408 COMPENDIUM OF GEOGRAPHY AND TRAVEL 



tribes, and hence we find that lancruagtes or dialects are 

 equally innunieraljle, and add still further to the obstacles 

 that missionaries and officials encounter in their endea- 

 vours to introduce Christianity and civilisation. 



The preceding general account is intended to apply 

 to the typical Papuan. A considerable margin must, 

 however, be allowed for individual and local peculiarities. 

 The tint of the skin, the stature, the habits, and even 

 the character, vary considerably, but the best observers 

 agree in considering that such variations imply no dif- 

 ference of race. The people of New Guinea, like all 

 others, have undoubtedly intermingled with many sur- 

 rounding peoples. Malays have settled on their western 

 and northern coasts, Australians have probably mixed 

 with those living on the shores of Torres Strait, while 

 the brown Polynesians have undoubtedly occupied some 

 portion of the south-eastern promontory. But in every 

 part of New Guinea one physical character remains 

 nearly constant — the frizzled hair — and this alone would 

 suffice to refute the opinion of those who have hastily 

 declared the people of the south-eastern extremity to be 

 undoubtedly Malays. 



8. Mission Work in New Guinea. 



In Dutch territory Dutch and German missionaries 

 have been at work in Dorei since 1856, and of late two 

 or three additional stations have been established, all of 

 which are in Geelvink Bay. Twenty-eight years from 

 this date the entire result of the work and the sacrifice 

 of many lives was only IG adult and 26 child converts, 

 so that the mission has not fulfilled the expectations 

 formed of it. The Papuan is bold, self-reliant, and almost 

 entirely devoid of the feelings of reverence and respect, 



