THE AXDAMANESE. 525 



when of some length, a voluminous and characteristic coiffure. The 

 Papuans of New Guinea, according to Dumont d'Urville, are men of 

 medium stature, with elegant forms, oval countenance, and tolerably 

 regular features. Their skin is of a dark brown colour. They appear 

 to be of a timid and unenterprising character. Their residence they 

 have* planted on the shores of the sea, where they dwell in long 

 wooden huts, raised upon piles which are plunged deep in the very 

 waters of ocean. It does not seem that they acknowledge the autho- 

 rity of any chiefs. They know only a few words of the Malayan 

 language, and speak the papoua, which differs from it essentially. 



The Andamanese, or Andamans, are of a jet-black colour. Their 

 stature rarely exceeds four and a half to five feet. Their head is 

 large, and sunken between the shoulders ; their hair woolly ; most of 

 them are disfigured by protuberant stomach and meagre lower limbs. 

 They go about in an absolute nudeness, for we cannot regard as any 

 species of clothing the coat of clay or yellow ochre which they plaster 

 over their bodies to protect them against the stings of insects ; the 

 red ochre which the earth supplies them they make use of to powder 

 their hair and paint their face. According to the latest estimates, 

 the total population of the Andaman Islands does not exceed 2000 

 individuals. 



The Alfourous, or Harfourous, inhabit Borneo, the Celebes, the 

 Moluccas, Mindanao, and some other isles. Their type has no very 

 definite peculiarity, and ethnologists seem agreed to consider them a 

 mixed race, resulting from a cross between the Papuans and the 

 Malays, and forming the transition between the two races. 



