4U0 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TIIAVEL 



lips are full, but never like tliose of the negro, the face 

 somewhat oval, the brows very prominent. The most 

 characteristic feature is the nose, which is large, some- 

 what curved, and high, but depressed at the tip. It is 

 thick at the base and the nostrils are broad, and, owin;!, 

 to the ala: nasi being attached at a higher level on the 

 cheek than in Europeans, a large portion of the septum 

 is left exposed. This is generally transfixed by a nose-bar 

 of bone or shell, which fact is alone sufficient to shovv^ 

 to what extent this condition obtains. The hair, dry, 

 frizzly, and rough to the touch, acquires a consider- 

 able length, forming a very large, crisp, and mop-like 

 mass, which in its fullest development nuich resembles a 

 guardsman's bearskin in size, and is the pride and glory 

 of the wearer. The hair is curiously stiff and resilient, 

 so much so that if the han<l be laid on one of these 

 compact and elaborately tended coiffures, it meets with 

 almost as much resistance as it would if pressed against 

 a short-clipped European beard. The face is without 

 much beard, but the chest, legs, and forearms are usually 

 more or less hirsute, the hair being short and crisp. 



Xor does the Papuan appear to differ less from the 

 Malay in his mental qualities than in his figure and 

 features. Impulsive and demonstrative in speech and 

 action, he gives expression to his emotions and passions 

 in cries and laughter, in ejaculations, and boisterous leaps 

 and gestures. Women and children take part in all 

 their dealings, and seem little disconcerted l:)y the 

 presence of strangers or Europeans. In estimating the 

 intellectual powers of the Papuan, Mr. Wallace places 

 him above the Malay, attriljuting his actual inferiority to 

 the absence of the deeper influences of more highly- 

 cultured races with whrm the Malay has been repeatedly 

 brought into contact. " It appears," he says, " that 



