694 The Kaces of Man 



It is, however, quite possible, and perhaps probable, that 

 the brown Polynesians were originally the produce of a mix- 

 ture of Malays, or some lighter colored Mongol race with the 

 dark Papuans ; but if so, the intermingling took place at such 

 a remote epoch, and has been so assisted by the continued in- 

 fluence of physical conditions and of natural selection, lead- 

 ing to the preservation of a special type suited to those con- 

 ditions, that it has become a fixed and stable race with no 

 signs of mongrelism, and showing such a decided preponder- 

 ance of Papuan character, that it can best be classified as a 

 modification of the Papuan type. The occurrence of a de- 

 cided Malay element in the Polynesian languages, has evident- 

 ly nothing to do with any such ancient physical connection. 

 It is altogether a recent phenomenon, originating in the roam- 

 ing habits of the chief Malay tribes ; and this is proved by 

 the fact that we find actual modern words of the Malay ancl 

 Javanese languages in use in Polynesia, so little disguised by 

 peculiarities of pronunciation as to be easily recognizable — 

 not mere Malay roots only to be detected by the elaborate 

 researches of the philologist, as would certainly have been 

 the case had their introduction been as remote as the origin 

 of a very distinct race — a race as difierent from the Malay in 

 mental and moral, as it is in physical characters. 



As bearing upon this question it is important to i:)oint out 

 the harmony which exists between the line of separation of 

 the human races of the Archipelago and that of the animal 

 productions of the same country, which I have already so 

 fully explained and illustrated. The dividing lines do not, 

 it is true, exactly agree ; but I think it is a remarkable fact, 

 and something more than a mere coincidence, that they should 

 traverse the same district and approach each other so closely 

 as they do. If, however, I am right in my supposition that 

 the region where the dividing line of the Indo-Malayan and 

 Austro-Malayan regions of zoology can now be drawn, was 

 formerly occupied by a much wider sea than at present, and 

 if man existed on the earth at that period, we shall see good 

 I'eason why the races inhabiting the Asiatic and Pacific areas 

 should now meet and partially intermingle in the vicinity of 

 that dividing line. 



It has recently been maintained by Professor Huxley, that 



