New Guinea; and in each case the ethnological change coincides with the geographical one.

THE ARRU ISLES.

_Extract from Mr. Earle._--"I do not here" (_i.e._, in the
Timor group), "include the Arru isles, for _there_ I have no
doubt a considerable mixture of Papuan will be found."

The probable source, however, of the Papuan population must be sought for in the parts about Gilolo. Here the distinction between those islands which constitute the more eastern and northern portions of the Moluccas, and those which are considered to belong to New Guinea, is difficult to be drawn. In Guebé, for instance, the natives are described by M. Freycinet as having flat noses and projecting lips. To this it may be added, that their colour is dark. On the other hand, however, the facial angle is from ten to twelve degrees higher than that of the Negrito of New Guinea. Mr. Crawford, who rarely either overlooks or undervalues physical distinctions, adopts Freycinet's notice as descriptive of a second variety of the true Malay type, and suggests the likelihood of there being an intermediate race between the lank and the woolly-haired families.

More immediately, however, in the neighbourhood of New Guinea, we have the islands of Waigiú and Rawak. These are so thoroughly considered by the French geographers as belonging to the Negrito area, that they are called the _Isles des Papous_. With these, then, the proper Kelænonesian or Negrito area begins.

WAIGIÚ AND RAWAK.

_Physical appearance._--According to M. Pellion, in
Freycinet--Forehead flat, facial angle 75°, mouth large, nose
flattened, beard scanty, lower extremities slender. Hair
frizzed and spread out.

According to MM. Quoi and Gaimard--Face broad, frontal and
occipital profile flat, vertex elevated, cheek-bones prominent,
temporal bones convex, the coronal suture farming a ridge.
Nasal bones broad and flat, and _alæ nasi_ spreading. Frontal
and maxillary sinuses largely developed. _Molar portion of the
alveolar arch thick._ Transverse diameter of the palate large;
anterior palatine foramen large.--_Voyage sur L'Uranie et La
Physicienne: Zoologie, par Quoy et Gaimard_.

Such are the details. An opinion, however, often gives a better notion than a description; and it is the opinion of the French naturalists that the islanders in question are a hybrid breed between the Papua and Protonesian. This speaks to the intermediate character of the physical appearance.

On the other hand, Mr. Earle, admitting both the difference and the likeness, denies that intermixture is the cause of it; the _real and undoubted_ hybrids (which he has seen and describes) being different from the Papuas of the islands.

Under either case, however, we have the phænomenon of a transition in form.

NEW GUINEA.

_Physical appearance of the natives of the north-west
extremity, i.e., from Waigiú to Dorey._--1st
Variety--Undersized, slender, with oval features, and skin more
brown than black, hair elaborately frizzed.

2nd Variety.--Form squat, faces square and angular, cheek-bones
prominent, lips thick, skin rough and black, hair simply tied
up.

_South-western coast._--Portions of the south-western coast of New Guinea were visited by H.M.S. Fly, in 1842-1846, under Captain Blackwood. The notices of Mr. Jukes upon the natives thus seen are short, and chiefly limited to the points wherein they differed or agreed with the islanders of Torres Straits--a portion of the human species that has been described fully for the first time by that writer. Tall and muscular, with the hair tied back behind, sometimes with the head shaved, the skin dark brown or copper-coloured, with ornaments like the people of Erroob, and without out-riggers to their canoes, or with out-riggers on one side only, they spoke a language different from that of the Torres Straits islanders.

In appearance, however, they agreed. Their huts were raised on piles, of moderate dimension, and with small plots of imperfectly-cleared ground around them. The coast was low, and intersected by numerous freshwater channels; and the name given to the country by the Erroobians was Dowdee.

In Darnley Island, a female from the Dowdee coast was seen and described by Mr. Jukes, she was lighter coloured than the Erroobians, being of a yellowish-brown; had the septum narium pierced, and was tattooed, which the females of the island are not.

_Masseed._--The natives were "a well-made, fine-looking people, of a different type from the Australians, with muscular limbs and frizzled hair. They had the oval epaulet-like mark on the shoulders, but no other scars. Their hair was dressed into long, narrow, pipe-like curls, smeared with red ochre and grease, and they wore a band round the forehead."--Vol. 1. p. 159.

_Murray Island._--Native name _maær_--Volcanic. Covered with cocoa-nuts, and having a language almost identical with the Erroob.

