SKULLS NORMAL AND ABNORMAL 321 



continent, the question arises : " Is the one race the 

 descendants of invaders ? and if so, is the other race the 

 true aboriginal people of the land ? " There is no direct 

 evidence bearing on this question. 



The northern division of Australian aborigines, which 

 is much the finest from all points of view, is the one 

 which is said to be of Malay origin. My belief is that 

 there is a considerable quantity of Malay blood mixed 

 with the native blood in all parts of the continent, but no 

 doubt it predominates in the north. The Malay, however, 

 is not the original stock in any one part of the land, but 

 may possibly be derived from the Malay ancestor in all 

 parts of it. That is my view, but I do not insist upon it 

 in a spirit of dogmatism. 



Of the actual age of man in Australia we have, so far 

 as I have been able to learn, but superficial deposits to 

 guide us, and those are few in number, and poor in 

 quality. I have found skulls in fluvial deposits, generally 

 when digging wells in the beds of rivers, which seem to 

 point to a smaller race of men inhabiting the country in 

 bygone days, but not differing in shape from those of the 

 present race ; and as to size, that is very elastic among the 

 aborigines to this hour, and depends entirely on local 

 circumstances. Often in barren districts, where game is 

 scarce, we meet with full-grown men who are not bigger 

 than ordinary fourteen-year-old boys. Size, therefore, in 

 an abnormal land, is not evidence of variety of race. In 

 South Australia, however, not far from Castlemaine, and 

 again in the bed of the river Lodden, I came upon the 

 remains of men of fine build, approximating to those of 

 the north at the present time. These consisted of several 

 skulls from the country west of Castlemaine, and skulls, 

 bones, and three complete skeletons from the bed of the 

 Lodden. All these were of normal type, and found in the 

 north would at once have been taken for the remains of 

 men of the present race. Nowhere have I found the bones 

 of men intermingled with those of animals of extinct 

 species, or in the same deposits, nor have I ever discovered 

 the slightest trace of a race acquainted with the arts of 



X 



