IIG TRAVELS IN THE EAST INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. 



and Chinese, Portuguese, Dutcli, Englisli, and prob- 

 ably American fathers, of every possible degree of 

 mixture, a perfect Gordian knot for the ablest eth- 

 nologist. Each of these varieties of natives had 

 some peculiarity in dress, and one wore the hair 

 long and frizzled ; but I doubt whether they could 

 be referred to the true Papuan tyj^e. They ap- 

 peared to be fair specimens of the aborigines, who 

 have been already mentioned as inhabiting the in- 

 terior of Floris, Solor, Omblata, Pintar, and Ombay. 

 The natives of Savu are described as belonging to 

 this same group, which Mr. Crawfui'd calls the Negro- 

 Malayan race. The Rajah of Savu was at Kupang 

 while we were there, and certainly was nearly of 

 pure Malay blood. 



Contrary to what would be supposed, from its 

 position, the island of Rotti, off the southern end of 

 Timur, is inhabited by a lank-haired race, who are 

 probably Malays. They were represented to me, by 

 the Resident of Kupang, as a most peaceable people, 

 and very different in this respect from the wild 

 natives of Timur. On the southeast coast of Timur, 

 near Mount Alias, there is said to be a tribe of black 

 people whose hair is frizzled, and, instead of being 

 evenly distributed over the scalp, is collected into 

 little tufts, a characteristic which seems to separate 

 the Papuans from all other people. Mr. Earl says * 

 that some of the people on the table-land back of 

 Dilli have " opaque yellow complexions, the exposed 

 parts of the skin being covered with light-brown 



* " Native Races of the East Indian Archipelago, Papuans," hy George 

 Windsor Earl, M. R. A. S. London, 1853. 



