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Etliiioarapliii'al Librai 
 
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 y.oiffm ,i X,w YrrJ, : H. liaM^^r iS.i-j 
 
THE 
 
 NATIVE RACES 
 
 OF 
 
 THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. 
 
 •PAPUANS 
 
 BY GEORGE WINDSOR EARL M.R.A.S. 
 
 AUTHOR OF THE "ZASTEEN SEAS," &C. 
 
 WITH i'lVJsl COLOTJBED PLATES AND TWO MAPS. 
 
 "Mirantur hominea altitudmea montium, ingentes fluctua marls, altissimos lapsus 
 fluminum et oceani ambitum et gyros siderum — et relinquunt seipsos, nee mirantur." — 
 St. Acgustin. 
 
 LONDON 
 HIPPOLYTE BAILLIERE 219 REGENT STREET, 
 
 AND 290 BEOADWAY NEW YORK U.S. 
 
 PARIS J. B. BAILLIERE RUE HAUTEFEUILLE. 
 
 MADRID BAILLY BAILLIERE CALLE DEL PRINCIPE. 
 
 1853. 
 
^Sj? 
 
 ij 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 Printed by Schulze and Co., 13, Poland Street. 
 
^ 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 The study of the Human Race^ in its various phases, 
 has become greatly extended since the late Dr. Prichard, 
 the father of Ethnographical Science in this country, 
 commenced his researches into the physical history of 
 mankind. The iaaugural essay of the young physician 
 in the year 1808, was expanded into a large volume in 
 1813, and further researches, prosecuted without inter- 
 mission during a long and active professional hfe, ex- 
 tended the work until it became one of the most valuable 
 contributions to modern scientific literature of which 
 anv nation can boast. The importance of the science 
 which the learned physiologist has the merit of intro- 
 ducing to this country, is daily becoming more appre- 
 ciated. The archaeologist finds in it a clue to mysteries 
 connected ^vith extinct nations, such as those which have 
 been buried for ages under the sands of Egypt, Persia, or 
 Central America ; the philanthropist feels his sjTnpathies 
 enlarged as the habits and characteristics of untutored 
 races become developed to his view ; and even the states- 
 man considers it necessaiy to refer to the pages of the 
 ethnographer, that he may learn how collisions with the 
 
IV PREFACE. 
 
 native races of distant possessions, which but too often 
 lead to desolating and expensive wars, may be best 
 avoided; — and although it is not intended at present 
 to enter very deeply into the subject of philology, 
 students of that important branch of Ethnographical 
 Science may tind their labours materially lightened by 
 the issue of a series, to which they can refer for in- 
 formation respecting the geographical position, and social 
 peculiarities, of tribes whose dialects may be under 
 examination. 
 
 AUGUST 25, 1853. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS. 
 
 Peculiarity of the Hair — Features — Stature and Proportions — Modes of 
 Personal Disfigurement — Physical and Mental Capacity — Character 
 and Disposition — Results of Foreign Intercourse on the ^VlId 
 Tribes ....... 1 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 >'EW GUINEA. SOUTH COAST. 
 
 Papuan Character of the New Guinea Tribes — Geogi-aphical Sketch of 
 the Island — Visits of Early Voyagers — Dutch Expedition of 1S2S — 
 Interview with Natives of Dourga Strait — Hostile Encounter — Cha- 
 racteristics of the Dourga Tribe — Weapons and Ornaments — Agility 
 in Chmbing Trees — Mangrove Thickets — Habitations — Papuans and 
 Australians — Expedition of Lieutenant Kool to Dourga Strait in 
 1835 — Interview with a large tribe of Frederick-Henry Island . 8 
 
VI CONTEXTS. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 NEW GUINEA. SOUTH-WEST COAST. 
 
 Captain Cook's Interview with the Papuans in 1770 — Lieutenant KolfF's 
 Visit to the same spot in 1828 — His Interview with the Natives — 
 Ichthyosis — Singular Practice of Ejecting a Sraoke-like Material 
 from Bamboo Tubes — Lieutenant Modera's Accoiint of the Practice 
 — Dr. Muller's Explanation — Local Character of the Practice — Pro- 
 gress of the Dutch Expedition of 1838 along the Coast — Meet a 
 Papuan Flotilla — Practice of Standing while PaddHng their Prahus 
 — Inteniew with the Natives — Friendly Intercourse Established — 
 Trading Propensities of the Papuans — Ceremonial Visit of the 
 Papuan Chief Abrauw — Affection of the Natives towards their Chief 
 — Aristocratic Coolness of the Natives — Friendly Conduct towards 
 the Dutch — Characteristics of the Outanatas — Ichthyosis — Boring 
 the Septum of the Nose, and Pointing the Teeth — Dress and Orna- 
 ments — Characteristics of the Females — A Mother and Child — Dis- 
 position and Character of the Outanatas — Arms and Implements — 
 Canoes — HaT)itations — Domestic Animals — Food — Fruits and Vese- 
 tables — Doubts as to whether the Outanatas are a Coast or Inland 
 Tribe — Papuan Flotillas — Expedition proceeds towards Triton Bay — 
 A Papuan Paradise — The Settlement Founded — Mohammedan In- 
 fluences on the Natives — Their General Characteristics — Foreign 
 Intercourse — Marauders of Onin — The Slave-Trade — Commerce — 
 General View of the Natives of the West Coast of New Guinea — The 
 Alfoeren, or Mountaineers— Origin of the term " Arafuras" . 30 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 NEW GUINEA, NORTH COAST. 
 
 Early Voyagers to the North Coast of New Guinea— Dutch Expedition of 
 1850— Characteristics of the Don,' Papuans — Dress — Scarifications 
 
CONTENTS. Vll 
 
 of the Body — Ornaments — Occupations — Food and Luxuries — 
 Habitations and Household Gear— Arts and Agriculture — Arms and 
 Implements — Na\-igation and Commerce— Character and Disposition 
 — Government and Laws — Customs, Social and Religious — The 
 " Hongi," or Tidore Flotilla — Natives of Run, in the Great Bay — 
 Visit to a Papuan Family — Kurudu — A Deserted Village — The 
 Ambermo River — Dutch Settlement at Humboldt Bay . 64 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE A R R U ISLANDS. 
 
 General Description of the Group — Foreign Intsrcourse — Mixed Race of 
 the Western Islands — Dutch Connection with the Islands Renewe<l 
 in 1824 — Lieutenant KolflTs Description of the Islanders — Peculiar 
 Complexion of the Arruans — The Kabroor Islanders — Agriculture — 
 Trepang and Pearl Fisheries — Native Vessels — Elephants' Tusks and 
 Porcelain Dishes — Social Condition of the Natives of Vorkay — Mar- 
 riage Customs — Mode of Settling Differences — Funereal Customs and 
 Ceremonies — Introduction of Christianity and Mohammedanism — 
 Importance of farther Details respecting the Arruans . 93 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 CERAM AND THE MOLUCCAS. 
 
 Mountain Papuans — Mixed Race on the Islands lying hetween Ceram 
 and New Guinea — Remnants of the Papuan Race in Ceram — Con- 
 dition in the time of Valentyn — The Waringin or Banyan-Tree of 
 the Far East — Its Connection with the Early Historj' of the Native 
 Races — Hopeless Condition of the Papuans in the Interior of Ceram 
 — Former Power of the Maritime Papuans — Their Expeditions in 
 the Neighbouring Seas — Adventure of a Papuan Rajah at Ter- 
 nate . . . , . . .112 
 
Viil CONTEXTS. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 AHETAS, OR NEGRITOS OF THE PHILIPPINES. 
 
 Distribution of the Ahetas in the Philippines — Accounts of Early 
 Voyagers — Nature of the Country — Physical Characteristics of the 
 Ahetas — Food — Habits — Singular Practice — Nostalgia or Home- 
 Sickness — Individuals Residing with the Foreign Settlers — M. de 
 la Gironiere's Visit to a Mountain Tribe — First Introduction — 
 Personal Appeai-ance — Habits — ^Yorship — Customs on the Death of 
 one of their Tribe — Mode of Courtship— Respect for Old Age — Style 
 of Language — Poisoned Arrows — Agility of the Ahetas . 121 
 
 CHAPTER YIII. 
 
 MINDORO, NEGROS, MINDANAO, SULU AND BORNEO. 
 
 Mindoro; Varieties of Race — The Bangans — Friendly Relations with the 
 Brown Tribes — Negi-os ; Habits of the Woolly-Haired Tribes — 
 Mindanao — Sulu ; The Island formerly occupied exclusively by 
 Papuans — Descent of the Reigning Family from a Papuan Chief — 
 Present Condition — Borneo ; Supposed Non-Existence of Papuan 
 Tribes in the Interior — Woolly-Haired Tribe in the ^Mountains of the 
 East Coast — Mr. Dalton's Description of a Wild Race — Dutch 
 Authorities on the Existence of Papuans in Borneo . . 13 7 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE SEMANGS OF THE MALAY PENINSULA. 
 
 Wild Tribes of the Malay Peninsula — Mr. Anderson's Account of the 
 Semangs— Distinction of Tribes — Habits — Food — Skill in the Chase 
 — Elephant and Rhinoceros Hunting — Mode of Bestowing Names on 
 
CONTENTS. IX 
 
 Children — Characteristics of a Semang brought to Pinang — The 
 Pangan Tribes of Tringanu — Domestication of a Semang Family in 
 Pro\-ince Wellesly — Supposed Woolly-Haired Tribes in Anam or 
 Cochin-Chiua — Traditions of the Chinese and Budhists of Hin- 
 doostan ....... 150 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE A N D A M A X S. 
 
 British Settlements on the Great Andaman Island — Ferocious Character 
 of the Inhabitants Fatal to the Crews of Shipwrecked Vessels — 
 "Wreck of the • Briton' in 1844 — Mr. Colebrooke's Description of 
 the Natives — Appearance and Character — Mode of Attacking 
 Strangers — Mode of Procuring Food — Songs and Dances — Habita- 
 tions—Canoes — Arms — Hunting and Fishing Implements — Charge 
 of Cannibalism — Anecdote of two Young Women — Severe Privations 
 — Progress towards Friendly Intercourse with Strangers — Want of 
 Vegetable Diet — Causes of their Present Degraded State — The 
 Cocoa-nut — Comparison with the Natives of the Nicobars — Planting 
 Fruit Trees the first Great Step out of Barbarism . . 161 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 THE SUN DA CHAIN. 
 
 Relics of an Ancient Race in Java— Papuans of Flores — Solor, Pantar, 
 Lomblen and Ombai — Maritime Pursuits of the Coast Tribes of Solor 
 — Varieties of Character among Natives of Timor — Tribes near 
 Coepang — Locality in which Papuans are found — Papuan of Timor 
 at Singapore— Mode of Carrying on Trade with the Natives of the 
 South Coast— Traces of Papuans in other Islands of the Archi- 
 pelago . . . . • • .1/0 
 
X CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 MELVILLE ISLAND AND NORTH AUSTRALIA. 
 
 Papuan Character of the Aboriginal Tasnianians — No ^Yoolly-Hai^ed 
 Tribes in Australia — Doubtful Character of the Melville Islanders — 
 Captain King's Sursey — Interview -with the Natives — Traits and 
 Characteristics — Establishment formed on Melville Island — Lieu- 
 tenant Roe's Account of the Natives — Malayan Youth — Indian 
 Islanders thrown upon the Coast — ^lajor Campbell's Description of 
 the Melville Islanders — Personal Characteristics — Habits and Dis- 
 position — Character of Intercourse with the Garrison — Native 
 Dread of Capture — Reasons for Supposing that the Slave-Trade once 
 Existed — Females — ^Yeapons — Utensils — Domestic Habits — Habita- 
 tions — Food — Dialects — Burial Places — Slave-Trade — Practice of 
 Throwing Spears from the Trees — Tribes of Port Essington and 
 Carpentaria — Hill Tribes of North Australia — The Islanders of 
 Torres Strait — Concludine Note. .... 188 
 
EXPLANATION' TO THE PLATES. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 PLATE 
 
 1 . Native of Dourga Strait, :\'ew Guinea. The original draw- 
 ing was taken on the spot by !Mr. Yan Oort, one of the 
 artists attached to the Dutch Expedition of 1S28. The 
 natural features of the face are distorted into an expres- 
 sion of hatred or defiance, but in other respects the Plate 
 eives an accurate representation of one of the finer 
 specimens of the tribe in his native state. The hair is 
 coloured by the process described at page 5. The spear 
 is pointed with a claw of the Cassowary, or Emu, which 
 is often used for the pnrpose. The tree in the back- 
 ground is an indifferent representation of the mangrove, 
 often aUuded to in the text Frontispiece. 
 
 2. Map of Xew Guinea, compiled from the latest infor- 
 mation, by the author of this work .... 8 
 
 3. Interview with natives of Dourga Strait, Xevr Guinea. 
 The original was taken on the spot by the Dutch artist, 
 ;Mr. Yan Oort. This inter^'iew is described at pages 
 20 and 28. The natives paddling the boat ai'e Javanese, 
 a number of whom are supplied to the Dutch sliips of 
 wai' in India, for boat service during the heat of the 
 
 day 20 
 
 i. Otttanata, of the south-west coast of New Guinea. From 
 a portrait by 'Mi. Yan Raalteu, one of the artists 
 attached to the Dutch Expedition. In this Plate the 
 head is slightly more elongated than is represented in 
 
XU EXPLANATION TO THE PLATES. 
 
 PLATE PAGE 
 
 the original, but in every other respect it must be con- 
 sidered as an accurate representation of a full-grovrn 
 male Outanata. The instrument in his right hand is a 
 heavy two-handed club, and that held over the head is 
 one of the bamboo tubes from which the natives eject 
 the smoke-like material which astonished Captain Cook 
 and his companions. The practice is noticed at pages 
 33 to 40 47 
 
 5. Aheta, or Negrito, of the Philippines, from a Plate in 
 M. Mallat's " Philippines," &c. The Mountain Papuans 
 of the Moluccas are much more slightly built than the 
 Ahetas are here represented. See the portrait in Sir 
 S. Raffles' '' History of Java," and in Mr. Crawfurd's 
 "History of the Indian Archipelago." In the year 
 1S32, the author of this work was a feUow-vojager with 
 a Papuan youth from the interior of Gilolo, who was an 
 exact counterpart of the figure given by Raffles and 
 Crawfurd 121 
 
 6. Heads of Papuans and North Australians. Figs. I, 2, 
 3, 4, 10, 11, and 12, are from portraits by Messrs. 
 A'an Oort and Van Raalten, the artists to the Dutch 
 Expedition. The others are selected from profiles talvcn 
 by the author of this work, wliich the artist has very 
 accurately transferred to the Plate.— Pigs. 1, 2, and 3, 
 are profiles of Outanatas. The arched nose of Pig. 3 is 
 by no means an exaggerated feature, although the more 
 common form is that shown in Pig. 2. In Figs. 1 and 2, 
 the cd(p, as well as the septum of the nose, are bored, a 
 custom which has not been observed in any other tribe of 
 Papuans. — Fig. 4, is a portrait of a native of the interior 
 in the neighbourhood of Triton Bay. If the original re- 
 presented the general characteristics of the tribe, and was 
 not selected on account of a peculiarity in his features 
 and appearance. Dr. MiiUer certainly has grounds for his 
 opinion that the inland natives differ from those of the 
 coast. — Fig. 5, is a profile of a native of Karas, on the 
 
EXPLAXATIOX TO THE PLATES. XUl 
 
 PLATZ PAGE 
 
 west coast of New Guinea, who was about nineteen 
 years of age at the time it was taken. He is now re- 
 siding at Singapore, and has lost much of the heavy 
 appearance which is shown in the profile. — Fig. 6, Alka- 
 nara, a man of the Jalakuru tribe, between forty and 
 fifty years of age, was well known at Port Essington, as 
 he constantly resided near the settlement, and brought 
 in almost daily supplies of fish and crabs, which he was 
 very expert in taking. — lig. 7, Olomiri, a native of 
 Croker Island, was about forty years of age when his 
 profile was taken. — fig. S, Xeinmaal, a native of the 
 south coast of the Cobourg Peninsula, about seventeen 
 years of age, was for several years a domestic servant 
 of the Storekeeper's assistant, and was remarkable for 
 his attention to his duties, and for his fluency in the 
 English language. He was exceedingly iutelUgeut and 
 well-conducted. Xeiumaal was subsequently killed by 
 his own tribe :— it is supposed from jealousy of the high 
 estimation in which he was held by the Europeans. — 
 rig. 9, Manjerijo, commonly called "Bob," was a youth 
 of the Port Essington tribe, also of great iuteUigence, 
 but somewhat conceited. Captaiu the Hon. H. Keppel, 
 in his interesting " Voyage of the ' Mseander,' " alludes 
 to him as being remarkable for his skill in the English 
 language, which he spoke without a foreign accent. — 
 Eigs. 10, 11, and 12, are women of Triton Bay, in New 
 Guinea. — Eig. 13, Mynder, a woman of the Port Essing- 
 ton tribe, about twenty-five years of age. — Eig. 14, 
 Eniologi, daughter of Olomiri (Eig. 7), a young woman 
 of Croker Island. — Eigs. 15 and 16, Ahnanaja and 
 Mayapein, two young women of the south part of the 
 Cobourg Peninsula. — ^Eigs. 17 and IS, Manjawi and 
 Monia, two children of the Port Essington tribe . . 188 
 7. Map of the Indian Archipelago, showing the spots occu- 
 pied by Papuan tribes 1 
 
XIV EXPLANATION TO THE WOOD ENGRAVINGS 
 
 WOOD ENGEAYIKGS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 1. Native of the north coast of New Gainea, hunting "Wild 
 Hogs. From a sketch in Captain Forrest's "New 
 Guinea." The hunter is here represented as throwing 
 the spear with his left hand, which is not incorrect, for 
 although the right hand is generally used for the pur- 
 pose when on shore, the narrow and ticklish character of 
 the canoes, which renders it difficult for the hunter to 
 turn round without losing his balance, obliges him to 
 use either hand in drawing the bow, or throwing the 
 spear. Owing to the dense nature of the underwood, 
 the wild hogs are driven from the islets by dogs, and 
 killed in tlie water while swimming towards the main 
 
 land 72 
 
 2. Papuan habitation at Dory. The vessel in the fore- 
 ground is intended for a Tidore Kora-Kora . . 74 
 
SPECDIENS or PAPUAN] 
 
 MEAT. The four dialects of New Guinea are extracted from the vocabulariesj 
 " Laud-en- Volkeukunde" of the official account of the Expedition. As i] 
 that "oe" is pronounced like "oo" in poor, mood, ^x. The ^yords in ii 
 the dialects of the Aitu Islands, is from a small vocabulary collected' 
 vocabulary by Lieutenant Colebrooke, in vol. iv of the " Asiatic Resear' 
 a resident at Port Essington and the neighbourhood, and some trouble ^^ 
 of each tribe whose dialect is represented. 
 
 ' 
 
 Outanata 
 (New Guinea). 
 
 Triton Bay 
 (NewGixinea). 
 
 Inland Tribe, 
 near Triton Bay 
 (New Guinea)' 
 
 Onin or Woni 
 (New Guinea). 
 
 Arm Island 
 
 One . 
 
 • ... 
 
 Samosi . 
 
 Tangauw . 
 
 Sa . . . 
 
 Itu . 
 
 IVo . 
 
 
 Roeeti . 
 
 Aniooi 
 
 Noewa 
 
 Rua. . 
 
 Three 
 
 
 TouMToe 
 
 Karia 
 
 Teni 
 
 Lasi 
 
 Four . 
 
 
 Faat . 
 
 Aai . 
 
 Faat . . j 
 
 Ka 
 
 Five . 
 
 
 Riiui . 
 
 Iworo 
 
 Nima . . 1 
 
 Lima . 
 
 Six . 
 
 ... 
 
 Rim-samosi . 
 
 Iworamooi ? 
 
 Nem 
 
 Dubu . 
 
 Seven 
 
 
 Rim-roeeti . 
 
 Iworkaria ? 
 
 Tarassa . 
 
 Dubem 
 
 Eight 
 
 
 Rim-touwroe 
 
 Iworaai? . 
 
 Taranoewa 
 
 Kama . 
 
 Nine . 
 
 
 Rim-faat 
 
 Neeiwora 
 
 Sapoeti 
 
 Teri 
 
 Ten . 
 
 
 Woetsja 
 
 Werowamooi . 
 
 Poesoea . 
 
 L'rfafahia" 
 
 Sun . 
 
 Djauw 
 
 Orah . 
 
 Ongoeroe 
 
 Rera 
 
 Larat . 
 
 Moon 
 
 Oeran 
 
 Foeran . 
 
 Foeran 
 
 Poenono . 
 
 Fulan . 
 
 Star . 
 
 
 Koma-koma . 
 
 Wani-wani 
 
 Apatin nofarere 
 
 Tawar . J 
 
 ! Sky . 
 
 
 
 
 
 ... J 
 
 Earth 
 
 Tin . ■■■ . 
 
 Ena '" . 
 
 Gengena . 
 
 Gai . . 
 
 Fafa . 1 
 
 1 Water 
 
 AVarari 
 
 Walar . 
 
 Wata 
 
 Weari 
 
 Wava . 1 
 
 1 Sea . 
 
 
 .«• 
 
 
 
 • A 
 
 Fire . 
 
 Oeta 
 
 Lawi . 
 
 Iworo 
 
 Api . 
 
 
 
 ! Wind 
 
 Lowri 
 
 Lowie . 
 
 Woreei . \ 
 
 Gtriko 
 
 
 
 \ Rain . 
 
 Koma 
 
 Komah 
 
 Jamo 
 
 Oeuano . 
 
 . 
 
 
 j Mountain " 
 1 orHiU i 
 
 Pamogo . 
 
 Foekar . 
 
 Tiernawera 
 
 Terio 
 
 
 
 1 Stone 
 
 ••• 
 
 Langera 
 
 
 
 
 
 Tree . 
 
 Pah . 
 
 Kayo akar . 
 
 Njoenabara 
 
 
 
 
 River 
 
 Warari-napetiki 
 
 Walarnabetik 
 
 
 Weraboean 
 
 
 
 A Man 
 
 ilarowana 
 
 Marowaua . 
 
 lohanouw 
 
 
 Lesi 
 
 A Woman . 
 
 Kocrani . 
 
 Ma^xina 
 
 Eweei 
 
 Matapais 
 
 Kodar . 
 
 A Child . 
 
 Moetoeki . 
 
 Tamanetto . 
 
 Janijani . 
 
 Saboban . 
 
 . • . 
 
 Head 
 
 Oepauw . 
 
 Mon(jngo 
 
 Nangoewoe 
 
 Oninipatin 
 
 Fuku . 
 
 Nose . 
 
 Birimhoe . 
 
 SikaioDgo 
 
 Nauibi 
 
 Wirin 
 
 Juri . , 
 
 I Eves . 
 
 Mameh 
 
 Matatougo . 
 
 Namboetoe 
 
 Matapatin 
 
 Mata . 
 
 iiouth 
 
 Irie . 
 
 Orieiigo 
 
 Naros 
 
 Socman . 
 
 Fafahi . 
 
 Ears . 
 
 lanie 
 
 Tringango . 
 
 Newirana 
 
 Taiiigan . 
 
 T;ihari . 
 
 : Teeth 
 
 Titi . 
 
 Roewotongo . 
 
 Sika 
 
 Nifan 
 
 ... 
 
 Hand 
 
 Mareh 
 
 Nimangooeta 
 
 Okorwita 
 
 
 Lima . 
 
 Foot . 
 
 Mouw 
 
 
 
 Nimiu . . 
 
 Ebahi . 
 
 : Lee . 
 
 Imirie 
 
 Karingo 
 
 Okora " . 
 
 
 
 Belly 
 
 Iwouw 
 
 Kanbonago . 
 
 Ncwoeroe 
 
 Pitoean 
 
 
 1 Fingers 
 
 ... 
 
 Nimangosoro 
 
 Amooi 
 
 
 
 Toes . 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Thumb 
 
 
 
 
 . . . 
 
 ... 
 
 Hair. 
 
 1 Oeri 
 
 Monongfoero 
 
 Nangoekatoe . 
 
 Ampoewa 
 
 ... 
 
 Beard 
 
 
 Minoora 
 
 
 
 
 A Fish 
 
 Erika 
 
 Donde . 
 
 Koeratoe . 
 
 Sairi " . 
 
 
 A Bird 
 
 
 Manok . 
 
 
 
 Manu . 
 
 A Dog 
 
 Woerie . 
 
 Kuwoena 
 
 Antsing . 
 
 
 Foh 
 
 A Kangaroo 
 
 
 
 
 
 ... 
 
 A Snake . 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 __ 
 
 Large 
 
 Napiteke . 
 
 Nabetik 
 
 Nanieerkai 
 
 Aboeani . 
 
 
 
 Small 
 
 ^Mem^ti . 
 
 Netoe . 
 
 Wonso-wonso . 
 
 Koykoyto 
 
 
 
 To Eat 
 
 Nanioeka 
 
 Koeko . 
 
 Mewa 
 
 Anioea-nanae . 
 
 
 
 To Drink . 
 
 Namoeka 
 
 Makicno 
 
 Nitiiaara 
 
 Ninoen . 
 
 
 
 To Walk . 
 
 Djaga 
 
 Octangi 
 
 Osoh 
 
 Tabana 
 
 
 
 To Sleep . 
 
 Ete . 
 
 Kokenaf 
 
 Tetewi . 
 
 Marawa . 
 
 
 
 To Speak . 
 
 Iwari 
 
 Iwar . 
 
 
 Asoerat . 
 
 
 
 To Swim . 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Iron . 
 
 Poeroeti . 
 
 Wocroesesi . 
 
 Woersasi . 
 
 
 ... 
 
\USTKALIAN DULECTS. 
 
 :.fficers of the Dutch Expedition of ] S28, which are inserted in the vohime on 
 >raphy has been strictly preserved, it will be necessary to inform the reader 
 layan, and were probably introduced by foreigners. The specimen of one of 
 this work, when there in 1S4L The dialect of the Andamans is from a 
 :h xiustrahan vocabularies were collected by tlie author of this work while 
 i- them as correct as possible, by going through them with several individuals 
 
 Port Essington 
 (N. Australia). 
 
 Popliam Bay 
 (N. Australia). 
 
 Croker Island 
 
 (^'. Australia). 
 
 Van Diem en Gulf 
 
 (X. Australia;. 
 
 Mountnorris Bay 
 
 (N. Australia). 
 
 rad . . . j Motu 
 
 argarik . . ■ Luwitbari 
 
 argarikelerad . I La\vitbari-motu 
 arErariknarsrarik 
 
 [owan 
 Hi 
 
 rgadba 
 rpalk 
 nak . 
 bait . 
 nganiala 
 jalH . 
 lailo . 
 r'almat 
 
 |nbLrik 
 
 Variat 
 
 jam . 
 
 ndadbiggi 
 ,.valu . 
 '• ■■ 'onionio 
 wanj 
 
 iijiiimul 
 
 .:k 
 
 iaulbU 
 
 Jjark 
 
 -Jullal 
 
 :nj;-bal 
 [irka . 
 
 !Hp . 
 
 lakalak 
 
 ..lurvDiKloin 
 •igoridjban 
 ronniaridban 
 orit . 
 
 ngarauingan 
 reran 
 illemuru . 
 
 Move 
 i Orana 
 j Wilari 
 I Aloudji . 
 I Ilbanda . 
 
 Oba . 
 I Oridji . 
 j Ojena 
 ; PorowTi . 
 
 Ainbu 
 
 Olono 
 
 j Ojena 
 
 I JIarudji . 
 
 I Koala 
 
 I Ohi . 
 
 I Eupeddo . 
 
 Iwadi 
 
 Euua 
 
 Jara 
 
 Jainida 
 
 Jalaniari . 
 
 Yatadljjdji 
 
 Jiniilakodg 
 
 Janga 
 
 Ekoro 
 
 Yeteni 
 
 AUo. 
 
 Alio . 
 
 Yalanamulya 
 
 Jimara 
 
 Araka 
 
 Ija^n^ 
 
 Pidpi 
 , Alii . 
 I Madbi . 
 I Pandi 
 ; Jinnramira 
 
 Langalla . 
 
 Ai-apori . 
 I Ai'apora nupa 
 I Aralukajelya 
 I "VN'irongo .' 
 I 
 i Arejinga . 
 
 Koka 
 
 Orialk 
 
 Oiialkeraroka 
 
 Muri 
 
 Orana 
 
 Ularit 
 
 Aijal 
 
 Orad 
 
 Obaitj 
 
 Ungurgal 
 
 Kgolan 
 
 Maiungaia 
 
 Rawau 
 
 Murde-ejit 
 
 Aiain 
 Jona 
 ilai-iye 
 Eloin 
 
 Alalk *■' . 
 
 W^ari 
 
 leni 
 
 Bala 
 
 Lamaliala 
 
 Lomar 
 
 Yeyen 
 
 ManaNvevi 
 
 Elod ' . 
 
 Tala . 
 
 Wanorgi . 
 
 Mauawertai 
 
 AVilt:d . 
 
 Inbirikagad 
 
 Weya 
 
 Lariiulmul 
 
 Alnieju . 
 
 Bijitj 
 
 Alait 
 
 Wenjoitj 
 
 Meroitj . 
 
 "Widawok . 
 
 Yeyeko . 
 
 Ararakondoin 
 
 Murkaiawulan 
 Orongot . 
 
 Tarweip . 
 
 Warat 
 iXargarik 
 Jt'argilwarat 
 !Nargariknargarik 
 
 Manitj 
 
 Koran a 
 
 Argadba 
 
 Kono . 
 
 Konak 
 
 Obaitj 
 
 Morgalal 
 
 Kaijalli 
 
 Mangadji 
 
 Walmat 
 
 Anbirik 
 
 Kaain . 
 
 Larolk 
 
 K'dadbiggi 
 
 Poli . 
 
 Urnin . 
 
 Oroitj . 
 
 i'ogal . 
 
 Jilmul 
 
 Ira 
 
 Aruarigbii'ij 
 
 Kalajah 
 
 Jigi 
 
 Adbirjalk 
 
 Aruaroli 
 
 Wenjelk 
 
 Aroaralla 
 
 Rujut . 
 
 Kaiuakat 
 
 Kamar 
 
 ilbal . 
 
 ^lainjaug 
 
 Yap . 
 
 Lakalak 
 
 Xaggi . 
 
 Eljjugi 
 
 Onjaranioli 
 
 Burudburan 
 
 Aroitj 
 
 Arara . 
 
 Arunda 
 
 larnarang 
 
 X'oritj . 
 
 Araruaraniba 
 
 Araran 
 
 "W'illemuru 
 
 Warat. 
 Xargarik. 
 Xargarawarat. 
 Xargai-iknai-jcarik. 
 
 5Io\van. 
 
 Orana. 
 
 Aranmt. 
 
 Wono. 
 
 Onak. 
 
 Obait. 
 
 Morala. 
 
 Ojelli. 
 
 Mailo. 
 
 Walmat. 
 
 fWariat. 
 
 t Anbirik. 
 AVariat. 
 Maniun. 
 Andadbiggi. 
 
 Ailbawal. 
 Oroljilmul. 
 
 Aiuaramba. 
 
 Alajah. 
 
 Maniiliri. 
 j Adbiljaik. 
 
 Aruaroli. 
 I Wenjelk. 
 
 Aronijak. 
 
 Rujut. 
 
 Angbal. 
 : Mainjan« 
 
 Xaggi. 
 Alpugi. 
 Ambit. 
 
 Arara. 
 Arunda. 
 langauarang. 
 Xurit. 
 
 WiUemuru. 
 
PAPUANS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS. 
 
