NATIVES OF PIG ISLAND. 189 



accumulation of veg'etable mould being* probably- 

 prevented by the lieav}^ rains. The grass is very 

 luxuriant without being* rank ; it was not known to 

 me^ for^ unlike most of the other plants^ I had not 

 met with it in Australia. Indeed the frequency of 

 the cocoa-nut palm was the only non-Malayo- Aus- 

 tralian feature in the veo*etation. As no botanist 

 had previously visited the Louisiade^ a few of the 

 principal plants may be mentioned. These are 

 Gnilandina BonduCj Tournefortia argenteoj Mo- 

 rinda citrlfoliaj Paritium Tiliaceum^ Casuarina 

 cquisetifoUa^ and Clerodendrum mernie^* among- the 

 trees and shrubs^ which were often overg-rown with 

 Lygodium microijliyllum^ and Disemma coccuiea. 

 The only birds seen were the sacred kingfisher^ the 

 sulphur-crested cockatoo^ and the Australian crow. 

 The shells on the reef were all Australian likewise^ 

 but under some decaying^ l^g's^ on the beach^ I found 

 single species of Auricula^ Tnmcatella, Scarahis^ 

 and Melamjpus, 



The men we saw to-day were dark copper coloured^ 

 with the exception of the spokesman^ whose skin ^\'as 

 of a light brownish yellow hue. The hair in nearly 

 all Avas frizzled out into a mop, in some instances of 

 prodigious size ; the light coloured man, however, 

 had his head closely shaved.t The physiognomy 



* These are all common to Polynesia, the Indian Archipelago, 

 and tropical Australia. 



t This allowed us to observe its contour, which was remarkable. 

 The forehead was narrow and receding, appearing as if artificially 