_Darnley Island._--Native name, Erroob--Volcanic. The natives here "were fine, active, well-made fellows, rather above the middle height, of a dark brown or chocolate colour. They had frequently almost handsome faces, aquiline noses, rather broad about the nostril, well-shaped heads, and many had a singularly Jewish cast of features. The hair was frizzled, and dressed into long, pipe-like ringlets, smeared sometimes with red ochre, sometimes left of its natural black colour; others had wigs not to be distinguished from the natural hair, till closely examined. The septum narium was bored, but there was seldom anything worn in it. Most of their ears were pierced all round with small holes, in which pieces of grass were stuck, and in many the lobe was torn and hanging down to the shoulder. Their only scars were the faint oval marks on the shoulder. The hair of their bodies and limbs grew in small tufts, giving the skin a slightly woolly appearance. They were entirely naked, but frequently wore ornaments made of mother-of-pearl shells, either circular or crescent-shaped, hanging round their necks. Occasionally, also, we saw a part of a large shell, apparently a cassis, cut into a projecting shield-shape, worn in front of the groin. The women wore a petticoat round the waist, reaching nearly to the knees, formed of strips of leaves sown on to a girdle. These formed a very efficient covering, as one or two were worn over each other. The grown-up woman's petticoat, or nessoor, was formed, we afterwards found, of the inside part of the large leaves of a bulbous-rooted plant, called by them teggaer, of which, each strip was an inch broad. The girl's nessoor was made of much narrower strips from the inside of the leaf of the plantain, which they call cabbow.

"The younger women were often gracefully formed, with pleasing expressions of countenance, though not what we should consider handsome features. The girls had their hair rather long, but the women had almost all their hair cut short, with a bushy ridge over the top, to which they, singularly enough, give the same name as to pieces of tortoise-shell, namely, kaisu. Many of the elder women had their heads shaved quite smoothly, and we never saw a woman wearing a wig, or with the long ringlets of the men. At our first landing, all the younger women and girls kept in the back-ground, or hid themselves in the bush. On strolling to the back of the huts, we found a small native path, along which we went a short distance till we came to a rude fence in front of a plantain-ground, where the men objected to our going further, and we heard the voices of the women among the trees beyond.

"There were four huts at this spot, all bee-hive shaped, sixteen feet in diameter, and as much in height. They stood in small court-yards, partially surrounded by fences formed of poles of bamboo, stuck upright in the ground, close together, and connected by horizontal rails, to which they were tied by withies. Inside the huts were small platforms covered with mats, apparently bed-places; and over head were hung up bows and arrows, clubs, calabashes, rolls of matting, and bundles apparently containing bones, which they did not like our examining. Outside the huts were one or two small open sheds, consisting merely of a raised flat roof, to sit under in the shade, and a grove of very fine cocoa-nut trees surrounded the houses."

The arms of the natives were the bow and arrow, and in holding the former, especial care was taken that the part of the wood which was uppermost as the tree grew, should be uppermost when used as a weapon. Rough imitations of the human figure were common; but whether they served as idols or not was uncertain. The use of tobacco was general. The language was different from that of the Australians, and the willingness of the people to communicate, greater, also. On the part of the females, the reserve and decorum of manner formed a striking contrast with the very different habits of the Polynesians.

_Turtle-backed Island._--Primitive--Cocoa-nut trees; no gum trees--"We came one day on the first symptoms of cultivation of the ground we had ever seen among the aborigines of this part of the world. This was a little circular plot of ground, not more than four or five yards in diameter; but it had evidently been dug, though in a rude manner, and in it were set several young plantain-trees, one or two other plants, and two trailing plants, somewhat like French beans in appearance, which we afterwards found were a kind of yam. The huts on this island had the appearance of a first attempt at a house, having side walls about two feet high, and a gable-shaped roof rising four feet from the ground. They were about ten feet long and six feet wide, made principally of bamboo and thatched with grass and leaves."

_Mount Ernest._--Primitive--Cocoa-nuts--Captain Blackwood "landed upon Mount Ernest (807 feet high), and found a group of huts much superior to any we ever saw in Australia, a small grove of cocoa-nuts and another of large bamboos. The natives did not show themselves till after he left the island; and though he spent a night on it he did not suspect their presence at the time. In the huts were found parcels of human bones, ornamented with red ochre, a mask or hideous face made of wood and ornamented with the feathers of some struthious bird, and one or two bundles of small wooden tubes, eight inches long and half an inch in diameter, the use of which we never could discover. The feathers so abundantly used as ornaments on their canoes and other articles by all these islanders, were at first taken by us for emu feathers, as a matter of course, and supposed to be procured from the mainland of Australia. I was afterwards, however, induced to doubt the correctness of that supposition; and on comparing them (in company with my friend Mr. George Bennett, of Sydney,) with the feathers of the emu, in the Sydney Museum of Natural History, we found them to be totally distinct from any emu feathers. They are probably, therefore, feathers of the cassowary or some similar bird, and are derived from New Guinea instead of Australia."

