MALAYSIA AND THE PACIFIC ARCHIPELAGOES 
9 
Semangs of the Malay peninsula and the inhabitants of 
the Andamans (see illustration p. 48). The distinction 
that has been drawn between the Papuans proper and 
a special Melanesian type seems to rest upon insufficient 
grounds, and is not admitted by those most qualified 
to judge. 
The dark, frizzly-haired Papuan type is not only found 
in the Melanesian group, but traces of apparently the 
same dark race may be detected throughout almost the 
whole of Polynesia and Micronesia. In many of these 
islands we meet with individuals who in their dark 
complexions and crisp, frizzly hair closely resemble the 
Papuans. The light type, on the other hand, is repre¬ 
sented by the Malays and by the Polynesians, who in 
some places, such as Samoa and the Marquesas, are in no 
respect inferior to the average European, either in com¬ 
plexion, physical beauty, or nobility of expression (see 
illustration p. 489). Nevertheless, these higher tribes are 
all disappearing under the fatal influence of our much- 
vaunted civilisation, and nowhere is this process of 
extinction developing so rapidly and so inevitably as 
among the South Sea islanders. 
The Eastern Archipelago also affords us an unusual 
number of examples of immigration and colonisation by 
the higher races. Malaysia was the scene of the earliest 
European settlements in Eastern Asia. The Portuguese 
reached the Spice Islands in 1511, and the Spaniards the 
same goal ten years later, after discovering the Philip¬ 
pines on their way. Both were soon supplanted in 
many places by the Dutch, and the English were also 
not long in obtaining a footing. All these nations have 
colonies in the Malay islands, while the Prench have 
more recently established themselves in New Caledonia 
and Tahiti, and the Germans in New Guinea and else- 
