VARIETIES OF THE HUMAN SPECIES. 
139 
To this subdivision of the Human race, some writers would refer the 
Bayaks of Borneo,' as well as the Ancient Peruvians and Mexicans.® 
C. HOMO AU.STRALASICUS — AUSTRALASIANS. 
Syn. Altourous Ciiv. Reg. Aiiim. I. ST. 
These barbarous races, known by tlie name of Alfooroos, may be sub- 
divided into two branches, t!ie Proper Australians or New Hollanders 
(/f. Australius), and the Oceanic Negroes (//. Melaninus). 
1. .TusTRAt.ius Austrauans. 
Sijn. n. POLYNESIUS — Fisch. .Syn. Mam. 8. 
TI. Ao-STRalasicus. — B ory, Ess. Zool. I. 318. 
AusTRAUltNS. — Less, ct Gnrn. Zool. do la Coq. I. 106. 
■Tustkalasienne Desmoul. Tab. 
Ai.kourous-.Al'stralihn Less. Mam. 28. 
Icon. Blumenb. Doc. Cran. III. t. 27, and IV. t. TO. (Skulls of New Hol- 
landers.) 
Peron Voy. pi. 20 to 28. 
Griff. Anim. King. (New Hollander.) 
Quoy et Gaim. Zool. de I’Astr, pi. 5. 
The indigenous tribes of New Holland, wlio exhibit a marked resem- 
blance to each other, according to the statements of navigators,® have 
already been noticed for their ignorance, tlieir wretchedness, as well as 
their moral and intellectual debasement. Their tribes are not numerous, 
have little communication with each other, and are sunk into a state of 
almost liopelpss barbari.sm. 
The natives of New South Wales live in the rocks and thickets sur- 
rounding the European settlements, without adopting any of the manners 
of civilized life, excepting, perhaps, tlie taste for intoxicating liquors. 
Modesty seems wholly foreign to the race, and even in tlie midst of a 
populous European colony, they arc not particular in adopting any kind 
of covering. The most unrestrained liberty appears indispensable to the 
t'kistence of the genuine Australian, who preserves his independence in 
Ilie rocky fastnesses of the neigiibourhood, reclining near a wood fire, 
"tid protected from the wind merely by a few brandies, or a large piece 
of hark torn from the Eucalypliis. 
Tile stature of tlie .Australians is commonly below the average. Many 
Iribes have meagre limbs, apparently of disproportionate length ; while a 
h-'w individuals, on the contrary, have the same parts long and well pro- 
portioned. Their hair is not woolly, but coarse, very black, and plentiful, 
Usually worn loose and disordered, but most commonly short and col- 
Ificted into curly ina.sses. 
The face is flat ; the nose very broad, with the nostrils almost trans- 
'■erse ; the lips thick ; the mouth widely cleft ; the teeth slightly inclined 
■'aitwards, but of the purest enamel ; and the external ears very large. 
Their eyes are half-closed through the laxity of the upper eye-lids, a cir- 
tbinistance which imparts to their savage countenances a physiognomy 
Peculiarly repulsive. The colour of thtir skins commonly assumes 'a 
'I'ukish tint, varying in intensity, but never becoming absolutely black. 
The Australian females arc still more ugly than the men, so that the in- 
lerval which appears to separate their forms from that of the Pelasgian 
^ces appears immense to our eyes. 
Marriages are concluded by force. At a certain period of life an in- 
"isive tooth is extracted from every man, and a phalanx amputated from 
^he finger of every' female. Their head and breast are usually covered 
"'■th Some red colouring matter, and this ornament is of the highest im- 
fltift.ance in all their corolmns, or great ceremonies. The habit of painting 
nose and cheeks hy' the same rude means is also common, with the 
'*'ldiiion of white rays along the forehead and temples. On the arms and 
"o sides of the thorax they raise the same conical tubercles, which are 
P’^'tetised largely by the Negro race. Numerous families insert rounded 
^heks, from four to six inches in length, into the partition of the nostrils, 
■* practice which imparts a savage aspeefto their physiognomy. Fitiallv, 
'® garments of this race never extend beyond a rude coat of Kanguroo 
■ti thrown over the shoulders, or a front robe of filaments weaved into 
* "oarse kind of net work. 
These tribes arc superstitious to an excessive degree; jugglers are 
®t'couraged, and witchcraft punished. Their differences are decided by 
•rmd of duel, consisting of equal numbers, or equal arms ; and the judges 
of the field decide the rules of the combat. Their offensive arms consist 
of a kind of javelin, a wooden sabre, a club or woodah, while the shield 
alone is used for defence. The bow and arrows are wholly unknown in 
the entire continent of Australia. 
