414 
NABORE 
[AuGUST 31, 1899 
twenty-two measurements on the subjects in Torres 
Straits, New Guinea, and Borneo, besides a number of 
observations on the skin, hair, eyes, face, &c. 
Psychological observations were made in the Murray 
Islands on about 150 individuals. Among the subjects 
investigated were visual acuity, delicacy of colour sense, 
colour blindness, binocular vision and visual perception 
of space; acuity and range of hearing, appreciation of 
musical intervals ; tactile acuity and sensibility to pain, 
and discrimination of weight; acuity of smell; simple 
reaction time to auditory and visual stimuli and choice 
reaction time ; estimation of intervals of time ; the influ- 
ence of various mental states on blood pressure ; and the 
influence of fatigue and practice on the capacity for 
mental work. By means of colour matches, quantitative 
records were also taken of the colour of the skin of the 
islanders. 
We were fortunate to find two or three old men who 
were able to tell us about the old customs and cere- 
monies. A good deal of time was spent in elucidating 
the long since abandoned sacred Malu ceremonies which 
were held in connection with the initiation of the youths ; 
the previous account? can now be considerably aug- 
mented. Notes were made of various other ceremonies, 
and whenever possible the ancient sacred songs were re- 
corded on the phonograph. A large collection was made 
of sacred stones, including stones about which there is a 
legend, sorcery stones, fishing and garden charms, rain 
and fire charms. Numerous legends were also collected, 
and many of the sites and stones connected with them 
were photographed by Mr. Wilkin. 
The old oracle known as “ 7omog zogo,” which con- 
sisted of a group of large shells on stones, to represent 
each group of houses on the island, and a shell ‘‘ house” 
for the zoge, was plotted, and the former method of 
divination was demonstrated to us. One or two members 
of the party learnt the constellations on the voyage out ; 
this enabled us to map some of the native star groups. 
Attention was also paid to children’s games, and a 
system of nomenclature was devised which enabled us to 
record with accuracy the complicated manipulation in 
the making of the ingenious string puzzles or “‘cat’s- 
cradle.” Examples of the past and present handicrafts 
of the people were collected. The construction of the 
language was carefully studied by Mr. Ray, and the pre- 
viously published vocabulary increased. The native 
diseases and their cures were studied with the cognate 
charms and magic. 
Messrs. Ray, Seligmann, Wilkin and myself paid a 
brief visit to the mainland of New Guinea, and visits 
were paid to Rabao (Yule Island) and to several villages 
of the Mekeo district. Twenty-eight men were mea- 
sured: average height, 1610 m. (5 ft. 35 in.) ; cephalic 
index, 80. As the decorative art of the Mekeo district 
has not been described hitherto, numerous specimens of 
lime-gourds, tobacco-pipes, and painted tapa were 
collected. 
A short stay was made at Port Moresby, where a 
number of photographs were taken to illustrate the 
manufacture of pottery, and a visit was paid to the 
Taburi tribe that lives behind Mount Warirata. Nine 
mountaineers from the centre of the Peninsula were 
measured : height, 1°607 m. (5 ft. 34 in.) ; cephalic index, 
80°8, as well as fourteen Koiari from the hilly 
country: height, 1600 m. (5 ft. 3 in.); cephalic index, 
75°53; and six Koitapu of Pert Moresby: height, 
1603 m. (5 ft. 3 in.); cephalic index, 771. A study of 
the Koitapu language was made, which proved that it, 
like the people themselves, does not belong to the Motu 
stock. These three groups differ in several respects 
from the Motu communities that inhabit most of the 
coast villages from Delena to Aroma ; for example, they 
1 Internationales Archiv fiir Ethnographie (vi., 1893, Pp. 140). 
NO. 1557, VOL. 60] 
commonly wear hair on the face, and the hair is almost 
invariably frizzly. 
A few days were spent at Bulaa (Hula), where we were 
struck by the relative prevalence of curly and even of 
wavy hair, and the general lighter colour of the skin: 
height, 17663 m. (5 ft. 5 in.); cephalic index, 82°5. I 
intend on a future occasion to discuss the physical char- 
acters of the Papuans at some length when I have had 
time to tabulate out our results, and to compare them 
with those of other workers. At present it appears to me 
that a short, slightly brachycephalic people live among 
the mountains, and a similar short mesaticephalic (with a 
distinct tendency towards dolichocephalism) folk live 
nearer the coast. It is the latter people who have been 
repressed by the taller brachycephals of the coast, whose 
foreign blood is shown by their lighter skin and a marked 
frequency of curly or even wavy hair. The mountaineers 
are in no sense a pygmy people, and are not directly 
related to the Aétas ; they frequently harass and conquer 
the dolichocephals. 
Messrs. Ray, Wilkin and myself returned to Murray 
Island on July 20, Mr. Seligmann remaining behind to 
see more of the country. Dr. Rivers and Messrs. Myers 
and McDougall had made a large number of interesting 
psychological observations during our absence. The two 
latter left for Borneo on August 24. 
On September 8 we left Murray Island and arrived at 
Saguane at the southern end of Kiwai Island in the delta 
of the Fly River on the rrth. A visit was paid to Iasa, 
which contains sixteen long houses, each of which is in- 
habited by members of one totemistic clan, and eleven 
natives were measured: height, 1°602 m. (5 ft. 3 in) ; 
cephalic index, 803. Mr. Seligmann rejoined us here. 
Our next destination was Mabuiag, which we reached 
on September 17, and had five weeks of good work re- 
cording old customs, measuring natives, studying 
language and experimental psychology. In Mabuiag and 
Kiwai fewer psychological observations could be made, 
owing to the fact that most of the apparatus had to be 
taken on to Borneo, but observations on visual acuity, 
colour vision, &c., were made on over Ioo individuals, 
many of whom, however, were not natives of these islands. 
Thirty-three men were measured : height, 1°648 m. (5 ft. 
4} in.); the average cephalic index is 811. Although 
they belong to the same race, and are similar in many 
respects, there is a noticeable difference between the 
eastern and western tribe of Torres Straits. Most of their 
former ceremonies and many of their customs were dis- 
similar, the languages are quite distinct, and on the whole 
the western folk are more intelligent. The very slight 
ditference in the stature may be due to the more 
abundant food of Murray Island, whereas that of the 
head form is of greater significance. The difference be- 
tween an average index of 77 and 81 may not appear 
large, but there is a distinct difference in the form of the 
skulls in general from the two islands. I am inclined to 
believe that the Murray Islanders belong to that dolicho- 
cephalic stock which certainly occurs on the mainland of 
New Guinea inthe region known under the general name of 
Daudai, and which appears to have been pushed back by 
a somewhat brachycephalic people. Murray Island was 
unaffected by this movement, but the western islands 
have not escaped it. I have no desire to push cranio- 
logical facts too far, and I propose testing this hypothesis 
elsewhere by cultural evidence. Several writers have 
expressed an opinion that the natives of Prince of Wales 
Island and the neighbouring islands are Australians with 
a strong Papuan mixture. I regard them as Papuans, 
with a very slight (if any) Australian mixture. 
The most interesting of our sociological investigations 
of the Western tribe were those on totemism, maturity 
customs for men and women, and the beginnings of hero- 
worship as exemplified in the legend and cult of Kwoiam, 
the national hero of Mabuiag. Here, as at Mer, Dr. 
