748 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY, 



found ia two such widely separated areas, and, with very few excep- 

 tions, nowhere else in the world. In Africa they occupy the larger 

 portion of the continent, extending over all the tropical and southern 

 regions ; while in the East they are found only in a group of islands of 

 which New Guinea is the center, extending westward as far as Flores 

 and eastward to the Feejees. There are also a few outlying groups 

 of woolly-haired people, which are of great importance as indicating 

 that this type once had a wider extension than now. In the Pacific we 

 have the now extinct Tasmanians ; and far to the east, in the midst of 

 the brown Polynesians, we find the inhabitants of Penrhyn's Island and 

 Mangaia, in about 158° west longitude, to be of the Melanesian or dark 

 race. In the Philippines there is an aboriginal race of woolly-haired 

 dwarfs — the Aetas or Negritos; and a similar descriptive term may be 

 applied to the Semangs of the Malay Peninsula, and to the natives of 

 the Andaman Islands in the bay of Bengal. These various Eastern 

 tribes differ among themselves quite as much as do those of Africa. 

 Both agree, however, in being usually very dark-skinned, and examples 

 may be found in which negroes and Papuans are in all respects very 

 much alike. But this is exceptional, and there is almost always a 

 characteristic difference which would cause most of the Eastern negroes 

 to appear out of place on the continent of Africa. The woolly hair, 

 however, combined with the dark skin and almost always with a doli- 

 chocephalic or long skull, so markedly distinguishes all these people 

 from the rest of the inhabitants of the globe, that it is impossible not to 

 look upon them as being really related to each other, and as represent- 

 ing an early variation if not the primitive type of mankind, which once 

 spread widely over all the tropical portions of the eastern hemisphere. 

 Successive incursions of the lighter-colored, smooth-haired races seem 

 to have exterminated them in man}' of the areas they once inhabited, 

 while in some widely scattered spots a few scanty remnants continue to 

 exist. Two important groups, however, remain predominant in regions 

 very far apart, but each well suited to their vigorous development. The 

 negro of Africa has been made the servant of the more civilized races 

 from the earliest periods of history, and is better known to us than any 

 other uncivilized people ; while the Papuan or Melanesian, inhabiting a 

 group of tropical islands on the other side of the globe, still remains 

 a mere shadowy name to the great majority of English readers. We 

 proceed now to point out the chief physical and mental characteristics, 

 habits, and customs of this interesting race as it exists in New Guinea, 

 with occasional references to such modifications of it as occur in the 

 other islands. 



We now possess trustworthy descriptions of the Papuans as they 

 exist at numerous localities scattered all round the extensive island 

 they inhabit ; and the substantial agreement of these descriptions 

 renders it pretty certain that all belong to one race, exhibiting, it is 

 true, considerable variations, and occasionally presenting undoubted 



