Januaby 1, 19C0.] 



KNOWLEDGE. 



Gotilla, Orang-utau, or iudeecl any other Old World 

 Ape or Monkey, it will bo found to be of the straight 

 type, and to show not the slightest tendency to frizzi- 

 ness. Clearly then, from the evolutionary point of 

 view, the straight-haired type ought to be the original 

 one; and we find the late Sir W. II. Flower saying that 

 the frizzh' type " of hair is probably a specialisation, 

 for it seems very unlikely that it was the attribute of 

 the common ancestors of the human race.' 



If this hypothesis be true, it would point to the 

 conclusion that the Australians are a more primitive 

 type than the Melanesians and Negroes ; a view which 

 receives strong support from the primitive characters 

 presented by their skeletons. But it must be observed 

 that Sir William Flower, in spite of the opinion ex- 

 pressed above, suggested that the Australians are a 

 mixed race, derived from a crossing between frizzly- 

 haired Melanesians and some low type of the Cau- 

 casian stock, such as the wild tribes of Southern India. 

 It may be urged, however, from what has already been 

 said in regai-d to its persistence among half-breeds, 

 that the frizzly type of hair would be very unlikely 

 to have so completely disappeared among the Austra- 

 lians ; added to which is the circumstance that had 

 such extensive crossing with the Caucasian stock taken 

 place the Australians could scarcely have preserved 

 such an extremely low type of skeletal structure — a 

 type whicii, at least as regards the jialatc and the 

 spinal column, appears lower than that of cither 

 Melanesians or Negroes. 



Fig. 1.— filiate of SkiiU of Cliiiii|)anzee. 



That the Australian aborigines reached their 

 present home from south-eastern Asia may be regarded 

 as almost certain ; and some have considered that 

 the migration took place at a time when there was still a 

 more or less complete land connection between Malaysia 

 and Australia. Moreover certain South Australian 

 tribes are considered to be closely related to the an- 

 cient inhabitants of Europe, as typified by the famous 

 Neanderthal .skull. Hence there is nothing improb- 

 able in the supposition that both of the Australians 

 and the primitive Caucasian tribes of India are the 

 descendants of a common stock, the Australians hav- 

 ing retained the primitive character of their Nean- 

 derthal ancestors, while the Indian tribes have 

 attained a higher grade of evolution. Ou this view 



the fi-izzly-haired Melanesians and African Negroes, 

 as well as in all probability the round-licaded Negritos 

 of Luzon, in the Philippines, would be descendants 

 from the primitive stock of which tlu; Australians arc 

 less modilied representatives. And m this connection 

 it is important to mention that Dr. (). Finscli, who 

 iias travelled much in Australia, is of opinion that the 

 Australian aborigines form a single and peculiar race, 

 which differs more from either typical Melanesians or 

 Papuans than do both the latter from African 

 Negroes. 



The general physical similarity of the natives from 

 all parts of Australia is indeed a very striking pecu- 

 liarity of the race, and serves to show that, whatever 

 be their origin and their relationship, they have been, 

 previous to the European colonization of their island 

 continent, isolated for an immense period of time from 

 the rest of the human race. 



Their unity of type and isolation from other races 

 is strongly emphasised by their language, whicli while 

 uniform throughout the country, is at the same time 

 quite distinct from that of any other people. It has 

 indeed been attempted to connect the Australian 

 tongue with that of the Dravidian races of Southern 

 India, but this, according to recognised experts, is 

 stated to have resulted in total failure. 



There is, however, a very curious connection 

 between the Australian aborigines and certain of the 

 wild tribes of Southern India, namely that both 

 possess the boomerang ; a weapon unknown to any 

 other members of the human race.* Of course there 

 is the possibility that this very remarkable implement 

 has been independently invented by the two people 

 who use it, but there is a considerable degree of im- 

 probability in this idea. If, on the other hand, it 

 be an inheritance of the Australians from Asiatic an- 

 cestors, it may be fairly argued that it is unlikely to 

 have been evolved at the extremely remote epoch when 

 the ancestral Australians started from their Asiatic 

 home. And if this view be accepted, then we are com- 

 pelled to revert to the idea of a later immigration from 

 Asia, which brings us again to the question of the 

 origin of the wavy hair of the Australians. 



Apparently there is no possibility of giving a definite 

 answer as to the origin of the boomerang ; but there 

 is one very curious point which may indicate the great 

 antiquity of its introduction. As most of my readers 

 are aware, the Australian aborigines possess a semi- 

 domesticated dog — the Dingo ; and there are strong 

 reasons for regarding this animal as not pertaining 

 to the indigenous fauna of the country. Its remains 

 are, however, met with in association with those of a 

 number of extinct animals, so that the date of its in- 

 troduction was evidently very early. But if, as some 

 suppose, man reached Australia at a time when it was 

 much more closely connected with Malaysia than is at 

 present the case, his advent might well have been con- 

 temporaneous with that of the Dingo. And here 

 conies ill the point referred to, namely, that (as I learn 

 from an expert) the Dingo is very closely related to 

 the Paria dogs of India, Now since these latter arc 

 domesticated breeds, the evidence, if it may be relied 

 on, points to a very early immigration into Australia 

 of aboriginal tribes accompanied by dogs from Asia. 

 And if such early aborigines had domesticated a dog, 

 they might surely be deemed capable of having invented 

 the boomerang. ^^ 



• The boomerang of India lias not the return flight of the 

 Auetraliau weajjon. 



