It is freely admitted that the inhabitants of the island were 

 unlike those of the mainland in skin-complexion, the diiierence 

 however may be easily exaggerated. The Tasmanians were 

 uniformly of a deep Ijluish-black colour, while the Australians are 

 usually of a brownish-black, sometimes almost copper-coloured 

 (especially the children) and invariably of a warm tint. I have 

 noticed however, that when an Australian is wet and cold his 



among the natives of the mainland. In this respect again great 

 differences are observable both between tribes in different localities 



lands on the east, south and west, the colour in many cases is 



The people of both nations had luxuriant heads of hair. Some 

 have called the hair of the Tasmanians woolly, others deny that 

 it could properly be so called, and aver that it was rather excess- 

 ively curly. The hair of the head was very abundant and generally 

 grew in long thin ringlets. The hair of the continental people is 

 on the contrary mostly wavy on the head, but often straight, and 

 occasionally so curly as to resemble woolly hair, while the beard 

 has invariably a great tendency to curl. As telling against the 

 common origin of these peoples, a strong point is made of the 

 difference in the quality of the hair. Mr. Curr has said * of the 

 Au.stralians that their hair is "sometimes straight and at others 

 wavy, but never woolly," and in the next sentence that the hair 

 of the Tasmanians was woolly. 



As a matter of fact neither race had the hair woolly in the same 

 sense as ihe Negro's hair is woolly, and yet the Tasmanian's might 

 be called in a sense woolly (or wool-like) and there are cases where 

 a kind of woolly hair has been noticed among the Australians. 

 To corroborate the latter statement I have only to refer to Mr. 

 Curr's own work.f Of a tribe of blacks in the Bunya Mountains, 

 a contributor says that there were one or two cases of woolly hair. 

 The present writer happens to have known these very persons, 

 and the hair of one of them named Warun was so woolly that he 

 used to 1)6 tea/ed in conse<iuence and nicknamed " monkey " 

 (-,heep) and "wool" much to his vexation 



Mr Jardine ^ (the Explorer T presume) speaks of two types of 

 Australians, one ;ipproaHiing a copper colour, the other black. 

 He says, rhe tru. Austi.ili.ni abon-nies a.e perfectly black with 

 generall) " „nh\f /,,,,/.,, /„,,, lb- spc.iks ,ilso of features of a 

 stronj,' .iVxM.h ( 1st about uhkh moie \m11 l)e said below Major 

 Mitch. 1' ( I ~iu v)iii. nitnes vMtli ,i M>it of vvoolly hair, and ^U: 



