306 



BIMANA. 



Guinea, and wear, like them, their long and woolly hair frizzled out. The 

 natives of Port Praslin, in New Ireland, and those of the Isle of York, 

 in the Channel of St. George, do not differ from the latter : a greater 

 number of tall and robust men were, however, seen among them ; and 

 many individuals were distinguished by the light shade of their complexion, 

 approaching the tawny and slightly-bronzed hue of the Oceanic nations.* 

 The aged men among these various tribes were generally calm and im- 

 passible ; yet rapid changes might be observed to pass over their 

 countenances. The treacherous and cunning looks of some were as 

 remarkable as the suspicion and mistrust indicated by others : sim- 

 plicity and frankness were denoted in the faces of only a small number. 

 The preceding sketch (fig. 224) will illustrate the Papuan physi- 

 ognomy, as it is exemplified in a native of New Guinea. 



225 



Native of Van Diemen's Land. 



The characters of the Papuan race, as they exist in the natives of 

 Tasmania, or Van Diemen's Land, exhibit a degree of deterioration cor- 



* It is not improbable that, in these instances, there may have been a mixture of Malay blood. 



