22 
THE TWO RACES WHICH PEOPLED POLYNESIA. 
in his Report of 1867 some account of the savages of that 
island. This aboriginal race is now of two classes, the sub- 
dued and the unsubdued, the latter having intermarried 
with the Chinese and adopted their habits and customs, but 
preserving their own language, are made the medium of 
communication with the unsubdued inhabitants of the hill 
country, about forty-five miles north-east of Takow. Once 
every eight days these savages and the Chinese, accompanied 
by some of the half-castes as interpreters, resort to a stated 
place on the border, where the Chinese barter iron and salt 
against dye, rice, superior to any other grown on the island, 
hemp, tobacco, and sweet potatoes. No Chinese ever ven- 
tures alone into the interior, and no savage crosses the border; 
in both cases death would follow detection. Foreigners, 
however, are received in the interior with friendliness and 
hospitality. The unsubdued savages are described as well- 
knit, agile men, with dark complexions, delicate features, 
and black hair and eyes, the latter, unlike those of the 
Chinese, being large and round. Every household is well 
supplied with bows, arrows, and muskets, and the face of the 
country is so bold and precipitous that they need no walls or 
fortifications as a defence against invasion. 
Borneo is also peopled by two races, and even those are 
stated to have been preceded by a more ancient black one. 
With New Guinea and the numerous adjacent isles so 
little intercourse has taken place, that nothing certain can 
be said of its inhabitants, except that they appear to be of 
the Melanesian race ; but in New Caledonia, and many of 
the islands to the east and north, the same race abounds. 
of the ancient aborigines of the country, whom the Chinese call the barbarians 
of the inner hills ; their women retain their ancient head-dress, a curious relic 
of antiquity ; and whilst in their intercourse with the Chinese they speak their 
language amongst themselves, they have their own which no Chinese man can 
understand. There are only three surnames amongst them, at least as they are 
known here. They never intermarry with the Chinese, and keep their own 
customs. The Chinese say they have no religion, and live like beasts, and are 
entirely devoted to the hills and tilling the barren parts of the country. Their 
having no religion must be a mistake, as they have idols which they worship, 
as I was informed by one of themselves. They are a much more hardy race 
than the Chinese amongst whom they dwell.” — Rev. J. R. Wolfe. 