Of all the islands of Torres Straits, this is the one nearest to Australia, whereof the population is apparently derived from New Guinea.

_Dalrymple Island._--Native name, Damood--"The huts were by far the neatest and best erections of the kind we had yet seen. Each one occupied a quadrangular space, six to eight feet wide, and from ten to fifteen feet long. They had gable-shaped roofs, eight feet high in the centre, and sloping on each side nearly to the ground. The frame of the house was made of bamboo, and thickly covered or thatched with grass and palm-leaves; the front and back walls were also made of small bamboo sticks, upright and fastened close together, the front wall having a small triangular opening for a door, over which hung loose strips of palm leaf. The door looked into a little court-yard, of about ten feet square, in front of the house, strongly fenced with stout posts and stakes, interlaced with palm leaves and young bamboos, and accessible only by a very narrow opening between two of the strongest posts. In this court-yard was the cooking fire. The different huts and fences were rather irregularly disposed, but placed closely together, so as to leave only narrow winding passages between them. They occupied a space fifty or sixty yards long by ten or fifteen broad. Behind them was the open place of meeting, on the other side of which, against an old tree was a semicircular pile or wall of dugongs' skulls about three feet high, many of which were quite fresh, but others rotting with age; in the middle of this was a conical heap of turtles' skulls in a similar state. There must, altogether have been some hundreds of skulls of each kind of animal.

"When they had conducted us into this open space, several of them seated themselves on small well-made mats, like those used by the Malay nations; and two or three went and brought a large roll of matting, at least twelve feet by six, which they spread for us to sit down on. These really well-made fabrics greatly surprised us after being accustomed to the non-manufacturing Australians. They then brought us young cocoa-nuts, tortoise-shell, and ornaments, and a great barter commenced. They gave us cocoa-nut water without waiting to receive anything for it, but for the other things they would only accept tobacco and iron implements, paying no regard to our beads and gaudy handkerchiefs. They brought us two small bananas or plaintains, but we could not see the trees on which they grew. They suffered Captain Blackwood and myself to stroll about the huts unattended, while they bartered with the boat's crew. We found in the court-yard of one hut, a ship's cabin-door, painted green, and not very old; in another a quaker gun, set upright in the ground, and the men said they saw pieces of 'Queen's line' among them. They had used pieces of iron hoops, and a long iron spike, to open the cocoa-nuts, but these they might have procured from passing vessels. The door and the wooden gun, however, must have come from a wreck.

"At the south end of the huts we came to a building much superior to, and differing from, any of the rest. It was like a Malay house unfinished, or one of their own smaller huts raised on posts to a height of six or seven feet. The point of the gable was at least fifteen feet from the ground, the roof being supported at each end by two stout posts about a yard apart, having their tops ornamented by carved grotesque faces, painted red, white, and black, with much carving and painting below. The lower part, or ground-floor, of this building was open all round except at one end, where a broad, rudely-constructed staircase led to a platform, from which went the entrance to the upper story; this was floored with stout sticks, and at this end covered with mats; this part was also partitioned off from the other by a bamboo screen. Under the roof hung old cocoa-nuts, green boughs, and other similar things, but nothing to give a decided clue to the object of the building. Whether this was their temple, their place for depositing the dead, or a chief's house, we could not make out. We, however, saw no appearance of any chief, or of one man exercising authority among them, neither could we discover any traces of religious belief or observance.[67]

"We now struck off for a walk across the island, one of the natives coming with us as a guide. Many narrow paths crossed in all directions, among shrubs and bushes, some of which resembled laurels and myrtles, in their leaves and modes of growth. Groves of lofty forest trees occurred here and there, with matted creepers and thick jungle. Several trailing briars, with thorns like the European bramble, were observed; and in short, the whole vegetation had a totally different aspect from that of Australia, and a much greater resemblance to that of Europe or Asia."

These minutiæ, in the way of description of particular localities, have a value for two reasons. In the first place they are the only (or nearly the only) notices of the parts in question. In the next, the parts themselves are important as belonging to the quarters where Australia and New Guinea are nearest each other.

