NEW GUINEA AND ITS INHABITANTS. 749 



signs of intermixture with other races, but always showing a decided 

 predominance of true Papuan characteristics. In stature they present 

 a medium between the short Malays and tall Polynesians, the average 

 height varying at different parts of the coast from five feet two to five 

 feet eight inches. Some tribes in the interior are believed to be as 

 dwarfish as the Negritos of the Philippines, while others are nearly 

 equal to the tall Feejeeans, who are often considerably over six feet high. 

 They are strong and muscular, but rather less finely formed than many 

 of the Malayan and Polynesian tribes. Their color is usually a choco- 

 late-brown, sometimes almost black, at others almost as light as some 

 of the Malays. It is, however, by their features that they are best 

 distinguished from all other races of men, and especially by the form 

 and size of the nose. This is always large and long, usually arched as in 

 the Jewish type, and, when well developed, with the extremity so length- 

 ened as to hide the nostrils and overhang the upper lip. This peculiar 

 characteristic is found more or less developed everywhere round the 

 coast of New Guinea, so that almost every traveler speaks of the 

 " Jewish features " — the " aquiline " or " arched " or " very prominent " 

 noses — or makes use of other similar expressions, clearly showing that 

 this is the typical Papuan feature, a fact which is further demonstrated 

 by the unmistakable though exaggerated manner in which it is rep- 

 resented in all their images and carvings. The nose is also very thick 

 and coarse, as is the case in almost all savage races ; the alse are very 

 oblique, and the base is much depressed between the eyes, a character 

 which reaches its maximum in the natives of New Caledonia and the 

 New Hebrides, .though the nose itself is with them somewhat shorter. 

 The forehead is rather flat and retreating, the mouth large, and the lips 

 full but not excessively thick ; nor is there any marked prognathism. 

 The combination of these peculiarities in various degrees produces 

 faces which are sometimes ugly and savage-looking, while others have 

 so much the character of the Jew or Arab as to be really handsome. 

 Comparing Papuans with typical negroes of equatorial Africa we find 

 a radical difference in the small flat nose and very prominent jaws of 

 the latter. In the South African races this difference is less pronounced. 

 The Bechuanas and Natal Caffres have less prognathism and a straighter, 

 better-formed nose, but this organ is always shorter and less arched than 

 in the Papuan. The Hottentots have often well-formed features and 

 sometimes have a considerable resemblance to the less typical Melane- 

 sians. The greatest resemblance, however, is to be found between the 

 Negritos of the Philippines — who have short flat noses and somewhat 

 projecting jaws — and some of the dwarfish tribes of Central Africa. 



The Papuan contrasts strongly with Malays and Polynesians in 

 being hairy -bodied and tolerably well bearded, but still more so by the 

 wonderfully luxuriant growth of the hair of the head, which forms a dense 

 mop often projecting six or eight inches from the skull. It is crisp, 

 glossy, and very elastic, and each separate hair naturally curls itself up 