 PECULIARITY OP THE HAIR FEATURES — STATURE AN'D PROPORTIONS 
 
 MODES OF PERSONAL DISFIGUREMENT PHYSICAL AXD MENTAL 
 
 CAPACITY CHARACTER AND DISPOSITION RESULTS OF FOREIGN 
 
 INTERCOURSE ON THE WILD TRIBES. 
 
 Small tribes of the Papuan race, or, as they are some- 
 times called, Oriental Negroes, are very widely distributed 
 among the islands of the Indian Archipelago; and New 
 Guinea, the easternmost of the group, is supposed to be 
 exclusively occupied by them. The Papuans have very 
 few characteristics in common with the browm-coloured 
 races of the Indian Islands, but their most striking 
 pecuharity consists in their frizzled or woolly hair, 
 which does not spread over the surface of the head, 
 as is usual with the negroes of Africa, but grows in 
 
 B 
 
HAIR. 
 
 small tufts, each of which keeps separate from the rest ; 
 and the hah-s, if allowed to grow, twist rouud each other, 
 and form spiral ringlets. Many of the tribes, more 
 especially the mountaineers who hold intercourse with 
 more civilized races, from whom they can procure cutting 
 instruments, keep the hair closely cropped. The tufts 
 then assume the form of little knobs, about the size of 
 large peas, which give the head a singular but not 
 altogether unpleasing appearance ; for the regularity of 
 these little knobs is so great, that the first idea which 
 strikes a stranger is that they have been produced by 
 means of a stamp ; and the writer has every reason to 
 believe that the hair of some tribes is naturally short, 
 this knob-like appearance arising without the superfluous 
 hair being cropped. Among the coast tribes of New 
 Guinea, however, the spiral ringlets sometimes grow to 
 the length of a foot, when they are either cut off close 
 to the head, and made into wigs, by inserting the ends 
 into skull-caps formed of matting ; or the ringlets are 
 opened out by the hand, and kept spread by the constant 
 use of a sort of comb of bamboo with four or five long 
 prongs. The hair then assumes a capacious, bushy 
 appearance, which has caused the people who adopt the 
 latter practice to be called " mop-headed Papuans.''^ 
 Some of the less known tribes plait the ringlets over the 
 crown of the head, where they form a thick ridge. 
 
 All these practices seem to be adopted for the one 
 purpose of obviating the inconvenience that must result 
 from the ringlets falling over the face while hunting or 
 fishing, without entailing the necessity of parting alto- 
 gether with a personal adornment in which they take great 
 
FEATURES. 6 
 
 pride. ' The hair of the beard and whiskers, with which 
 the Papuans are usually well supplied, also grows in little 
 tufts similar to those of the head ; and the same pecu- 
 liarity is found in the hair with which the breasts and 
 shoulders of the men are sometimes covered, but here 
 the tufts are much farther apart than on the head or 
 chin. This description of woolly or twisted hair is 
 peculiar to the full-blooded Papuans. A comparatively 
 slight mixture with the brown race removes the pecu- 
 liarity, at least has done so in all cases that have come 
 under the writer^s observation. The hair of people of 
 the mixed race, although thick and curly, covers the 
 surface of the head like that of Europeans. The Malayan 
 term for crisped or woolly hair is '^^rambut pua-pua.^^ 
 Hence the term " pua-pua,^' or ^^ papua" (crisped), has 
 come to be applied to the entire race ; and certainly it 
 deserves to be retained, as expressing their most striking 
 peculiarity. 
 
 The features of the Papuans have a decided negro 
 character : broad noses, thick and prominent lips, 
 receding foreheads and chins, and that turbid colour of 
 what should be the white of the eye, which is apt to give 
 the countenance a sinister expression. Their natural 
 complexion is almost universally a chocolate colour, 
 sometimes closely approaching to black, but certainly 
 some shades lighter than the deep black which is often 
 met with among the negro tribes of Africa. 
 
 With regard to stature, a great difference is found to 
 exist between distinct tribes, even in New Guinea, which 
 has led to some confusion in the descriptions given by 
 different travellers, who may each have seen only a single 
 
 B 2 
 
4 STATURE AND PROPORTIOXS. 
 
 tribe. On the south-west coast of New Guinea, within 
 the space of a hundred miles, are to be found tribes 
 whose general stature is at least equal to that of the finer 
 races of Europeans, and others whose proportions are so 
 small as almost to entitle them to the appellation of 
 pygmies, while customs and characteristics generally so 
 exactly coiTcspond, as to preclude the supposition that 
 these peculiarities can be other than accidental. It is 
 difficult to account for this ; but as the stout and stalwart 
 Papuans are met with only among tribes who have 
 maintained their independence, and v.bo at the same 
 time possess many of the agricultural and mechanical 
 arts, while the pygmies are found only among the tribes 
 that have been driven to the mountain fastnesses, or have 
 fallen under the influence of more powerful races, we may 
 conclude that their mode of life has much to do with this 
 difference in point of stature. 
 
 The various tribes also differ much in their appear- 
 ance. The more diminutive Papuans, who chiefly come 
 under the notice of Europeans as slaves in the Moluccan 
 settlements, are unprepossessing enough while in their 
 native state, but when under good masters, the regu- 
 larity and wholesome nature of their diet, coupled with 
 their apparent utter forget fulness of home and rela- 
 tives, produce a roundness in their neat clean limbs, 
 and a sprightliness of action, which is rarely met with 
 among their more civilized neighbours of the brown race. 
 On the other hand, the larger Papuans are more remark- 
 able for strength than symmetry. They have broad 
 shoulders and deep chests, but a deficiency is generally 
 found about the lower extremities, splay feet and curved 
 
PERSONAL DISFIGUREMEXT. O 
 
 shins being at least as common as among the negroes 
 of Africa. 
 
 A singular custom of raising the skin in cicatrices, 
 especially on the shoulders, breast, and thighs, prevails 
 very generally among the Papuans. These cicatrices are 
 formed by cutting the skin through with some sharp 
 instrument in longitudinal stripes, and if on the shoulder 
 or breast, white clay, or some other earthy substance, is 
 rubbed into the wound, which causes the flesh below to 
 rise, and the scarifications, when allowed to heal, assume 
 the form of embossed cicatrices, often as large as the 
 finger. The process by which the flesh is raised is perfectly 
 inexplicable to an European, who would be thrown into 
 fever by any one of the wounds which these strange 
 people bear, two or three at a time, without complaining, 
 but certainly not without suff"ering. The practice of 
 boring the septum of the nose has also been generally 
 observed among the wilder Papuans. In the first 
 instance they wear a roll of plantain-leaf in the orifice, 
 which, by its elasticity, enlarges the hole so much as to 
 admit the thigh-bone of a large bird or some other 
 ornament, which is worn extending across the face on 
 all great occasions. The coast tribes of New Guinea, 
 and of the islands lying immediately to the east, have a 
 practice of filing or grinding the front teeth to points; 
 and another singular custom is prevalent with some of 
 the coast tribes of Papuans, that of destroying the colour 
 of the hair, which is naturally black, by applications of 
 burnt coral mixed with sea-water, and by preparations of 
 wood-ashes in some instances, which gives the hair a 
 light red or flaxen tinge. As the practice of pointing 
 
6 MENTAL AND PHYSICAL CAPACITY. 
 
 the front teeth is also common among the natives of the 
 Pagi Islands on the west coast of Sumatra, and the 
 custom of discolouring the hair prevails among the 
 natives of Timor-laut, Baba, and Sermattan, who are 
 essentially members of the brown race in their general 
 characteristics, some doubts may reasonably be entertained 
 as to whether these are purely Papuan customs. 
 
 The Papuans, when placed in circumstances favourable 
 for the development of their powers, are physically 
 superior to the races of South-eastern Asia. Some of 
 the New Guinea tribes would bear a comparison, in 
 point of stature and proportions, with the races of 
 Europe, were it not for the deficiency about the lower 
 extremities which has been already noticed. Even the 
 more diminutive mountain tribes are remarkable for 
 energy and agility — qualities which have led to their 
 being in great demand as slaves among their more 
 civilized neighbours. AVith regard to mental capacity, 
 also, they are certainly not inferior to the bro^Nii races ; 
 but their impatience of control while in an independent 
 state utterly precludes that organization which would 
 enable them to stand their ground against encroach- 
 ment ; and they invariably fall under the influence of the 
 Malayans whenever the two races are brought into 
 contact. 
 
 This want of organization renders it extremely unsafe 
 for strangers to visit independent tribes, for although the 
 majority may be peacefully inclined, some individuals 
 anions: them are nearlv certain to be turbulent, and 
 inclined for mischief, if not restrained by their com- 
 panions. The struggles that take place on these occa- 
 
CONDUCT TOWARDS STRANGERS. 7 
 
 sions have come to be looked upon by their visitors as 
 rather a favourable sign, from their indicating that no 
 treachery is contemplated, which is sometimes the case 
 when the natives are unanimous. The wilder tribes 
 generally avoid all intercourse with strangers, if the 
 party that appears among them is sufficiently great to 
 cause alarm ; but if it be small or unarmed, and the 
 Papuans, as is too often the case, have had cause to 
 regard strangers with hostile feelings, they assume a 
 friendly appearance until an* opportunity occurs, and 
 then make a sudden and ferocious attack. 
 
 But the social characteristic which distinguishes them 
 most from the brown races consists in the inextinguish- 
 able hatred they bear towards those who attempt to 
 settle in their territory, and which is sometimes con- 
 tinued as long as a man of the tribe remains at large. 
 This apparently untameable nature, when in an inde- 
 pendent state, seems to have been the chief cause which 
 has led to their utter extermination in all those islands of 
 the Indian Archipelago that did not possess mountain 
 fastnesses to which they could retire and lead a life 
 similar to that of the Boschman of South Africa. This 
 ferocity of character disappears, in a great measure, when 
 individuals are removed to other countries, for the 
 Papuan slaves, who are found in considerable numbers 
 among the bro^Ti races of the Archipelago, are remark- 
 able for a cheerful and obedient disposition, although 
 they sometimes display an irritability of temper which 
 requires careful management. 
 
8 . NEW GUINEA. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 NEW GUINEA. SOUTH COAST. 
 
 PAPUAN CHARACTER OF THE NEW GUINEA TRIBES — GEOGRAPHICAL 
 SKETCH OF THE ISLAND — TISITS OF EARLY TOYAGERS DUTCH EX- 
 PEDITION OF 1828 INTERVIEW WITH NATIVES OF DOURGA STRAIT 
 
 HOSTILE ENCOUNTER CHARACTERISTICS OF THE DOURGA TRIBE 
 
 WEAPONS AND ORNAMENTS — AGILITY IN CLIMBING TREES MAN- 
 
 GR0\':E THICKETS HABITATIONS — PAPUANS AND AUSTRALIANS — 
 
 EXPEDITION OF LIEUTENANT KOOL TO DOURGA STRAIT IN 1835 
 
 INTERVIEW WITH A LARGE TRIBE OF FREDERICK-HENRY ISLAND. 
 
 New Guinea, the great seat of the Papuan race, is 
 1,400 miles in extreme length, or nearly double that of 
 Borneo; but its supei-ficial area is probably less than 
 that of the latter island (200,000 square geographical 
 miles), as there is every reason to believe that the south 
 coast of New Guinea, immediately opposite to the Gulf of 
 Carpentaria in Australia, forms a deep indentation similar 
 to the Great Bay on the north coast, there being a space 
 of two degrees and a half of longitude in which the land 
 has not yet been seen.* 
 
 * Of this unexplored space, 118 miles, or four-fiftlis of the 
 whole, were taken possession of by proclamation, in the name of the 
 
imjj era nVci 1 
 
 Plrte J 
 
 \h:> 
 
 
 J^ 
 
 1853. 
 
 G. W. K. 
 
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 pr 
 
 '^- 
 
 \ 
 
 kf,r ^ 
 
 p.-"' 
 
 s 
 
 I 
 
 ^ ^Yerdal 
 
 / /lant 
 
 &^, J7 
 
 V^ 
 
 
 
 AlT^' 
 
 D^nlm I* 
 
 <5> 
 
 
 ]4;.*. 
 
 
 -^,./-l-^"" 
 A 
 
 
 It.**^"' N^ 
 
 \ 
 
 ^. M" .Iflre'Jttt 
 
 
 ^iK-r ^IT'ZbH, i» >."».:i 
 
tJiiiueranVca' Liiirarr 
 
 .1 
 
 1853. 
 
 C. W. K. 
 
 • '1/ '?...„ 
 
 IcmWtn i^'m-Yrr/e . t Bai^htr^ /(fj.i 
 
DOURGA STRAIT. 9 
 
 The names by which the island is known to Europeans 
 and Asiatics, New Guinea and Tanna Papua, both dis- 
 tinctly refer to the leading peculiarity of the race by 
 which the coasts are inhabited. The interior is still a 
 terra incognita, but as a large proportion of the slaves 
 who are exported to the Moluccas have been obtained 
 by stealth or barter from the villages of the interior, and 
 these are invariably pure Papuans in general character-- 
 istics, there is at present no reasonable prospect of any 
 other race being found there. This point, however, so 
 deeply interesting to the student of ethnography, must 
 remain an open question until some traveller has pene- 
 trated the interior, an enterprise which, in the ordinary 
 course of events, must be attempted before many years 
 elapse. 
 
 The western peninsula of New Guinea consists of 
 masses of elevated land, penetrated by deep salt-water 
 inlets, and affording evidence of having been intensely 
 disturbed by recent volcanic action. The most striking 
 geographical feature of the great eastern peninsula con- 
 sists in a back-bone of lofty mountains, which apparently 
 extends throughout its lensrth. Three remarkable table- 
 topped mountains near the centre of the island, in the 
 
 King of Holland, in the year 1S28. As the commanders of Her 
 Majesty's ships employed in the surveyuig service are said to have 
 general instructions not to interfere with coasts claimed by foreign 
 powers, unless the interests of navigation absolutely require it, this 
 in some degree accounts for the fact that so large a space of coast, 
 within 600 miles of an European settlement that has been estab- 
 hshed more than three centuries, remains stiU unkaown to ci^Tlized 
 nations. 
 
 B 3 
 
10 XEW GUINEA. 
 
 meridian of 138^ E.^ were estimated by tlie officers of 
 the Dutch corvette 'Triton^ in 1828 to be upwards of 
 20,000 feet in elevation, and appeared to be covered with 
 snow. And as the range has also been seen from the 
 north coast of the island, at a point more than 200 
 miles distant from that of the ' Triton^s' observations, 
 their height cannot have been much over-estimated. All 
 parts of the island hitherto visited are overspread by a 
 gigantic vegetation, affording food and shelter to animals 
 of singular development, of which the Babi-rusa, or many- 
 tusked hog, the Tree-Kangaroo, the Bird-of-Paradise, and 
 the gigantic Crowned-Pigeon, are only a few of the many 
 varieties. Some marked peculiarities in the development 
 of the human inhabitants may reasonably be expected 
 under these circumstances, and certainly every succeeding 
 voyager brings to light new and striking particulars 
 concerning this singular race, which materially enhance 
 the interest that civilized nations naturally take in the 
 habits and characteristics of their savage brethren. 
 
 The coast tribes of the western peninsula of New 
 Guinea have held commercial intercourse with Moham- 
 medan inhabitants of the Moluccas for several centuries 
 past ; indeed, the Sultan of Tidore claims a sort of 
 suzerainty over the trading ports of the coast, a claim 
 which seems to be recognized by the Papuans, many of 
 whom have become Mohammedans. And as several 
 Malayan customs may have been introduced at the same 
 time, the inhabitants of the western peninsula cannot 
 be brought forward as exhibiting the Papuan race in its 
 aboriginal condition. Indeed, the entire north coast of 
 New Guinea seems to have been subjected to similar 
 
DOURGA STRAIT. 11 
 
 influences in a certain degree^ probably from its lying 
 near the supposed course of the great Malayu-Polynesian 
 migration. But the south and south-west coasts have been 
 very rarely intruded on by \dsitors, European or Asiatic. 
 
 The early Dutch navigators, who followed the south-west 
 coast on their way to explore the Great South Land, have 
 left traces of their intercourse, which appears never to 
 have been friendly, in the names they have given to the 
 two principal rivers of the south-west coast, "Moor- 
 denaar,^^ or murderer, and " Doodslaager,^^ or slaughterer ; 
 and the experiences of Captain Cook, who touched on 
 this coast in the ' Endeavour,' were only a little less unfa- 
 vourable. Indeed, no record exists of friendly intercourse 
 having been held by Europeans with natives of the south 
 and south-west coasts until the year 1828, when the 
 Dutch government, during one of those spurts of 
 colonial activity which seem to attack western nations 
 periodically, dispatched a large corvette, the 'Triton,^ to 
 this pai-t of the coast, with a party of natm-alists and 
 draughtsmen to make observations, and a body of troops 
 to form the garrison of a settlement. The strait which 
 separates the south-west extreme of New Guinea from the 
 main land was the first spot visited, and as the secluded 
 tribe they met with on the shores of the strait had pro- 
 bably never before held intercourse with a strange people, 
 I propose making some extracts from a narrative of the 
 expedition by Lieutenant Modera,* one of those intelli- 
 
 * "Yerhaal van eene Reize naar de Zuid-west Kust van 
 Niew-Guinea, door J. Modera, Lieutenant ter Zee." Haarlem, 
 1S30. 
 
12 NEW GUINEA. 
 
 gent officers of whom the Dutch royal navy has latterly 
 presented so many favourable examples. And it should 
 be mentioned that the information furnished by the 
 Dutch expeditions is particularly valuable^ as they are 
 always provided ^A^th interpreters well experienced in 
 intercourse with the Papuans ; and although they may 
 sometimes be unable to hold a conversation with tribes 
 hitherto unacquainted with strangers, still their general 
 knowledge of Papuan customs prevents voyagers from 
 falling into those errors which the most careful are liable 
 to, if brought into communication with strange tribes 
 without the assistance of persons acquainted with their 
 general habits. 
 
 The ' Triton^ entered the Dourga Strait, which lies in 
 lat. 7° 28' S., and long. 138^ 58' E., on the 21st of 
 May, 1828 ; and after examining a creek without meeting 
 with any other traces of people than foot-marks on the 
 muddy banks, they were preparing to leave the spot, and 
 proceed farther up the strait, when the natives made 
 their appearance. But I prefer giving Mr. Modera^s own 
 account of the interview. " Scarcely, however, had we 
 commenced getting up the anchor, when seven men were 
 seen on the shore, who ran out into the water as far as 
 they could, shouting loudly, and making all sorts of droll 
 and uncouth gestures. Weighing anchor was deferred, 
 and it was arranged that the Commissioner Van Delden 
 should proceed towards the shore, sending the native 
 interpreter in advance in a small canoe to open a commu- 
 nication with the natives. The Lieutenant Modera (the 
 narrator) was ordered away with an armed boat to cover 
 
DOURGA STRAIT. 13 
 
 them in case of need^ and as the canoe could not be got 
 ready speedily, the whole party, consisting of Mr. Van 
 Delden and the native interpreter, Messrs. Macklot,Hugen- 
 holtz, Boers, and Van Raalten, embarked in his boat. All 
 the gentlemen, as well as the boat^s crew, were armed, 
 and the muskets were loaded as the boat was proceeding 
 towards the shore. "When the boat had reached to within 
 a musket-shot distance from them, the natives, who were 
 armed with bows, an'ows, and lances, commenced making 
 singular gestures with their arms and legs. The native 
 interpreter called out to them in a language partly com- 
 posed of Ceramese, and partly of a dialect spoken by a 
 Papuan tribe dwelling a little farther to the north, but 
 his words were evidently quite unintelligible to them, as 
 they only answered with loud and wild yells. We 
 endeavoured, for a long time without success, to induce 
 them to lay aside their weapons; but at length one of 
 them was prevailed on to do so, and the others followed 
 his example, on which we also laid down our arras, 
 keeping them, however, at hand. "We now slowly 
 approached each other, and the interpreter, dipping 
 his hand into the sea, sprinkled some of the water over 
 the crown of the head, as a sign of peaceful intentions.* 
 This they seemed to understand, for two of them imme- 
 diately did the same, on which the interpreter jumped 
 into the shallow water, and approached them with some 
 looking-glasses and strings of beads, which were received 
 with loud laughter and yells. They now began dancing 
 
 * Tliis custom seems to be general among aU the Papuan tribes, 
 and iu most cases their peaceful intentions may be depended upon 
 after having entered into this silent compact. — G. W. E. 
 
14 NEW GUINEA. 
 
 in the water, making the interpreter join, and the party 
 was soon increased by other natives from the woods, who 
 were attracted by the presents. Mr. Hugenholtz also jumped 
 into the shallow water, and joined in the dance, and they 
 soon became so friendly as to come close around the 
 boat, indeed some of them were even induced to get 
 in. 
 
 * Hs * * 
 
 " Their confidence rapidly increased ; and they inspected 
 and admired the European weapons, crying out repeatedly 
 'kakka,^ 'kakka/ They bartered their weapons and 
 ornaments with us for beads, looking-glasses, &c., and lat- 
 terly, for pieces of cloth. Each present was received with 
 dancing and yelling, which last was echoed from the woods 
 by shouts in which women^s voices were evidently 
 mingled. The looking-glasses, which are generally so 
 much admired by uncivilized people, were closely looked 
 into at first, but subsequently were received with indif- 
 ference. Pieces of cloth were the great objects of their 
 desires. We repeatedly tried to persuade them to come 
 on board, but they gave us to understand that they were 
 afraid we should cut oflf their heads. When they asked 
 us shortly afterwards for water to drink, we made signs 
 to them that it was to be obtained on board ; but they 
 did not seem to have any inclination to go there to 
 fetch it. 
 
 " One of our people, wishing to dress a native with a 
 waistcoat, neckcloth, and a handkerchief for the head, he 
 submitted to the process very willingly ; and when his 
 
DOURGA STRAIT. 15 
 
 toilet was completed, he drew the attention of his coun- 
 trymen to the improvement in his appearance, which 
 seemed to give very general satisfaction. They appeared 
 to be more curious than thievishly-inclined. Everything 
 was looked at and admired, but nothing was appropriated ; 
 nevertheless, we thought it best to keep a watchful eye 
 over them. When one of them took up Lieutenant 
 Modera's loaded pistol to examine it, the latter took it 
 from him with a serious countenance, and laid it down 
 again, exclaiming, ' taboo' (the South Sea Island term for 
 'prohibited'), and he did not attempt to take it up 
 again. 
 
 '' While all this was going on, they kept drawing the 
 boat — unperceived as they thought — towards the beach, 
 which determined us to return, as our stock of presents 
 was exhausted, and there seemed no probability of our 
 inducing any of them to go on board with us. Shortly 
 before this Mr. Boers had ornamented a Papuan with a 
 string of beads, who, upon receiving it, joined two of his 
 countrymen that were standing a little distance off, with 
 the arms that had been laid aside, and which they had 
 been gradually getting together again ; a proceeding we 
 had observed, but trusting in the mutual confidence that 
 had been established, we did not much heed it. At the 
 moment in which we were setting off the boat to return 
 on board, this man fixed an arrow in his bow, and took 
 aim at Mr. Boers, who was sitting in the fore part of the 
 boat, on which the latter turned aside to take up his gun, 
 but before he could do so, he received the arrow in his 
 left thigh, which knocked him over, shouting 'Fire! 
 fire! I am hit!' as he fell. The order was scarcely 
 
16 NEW GUINEA. 
 
 given before every one had hold of his arms (which, as 
 ah'eady stated, were kept at hand), and a general dis- 
 charge put the natives to flight, swimming and diving 
 like ducks. Before they took to flight, however, they 
 discharged several more arrows at our people, one of 
 which struck Mr. Hugenholtz in the right knee, another 
 hit a sailor in the leg, while a third pierced a sailoi-^s 
 hat, and remained sticking in it ; and, lastly, a Javanese 
 had the handkerchief shot ofi" his head, but without 
 receiving any personal injury. Four of the natives, in 
 whom we had inspired so much confidence that they had 
 come into the boat, sprang overboard in the greatest 
 haste as soon as the attack commenced, before any of our 
 people thought of securing them. The people of the 
 ' Iris' (the tender to the *" Triton') saw the natives, after 
 the departure of the boat, drag three of their companions 
 out of the water, so that they vv'ere probably killed, or 
 severely wounded. 
 
 "After the natives had taken flight, the interpreter 
 got out of the boat again to pick up the arrows and 
 darts that had been thrown at us, at which we were 
 not altogether pleased, for we wished to return without 
 giving cause for farther hostilities, as the commander 
 of the ' Triton' had given orders that ' we m ere not 
 to use the arms except in case of the most urgent 
 necessity ;' but more especially on account of the 
 wounded, as it was feared that the arrows might be 
 poisoned.* Fortunately our fears were groundless ; 
 
 * The use of poison to give greater effect to missiles does not 
 seem to be known to the Papuans of New Guinea and the neigh- 
 bouring islands, at least I have never heard a well-authenticated 
 
DOURGA STRAIT. 17 
 
 nevertheless Mr. Hugenholtz suffered severely on account 
 of his wound.^^* 
 
 This was a very unfortunate affair, which may lead to 
 future bloodshed, as the relatives or descendants of the 
 slain will think it necessarj^ for their own character to 
 make a disturbance, should they ever again have inter- 
 course with strangers, although the bulk of the tribe 
 may be peacefully inclined. From Mr. Modera^s clear 
 account of the transaction, it e\'idently arose from a 
 misunderstanding on the part of the natives, who, seeing 
 the boat shoving off with some of their companions still 
 on board, naturally supposed that it was intended to 
 carry them off. Nearly ever\' uncivilized tribe of the 
 Archipelago must some time or other have lost members 
 of its small community, either by force or treacheiy, to 
 support the detestable traffic in human flesh introduced 
 by Mohammedans, and, until very recently, fostered by 
 Christians ; and the little experience these Papuans had 
 of intercourse with strangers, scarcely enabled them to 
 see the difference between civilized Europeans and the 
 traders from Ceram and the ^loluccas, who, it is to be 
 feared, but too often complete their cargoes with the 
 unfortunates they may capture, or entice on board, during 
 their voyages along the Papuan coasts. 
 
 Mr. Modera's account of the personal characteristics of 
 
 account of their employiag it. The practice seems to be confined to 
 those aborigiaal tribes who use, or have used the sumpitan, or blow- 
 pipe ; the Httle darts projected from this instrument being incapable 
 of effecting the destruction of any animal larger than a sparrow 
 without the aid of a powerful poison. — G. W. E. 
 * Modera, "Reize," &c., pp. 23—29. 
 
18 NEW GUINEA. 
 
 this tribe is very full and complete. " Their stature is of 
 the middle size, and they are not particularly strongly 
 built. The colour of their skin is a light black, vdih a 
 blueish tinge. The lips are tolerably thick, and the 
 nose rather flat. Their appearance is generally sinister 
 and always repulsive, which is not a little increased by 
 the greasiness of their bodies, and by the ugly and dirty 
 practice of besmearing the forehead, and the face under 
 the nose and round the chin, with red clay or mud. 
 Their features bear a considerable resemblance to those 
 of the Arabians {Arabieren) .^ Nearly all of them had 
 the lobe of the ear bored, and the slit was generally half 
 a finger long. AYhether this hole is enlarged by the 
 weight of the ring, which I shall have to notice presently, 
 or is cut to this size in the first instance, I did not 
 ascertain. 
 
 ''The hair of the head is crisp {kort gekroesd) like 
 that of African negroes, and pitch-black in colour ; one of 
 the men wore it plaited as a tail, like those of the Chinese, 
 and hanging down from the back of the head in the same 
 manner. Some of them wore the hair in a small tress or 
 braid at the crown of the head ; while others again wore 
 rushes round about the occiput, which were plaited firmly 
 into the hair. They allow the hair of the beard and 
 whiskers to grow ; the former is crisp like that of the 
 head. 
 
 '' The men went entirely naked, with the exception of 
 
 * The term " Arabicreu" is commonly used by the Dutch to 
 indicate negroes, and it has been probably appHed in this sense on 
 the present occasion. — G. W. E. 
 
DOURGA STRAIT. 19 
 
 the lower part of tlie stomach, round wliicli tliey wore a 
 girdle or band five or six inches broad ; some of these 
 girdles were provided with a large shell so placed as to 
 cover the centre of the stomach. This girdle is made of 
 plaited rushes,* which fastens behind, and the ends hang 
 down about a foot below the girdle. Eveiy male wore 
 this article of costume ; but as regards ornaments, each 
 one differed from his neighbour. Suffice to say that 
 some wore arm bands or bracelets of plaited rattan, 
 which were so tightly fixed round the muscle of the arm 
 above the elbow, that to take them off it was necessary to 
 smear the arm with mud, and to have the assistance of 
 another person, to pull them off. Others had necklaces 
 made of cord very neatly twisted: while others wore 
 fringes over the breast made of the same material, the 
 ends of which were provided with small oval pieces of 
 wood. Many had ear-rings of plaited rattan, which some 
 wore in the right and others in the left ear. 
 
 " From the above description we may picture to our- 
 selves this race of people, -^-ith an offensive manner, theii' 
 skins be-spattered with mud and of very ill savour, their 
 bodies often covered with sores or sheets of scales ; and it 
 is not surprising that the general impression was that 
 they were an ugly and repulsive people, especially when 
 we also take into account their alternate shrill laugh and 
 
 * These girdles, as weU as the sort of net which covers the 
 occiput, are probably made from the leaf of the Pandaniis, the 
 cabbage-tree of the Australian colonists, an exceedingly durable 
 material in general use among the Papuans for making mats and 
 baskets. The latter are sometimes so closely woven as to hold 
 liquids. — G. "W. E. 
 
20 NEW GUINEA, 
 
 piercing yell^ which jarred on the ear like bad notes in 
 music. 
 
 "Arrows, bows, and lances, or throwing-spears, were 
 the only weapons we saw amongst them, and some of 
 these we obtained from them by barter. The arrows and 
 lances were of reed, with points of pinang-wood hardened 
 in the fire. 
 
 " On the afternoon of the day in which the encounter 
 took place, the Naturalists, well armed, returned to the 
 creek at high water, and saw a spectacle which was also 
 witnessed by those on board with the aid of telescopes ; 
 namely, the trees full of natives of both sexes, who, with 
 weapons on their backs, sprang from branch to branch 
 like monkeys, making the same gestures as in the 
 morning, and shouting and laughing in like manner, 
 without our people being able to tempt them out of the 
 trees by throwing presents towards them, so that they 
 returaed on board again.* 
 
 "On the morning of the 23rd, several well-armed 
 natives made their appearance on the beach, dancing, 
 shouting, and making the same gestures as on the pre- 
 ceding: dav. After them came a number of women and 
 children, carrpng in their hands branches of trees and, 
 as we supposed, fruit also. They shouted to us as loud 
 as they could, probably to im4te us on shore ; but we did 
 not comply with their wishes, as we weighed towards 
 noon, and beat up the strait to another anchorage.^t 
 
 * See note at the end of the chapter. 
 t Modera, "Reize," &c., pp. 29—32. 
 

 3k- v.;. 
 