In the north of New Guinea, the fact that has most struck inquirers has been the apparently peculiar style of the buildings. These are of vast size, capable of containing whole families, and often raised on piles. Hence, as long as the existence of similar erections in Borneo[68] was unknown, this form of domestic architecture passed for one of the characteristics of the Negritos in opposition to the Malays. At present, its diagnostic value is considerably lowered.

Another industrial art exercised by the Kelænonesians, and (according to most writers), not exercised by the _unmixed_ Amphinesians, is the art of pottery. How far, however, it is general on the one side, or non-existent on the other, remains for further investigations to prove. The qualification denoted by the word _unmixed_, will be explained when we come to the ethnology of the Fiji Islands.

NEW BRITAIN.
NEW IRELAND.
NEW HANOVER.
SANDWICH ISLE.
ADMIRALTY ISLANDS.
HERMIT ISLANDS.

These islands have been mentioned in detail for the sake of indicating the probable line of population--first towards the east, and next (backwards) to the north-west. Where any of the natives of these islands differ from one another, or from the New Guinea people, it is in having stronger limbs, lighter-coloured skins, hair more or less woolly, and faces more or less angular. All the differences, however, lie within a small compass. All the tribes, too, seem to agree in chewing the betel-nut, going naked (or nearly naked), and painting their bodies.

BOUKA.

BOUGAINVILLE ISLAND.

_Natives._--Heads large, faces flat, chin prominent, mouth
large, lips thin. Muscles well-marked.--_Labillardière._[69]

SOLOMON'S ISLANDS.

_Vocabulary._--From Port Praslin.--_Voyage de l'Astrolabe._

NITENDI, INDENDI, INDENNI.

_Name._--Native.

_Synonyms._--Santa Cruz, Egmont's Island.

_Direction._--Nearly due east (not south) of Christoval, the
most southern of the Solomon Isles.

VANIKORO.(?)[70]

_Description from Durville._--"We have already said that the inhabitants of Vanikoro belong to the black race of the Great Ocean. They may be considered as a variety of that race of blacker colour than others, and of a conformation approaching more nearly to that of proper Negroes. They are generally small and rather meagre. What is most remarkable in their shape is an appearance of lateral compression of the temples, produced by a very arched forward protuberance of the middle part of the forehead. The hair does not advance low on the forehead, and the care taken to throw it back renders all these parts very visible. The cheek-bones being salient give the face a greater developement than that of the cranium. Another character not less remarkable is the small projection of the nasal bones, which gives the nose an appearance of being flattened at its root, and to the countenance a singular resemblance to that of the orang utang. Owing to this the orbital arch, itself prominent, appears still more projecting. The nostrils are wide, and are rendered still more so by the custom of wearing a stick fixed transversely through the septum narium. The lower jaw is not remarkable. The form of the forehead causes the facial angle to be not particularly acute. The lobes of the ears are perforated by a hole large enough to pass the hand through it. The eyes are large, oval, and deeply set; the balls salient, round, and resembling in form and colour those of the Negro. The lips are large, the chin small. The lower extremities are in some instances very lean, but tolerably fleshy in others. The calf is rather high, and the heel is in many individuals remarkably projecting, a character not existing in the Polynesian race to the same extent. This is another approximation to the Negro. The hair is crisp, but although not cut, it never becomes bushed and matted. They are nearly naked. The use of the betel-nut destroys their teeth, and gives them a red tinge round the mouth. The women are horribly ugly; the old men are bald."

The position of Nitendi and Vanikoro gives them interest.

_a._ Although not lying due south-east of the Solomon Isles, and due north-east of the next Archipelago, they form the insular continuity between the two groups.

_b._ Vanikoro is the Kelænonesian Island, which, by its vicinity, gives to[71] Tikopia, which is Polynesian, its peculiarity of distribution.

Lastly, although the fact be not ethnological, the Vanikoro cluster is the locality where La Perouse perished.

THE NEW HEBRIDES.

Particular islands--

ISLE OF LEPERS.

_Synonym._--Australia del Espiritu Santo.

MALLICOLLO.

For each of these islands we have special evidence--that of Bougainville and Cook--to the general Negrito character of the natives. In the voyages of the latter the ill-favoured monkey-like appearance of the Mallicollese is prominently mentioned.

API.

_Direction._--Continuation from Mallicollo to--

SANDWICH ISLE.

_Direction._--Continuation from Api to--

ERROMANGO.

