346

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE FEEJEEANS.

and attitudes are, consequently, less easy and graceful than those of the Polynesians. They are, nevertheless, a strong race; their war-clubs are ponderous, and are wielded with great power, and they can carry very heavy burdens.

"The Feejeean physiognomy differs from that of the Polynesians, not so much in any particular feature as in a general debasement of the whole, and a decided approximation towards the forms characteristic of the Negro race. The head is usually broad in the occipital region (which they consider a great beauty), and narrows towards the top and in front,—the forehead, though often of good height, appearing compressed at the sides. The eyes are black and set rather deep, but never obliquely. The nose is not large, and is generally a good deal flattened; the nostrils are often larger laterally than forwards, and the nose is then much depressed at the upper part between the eyes. The mouth is wide, and the lips, particularly the upper one, thick. The chin varies, but is most commonly short and broad. The jaws are larger, and the lower part of the face far more prominent than in the Malay race. The check-bones, also, project forwards as in the Negro, and not laterally, as in the Mongol variety; notwithstanding which, the narrowness of the forehead at the temples gives a greater width to the face at the malar portion than elsewhere. The whole face is longer and thinner than among the Polynesians. The hair is neither straight nor woolly, but may be properly designated as frizzled. When allowed to grow without interference, it appears in numerous spiral locks, eight or ten inches in length, spreading out on all sides of the head. Sometimes these curls are seen much longer, falling down to the middle of the back. It is, however, very seldom allowed to grow naturally. The young boys have it cut very close, and sometimes shave to the skin, like the Tahitians. In girls, before marriage, it is allowed to grow long, and is coloured white by washing it with a solution of lime, except a portion around the crown, which is plastered with a black pigment. After marriage, it is either cut to the length of one or two inches, or frizzled out like that of the men in both cases it is frequently soaked in colouring liquids, either red or black. The men in general have their hair dressed so as to form an immense semi-globular mass, covering the top, back, and sides of the head. The arrangement of this chevelure is performed for the chiefs by professional barbers, and is a work of great labour. Six hours are sometimes occupied in dressing a head; and the process is repeated at intervals of two or three weeks. It is probably to guard against disarranging this work that the piece of bamboo which is placed under the neck in sleeping is employed, instead of the ordinary pillow. For the same purpose the natives usually wear, during the day, a sala or kerchief, of very thin gauze-like paper cloth, which is thrown over the hair, and tied closely around the head, so as to have very much the appearance of a turban.

"The colour of the Feejeeans is a chocolate-brown, or a hue mid-way between the jet-black of the Negro and the brownish-yellow of the Polynesian. There are, however, two shades very distinctly marked, like the blonde and brunette complexions in the white race; besides all the intermediate gradations. In one of these shades the brown predominates, and in the other the copper. They do not belong to distinct castes or classes, but are found indiscriminately among all ranks and in all tribes. The natives are aware of the distinction, and call the lighter-coloured people Viti Ndamundamu, 'red Feejeeans; but they do not seem to regard it as anything which requires or admits of explanation. These red-skinned natives must not be confounded with the Tanga-Viti, or individuals of mixed Tongan and Feejeean blood, of whom there are many on some parts of the group."

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE SEMANGS AND JOKONGS.

347

The real difficulties of the Oceanic class lie in the apparently abrupt lines of demarcation which separate the primary divisions, especially the Kelanonesian from the Amphinesian; indeed it is only by concentrating our attention on the black varieties of the Protonesian area, and by remembering the likelihood of their once having formed the preponderating population, that we can see our way to the connection. And even when this has been done, the difference between the Kelænonesians themselves is remarkable. Let us notice some of the blacks of this same Protonesia.