 ''^'^% 
 
 ^. ^- -^ :• 
 
I 
 
DOURGA STRAIT. 2] 
 
 Mr. Modera's account of the monkey-like gambols in 
 the trees may probably excite a smile of incredulity in the 
 reader. Nevertheless^ the fact of the Papuans being able 
 to proceed with wonderful rapidity through the man- 
 grove thickets which line the sea-shores, is well authenti- 
 cated, and has been long known to those acquainted with 
 the habits of the wilder tribes; but no British tra- 
 veller, with the fate of Abyssinian Bruce before his eves, 
 would have ventured to promulgate such a statement, 
 unless he could bring forward incontestible e'v'idence to 
 support it. The sea coasts of alluvial districts in tropical 
 regions are invariably lined by belts of mangroves, which 
 sometimes extend into the sea for miles beyond the level 
 of high water ; and in New Guinea, as well as on the 
 northern coasts of Australia, the mangroves assume the 
 character of forest trees about the upper parts, while the 
 lower consist of a network of strong fibrous roots, 
 which is absolutely impenetrable without the aid of an 
 axe ; and even then it is impossible to proceed unless 
 the mud has sufficient consistency to support the weight of 
 the body, which is rarely the case except at dead low- water. 
 As the coast tribes, who derive their chief subsistence 
 from the sea, have to cross this belt almost daily, they 
 naturally prefer scrambling through the upper branches, 
 which are strong enough to afford secure footing, while, 
 at the same time, they intertwine with each other in so 
 peculiar a manner, that, vriih a little practice, this sin- 
 gular mode of travelling can even be adopted by Eu- 
 ropeans. Indeed, the writer, on more than one occasion, 
 has seen a file of Marines, with muskets on their shoul- 
 ders, steadily making their way over mangrove swamps in 
 
23 NEW GUINEA. 
 
 this manner, althougli they certainly did not display the 
 monkey-like agility that Mr. Modera has so graphically 
 described. 
 
 Perhaps the pride of man may be wounded on finding 
 how closely his species may approximate to that of the 
 quadruraanes ; but a little consideration will induce him 
 to regard with admiration the wonderful adaptation of 
 God^s creatures to any circumstances under which they 
 may be placed. It is a singular fact that, on the south- 
 west coast of New Guinea, the kangaroo, apparently the 
 least suited of all animals for the process of chmbing, 
 has adapted himself to the half- drowned nature of the 
 country by becoming an inhabitant of the trees.* 
 
 The habitations of this strange people, which were 
 probably situated on the firm land within the belt of 
 mangroves that lined the shore, were not seen by their 
 visitors ; indeed, the only indication of fixed residences 
 met with on the shores of the strait consisted in the ruins 
 of two thatched sheds, which were found near the beach, 
 about fifteen miles from the spot at which the interview took 
 place, but which appeared to have been long abandoned. 
 The remains of an old canoe, thirty feet long and two and 
 a half feet wide, were discovered, half-buried in the mud, 
 near the same spot, together ^^ith a quantity of oyster 
 shells and cocoa-nut husks ; but whether this had been 
 a summer residence of the natives, or the encampment of 
 a stray party of pearl-fishers from the more westerly 
 islands, could not be ascertained. 
 
 * I saw a living specimen of this singular animal a few days ago 
 iu the gardens of the Royal Zoological Society of London. — 
 G.W.E. 
 
DOURGA STRAIT. 23 
 
 It seems probable that the natives themselves are only 
 periodical \dsitors to the coast, perhaps during the season 
 best suited for fishings for Lieutenant Kolff, who disco- 
 vered the strait two' years before, saw no traces of inha- 
 bitants on its shores ; indeed, the only people met with in 
 the immediate neighbourhood were seen on the outer 
 coast near Cape Yalsche, where, as Mr. Kolff states, 
 " while the boats were rowing as usual along the mud- 
 bank, smoke was seen to arise from the shore, and on 
 nearing the spot, a number of people were seen climbing 
 up in the trees, who fled into the forest as the boats 
 approached/^* 
 
 Those who are acquainted with the characteristics of 
 the aboriginal Australians, especially of those of the 
 north coast, will at once perceive how closely Mr. 
 Modera^'s description of these Papuans and their imple- 
 ments would apply to many Australian tribes, excepting 
 only the bows (not the arrows, for they are pure Austra- 
 lian darts,) and the crisp hair ; but, indeed, the latter 
 feature is not uncommon among the tribes of Moreton 
 Bay and the north-east coast. As Mr. Modera had never 
 seen and perhaps heard little of the Australians before 
 his voyage to New Guinea, and he is perfectly innocent 
 of all ethnological theories, his evidence must be con- 
 sidered incontestible. These circumstances, coupled with 
 the fact of his account having been published imme- 
 diately after the return of the New Guinea expedition, 
 have led me to prefer Mr. Modera^s plain narrative to 
 the more scientific pages of Temminck and Miiller m 
 
 * " Voyage of the ' Doiirga' to New Guinea and the "Moluccas," 
 p. 321, Loudon, ISiO, — Translation. 
 
24 NEW GUINEA. 
 
 the Government Report of the Expedition. Those 
 ethnologists who have been actively employed abroad 
 in collecting materials^ are very apt to adopt some 
 particular race, with which they happen to be best 
 acquainted, as a standard with which to compare all others 
 that they meet with ; and I feel that my long and inti- 
 mate acquaintance with the aboriginal Australians has not 
 left me altogether free from a similar influence. I shall, 
 therefore, in the course of this work, insert the descrip- 
 tions of intelligent travellers whose authenticity can be 
 depended upon in preference to my own observations, 
 whenever the personal characteristics of the native tribes 
 are under review ; as it fortunately happens that I have 
 abundant materials at my disposal v/hich will be as new 
 to the English reader as my own contributions could be. 
 
 This strait was revisited in 1835 by Lieutenant Kool, 
 with two schooners under his command, who was the first 
 to pass through it. He named it the Prinses Marianne 
 Strait, after a member of the Royal Family of the Nether- 
 lands ; but as it had long been known by the name con- 
 ferred upon it by Lieutenant KolflP, the first discoverer, 
 that of Dourga (the name of his vessel), the latter has 
 been generally retained in the charts of these parts. An 
 abstract of Lieutenant Kool's report is given by Dr. 
 Miiller, and as it contains some important information 
 concerning the natives, who were found to be in possession 
 of numbers of canoes, it will be necessary to extract it in 
 order to give all the information extant concerning the 
 south-western tribes of New Guinea. No record exists 
 of the strait having been visited by an European vessel 
 since the voyage of Lieutenant Kool. 
 
DOURGA STRAIT. 25 
 
 '^During tlie tliree days in which Lieutenant Kool lay 
 at anchor under the south point of the northern entrance 
 of the strait, no natives were observed, although smoke 
 was seen to arise here and there in the forest. On the 
 1st of May both vessels entered the strait, and anchored 
 towards evening under a point of land on the north shore, 
 a good distance within the strait. On the following morn- 
 ing the cable of the ' Sireen' parted, and the strong tide 
 having set her upon the bank at low water, the remainder 
 of the day was spent in getting her afloat and in recovering 
 the lost anchor. While they were thus busily employed, 
 four natives made their appearance on the adjacent point, 
 but no sooner was an attempt made to approach them in 
 a boat, than they took flight into the forest. Shortly after- 
 wards, two canoes with twenty-five to thirty men in them, 
 were seen near the opposite coast, and Lieutenants Kool 
 and Banse crossed over tow^ards them ; but as the boat 
 approached, the savages retired, and landing on the shore, 
 they stood, with their bows strung and arrows prepared, 
 in a posture of defiance. Mr. Kool placed some knives 
 and some basins filled with tobacco on the beach, which 
 were eagerly caught up with loud shouts as soon as the 
 boat had retired. An attempt was again made to approach 
 them, but they retired as before, and all the attempts of 
 the officers to obtain a close communication with them 
 were unsuccessful ; their object being rendered the more 
 difficult by the inability of the Ceramese interpreter to 
 understand the language of these wild bushmen. Li the 
 afternoon, a canoe with five natives approached close to 
 the ^ Postillion,^ and the commander showed them cloth 
 
 c 
 
26 NEW GUINEA. 
 
 and other presents in order to induce them to come on 
 board. "\Mien it was found that they were not to be 
 attracted by these means, a boat was sent towards them, 
 but as soon as they observed its approach they paddled 
 with all speed to the shore. On the morning of the 3rd 
 of May, about twenty-five canoes, each manned with from 
 six to ten natives, approached from the opposite shore 
 of the strait, and directed their course towards the boats, 
 which were then engaged in raising the lost anchor, and 
 an armed boat was sent for their protection, as the 
 savages, with their bows and arrows, were not to be 
 trusted. Their appearance was all the less favourable from 
 the party-coloured painting of their faces and bodies, for 
 which red, yellow, and even black colours were employed ; 
 and from the large lappets of the ears, some of which 
 hung down upon the shoulders, and were provided with 
 all sorts of ornaments, as shells, wood, &c., and some of 
 them had even the teeth of animals stuck through them. 
 Some presents were distributed among them, for which 
 they gave cocoa-nuts in exchange. Although they showed 
 no signs of enmity, yet by way of precaution, a blank 
 shot (eene los schot) was fired from time to time in order 
 to intimidate them, and to withhold them as much as pos- 
 sible from improper conduct. They took a great deal of 
 trouble in endeavouring to entice the crew of the boats on 
 shore, but appeared by no means anxious to visit the vessels. 
 AVhen the anchor was raised, and the boats retm'ned 
 on board, the canoes all paddled to the shore, where they 
 again collected together. The commanders of the two 
 vessels, hoping to obtain some information concerning the 
 
DOURGA STRAIT. 27 
 
 country, followed them with two armed boats, and as soon 
 as the latter approached the shore, a number of natives 
 ran to meet them, and seizing the sides of the boats 
 attempted to drag them up the beach, which the boats^ 
 crew, by signs, endeavoured to prevent. At the same 
 moment, one of the savages drew Lieutenant Ban>e's 
 sword from the scabbard, while another seized fast hold 
 of the butt of a musket. These freedoms awakened dis- 
 trust in the officers, and warned them to take measures of 
 resistance in time. The muskets were presented at the 
 savages, the result of which was that they let go the boats 
 and every other object they had seized, and retreated with 
 precipitation. The officers also retired to their vessels. 
 In the afternoon, when "the vessels got under weigh, 
 the canoes all recrossed the strait, and followed the vessels 
 along the coast. They were soon afterwards joined by 
 others, so that altogether the number of the natives must 
 have amounted to five hundred. They made all sorts of 
 gestures, while now and then a canoe separated from the 
 others and approached the vessels to reconnoitre. For 
 this reason, and also on account of the great number of 
 the savages, the precaution was taken of loading some of 
 the guns wdth grape-shot, in order to be prepared against 
 the possibility of any attack during the night. They did 
 not venture to do so, however, and on the following morn- 
 ing all the savages had disappeared, and no natives were 
 subsequently seen from either of the vessels. During the 
 remainder of the passage through the strait to the southern 
 entrance, no more smoke was seen rising above the forest. 
 A few ruined huts here and there, as miserable in appear- 
 ance as the people themselves^ was all that was observed 
 
 c 2 
 
28 NEW GUINEA. 
 
 subsequently. Neither women nor children v>'ere seen 
 by the officers.'^* 
 
 Note. — The following account of the interview with the natives 
 in the trees, described at page 20, is extracted from Dr. S. Miiller's 
 "Bijdragen tot de Kennis van Nieuw Guinea," which forms part 
 of the great national work entitled " Yerhandeling over de 
 Natuurlijke Geschiedenis der Nederlansch Overzeesche Bezittin- 
 gen," which was published during the years 1839 — 1844, by 
 order of the King of the Netherlands : 
 
 " Until four o'clock in the afternoon we saw nothing more of the 
 savages. At that hour, however, we thought we perceived an agi- 
 tation in the high forest, and shortly afterwards we actually saw 
 several men clambering about in the tops of the trees, and peeping 
 out through the leaves and branches, now here, and now there. It 
 was just high water, and as far as we could perceive the surface of 
 the ground was entirely submerged. Excited by curiosity, and 
 anxious to know what impression the encounter of the morning had 
 made upon the natives, Messrs, Macklot, Van Delden, Van Oort, 
 and I, went towards them in a boat. As we approached the shore, 
 we observed that the trees were fidl of natives. They made a 
 terrible disturbance, sprang about, beckoned, nodded, and gave us 
 to understand by a hundx'ed other motions and gestures that they 
 wished us to land. Oiu' Ceramese interpreter, on his part, was 
 equally active and noisy in inviting them to come to us, for which 
 purpose he showed them white calico, strings of beads, and similar 
 presents. Several of them clambered down from the trees, and 
 advanced beyond the forest -with green branches in their hands, the 
 water reaching to their armpits, and sometimes even to their necks. 
 The beckoning and waving of the branches, and the loud yelping 
 cries of 'kaka, kaka,' ' djcwa, djewa,' 'njicuba, njieuba,' &c., were 
 without end. They all yelled in a different key, and strove to 
 outvie each other in the shrillness of their voices, and extravagance 
 of their gestures. Their party-coloured countenances and bewildered 
 
 * "Bijdragen tot de Kennis van Nieuw Guinea," p. 42. 
 
DOURGA STRAIT. 29 
 
 hair were displayed very distinctly. The shallo^v^less of the water 
 preventing us from approacliing close up to the shore, we were 
 oblit'ed to be satisfied mth an inspection from a short distance. 
 Mr. Van Oort profited by this opportunity of making a sketch of 
 the singular scene, of which we have given a life-like representation 
 (eene aanschouwelijke voorstelling) in Plate iv. [Plate iii of this 
 work is a veiy accurate copy.] After tarrying for about half an 
 hour, we proceeded westward towards the mouth of the creek, the 
 savages following us, clambering through the upper branches of the 
 trees, and over the roots of the mangrove trunks, even like great 
 monkeys, with their naked and dark-coloured bodies. The fall of 
 night obliged us, whether willing or unwilling, to return on board." 
 — " Bijdragen tot de Kennis van Nieuw Guinea," p. 41. 
 
30 NEW GUINEA. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 NEW GUINEA. SOUTH-WEST COAST. 
 
 CAPTAIX cook's interview with the PAPUANS IN 1770 — LIEUTENANT 
 
 KOLFf's visit to the SAME SPOT IN 1828 HIS INTERVIEW^ WITH 
 
 THE NATIVES ICHTHYOSIS SINGULAR PRACTICE OF EJECTING A 
 
 SMOKE-LIKE MATERIAL FROM BAMBOO TUBES LIEUTENANT MO- 
 
 DERa's ACCOUNT OF THE PRACTICE DR. MULLEr's EXPLANATION 
 
 LOCAL CHARACTER OF THE PRACTICE PROGRESS OF THE DUTCH 
 
 EXPEDITION OF 1838 ALONG THE COAST MEET A PAPUAN FLOTILLA 
 
 PRACTICE OF STANDING WHILE PADDLING THEIR PRAHUS INTER- 
 VIEW WITH THE NATIVES — FRIENDLY INTERCOURSE ESTABLISHED 
 
 TRADING PROPENSITIES OF THE PAPUANS CEREMONIAL VISIT OF 
 
 THE PAPUAN CHIEF ABRAUW AFFECTION OF THE NATIVES TOWARDS 
 
 THEIR CHIEF ARISTOCRATIC COOLNESS OF THE NATIVES FRIENDLY 
 
 CONDUCT TOWARDS THE DUTCH CHARACTERISTICS OF THE OUTA- 
 
 NATAS ICHTHYOSIS BORING THE SEPTUM OF THE NOSE, AND 
 
 POINTING THE TEETH — DRESS AND ORNAMENTS — CHARACTERISTICS 
 OF THE FEMALES A MOTHER AND CHILD DISPOSITION AND CHA- 
 RACTER OF THE OUTANATAS ARMS AND IMPLEMENTS — CANOES 
 
 HABITATIONS DOMESTIC ANIMALS FOOD FRUITS AND VEGETA- 
 BLES — DOUBTS AS TO WHETHER THE OUTANATAS ARE A COAST OR 
 INLAND TRIBE PAPUAN FLOTILLAS EXPEDITION PROCEEDS TO- 
 WARDS TRITON BAY A PAPUAN PARADISE — THE SETTLEMENT 
 
SOUTH-WEST COAST. 31 
 
 FOUNDED MOHAMMEDAX INFLUEXCES ON THE NATIVES THEIR 
 
 GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS FOREIGN INTERCOURSE MARAUDERS 
 
 OF ONIN THE SLATE-TRADE COMMERCE GENERAL VIEW OF THE 
 
 NATIVES OF THE WEST COaST OF NEW GUINEA THE ALFOEREN, OR 
 
 MOUNTAINEERS ORIGIN OF THE TERM " ARAFURAS." 
 
 The tribes noticed in the preceding chapter are the 
 most uncouth in appearance of any that have yet been 
 encountered by Europeans in New Guinea. The cir- 
 cumstances under which Lieutenant Modera^s interview 
 took placCj with well-grounded cause for suspicion on 
 both sideSj were certainly unfavourable to the develop- 
 ment of any pleasing characteristics on the part of the 
 natives, which a more unrestrained intercourse might have 
 brought to light ; and it must also be taken into con- 
 sideration that they were met with away from their homes, 
 apparently on a hunting or fishing excursion. The belt 
 of mangrove-trees must be crossed, and their habitations 
 on the firm land visited, before a judgment can be pro- 
 nounced as to their social condition. The fact of their 
 protecting, and perhaps planting the cocoa-nut-tree, shows 
 that they have made the first great step out of the savage 
 state, so that upon this point they are incomparably in 
 advance of the Australian aborigines. 
 
 The spot vdsited in 1770 by Captain Cook, who was 
 the sole authority respecting the natives of the south-west 
 coast of Xew Guinea until the publication of Lieutenant 
 Kolfi^s naiTative in 1828, is apparently the permanent 
 residence of a tribe, as a village was found by the latter 
 officer near the same spot more than fifty years afterwards. 
 The striking peculiarities in the customs of the native 
 tribe described by our ablest of navigators, have excited 
 
32 NEW GUINEA. 
 
 SO much curiosity, that the portion of his narrative which 
 treats of his inteniew with them is given below in a 
 note.* The village lies about sixty miles to the north of 
 the entrance of Dourga Strait^ in lat. 6° 15' S. 
 
 * " On the 3rd of September, 1770, at daybreak we saw the land 
 extending from N. by E. to S. E., at about four leagues distance, 
 and we then kept standing in for it with a fresh gale at E.S.E. and 
 E. by S. tiU nine o'clock, when being within three or four miles of 
 it, and in tlu-ee fathom water, we brought to. The pinnace being 
 hoisted out, I set off from the ship with the boat's crew, accom- 
 panied by 'Mi. Banks, who also took his servant, and Dr. Solander, 
 being in aU twelve persons well armed ; we rowed directly towards 
 the shore, but the water was so shallow that we could not reach it 
 by about two hundred yards. "We waded, however, the rest of the 
 way, having left two of the seamen to take care of the boat. 
 
 " Hitherto we had seen no sign of inhabitants at this place, but 
 as soon as we got ashore we discovered the prints of human feet, 
 which could not long have been impressed upon the mud, as they 
 were below high water mark ; we therefore concluded that the 
 people were at no great distance, and as a thick wood came down 
 within a hundred yards of the water, we thought it necessary to 
 proceed with caution, lest we should faU into an ambuscade, and our 
 retreat to the boat be cut off. We walked along the skirts of the 
 wood, and at the distance of about two hundred yards from the place 
 where we landed, we came to a grove of cocoa-nut-trees, which stood 
 upon the banks of a Httle brook of brackish water. The trees were 
 of a small gro-^-th, but well hung with fruit ; and near them was a 
 shed, or hut, which had been covered with their leaves, though most 
 of them were now fallen off ; about the hut lay a great number of 
 the shells of the fruit, some of which appeared to be just fresh fi-om 
 the tree. We looked at the fruit very wistfully, but not thinking it 
 safe to climb, we were obliged to leave it without tasting a single 
 nut. 
 
 " At a little distance from this place we found plantains, and a 
 bread-fruit -ti'ee, but it had nothing upon it ; and having now ad- 
 
SOUTH-WEST COAST. 33 
 
 Lieutenant Kolff was equally unsuccessful with Captain 
 Cook in opening a friendly intercoui'se with the inhabi- 
 
 vanced about a quarter of a mile from tbe boat, three Indians 
 rashed out of the wood with a hideous shout, at about the distance 
 of a hundred yards ; and as they ran towards us, the foremost 
 threw something out of his hand, which flew on one side of him, 
 and burnt exactly like gunpowder, but made no report : the other 
 two instantly thi-ew their lances at us, and as no time was now to be 
 lost we discharged our pieces, which were loaded with small shot. 
 It is probable that they did not feel the shot, for though they 
 halted a moment they did not retreat, and a third dart was thrown 
 at us. As we thought their farther approach might be prevented 
 with less risk of life, than it would cost to defend ourselves against 
 their attack if they should come nearer, we loaded our pieces with 
 ball and fired a second time. By this discharge it is probable that 
 some of them were wounded, yet we had the satisfaction to see that 
 thev all ran awav with great agihtv. 
 
 " As I was not disposed forcibly to invade this country, either to 
 gratify our appetites or our curiosity, and perceived that nothing 
 was to be done upon friendly terms, we improved this interval, in 
 which the destruction of the natives was no longer necessary to our 
 own defence, and with all expedition returned towards our boat. 
 As we were advancing along the shore, we perceived that the two 
 men on board made signals that more Indians were coming down, 
 and before we got into the water we saw several of them coming 
 round a point at a distance of about five hundred yards. It is 
 probable that they had met with the three who first attacked us, 
 for as soon as they saw us they halted, and seemed to wait till 
 their main body should come up. "We entered the water, and 
 waded towards the boat, and they remained at their station without 
 giving us any intemiption. 
 
 " As soon as we were aboard we rowed abreast of them, and their 
 number then appeared to be between sixty and a hundied. V^ e 
 took a view of them at our leisure; they made much the same 
 appearance as the Xew Hollanders, being nearly of the same stature. 
 
34 NEW GUINEA. 
 
 tants of this village. The narrative of his voyage through 
 the Moluccan Archipelago and along the south-west coast 
 of New Guinea, which appeared in 1828, was translated 
 by the writer during the passage from England of Her 
 Majesty^s ships ' Alligator ' and ' Britomart' to form the 
 
 and having their hair short-cropped ; hke them also they were all 
 stark naked, but we thought the colour of their skm was not quite 
 so dark ; tliis, however, might perhaps be merely the effect of their 
 not being quite so dirty. All this while they were shouting 
 •defiance, and letting off theh fires by four or five at a time. T\Tiat 
 these fires were, or for what purpose intended, we could not 
 unagine; those who discharged them had in their hands a short 
 piece of stick — possibly a hollow cane — ^which tliey swung sideways 
 from them, and we immediately saw fire and smoke, exactly re- 
 sembhng those of a musket, and of no longer duration. This 
 wonderful phenomenon was observed from the ship, and the de- 
 ception was so great that the people on board thought they had 
 fire-arms ; and in the boat, if we had not been so near as that we 
 must have heard the report, we should have thought they had been 
 firing volleys. 
 
 "After we had looked at them attentively some time, without 
 taking any notice of their flashing and vociferation, we fired some 
 muskets over their heads ; upon hearmg the balls rattle among the 
 trees they walked leisurely away, and we retui-ned to the ship. 
 Upon examining the weapons they had thrown at us we found them 
 to be hght darts, about four feet long, very ill-made, of a reed or 
 bamboo-cane, and pointed with hard wood, in which there were 
 many barbs. These were discharged with great force, for though 
 we were at sixty yards distance they went beyond us, but in what 
 manner we could not exactly see ; possibly they might be shot with 
 a bow, but we saw no bows among them when we sun^eyed 
 them from the boat, and we were in general of opinion that 
 they were tlirown with a stick, in the mamier practised by the 
 New Hollanders." — "Captain Cook's First Voyage," book iii, 
 chapter vii. 
 
SOUTH-WEST COAST. 35 
 
 settlement at Port Essington, and was published in this 
 countn^ in 1 840 ; but as its circulation has not been very 
 extensive, and no subsequent nsit to this spot has been 
 recorded, Lieutenant Kolff's account of his interview with 
 this un-named tribe may be new to the reader. 
 
 " On the 13th (May, 1826), being between the paral- 
 lels of 6^ and 6^ 30' S., we were enabled to near the 
 land; and seeing smoke arise to the northward of us, we 
 stood towards it, and shortly perceived a number of small 
 houses on the sandy beach, off which we came to anchor 
 in three fathoms, about four miles distant from the shore. 
 A number of men were i-unning to and fro on the beach, 
 and I lowered one of the boats down for the purpose of 
 communicating with them. Several small prahus, con- 
 taininsr seven or eisht men each, now came towards the 
 vessel, and ha^-ing approached to within musket-shot, 
 turned back towards the shore. With a view to give 
 them confidence, I sent the crew dov^ii below, and caused 
 the pilots and interpreters to call out to them : but their 
 answers were unintelligible. Seeing that they were afraid 
 to come on board, I sent one of the interpreters with six 
 native seamen in the boat, unarmed, with a view to 
 conciliate them by presents of tobacco, &c., which were 
 shown to them and then launched towards them on a 
 plank. 
 
 " Our endeavours, however, were unsuccessful, for they 
 were as much afraid of the boat as of the brig, and re- 
 treated on its approach. I therefore called the boat on 
 board again, on which the natives remained quiet for 
 some time, until the number of their prahus increased to 
 twelve, when they suddenly rowed towards the brig with 
 
36 NEW GUINEA. 
 
 a loud shoutj stopping, however, wlien still at a little 
 distance. I again showed them the presents, and called 
 to them in the Papuan language, but with the same 
 result as before. I then again sent the boat towards them, 
 without the interpreter being able to get near ; and it 
 had no sooner commenced returning than the natives 
 followed with loud cries, taking up their bows and arrows, 
 but stopping short when the people in the boat ceased 
 rowing. This mode of proceeding continued for some 
 time, and at length, seeing that the natives had their 
 bows strung ready for attack, I fired a blank cartridge 
 towards them, on which they all threw themselves flat on 
 their faces for a few moments, and then paddled away for 
 the shore with all their might. 
 
 "These people appeared to be of large stature, with jet- 
 black skins, and curled hair. They went entirely naked, 
 and no scarifj'ing of the skin, or other mode of orna- 
 menting, was visible on their persons. In two of the 
 prahus I remarked several men whose skins were of a 
 whitish colour. They appeared to be chiefly young men, 
 not one among them being advanced in years. Two of 
 the oldest-looking wore the skins of animals. 
 
 "While the prahus were pulling towards shore, a man 
 stood up in one of them, with a thick bamboo in his hand, 
 out of which he threw something that appeared to me to be 
 ashes. When the boat approached them they also threw 
 water up in the air, and showed their teeth like enraged 
 dogs. ]\Iy interpreter assured me that these people were 
 so inhuman as to devour their prisoners taken in war, 
 which appeared probable enough, if we may judge from 
 the above grimaces. 
 
SOUTH-WEST COAST. 37 
 
 " The huts of these negroes, which are scattered along 
 the beach, are low and open on all sides : the soil around 
 the village was white sand, on which numbers of large 
 trees grew, many casuarinas being among them. A siliall 
 river ran into a bay immediately opposite to our an- 
 chorage. On going on shore we were as unsuccessful as 
 on the water, in our attempts to communicate with these 
 shy people, as they always fled on our approach, and 
 climbed into the trees at a distance. To judge from 
 the number of houses and men that we saw, the coast 
 hereabouts must be very populous. We saw at a distance 
 some other houses, which appeared to be much larger 
 than those on the beach. Some bones, probably those of 
 buflfaloes, were met with, but not the least trace of agri- 
 culture, arts, or civilization. I was sorry, nevertheless, at 
 not being able to communicate with the natives, and the 
 next morning I continued my voyage, it being tolerably 
 certaia that all endeavours to make friends with them 
 would be fruitless.'"* 
 
 The people described by Mr. Kolff as having 
 ^' w4iitish" skins, were probably afflicted with ichthyosis, 
 a disease which gives the skin a leprous, scaly appearance, 
 and is very prevalent among all the coast tribes of the 
 Archipelago ; but it is more striking among the Papuans, 
 owing to the little clothing they w^ar, and the contrast 
 which the diseased parts present to the natural dark 
 colour of the skin. Mr. Kolff also notices the practice 
 which attracted the attention of Captain Cook and his 
 companions, and led them at first to suppose that the 
 
 * " Voyage of the ' Dourga,' " &c., p. 323 et seq. 
 
38 NEW GUINEA. 
 
 natives of this part of New Guinea were in possession of 
 fire-arms. As the curiosity excited by Captain Cook^s 
 account of his short visit to this neighbourhood has never 
 yet' been satisfied^ it will be necessary to extract at length 
 the evidence given by the Dutch voyagers respecting this 
 practice. It was first observed by the officers of the 
 ' Triton^ on a part of the coast about eighty miles to the 
 north-west of the village seen by Captain Cook and 
 Lieutenant KolflP, where the natives were very numerous ; 
 bat so shy^ that after many attempts it was found impos- 
 sible to open a communication with them. Mr. Modera^s 
 account of the practice is as follows : 
 
 '* Several men were seen standing on the beach, 
 waving a short piece of bamboo, out of which there 
 issued each time something like smoke, but without fire 
 being observed. The interpreter said (and it subse- 
 quently proved to be the case on our having opportunities 
 of handling them) that they had a mixture of lime, ashes, 
 and sand, which they threw out above them in order to 
 show where they were {om zich te doen verkennen.'^)^ 
 
 Dr. Miiller^s account is more full, but scarcely more 
 satisfactory. After noticing Captain Cook^s narrative of 
 his interview with the natives, and Captain Hunter's 
 suggestions as to the material used, he says : " We 
 observed this practice among the coast inhabitants, met 
 with between the meridians of 136° and 137° E. ; and 
 Captain Cook as well as Lieutenant Kolff witnessed it a 
 degree and a half further to the eastward. However, we 
 never observed it in use among the natives of Prinses- 
 
 * " Reize," (Src, p. 51. 
 
SOUTH-WEST COAST. 39 
 
 Marianne (Dourga) Strait^ nor among the inhabitants of 
 Lobo (the district in which Triton Bay is situated), and 
 the neighbourhood. It was the opinion of our inter- 
 preters that the custom was adopted chiefly for purposes 
 of mutual recognition between parties at a distance from 
 each other [om zich onderling op eenigen af stand te doen 
 verkennen). It should also be noticed that, according to 
 the best of our observation^ it was used when they met 
 strangers with friendly intentions, as well as when .they 
 wished to show open enmity, or when they took to flight 
 from mistrust. The interpreter, Patty Barombang, was 
 under the impression that a sidelong or horizontal pro- 
 jection of the composition showed pacific intentions ; but 
 that when thrown upwards in the air it indicated a chal- 
 lenge, or an intention to resist. It also appeared to us 
 by no means improbable that this tube may be used as a 
 sort of weapon for throwing a pain-creating dust into the 
 eyes of enemies.^^* 
 
 The interpreter's suggestion, as to a sidelong projection 
 indicating pacific iotentions, does not agree with Captain 
 Cook^s experience. The custom itself is evidently of a 
 local character, as it has never been observed elsewhere 
 in New Guinea. Possibly it may have originated in a 
 rude attempt of a peculiarly imitative people, to produce 
 something resembling the discharges of jnusketiy from 
 which they had sufi'ered at the hands of the earher Euro- 
 pean navigators. 
 
 The south-west coast of New Guinea, between the 
 Dourga Strait and the Outanata River, must be well- 
 
 * "Bijdi'agen tot de Kennis van Nieuw Guinea," p. 55. 
 
