, BY R. HAMLYN-HARRIS. 1^, 



canoe by deft and rapid action of the right hand being 3{. 

 remarkable feature. (6). The, piercing of the septum of 

 the nose being the rule rather than the exception. 

 (c). Frequent instances of the front teeth being absent 

 are cited, and in view of the geographical distribution .of 

 this initiatory custom the records are important, as is also 

 the reference to Papuan contact and influence. (d). The 

 distribution of the five tribes of Cape York Peninsula is 

 discussed with special bearing on the question of the fusion 

 of Papuan and Australian Races in the tribes of the 

 Prince of Wales Island group (pages 3 and 4. Vol. 2). 

 The hostility Ijetween portion of the islanders and the 

 mainland people with the exception of the " Gudang " 

 tribe in the immediate vicinity of the Cape, seems to me to 

 be a plausible reason, why Papuan influence has not been 

 greater than it has. (e). The peopling of Australia from 

 Timor referred to by the author, is in my opinion of some 

 significance in view of the helio-lithic culture standpoint. 

 The .Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great 

 Britain and Ireland contains in its pages a whole host of 

 useful references to Queensland Ethnology, beginning 

 with the year 1867, with notes by Dr. Creed (104). Refer- 

 ence is here made to the locality around Cape York in which 

 the author records the presence of the outrigger canoe^ 

 the use of bow and arrow on Prince of Wales Island, the 

 practice of cii-cumcision and the knocking out of the front 

 teeth, though not universal. He also instances meagre 

 evidence of Malay influence along the northern coast. 

 Amongst the first subjects to attract the attention of early 

 workers* was the question of AustraUan language and 

 traditions, especially with reference to class systems iii 

 common throughout all parts of Australia, Queensland not 

 excepted. 8o we find, for instance, in 1871 several workers 

 occupying themselves with this theme and their work has 

 been ably continued by a number of enthusiastic ethnologists, 

 amongst Avhom Howitt (54, 55, 58). Lorimer Fison (31 

 & 32), John Matthew (85, 89), and E. Palmer (102) are 

 the most prominent. The study of languages was con-, 

 sidered of great iinportance, due to the behef that language 



•Australian Languages and Tr&ditioni^. Journal Anthropological 

 Institute. V'ol. 7, p. 2.32, 1878. 



