58 
The Natives. 
The description of the country given postulates a somewhat 
sparse population over this elevated portion of the Western Division. 
At Sambregi, immediately to the north-west of Mount Murray, are a 
cluster of villages with an aggregate population of about 1,000 people. 
Throughout our trip we saw only one other village of any size, which 
we reached on December 27th. This was on a large tributary of 
the Kikor flowing south of east. In every other instance the tribe 
or clan lived in one communal dwelling, varying in dimensions 
according to the size of the community, and capable of housing from 
ten to seventy people. These dwellings, especially the smaller ones, 
are generally hidden away or perched on steep ridges, that are 
not easy of access, probably from motives of defence. The popu- 
lation of this area of elevated land is estimated at 15.000 inhabitants, 
or about one and a quarter persons to every square mile. 
The native inhabitants of the interior do not appear to be a 
homogeneous people ; racial distinctions are apparent that seem to 
indicate a mingling of Papuans and Papuo-Melanesians, to use 
the terminology of Dr. Seligmann. Some of the inhabitants of a 
village were dark-skinned, dolichocephalic men, with wiry frames and 
somewhat slender limbs, and, in disposition, rather morose and 
unemotional. In not a few instances the somewhat prominent nose 
was arched, presenting the appearance of the so-called Semitic 
type. Other villagers again were unusually light skinned — 
more the colour of a Samoan. The high altitude might accen- 
tuate this. I was unable to obtain the cephalic indices of 
any of the natives, as they were very shy, and we could not 
afford to make a long stay anywhere. The faces of the light-skinned 
men were broader and shorter than their darker neighbours, their 
limbs stouter, and they appear to be more vivacious and intelligent, 
and also to be fonder of ostentation in the shape of ornaments and 
paint. The Melanesian migration into New Guinea is believed to 
have advanced along the north-east coast as far as Cape Nelson, 
where their progress was stopped by the warlike Binandili tribes ; 
and along the southern coast till they reached the populous villages 
of the Gulf country. It is, however, not yet known how far the im- 
migrant race penetrated inland. Certain of the inhabitants ot 
the main range near the Gap, at Mount Albert Edward, and 
on the Chi lima, as well as in the neighbourhood of Mount Yule, 
are lighter skinned and broader headed than the Papuan, and it 
is possibible that the Melanesians have gradually diffused themselves 
inland along the southern slopes of the main range, where the 
original inhabitants were few in number, and therefore less able to 
successfully resist the advance. The greatest obstacle would be the 
natural features of the country, which would necesitate very slow pro- 
gress. This might account for the marked distinction in physical 
characteristics which have not yet been obliterated by miscegenation. 
The light skinned people were nearly always in a minority. Mr. J. 
P. Thompson, in his book, * British New Guinea/ speaks of the - 
