102 PHYSICAL CHARACTERS 



The physical characters of a typical Solomon Islander. — Notwith- 

 ;standing tlie variety in some of the characters of these natives, it is 

 not a dirficult matter to describe a typical individual who combines 

 their most ])rominent and most prevalent characteristics. Such a 

 man would have a well-proportioned physique, a good carriage, and 

 well-rounded limbs. His height would be about 5 feet 4 inches ; 

 his chest-girth between 34 and 35 inches ; and his weight between 

 125 and 130 pounds. The colour of his skin would be a deep 

 brown, corresponding with number 35 of the colour-types of M. 

 Broca;^ and he would wear his hair in the style of a bushy periwig 

 in which all the hairs are entangled independently into a loose 

 frizzled mass. His face would have a moderate deirree of subnasal 

 prognathism, with projecting brows, deeply sunk orbits, short, 

 straight nose, much depressed at the root but sometimes arched, lips 

 of moderate thickness and rather prominent, chin somewhat- reced- 

 ing. His hairless face would have an expression of good humour, 

 which is in accord with the cheerful temperament of these islanders. 

 The form of his skull would be probably mesoceplialic. The pro- 

 portion of the length of the span of the extended arms to the height 

 of the body, taking the latter as 100, would be represented by the 

 index 10G"7. The length of the upper limb would be exactly one- 

 third the height of the body; and the tip of his middle finger would 

 reach down to a point about oi inches above the patella. The 

 length of the lower limb would be slightly under one-half (iVo) ^^^ 

 the heioht of the bod\' ; and the relations of the lenofths of the 

 upper and lower limbs to each other would be represented by the 

 intermembral index 68. I was only able to obtain the measui'ement 

 of six women who belonged to the small islands of Ugi and Santa 

 Anna, off the St. Christoval coast. Their average height was 4 feet 

 lOi indies, which corresponds with the rule given by Topinard in 

 his " Anthropology," that for a race of this stature 7 per cent, of 

 the height of the man (5 feet 3 J inches, in this part of the group) 

 must be subtracted to obtain the true proportional height of the 

 woman. The hair of the women has the same characters as that of 

 the men. Their figures^^iave not usually that breadth of hip which 

 the European model would possess. The general appearance of the 

 younger women is not unattractive, but they soon lose their good 

 looks after marriage. In Bougainville Straits, it was often possible 



1 The colour types employed were those given in the "Anthropological Notes ami 

 Queries," i)ublishc(l by tlie British Association in 1874. 