They have not been found in Borneo-at least they have not been found so as to be definitely described; nor yet in Sumatra. In the peninsula of Malacca, however, they have. They have been found, and they have been examined the name by which they are denoted being Semang. Let us look at the colour of the Semang skin. The complexion is dark; the hair curly and matted, but not frizzled. This is what Mr. Newbold relates; premising that he had no opportunity of personally judging. Mr. Anderson and Sir S. Raffles describe this darkness of complexion in stronger terms. The Semang of Quedah has the woolly hair, protuberant belly, thick lips, black skin, and receding forehead of the Papuan.

flat nose,

The Semang of Perak is somewhat less rude, and speaks a different dialect. More than one Malay informed Mr. Newbold that the Semangs were essentially the same as the Jokongs; having the same hair, but a somewhat blacker skin.

They live in rude moveable huts, constructed of leaves and branches, scantily clothed, and fed from the produce of the chase, at which they are expert. Their government is that of chiefs or elders. The Malays accuse them of only interring the head, and of eating the rest of the body, in cases of death.

Here, then, is one of the populations coming under the category indicated, being dark in skin, impracticable in locality, rude in manners. Yet the Malay who compared them with the Jokong suggested the unlikelihood of the distinction between the Semang and the other populations being very decided; inasmuch as the Jokongs are Semang in everything but colour, whilst both Semang and Jokong are Malay in language.

Now let us take the islands that lie cast of Java, and, of these, the eastern end. In Timor the skin darkens, the lips thicken, and the hair gets frizzly. In Ombay the population is described by Arago as being black cannibals, with flattened noses, and thickened lips.

Then as to their speech. Marsden calls the languages of the Semang, and the darker tribes of Polynesia, Negrito; and having done so, remarks, "We have rarely met with any Negrito language in which many corrupt Polynesian words might not be detected. In those of New Holland or Australia such a mixture is not found. Among them no foreign terms that connect them with the languages, even of other Papua or Negrito countries, can be discovered. With regard to the physical qualities of the natives, it is nearly superfluous to state, that they are Negritos of the most decided class."

This is important, if accurate; but it is not so. The Ombay, and two other dialects, the Mangarei and Timbora, are known to us by scanty vocabularies of some two dozen words; yet these give us the following affinities with the Australian dialects:1. Arm ibarana, Ombay; porene, Pine Gorine dialect of Australia. Handouine, Ombay; hingue, New Caledonia.

3. Nose =

:imouni, Ombay; maninya, mandeg, mandeinne, New Caledonia; mena, Van Diemen's Land, western dialect; mini, Mangerei; meoun, muidge, mugui, Macquarie Harbour.

348

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE ARRU ISLANDERS.

4. Head imocila, Ombay; moos (hair), Darnley Island; moochi (=hair), Massied; immoos (= beard), Darnley Islands; eeta moochi (= beard), Massied. 5. Knee icici-bouka, Ombay; bowka, boulkay (=fore-finger), Darnley Islands. 6. Leg=iraka, Ombay; horag-nata, Jhongworong dialect of the Australian. 7. Bosomami, Ombay; naem, Darnley Island.

8. Thigh = itena, Ombay; tinna-mook (= foot), Wioutro dialect of the Australian, The root, tin, is very general throughout Australia in the sense of foot.

9. Bellyte-kap-ana, Ombay; coopoi (=navel), Darnley Island.

10. Starsipi-berre, Mangarei; bering, birrong, Sydney.

11. Hand

tanaraga, Mangarei; taintu, Timbora; tamira, Sydney.

12. Head jahé, Mangarei; chow, King George's Sound.

13. Stars:

=

kingkong, Timbora; chindy, King George's Sound, Australia.

