58 



The Natives. 



The description of the country given p).>tiilates a somewhat 

 sparse population over this elevated portion of the Western Division, 

 At Sambregi, immediately to the north-west of Mount Murray, are a 

 cluster of villages with an aggregate population of about 1,000 people. 

 Through')Ut our trip we saw onlv one other village of any size, which 

 we reached on December 27th. This was on a large tributary of 

 the Kikor flowing south of east. In every other in-tance the tribe 

 or clan lived in one communal dwelling, varying in dimensions 

 according to the size of the community, and capable of housing from 

 ten to seventy people. These dwellings, especially the sniiiller ones, 

 are generally hidden away or perched on steep ridges, that are 

 not easy of access, probably from motives of defence. The popu- 

 lation of this area of elevated land is estimated at 15,000 inhabitants, 

 or about one and a quarter persons to every square mile. 



The native inhabitants of the interior do not appear to be a 

 homogeneous people; racial distinctions are apparent that seem to 

 indicate a mingling of Papuans and Papuo-Melanesians, to use 

 the terminology of Dr. Seligmann. Some of the inhabitants of a 

 village were dark-skinned, dolichocephalic men, with wiry frames and 

 somewhat slender limbs, and, in disposition, rather morose and 

 unemotional. In not a few instances the somewhat prominent nose 

 was arched, presenting the appearance of the so-called Semitic 

 type. Other villagers again were unusually light skinned — 

 more the colour of a Samoan. The high altitude might accen- 

 tuate this. I was unable to obtain the cephalic indices of 

 any of the natives, as they were very shy, and we could not 

 afford to make a long stay anywhere. The faces of the light-skinned 

 men were broader and shorter than their darker neighbours, their 

 limbs stouter, and they appear to be more vivacious and intelligent, 

 and also to be fonder of ostentation in the shape of ornaments and 

 paint. The Melunesian migration into New Guinea i-; believed U> 

 have advanced along the north-east coast as far as Cape Nelson, 

 where their progress was stopped l)y the warlike Binandili tribes ; 

 and along the southern coast till they reached the populous villages 

 of the Gulf country. It is, however, not yet known how far the im- 

 migrant race penetrated inland. Certain of the inhabitants of 

 the main range near the Gap, at Mount Albert Edward, and 

 on the Chiiima, as well as in the neighbourhood of Mount Yule, 

 are lighter skinned and broader headed than the Papuan, and it 

 is possibible that the Melanesians have gradually diffused themselves 

 inland along the southern slop.s of the main range, where the 

 origin.'d inhabitants were few in number, and therefore less able to 

 successfully resist the advance. The greatest obstacle would be the 

 natural features of the country, which would necesitate ver}' slow pro- 

 gress. This might account for the marked distinction in physical 

 chaiMCteristics which have not yet been obliterated by uMScegenation. 

 The light skinned people w^re nearly always in a minority. Mr. J. 

 P. Thompson, in his book, ' British New Guinea,' speaks of the 