_Erromango Native as described by Hales._--"He was about five feet high, slender and long limbed. He had close woolly hair, and retreating arched forehead, short and scanty eyebrows, and small snub-nose, thick lips (especially the upper), a retreating chin, and that projection of the jaws and lower part of the face, which is one of the distinctive characteristics of the Negro race. His limbs and body were covered with fine short hairs, made conspicuous by their light colour. On his left side were many small round cicatrices burnt into the skin, which he said was a mode of marking common amongst his people. Placed in a crowd of African blacks, there was nothing about him by which he could have been distinguished from the rest."--Vol. 6. p. 44.

TANNA.

A grammar of the Tanna language, the only one of the Papua division that has ever been sufficiently known to Europeans, was seen by Dr. Prichard--

"I have seen a grammar of the language of Tanna in manuscript, written by the Rev. T. Heath, a missionary, who resided in that island. It is much to be regretted that this work has not been published. From this grammar it appears that the language of Tanna is entirely distinct in character from the Polynesian. It abounds with inflections and has four numbers, viz. singular, dual, trinal, there being a particular form in the verb when three persons are spoken of, which is distinct from the plural."

ANNATOM.

The direction of the Kelænonesian Islands now changes from south-east to south-west.

THE LOYALTY ISLES.

NEW CALEDONIA.

With a general character like that of the islanders already mentioned, Cook states that they are better-looking than the Tanna people, and that they bury their dead like the Australians. La Billardière adds, that they are like the Van Diemen's Land natives.

The whole of the Papua area will not have been exhausted until we return to the parts described by Mr. Jukes, on the south-eastern side of New Guinea. These lead, in the way of geographical continuity, to--

LOUISIADE.

Of this Island I have seen no definite account. Such notices, however, as I have met with, make the population what we should expect it to be--Papua-Kelænonesian.

THE FIJI (FEEJEE) ISLANDS.(?)

_Situation._--Eastward of the New Hebrides, the most eastern
part of Kelænonesia. Westward of the Tonga Isles, the most
western part of Polynesia.

The physical conformation of the Fiji natives is Negrito as well as Polynesian.

The language of the Fiji natives is more Polynesian than Negrito.

The social institutions, manners, and customs of the Fiji natives are partly Polynesian, partly Negrito, and partly neither one nor the other.

These statements, combined with their geographical position, give importance and prominence to the Fiji group of islands. Fortunately our information concerning them is not altogether disproportionate to the difficulties that they introduce. The language has been investigated by Mr. Norriss, whose trust-worthy opinion, adopted in the present work, may be found, _in extenso_, in the 5th volume of Prichard.

The moral and physical features are exhibited in the following extract from the American Exploring Expedition:--

"The Feejeeans are a people of the medium stature, with nearly as great variety of figure as is found in nations of the _Caucasian_ race. The chiefs are usually tall and well formed, owing probably to the care taken of their nurture, and to the influence of blood. The common people are somewhat inferior, yet there are fewer small and ungainly figures among them than among the lower orders of Europeans. On the other hand, the _Feejeeans_ contrast very unfavourably with their neighbours of the _Polynesian_ stock. They lack the full rounded limbs and swelling muscles which give such elegance to the forms of the Friendly and Navigators Islanders. They are generally large-jointed, and the calf is small in proportion to the thigh. The neck is also too short for due proportion, and the whole figure wants elegance and softness of outline. Their movements and attitudes are, consequently, less easy and graceful than those of the _Polynesians_. They are, nevertheless, a strong race; their war-clubs are ponderous, and are wielded with great power, and they can carry very heavy burdens.

"The _Feejeean_ physiognomy differs from that of the _Polynesians_, not so much in any particular feature, as in a general debasement of the whole, and a decided approximation towards the forms characteristic of the Negro race. The head is usually broad in the occipital region (which they consider a great beauty), and narrows towards the top and in front,--the forehead, though often of good height, appearing compressed at the sides. The eyes are black and set rather deep, but never obliquely. The nose is not large, and is generally a good deal flattened; the nostrils are often larger laterally than forwards, and the nose is then much depressed at the upper part between the eyes. The mouth is wide, and the lips, particularly the upper one, thick. The chin varies, but is most commonly short and broad. The jaws are larger, and the lower part of the face far more prominent than in the _Malay_ race. The cheek-bones, also, project forwards as in the Negro, and not laterally, as in the _Mongol_ variety; notwithstanding which, the narrowness of the forehead at the temples gives a greater width to the face at the malar portion than elsewhere. The whole face is longer and thinner than among the _Polynesians_. The hair is neither straight nor woolly, but may be properly designated as frizzled. When allowed to grow without interference, it appears in numerous spiral locks, eight or ten inches in length, spreading out on all sides of the head. Sometimes these curls are seen much longer, falling down to the middle of the back. It is, however, very seldom allowed to grow naturally. The young boys have it cut very close, and sometimes shaved to the skin, like the _Tahitians_. In girls, before marriage, it is allowed to grow long, and is coloured white by washing it with a solution of lime, except a portion around the crown, which is plastered with a black pigment. After marriage, it is either cut to the length of one or two inches, or frizzled out like that of the men: in both cases it is frequently soaked in colouring liquids, either red or black. The men in general have their hair dressed so as to form an immense semiglobular mass, covering the top, back, and sides of the head. The arrangement of this chevelure is performed for the chiefs by professional barbers, and is a work of great labour. Six hours are sometimes occupied in dressing a head; and the process is repeated at intervals of two or three weeks. It is probably to guard against disarranging this work that the piece of bamboo which is placed under the neck in sleeping is employed, instead of the ordinary pillow. For the same purpose the natives usually wear, during the day, a _sala_ or _kerchief_, of very thin gauze-like paper cloth, which is thrown over the hair and tied closely around the head, so as to have very much the appearance of a turban.