14. Moon= mang'ong, Timbora; meuc, King George's Sound.

15. Sun= ingkong, Timbora; coing, Sydney.

16. Blood kero, Timbora; gnoorong, Cowagary dialect of Australia.

Now let us look at the Arru Isles, about sixty miles from New Guinea, extending over a space of about one hundred miles in length, and forty-five in breadth. They are nearer New Guinea than they are to any of the larger isles westwards. There is no doubt as to the difference between the natives of this group and the Malays, or Moluccans. The colour of the skin has changed from brown to black, and the stature has increased. The height of the men sometimes approaches six feet; but we may say that the usual range is from five feet four to five feet eight. The chests are broad, but the lower extremities thin off, and become disproportionately slim. The most palpable fact, however, connected with the Arru organization, is one mentioned by Mr. Earl, viz., that when some of the aborigines of Port Essington were landed on the islands from an English ship, the natives mistook them for the inhabitants of some of the more distant parts of their own archipelago. The hair is strongly curled, and harsh, the use of alkaline washes being general.

When an Arru islander dies, no one of his surviving relations thinks it right to use any articles of property he may have left behind-no pot or basin, no weapon, no musical instrument. The owner is no more, and his relics must cease to be put in use. So they are all broken to pieces, or thrown away. Then the body is laid on a mat, and rested against a ladder, until the mourners meet. As decomposition proceeds, attempts are made to arrest it by the application of lime. Meanwhile, resins are burnt in the house, and the guests hold a wake-drinking, howling, and beating gongs. Food, too, is offered to the corpse-crammed, indeed, into the mouth, until it runs down and spreads over the floor. Dishes of china are set to catch any moisture from the body; the value of the dishes being enhanced by the office they have served.*

When a young man will marry, he purchases his wife of her parents; but the payment is made by instalments, spread over several years. When unpossessed of property, the bridegroom elect travels amongst his friends to collect, taking island after island, and often making an expedition of a whole year. In this way he levies contributions of elephants' teeth, porcelain, cloth, and gongs. He returns, he is feasted, and becomes betrothed.

To enter another man's house during his absence is a misdemeanour, for which a * Lieutenant Kolf's "Voyage of the Durga," translated by G. W. Earl.

piece of cloth, or some other article, is paid as a fine. To touch another man's wife is an offence still more heinous, for which the fine is proportionately heavier.

The purest and most unmixed of the Arru populations are the occupants of eastern islands; in the north-western parts they become mixed. There it is where the trade is most active, and there it is where the Chinese, Javanese, Bugis, and Europeans resort for barter. Pearl oysters, edible birds' nests, and trepangs are the chief exports. These the Arru collect with industry, for they are an active, thriving population, with strong industrial and commercial propensities; not surly and uncivil to strangers, but, on the contrary, well-disposed and open-tempered,-addicted to piracy in some localities, to honest trade in others.

Black and barbarous as much of the Arru population is, their language connects them with the Malays and other Protonesians, as truly as their form connects them with the Papuans.

I am making out a case for connecting the Kelænoncsians with the Amphinesians; but I refrain from stating any opinion as to the value of the two groups, as well any opinion as to the value of any of their subdivisions. I also admit the great amount of physical and philological difference; but admitting this, I also suggest to the reader the careful consideration of the great difference in the physical conditions of areas like New Guinea and Australia, and areas like the islands of the Indian Archipelago and South Sea. I also remind him that whatever may be the length of time, during which Micronesia and Polynesia have been separated from Protonesia, the Kelænonesian isolation is of earlier date still.

Another fact, too, requires noticing; viz., that Protonesia is not the only part of Amphinesia where the population has skins of two tints. The same occurs in Micronesia-the same in Polynesia. Sometimes the difference coincides with a difference of caste-sometimes with a difference of locality. Sometimes different islands of the same Archipelago are differently characterized. Captain Beechy's remark on this distribution of this blacker variety is important. He finds that it has a special relation to the geological structure of the area; i. e. that the lower and coralline islands contain the darker, the higher and volcanic islands the lighter, tribes.

Other instances of a similar relation of the colour of the population occupant to the physical conditions of the parts occupied, will be found when we come to Africa.