The inhabitants of King George's Sound are subject to an intense cold 
during winter, and cover themselves with large mantles made of Kanguroo 
skins. Tliose in the neighbourhood of Sydney and Bathurst prepare the 
skins of the. Petiiurbta, while the New Hollanders within the tropics 
live in a state of absolute nudity. Their ornaments consist of small 
collars made of stubble. Their dwellings around Port .Jackson are made 
of the branches or bark of trees ; elsewhere they seem to consist in a sort 
of nests formed of interwoven branches, and covered with bark. 
The care which they bestow upon their tombs serves to indicate their 
belief in a future state. In general, it has been observed that they burn 
their dead, and inter the ashes with a religious veneration. Their industry 
is confined to the construction of lines for hunting and fishing, the product 
of which is devoured on the spot, after being roasted over a wood fire, which 
they alway's carry along with them. The women are treated wilh con- 
tempt, compelled to the most laborious occupations, such ns carrying their 
utensils and children, while the man walks about leisurely with nothing 
but a javelin in his hand. They also prepare the food, of which they 
are only permitted to eat the fragments rejected by their masters. The 
pungent root called dingnna is gathered and jirepared by the women for 
their own use, and only eaten by the men in times of scarcity, when the 
chase is unsuccessful. Their canoes vary with the tribes ; near Port 
.Tacksou these arc formed of a solid piece of the bark of the Eucalyptus 
joined tightly together at each extremity. They have some rude ideas of 
drawing and music, and their dancing consists in an awkward imitation 
of the leaps of the Kanguroo. 
Their languages, differing in every tribe, are nearly unknown to 
Europeans.* 
2. Melaninus. — Oceanic Negroes. 
Syn. H. Melaninus Bory, Ess. Zool. II. lOK 
ALFOUROUS-ENnA,MENES — Less, ct Garii. Zool. de la Coq. I. 102. 
Negre Oceanienne. — Desmoul. Tab. 
Icon. Less, ct Garn.5 Zool. de la Coq. t. 1. (Cranes d’Alfourous-Endamencs). 
Labillardicre, Voy.® pi. Vll. and VlII. 
Quoy et Gaim. Zool. de I’Astr. pi. 3. 
Tlie indigenous population in the Islands of the Indian Archipelago 
appears to have consisted of a black race, which has been cxtirp.ated in 
some islands, and in other places driven to the mountains of the interior, 
as the ancient history of Malacca confirms. This nation, with black skins, 
coarse, bkack, and straight hair, live in places inaccessible to the other 
races, and are known by various appellations. The central plateau of 
the Molucca islands is now occupied by the Alfooroos or Haraloras, and 
of the Philippines by lox JnrHo.i of the Spaniards. At Mindanao, they 
are styled Ins Negros del monle ; at Madagascar they are the Vinzi.mhers, 
or native inhabitants of that island, and at New Guinea, they are styled 
Endnmenes. 
The Oceanic Negroes live in the most savage and miserable manner. 
Always at war with their neighbours, they are wholly occupied in avoid- 
ing the ambuscades and pit-falls laid for their destruction. It is therefore 
with difficulty that they can be examined by Europeans, who visit only 
the coasts. The Papons represent their enemies of the moimtiiins as 
ferocious, cruel, and vindictive, without the knowledge of any art, while 
their entire lives arc occupied in obtaining a scanty subsistence in the 
forests. M. Lesson considers this description as exaggerated hy the 
hatred of the Papoos. Those seen by him had a repulsive expression of 
countenance, their nose flattened, their cheek-bones prominent, their eyes 
large, their teeth inclining outwards, their limbs long and meagre, their 
hair black, thick, coarse, and straight, hut of no great length, and their 
beards very coarse and thick. An expression of extreme stupidity was 
impressed upon their features, perhaps owing to the individuals examined 
being in slavery. These Oceanic Negroes, whose complexions were of a 
dirty brown nearly approaching to black, went entirely naked. They 
had incisions upon the arms and chest, and carried a small stick about 
six inches long in the partition of the nose. Their countenances were fe- 
rocious, and their movements capricious. The Southern Coast of New 
Guinea is probably inhabited by the Endainenes of the interior. 
^ Tyss. et Garn. Zool. de la Coq, tome I. p. 46. 
I'isch. Syn. Mam. p. 4. 
See the Voyages of Phillips, Collins, White, D’Entrecasteaux, Peron, F.inders, Grant, 
, — . . . . King, &o. &c. 
'kn Expeditions into the Interior of Now South Wales, undertaken hy order of the British Government, in the years 1817-18. 
182 , 
Less. 
^ ET Gakn Zool. be la Coa Voyage auteur du monde, execute par ordre du Roi. 
par M. L. 1. Duperrey. Zoologio, par MM Lesson ct Garnot. Pari,s, 1826, ct suiv. 
Lahillaidiere, Voyage k la rechcrehe de La Perouse. Paris, an. VIII. 
By John Oxley. Lon- 
Sur la corvette de sa Majeste la Coquille, pendant les annees .la22 k 
ere, 
