148 REPORT—1863. 
the children. The moral characteristics of the Papuan separate him widely from 
the Malay. He is impulsive and demonstrative in speech and action. His emo- 
tions and passions are expressed in shouts and laughter, in yells and frantic leap- 
ings. He is noisy and boisterous in speech and action, both at home and before 
strangers. Of his intellect less is known, but it seems at least equal and probably 
superior to that of the Malay. He has a love of art, decorating his canoe, his 
house, and almost every domestic article with elaborate carving. It must be 
granted, therefore, that these two races are most strongly contrasted; and if man- 
kind can be classed at all in distinct varieties, the Malay and the Papuan must 
certainly be kept separate. Besides these well-marked races are the inhabitants 
of the intermediate islands of the Moluccas and Timor, which, though differing in 
some degree from both, may yet, in almost every case, be classed with one or the 
other of them. The Negritos of the Philippines, and the Semangs of Malacca, 
differ in most important characters from the Papuan races, with which they have 
hitherto been classed, and must be considered to have Asiatic rather than’ Poly- 
nesian affinities. The recent evidence of the antiquity of man, and his having 
survived geological changes and the extinction of many species of Mammalia, 
introduces a new element into ethnographical researches, and enables us to specu- 
late more freely on the derivation and origin of races. Mr. Darwin’s researches on 
the structure and origin of the coral-reefs of the Pacific render it highly probable 
that great islands, or even continents, have recently sunk beneath its waters. The 
present distribution of animals in the Pacific islands leads us to conclude that this 
subsidence is geologically recent. The inhabitants of all the Pacitic islands, as 
far west as New Guinea and Australia, have much in common, while they differ 
greatly from other races. Combining these facts, and boldly following their indi- 
cations, we may divide the Malay Archipelago by a vertical waving line through the 
Moluceas, so that all the tribes to the west of the line will be Malayan or of Asiatic 
origin, and all to the east Papuan or of Polynesian origin. This division is in 
harmony with that which has been shown to exist in the animal productions of 
the same regions, and obviates the difliculties attending every theory hitherto pro- 
posed as to the affinities and derivation of the Malayan and Polynesian races. 
On the Central Argentine Railway from Rosario to Cordova, and across the 
Cordillera of the Andes. By W. Wuertwricut. 
This railway commences at the city of Rosario, in the province of Santa Fé, on 
the right bank of the La Plata, in latitude 32° 56’ south, longitude 61° 30' west, 
and about 250 miles above Buenos Ayres by the channel route, which is navigable 
for ships of a large size, and has a depth of 16 feet of water; it possesses a very 
fine harbour and all the elements of prosperity, and is the great commercial 
entrepot of the interior provinces. Here the steamers which ply between Monte- 
video, Buenos Ayres, and Paraguay, and those engaged in commerce with Cor- 
rientes and other commercial points stop, while almost a daily intercourse by 
steamers is kept up between this port and Buenos Ayres. From Rosario the rail- 
way will pursue its course in a north-west direction over those vast and fertile 
plains to Cordova, the central city of the plains, 247 miles, and thus will form the 
great trunk line, having upon its south and west the provinces of Mendoza, San 
Juan, San Luis, and the interior of the province of Buenos Ayres, whose high 
roads all concentrate upon the line of railway about midway; on the north are 
the provinces of Tucuman, Santiago del Estero, Jujury, Catamarca, and Rioja, 
with all their roads concentrating at Cordova, and thus forming one of the most 
extraordinary combinations to be found in the annals of railways. The railway is 
a work of great magnitude, and is intended to go over mountains at an elevation 
of 16,023 feet. 
Notice of the Discovery of Three additional Runie Inscriptions in St. Molio’s 
Cave, Holy Island, Argyleshire. By Prof. D. Witson. 
On the Rivers of the Interior of Australia. By the Rey. J. E. Woon. 
