ETHNOGRAPHY OF BRITISH NEW GUINEA. 91 



inwards by the coast people. Macfarlane contrasts the 

 high and broad skull of the latter with the "long, narrow 

 skull, with its low forehead and prominent zygomatic 

 bones," of the former, whom he also states are "greatly 

 inferior, both mentally and physically ". The observations 

 of D'Albertis * of a racial mixture in this region are sup- 

 ported by Ouatrefages and Hamy (p. 256). The Torres 

 Straits islanders are also a mixed people. I do not think 

 we have sufficient evidence before us to decide what are 

 the component races of these Western Papuans. I suspect 

 that the Fly River is to a slight extent what may be termed 

 a "culture route" and that the natives of the hioher 

 reaches have indirect communication with those of the north 

 coast of New Guinea ; for example, the rattan armour col- 

 lected by D'Albertis high up the river is similar to that 

 obtained by Finsch from Angriffs Havn, near Humboldt 

 Bay, and recalls the coir armour of Micronesia ; it is pro- 

 bable that this was the route by which tobacco found its way 

 to Torres Straits and the Gulf district, and thence to the 

 south-east. 



The Papuans also extend down the south-east peninsula 

 and into the adjacent island groups. On the mainland they 

 have been conquered in certain places by Melanesian immi- 

 grants, and a mixture of these two peoples has taken place 

 to a variable extent. In the islands the amalgamation has 

 been more complete. 



The immigrant people are by the great majority of 

 writers spoken of as Polynesians ; this identification is ap- 

 parently based solely on the lighter colour of some of the 

 former than that of the Papuans proper, and numerous 

 words common to them and the Polynesians. 



The light colour of the skin and the occasional presence 

 of curly or even straight hair among some of the 

 people of British New Guinea certainly proves a racial mix- 

 ture, although Comrie and Finsch do not lay much stress 

 on these points. The latter (1888, p. 234) writes: "The 

 natives of Bentley Bay, as at East Cape, are of a tolerably 



1 i>> PP- 377) 38* 5 Jour. Atith. Inst, vi., 1876, p. 216. 