40 XEW GUINEA. 
 
 peopled^ for during the progress of the ' Triton ' numbers 
 of the natives were seen either running to and fro on the 
 beach, making demonstrations with their bamboo tubes, 
 or paddling about in canoes : but always keeping at too 
 great a distance from the ship, or from the boats that 
 were sent to meet them, to permit of close intercourse ; 
 every attempt to get near them, being followed by imme- 
 diate flight on the part of the Papuans, whose curiosity, 
 however, prompted them to return towards the vessels 
 the moment that pursuit was discontinued. It was not 
 until the Expedition approached the Outanata River, 
 which lies 250 miles to the north-west of Dourga Strait, 
 that a closer intercourse was established ; and then the 
 natives came alongside the ' Triton^ with a boldness and 
 confidence that presented a remarkable contrast to the 
 timid shyness of their predecessors. But we must 
 quote Mr. Modera's own description of this interesting 
 event : — 
 
 " At break of day on the 9th of June, we saw a num- 
 ber of prahus following the schooner, each of which 
 contained from five to twelve natives, who paddled stand- 
 ing,* like those we had seen on the 6th. Lieutenant 
 TuUekens went towards them with an armed boat, in 
 
 * The practice of standing up to paddle their canoes is repeatedly 
 noticed by Lieutenants Kolff and Modera, and it seems to he general 
 throughout the coasts of New Guinea. The brown-coloured natives 
 of the Archipelago all sit, or "squat," while paddling their canoes, 
 excepting the Badju Laut, or Sea Gypsies, who stand, like the 
 Papuans, and give as a reason for this proceediug, the superior 
 facilities it affords them of seeing turtle, and of chasmg them when 
 discovered. — G. W. E. 
 
OUTAXATA RIVER. 41 
 
 which Mr. Van Delden and an interpreter were also 
 embarked^ in order to open a communication ; on which 
 the natives advanced to meet the boat, and immediately 
 afterwards two of their prahus came alongside the 
 ' Triton/ and put a couple of natives on board, who 
 came up the ship^s side with great confidence, making 
 signs that they wanted some cloth, a few pieces of which 
 were given to them. The boat which had been dis- 
 patched to meet the prahus, returned to the ship soon 
 afterwards, with four of the natives sitting veiy com- 
 fortably in it, and the prahus following; but all of a 
 sudden, and without any apparent cause, the two prahus 
 that were alongside started away from the ship, and the 
 four natives in the boat jumped overboard, and swam to 
 their prahus, which then pulled towards the schooner, the 
 latter vessel being at some distance from the 'Triton,' 
 and out of reach of her guns. The commander of the 
 ' Triton' thinking that a plan had been formed to cut off 
 the schooner, sent Lieutenants Tjassens and Modera with 
 the barge and pinnace, fully manned and armed, to her 
 assistance : but fortunately this was not required, for the 
 prahus kept at a distance behind the schooner; and 
 although the natives were armed, and far exceeded in 
 numbers the united crews of the schooner and the two 
 boats, they appeared to have no hostile intentions. At 
 length one of the prahus rowed slowly and cautiously 
 alongside the 'Triton,' and at the same time several 
 others approached the schooner, and commenced bar- 
 tering away their weapons to the crew. A breeze 
 springing up soon afterwards, enabled the ' Iris' to make 
 sail and join the 'Triton.' Both vessels now proceeded 
 
42 NEW GUINEA. 
 
 together, accompanied by the prahus, which visited each 
 vessel alternately/^* 
 
 A friendly intercourse was now established, which 
 continued uninterrupted during the twelve days^ stay of 
 the Expedition in this neighbourhood, and afforded the 
 officers a very favourable opportunity of acquiring in- 
 formation concerning one of the most powerful tribes 
 yet encountered on the coasts of New Guinea, whether 
 as regards numbers or individual proportions. Mr. 
 Modera^s account of this tribe will be read with the 
 greatest interest by the philanthropist as well as by the 
 scientific ethnographer, as it will enable them to realise 
 the statements of Yalentyn, and other old historians, 
 respecting the former power of the Papuans. The flotilla 
 of light prahus met with on this occasion, many miles 
 distant from the spot inhabited by the tribe, was e^-i- 
 dently fitted out for some warlike purpose — possibly to 
 decide a dispute with some neighbouring village ; but 
 the natives were evidently well-disposed towards the 
 European strangers; and the decks of the vessels are 
 described by Mr. Modera as having been like a fair 
 during the latter part of the day on which they were first 
 met with, owing to the brisk trade that was carried on : 
 the natives exchanging their bows, arrows, spears, war- 
 clubs, paddles, and personal ornaments, for pieces of 
 cloth, knives, empty bottles, looking-glasses and beads ; 
 the two latter articles, however, being in no crreat 
 demand. 
 
 Soon after sunset, the ship and the schooner anchored 
 
 * " Reize naar de zuid-west Kust van Nieuw Guinea," p. 61. 
 
OUTANATA RIVER. 43 
 
 for the night off the coast, being still thirty miles short 
 of the Outanata River, which the commander of the 
 Expedition had now determined to visit. Soon after 
 sunset, all the natives left the vessels, and pulled towards 
 the shore ; but on the following moniing they returned, 
 brinsinir the head chief with them, who, however, had 
 probably been present during the previous interview, but 
 had thought fit to preserve his incognito, until an oppor- 
 tunity occurred for consultation with the other chiefs 
 respecting future proceedings. 
 
 In the following description of the tribe, which was 
 first made knowTi to the world through the medium of 
 Lieutenant ]\Iodera^s publication^ his clear narrative will 
 be quoted at length where the information connected 
 with the natives is unmixed with hydrographical details, 
 to which, as one of the surveying officers of the Expedi- 
 tion, his attention appears to have been more especially 
 directed. The first extract describes the inter\'iew which 
 took place on the occasion of the ceremonial visit of the 
 Papuan chief, and which seems to have led the Dutch 
 authorities to determine on fixing their new settlement 
 within his territories, in the event of a convenient port 
 being met with. 
 
 " On the morning of the 10th of June, a number of 
 canoes again visited the schooner; and soon afterwards 
 the commander, Mr, Bastiaanse, repaired on board the 
 ' Triton,^ bringing with him a Papuan, clad in a Malayan 
 kahaya, or loose coat*, and with a handkerchief tied round 
 the head, from the folds of which he produced a written 
 paper, and submitted it to Captain Steenboon for 
 perusal. It proved to be nothing more than a charm 
 
44 NEW GUINEA. 
 
 (perhaps a sentence from the Koran), written in the 
 Malayan character, and which had probably been given 
 him by a Mohammedan priest from Ceram ; for according 
 to the account of the native interpreter who trans- 
 lated it, the people of Ceram carry on a trade with the 
 Outanata Kiver, a fact which was afterwards confirmed by 
 our being shown the houses in which the traders reside 
 during their stay upon the coast. Our new friend called 
 himself Abrauw [anglice, Abraham), and was well ac- 
 quainted with our native interpreter, as was evident 
 from the joy he displayed on recognising him. The 
 interpreter had often spoken of an 'Abrauw' and a 
 ' Makaai' as chiefs of the Outanata, and the latter we 
 became acquainted with subsequently. 
 
 " Abrauw, according to his own account, was the chief 
 of all the Papuans who had visited us on the preceding 
 day. The Commander and the Commissioner took him 
 into the cabin to hold a conference, and they were able 
 to get on very well, for although the native interpreter 
 was only slightly acquainted with the Papuan language, 
 Abrauw, from having personally visited Ceram, and held 
 long intercourse with the traders, was well acquainted 
 with the Ceram dialect, the mother tongue of the inter- 
 preter.* During the audience, which lasted for some 
 time, his people jhowed great uneasiness, shouting re- 
 peatedly '^ Abrauw!' as loud as they could, so that his 
 sable Majesty was obliged now and then to show himself 
 
 * The dialects of Ceram differ materially from the Malayan, but 
 the interpreters are also acquainted with the latter language, which, 
 as the Lingua Franca of the Archipelago, is acquired by all Euro- 
 peans who become residents there. — G. W. E. 
 
OUTAXATA RIVER. 45 
 
 at the stern windows to his naked, but apparently faith- 
 ful, subjects. 
 
 '^ On his departure, he left five of his people with us 
 to point out the mouth of the river, and promised to 
 return in the afternoon with refreshments. He left us 
 with his hands full of presents, which he had received 
 right and left, and all his people followed, with the excep- 
 tion of the five pilots above-mentioned. The latter were 
 also well suj^plied with presents, and we were enabled to 
 hold full communication with them by means of the 
 native interpreter. The effect of fire-arms was not alto- 
 gether unkno\\Ti to them, for wlien we informed them 
 that we were going to fire, but that they must not be 
 afraid, they willingly consented, and showed by signs 
 that when the Ceramese fired from theii* prahus, they 
 were in the habit of diving under water. However, a 
 blank cartridge, fired from a musket, startled them a 
 little, but they afterwards burst out into a shout of 
 lau^hter.^^* 
 
 The natives were also astonished by a display of 
 European skill in breaking bottles suspended under the 
 yard-arm with musket-shots, by the ticking of a watch, 
 and other modes in which Europeans delight in showing 
 their superiority over their savage friends; but ^Ir. 
 Modera rather naively expresses his own surprise at the 
 imperturbable coolness of Abrauw and two minor chiefs 
 who came on board in the afternoon, and who seem to 
 have rivalled more civilized aristocrats in their determina- 
 tion not to be astonished at anything that they saw or 
 heard. 
 
 * ^'Reize," <S:c., p. G3. 
 
46 NEW GUINEA. 
 
 " Nothing excited our -svonder more than that they 
 should have shown so little curiosity or surprise at the 
 ^ things they saw on board, which were perfectly new to 
 them, not the least of which must have been the white 
 faces of the Europeans. One would suppose from this 
 that they had seen European ships before ; but during 
 our stay here we could not discover the slightest grounds 
 for such a supposition.^^* 
 
 The Expedition remained ten days off the mouth of 
 the Outanata River, takmg on board fresh water and 
 firewood (in which they were cordially assisted by the 
 inhabitants), and in examining the banks of the river 
 with a view to the formation of a settlement. The river 
 proved to be a noble stream, with depth of water in its 
 bed sufficient to float the largest ship ; but unfortunately 
 a bar of sand extended across the mouth, which even 
 small vessels would find difficulty in passing at all sea- 
 sons. Had the case been otherwise, the settlement which 
 it was the object of the Expedition to form, would pro- 
 bably have become permanent, for the desire of the native 
 chief to see such an establishment made in his territory 
 could not be doubted, and he evidently had sufficient 
 control over his people to restrain those fitful outbreaks 
 of individuals that have hitherto proved fatal to every 
 European settlement formed among the Papuans. The 
 river afforded easy access to the interior, and the natural 
 productions of its banks would alone have been sufficient 
 to support a foreign commerce. But we must return to 
 Mr. Modera^s description of this interesting tribe, which 
 
 * "Reize,"<S:c., p. 67. 
 
XtOL " r:^PphlC - " Vrl .] 
 
 Plate lY. 
 
 . H)': f?tt»itfJ^ att ruii ft',' 
 
 i._i.\, vi -^c^./tinrnS'SCr-ana.. 
 
 U T A N A T A . N t vV GUINEA 
 
OUTANATA RIVER. 47 
 
 is so full of valuable information as to satisfy every 
 inquiry as to personal characteristics : 
 
 " They are generally above the middle stature ; indeed, 
 many among them must be considered as large-sized 
 men. They are all well made and muscular. Their 
 colour is dai'k brown [donker -bruin) , over which some- 
 times lies a \A\iQ\%\i ^os^ {blaauwachtige gloed).^ Some 
 of them have an ugly-looking disease of the skin, by 
 means of which the entire surface of the body and limbs 
 is rendered scaly. They had all a most agreeable smell 
 about them, which, however, was much deteriorated by 
 the loathsome habit of plastering the body with sand 
 and mud. Their hair is crisp and woolly [kort gekruld 
 en luollig), and they wear it very cleverly plaited from 
 the forehead over the crown of the head to the occiput. 
 They have small and dark-coloured eyes, and long and 
 drooping [nederhangenden] noses, the septum of which 
 was almost invariably pierced to carry an ornament con- 
 sisting of pieces of stick, bone, or hog's tusks. The 
 mouth is large, and provided with lily-white [spierwitte) 
 teeth, which are sometimes sharpened to points. The 
 lips are tolerably thick. Their features bear a general 
 resemblance to those of Arabian s,t a peculiarity which 
 
 * This pecuHarity is often noticed in descriptions of Papuans, 
 more especially those of the Pacific, and I have therefore made it a 
 subject of close inquiry. As it is never met with among the 
 Papuan slaves of the Archipelago, I had been led to attribute it to 
 some artificial process, and the result of every inquiry has left no 
 doubt on my mind that it is produced by the appHcation of a de- 
 coction of the bark of a tree, possibly the " rosamala" of commerce 
 or some other closely aUied to it. — G. W. E. 
 
 t The term used by IMr. Modera is "Arabieren," which, as 
 
48 NEW GUINEA. 
 
 they have in common with the Dourga tribe^ although 
 they are by no means as wild and repulsive as the 
 latter. The greater portion go entirely naked^ but 
 some of them wear a piece of bark, or a strip of a 
 coarse kind of cloth made of the husk of the cocoa-nut, 
 or with a piece of bamboo. They ornament the neck, 
 arms, and waist with hog^s teeth, and some wear brace- 
 lets and bangles (or leglets) of twisted rattans, also a 
 neck ornament of a sort of net-work of rushes, very 
 cleverly woven. A couple of plaited peaked caps were 
 obtained from them by barter, but we never saw them 
 wear them, except on one occasion, when two of them, 
 at our request, put them on while they were being 
 sketched by Messrs. Van Oort and Van Raalten. Each 
 of the Outanatas seemed desirous of ornamenting himself 
 in some way different from his neighbour. Some had 
 small scarifications [likteekens) on the body, more espe- 
 cially on the arms, breast, and stomach ; and which, they 
 informed us, were made by cutting the skin and flesh 
 with sharp stones, and afterwards burning the part, which 
 caused the flesh, when the wound healed, to rise above 
 the general sm'face of the skin to the thickness of a 
 finger. 
 
 " The women are of the middle stature, and are gene- 
 rally somewhat darker in complexion than the men. "VVe 
 
 already stated, is commonly employed by the Dutch to designate 
 "negroes." It is well known that the true Arab has Caucasian 
 features, but so many negro slaves have been introduced into 
 Arabia from the east coast of Africa, that they probably outnumber 
 their importers, as is said to be the case also in the Brazils.-^ 
 G. ^\. E. 
 
OUTANATA RIVER, 49 
 
 only saw two among them that Were good-looking ; the 
 remamder were by no means attractive. They carry their 
 children on their backs suspended in a clout or flap made 
 of the leaves or bark of trees. They anoint their bodies 
 with the same odoriferous ointment that has been already 
 mentioned as in use among the males. We found the 
 women to be much more modest than the men, as we did 
 not see one entirely naked, although their entire clothing 
 consisted of a patch of coarse cloth about six inches 
 square, which seemed to us to be woven from the 
 fibre of cocoa-nut husk. On one occasion, when several 
 of the gentlemen were on a visit to the shore, we saw a 
 particularly small child, which appeared to have been 
 recently born, lying in the hot sand with the burning sun 
 shining upon it. This child attracted our attention, and 
 we remained standing before it, on which the woman who 
 sat near, and was probably the mother, dragged it towards 
 her, and sprinkled some sand over its eyes and ears, and 
 then over its entire body, after which she concealed it 
 from our sight by covering it with leaves. 
 
 '^ The general disposition of the Outanatas appeared to 
 us to be good-natured. Abrauw and Makaai assured us 
 that nothing is ever stolen among them, and in the event 
 of such a case occurring, the culprit would be assuredly 
 killed. Indeed we had not the slightest occasion to 
 complain of dishonesty ; on the contrary, they even 
 brought to us articles which had been left on shore from 
 forgetfulness, and although these happened to be of no 
 great value, still it was a proof of their honesty. They 
 asked a large price, however, for the fruit they brought 
 us. We could not discover the slightest trace of religion 
 
 J) 
 
50 NEW GUINEA. 
 
 among them, although it is by no means improbable that 
 the Ceramese, who came here occasionally, may have con- 
 verted some of them to Mohammedanism, as is the case 
 with several of the tribes lying a little further to the east- 
 ward, of whom we shall have to speak presently. 
 
 *' The weapons of the Outanatas consist of bows, 
 arrows, lances, or throwing-speai*s, and very neatly carved 
 clubs. The bows and arrows, like those of the Dourga 
 tribe, were made, the first of bamboo or betel-wood about 
 ffve feet long, with a string of bamboo or twisted rattan, 
 and the aiTOws of cane or bamboo, with points of betel- 
 wood hardened in the fire. Some of the points were 
 shaped smooth, but others were hacked with barbs, or 
 armed with fish-bones, the claws of cassowaries feet, or 
 with the horns of saw-fishes. They had also a sort of 
 axe, composed of a single stick, to which a large sharp 
 pebble was fixed by a lashing of rattan, and with which, as 
 our native interpreter informed us, they could cut do^vn 
 the largest trees ; but we had no opportunity of witnessing 
 their skill. 
 
 " Their canoes or prahus consist of a single tree hol- 
 lowed out by means of fire. The largest that we saw was 
 sixty feet, and the smallest thirty-one feet long. They 
 are veiy narrow, and both ends are flat and broad above. 
 Many are very handsomely carved, and two of them were 
 ornamented at one end with festoon-work very skilfully 
 performed, and covered with white plaster. They stand 
 up to row, on which account their paddles are very 
 long in the handle, with oval blades somewhat hollowed 
 out. 
 
 ^'The habitation of the Outanatas, which was erected 
 
OUTANATA RIVER. 51 
 
 on a spit of sand extending into tlie river, consisted of a 
 frame of bamboos, covered on the roof and sides with 
 mats made of leaves. From without it appeared to be a 
 number of small houses standing close together, but on 
 entering it was found to be a single building about a 
 hundred feet long, sLx feet wide, and four-and-a-half to 
 five feet high. It had nineteen doors, which could only 
 be entered by stooping. The floor was covered with 
 white sand, and mats were given us to sit down upon. 
 Several families appeared to reside in this building, each 
 of which had its own door, and near to it was the family 
 cookiog-place, at which plantains, fish, and turtle-eggs 
 were roasted for food. As there was no escape for the 
 smoke except by these doors, which serve also for windows, 
 we were soon obliged to leave our host, Makaai, who had 
 invited us to enter. We met with neither pots nor pans, 
 nor with anything else in the shape of household furni- 
 ture. Their weapons hung under the voof> or were placed 
 standing against the outside of the house, while their 
 fishing-net was spread over the roof to diy. This house 
 had been erected since the arrival of the Expedition, the 
 work having been entirely performed by the women and 
 girls. Immediately behind was another house, much 
 larger, and erected upon piles, which we were informed 
 belonged to the Ceram traders, who resided there during 
 their annual visit. 
 
 " We saw a number of half- starved, ugly-looking dogs, 
 but soon found that little else was to be looked for in 
 the way of domestic animals. Some pigs were seen, and 
 the natives appeared to have a number of them, but we 
 were unable to purchase any ; for on one occasion, when 
 
 D 2 
 
OZ NEW GUINEA. 
 
 Mr. Bastiaanse succeeded in obtaining one in exchange 
 for some cloth, they appeared to repent so of their bar- 
 gain, and commenced such a howling when he wanted to 
 take it awaj-, that he was obliged to return it. Sago, fish 
 and shell-fish, and turtle-eggs, are the chief food of the 
 Outanatas. They brought us some bananas, cocoa-nuts, 
 papayas, nutmegs, bread-fruit, and very large oranges, 
 which were bartered for all sorts of cloth, so that we are 
 in a position to state that the former are grown here. Mr. 
 Zippelius (the botanist to the Expedition) found, among 
 other known and unknown plants, the Tacca-pinnatifida, 
 a root which, when dried in the sun and afterwards 
 baked, has some resemblance to our potato, and is used 
 as a substitute for that root in the South-Sea Islands. 
 A couple of turtle-shells hanging to the trees, and a 
 number of turtle-eggs which we saw in the possession 
 of the natives, showed that these animals existed, but we 
 did not meet with any. The river yields many excellent 
 fish, some of which were new varieties.^^* 
 
 The circumstances under which the village at the mouth 
 of the Outanata was erected, subsequent to the arrival 
 of the Expedition, show that this spot is only occupied 
 occasionally by the tribe, probably during the season in 
 which the Ceram traders visit the coast. The plantations, 
 which, in addition to the articles mentioned by Mr. 
 Modera, produce yams, sugar-cane, and Chili-pepper,t 
 are situated towards the upper parts of the river, where 
 the more permanent habitations of the natives may also 
 
 * Modera, " Reize," &c., pp. 7^ et seq. 
 t Dr. Miiller, "Bijdragcn/' (S:c., p. 50. 
 
OUTANATA RIVER. 53 
 
 be found. The boats of the Expedition seera to have 
 been too busily employed in wooding and watering to 
 admit of an exploration of the river towards its sources. 
 Had the case been otherwise, the speculations as to the 
 interior of New Guinea being occupied by a dififerent 
 people from the coast tribes, which are supported to a 
 certain extent by Dr. Miiller, would have been determined 
 one way or the other, at least as far as regards the south- 
 western part of the island. The information collected by 
 the Dutch Expedition leaves it a matter of doubt whether 
 the Outanatas are an inland or a coast tribe, although the 
 weight of the evidence is certainly in favour of the 
 former position. In that case, the tiotilla met with on 
 the coast at a distance of more than thirty miles from the 
 mouth of the river, may resemble in its character the 
 " bala^' of the inland inhabitants of Borneo, which oc- 
 casionally descend the rivers of that island to sweep the 
 adjacent coasts. This matter assumes an ethnographical 
 importance when viewed in conjunction with the fact, that 
 the habitations of the Papuans of Dori, on the north 
 coast of New Guinea {vide post) ; those of the south coast 
 seen by Captain Blackwood, R.N., of H.M.S. ^ Fly/ and 
 also those of the inland parts of the south-west coast,* 
 (according to the information of the natives) ; consist of 
 single large houses, erected on posts or piles, each being 
 occupied by several families, indeed, sometimes by an 
 entire tribe. 
 
 The flotillas which formerly issued from the rivers and 
 inlets of the west coast of New Guinea, receiving an 
 
 * Dr. Miiller, "Bijdragen tot de Keniiis van Nieuw Guinea," 
 p. 34. 
 
54 NEW GUINEA. 
 
 accession of force from the neigbbouring islands, appear 
 to bave been of a very formidable cbaracter. Yalentyn, 
 a bigb authority, speaks of it as a system of piracy, 
 with established receptacles for the sale of plunder, Kke 
 that of the modern Lanuns of Mindanao and Sulu;* 
 and we shall have occasion to quote Fon-est's account 
 of the last formidable Papuan flotilla which invaded 
 Moluccan waters, when treating of the natives of My sol. 
 Indeed, according to Lieutenant Kolff, probably the 
 best modern authority on piracy in these seas, the 
 Papuans of the Gulf of Ouin, or MacCluer^s Inlet, still 
 send out occasional expeditions of a predatoiy character.f 
 And, according to the writer^s own experience, these 
 expeditions are \4ewed with considerable dread by the 
 native traders ; for, although their own vessels are rarely, 
 if ever, attacked, yet the news of the Onin flotilla being 
 " out, " drives the coast natives of the neighbourhood to 
 their strongholds, and all hopes of trade dm-ing the 
 season are put an end to. It will also be seen from Mr. 
 Modera^s account of the natives of Triton Bay, which we 
 shall have to quote presently, that the warriors of Onin 
 are as formidable in the eyes of their more peaceably 
 disposed neighboui*s, as were the Norse Pii-ates of old in 
 those of the coast inhabitants of Britain. 
 
 The region we are now about to enter, which comprises 
 the southern portion of the Western Peninsula of New 
 Guinea, has been subjected to the influence, and, in a 
 partial degree, to the rule, of the Mohammedans of Ceram 
 
 * Yalentyn, " Bcschrijving vau Amboina/' pp. 53, 54, and 57. 
 "Ambonsche Zaakeu," p. 190. 
 t Kolff, '' Voyage of the ' Dourga,' " p. 299. 
 
WEST COAST. 00 
 
 and the Moluccas, during several centuries. This part of the 
 coast was scarcely known to Europeans until within the 
 last twenty-five years, for although some of the more 
 prominent points had been laid down by passing navi- 
 gators, no record exists of an actual visit to the coast 
 until 1826, when Lieutenant Kolfi" touched at Lakahya, 
 an islet near the head of the bight which separates the 
 peninsulas to the south : but meeting with a hostile recep- 
 tion, he left without ascertaining any important particulars 
 concerning the inhabitants.* The Expedition of 1828 
 was more successful, for when the vessels had advanced 
 about a hundred miles to the westward of the Outanata 
 River, they were visited by several small Papuan prahus ; 
 the crews of which came alongside the ships with great 
 confidence, and conducted them to a snug cove in an 
 island near the main land. On the shores of the cove was 
 found a little Papuan paradise, consisting of a valley over- 
 grown with cocoa-nut- trees, under the shade of which was 
 a neat little house, constructed after the ^lalayan fashion, 
 that had once been the residence of the Ceramese priest 
 who had converted the neighbouring population to Mo- 
 hammedanism. The settlement, which it was the chief 
 object of the Dutch Expedition to form, was at length 
 established on the shores of a deep inlet of the main-land, 
 distant a few miles from this cove. The swampy nature 
 of the land on which the fortified \dllage was erected, and 
 the oppressive nature of the atmosphere, owing to the 
 inlet being impervious to the sea-breeze, seem to have 
 foreboded the fate of the Dutch settlement even before the 
 
 * Kolff, " Yovage of the ' Dourga,' " chap. xx. 
 
56 NEW GUINEA. 
 
 garrison had been landed. It was abandoned ten years 
 afterwards (1838), when the garrison v/as removed to 
 Wahaai, a small port on the north coast of Ceram_, which 
 was much resorted to by English and American whale- 
 ships about that time. The following particulars respect- 
 ing the natives in the neighbourhood of the settlement 
 at Triton Bay are extracted from Lieutenant Modera's 
 narrative : 
 
 '^ The inhabitants of Aiduma, Dramaai, Lobo, and the 
 neighbouring islands (the tribes around the new settle- 
 ment), are of the same complexion with the Outanatas, 
 are afflicted with the same cutaneous disease, and have 
 also crisp hair, but they do not plait it like the Outanatas, 
 although this practice is adopted by some of the 'Al- 
 foeren,' or mountaineers. Neither do they bore the 
 septum of the nose, their ornaments consisting of bracelets 
 and bangles of rattan and swine's-teeth, and sometimes 
 of strings of glass beads, which are also worn about the 
 neck. A band of cocoa-nut cloth is worn round the 
 waist and between the legs, which gives them a more 
 decent appearance than the Outanatas and Dourgas. 
 This want of clothing makes them also anxious to 
 obtain sarongs, haudker chiefs, kabayas and any other 
 articles that serve to cover the body. They are by no 
 means so handsome and well-formed a race as the Outa- 
 natas : on the contrary, therc are many small and badly- 
 proportioned men among them, and, upon the whole, they 
 cannot be considered as more than a middle-sized race, 
 yet many of the ' Alfoeren,^ or mountaineei's, are of large 
 stature. Neither are their countenances so open and 
 prepossessing as those of the Outanatas^, but they have 
 
TRITON BAY. 57 
 
 this in common^ that both are great admirers of tobacco 
 and strong liquors, and their weapons are absolutely 
 identical/^ 
 
 The chiefs were all clad in the Malayan fashion, the 
 materials being obtained from the Ceram traders. Their 
 canoes are also provided with outriggers like those of the 
 Moluccas, and the larger prahus are covered with roofs of 
 atap, or marsh flags, under which entire families are 
 occasionally housed. Their habitations on shore, also, 
 like those of the Malays, are erected on wooden piles, and 
 constmcted of bamboos and atap. The general effect of 
 this intercourse on the character of the Papuans in this 
 neio-hbourhood must be told in Mr. ^lodera^s own im- 
 
 o 
 
 pressive words : 
 
 "It has been already mentioned that the people of 
 Ceram carry on a trade with the Papuans, more espe- 
 cially with those who reside hereabouts. This intercourse 
 is carried on with the greatest precaution on the part of 
 the Papuans, as they are constantly liable to the trea- 
 cherous attacks of the people of Onin,* who rob them of 
 their wives and children, for the purpose of selling them to 
 the Ceramese, Chinese, and Macassar traders : — a system 
 of plunder in which the Ceramese themselves are also 
 said to indulge, and which naturally gives rise to a 
 general feeling of distrust among the Papuans. We 
 attributed the circumstance of our seeing so few women 
 at Triton^s Bay to this want of confidence in strangers. 
 The inhabitants of an island called Karas, in the neigh- 
 bourhood of Ouin, also attack them occasionally. They 
 
 * A Papuan tribe inhabiting tlie shores of MacCluer's Inlet. — 
 G. W. E. 
 
 D 3 
 
58 NEW GUINEA. 
 
 come in prahus, sometimes a hundred in number, with the 
 sole object of robbery and murder. Not long before our 
 arrival; the village Warangara, on the shores of Triton^s 
 Bay, was surprised by one of these expeditions, and 
 almost entirely destroyed. The women who fell into 
 their hands were carried away into captivity, and the men 
 were murdered. The Papuans of this neighbourhood are 
 not entii'ely guiltless themselves, as they sell the slaves 
 brought here fi'om the Bay of Ai'goeni, and which have 
 probably been stolen or carried away by \dolence, to the 
 Ceramese.^^ 
 
 The Ceramese traders remain upon the coast four or 
 five months on the occasion of each ^dsit, as the produce 
 is brought in veiy slowly by the mountaineers, who are 
 the chief collectors. The principal articles obtained from 
 the interior are the odoriferous bark of the Massoi, 
 Belishary, and Rosamala, which are extensively used 
 among the islands of the Archipelago, more especially 
 Java and Bali, as cosmetics, and, it is said, as medicine ; 
 also dye-woods, nutmegs, the skins of birds of paradise, 
 edible birds^ nests, li\e cockatoos, lories, and crowned 
 pigeons : many of the tliree last eventually reaching 
 China, Hindostan, and even Europe, by way of our 
 settlement at Singapore. 
 
 The extract from Lieutenant Kolff^s " Voyage of the 
 ^ Dourga^ " given below, conveys a general view of the 
 natives of the west coast of New Guinea, which the 
 writer has been able to confirm by the testimony of 
 several well-informed and trustworthy native traders of 
 Goram and Ceram-Laut, except on the points regarding 
 the comparative power of the coast and inland tribes, and 
 
ONIN. 59 
 
 their asserted practice of cannibalism, which last is dis- 
 tinctly denied by many of the better-informed native 
 traders. All the authentic information obtained by the 
 writer, concurred in representing the most numerous and 
 powerful tribes as dwelling near the head waters of 
 streams which were inaccessible to the prahus of the 
 traders, although navigable by their own light vessels. 
 The people of Onin, who have been considered from time 
 immemorial as the most numerous and best organised of 
 the New Guinea tribes, aod whose country has never yet 
 been visited either by Europeans or by native traders, are 
 said to occupy an elevated table-land, of an open cha- 
 racter, which is penetrated by MacCluer's Inlet. They 
 hold intercourse with two or three traders from Ceram- 
 Laut, with whom they have established an intimacy, and 
 from whom they expect an annual visit at certain spots 
 on the shores of the inlet, which have been fixed upon as 
 trading-stations ; and where houses are erected, as at the 
 Outanata, for the accommodation of traders during their 
 stay. Their occasional outbreaks on the neighbouring 
 waters are said to be the result of a spirit of restlessness, 
 which finds vent whenever a young chief desires to sig- 
 nalise himself by making a raid on his neighbours. Their 
 conduct towards the traders with whom they are well 
 acquainted, is described by the latter as being very exem- 
 plary ; and their testimony upon this point does them the 
 greater credit, as their interests would lead them to re- 
 present the Papuans of Onin in an unfavourable light, 
 with the view of deterring others from interfering with 
 the lucrative traffic which they now engross. Among the 
 articles taken to Onin by the traders from Ceram-Laut 
 
60 NEW GUINEA. 
 
 are some of great value. In fact^ tlie goods adapted for 
 the consumption of Onin are nearly identical with those 
 required for the trade with the Arru islanders, which will 
 be detailed in a subsequent chapter. It will suffice, at 
 present, to state, that elephants^ tusks and' large porcelain 
 dishes, on which the natives place an enormous artificial 
 value, are among the number. 
 
