524 



DECAY OF ABORIGINES. 



and whatever part of the world they inhabit. The tribes are distin- 

 guished by the colours they make use of, and by the number and 

 arrangement of the incisions which the warriors make on their limbs, 

 their chest, and their shoulders. Their arms are spears pointed with 

 heads of jagged flint, and hatchets of the same material. The indi- 

 genous population of Australia is rapidly decreasing ; it does not 



exceed a total of 3000 souls. In Tasmania the aborigines are 

 reduced to four, three aged women, and a young man, who has 

 recently visited England.* 



The Papuans have not woolly hair, like the Australians. Their 

 hair grows in separate plaits, which twine one in another, and form, 

 * This was written in September 1807. 



