4 
STATURE AND PBOPOBTIOTfS. 
tribe. On the south-west coast of New Guinea^ within 
the space of a hundred miles, are to be found tribes 
whose general stature is at least equal to that of the finer 
races of Europeans^ and others whose proportions are so 
small as almost to entitle them to the appellation of 
pygmies, while customs and characteristics generally so 
exactly correspond, as to preclude the supposition that 
these pecuharities can be other than accidental. It is 
difficult to account for this ; but as the stout and stalwart 
Papuans are met with only among tribes who have 
maintained their independence, and who at the same 
time possess many of the agricultural and mechanical 
arts, while the pygrnies are found only among the tribes 
that have been driven to the mountain fastnesses, or have 
fallen under the influence of more powerful races, we may 
conclude that their mode of life has much to do with this 
difference in point of stature. 
The various tribes also differ much in their appear- 
ance. The more diminutive Papuans, who chiefly come 
under the notice of Europeans m slaves in the Moluccan 
settlements, are unprepossessing enough while in their 
native state, but when under good masters, the regu* 
larity and wholesome nature of their diet, coupled with 
their apparent utter forgetfulness of home and rela^ 
tives, produce a roundness in their neat clean limhs> 
and a sprightHness of action, which is rarely met with 
among their more civilized neigh boni^s of the brown race. 
On the other hand, the larger Papuans are more remark- 
able for strength than symmetry. They have broad 
shoulJera and deep chests, but a deficiency is generally 
found about the lower extremities, splay feet and curved 