 " The people of Papua-Oni (Onin) and of Amalas, two 
 places on the coast of New Guinea, directly east from 
 Ceram-Laut, send out, every year, from a hundred to a 
 hundred and twenty small vessels on piratical excursions, 
 which proceed to a considerable distance from their homes. 
 Their mode of warfare is rude in the extreme — their 
 weapons consisting only of bows, arrows, and spears. I 
 have been assured that they devour the prisoners they 
 take during these excursions. They entertain considerable 
 dread of the Ceramese, and carefully avoid doing them or 
 theirs any injury. According to the information I re- 
 ceived from some inhabitants of Ceram-Laut, the natives 
 of New Guinea are divided into two tribes (races ?), 
 mountaineers and dwellers on the coast, who are con- 
 tinually waging war with each other. The people occu- 
 pying the sea-coast form by far the' smaller portion, but, 
 from their warlike habits, they find no difficulty in main- 
 taining a superiority. The captives taken by the latter 
 from the inferior tribes are sold to the foreign traders, by 
 whom they are held in high esteem, so much so that 
 their price is higher even than that given for slaves of 
 Bali, Lombok and Sumbawa. The women from Koby, 
 Ay and Karas, are considered the most attractive, and 
 arc often kept as inferior wives by the Ceramese — the 
 
■WEST COAST. 61 
 
 Raja of Kilwari; among others^ having a wife born at the 
 Papuan nllage of Atti-Atti. The price given for a slave 
 on the coast is usually two pieces of white calico, valued at 
 from eight to ten Spanish dollars ; — from sixty to seventy 
 rupees (five to six pounds sterling) being obtained by the 
 traders for them at Bali, and other places in that direc- 
 tion/'* 
 
 Mr. !Modera gives some interesting details concerning 
 the customs of the mountaineers, (AJfoeren of Bt^rg- 
 bewonersj in the neighbourhood of Triton's Bay ; but at 
 the same time candidly states that the information 
 obtained, as being derived from the chiefs of the coast 
 tribes, was by no means satisfactory. Indeed the inhabi- 
 tants of the coasts, especially if corrupted by Mohamme- 
 danism, are interested in making the inland inhabitants 
 appear in the worst possible light, partly \N-ith the view of 
 deterring Europeans from holding intercourse with them, 
 which might seriously impair their own influence, and 
 partly to enhance the value of their own semi-civilization 
 in the estimation of their visitors. One important ethno- 
 graphical fact was, however, ascertained by the officers of 
 this Expedition ; namely, that the inhabitants of the 
 interior, of whom they saw several specimens, did not 
 differ in any essential particular from those of the coast. 
 Until within the last few years, it was considered by 
 ethnographers that the Alfoeren, Alfours, or Arafuras, 
 were a distinct race of people, inhabiting the interior 
 of New Guinea, Ceram, and all the larger islands in the 
 south-eastern part of the Indian Archipelago ; and I was 
 
 * Kolff, " Voyage of the ' Dourga,' " p. 299. 
 
62 XE^y guixea. 
 
 led to form the same opinion by the information I 
 obtained during a visit to the western parts of the 
 Archipelago in 1832-33-34 from the native traders, 
 who at that time^ as in the days of Ptolemy the Alexan- 
 drian^ were the chief sources of information respecting 
 New Guinea and the remote eastern islands. 
 
 The inquiries that I was subsequently enabled to make 
 on the spot, while attached to the Port Essington settle- 
 ment, led me to ascertain that Alfoeren, &c., was not a 
 generic tei-m for a particular race of people ; but was 
 generally applied to the inland inhabitants of these 
 islands, to distinguish them from the coast tribes, and 
 that it was in common use amono: those who were ac- 
 quainted with the Moluccan dialect of the Malayan 
 language. I was also led to suspect that the term would 
 prove to be of Portuguese origin, as is the case with 
 many other words in that language, and this opinion 
 was confirmed by a learned and experienced Portuguese 
 gentleman, (the Comendador dWlmeida, Consul-General 
 of Portugal at Singapore, and one of the earlier pioneers 
 of that settlement,) whom I had an opportunity of con- 
 sulting in 1845, aud who informed me that the terra 
 "Alfores,'^ or '' Alforias,^^ was formerly applied in the 
 same sense by the Portuguese in India ; precisely as the 
 Spaniards called the aborigiues of America " Indios,^^ or 
 Indians, and the Mohammedan inhctbitants of Sulu and 
 IMindano "Moros," or Moors. The Portuguese term 
 " Alforias " signifies " freed-men,^^ or '' manumitted 
 slaves ;" but the root ^' fora " means '' o\x{," or " out- 
 side,^^ and therefore the term " Alfores^' became naturally 
 applied to the independent tribes who dwelt beyond the 
 
WEST COAST. 63 
 
 influence of their coast settlements. I communicated 
 these particulars to the late Dr. Prichard^ the father of 
 ethnographical science in this country, soon after my 
 arrival in England, in 1845, and have every reason to 
 believe that he considered the explanation as satisfactory.* 
 It should be mentioned that I am individually interested 
 in maintaining the name, as I have frequently alluded to 
 the " Arafuras '^ in my earlier writings, and it was at my 
 suggestion that the Hydrographer of the Admiralty 
 applied the name to the sea enclosed by Ceram and the 
 adjacent coasts of Australia and New Guinea, in a chart 
 and sailing directions published by that department in 
 the year 1837. 
 
 * See Prichard, "Researches iato the Physical History of 
 Mankind," vol. v, p. 256. 
 
64 NEW GUINEA, 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 N'EW GUINEA. NORTH COAST. 
 
 EARLY VOYAGERS TO THE NORTH COAST OF NEW GUINEA — DUTCH 
 
 EXPEDITION OF 1850 — CHARACTERISTICS OF THE DORY PAPUANS 
 
 DRESS SCARIFICATIONS OF THE BODY ORNAMENTS OCCUPATIONS 
 
 FOOD AND LUXURIES HABITATIONS AND HOUSEHOLD GEAR 
 
 ARTS AND AGRICULTURE ARMS AND IMPLEMENTS NAVIGATION 
 
 AND COMMERCE CHARACTER AND DISPOSITION GOVERNMENT AND 
 
 LAWS CUSTOMS, SOCIAL AND RELIGIOUS THE " HONGI," OR 
 
 TIDORE FLOTILLA NATIVES OF RUN, IN THE GREAT BAY VISIT TO 
 
 A PAPUAN FAMILY KURUDU A DESERTED VILLAGE THE AMBERMO 
 
 RIVER DUTCH SETTLEMENT AT HUMBOLDT BAY. 
 
 The inhabitants of the north coast of New Guinea 
 have been known to Europeans from the earliest period of 
 their intercourse with the Indian Archipelago. In the 
 year 1511, DMbreu and Serranno, who had been chs- 
 patched to the Spice Islands by Albuquerque, the con- 
 queror of Malacca, brought back accounts of their having 
 met with individuals of a race totally diflferent from the 
 Malayans; and in 1527, Alvaro de Saavedra made the 
 first recorded visit to the island, which was then named 
 " Nova Guinea,^^ from a resemblance that the inhabitants 
 were thouirht to bear to those of the coast of Guinea in 
 
NORTH COAST. 65 
 
 Africa. During the seventeentli and eighteenth centuries, 
 the northern coasts were repeatedly visited by Dutch and 
 English navigators. In 1774, Captain Thomas Forrest, 
 who had been dispatched by the English East India 
 Company to search for districts producing spices, resided 
 for some months at Port Dory, on the north coast of New 
 Guinea, during which period he held constant friendly 
 intercourse with the inhabitants. But in those days the 
 characteristics of the native races were scarcely noticed, 
 except as regarded their " importance^^ to the trading 
 companies which had fitted out the expeditions. This 
 dearth of information has been severely felt by historians 
 of the Indian Archipelago. 
 
 During the present century, however, the spread of 
 knowledge and civilization in Europe and America has 
 given rise to an interest in the less fortunate races of 
 mankind, which eveiy scientific voyager feels bound to 
 acknowledge, by making their characteiistics a leading 
 subject of inquiry ; and the French navigators who have 
 visited the north coast of New Guinea during the present 
 century have furnished particulars respecting the native 
 inhabitants, which have served, in a great degree, to dispel 
 the mystery that had hitherto enveloped this interesting 
 race. More recently, an expedition sent from the Moluccas 
 by the Netherlands Government, to annex the north 
 coast of this island to its possessions in the East, has 
 added many important particulars to our knowledge of 
 the Papuans. The Expedition, which consisted of the war- 
 schooner 'Circe,' Lieutenant Brutel de la Riviere, and a 
 small fleet of kora-koras, or war-prahus, belonging to the 
 
66 NEW GUINEA. 
 
 Sultan of Tidore, left Ternate in March, 1850, and pro- 
 ceeded in the fii'st instance to Port Dory, touching at 
 Geby, or Gibby, an island well known to mariners using 
 the eastern passages to China, on the route. The com- 
 mand of the Expedition was intrusted to Mr. Van Den 
 Dungen Gronovius, a gentleman of great colonial expe- 
 rience, who had been for several years the government 
 resident of the Dutch possessions in Timor; and a 
 quantity of presents for the native chiefs, together with a 
 number of iron plates, displaying the Netherlands^ arms, 
 which were intended to be set up on the parts of the 
 coast Wsited by the Expedition, formed part of the 
 schooner's lading. The Commissioner was also invested 
 with some kind of authority by the Sultan of Tidore, a 
 tributary, or rather pensioner, of the Dutch Governmeut, 
 who had long claimed a sort of " suzerainty^^ over the 
 northern and eastern coast of New Guinea, and which he 
 had been in the habit of enforcing by the periodical dis- 
 patch of a flotilla of kora-koras, similar to that which 
 attended the war-schooner on the present occasion. A 
 very interestiug narrative of the voyage of the ' Circe,' 
 by Lieutenant Bruijn Kops, one of the officers, was 
 published in the " Natuurkundige Tijdschrift voor 
 Nederlandsch Indie" for 1S51, a periodical conducted 
 by the Baron Mehille van Carnbee, himself a valuable 
 contributor to the ethnography of the Indian Archipelago. 
 Lieutenant Bruijn Kops' narrative gives veiy copious 
 details of the habits and characteristics of the tribes 
 inhabiting the shores of the Great Bay which separates 
 the western from the eastern peninsula of New Guinea ; 
 
PORT DORY. 67 
 
 and his information is the more valuable^ from the oppor- 
 tunities afforded him, through the medium of the native 
 interpreters attached to the Expedition, for obtaining 
 correct particulars, and from the humane and considerate 
 feeling which he has evidently brought to the task.* 
 This officer had also the assistance of Mr. C. F. A. 
 Schneider, the surgeon to the Expedition, the value 
 of whose contributions are gratefully acknowledged by 
 him. 
 
 The north-western peninsula of New Guinea is said to 
 be well peopled towards the interior, but the coasts ap- 
 pear to be quite deserted, except at a few points where 
 small trading stations have become established; for one 
 of the leading characteristics of Papuans generally, and 
 of those of New Guinea in particular, consists in their 
 ardent desire to obtain the manufactures of foreign 
 countiies, however great may be the risks they undergo 
 in gratifying this propensity. Port Doiy, near the 
 north-eastern extreme of this tract, has been its chief 
 trading port from time immemorial ; and although the 
 native inhabitants cannot be brought forward as a type 
 of Papuans, yet, on account of their present condition, 
 they are exceedingly well calculated to display the result 
 of intercourse with more civilized races. Several voyagers 
 of high authority have suspected that the Dorians are of 
 a mixed race^ but those who peruse Mr. Bruijn Kops' 
 
 * A full translation of Lieutenant Brujjn Kops narrative will 
 be found in the "Journal of the Indian Ai-chipelago," for June, 
 1S52. 
 
68 NEW GUINEA. 
 
 narrative with attention will find grounds for a contrary 
 opinion. 
 
 People of the mixed race are to be found in numbers 
 on every inhabited island of the Moluccan Seas, but very 
 rarely in New Guinea itself, a fact which is readily ex- 
 plained by the circumstance of Papuan slaves, to the 
 annual amount of hundreds and even thousands, having 
 been exported from New Guinea to the westward for ages 
 past ; while scarcely an instance can be brought forward 
 of a member of the brown race becoming even a tem- 
 porary resident in New Guinea beyond the limits of the 
 trading season, except in the case of the Mohammedan 
 priests, who take up their abode there occasionally for 
 years together. And in entertaining speculations on 
 these points, it must always be taken into consideration 
 that the Papuans are beyond all comparison superior in 
 vigour, both mental and physical, to those tribes of the 
 brown race with whom they are brought in contact. It will 
 only be necessary farther to state that Mr. Bruijn Kops 
 appears to be perfectly free from all ethnological theories ; 
 and therefore the following description of the personal cha- 
 racteristics of the natives of Dory, must be looked upon as 
 a piece of unbiassed testimony. The translation here given 
 is as close as the spirit of the two languages will admit. 
 
 " The population of New Guinea divides itself into Pa- 
 poeers and Alfoeren. The first inhabit the shores, and the 
 latter the mountains and interior lands (binnenlanden.) 
 Both these head-classes are divided into different tribes, 
 who are generally in a state of hostility towards each 
 other. The Papoeers of Dory are of the caste ^ Myfory,^ 
 
PORT DORY. 69 
 
 having their origin in the island of that name (called 
 Long Island in the English charts), which lies about ten 
 (forty English) miles to the east of Doiy. In general they 
 are small in stature [klein van gestaalte), mostly five and 
 a quarter, and only a few as much as five and a half feet 
 in height. "With the exception of a hunchback {een 
 gebogchelden), we saw no deformed people, nor any parti- 
 cularly stout or lean men. Their colour is dark brown, 
 that of some people inclining to black. I saw here two 
 Albino children (of the same mother) with white skins, 
 approaching to yellow, with some brown spots on the 
 back, and with white crisp hair, and blue or green eyes. 
 The natives are generally afi'ected with diseases of the 
 skin ; ^-ith some of them the skin looks as if it was 
 covered with scales (ichthyosis). The hair is black and 
 crisp. Some of them have it tinted red at the outer ends, 
 which, I think, must be attributed to its being dried by 
 the intense heat. They usually wear the hair at the full 
 length to which it is inclined to grow, which makes the 
 head, when seen from a distance, appear to be nearly 
 twice its real size. In general they bestow little care 
 upon it, whereby it has a disorderly appearance, and gives 
 them a wild aspect. There are some, however, whose 
 hair, either by art or nature, is smooth and even as if it 
 had been clipped. The men wear in their hair a comb, 
 consisting of a stick of bamboo, one end of which is 
 split into three or four long points, like a fork, while 
 the other end is shaped ofi" to a point, and is gene- 
 rally car^-ed. This comb is stuck obliquely into the 
 hair of the head, and a strip of coloured calico is 
 fastened to the upper end, which hangs from it Hke a 
 
70 NEW GUINEA. 
 
 flag.* The women do not wear this ornament. The 
 beard is strongly crisped^ but short. I believe the hair of 
 the beard is sometimes plucked out. Most of the Papuans 
 have a high but narrow forehead {een hoog, dock smal 
 voorhoofd) ; large, dark brown or black eyes ; flat, broad 
 noses, large mouths, with thick lips, and good teeth. 
 Many of them, however, have narrow, arched igebogen) 
 noses, and thin lips, which gives them an European cast 
 of countenance. They pierce the ears, and insert in the 
 orifice, ornaments, or segars of tobacco rolled in pan- 
 dan-\e2iij of which they are great consumers. The 
 expression of the Papoeers is dull and stupid ; most of 
 them are veiy ugly ; only a few of them have regular 
 features and a lively aspect/'f 
 
 The occurrence of European or Caucasian features 
 among the Papuans of New Guinea and the neighbouring 
 islands has been frequently noticed by visitors, and the 
 same peculiarity is often met with among the com- 
 paratively fair tribes of Timor-Laut and the eastern 
 islands of the Serwatty group, between whom and the 
 Papuans so remarkable an affinity exists on nearly 
 every other particular excepting complexion, that a close 
 investigation is necessar}^ before any satisfactory con- 
 clusion can be arrived at respecting the origin of these 
 races. But no tribe has yet been met with in. these 
 eastern countries in which the Caucasian features prevail, 
 so that they must be considered as individual peculiarities. 
 
 * This singular fasliion is well represented in the plate of the 
 Papuan in Dr. Prichard's " Natural History of Man." 
 
 t Bruijn Kops, " Natuurkmidige Tijdschrift, &c., 2de Jaargang," 
 bl. 175. 
 
PORT DORY. 71 
 
 Costume and Ornaments. — The dresses of the chiefs 
 among the natives of Dory consist of the saluer, or short 
 drawers of the Malays, and the kahya, or loose coat of 
 calico, with a handkerchief tied round the head. The 
 common men, and the chiefs themselves when not in the 
 presence of strangers, wear only a chaivat, or waist-cloth 
 of the bark of the fig, or of the paper-mulberry-tree, 
 beaten out like the bark-cloth of the Polynesians. The 
 women wear a short petticoat of blue calico, or short, loose 
 drawers, and very rarely any other clothing. The ears 
 of both sexes are bored, but the septum of the nose 
 is never mutilated. Neither do they adopt the practice 
 of raising the flesh of their limbs and bodies by scarifi- 
 cations, as is common among the natives of the south and 
 south-west coasts of New Guinea ; this practice having 
 apparently been superseded among the Dory natives by 
 the Polynesian custom of tattooing, which is adopted both 
 by males and females, the operation being performed by 
 young girls, with the aid of sharp fish-bones and soot. 
 Mr. Bruijn Kops observed that the skins of many of the 
 natives were marked with scars, which have been pro- 
 duced by applications of fire; and from the number of 
 these marks which he saw on single individuals, some- 
 times as many as ten, he was led to suppose that they 
 had ^^been made from some particular motive, probably 
 as a mode of cure, or perhaps as omaments.^^"^ 
 
 Actual cautery is in common use among the more 
 savage tribes of this part of the world as a cure for many 
 diseases, more especially rheumatism, to which they are 
 
 •* Bruijn Kops, "Tijdschrift," p. 177. 
 
72 
 
 NEW GUINEA. 
 
 very liable from constant exposure to tlie weather ; and 
 among the Australians, burning the skin with lighted 
 sticks is a common mode of displaying grief on the 
 death of a chief or relative. From a number of inqui- 
 ries the writer has made among Papuans who were 
 marked with the raised cicatrices, he has been led to the 
 conclusion that those on the arm and breast, which are 
 the largest and most prominent, were made in order to 
 qualify them for admission to the privileges of manhood, 
 by showing their capability of bearing pain. 
 
 In addition to the tattooed figures of crossed swords 
 and kriss-blades with which the skins of the men are 
 marked, the chief ornaments of the Dory natives consist 
 in armlets of fish-bone, strings of shells, copper or silver 
 wire, and sometimes of rattan or pandanus-leaf plaited into 
 bands about two inches wide. A similar band is also 
 worn to protect the wrist from the recoil of the bow- 
 string, which might otherwise inflict considerable injury. 
 
 HUNTING WILD HOGS. 
 
PORT DORY. 73 
 
 Occupations. — Hunting and fishing are the chief out- 
 of-door occupations of the men. When at home, they 
 employ themselves in making canoes, building houses, or 
 shaping weapons. The plantations, which lie on the 
 uplands, are cultivated chiefly by the women and chil- 
 dren, who, during the planting or cropping season, go to 
 the plantations in a body, under the protection of two or 
 three of the men, leaving home early in the morning 
 and returning in the evening. The women also perform 
 all the domestic work, carrj'ing wood and water, and 
 husking the rice and millet. They also make earthen 
 pots, and weave mats for household use. Natives of 
 both sexes and all ages are expert in the management of 
 the canoes, and they learn to swim and dive at a very 
 early age. "War is also an occasional occupation, and is 
 carried on in the desultory manner usual with unci\-ilized 
 people, each party retiring to rejoice over its success 
 whenever it has succeeded in killing or capturing an 
 enemy. Unfortunately, the" capture of slaves is some- 
 times the chief object of war excursions, and then whole 
 villages are sometimes surprised, and the women and 
 children criTied away into captivity. 
 
 Food and Luxuries. — The Dory people subsist chiefly 
 on millet, yams, maize, or Indian corn, a little rice 
 obtained from the traders, fish, pork, and fruit of several 
 varieties, including cocoa-nuts, plantains, and papayas. 
 Sago is not much used, and salt is considered unneces- 
 sary as a condiment. Chewing the siri, or betel-leaf, is 
 very generally practised; and when not otherwise em- 
 ployed, they are incessantly smoking small segars, made 
 
 E 
 
74 
 
 NEW GUINEA. 
 
 of tobacco rolled up in a piece of pandan-leaf. This 
 herb is grown in the mountains, and is of very good 
 quality, and so cheap, that a roll of several pounds' 
 weight can be obtained in exchange for a knife, a few 
 strings of beads, or an earthenware cup. 
 
 Disease. — They appear to be rarely afflicted by severe 
 sickness. Cases of disease of the organs of respiration, 
 dysentery, shght fever, elephantiasis, and several other 
 cutaneous diseases, more especially ichthyosis, were ob- 
 served by Mr. Bruijn Kops. Small-pox and s)T)hili8 
 appear to be unknown. Herbs and the bark of trees 
 are used as medicines, both externally and internally, 
 but surgical cases are always left to the operations of 
 nature. 
 
 norSE AT DOBT. 
 
 Habitations and Household Gear. — The chief village, 
 called Lonfabe, consists of thirty-three houses, each of 
 
PORT DORY. 75 
 
 which is from sixty to seventy feet long, twenty to 
 twenty-five feet wide, and from twelve to fifteen feet high. 
 They are erected upon wooden piles, extending beyond 
 the level of low water ; and during high tides, the sea 
 rises up to the floor of the houses. A stage or platform, 
 also on piles, affords access from the shore. The sides 
 are composed of wooden planks, and the roof is thatched 
 with atap, or marsh flags. A passage about ten feet 
 wide runs along the centre of the building throughout 
 its length, and on each side are chambers and store-rooms 
 partitioned off with mats. The end nearest the sea is 
 left open on three sides, and here the male inhabitants 
 are generally to be found, when at home, making and 
 repairing their implements and fishing gear, or lying 
 down smoking tobacco. 
 
 Cooking is performed in the inner rooms, each of 
 which is pro\dded with a small fire-place. The floors are 
 of rough spars, placed close together, which cannot be 
 traversed safely by those unaccustomed to them. Some- 
 times as many as twenty men, in addition to the wives 
 and families of the married portion, occupy a single 
 house. The furniture consists of light boxes of palm- 
 leaves, or of a bark which resembles that of the birch- 
 tree, very neatly made, and ornamented with black and 
 red figures and small shells, in which they keep their 
 clothes and valuables ;— also hunting and fishing gear, 
 arms, and implements, earthen pots for cooking or holdin 
 food, wooden mortars for husking rice and maize, and 
 sleeping mats and pillows — the mats being very neatly 
 made, and ornamented with figures of bright black and 
 red. The pillows consist of smooth circular blocks of 
 
 E 2 
 
76 NEW GUINEA. 
 
 wood, restiog on short feet, which are usually hand- 
 somely carved. 
 
 Arts and Agriculture. — The natives understand the art 
 of working iron, the forge consisting of a bellows com- 
 posed of two large bamboos about four feet long, from 
 which the air is expelled by means of two pistons, with 
 bunches of feathers at the end, which are worked like 
 those of hand-pumps; and by raising each alternately, 
 a constant cui'rent of air is expelled through the orifices 
 at the bottom, from which small tubes lead to the fire- 
 place. This instrument is identical with the bellows in 
 use among the brown races of the Archipelago, from whom 
 it may have been borrowed. A stone serves for an anvil ; 
 but the natives often have in their possession a pig of 
 iron ballast, or a piece of a broken anchor, which answers 
 the purpose much better. They also manufacture rings, 
 bracelets, and ear ornaments of metal, chiefly copper and 
 silver ; and a portion of the Spanish dollars obtained from 
 the French surveying ships, ' Astrolabe^ and ' Zelee' in 
 exchange for commodities, have been used for this 
 purpose. They are skilful weavers of mats, but are un- 
 acquainted with the use of the loom. Their plantations, 
 or rather gardens, for a very small space is sufficient for 
 the few articles they cultivate, are formed by cutting 
 down and burning off the jungle, and enclosing the cleared 
 space with a strong fence of bamboo to keep out the 
 wild pigs, which are very numerous. The ground is 
 prepared for planting with the aid of sharp stakes, and 
 after the seeds are put in, the garden is visited at intervals 
 for the purpose of removing the weeds which would 
 otherwise impede the growth of the plants. The people 
 
FORT DORY. 77 
 
 of Dory do not rear either p jultiy or pigs, but the natives 
 of the interior have domesticated the large crowned 
 pigeons, which are reared in considerable numbers. They 
 also breed pigs, but the latter can scarcely be considered 
 as thoroughly domesticated, as they are sometimes dan- 
 gerous to handle when full grown. 
 
 Arms and Implements. — Their weapons are bows and 
 arrows, lances or throwing spears, and klewangs or swords, 
 the blades of which are of the razor form. The parang, or 
 chopping-knife, which is also shaped like the blade of a 
 razor, may be considered as a weapon, as it is constantly 
 worn in a sheath at the waist, and is always at hand in 
 cases of emergency. The bows are between six and seven 
 feet long, and are made of bamboo, or a tough kind of 
 redwood, and are provided with a string of rattan. The 
 arrows are four or five feet long, and those used for war 
 are generally furnished with iron heads, which they 
 manufacture themselves. They are never poisoned ; in 
 fact, no New Guinea tribe at least, appears to be ac- 
 quainted with the art. Iron axes, which are imported, 
 are used for felling trees and shaping planks and canoes. 
 Their fishing implements are bows and arrows of a lighter 
 construction than those used for war, and spears with 
 forked points of iron provided with barbs.' A long line 
 is attached to the spears when they are used for striking 
 large fish. They also use a fish trap, made of basket- 
 work, the entrance to which is formed like those of wire 
 rat-traps, rattans being substituted for the elastic wire, the 
 points closing together after admitting the fish, and pre- 
 venting him from getting out again. These fish-traps 
 are sunk in deep water by means of stones attached 
 
78 NEW GUINEA. 
 
 to the bottom ; and a line, with a buoy of bamboo at 
 one end, is fastened to the upper part, for the purpose of 
 raising it to take out the fish. 
 
 Navigation and Commerce. — Their canoes or prahus 
 are made from the trunk of a single tree, and some are 
 sufficiently large to require twenty rowers when fully 
 manned. They carry a sail of matting which is suspended 
 from a mast, forming a tripod, with two feet fixed to the 
 side with pins, on which they work like hinges, and 
 the third is slipped over a hook, fastened near the stem. 
 The third foot, which also acts as a stay, is not a 
 fixture, and is unhooked when it is required to strike 
 the mast, which then lies over the thwarts of the 
 prahu, and can be raised again in an instanr. The canoes 
 used on ordinarj^ occasions are small and light, and can 
 easily be carried by two men. Even the children have 
 their little canoes, which they carry to and from the 
 water without difficulty. Their vessels, the largest of 
 which are so narrow that they would capsize if not pro- 
 vided with outriggers, are only adapted for home use, 
 so that their foreign commerce is entirely in the hands of 
 strangers, chiefly Chinese from Temate. An English 
 gentleman. Captain Deighton, who has long been resident 
 in the Moluccas, has also been in the habit of making 
 annual visits to the trading stations on the shores of the 
 Great Bay for the last thirty years, and his ship is almost 
 the only European vessel engaged in the trade. The 
 high estimation in which he is held by the natives is 
 noticed on several occasions by Mr. Bruijn Kops, indeed, 
 he appears to be the only check on the rapacity of the 
 Tidore tribute-collectors, who have often been restrained 
 
PORT DORY. 79 
 
 from committing their atrocities by a dread that Mr. 
 Deighton would report the circumstance to the govern- 
 ment of the Moluccas. The articles obtained by the 
 traders are chiefly trepang,ov sea-slug -, tortoise-shelly which 
 is of excellent quahty ; massoi, and other odoriferous barks ; 
 and mother-of-pearl shell ; the articles given in exchange 
 being blue and red calico, sarongs or native cloths, brass 
 wire, parangs or chopping-knives, china cups and basins^ 
 and different kinds of hardware. The produce is chiefly 
 adapted for the markets of China, and a considerable 
 portion finds its way to Macassar and Singapore, whence 
 a direct trade is carried on with that empire. 
 
 Native Character aiid Disposition, — It is a sin- 
 gular fact, that whenever ci\ilized man is brought into 
 friendly communication with savages, the disgust which 
 naturally arises from the first glance at a state of society 
 so obnoxious to his sense of propriety, disappears before 
 a closer acquaintance, and he learns to regard their 
 little delinquencies as he would those of children ; — while 
 their kindliness of disposition and natural good qualities 
 are placed on the credit side of their account. It becomes 
 necessaiT to enter into these particulars, in order to explain 
 the origin of the highly favourable statements respecting 
 the Papuan character and disposition made by Captain 
 Forrest and Mr. Bruijn Kops, both of whom were so 
 cautious, and, it may be added, humane, as to bring their 
 long visits to a close without a rupture with the natives. 
 On the other hand, those whose communications with the 
 Papuans have been of a hostile nature, become so impressed 
 with the savage, wild-beast-like, cunning and ferocity of 
 their attacks, that they cannot believe that the same people 
 
80 NEW GUINEA. 
 
 have any feelings in common witli more cinlized races. 
 This accounts for the discrepancies that appear in the 
 narratives of different voyagers^ mdeed, sometimes in that 
 of a single individual, as is the case in Mr. Modera^s 
 interesting details ; but all these discrepancies can be 
 distinctly traced to the circumstances under which their 
 communications took place. Mr. Bruijn Kops* evidence 
 respecting the character of the natives of Dory is so in- 
 teresting, and at the same time, from the circumstances 
 under which he was placed, so important, that it will be 
 necessary to extract the entire paragraph. 
 
 '^ The manners and customs of the inhabitants of, Dory 
 are much less barbarous than might be expected from 
 these rude, uncivilized races. On the contrary, in general 
 they give evidence of a mild disposition, of an inclination 
 to right and justice, and strong moral principles. Theft 
 is considered by them as a veiy grave offence, and is of 
 very rare occurrence. They have no fastenings to their 
 houses, and yet the chiefs assured us that seldom or never 
 was anything stolen. Although they were on board our 
 ship, or alongside, during whole days, we never missed 
 anything. Yet they are distrustful of strangers, until 
 they become acquainted with them, as we experienced. 
 This is probably less, however, a trait of their character, 
 than the result of intercourse with strangers, who, per- 
 haps, have frequently tried to cheat them. The men, it 
 is true, came on board from the time of our arrival, but 
 they were very cautious in letting any of the things they 
 brought for sale out of their hands. The women were at 
 first very fearful, and fled on all sides whenever they saw 
 us, leaving behind what they might be carrying ; but at 
 
PORT DORY. 81 
 
 length, when they found they had no injury to dread from 
 VLS, they became more familiar. Finally, they approached 
 without being invited, but still remained timid. The 
 children very soon became accustomed to us, and fol- 
 lowed us eveiy where. 
 
