THE NATIVES OF NEW GUINEA 25 



particularly in the Western half of the country, including 

 the district visited by this expedition, where the true 

 Papuan stock holds its own. 



The name Papua, it should be said, comes from 

 the Malay wood papuwah, meaning " woolly " or " fuzzy," 

 and was first applied to the natives on account of their 

 mops of hair ; later the name was applied to the island 

 itself. 



Even among those Papuans who are pure-blooded — 

 in so far as one may use that expression in describing 

 any human race — there are very considerable varieties 

 of appearance, but it is still possible to describe a type 

 to which all of them conform in the more important 

 particulars. The typical Papuan is rather tall and is_^ 

 usually well-built. The legs of the low country people 

 ,are somewhat meagre, as is usually the case among 

 people who spend much of their time in canoes, whilst 

 those of the hill tribes are well developed. The hands 

 and feet are large. The colour of the skin varies from 

 a dark chocolate colour to a rusty black, but it seems to 

 be never of the shining ebony blackness of the African 

 negro. The lips are thick but not full, the teeth are 

 strong but not noticeably good, and the jaws are strong 

 but they can hardly be called prognathous. The 

 forehead is receding, the brows are strong and pro- 

 minent, and the shape of the face is somewhat oval. 

 The hair is black and " frizzly " rather than " woolly," 

 it is crisp and hard to the touch, and in some tribes it 

 is grown to a considerable length and dressed in a 

 variety of ornamental fashions. Short hard hair is 

 also found frequently on the chest and on the limbs. 



