Australian, and Malayu-Polynesian Nations. 223 
that of the Boschmen of South Africa. We have had recent in- 
stances of this in Van Diemen’s Land, Melville Island (north-west 
coast of Australia), and at Port Du Bus, on the west coast of New 
Guinea, in all which settlements the country was occupied by a pure, 
or nearly pure, Papuan race. In the former, hostility was continued 
as long as a native remained on the island, and in the last two, until 
the settlements were abandoned in despair. On the other hand, 
their neighbours, the Australians, have invariably submitted after a 
_ single trial of strength; while the Malayu-Polynesians, when not 
__under the influence of other foreigners, have always evinced a desire 
to have strangers, especially Europeans, settled among them, as 
___ shewn by the people of the Moluccas when first visited by the Por- 
___ tuguese, and as displayed at the present time in those remote parts 
of the Indian Archipelago where the race maintains its ancient 
purity. 
The untameable ferocity of the Papuans only exists as long as 
they remain in their native country. On leaving it, their charac- 
ter seems totally changed, as far as regards this particular. The 
Papuan slaves, who exist in great numbers in the eastern parts of 
the archipelago, are remarkable for their cheerful disposition and in- 
dustrious habits, and nothing could exceed the orderly conduct of the 
remnant of the Van Diemen’s Land natives, after they had been 
hunted down and removed to an island in Bass’ Strait. 
Before proceeding to describe the localities in which the Papuan 
race is now found, I think it proper to allude to certain of their cus- 
toms, which distinguish them from the Malayu-Polynesians, and 
which certainly are of Papuan, or, at least, of Negro origin. One of 
these is the custom of raising the skin in cicatrices over various 
parts of the body, especially on the shoulders, breast, buttocks, and 
thighs. This must not be confounded with the tatooing or punc- 
turing the skin, which is practised by many of the Malayu-Polyne- 
sian tribes, and which is never met with among the Papuans, as the 
_ searifications which I am about to describe are unknown to the others. 
The skin is cut through with some sharp instrument, in longitudinal 
stripes, and, if on the shoulder or breast, white clay, or some other 
substance, is rubbed into the wound, which causes the flesh below to 
rise, and these scarifications, when allowed to heal, assume the form 
_ of raised cicatrices, often as large as the finger. The process by 
which these cicatrices are produced, and which I have had opportu- 
_hities of watching in their progress from day to day until duly 
_ formed, is perfectly inexplicable to a European, who would be thrown 
__ into a fever by any one of the wounds which these strange people 
bear, two or three at a time, without complaining, but certainly not 
without suffering. It is, however, quite evident that the Papuans, 
_ and also the Australians, as will be mentioned below, possess a cal- 
lousness of skin, or insensibility of pain, which is quite unknown 
among more civilized races. 
Boring the septum of the nose is universally practised among the 
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