 ^^ Respect for the aged, love for their children, and 
 fidelity to their wives, are traits which reflect honour on 
 their disposition. Chastity is held in high regard, and is 
 a 'virtue that is seldom transgressed by them. A man 
 can only have one wife, and is bound to her for life. 
 Concubinage is not permitted. Adultery is unknown 
 amongst them. They are generally very fond of strong 
 drink, but although they go to excess in this, I could not 
 learn that they prepared any fermented liquor, not even 
 sago-iceer or tuak (palm wine). Kidnapping is general 
 in these countries, and is followed as a branch of trade, so 
 that there is no dishonour attached to it. The captives 
 are treated well, exchanged, if there are any of theirs in 
 the enem)''s hands, or released on payment of a ransom, 
 as was the case in Em-ope during the middle ages. It is 
 an inveterate evil, which, however, might probably be 
 rooted out were an establishment formed that would 
 check them in this. The slave-trade is ver^' extended. 
 The price of a slave is reckoned at twenty-five to thirty 
 guilders. These captives are gently treated and seldom 
 misused : — at least, I heard of nothing to the contrary 
 during our stay.^^* 
 
 Government and Laws. — The native tribes in the neigh- 
 bourhood of Dory have each its separate chief, who are 
 
 * Bmiju Ivops, " Tijdschrift," p. 185. 
 
 E 3 
 
83 NEW GUINEA. 
 
 perfectly independent of each other, although the titles 
 they hold, which are nominally conferred by the Sultan 
 of Tidore, are sometimes expressive of subjection to a 
 superior chief. It has been already stated that a sort of 
 suzerainty over the western peninsula of New Guinea 
 is claimed in behalf of the Sultan of Tidore, one of the 
 least powerful of the native chiefs subject to the Nether- 
 lands Government. This claim is acknowledged by the 
 coast tribes, from a feeling which pervades all the smaller 
 communities of the Archipelago in favour of placing them- 
 selves under the protection of the most powerful chief in 
 their neighbourhood, a position which was held by the 
 Sultan of Tidore when this suzerainty was first acquired. 
 It has also been encouraged by the Netherlands Govern- 
 ment, as giving them a sort of claim to a country which 
 they might some day see fit to occupy ; for a transfer of 
 the suzerainty from the Sultan of Tidore could be ob- 
 tained at any moment in which it might be required ; 
 indeed, the narrative of Mr. Bruijn Kops leads to the 
 inference that this claim was actually transferred imme- 
 diately before the sailing of the Expedition ; and that the 
 flotilla was sent by the Sultan of Tidore for the purpose 
 of formally giving over possession, the representatives of 
 the Sultan being present on nearly every occasion in 
 which the posts with the Netherlands' arms were erected. 
 The mode in which the chieftainship is conferred is 
 thus described by Mr. Bruijn Kops : '^ When one of the 
 native chiefs dies, information of the event is conveyed to 
 the Sultan by one of the relatives of the deceased, who 
 at the same time takes with him a present of slaves and 
 birds-of-paradise as a token of fealty. This person is 
 
PORT DORY. 83 
 
 generally named as the successor of the deceased, and is 
 presented with a yellow kabaya, drawers, and headker- 
 chief. He is then bound to pay a yearly tax to the 
 Sultan of a slave; — to reinforce the hongi (the Sultan's 
 tax-collecting flotilla) mth three vessels; — and to furnish 
 it with provisions/^* 
 
 The authority of these chiefs over their fellow-villagers 
 is merely nominal, as all cases of importance are decided 
 by a council of the elders of the tribe. Mr. Bruijn Kops 
 gives the following information respecting crimes and 
 their punishment, "An incendiary, with his family, 
 becomes the slave of the late proprietor of the burned 
 house. A man who wilfully w^ounds another must give 
 him a slave as compensation. A thief is compelled to 
 make restitution of the property stolen, with something 
 in addition. For the destruction of a garden, the damages 
 must be made good. An adulterer is persecuted to death, 
 or until he has satisfied the offended party by a heavy 
 fine. A man who violates a girl has to marry her, and 
 has to pay the usual dowTy of ten slaves. In cases of 
 adultery, the female is not punished, and no infamy 
 attaches to her, if yet unmarried.^^t 
 
 Customs : — Social and Religious. — The distinction of 
 caste, which is found among the brown races bordering 
 on New Guinea, does not appear to exist among the 
 Papuans of Dory, as the chiefs marry indiscriminately 
 females of inferior families, according to their choice, 
 paying the usual dowry of ten slaves, or their value in 
 
 * Bi-uijn Kops, " Tijdsclirift/' p. 183. 
 t Bruijn Kops, " Tijdschrift," p. 188. 
 
84 NEW GUINEA. 
 
 goods. Indeed, a slave is the standard of value tlirough- 
 out the western parts of New Guinea, as is the case with 
 a musket at Timor and the neighbouring islands, so that 
 when the price of any article is said to be so many slaves, 
 it is intended to mean the value of a slave in blue and 
 red calico or other articles of trade, all of which bear 
 a fixed proportionate value. It is therefore, like the 
 "pound sterling,^^ an imaginary standard of value. 
 
 The natives of Dory, like all savages, are exceedingly 
 superstitious, and invariably carry about with them 
 amulets consisting of caiwed pieces of wood, bits of bone, 
 quartz, or some other trifle, to which an imaginary value 
 is attached. Those who have fallen under the influence 
 of Mohammedanism substitute verses of the Koran, 
 written on slips of paper, with which they are furnished 
 by the Ceram and Tidore priests. The Papuans of.Dory 
 are for the most part pagans, and worship, or rather 
 consult, an idol called " Karwar,^^ a figure rudely carved 
 in wood and holdins: a shield, with which every house is 
 provided. The idol, which is usually about eighteen 
 inches high, is exceedingly disproportioned, the head 
 being unusually large, the nose long and sharp at the 
 point, and the mouth wide and well proWded with teeth. 
 The body is generally clad in a piece of calico, and the 
 head covered with a handkerchief. Parties consulting it 
 squat before it, clasp the hands over the forehead, and 
 bow repeatedly, at the same time stating their intentions. 
 If they are seized with any nervous feeling during this 
 process it is considered as a bad sign, and the project is 
 abandoned for a time ; if otherwise — that is to say, if 
 they really wish to carry out the proposed object — the 
 
PORT DORY. 85 
 
 idol is supposed to approve. It is considered necessary 
 that the Karwar should be present on all important 
 occasions, such as births, marriages, or deaths. The 
 natives have also a number of "Fetishes/' generally 
 carved figures of reptiles, which are suspended from the 
 roofs of the houses ; and the posts are also ornamented 
 with similar figures, cut into the wood. They have a 
 sort of priests, or soothsayers, generally one of the elders 
 of the tribe, who is skilled in medicine and in the inter- 
 pretation of prognostics. 
 
 The marriage ceremony is performed by both parties 
 sitting down in front of the Karwar, when the female 
 gives her intended some tobacco and betel-leaf. The 
 parties then join hands, and the ceremony is complete. 
 "When a death occurs, the body is enveloped in a piece of 
 white calico, and deposited in a grave four or five feet 
 deep, resting on its side, and a porcelain dish is placed 
 under the ear. If the deceased has been the head of a 
 family, the idol is brought to the grave and loaded with 
 reproaches. The arms and ornaments of the deceased are 
 then thrown into the grave, which is filled up with earth, 
 and a roof of atap erected over it, upon which the idol is 
 placed, and left there to decay. The burial feast is kept 
 up for an entire moon when the deceased has been an 
 important personage. 
 
 The 'Circe' remained at Doiy from the 1st to the 
 20th of April, 1S50, awaiting the arrival of the Tidore 
 ' Hongi,' or flotilla, which had touched at several places 
 on the coast during the voyage. Its arrival created a panic 
 among the natives, and according to Mr. Bruijn Kops' 
 account thev had sufficient cause for terror. " On the 
 
86 NEW GUINEA. 
 
 news of the arrival of the flotilla, the women and children 
 took flight with the small canoes, cai-rying with them 
 everything of value. They went to the opposite shore, 
 and into the interior bays, in order to avoid the rapacity of 
 the crews of the flotilla. The chief at once went to 
 Capitan Amir (a Tidore prince in command of the 
 flotilla), taking with him a slave and a great number 
 of birds-of-paradise as a present. It is not to be 
 wondered at that the flotilla instils so much fear, for 
 wherever it goes the crews pillage and steal as much 
 as they can, destroying the plantations, .and appro- 
 priating everything that takes their fancy. It is by 
 means of these ' Hougi' expeditions that the Sultan 
 maintains his power, for on failure of obedience, or 
 negligence in the execution of his orders, such a fleet 
 is sent to kill or make captives of the people, to destroy 
 the villages, and thus to punish all in a severe manner. 
 A specimen of this has already been mentioned when 
 speaking of Geby, which was reduced by a similar fleet. 
 Last year a flotilla was sent by the Sultan to bring under 
 subjection the countries situated to the eastward of the 
 Great Bay (of New Guinea), but when the crews were on 
 shore near the Arimoa Islands, they were attacked by the 
 natives and compelled to return, with the loss of six 
 killed and many wouuded.^^* 
 
 The population of Doiy must have increased very 
 considerably since the visit of Forrest in 1775, as the 
 village at that time consisted of only two large tenements, 
 while, in 1850, the number had been augmented to thirty- 
 
 * Bniijn Kops, " Tijdsclirift," p. 194. 
 
GREAT BAY. *" 87 
 
 three. Probably the excesses committed by the Tidore 
 MalayS; which are repeatedly noticed by Mr. Bruijn Kops, 
 have been confined to those tribes which desired to 
 maintain an independence. The Dutch Expedition next 
 proceeded to Kim, an island situated farther up the Great 
 Bay, which seems to haye been only recently opened as 
 a trading port; and it would appear also that the in- 
 habitants had had little experience of the tax-collecting 
 flotilla, for the women and children did not take to 
 flight on its approach, as was the case in nearly every 
 other village near which it appeared. Mr. Bruijn Kops 
 states : *^ Ships very seldom visit this island. The bark 
 'Rembang,^ Captain Deighton, had, however, been here 
 four times. Captain Deighton was known to all the 
 inhabitants, and they frequently spoke of him with love 
 and affection. To his amiable character and honom'able 
 conduct are to be attributed the circumstance, that we did 
 not observe in these people any signs of the fear and 
 suspicion which were so \4sible at Dory. Men, women, 
 and children, surrounded us from the first, and assisted 
 us in every way they could.''^ This is a handsome 
 tribute from an officer in a foreign naval service. His 
 desci-iption of an interview with the inhabitants is so 
 strikingly illustrative of the state of society, that it must 
 be extracted entire. 
 
 " One evening when we went on shore, all the children 
 of the tillage were collected together, and beads were 
 thrown amongst them. Not only the children, but 
 women, men, and even some of the chiefs of the flotilla, 
 
 * Bruijn Kops, " Tijdschrift," p. 19S. 
 
88 NEW GUINEA. 
 
 scrambled for the beads, and ran from every quarter to 
 obtain a share. All were on their knees on the sand, and 
 showed how much they prized these presents by the zeal 
 and attention with which they sought for them, and by 
 their merry laughter w^hen they were fortunate. Although 
 these beads were of great value in their estimation, the 
 scrambling was carried on w^ithout the personal contests 
 which in civilized Europe would have been the result 
 of an unequal distribution of presents. Walking along 
 the beach after this distribution, I. entered into con- 
 versation with a native who had learned a little Malay, 
 and who invited me into his house, where I was led into 
 the room which serves as a dwelling-place for the family. 
 I thought that all the women would take to flight, and 
 was not a little surprised to find that they sat down close 
 to me, and observed me very attentively, but without 
 troublesome intrusion. Thus I sat in the midst of six 
 women, three of whom were young, and who, on account 
 of their beautifid eyes, clear, white, and regular teeth, 
 happy, laughing faces, round shoulders and arms, fine 
 hands, beautiful bosoms, and well-fomied limbs, deserved 
 the name of beautiful, not only in the e3'es of Papuans, 
 but also in those of Europeans. The frankness with 
 which I was received struck me, as it was entirely 
 unexpected. They brought me a dish of papeda (sago- 
 flour steeped in water), some roasted fish, yams, and 
 fruit, requesting me to partake of it, which I did to 
 please them. Seeing a ring on my finger, one of the 
 girls tried to draw it ofi" to examine it ; but not succeeding, 
 I drew it oS" myself, and handed it to her. After ex- 
 amination, it was returned to me with care. I mention 
 
RUN — KURUDU. 89 
 
 all this, because the familiarity with which I was treated 
 astonished me, and gave me a very favourable opinion of 
 these people. The furniture of the house was in general 
 the same as at Doiy, and consisted in pots, cups of 
 earthenware, the same kind of cushions, only smaller, 
 a Javanese wooden chest, wooden platters, a wooden 
 mortar for husking grain, baskets, hampers and mats, a 
 tifa (small drum), carved externally, bows, arrows, lances, 
 and some fishing gear/^* 
 
 Kurudu, an important station at the north-eastern 
 extreme of the Great Bay, which is here more than 200 
 miles across, was also Wsited, probably for the first time 
 by an European vessel ; but as this part of New Guinea 
 lies beyond the geographical limits assigned to the present 
 volume, and the inhabitants will have to be described in 
 that which treats on the Papuans of the Pacific, a mere 
 cursory notice must suffice at present. The Dutch were 
 received at Kurudu (which is situated on an island adja- 
 cent to the main land) with caution, but by no means in 
 an unfriendly manner, although it seems that the village 
 had been destroyed, and more than two hundred of the 
 inhabitants carried away into slavery, only a few years 
 before, by the Singaji of Geby, a dependant of the Sultan 
 of Tidore. The natives appeared armed on the beach, as 
 the boat of the ' Circe' approached, but their weapons 
 were soon laid aside, and they showed every token of 
 a friendly feeling, accompanying the surgeon, Mr. 
 Schneider, during his excursion in search of shells and 
 botanical specimens, and assisting him to the best of their 
 ability. 
 
 * BiTLijn Kops, « Tijdsclirift;' p. 201. 
 
90 MEW GUINEA. 
 
 This friendly intercourse was, however, put a stop to by 
 the firing of the evening gun on board the schooner, which 
 had the efi'ect of driving the entire population from the 
 village to the main land ; for on the following morning it 
 was found to be deserted by every living creature, with 
 the exception of the dogs, whose melancholy howling 
 seems to have had a veiy depressing efi'ect on the Dutch 
 officers. They were also thus deprived of the hope of 
 obtaining an interpreter to enable them to hold inter- 
 course with the people farther to the eastward, so that 
 their observations on the natives they met with near Port 
 Humboldt are of less value than they would otherwise have 
 been. The inhabitants of Kurudu do not appear to differ 
 in personal characteristics from those of Dory, and they are 
 at least equally advanced in the social arts; but their 
 ci\ilization, such as it is, is nearly altogether different, 
 having more of a PoljTiesian than a Malayan character ; 
 so that the Great Bay of New Guinea must be con- 
 sidered as the dividing line between the Papuans of 
 the Pacific and those of the Indian Archipelago, more 
 especially as the natives of the south coast of New 
 Guinea, to the eastward of Torres Strait, have evi- 
 dently been left untouched by Malayan civilization. 
 Indeed it is by no means improbable that the wide 
 space between the south-west Cape of New Guinea and 
 the Islands of Torres Strait, where the land has not yet 
 been seen, may prove to be a deep inlet similar to the 
 Great Bay on the north coast ; and from the nature of the 
 land on the west side of the great south-east bay, which 
 is low, and broken by channels, it may eventually prove 
 to be islands, like that of Frederik- Henry, which is cut 
 
PORT HUMBOLDT. 91 
 
 off by the Dourga Strait. Nor is the northern coast of 
 the great peninsula of New Guinea inferior in point of 
 scientific interest, since the coast, for more than a hundred 
 miles to the eastward of Kurudu, was found to be the 
 delta of a large river, called Ambermo by the natives, 
 which poured out so large a body of muddy water, as to 
 form a bank extending at least thirty miles out to 
 sea ; while most other parts of the coast were unfathom- 
 able a few cables' lengths off shore. "VMien this river 
 comes to be explored, the mystery that has hitherto 
 enveloped the ethnography of New Guinea's interior will 
 be in some degree dispelled. 
 
 The chief object of the Dutch Expedition of 1850 was 
 to examine Port Humboldt in lat. 2° 20' S., and long. 
 140° 47' E., with the view of forming a settlement, or 
 rather to ascertain its capabilities for this purpose ; but 
 after arriving in sight of the port, a strong south-east 
 wind, with a lee current, prevented the 'Circe' from 
 entering, and she retm-ned to Amboyna. The information 
 collected appears, however, to have been sufficient to 
 authorise the government in coming to a decision, as 
 an establishment was foi-med at Port Humboldt in the 
 early part of 1852. The garrison, if it may be so called, 
 consists of a party of burghers, or native militia of Ter- 
 nate, a people by no means calculated to inspire respect 
 in the stalwart and energetic Papuans. 
 
 It is to be hoped, however, that the favourable position 
 of this port, as a refreshing station for ships that have 
 crossed the Pacific from the west coast of America, will 
 lead to the establishment being placed on a more sub- 
 stantial footing. Certainly, the interests of commerce. 
 
93 NEW GUINEA. 
 
 independent of all philanthropic considerations, require 
 that at least one refuge should be established on the 
 coasts of an island nearly 1,400 miles in length, and 
 which are now traversed almost daily by the shipping 
 employed in the commerce of the Far East. The antece- 
 dents of the Netherlands Government in these regions are 
 not favom-able to the supposition that the establishment 
 at Port Humboldt has been formed with philanthropic 
 views, but civihzed nations are not likely to be particular 
 in their inqunies as to the motives of action, if a new 
 port, in a perfectly inhospitable region, is opened out 
 for the general convenience of shipping. 
 
ARRU ISLANDS. 93 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE ARRU ISLANDS. 
 
 GENERAL DESCRIPTIOX OF THE GROUP FOREIGN INTERCOURSE 
 
 MIXED RACE OF THE WESTERN ISLANDS DUTCH CONNECTION WITH 
 
 THE ISLANDS RENEWED IN 1824 LIEUTENANT KOLFf's DESCRIPTION 
 
 OF THE ISLANDERS PECULIAR COMPLEXION OF THE ARRUANS — THE 
 
 KABROOR ISLANDERS AGRICULTURE TREPANG AND PEARL 
 
 FISHERIES NATIVE VESSELS ELEPHANTS' TUSKS AND PORCELAIN 
 
 DISHES SOCIAL CONDITION OF THE NATIVES OF VORKAY MAR- 
 RIAGE CUSTOMS MODE OF SETTLING DIFFERENCES FUNEREAL 
 
 CUSTOMS AND CEREMONIES INTRODUCTION OF CHRISTIANITY AND 
 
 MOHAMMEDANISM IMPORTANCE OF FARTHER DETAILS RESPECTING 
 
 THE ARRUANS. 
 
 The Arru Islands are a closely packed group, distant 
 about sixty miles from the south-west coast of New 
 Guinea, and extending over a space of one hundred miles 
 in length, and between forty and fifty miles in breadth. 
 On the eastern side of the group are found banks of 
 sand and mud, stretching far out to sea, which are only 
 covered to the depth .of a few feet at low tides. The 
 trepang, or sea-slug, which, when cured, is an article of 
 
94 ARRU ISLANDS. 
 
 great consumption in China^ where it is mucli used as a 
 delicacy for the table, exists in great abundance on these 
 banks, which also furnish pearl-oysters of two varieties ; 
 namely, the large oyster, whose shell is the mother-of- 
 pearl shell of commerce, and the smaller variety in which 
 the seed-pearls are found. Some of the more eastern 
 islands contain lime-stone caverns, within which the 
 small swallow constructs the edible birds^-nests of com- 
 merce, also an article in great demand for the markets of 
 China, where it is said to be worth its weight in silver. 
 These circumstances, coupled with the industrious habits 
 and friendly disposition of the islanders, has led to the 
 group becoming a great resort for traders from the west- 
 em parts of the iVrchipelago, including natives of Java 
 and Celebes, Chinese, and even Europeans, who bring 
 large quantities of manufactured goods and other articles 
 suited to the tastes of the mhabitants. The latter have 
 consequently become the most wealthy and prosperous 
 of all the native tribes of the neighbouring seas. 
 
 The Arru islanders bear a strong personal resemblance 
 to the aborigines of Port Essington ; indeed on several 
 occasions in which natives from the neighbourhood of the 
 late settlement visited the islands in Em'opean vessels, 
 they were considered by the xlrruans as belonging to 
 some remote part of their own group. But the Arruans 
 also possess so many characteristics in common \vith the 
 Outanatas of the opposite coast of New Guinea, that it 
 will be necessary to include them in a general account of 
 the Papuans. 
 
 The ports frequented by the foreign trading-vessels are 
 all in the north-western part of the group, where the 
 
i 
 
 TRADING PORTS. 95 
 
 people are evidently of a mixed race, the natural result of 
 strangers fi'om the west havinj^ married and settled 
 among them during an intercourse which appears to have 
 extended over several centuries. The characteristics of 
 the aboriginal inhabitants will therefore have to be sought 
 among the islands remote from the trading ports ; and in 
 order to fmiiish the most authentic information concern- 
 ing them, it will be necessary- to borrow very considerably 
 from Lieutenant Kolff^s narrative of his voyage in 1826. 
 The writer visited Dobbo, the chief port of the group, 
 in 1841, in Her Majesty't Ship ' Britomart / but as his 
 attention was chiefly directed towards ascertaining the 
 commercial resources of the islands, the particulars he 
 was able to gather respecting the aborigines only served 
 to confirm the general correctness of Lieutenant Kolfi's 
 details on all those points which came under his obser- 
 vation. 
 
 The expedition of Lieutenant Kolff in the ' Dourga' 
 had been planned by the Governor-general of Netherlands 
 India, Baron Van der Capellen, during a visit he made to 
 the principal settlements of the Moluccas in 1824, and 
 which has been attended with so many beneficial results 
 to the native inhabitants of these eastern islands. This 
 was the first occasion in which the Moluccas had been 
 honoured by the presence of a Governor-general since 
 the days of Van Diemen, the patron of Tasman and 
 Australian discovery; and, as might be expected, the 
 event created great enthusiasm among all classes, which 
 seems to have extended to the Arrus, the most remote 
 group that had come under the influence of the Dutch 
 establishments. Lieutenant KoLfi" says : 
 
96 ARRU ISLANDS. 
 
 " During the year previous to my visit, )vhen tlie 
 Governor-general Baron A'an der Capellen visited the 
 Moluccas, he sent two schooners of war, the ' Daphne' 
 and ^ Pollux/ to the Arrus, to inquire into the condition of 
 the people. The arrival of Mr. A. J. Bik, who was at 
 the head of this expedition, had given rise to a hope 
 among the natives that the government would take an 
 interest in their affairs, so that my visit naturally excited 
 much joy among them. They welcomed us in the most 
 friendly manner, kissed our hands, and expressed the 
 greatest joy when I informed them of the object of my 
 visit, and of the purpose of our government to take them 
 again under its protection. The frank and kind 
 manner in which men and women, heathen as well as 
 Christians, came forth to meet us, was truly striking and 
 impressive, the more from these innocent people being, 
 unlike many other of the Indian races, entirely free from 
 dissimulation.' '* 
 
 And it is satisfactory to know that after a sojourn of 
 a fortnight among them, ]\Ir. Kolff still retained his 
 favourable impressions. He describes as follows the 
 leading characteristics of the aboriginal Arruans : 
 
 " Little or no information can be gathered from the 
 charts concerning the position, the number, or the names 
 of the Arru Islands. Valentyn laid them down very 
 incorrectly, and was uncertain how far they extended to 
 the eastward. The Alfoers, who are the aborigines of the 
 islands, form a numerous body of people. They are not, 
 as is generally supposed, entirely uncivilized, since they 
 
 * Kolff, " YoYcige of tlie 'Dourga/ " p. 179. 
 
FOOD AND DRESS. 97 
 
 live in ^*illages containing ten or twelve houses eacli, 
 under the control of their elders. Their food consists 
 chiefly of fish and hogs, which they shoot with iron- 
 pointed arrows. They also grow excellent vegetables, 
 Indian corn, labu (a sort of pumpkin, resembling the 
 tui-nip in flavour), sugar-cane, together with a little red 
 and white rice. Their clothing is not more costly than 
 their food. The men wear a strip of white, blue, or 
 coloured calico round the waist, one end being brought 
 between the legs, and fastened on one side with a knot, 
 and adorn themselves with armlets made from white 
 shells, with small pieces of brass wire in fom* or five holes 
 pierced above one another in the ears, and vrith beads 
 around the neck. Their hair is usually black and 
 strongly curled. As I have 'remarked elsewhere, they 
 wash it with ash or lime-water, which imparts to it a 
 lightish colour and causes it to appear rough, both these 
 peculiarities being considered very tasteful by the Alfoers 
 as well as by the Papuans. Some of them, who have very 
 Ions hair t\^-ist it up into a knot at the back of the head, 
 confining it by means of a bamboo comb. Nearly all 
 their head-dresses are adorned by some strings of glass 
 beads extending from both ears, and meeting over the 
 forehead. They always carry a chopping-knife thrust 
 through the waistcloth. 
 
 " The women wear a chain girdle, made of thick brass 
 wire, round the waist, the ends fastened by a hook, from 
 which a small piece of cloth, generally of :Macassar 
 sarong stuff", hangs down in front, a square piece of fine 
 matting depending in like manner from behind, these 
 forming their sole covering. The numerous strings of 
 
98 ARRU ISLANDS. 
 
 glass beads, which they wear round the neck, hang down 
 upon the breast, and are triced up to each ear, which has 
 by no means an ungraceful appearance. The entire lobe 
 of the ear is pierced with numerous holes, through which 
 are drawn pieces of copper and tin, and sometimes a 
 species of marine plant, this last being also often used 
 as armlets. Under the knee and above the elbow they 
 wear bands of fine plaited cane, through which they often 
 draw the leaves of a certain plant. The hair of the women 
 is very long and fine, and in general but slightly curled. 
 They plait it in difi*erent sections, and twist the whole up 
 into a knot on the top of the head. Their colour is black 
 or transparent brown {doorscMjnend bruin.y^^ 
 
 The peculiar tinge of complexion here alluded to by 
 Lieutenant Kolff is common among many of the Papuan 
 tribes of the Archipelago, more especially in the case of 
 individuals who have been brought up from an early age 
 in the families of European settlers, w^here they have 
 been less exposed to privations than their wild brethren 
 of the mountains. This tinge arises apparently from 
 the natural chocolate-coloured skin becoming so clear, 
 that the flush of the blood shows through it. The pecu- 
 liarity is exceedingly well-depicted in the '' Portrait of a 
 Girl of Luzon" (one of the Philippine Islands), w^hich 
 forms Plate XXIV. of the late Dr. Prichard's " Natural 
 History of Man/' The original formed part of the col- 
 lection of M. Choris, a French artist, who accompanied 
 the Russian voj'^age of circumnavigation under Kotzebue, 
 and the copy referred to is stated by Dr. Prichard to 
 
 * Kolff, " Voyage of the ' Dourga,' " p. 156. 
 
 I 
 
PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS. 99 
 
 give " probably a correct portrait of a female of this YB.ce/' 
 an opinion which will be confirmed by all those who have 
 had opportunities of seeing Papuans of the Philippines 
 as favourably circumstanced as this young person seems to 
 have been. This tinge of complexion is very general among 
 the children and young women of the Arms, and is more 
 pleasing in the eyes of Europeans than the pallid, yellow 
 complexion of children of the brown races. It is styled 
 " itam manis" literally " sweet black^^ by the Malays, 
 among w^hom also it is common, especially at Bruni 
 (Borneo Proper) and Acheen, in Sumatra, where the 
 inhabitants are generally darker in complexion than in 
 the other Malayan States. The itam manis complexion 
 is also rather admired by the Malays, as is shown, indeed, 
 by the poetical name they have conferred on it. 
 
 The Arruans are taller and more muscular than the 
 Malays and Bughis of Celebes, but are inferior in pro- 
 portions, if not in stature, to the ordinary run of 
 Europeans. The usual height of the men is from five 
 feet four inches to five feet eight inches, and there is a 
 great inclination to slimness about the lower extremities 
 among the taller men, some of whom attain the height of 
 six feet. Fine expansive chests are, however, almost 
 universal. The writer had no opportunity of seeing the 
 natives of the easternmost islands of the group, who, 
 according to all accounts, musl possess a superior deve- 
 lopment to those of the south ; but Mr. Kolfi" was more 
 fortunate, as will be seen by the following extract from 
 the " Voyage of the ' Dourga^ :^^ — 
 
 " On one occasion, we met with a prahu from the 
 Kabroor Islands, the people in which were superior in 
 
 F 2 
 
100 ARRU ISLANDS. 
 
 appearance to tlie trepang-fishers of Vorkay. They Lad 
 clearer skins than the latter^ and their hair, which was 
 also much finer, was very neatly dressed and adorned with 
 beads. Their weapons, and the ornaments of their prahus, 
 displayed great taste. The strangers, who called them- 
 selves Alfoers of Borassi, had abundance of food ^ith 
 them, together with several hunting dogs/^* 
 
 These people are described by the western islanders as 
 being more addicted to agricultural than maritime pur- 
 suits, and as subsisting chiefly on maize, yams, and sweet 
 potatoes, which may possibly account for their superiority 
 in personal appearance. Their prahus and weapons are 
 said to resemble exactly those of the Outanatas, on the 
 opposite coast of New Guinea. 
 
 Very little is known concerning the agriculture of the 
 Arruans, for during the periodical visits of the traders, 
 which extend over three or fom* months, nearly the entire 
 population, male and female, is occupied in collecting the 
 marine produce which forms the bulk of their return car- 
 goes. The houses of the Arruans, which are erected on 
 piles near the sea-shore, are generally shaded by cocoa-nut 
 groves; and their gardens, which are laid out in the in- 
 terior, supply yams, sweet potatoes, plantains, &:c., in fact, 
 the greater portion of the fruits and vegetables common to 
 the Moluccas; and Mr. Kolff inforais us that they also 
 grow a little rice, but this is not a common practice, 
 although rice is their favourite diet, the supplies brought 
 by the foreign traders being very great, and quite equal 
 to the consumption of the inhabitants employed in the 
 
 * Kolff, '^ Voyage;' <S:c., p. 178. 
 
b 
 
 FISHERIES. 101 
 
 trepang-fishery. Indeed, this grain is cheaper here than 
 at any port in the Moluccas. 
 
 Lieutenant Kolff thus describes the mode in which the 
 trepang and pearl fisheries are conducted, and the prahus 
 used by the natives when fishing on the outlying banks. 
 The foreign traders leave their vessels at Dobbo or Wadia 
 in charge of a few of the crew, and proceed to the diffe- 
 rent villages in the boats which they hire from the 
 Arruans, the owners generally accompanying them as 
 pilots. 
 
 " Vorkay, an island lying exposed to the ocean at the 
 south-eastern extremity of the group, is of great impor- 
 tance from its pearl fishery. At a distance of eight miles 
 to the eastward, lie several small islands, between which 
 and Vorkay the trepang banks are situated. At low 
 water, hundreds of men, with their wives and children, 
 may be seen wading from Vorkay towards these islets 
 (the water being only two or three feet deep), carrying a 
 basket at their backs, and having in their hands a stick, 
 provided with an iron point. ^Vhen the water is deeper 
 than this, they make use of canoes. For fishing on the 
 banks situated at a greater distance, the Alfoers use a 
 prahu, constructed for the purpose, in which they embark 
 theii* entire families. These vessels have a very strauge 
 appearance. They have great beam, and the stern runs 
 up into a high curve, while two planks project forward 
 from the bows. The family resides in three or four huts 
 composed of atap, or palm leaves, erected within the 
 vessel, and a railing runs entirely round it, apparently to 
 prevent the children from falling overboard. The prahu 
 is propelled by a large sail made of rushes, which folds 
 
103 ARRU ISLANDS. 
 
 up like a fan (in a similar manner to the sails of a 
 Chinese junk); set upon a tripod mast of bamboos, while 
 it is steered with two rudders. Two other masts are also 
 erected; which answer no purpose but that of displaying 
 several small flags. 
 