"The colour of the _Feejeeans_ is a chocolate-brown, or a hue mid-way between the jet-black of the Negro, and the brownish yellow of the _Polynesian_. There are, however, two shades very distinctly marked, like the blonde and brunette complexions in the white race; besides all the intermediate gradations. In one of these shades the brown predominates, and in the other the copper. They do not belong to distinct castes or classes, but are found indiscriminately among all ranks and in all tribes. The natives are aware of the distinction, and call the lighter coloured people, _Viti ndamundamu_, "red _Feejeeans_;" but they do not seem to regard it as anything which requires or admits of explanation. These red-skinned natives must not be confounded with the _Tonga-Viti_, or individuals of mixed _Tongan_ and _Feejeean_ blood, of whom there are many on some parts of the group."

Their ferocious and suspicious character is described in very unfavourable terms; to which it may be added, that their cannibalism is undoubted, and that they are skilful in the art of pottery--a fact of which the import has already been noticed.

The problem that is suggested by the intermediate character of the Fijis is manifest: it is the question as to whether we have _intermixture_ or _transition_. Further notice, however, of this point, will stand over until the next divisions have been disposed of.

THE AUSTRALIAN BRANCH OF THE KELÆNONESIAN STOCK.

_Area._--Australia.

_Physical appearance._--Kelænonesians with hair generally straight, or waved, sometimes frizzy.

_Fauna._--Absence of ruminants and pachydermata.

_Divisions._--1. Australians. 2. Tasmanians(?).

The differences between the different Australian languages have long been known and definitely insisted upon.

Less marked differences in frame and physiognomy between the different Australian tribes, have also been long known and definitely insisted upon.

Differences of customs and manners have been similarly noticed and considered. Notwithstanding all this, however, there is no opinion more generally admitted than the fundamental unity of the Australian population from Swan River to Botany Bay, from the Gulf of Carpentaria to Bass's Straits. Captain Grey, Schurman, Teichelman, and all who have devoted average attention to the language, have given their evidence to this; and they have supplied facts of various kinds, of their own collection, towards the proof of it. No man is less inclined to disturb this view than the present writer. In the Fourth Number of the Philological Transactions,[72] he enumerated the whole of the vocabularies then known to him, and added some short lists of the words wherein the more distant ones agreed with each other. Thus a scanty vocabulary from the Gulf of Carpentaria, which had seventeen words in common with one from Endeavour River, had three (perhaps four) identical.

ENGLISH. CARPENTARIAN. ENDEAVOUR RIVER.

Eye _meal_ _meul_.
Hair _marra_ _morye_.
Fingers _mingel_ _mungal bah_.

As the Endeavour River was the nearest point to the Gulf of Carpentaria from which we possessed a vocabulary, the circumstance that no more than three words out of seventeen coincided, was a good measure of the extent to which the Australian dialects exhibited the phænomenon of _difference_. Still the likeness, as far as it went, was a fact to be admitted on the other side. Now, if we go round the whole coast of Australia, and compare the vocabulary from one point with the vocabulary of the next known locality to it, we shall find that, allowing for difference of distance, the similarity or dissimilarity is, there or thereabouts, the similarity or dissimilarity between the two vocabularies just mentioned, _i.e._, that the former is shown by the identity between a few fundamental terms, the latter by a discrepancy between the majority.

