PHYSICAL APPEARANCE. 207 
between the incisor and canine teeth. The neck is 
short, and sometimes thick, and the heel resembles 
that of Europeans. The ankles and wrists are fre- 
quently small, as are also the hands and feet. The 
latter are well formed and expanded, but the calves 
of the legs are generally deficient. Some of the 
natives in the upper districts of the Murray, are, 
however, well formed in this respect. In a few 
instances, natives attain to a considerable corpu- 
lency. The men have fine broad and deep chests, 
indicating great bodily strength, and are remarkably 
erect and upright in their carriage, with much 
natural grace and dignity of demeanour. The eye 
is generally large, black, and expressive, with the 
eye-lashes long. 
When met with for the first time in his native 
wilds there is frequently a fearless intrepidity of 
manner, an ingenuous openness of look, and a pro- 
priety of behaviour about the aboriginal inhabitant 
of Australia, which makes his appearance peculiarly 
prepossessing. 
In the female the average height is about five feet, 
or perhaps a little under. The anterior part of the 
brain is more limited than in the male ; the apex of 
the head is carried further back ; the facial angle is 
more acute ; and the extremities are more attenu- 
ated. The latter circumstance may probably be 
accounted for from the fact, that the females have to 
endure, from a very early age, a great degree of 
hardship, privation, and ill-treatment. Like most 