 " The pearl fishery is thus carried on. The trader 
 makes an agreement (for the oysters) for so much a 
 hundred; paying an advance of a certain quantity of 
 arrak; cloth, &c. 'When the price is agreed on, the fisher 
 goes to the bank and dives for the oysters, which are 
 mostly small and black, in from twenty-four to thirty 
 feet water, selecting the best he can find. The diving is 
 attended with much difficulty and danger, as, from the 
 time he remains under water, the blood often bursts from 
 the nose and mouth of the diver, while he is also liable 
 to be destroyed by the numerous sharks which are to be 
 found there.^^* 
 
 Until a comparatively recent period, the inhabitants of 
 the eastern islands of the group were in the habit of 
 joining the Papuan fleets which made periodical semi- 
 piratical expeditions among the islands of the Moluccas, 
 furnishing their quota of prahus, which resemble very 
 closely those of the Outanatas. Among the southern 
 tribes, considerable improvements have been made in 
 the art of navigation, which appear to have been derived 
 chiefly from the foreign traders. In the western, or, 
 as they may be called, "Christian" islands, the larger 
 prahus are almost all obtained from the Ki Group, which 
 lies sixty miles to the west, and is occupied by the most 
 
 * Kolff, "Voyage of the 'Doui'ga,' " p. 17Q. 
 
NAVIGATION AND TRADE. 103 
 
 industrious of the brown tribes of the Archipelago. 
 The mechanical skill of the latter people is particularly 
 displayed in the construction of small vessels — indeed 
 eveiy village on the coasts of the Ki Islands has the 
 appearance of a large boat-buildei"'s yard. The foreign 
 traders generally call there on their way to the Arrus^ for 
 the purpose of ^jurchasing one or more prahus, to be 
 employed in visiting the more remote fishing villages ; 
 and as these are generally sold or given away to the 
 islanders on the departure of the tradei*s^ they have in a 
 great measui'e superseded the vessels of the natives in the 
 western Arms, if they ever had any of a large size. The 
 Ki prahus are graceful-looking vessels, from seventy to a 
 hundred feet long, and ten or twelve feet broad, very low 
 sided, and having platforms erected over them, on which 
 the crew cook and sleep. 
 
 One of the most striking peculiarities in connection 
 with the customs of the Arruans, consists in the hisrh 
 value they place upon elephants^ tusks, brass gongs, and 
 large porcelain dishes, which are in such demand, that 
 they generally form part of the cargoes brought by the 
 foreign traders. The writer has a lively recollection of 
 the incredulous surprise with which he listened to the 
 statements of the Bughis traders he met with in Java 
 and Singapore during his earlier visits to the Archi- 
 pelago, who informed him that the islanders hoarded up 
 these valuables, without making any ostensible use of 
 them, and gave prices which enabled the Bughis traders 
 to buy up these articles on any terms, in fact to command 
 the market. Siam and Cochin-China were then the chief 
 sources of the supply of ivory, but latterly African tusks 
 
104) ARRU ISLANDS. 
 
 have been impoi-ted from Europe by the Netherlands 
 Company for the Moluccan trade, so that the demand 
 seems rather to be on the mcrease. This singular practice 
 of hoarding articles of such value, which is common also to 
 the natives of Timor-Laut and the Serwatty Islands, will 
 have to be noticed more fully when the brown-coloured 
 tribes of the Archipelago come under review. With the 
 Timor-Laut and Serwatty islanders, the practice is con- 
 nected with religious observances, the tusks more 
 especially being purchased by the wealthy for display 
 during their funereal ceremonies, after which they are 
 preserved by their descendants as relics. Probably this 
 will prove to be the case with the Arruans also, when 
 more full information is obtained concerning their 
 customs. 
 
 The following interesting details respecting the social 
 condition and customs of the inhabitants of Vorkay, one 
 of the southernmost islands of the group, and lying in the 
 immediate vicinity of the principal trepang and pearl 
 fisheries, is extracted from Lieutenant Kolff^s narrative of 
 the " Voyage of the ' Dourga.^ '' It must be taken into 
 consideration, however, that the natives were on their 
 good behaviour during the visits of the Dutch officers, 
 and were especially anxious to leave a favourable im- 
 pression on the minds of their guests. Nevertheless, his 
 statements respecting their peaceful behaviour towards each 
 other are confirmed by the traders who have long held 
 intercourse with them, although they complain sadly of 
 the unceremonious manner in which they are liable to 
 be ejected from the community, if they or their people 
 happen to offend the natives^ prejudices. These differences. 
 
SOCIAL CUSTOMS. 105 
 
 towever, are rarely attended witli bloodshed, and even 
 the sufferers themselves admit that their property is never 
 appropriated, although it is sometimes much injured by 
 he rough manner in which it is bundled into their boats, 
 if they are so unfortunate as to incur displeasure. 
 
 ''It is certainly worthy of remark that these simple 
 Alfoers, without the hope of reward or fear of punishment 
 after death (Mr. Kolff here alludes to the ignorance of 
 the An-uans respecting a future state), live in such peace 
 and brotherly love with one another, and that they recog- 
 nize the right of property in the fullest sense of the word, 
 without their being any other authority among them than 
 the decisions of theii* elders, according to the customs of 
 theii* forefathers, which are held in the highest regard. 
 During my stay among them, I never perceived the least 
 discord, either among themselves or with their neighbours 
 in the adjacent villages, which one would suppose might 
 natui-ally take place from the clashing of interests in the 
 trepang fishery, or from their appetite for strong drink. 
 This last is the chief, if not the sole vice which exists 
 among them. 
 
 " No Alfoer can take unto himself a wife until he has 
 delivered the marriage present, which consists of ele- 
 phants' teeth, brass gongs, cloth, &c. This is not usually 
 all paid at once, but" by instalments during several years. 
 A father, who has many daughters, becomes a rich man 
 by the presents which he receives on their marriage. If 
 a young man wishes to marr}', and is possessed of nothing, 
 it often occurs that he makes a voyage of a year's duration 
 among the other islands ; and making known his purpose, 
 demands contributions fi'om those he visits to enable him 
 
106 ARRU ISLANDS. 
 
 to make up the instalment of goods which it is necessaiy 
 to place in the hands of the parents. The ceremony of 
 betrothing is celebrated by a feast^ at which arrack forms 
 a very necessary adjunct. 
 
 " It is not lawful for a man to enter the house of a 
 neighbour during his absence ; and if any one offends in 
 this particular^ he is obliged to pay a piece of cloth, or 
 some other goods, to the owner of the house. The sen- 
 tence is passed by the elders, who openly call upon the 
 offender to pay the fine, which makes him so ashamed 
 that he either does so, or immediately leaves the village. 
 This fine is called ^ pakul dende^ by the natives. Should 
 any one even touch the wife of another, he must make a 
 large atonement for the offence. The Macassar traders 
 informed me that they were always obliged to watch their 
 people narrowly, to keep them from approaching too near 
 the married women, as the least touch would render them 
 liable to a fine ; and unless this was paid, the Alfoers 
 would not be satisfied. 
 
 " They pride themselves much in the possession of a 
 number of elephants' tusks, and brass gongs ; the value 
 of the first being determined according to their length, 
 and of the latter by their weight and circumference. 
 They formerly obtained these articles from the Banda 
 traders, who themselves procured them from Batavia, 
 Malacca, and Singapore. 
 
 " The following occurrence gives a remarkable proof of 
 the mildness of their laws. An Alfoer, who had gone out 
 fishing, intending to be absent eight days, did not return; 
 
SOCIAL CUSTOMS. 107 
 
 and his wifC;, wlio had no more provisions at home than 
 would last her for this period^ requested assistance from a 
 neighbour. Hence arose a mutual friendship^ whichj 
 however, at first only showed itself in little attentions, the 
 man drawing water, cutting wood, and providing fish for 
 his fail' neighbour, who could not avoid feelmg grateful 
 for the kindness ; and no one will be surprised at their 
 friendship at length ripening into love, when, conscious 
 of their guilt, they took flight to one of the neighbouring 
 islands. The husband, who -had been detained by con- 
 trary winds, returned at the end of two months, and 
 demanded his wife of her brothers, who were therefore 
 necessitated to go in search of her, when the guilty 
 couple were soon discovered, and brought back to their 
 \-illage. The injured husband demanded an enormous 
 fine from the seducer of his wife, which the latter refused 
 to pav, stating that during his entire life he should 
 not be able to collect a suflScient quantity of trepang to 
 make up the sum. An appeal was thereupon made to 
 the elders ; and on the woman being questioned, she 
 frankly stated that the kindness of her neighbour in 
 supplying her wants had called forth her gratitude, and 
 this ripened into love ; she had made the first advances. 
 The elders considered this mode of proceeding on the 
 part of the wife rather strange ; but taking it into consi- 
 deration that it was very difficult for any one to withstand 
 a declaration of love from a young woman, they lost 
 sight of the severe laws respecting the conduct of men 
 towards married women, and determined that the offender 
 should only pay a small fine, and advised the husband 
 never again to leave his wife at home without provisions. 
 
108 ARRU ISLANDS. 
 
 The lady returned home with her husband^ who was wise 
 enough never to mention the subject, folio v;ing up the old 
 proverb : 
 
 " ' Men moet geene oude Koeijen nit de sloot halen.' 
 
 "Among the x\lfoers, the treatment of their dead betrays, 
 in the greatest degree, their uncivilized condition, and the 
 uncertainty which exists among them as to their future 
 state. Allien a man dies, his relations assemble, and 
 destroy all the goods he may have collected during his 
 life, even the gongs are broken to pieces, and thrown 
 away. In their villages I met with several heaps of 
 porcelain plates and basins, the property of deceased 
 individuals, the survivors entertaining an idea that they 
 have no right to make use of them. After death the 
 body is laid out on a small mat, and supported against 
 a ladder until the relatives of the deceased assemble, 
 which seldom takes place until four days have elapsed ; 
 and as decomposition will have commenced before this, 
 the parts where moisture has appeared are covered with 
 lime. Fruitless endeavours to stop the progress of 
 decay ! In the meantime, damar or resin is con- 
 tinually burnt in the house, while the guests who have 
 already assembled regale themselves with quantities of 
 arrack, and of a spirit they themselves prepare from the 
 juice of a fruit, amid violent raving, the discord being 
 increased by the beating of gongs, and the howling and 
 lamentation of the women. Food is offered to the 
 deceased ; and when they find he does not partake 
 of it, the mouth is filled with eatables, siri and arrack, 
 until it runs down the body, and spreads over the floor. 
 
FUNEREAL CUSTOMS. 109 
 
 When the friends and relatives are all collected, the 
 body is placed upon a bier, on which numerous pieces 
 of cloth have been laid, the quantity being according to 
 the ability of the deceased ; and under the bier are placed 
 large dishes of China porcelain, to catch any moisture 
 that may fall from the body. The dishes which have been 
 put to this purpose are afterwards much prized by the 
 Alfoers. The body is then brought out before the house, 
 and supported against a post, when attempts are made to 
 induce it to eat. Lighted segars, arrack, rice, fruit, &c., 
 are again stuffed into its mouth, and the by-standers, 
 striking up a song, demand whether the sight of all his 
 friends and fellow-villagers will not induce the deceased 
 to awaken ? At length, when they find all these endea- 
 vours to be fruitless, they place the body on a bier, 
 adorned with flags, and carry it out into the forest, where 
 it is fixed upon the top of four posts. A tree, usually the 
 Pavetta Indica, is then planted near it ; and it is remark- 
 able that at this last ceremony none but women, entirely 
 naked, are present. This is called by the Alfoers '^sudah 
 buang,' by which they mean that the body is now cast 
 away, and can listen to them no longer. The entire 
 ceremony proves that the Alfoers are deprived of that 
 consolation afforded by our religion ; and that they only 
 give expression to the grief they naturally feel at parting 
 with one to whom they have been attached."* 
 
 The chiefs and upper classes of the north-western 
 islands of the group are for the most part Christians of 
 the Dutch Reformed Church, the pastoral duties being 
 
 * Kolff, " Yoyage of the ' Dourga/ " p. 161 et seq. 
 
110 ARRU ISLANDS. 
 
 performed by native teachers, who are sent there by the 
 missionary establishments of Amboyaa, the government 
 allowing them a small salary. Wadia, a little island 
 near the northern extreme, is, however, occupied almost 
 exclusively by Mohammedans, but they do not seem to 
 make much progress in gaining proselytes. The pagan 
 inhabitants show a greater tendency towards Christianity, 
 as some of our festivals have been adopted by them, but 
 apparently without understanding their meaning. The 
 labours of the Dutch missionaries have been chiefly 
 exerted among the brown-coloured tribes of the Moluccas, 
 the difficulty they have experienced in finding native 
 teachers who were willing to reside among wild tribes of 
 a different race, being the chief cause of their apparent 
 neglect of the Papuans. The opening that was afforded 
 by the existence of semi-Malayan communities on the 
 western islands of the Arru Group, seems to have been 
 availed of at an early period of the Dutch occupation of 
 the Moluccas, as some of the neat little churches which 
 are found near the chief villages, have dates inscribed 
 over their doors which show that they were erected in the 
 early part of the last century. One of the objects of 
 Lieutenant Kolff^s expedition of 1826 was to inquire into 
 the state of the Christian Church in the more remote 
 islands of the Moluccan Seas, which had been neglected 
 during the troubles occasioned by the last European war; 
 and for this pui-pose he was accompanied by the Rev. 
 Mr. Kam, the head of the Dutch Church at Amboyna, 
 whose name is prominently connected with missionary 
 labours in the Moluccas. 
 
 A full description of the Arru Islands and their 
 
INTRODUCTION OF CHRISTIANITY. Ill 
 
 motley inhabitants would prove deeply interesting to 
 ethnographical science. If, as there is much reason to 
 suspect, the xlrruans were originally of the same race with 
 the inhabitants of the opposite coast of New Guinea, the 
 course of improvement which has led to their becoming 
 one of the best-conducted tribes of the Indian Archi- 
 pelago might here be detected ; aijd philanthropists would 
 have data on which to act in reclaiming a race, which 
 becomes more interesting from the utter barbarism in 
 which some of its members are steeped. 
 
112 MOUNTAIN PAPUANS. 
 
 CHAPTER YI. 
 
 CERAM AND THE MOLUCCAS. 
 
 MOUNTAIN- PAPUANS — MIXED RACE ON THE ISLANDS LYING BETWEEN 
 
 CERAM AND NEW GUINEA REMNANTS OF THE PAPUAN RACE IN 
 
 CERAM CONDITION IN THE TIME OF VALENTYN THE WARINGIN OR 
 
 BANYAN-TREE OF THE FAR EAST ITS CONNECTION WITH THE EARLY 
 
 HISTORY OF THE NATIVE RACES HOPELESS CONDITION OF THE 
 
 PAPUANS IN THE INTERIOR OF CERAM — FORMER POWER OF THE 
 
 MARITIME PAPUANS THEIR EXPEDITIONS IN THE NEIGHBOURING 
 
 SEAS ADVENTURE OF A PAPUAN RAJAH AT TERNATE. 
 
 Within the geographical limits of the Indian Archi- 
 pelagOj the Papuans only appear as inhabitants of the 
 sea-coast in New Guinea and the islands immediately 
 adjacent. In other parts of this region they are found 
 only among the mountain fastnesses, maintaining an 
 unequal struggle with the brown races by whom they are 
 surrounded. In some of the Spice Islands, the group 
 nearest to New Guinea, " their extirpation is matter of 
 history," as observed by Mr. Crawfurd in his valuable 
 ^' History of the Indian Archipelago.^'* In Ceram and 
 
 ♦ Vol. I, p. 18. 
 
MYSOL. 113 
 
 Gilolo a few scattered remnants of the race still exist; 
 but they hold little or no intercourse with their more 
 ci\ilized neighbours, flying into the thickets which 
 afford them shelter and concealment on the first 
 appearance of a stranger, experience having taught them 
 that death or captivity will be their fate if they fall into 
 the hands of their natural enemies. The characteristics 
 of the Mountain Papuans must therefore be sought in 
 those islands where their numerical strength permits 
 them to lead a life more fitted for human beings than that 
 of their hunted brethi'en. It is an eri'or to suppose that 
 these poor creatures disappear before civilization. Their 
 chief destroyers are the wild and warlike hunting tribes of 
 the brovvn race ; and, excepting the case of the Moluccas, 
 wherever European civilization has been introduced, the 
 Papuans are more numerous than elsewhere. In the 
 Philippines, for example, according to an intelhgent 
 modern traveller, their number in the year 1842 
 amounted to 25,000 souls.* 
 
 The large island of Mysol or Mesual, which lies 
 nearly midway between the north-western extreme of 
 New Guinea and Ceram, is said to have been occupied 
 exclusively by Papuans when this region was first visited 
 by Europeans, and they still form the bulk of the inland 
 population ; but the villages of the coast are occupied by 
 a mixed race, in which the Papuan element, however, 
 prevails. The islands of Goram, Ceram-Laut, Bo, Poppo, 
 and Geby, and Patani-Hoek, the south-eastern extreme 
 of Gilolo, are also occupied by people of the mixed race, 
 
 * Mallat, "Les Philippines," &c., vol. i, p. 97. Paris, 1S46. 
 
llJj GORAM AND GEBY. 
 
 who are remarkable for their maritime activity, and for 
 their friendly disposition towards European strangers. 
 The mixtm-e has arisen chiefly from these spots having 
 been the places of refuge for offenders against the regu- 
 lations established for the monopoly of spices in the 
 Moluccas, and which, until a comparatively recent period, 
 had been so rigidly enforced, that even suspected persons 
 were unwilling to submit to the summaiy jurisdiction of 
 the Dutch residents and ^^ post-houders,^^ if they had the 
 slightest prospect of escaping to another district where 
 they would be beyond the reach of the Spice-laws. The 
 pilots and interpreters who accompany European traders 
 on their voyages to New Guinea, are of this race, chiefly 
 from Goram and Geby, and they are considered upon the 
 whole as faithful and intelligent. The cordiality of the 
 natives of Goram towards European strangers, afl'ords a 
 strong contrast to the reserve which tempers the hospi- 
 tality of even the best disposed Mohammedan natives of 
 the Moluccas. 
 
 The eastern extremity of Ceram, and also the greater 
 portion of the north coast of that island, was inhabited 
 by Papuans on the first arrival of Europeans in the East ; 
 but they are now only to be found in the jungles, and 
 seem to be rapidly disappearing before the brown tribes, 
 who are both numerous and warlike. Valentyn, the old 
 Dutch historian of the East, who resided for many years 
 at Amboyna and Banda, thus describes the condition of 
 the Papuan communities of the coast of Ceram in the 
 early part of the last century : " Hote (a river on the 
 north coast of the island) is the northernmost rendezvous 
 of the people of Messowal (Mysol), and it appears that 
 
CERAM. 115 
 
 these Papoewas come here to trade with those of the Bay 
 of Hatoewe. It is also the boundary- limit [grenspaal) of 
 the Papoewas there. For those of Messowal, and their 
 adherents, formerly used to plunder the other Papoewas 
 who lived to the east and noith-east of Hote, and there- 
 fore they named this place ' Hote/ which, in their lan- 
 guage, means boundary-limit, or separation. Those of 
 Messowal had left off this plundering for some years, 
 when presently the Papoewas to the east and north-east 
 of Hote attacked the other natives ; and so many com- 
 plaints were laid before their Honours (the Raad, or 
 council), by the inhabitants of Amboyna, that in the first 
 instance their Honours counselled the Sultan of Tidore, in 
 Saif-Addeen^s time, to prevent these occurrences ; which 
 he pretended to do. But afterwards he instructed them 
 to attack and plunder our allies ; and their Honours were 
 obliged to give orders to the people of Amboyna to 
 attack the Papoewas, not only on our coasts, but also in 
 their own nests on the coasts of Maba, "Weda, and Sal- 
 watti.* The old residences of the inhabitants of Hote, at 
 least while they remained on the banks of the river, were 
 like those of the other Papoewas, in the high forest, 
 where they built their houses, according to an old native 
 custom, on high piles, or among the branches of the 
 waringin-trees, so far from the ground that they could 
 only be got at by climbing ladders, which they probably 
 did in order to secure themselves from sudden attacks. 
 But in the year 1673, they removed to a spot a httle to 
 
 * The two first of these places are on the east coast of Gilolo, and 
 the last is a large island situated between Gilolo and Xew Guinea. — 
 G. W. E. 
 
116 CERAM. 
 
 the eastward of tlie river, where they have remained ever 
 
 }}:k 
 
 Since.' 
 
 The waringin-tree, alluded to by Yalentyn, is a variety 
 of the Ficus, very closely resembling the banyan-tree of 
 the continent of India ; spreading in like manner over a 
 large space of ground, the lateral branches sending down 
 shoots, which take root, and become supplementary 
 trunks. The circumstance of the wilder Papuans taking 
 delight in residing among the branches of waringin- 
 trees, whose dense foliage and horizontally spreading 
 branches render them well adapted for the purpose, has 
 been repeatedly noticed by travellers, but hitherto their 
 accounts seem to have been little credited. This tree is 
 of peculiar interest in connection with the earlier history 
 of the native races of the Far East, as it is regarded with a 
 superstitious veneration by all the aboriginal tribes of the 
 Archipelago, as well as by those of the northern coasts 
 of Australia, and by the lower classes, at least, of the 
 Chinese. 
 
 Valentyn's account of a wild people found in the 
 interior of Ceram, which is given below, agrees with 
 information obtained by the writer within the last few 
 years from natives of the south coast of that island, 
 except as regards their beiug cannibals, on which point 
 the informants were not unanimous. But all agreed in 
 describing them as a particularly small race, of very dark 
 complexion, with black frizzled hair, resembling that of 
 the Papuans. " There are yet many other Alfoers {Al- 
 foereesen) existing in the eastern part of Ceram ; as those 
 
 * Yalentyn, " Beschryringe van Auiboiaa," p. 56. 
 
CERAM. 117 
 
 of "Wassoa, Mariboenoe, of the countn' inland of Scpa 
 and Tamilauj also inland of Haja, and in the district 
 Silan Binauwer ; and also inland of Cattaroewa, and in 
 other places which are not accurately known ;— a people 
 so wild that they will not hold communication with any- 
 body ; residing chiefly in high waringin and other trees ; 
 living separately, from a want of mutual confidence, each 
 in his own tree ; and not only killing one another, but 
 eating each other up.''* 
 
 Some allowance must be made for the exaggeration in 
 which the brown tribes always indulge when speaking of 
 this degraded race, apparently with the view of furnishing 
 an apology for the cruel manner in which they hunt 
 them down whenever an opportunity offers ; but of the 
 general correctness of the above details, there can be 
 little doubt. The case of a people so situated must be 
 almost hopeless. This is probably the last stage in 
 which the race has existed in many of the islands, large 
 and small, from which it has now totally disappeared ; and 
 the circumstance brings forcibly to mind the condition m 
 which a remnant of a native tribe of Van Diemen's Land 
 was discovered, some years after the main body had 
 been hunted down and transferred to an island in Bass's 
 Strait. Many of the smaller islands lying between the 
 Moluccas and New Guinea, are now altogether uninha- 
 bited, but the former occupants may have removed them- 
 selves to one of the larger islands in their vicinity, where 
 they could find a retreat in the mountain fastnesses on 
 the approach of danger. 
 
 * YalentTn, " Beschryringe van Amboina," p. 7S. 
 
118 MYSOL. 
 
 The power of the maritime tribes of Mysol, and some 
 of the larger islands adjacent to the west coast of New 
 Guinea, must have been considerable during the last 
 century, as the ravages committed by their flotillas, 
 which appear to have resembled that of the Outanatas 
 seen by Mr. Modera, are a repeated subject of complaint 
 in the writings of the time. The anecdote given by 
 Captain Forrest, which is extracted below, relates to one 
 of the latest and most formidable of the expeditions in 
 which a number of Papuan tribes had combined in fitting 
 out a fleet of sufficient force to operate at a distance from 
 home. These enterprises, which had for their object 
 both trade and plunder, were the terror of the fishermen 
 of the Moluccas, as the latter were generally kidnapped 
 when caught in convenient situations. This will explain 
 the anxiety of the Dutch authorities of the Moluccas to 
 suppress these expeditions by every means in their power ; 
 and although the measures adopted in the case mentioned 
 by Captain Forrest can scarcely be approved ofi", still 
 every allowance must be made for the irritation caused by 
 the constant complaints of those whose near relatives had 
 been carried off by the marauders, for such they must 
 undoubtedly be considered. 
 
 " About ten in the forenoon we were ready to sail 
 (from Mysol). This morning Tuan Hadjee (the Tidore 
 chief, who accompanied Captain Forrest as guide and 
 interpreter) was visited by the consort of the Rajah of 
 Salwatty, whose husband had lately been circumvented 
 by the Dutch, and sent to the Cape of Good Hope. I 
 also paid my respects to the lady, and made her a pre- 
 sent. She was well-looking, and had three female 
 
PAPUAN FLOTILLAS. 119 
 
 attendants. She presented Tuan Hadjee with a small 
 corocoro ; and from him I learned the following account 
 of her lord. Some time about the year 1770^ a number 
 of Papua boats from New Guinea, the islands Aroo, 
 Salwatty, and Mysol, near the time of the vernal equinox, 
 when the seas are generally smooth, assembled to the 
 number of more than a hundred, and sailed up the Strait 
 of Patientia, which divides Batchian from Gololo. They 
 committed no hostilities ; but the Dutch, apprehensive of 
 what they misht do, sent to them, and made the chiefs 
 presents of cloth, &c., upon which they dispersed; and 
 after fishing a few days, and hunting in the woods, they 
 went home. However, the Rajah of Salwatty stayed 
 behind, but neither he nor any of his people did any 
 mischief. The Dutch, willing to get the Rajah into their 
 power, fell on the following stratagem. They sent a 
 messenger to him with a paper, signed and sealed by the 
 Governor of Ternate, telling him it was a pardon and 
 remission of his sala (offence) for having come with an 
 armed force into the Dutch territories ; and that he, in 
 particular, was more lucky than the other Papua chiefs, 
 who had returned home without such a formal absolution. 
 At the same time, he was invited to come and see Ternate, 
 where the governor would do him all kinds of honour 
 suitable to his rank ; and in case he shoidd fancy anything 
 in the Company^s warehouses, he had a bag of dollars 
 presented him. This was the bait. The Coffree chief, 
 sensible the dollars could buy him nothing in his own 
 country, whither he certainly might have carried them, 
 and ha\dng heard of the fine things to be bought of the 
 Dutch at Ternate, could not resist the temptation of 
 
120 MOLUCCAS. 
 
 laying out money, got unexpectedly and for nothing. 
 He therefore consenting, went, accompanied by ten or 
 twelve of his people, into the fort, and waited on the 
 governor, who showed him civility and respect. He then 
 laid out his dollars. Presently a guard was turned out ; 
 and they thought themselves so sure of their prisoner, 
 that they did not even shut the gates. When it was 
 announced to him that he must surrender, he whispered 
 to his people — who were ready to mangamo (run a muck) 
 upon the occasion to serve their master, or sell their lives 
 dear — not to stir in his defence, but to save themselves ; 
 which, while the Rajah was delivering up his cress 
 (dagger), they immediately did; and running out of 
 the fort, they got on board their corocoro, and escaped. 
 The Rajah is now a prisoner at the Cape. Possibly the 
 Dutch allowed his people to get away.''^* 
 
 It must be remembered that this affair took place 
 when the government of Netherlands^ India was in the 
 hands of a trading company, so that the Dutch nation is 
 only indirectly responsible. Indeed. I should have hesitated 
 in brino-ins: it forward at a time when our own adminis- 
 tration in the East presents many tender points, had not 
 common justice towards the Papuans rendered it neces- 
 sary to produce evidence, that would tend to show how it 
 has happened, that three centuries of intercourse with an 
 European race settled in their immediate neighbourhood, 
 has been anything but favourable to the advance of the 
 native tribes of New Guinea. 
 
 * rorrest, " Voyage to New Guinea," p. 147. 
 
EtJin o graphic al Lihiaxj Vol . I . 
 
 Plate V: 
 
 4 
 
 J' . ; ■ 'rtntf 
 
 A H JE T A S 
 
PHILIPPINES. 121 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 AHETAS, OR NEGRITOS OF THE PHILIPPIXES. 
 
 DISTRIBUTIOX OF THE AHETAS IN' THE PHILIPPINES ACCOUNTS 
 
 OF EARLY VOYAGERS NATURE OF THE COUNTRY PHYSICAL 
 
 CHARACTERISTICS OF THE AHETAS FOOD HABITS SINGULAR 
 
 PRACTICE NOSTALGIA OR HOME-SICKNESS INDIVIDUALS RE- 
 SIDING VnTU THE FOREIGN SETTLERS M. DE LA GIRONIERe's 
 
 VISIT TO A MOUNTAIN TRIBE FIRST INTRODUCTION PERSONAL 
 
 APPEARANCE HABITS WORSHIP CUSTOMS ON THE DEATH OF 
 
 ONE OF THEIR TRIBE MODE OF COURTSHIP — RESPECT FOR OLD 
 
 AGE STYLE OF LANGUAGE POISONED ARROWS AGILITY OF 
 
 THE AHETAS. 
 
 The woolly-haired tribes are more numerous in the 
 Philippines than in any other group of the Indian Archi- 
 pelago, vdth the exception of New Guinea. M. Malkt, 
 as already stated, gives the amount of the "Negrito" 
 population in 1842 as 25,000. This can only be con- 
 sidered as approximative, still it is probably not far from 
 the true amount. The race, therefore, can scarcely be 
 less numerous now than on the first arrival of the Spa- 
 niards more than three centuries ago. Indeed, their 
 distribution among the islands of the group seems to have 
 
 G 
 
\ 
 
 122 PHILIPPINES. 
 
 been mucli the same then as at the present day ; for the 
 island on which they were first seen was named by 
 Magellan " Isla dos Negros/^ to distinguish it from the 
 adjacent island Zebu, where his ships remained for some 
 months. Negros still contains a large population of 
 Papuans, while Zebu is altogether free from them, and no 
 record exists of their having ever been found there. Samar 
 and Le)i;e are similarly situated with Zebu, but Min- 
 danao and Mindoro contain several tribes of Negritos, and 
 they form the chief population of the less accessible parts 
 in the mountain ranges of Luzon, the largest island of 
 the Philippine Group. 
 
 The accounts of the Negritos given by the early Spanish 
 navigators perfectly apply to their present condition. They 
 are described -as being smaller, more slightly built, and 
 less dark in colour than the negroes of Africa, and as 
 having features less marked with the negro characteristics, 
 but as having woolly instead of lank hair ; and their social 
 condition could not have been much better than now, 
 since they are described as lining on roots, and the pro- 
 duce of the chase ; and as sleeping in the branches of the 
 trees, or among the ashes of the fires at which they had 
 cooked their food. 
 
 The following details respecting their present condition 
 have been obtained chiefly from the accounts of MM. 
 Mallat and de la Gironiere, the former an intelligent 
 historian, and the latter an able describer of the adven- 
 tures that befel him during a residence of twenty years 
 among the aboriginal races of the Philippines.* 
 
 * Mallat, 7'.hi supra. Dc la Gii-oiiiere, "Yingt Annees aux 
 Philippines," Paris, 1S53. 
 