The comparison, however, of contiguous dialects--gives but one series of facts. It merely shows that we can go all round the island, and find that, of three dialects compared, the last shall have a partial agreement with the second; by no means showing that such (or, indeed, that any) similarity shall exist between the third and first. Nevertheless, for philological reasoning, such a similarity as the last is required. This we get at by two methods,--firstly, by comparing the vocabularies of distant points; secondly, by taking one, or more, particular vocabularies, and comparing them with some, or all, of the others _en masse_. By each of these processes, applied to Australian languages, we arrive at the same conclusion. The second will be considered in the sequel. A simple instance of the first is, that out of sixty words from Jervis's Bay, compared with sixty from Gulf St. Vincent, the following coincide:

ENGLISH. JERVIS'S BAY. GULF ST. VINCENT.

Forehead _holo_ _ioullo_.
Man _mika_ _meio_.
Milk _awanham_ _ammenhalo_.
Tongue _talen_ _talein_.
Hand _maramale_ _malla_.
Nipple _amgnann_ _amma_.
Nails _berenou_ _pere_.

Premising now, that (as all the published grammars exhibit an agglutinate structure) the evidence taken from the grammatical character of the Australian languages is confirmatory rather than derogatory to the evidence taken from the comparison of vocabularies, we come to a fourth class of facts, viz., the extent to which two or more Australian dialects agree or disagree with some third language or class of languages; and as this involves the still more general question of the _external_ relations of the Australian languages as a class, its consideration will be deferred for the present. At present it is sufficient to say that it is affirmative to a fundamental unity of tongue.

The _kind_ of evidence from which we predicate this unity, is evidently of a cumulative kind; and it is merely the statement of its being of this sort that has been laid before the reader: the _details_ would require either a larger volume than the present, or a special monograph. It may also be added, that as the Australian tribes differ more from one another in language than in any other respect, it is the philological portion of their ethnography that presents the most difficulties.

In respect to their manners, morals, and social customs, the similarity, lying less below the surface than it does with respect to their languages, has drawn less attention on the part of investigators. Still the way in which it shows itself is the same. Two neighbouring tribes shall differ more than two distant ones: so that similar customs shall re-appear in distant localities.

As to the physical conformation of the Australians, I believe that it is so uniform throughout the island, that it has never been made the basis of a division;--indeed I am inclined to believe that (like the _dis_similarity of language) the _similarity_ of external appearance has been over-rated; nevertheless, it is certain that there are deviations from the general slim and underfed condition of the body; and (what is of more importance), from the usual straight character of the hair. Such is the case, according to Mr. Earle, with the trepang fishers of Arnhem Bay who are bulky men, with broad chests, the lower extremities being but indifferently formed, and the crooked shin being common. Then as to the hair--with the Jaako, or Croker Island tribe, it is coarse and bushy (the whiskers being thick, and curly) and so short, crisp, and abundant about the breast and shoulders as to conceal the skin; whereas on the other hand, the Oitbo, or Bidjenelumbo, have straight silky hair, arched eyebrows, fair complexion, and occasionally the oblique eye.

The lowest form of humanity has been sought for in Australia, whilst the physical condition of the country and the absence of those animals and herbs that supply human food, have made it a likely quarter to exhibit it. Whether, however, so low a rank in scale of human development be, upon the whole, a fact or exaggeration, it is certain that, upon several points, there has been considerable overstatement. One sample of this sort is the accredited opinion as to the absolute incapacity of the Australian of forming even the rudest elements of a mythology--an opinion which engenders the notion that their intellects are too sluggish for even the evolution of a superstition.

That this was not the case was indicated some years back by Captain Gray, and that there is _some_ exponent of the religious feeling in the shape of a rude form of shamanism, has been shown in the account of the American Exploring Expedition; where the first[73] published details of the Australian mythology, if so it may be called, are to be found--"It is not true, however, as has been frequently asserted, that the natives have no idea of a Supreme Being, although they do not allow this idea to influence their actions. The Wellington Tribes, at least, believe in the existence of a Deity called _Baiamai_, who lives on an island beyond the great sea to the East. His food is fish, which come up to him from the water when he calls to them. Some of the natives consider him the maker of all things, while others attribute the creation of the world to his son _Burambin_. They say of him, that _Baiamai_ spoke, and _Burambin_ came into existence. When the missionaries first came to Wellington, the natives used to assemble once a year, in the month of February, to dance and sing a song in honour of _Baiamai_. This song was brought there from a distance by strange natives, who went about teaching it. Those who refused to join in the ceremony were supposed to incur the displeasure of the god. For the last three years the custom has been discontinued. In the tribe on Hunter's River, there was a native famous for the composition of these songs or hymns; which, according to Mr. Threlkeld, were passed from tribe to tribe, to a great distance, till many of the words became at last unintelligible to those who sang them.

