162 SISSANO. 
“practically all the material is susceptible of the explanation of move- 
ment of continued coasting around the South Cape and reversal of 
direction into the gulf. This is the view held by Ray and Friederici. 
Upon this set of charts will be found all the data upon which they rest 
their judgment—just a score of vocables. To establish this view we 
should require a considerable showing of words which, after being well 
identified on the line of the north coast migration course, should be 
discovered on the shore nearest Vitiaz Strait toward the south and 
then should be definitely traced around South Cape and westward 
into the Gulf of Papua. ‘This important problem of the reversal of 
current into the gulf will better be studied with the larger mass of 
New Guinea material next to be considered—that in which we have 
not been able to find any clear trace of this Dampier-Vitiaz element. 
Before dismissing this particular group we must note that between 
Vitiaz Strait and our first discovery of these vocables in this area there 
intervenes the not inconsiderable gap of 3 degrees of latitude. The 
data record in this gap is scanty, yet in the few word-lists which are 
available there is a complete absence of these critical vocables. 
When we take up the study of the speech of this critical New Guinea 
region for which we are unable to detect affiliation with the migration 
track through the Vitiaz Strait, we shall have to deal with a much 
larger number of vocables within Ray’s list of 154 items. In the 
succeeding charts the traces of common speech are drawn for each 
item and the distinctive lines are consolidated by tens. We continue 
the division as between Melanesian and Polynesian. We make a 
further division to accord with a suggestion of speech provinces into 
which the area is divisible. It is much too early in the study to attach 
definite importance to these provinces; when our information becomes 
greater it is probable that they will prove to be no more than sugges- 
tions; but they are a beginning toward a solution and as such are 
offered as providing a present convenience in the examination of the 
material. These provinces are as follow: Gulf Coast, the eastern 
shore of the Gulf of Papua from Mekeo in the north, inclusive of 
Galoma-Sinaugoro at Keakalo Bay; South Cape, from Galoma to 
Tubetube in the Engineer Group, that portion of the southern coast 
between the Aura River and Dufaure Island being negligible because 
the languages at present reported along its extent fall into the classifica- 
tion of Papuan; East Coast, from Milne Bay northward to Colling- 
wood Bay, and in this province there appears the suggestion of a 
subdivision at Cape Vogel which may associate the Boniki with the 
southern and the immediately adjacent Mukawa with the northern 
region; Louisiade region, the southeastern islands with record sta- 
tions at Panaieti, Misima, and Tagula; Dentrecasteaux region, the 
eastern islands, with record stations at Dobu, Kiriwina, Murua, and 
Nada. 