At present we must return to the Turanians, and take them up at the north-eastern extremity of Asia; the divisions of them that are of special importance being the Ugrian and the Peninsular. These it is which lead us to

GROUP VII.-THE AMERICANS.-Area: The Aleutian Isles; North and South America-remarkable for the comparative absence of domestic animals. Physiognomy: Modified Mongol; the departure from the type being the most marked on the watersystem of the Mississippi and the coast of the Atlantic. Languages: Agglutinate. The present writer confesses to no such misgivings as to the origin and affinities of the great American group as find place in most works on the subject. He neither finds difficulty in connecting them with the Old World, nor doubts as to the part thereof from which they came. This he finds in north-eastern Asia, just what the à priori probabilities of the geographical relations of the two continents indicate.

His reasons for thus making short work of a hitherto long question, lie in the recent additions to our geographical and ethnological knowledge for the parts to the west of the Rocky Mountains-for the northern parts more especially; for Russian America;

for New Caledonia; and for the Oregon. It is only lately that we have known much of these districts, especially in respect to their ethnology. More than this-it is only recently that the Far West of the parts between the Rocky Mountains and Atlantic has been at all carefully explored. What followed from this want of information ? It followed, as a matter of course, that our notions of the so-called Red Man of America were formed upon the Indians of the Alleghany Mountains, the Mississippi, and the St. Lawrence. But these were extreme samples-samples of the American in his state of greatest contrast to the Asiatic. No wonder, then, that the connection between them was mysterious and uncertain. If investigators doubted, the want of data justified them. The populations which were the likeliest to supply the phenomena of transition were unknown or neglected.

Again there was only one population common to the Old and New World. This was the Eskimo, a population which at one and the same time occupies the Aleutian Islands, the peninsula of Aliaska, the Island of Kadiak, the greater part of Russian America, the coast of the Arctic Sea, Greenland, and Labrador. Here it comes in contact with the so-called Red Indian of the Algonkin class.

Now, between this so-called Red Indian of the Algonkin class, and the Eskimo in geographical contact with him, there is a broad line of demarcation-a line of demarcation so broad as to suggest the idea of contrast rather than connection. Hence, as long as we studied America on its eastern or Atlantic side, we got nothing from the Eskimo; nothing from the fact (apparently so important) of his being common to the two hemispheres, and (as such) being likely to supply the connecting link between them. He was anything but such a link. He was rather a knife to separate than a band to bind. Yet, on the western or Pacific side of the continent, this same Eskimo so graduates into the American Proper, and the Indian Proper so graduates into the Eskimo, as to make the distinction between the two groups as difficult as, on the east, it had been easy. Why is this? On the east the Algonkins, a conquering and intrusive population, have spread themselves northwards, and have effaced such transitional populations as may, originally, have existed between them and the Eskimo; whereas, on the west, the conquests, intrusions, and displacements have been inconsiderable. The same phenomenon repeats itself elsewhere-nowhere more clearly than in the northern parts of Europe. The Norwegian and the Laplander are strongly contrasted-very strongly. But this contrast disappears as we go eastwards. The Lap graduates into the Finlander; the Finlander can be thrown in the same group with the Lithuanian and Slavonian; the Lithuanian and Slavonian in the same group with the Scandinavian.

Other phenomena, connected with the distribution and displacement of population which we have observed in Asia, will re-appear in America-e. g., the juxtaposition of large and small ethnological and philological areas. In Asia we found, on one side, the Turk tribes, spread over a space nearly as large as Europe, and that with but little variation- -a typical instance of what constitutes a large ethnological area. Then, on the other hand, were the fastnesses of Caucasus, where we found, packed up within a very limited area, a multiplicity of mutually unintelligible languages,-languages that were counted by the dozen and the score-the Circassian, Georgian, Lesgian, Mizjeji, and their subordinate dialects. So that within a small geographical range we had, in juxtaposition with each other, the maximum of extension and the maximum of limitation. Now this is what we shall find in America.

The larger groups will be noticed first-those of North America taking the precedence.