"_Dararwirgal_, a brother of _Baiamai_, lives in the far west. It was he who lately sent the small-pox among the natives, for no better reason than that he was vexed for want of a tomahawk. But now he is supposed to have obtained one, and the disease will come no more. The _Bálumbal_ are a sort of angels, who are said to be of a white colour, and to live on a mountain at a great distance to the south-east: their food is honey, and their employment is to do good 'like the Missionaries.'

"It is possible that some of these stories owe their origin to intercourse with the whites, though the great unwillingness which the natives always evince to adopt any customs or opinions from them, militates against such a supposition. But a being who is, beyond question, entirely the creation of Australian imagination, is one who is called in the Wellington dialect, _Wandong_; though the natives have learned from the whites to apply to him the name of devil. He is an object not of worship, but merely of superstitious dread. They describe him as going about under the form of a black man of superhuman stature and strength. He prowls at night through the woods around the encampments of the natives, seeking to entrap some unwary wanderer, whom he will seize upon; and, having dragged him to his fire, will there roast and devour him. They attribute all their afflictions to his malevolence. If they are ill, they say _Wandong_ has bitten them. No one can see this being but the _núrjargir_, or conjurors, who assert that they can kill him, but that he always returns to life. He may, however, be frightened away by throwing fire at him (though this statement seems inconsistent with that respecting his invisibility), and no native will go out at night without a firebrand to protect him from the demon.

"There is some difference in the accounts given of this character. By the tribe of Hunter's River he is called _Koin_ or _Koen_. Sometimes, when the Blacks are asleep, he makes his appearance, seizes upon one of them and carries him off. The person seized endeavours in vain to cry out, being almost strangled. At daylight, however, _Koin_ disappears, and the man finds himself conveyed safely to his own fireside. From this it would appear that the demon is here a sort of personification of the nightmare,--a visitation to which the natives, from their habits of gorging themselves to the utmost when they obtain a supply of food, must be very subject.

"At the _Muruya_ River the devil is called _Túlugal_. He was described to us, by a native, as a black man of great stature, grizzled with age, who has very long legs, so that he soon overtakes a man; but very short arms, which brings the contest nearer an equality. This goblin has a wife who is much like himself; but still more feared, being of a cruel disposition, with a cannibal appetite, especially for young children. It would hardly be worth while to dwell upon these superstitions, but that they seem to characterise so distinctly the people, at once timid, ferocious, and stupid, who have invented them.

"Their opinions with regard to the soul vary: some assert that the whole man dies at once, and nothing is left of him; others are of opinion that his spirit still survives, but upon this earth, either as a wandering ghost, or in a state of _metempsychosis_, animating a bird or other inferior creature. But the most singular belief is one which is found at both Port Stephens and Swan River, places separated by the whole breadth of the Australian continent. This is, that white people are merely blacks who have died, passed to a distant country, and having there undergone a transformation, have returned to their original homes. When the natives see a white man who strongly resembles one of their deceased friends, they give him the name of the dead person, and consider him to be actually the same being."

It is difficult to take an exact measure of the extent to which one superstition is grosser than another;--hence, all that can be said respecting the Pantheon, of which _Baiamai_ and _Wandong_ are portions, is that it is as low in the scale of mythologies as any that has fallen under the notice of the writer. Still, those of the Blacks of the Malaccan Peninsula, of Madagascar, and of parts of Africa, are much on the same level.

_No sound of_ s _in the Australian languages_.--The distribution of the different elementary articulations over the different languages of the earth, has not been sufficiently studied to enable us to predicate anything concerning the absence or presence of particular sounds, as a measure of the perfection or imperfection of human speech; nevertheless, it is clear that the power of pronouncing a number of elementary sounds sufficient to allow of that difference between word and word, which is necessary for clear and precise language, is one of the great conditions of articulate and distinct speech; and hence, a language of which the elementary sounds are too few, or one wherein the power of combining them to their full extent, is wanting, is the exponent of a low degree of humanity. Still more so would one be wherein a large proportion of the sounds is inarticulate--like the sound of the letter _h_ in English, which is a mere breathing rather than a true articulation. In respect to this latter class of facts, the admission of inarticulate elements of speech, there are two only in the whole range of language; one of which is so common as to occur in almost all the dialects of the world, the other is so rare as to be found in one class of tongues only. These are, the power of _h_ as already stated, and the peculiar _click_ which will be noticed in the languages of Southern Africa.