82 JUNCTION OF AUSTRALIAN 



tralians : I am now^ however^ fully convinced that 

 they afford an example of an Australian tribe so 

 altered by contact with the Papuan tribes of the 

 adjacent islands as at leng-th to resemble the latter 

 in most of their ph3^sical^ intellectual and moral 

 characteristics. Thus the Kowrareg-as have acquired 

 from their island neio-hbours the art of cultivating* the 

 g*round^ and their superior dexterity in constructing* 

 and navig-ating' larg'e canoes^ tog*ether with some 

 customs — such as that of preserving* the skulls of 

 their enemies as trophies : while they retain the use 

 of the spear and throwing* sticky practise certain 

 mysterious ceremonies connected with the initiation 

 of boys to the rig-hts of manhood — supposed to be 

 peculiar to the Australian race— and hold the 

 females in the same low and deg*raded position 

 which they occupy throug'hout Australia. 



That the Kowrareg-as settled the Prince of Wales 

 Islands either prior to or nearly simultaneously with 

 the spreading* downwards from New Guinea of the 

 Papuans of the islands^ scarcely admits of absolute 

 proof: but that the former have existed as a tribe 

 for a long* period of years is shewn by the chang*es 

 which I presume to have taken place in their lan- 

 g'uag'e. While this last unquestionably belong-s to 

 the Australian class^ as clearly indicated by Dr. 

 Latham's analysis of the pronouns,* one of the 

 characteristic parts of the lang-uag-e, and, therefore, 

 least liable to chang*e, jet the occurrence in the 

 Kovvrareg*a of a considerable number of words re- 



* See the Appendix. 



