394 Proceedings of Learned Societies. 



portunity of ascertaining that all the statements were perfectly true. 

 Mr. M'Kay, a gentleman just arrived from the Balonne River by 

 way of Rockampton, called at our office with one of these natives. 

 He is a young man, according to Mr. M'Kay's belief, only about 

 sixteen or seventeen years of age, but certainly looking much older.. 

 His head is entirely destitute of hair, nor is there any trace of hir- 

 sute honours on his body. There was a black, ingrained appearance 

 on the scalp as if the roots of hair remained, but Mr. M'Kay states 

 that this is merely the traces of a dirty cloth which he was in the 

 habit of wearing on his head. There needed not, however, this re- 

 markable destitution of hair to show that the individual before us 

 was the type of a ' race utterly differing in physical peculiarities 

 from the ordinary aboriginals of Australia. The whole contour of 

 the face, form of the head, expression, colour of skiu, and listless, 

 almost sullen attitude, at once suggested the Mongolian. His physi- 

 cal development is far inferior to that of the healthy aboriginal found 

 in other parts of Australia. The large, rapid eye, thick lips, broadly- 

 spread nose, and deep brown skin were all absent, The peculiarity 

 of the face was most evidently Chinese, and the eye confirmed this im- 

 pression. The skin of this interesting stranger is precisely of that deep 

 yellow-brown shade which might be expected in a descendant from 

 Chinese and aboriginal Australian parents. The party to whom he 

 belonged, for there is no clear reason for calling it a tribe, appeared 

 to inhabit the country to the north-westward of the Upper Warrego. 

 Mr. M'Kay had not seen more than six or seven of them at various 

 times, one, at least, of whom was a woman, and one man was much 

 taller and more strongly proportioned than the specimen brought 

 to oiir office. The whole circumstances of the case render it ex- 

 tremely probable that these remarkable people are the descendants 

 of Chinese fisherman, who having, years ago, landed or been cast 

 away in the Gulf of Carpentaria, or on the Australian coast of the 

 Arafura Sea, have remained with the Australian aborigines, and 

 transmitted the physical peculiarities of then- race to their de- 

 scendants." 



PROCEEDINGS OF LEARNED SOCIETIES. 



BY W. B. TEGETMEIER. 



ROTAL GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY. 



Ascent of the Yang-tse-ktang. — Dr. Barton's paper gave an 

 account of a journey made up this river. It was intended that the 

 exploration should continue as far as possible up the Yang-tse, and 

 should then traverse Thibet, cross the Himalaya range, and descend 

 into the plains of Hindostan. The disturbed state of the country, 

 however, rendered the journey impossible beyond the town of Ping- 

 Shan. This town is situated on the Yang-tsc-kiang, in the province 



