A H(df-c(isfe Tasonanian. 1 7 



race, have resulted in the extermination of the existing Papuan 

 element in the mainland by the new occupants, the Australian 

 aboriginal, or on the view of those who hold the Australian abo- 

 riginal to be an admixture of Negro or Papuan stock with some 

 other race or races, would, by cross breeding with the Papuan, 

 form the present aboriginal race. Thus there would be a 

 detached group of Papuans in the North, a detached group of 

 Papuans in the south, and a; central group differing from the 

 north and south groups, which is exactly what is found. Fur- 

 ther, these races would be of great antiquity, though not neces- 

 sarily of tertiary times, though even this is not impossible, 

 whilst, lastly, the Tasmanian would have reached Tasmania by 

 land in very distant periods. He would, therefore, be of a 

 most ancient race ; he would have no knowledge of navigation ; 

 he would differ from the inhabitants of the adjacent mainland 

 of Australia ; and also from those of New Zealand. He would 

 be closely allied to the natives of distant New Guinea, but would 

 from his isolation amd from the apparent fact that he had not 

 been visited by other and more recent races, retain his primitive 

 manners, and show less signs of advancement than his brothers 

 of New Guinea, all of which coincides in every detail with what 

 we know of this unhappily extinct race, the extinction of which 

 is a blot upon the fair history of British colonisaition. 



Even though this theory be accepted, the writer has no desire 

 to claim any exclusive rights in, or priority for, the view, for 

 it is merely a revised version of what many anthropologists 

 have already put forward. Howitt (14) has long held the view 

 that the Tasmanians came from the north, and has stated : — "I 

 have long since come to the conclusion that one of the fonda- 

 mental principles to be adopted in discussing the origin of those 

 {Tasmanian) savages must be, that they reached Tasmania ait a 

 time when there was a land communication between it and Aus- 

 tralia." 



Bonwick (5) has stated that: --"The fact of the crisp-haired 

 Papuans being found in islands all round the New Holland 

 (Australian) coasts, and over so vast an extent of space, ought 

 certainly to indicate their prior migration to that of the Aus- 

 tralians."' 



Flower (18) has, iu his usual clear and terse way, summed 

 up the whole theory in the words, " they (the Tasmanians; 



