AUSTRALIAN ABORIGINES. 455 



Linguistically both Melanesian and non-Melanesian (Papuan) 

 languages alternate irregularly along the coast. It was noticed 

 that the natives of all the islands, even those of the smaller islands 

 lying closer inshore, speak Melanesian, even when their neighbours 

 on the mainland speak Papuan. 



In manufactured articles the coast people are much richer than 

 the inland tribes, but many of the articles are made in certain 

 villages only. 



Pottery is made only in a few places on the coast, and then 

 usually by beating out the pot from a single mass of clay with a 

 wooden " paddle " worked against a stone held by the other hand 

 inside the pot. In the interior the art seems to be much more widely 

 spread, and where the method could be observed the pot was 

 always made by coiling. Of the eight sections or villages composing 

 the large settlement of Sissano (Melanesian) only one makes pottery, 

 but that particular village had very close relations with an interior 

 (Papuan) village where pottery is made, and by coiling, in both 

 places. As the making of pottery is almost always the work of 

 women, a few wives brought down from the Papuan village would 

 easily account for this. The widespread distribution and excell- 

 ence of Papuan pottery make it extremely probable that it was 

 an original Papuan art before the Melanesian invasion, and that the 

 Melanesians took up the art after their arrival. This would account 

 for the pre-historic pottery found near Finschhafen, which is now 

 inhabited by non-pottery making Melanesians. The pre-historic 

 pottery found on the island of Watam, in New Britain, may thus 

 also be credited to a pre-Melanesian people driven out or extermi- 

 nated by the later arrivals. Though the ornamentation is different 

 from any modern pottery known at present, yet in view of the great 

 variety shown by the still very slightly known Papuan pottery, 

 this presents no very serious difficulty. 