\ 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL FEATURES. 123 
 
 But it will be as well, in the first instance, to give a 
 short account of the geographical features of this group, 
 which forms the northern extreme of the Indian Archi- 
 pelago. It consists of a mass of mountains, the peaks of 
 which are often active volcanos, with alluvial plains, occa- 
 sionally of great extent, lying at their base. As in all 
 volcanic countries, the soil possesses great natural fertility, 
 which is here displayed in the production of a vegetation 
 scarcely less vigorous and luxuriant than that of New 
 Guinea. A portion of the plains, more especially on the 
 western side of Luzon, the largest and northernmost of 
 the group, is under cultivation ; but the mountains, for 
 the most part, remain in their natural condition, covered 
 with lofty trees and a thick growth of underwood, or 
 forming peaks and precipices inaccessible to any animal 
 less active than a savage. Here, and here only, the 
 Papuans are now to be found, sometimes holding friendly 
 intercourse, and exchanging the produce of their moun- 
 tains, with the brown races of the plains, but more 
 generally living secluded in their fastnesses, and attacking 
 all indiscriminately who venture to approach their 
 domains. 
 
 The name bestowed on them by the Spaniards is 
 '' Negritos,^^ or little negroes, but that of '' Itas" or 
 "Ahetas^^* seems to be their usual appellation among the 
 planters and villagers of the plains. They are well 
 formed and sprightly, but very low in stature, as they 
 rarely exceed four feet and a half in height. Their 
 colour is a shade or two lighter than that of the races of 
 Africa, and their features are less negro-like, the nose, 
 
 * Written " A^etas," but prouomiccd as above. 
 
 G 2 
 
\ 
 
 124 PHiLippiNirs. 
 
 although broad and flat;, not being particularly remarkable. 
 The deficiency of chin is^ however_, very observable^ and 
 the hair is invariably crisp and frizzled. Their chief food 
 consists of roots and fruits^ the spontaneous productions 
 of the forests (for they have not as yet learned to culti- 
 vate the soil). To these they add the spoils of the 
 chase, which are sometimes sufficiently abundant, as the 
 woods abound in feathered game, as well as deer, wild 
 pigs, and buffaloes. The game is roasted, or rather 
 scorched, and is usually eaten on the spot where it 
 has been slain, a measure, by the way, almost necessary 
 when wild buffaloes fall into their hands, as these animals 
 are sometimes of enormous size. Their weapons of 
 war and the chase are bows and arrows (which last are 
 carried in a quiver of bamboo), and lances or throwing- 
 spears. Their domestic habits are thus noticed by M. 
 Mallat, who does not, however, appear to have seen them in 
 their mountain fastnesses, as was the case with M. De La 
 Gironiere, whose description of a visit to one of the tribes 
 we shall have to quote presently : " They lie down to 
 sleep wherever the night overtakes them, either in a tree 
 or on the grass ; and when, the weather is cold, or the 
 earth damp, they make a large fire, and roll themselves 
 in the warm ashes, or pass the night under the shelter of 
 a spreading tree. .^^N 
 
 " Sworn enemies of the Indians (brown tribes) they have 
 preserved a custom from which they never derogate, and 
 which rendei-s them exceedingly formidable. When a 
 member of their family or one of their friends dies, one of 
 them presents himself immediately among his companions 
 
CUSTOMS OF THE AHETAS, 125 
 
 and the parents of tlie defunct, with a quiver at his back 
 
 and a bow and arrow in his hand, and declares he is 
 
 going to depart, swearing that he will not return among 
 
 them until he has killed one or more of the Indians, in 
 
 order to avensre the death of then- friend, which he attri- 
 / .... 
 
 butes to the sorcery of their rivals. He immediately 
 
 resorts to the places which he knows them to frequent, 
 
 and ascends the trees, from which he examines the 
 
 domicile of the Indians, the river in which they are in 
 
 the habit of bathing, or the brook from which they 
 
 collect the auriferous sands ; and there, hidden and in 
 
 silence, awaits the opportunity of striking them dead with 
 
 his poisoned arrows. Then he returns among his 
 
 people, and mingles in their songs, dances, and rejoicings, 
 
 for he has aven2:ed the death of a brother or a friend.''^* 
 
 Those who are acquainted with the practices of the 
 
 aboriginal tribes of Australia will read this paragraph 
 
 with deep interest. Indeed it displays the characteristic 
 
 which has chiefly led to the Papuans being regarded with 
 
 hatred and abhorrence by all the brown tribes with whom 
 
 they come in contact, and which, if persevered in, would 
 
 eventually lead to their total extermination. x^nd in 
 
 countries exclusively occupied by the race, where of 
 
 necessity the victim has to be sought in a kindred tribe, 
 
 this practice has contributed more than any other cause 
 
 to that estrangement between the different tribes which 
 
 has proved an effectual bar to mutual improvement. M. 
 
 Mallat, will, I am sure, excuse me if I correct his account 
 
 in one unimportant particular. It is not on the death of 
 
 * Mallat, "Les Pliilippines/' tome ii, p. 94. 
 
126 PHILIPPINES. 
 
 an individual, but on that of a warrior of the tribe, that a 
 victim is sought in another community ; and the practice 
 seems to be rapidly disappearing from amoug the moun- 
 tain Papuans, perhaps from it sometimes producing 
 a retaliation that has 'not left a sufficient number of 
 warriors alive to avenge the death of the slain. 
 
 M. Mallat also notices the apparently untameable 
 nature of Papuans of the Philippines, and their incessant 
 desire to return to the savage state, which has often 
 rendered attempts to civilize individuals utterly abortive. 
 But this feeling appears only to exist when in the neigh- 
 bourhood of their homes, for the cheerfulness, and 
 apparent forgetfulness of country, which is displayed by 
 the Papuans, whether of the mountains or coasts, who are 
 found in a state of slavery throughout the southern settle- 
 ments of the Archipelago, is calculated to arrest the 
 attention of those who have iiad opportunities of observ- 
 ing them closely. Indeed the Papuans appear to be 
 totally exempt from that '^ nostalgia,^^ or home-sickness, 
 which prevails amoilg the natives of Australia, and those 
 of Rotti, near Timor, when removed from their own 
 country. This feeling is so prominent among the latter, 
 that a body of six hundred men, who had been impressed 
 nito the Dutch service to act as troops in their Indian 
 settlements, became almost extinct in the course of a 
 few years, and the lives of the remainder, about forty in 
 number, were only saved by their being sent back to their 
 own country. 
 
 " The character of the Negritos is untameable, and it is 
 impossible to surmount their tendency to idleness. 
 Prompted by an irresistible instinct to retm'n to the place 
 
DOMESTICATED AHETAS. 127 
 
 of their birth, they prefer a savage life to all the charms 
 of civilization. It has occurred that individuals, who 
 have taken Negritos during their infancy, and made 
 sacrifices to give them an education, have found them- 
 selves suddenly abandoned by them. An instance is 
 given in which the Archbishop of ^Manilla brought up one 
 of them with gi-eat care, and even ordained him as a 
 priest ; but who, unable to support a social life [la vie 
 sociale), left his cassock behind and returned to the 
 mountains, a striking example of the power which a 
 love of liberty and independence preserves.^^* 
 
 A few individual Negritos are always to be found 
 about the capital, generally attached to the establishments 
 of the higher functionaries, where they lead a life by 
 no means well calculated to improve their habits, as they 
 are alternately petted by their masters, and teased by 
 their fellow -servants, who take delight in witnessing the 
 fitful fury into which the little creatures are thrown. 
 M. Mallat had one of them in his service while at 
 Manilla, and therefore must have had favourable op- 
 portunities of examining theii' characteristics. He was 
 a native of the Sierra which forms the western side of the 
 port of Manilla. " The almost inaccessible retreats of 
 these wild mountains, are inhabited by a great number of 
 the little negroes, called Negritos, of whom we have 
 spoken above. It sometimes happens, that they are 
 hunted up in their places of refuge, when endeavours are 
 made to take some prisoners, choosing the younger ones, 
 who are brought up by the inhabitants until they attain 
 
 * 3IaILat " Les PhifiDpiiies." tome n. v. 95. 
 
 ^ 
 
12S FHILTPPINES. 
 
 the age of reason, and who employ them, in the interval, 
 in different services, and then give them their liberty. 
 One of our friends had one m his possession, which he 
 gave over to us. He was called Panchote, was not 
 wanting in intelligence, and was especially full of mis- 
 chief/^* 
 
 The following account of M. de la Gironiere^s visit to 
 a tribe residing near the east coast of Luzon, a little to 
 the north of the parallel of Manilla, is the more interest- 
 ing from such events being of very rare occurrence, their 
 communication with strangers being seldom of a friendly 
 nature. ^' I passed three days among the good TagaloQs 
 of Binangonan, who received and feted me like a real 
 prince. The fourth day I made my adieus, and we 
 directed our course towards the north, among mountains 
 always covered with thick forests, and which, like those 
 we had just quitted, presented no traced route, excepting 
 a few narrow path-ways beaten by wild beasts. We 
 advanced with caution for we were now in the parts 
 inhabited by the Ajetas. At night we concealed our fires, 
 and one of us always acted as sentinel, for what we feared 
 most was a sui'prise. 
 
 " One morning, while pursuing our way in silence, we 
 heard before us a chorus of squeaking tones, which had 
 more resemblance to the cries of birds then to the human 
 voice. AVe kept on our guard, concealing our approach 
 as much as possible with the aid of the trees and 
 brambles. All at once we perceived at a little distance 
 about forty savages, of all sexes and ages, who had 
 
 « « 
 
 Les PhilippineSj" ii^ p. 195. 
 
VISIT TO A MOUNTAIN TRIBE. 129 
 
 absolutely the air of animals. They were on the banks 
 of a rivulet^ sun'ounding a great fire. ^Ye made several 
 steps in advance, and presented the butt-ends of our guns 
 towards them. As soon as they perceived us they set up 
 shrill cries^ and prepared to take to flight; but I made 
 signs to them, by showing them some packets of segai^s, 
 that we wished to offer them for their acceptance, I 
 had fortunately received at Binangonau all the instructions 
 necessary for knowing how to open a communication \^'ith 
 them. As soon as they comprehended us, they ranged 
 themselves into a line, like men preparing for a review : 
 this was the signal that we might approach. T\'e went 
 up to them with our segars in our hands, and I com- 
 menced distributing them from one extremity of the line. 
 It was very important that we should make friends with 
 them, and give each an equal share, according to their 
 custom. Tlie women who happened to be in the family- 
 way claimed a double share, and patted the most pro- 
 minent part of their persons in order to bring under my 
 notice their title to the claim. The distribution being 
 over, our alliance was cemented, and peace concluded, 
 when they commenced smoking. A deer was hanging to 
 a tree, from which the chief cut three large slices with a 
 knife of bamboo^ and threw them into the fire, and draw- 
 ing them out an instant afterwards^ presented a piece to 
 each of us. The exterior was slightly bm-ned and 
 sprinkled with ashes, but the interior was perfectly raw 
 and bloody. It would not do, however, to show the 
 repugnance I felt at making a repast scarcely better than 
 that of a cannibal, for my hosts would have been 
 scandahzed, and I wished to live in good coiTespondence 
 
 G 3 
 
130 PHILIPPINES. 
 
 with them for some days. I therefore eat my piece of 
 venison, which, after all, was not ill-flavoured, and my 
 Indians having followed my example, our good repute 
 was established, and treason on their part no longer 
 possible. 
 
 " I found myself at length among the people of whom 
 I had been in search since my departure from Jala Jala, 
 and commenced examining and studying them at my ease. 
 We established our bivouac a few paces from theirs, as if we 
 formed a part of the family of our new friends. I could 
 only converse with them by gestures, and had unheard-of 
 difficulty in making myself understood ; but the day after 
 my arrival I had an interpreter. A woman who brought 
 a child for me to give it a name, had been brought 
 up by the Tagalocs. She had spoken their language, 
 and still remembered sufficient to furnish me with all the 
 particulars that interested me, although not without 
 difficult}^ 
 
 " The people with whom I had come to amalgamate for 
 several days, appeared to me rather in the light of a large 
 family of apes than of human beings. Even their 
 voices resembled the small cries of these animals, and 
 their gestures were identical. The only difference I 
 found consisted in their knowledge of the use of the bow 
 and lance, and in being able to make a fire j but in order 
 to depict them well, I will commence by describing their 
 forms and physiognomies. The A j etas or Negritos are 
 ebony-black, like the negroes of Africa. Their utmost 
 stature is four feet and a half; the hair is woolly, and as 
 they take no pains in clearing it, and do not know how to 
 arrange it, it forms a sort of crown around the head, 
 
CHARACTERISTICS. 131 
 
 which gives them an exceedingly fantastic aspect, and 
 makes the head appear when seen from a distance, as if 
 surrounded with a sort of aureole. The eyes are rather 
 yellow, but of a vivacity and brilliancy comparable to that 
 of the eagle. The necessity of living by the chase, and 
 of pursuing the prey without cessation, exercises this organ 
 in a manner which gives it this remarkable vivacitv. The 
 features of the x\jetas somewhat resemble (tiennent v.n 
 pen) those of the African blacks ; the lips, however, 
 are less prominent. While still young they are nearly 
 formed; but the life they lead in the woods, sleeping 
 always in the open air without shelter, eatins: a larsre 
 quantity one day and often nothing the next, and pro- 
 longed fasts followed by repasts eaten with the gluttony 
 of wild beasts, produce a large stomach and render the 
 extremities meagre and lank. They wear no clothing, 
 with the exception of a little belt of the bark of trees, 
 eight or ten inches wide, which encircles the waist. 
 
 "Their arms consist of a lance of bamboo, a bow of 
 palm-wood, and poisoned arrows. They live upon roots, 
 fruits, and the produce of the chase. They devour their 
 meat almost raw, and live together in tribes consisting 
 of M\y to sixty individuals. During the day, the old 
 people, the infirm, and the children, assemble around a 
 large fire, while the others are hunting in the woods ; and 
 when they obtain a prey that will last for some days, they 
 all remain around the fire. At night they all sleep pele- 
 mete among the ashes of the fire. It is extremely curious 
 to see fifty of these creatures of all ages, and more or less 
 deformed, thus collected together. The old women 
 especially are hideous ; their decrepit limbs, large 
 
132 PHILIPPINES. 
 
 stomacliSj and extraordinary head of hair, give them 
 the appearance of furies, or old witches. 
 
 " The Ajetas have no religion, and adore no star. It 
 appears, however, that they have transmitted to the Tan- 
 guianes (a brown race inhabiting the neighbourhood), or 
 have learned from the latter, the practice of worshipping 
 for a day a rock, or the trunk of a tree, in which they find 
 a resemblance to some animal or other. Then they leave 
 it, and think no more about idols until they meet with 
 some other fantastical form, which becomes a new object 
 of an equally frivolous worship. They hold the dead in 
 great veneration. For several years they resort to their 
 graves for the purpose of depositing a little tobacco and 
 betel upon it. The bow and arrows of the deceased are 
 suspended over his grave on the day of interment, and 
 according to their belief he emerges every night from the 
 grave to go hunting.^^ 
 
 * * -s^- * 
 
 *" " x\s I have already stated, the Ajetas do not always 
 wait for the death of the afflicted before they bury him. 
 Immediately after the body has been deposited in the 
 grave, it becomes necessar}", according to their usages, 
 that his death sliould , be avenged. The hunters of the 
 tribe go out with their lances and arrows to kill the first 
 living creature they meet with, whether a man, a stag, a 
 wild hog, or a buff'alo. When on their journey in search 
 of a victim, they take the precaution of breaking ofl" the 
 young shoots of the shrubs they pass by, leaving the ends 
 
CUSTOMS. 133 
 
 hanging in the direction of their route, in order to warn 
 neighbours and travellers to avoid the path they are 
 taking in search of a man or beast to be offered up ; for 
 if one of their own people fall into their hands, even he 
 will be saciificed as the expiatory victim. 
 
 "They are faithful in marriage, and only have one 
 wife. TMien a young man has made his choice, his 
 friends or parents ask the consent of the girl. It is 
 never refused. The day is chosen, and in the morning, 
 before sunrise, the girl is sent into the forest, where she 
 hides herself, or not, according to her inclinations to- 
 wards her suitor. An hour- afterwards the vounsr man 
 is sent to seek her, and if he has the good luck to find 
 her and bring her back to her friends before sunset, the 
 marriage is consummated, and she is his wife for ever. 
 But if, on the contraiy, he retunis without her, he must 
 give up all farther claim. 
 
 " Old age is ver\- much respected among the Ajetas, 
 and it is always one of the eldest who governs their 
 assemblies. All the savages of this race live, as I have 
 already said, in great families of sixty to eighty. They 
 stray in the forests without a fixed residence, and change 
 the spot according to the greater or lesser quantity of 
 game in the neighbourhood. 
 
 " Living in a state altogether primitive, these savages 
 possess no instruments of music ; and their language, 
 which resembles, as I have already said, the chirrupping of 
 birds, contains only a few words of incredible difficulty of 
 acquisition by the stranger who tries to learn it. They 
 
134 PHILIPPINES. 
 
 are good hunters, and have wonderful address in the use 
 of the bow. The children of both sexes, while their 
 parents are in the woods, exercise themselves on the 
 banks of the streams with little bows and arrows. When 
 a fish is perceived in the clear water, they discharge an 
 arrow at it, and it veiy seldom happens that they miss 
 their mark. 
 
 " The weapons of the x\jetas are poisoned. A simple 
 arrow does not make a wound of sufficient importance to 
 arrest an animal, such as a deer, in its course ; but if 
 the barb has been covered with the poisonous preparation 
 known to them, the least scratch produces an inex- 
 tinguishable thirst in the animal, and he dies the moment 
 he has gratified it. The hunters then remove the flesh 
 around the wound, and they can eat the remainder with 
 impunity; but if they neglect this, the entire carcase 
 acquires a flavour so bitter that even the Ajetas cannot 
 eat it. 
 
 " The Ajeta has an incredible agility and address in all 
 his movements. He ascends the highest trees like the 
 monkeys, seizing the trunk with both hands, and applying 
 the soles of his feet. He runs like a deer when in the 
 pursuit of large game, his favourite occupation. It is 
 extremely curious to see these people departing on a 
 hunting excursion ; men, women, and children, all go 
 together, like a troop of orang-outangs on a plundering 
 expedition. They are always accompanied by one or two 
 small dogs of a singular breed, which aid them in pur- 
 suing the prey after it has been wounded.^^'** 
 
 * De la Gironiere, " Souvenirs de Jala Jala," p. 294 et seg. 
 
ly 'ffff^ 
 
 CUSTOMS. 135 
 
 This is one of the fullest accounts of tlie Negritos of the 
 Philippines that has ever been given, and from the favour- 
 able opportunity M. de la Gironiere had of observing their 
 habits, probably the best. The interview terminated in a 
 most friendly manner ; but while the party was returning, 
 the burial-place of the tribe was despoiled of a skeleton, 
 which brought the Ahetas upon them, and they were 
 chased out of the country, nearly falling a sacrifice to 
 their temerity in violating a repository for the dead. 
 
136 
 
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MIXDORO. 137 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 MINDORO, NEGROS, MINDANAO, SULU AND BORNEO. 
 
 MIXDORO; VARIETIES OF RACE THE BANGANS FRIENDLY RELATION'S 
 
 WITH THE BROWX TRIBES XEGROS ; HABITS OF THE WOOLLY- 
 HAIRED TRIBES MIXDAXAO SULU ; THE ISLAXD FORMERLY OCCU- 
 PIED EXCLUSIVELY BY PAPUAXS — DESCENT OF THE REIGXINO 
 
 FAMILY FROM A PAPUAN CHIEF PRESENT COXDITIOX BORXEO ; 
 
 SUPPOSED XOX-EXISTENCE OF PAPUAN TRIBES IX THE IXTERIOR 
 
 WOOLLY-HAIRED TRIBE IN THE MOUNTAIN'S OF THE EAST COAST 
 
 MR. DALTOX'S DESCRIPTION" OF A WILD RACE DUTCH AUTHORITIES 
 
 OX THE EXISTENCE OF PAPUAXS IX BORXEO. 
 
 MiXDORO. In this island (which hes immediately 
 adjacent to the south-west coast of Luzon, being separated 
 only by a narrow strait), the Negritos are congregated in 
 a mountainous district, called Bangan, where they live on 
 friendly terms "\vith the Manguianes, or wild tribes of the 
 brown race, by whom they are surrounded, although very 
 little intercourse subsists between them ; so that here, at 
 lest, the system of sacrificing a neighbour, to avenge the 
 death of one of their own tribe, seems to have been 
 abandoned. Indeed the practice is apparently only per- 
 sisted in by two or three of the more remote and savage 
 
138 MIXDORO. 
 
 communities of Luzon. The Manguianes, although a 
 mild and industrious people^ are so little advanced in 
 ci\'ilization, that European \dsitors, who have not had 
 opportunities of personal communication with the Ban- 
 gans, often leave the island with the impression, that 
 they are only a more savage variety of the same 
 race. Indeed a general impression prevails among the 
 Spanish priests and missionaries in the Philippines, that 
 the brown races are the descendants of the Negritos ; and 
 M. Mallat_, who seems to have derived his ethnographical 
 information chiefly from this source, entertains the same 
 opinion. But as all speculations of this nature are pur- 
 posely avoided in the course of the present work, it need 
 only be stated, that all the native tribes of IMindoro, with 
 the exception of the Bangans, have been ascertained to 
 belong to the bro^sTi, or as it may be called here, yellow 
 race (for the complexion is generally fairer than in 
 Luzon) ; so that the Negritos mentioned by M. Mallat 
 as existing in Mindoro,* can only be looked for among 
 the tribes inhabiting this district. 
 
 The most recent, and perhaps the most full and authentic 
 account of the native tribes of Mindoro, appeared in a 
 Spanish journal, the '' Diario de Manila,^^ in August and 
 September, 1849 : eWdeutly the production of one of the 
 Spanish missionaries, who have been so zealously emploved 
 for many years past in extending Christianity through the 
 more remote islands of the Philippines ; and the details' 
 proved so interesting, that the writer translated it entire 
 for the " Journal of the Indian Archipelago,^^ in which it 
 
 * "Les Philippuies," toine ii, p. 03. 
 
V 
 
 MINDORO. 139 
 
 was inserted during tlie same year.* The allusions to the 
 Bangans are merely incidental, as the author of the 
 account, whose labours were chiefly confined to the more 
 southern portion of the island, had seen no individual 
 beloudns: to the tribe. The following is an extract : 
 
 " The most populous (of the Manguian villages) contain 
 two hundred or three hundred savages with their families. 
 These villages hold communication with each other, but 
 this is not so constant or intimate as to prevent a thousand 
 incredible absui-dities being circulated among themselves 
 respecting their neighbours. For instance, the Manguians, 
 who live in the neighbourhood of Mansalay, in the south- 
 eastern part of the island, state that the people of Bangan 
 permit no stranger to enter their district, unless he is 
 accompanied and introduced by one of their people ; that 
 when they have large families of children, and find diffi- 
 culty in supporting them, the parents abandon them in 
 the woods, or on pathways leading to other villages ; that 
 their marriages are attended with extravagant and ridi- 
 culous ceremonies, which decency withholds me from 
 referring to, and which are described with such ridicule 
 and aversion, that one would suppose that they were 
 speaking of another race of people, whom they had never 
 seen." 
 
 Again : '' The invasion of the pirates (Lanuns, or 
 Mohammedan natives of Mindanao), must have been 
 exceedingly bloody and destructive. Individuals are yet 
 in existence, whom we have heard refer to the smallness 
 of the number of those who escaped the general destruc- 
 
 ^ * " Journal of the Indian Archipelago," vol. m, p. 7GL 
 
140 MIKDORO. 
 
 tion, and who yet tremble as they relate the circumstances, 
 describing these invaders as having fearful countenances, 
 thus transmitting to their children the panic teiTor which 
 the number of the Moros excited in them. Those few 
 who escaped, congregated in the neighbourhood of a 
 small savage tribe, which, without doubt, inhabited the 
 central mountains from time immemorial, and whose 
 district, lying in the northern part of the island, is 
 designated among the natives by the name of Bangan. 
 The descendants of these fugitives are the people who 
 now constitute the interior population of Mindoro, living 
 independent of the Spanish authority, and vrho are «^is- 
 tinguished by the generic name of ' Manguianes/ They 
 differ from the primitive tribe alluded to above, in not 
 speaking their idiom, which is unknown to us, unless it 
 be pure Tagala (the chief dialect of the brown tribes of 
 Luzon, and some of the neighbouring islands), and after 
 the first moments of panic were over, they separated from 
 them. Indeed, the Manguianes relate a thousand fan- 
 tastic tales about the customs of this mountain tribe, 
 and have left them, alone and isolated, in their lurking- 
 places/'* 
 
 The good missionary Httle thought, that when writing 
 the above paragraph, he was furnishing the best piece of 
 evidence in favour of an injured and degraded race of his 
 fellow-men, that had ever been laid before their more 
 civilized brethren. 
 
 IsLA DOS Negros. — Of the central group of the Philip- 
 pines, consisting of Pauay, Negros, Samar, Le)i:e, ^lasbate, 
 
 "^ * " Journal of the Indian Ai'chipelago/' p. 577. 
 
XEGROS MINDANAO. 141 
 
 Bohol, and Zebu, the two former are the only islands in 
 which Negrito tribes exist at the present day ; and even 
 as regards Panay, the fact must be considered doubtful. 
 Negros, however^ contains a considerable Negrito popu- 
 lation^ the crest of the mountain range, which extends 
 throughout the length of the island, a distance of one 
 hundi'ed and twenty miles, being almost exclusively 
 occupied by scattered tribes. They sometimes molest 
 travellers when crossing the Sierra from one side of the 
 island to the other ; but as the Igorrotes, or brown tribes, 
 are equally troublesome in this respect, the interruptions 
 may be owing to temporary causes, in which the strangers 
 may themselves have taken the initiative. Certainly the 
 Negritos have made a few steps in advance of the savage 
 state, as they exchange the produce of the forests, chiefly 
 wax and deers^ horns, with the people of the coast, from 
 whom they obtain chopping-knives and tobacco. 
 
 Mindanao. — The interior of this large island is said to 
 be inhabited by many small tribes of Papuans ; but those 
 only who reside near the north coast, where there are 
 several Spanish settlements, are known to Europeans. 
 The chief tribes of the north are called respectively 
 Dumagas, Tagabaloys Malanos, and Manabos, but very 
 little is known concerning them, except that, in common 
 with the other moimtain Papuans of Mindanao, they are 
 comparatively inoffensive. 
 
 SuLU. — Some parts of the interior of Sulu, the largest 
 island of this group, are occupied by Papuans who appear 
 to be farther advanced than any other mountain tribe of 
 this race to be found in the Indian Archipelago ; but the 
 recent information that has been obtained respecting them, 
 
142 suLu. 
 
 only serves to show that they are useful and obedient 
 subjects to the Sultan of Sulu, whose family is said to be 
 descended from a chief of that race. The best and 
 fullest account of Sulu is that drawn up by Mr. J. Hunt 
 from information collected during a six months^ residence 
 on the spot^ while in the employ of the British Govern- 
 ment of Java, and which has been inserted in Mr. 
 
 '^ Moor's ^^ Notices of the Indian Archipelago." The parti- 
 
 culars he gives concerning the early history of the island, 
 which were obtained chiefly from the Malayan chiefs or 
 princes, explain the circumstances which may have led to 
 the Papuans being held in greater consideration here than 
 elsewhere. 
 
 " This island, it is said, was generally peopled with 
 Papuans, in a state of savage nature, who even at this day 
 inhabit some of the mountains of the interior. The Chinese 
 were, from time immemorial, in the habit of trading to these 
 islands for pearls ; but the first people that shed any rays of 
 civilization among them w^ere the Orang Dampuwan (or 
 as the Chinese call them Sonpotualan). They governed 
 the sea coasts, built towns, planted grain, and opened the 
 rivers. They, however, found the aborigines such a 
 
 * faithless race, that they at length abandoned it; and 
 
 indeed during their sojourn, knocked as many on the 
 head as they could come at. At length the fame of their 
 \ submarine riches reached the chiefs of Banjar (a Hindu 
 kingdom in the south-eastern part of Borneo) who opened 
 a communication with them ; they at length planted a 
 colony there, sending over immense numbers of settlers, 
 and with a view to conciliate the faithless possessors of 
 this rich isle, a putri (virgin) of exquisite beauty was 
 
suLu. 143 
 
 sent and married to the principal chief, from which 
 alliance have sprung all the subsequent sovereigns that 
 have governed Sulu : by this treaty of marriage the island 
 became tributaiy to the Banjar Massin empire. Among 
 the improvements introduced by the Banjar people, are 
 particularly enumerated the elephant, the teak-tree, and 
 the cinnamon ; the place becoming a delightful spot with 
 considerable commercial advantaires, attracted a number 
 of settlers from Borneo and the southern isles of the 
 Philippines, and they managed to drive the Papuans to 
 the almost inaccessible hills for shelter and concealment, 
 in which state of constraint their numbers must have 
 sensibly diminished/ '"^^ 
 
 This kind of matrimonial alliance appears to have been 
 bv no means unusual in earlier times, as .some of the 
 principal men of the fair tribes of the Moluccas trace their 
 descent from the ancient chiefs of the country ; indeed indi- 
 viduals are sometimes met with who are so strongly marked 
 by Papuan characteristics as to afford strong confirmation 
 of their claims. At the present day, it is by no means 
 an uncommon thing for the Papuan chiefs to take to 
 wife maidens of the fair race ; and the children resulting 
 from these unions are xevy favourable specimens of the 
 human kind. Mr. Hunt's account of the Sulu Papuans 
 in 1812 may be considered as showing the condition of 
 the race immediately before they become absorbed in 
 the general population, whenever such an event takes 
 place. 
 
 '^ Of the population in the interior, the Caffrees or 
 
 * Hunt ; in Moor's " Notices of the Indian Archipelago." Ap- 
 pendix, p. 31. 
 
144 BORNEO. 
 
 Papuans hold the mandates of the Sultan and Ruma 
 Bichara (Parliament) in the highest respect, and pay 
 some trifling tribute; they were formerly brutal and 
 ferocious to the last degree, and the Biayans (Bisayans ?) 
 or Orang Solok decapitated them whenever they could ; 
 but since their conversion to Islamism this barbarous 
 practice has ceased, and the Papuans have lost much of 
 their ferocity. I never saw one of them at Sulu or Soog 
 (the capital). They exchange the products of their hiljs 
 with their neighbours for such articles as they most 
 require.^^* 
 
 The Papuans of Sulu would appear to have been the 
 most orderly of the Sultanas inland subjects at that time, 
 as Mr. Hunt also states that " the people of the interior 
 (Papuans excepted) are at open war with the Sultan and 
 towns-people, having serious grounds of complaint 
 against them ; the towns-people being in the constant 
 practice of plundering their cattle and effects, and 
 massacreing those that oppose theii* predatory pur- 
 
 suits.^'t 
 
 Borneo. — The interior of this large island is occupied 
 by tribes of the brown race, whose warlike habits, and 
 skill in the use of missiles, will account for the disap- 
 pearance of a less civilized race from the southern and 
 western parts of the island. In the year 1834, when 
 on a visit to the western coast of the island, I was in- 
 formed by several of the more intelligent among the 
 natives, that a wild, woolly-haired, people existed in the 
 interior; but the information was mixed up with so 
 
 * Hunt, i(bi snpra, p. 49. 
 f Idem. 
 
BORNEO. 145 
 
 manv incredible details respecting their habits, that I was 
 led to consider the whole as fabulous ; and the subject is 
 treated in this light in the narrative of my voyages, which 
 was published soon after my return to England in the 
 following year.* 
 
 During a second visit to the Archipelago, my attention 
 was chiefly directed to the more eastern islands, where 
 the field was comparatively new, and I had no opportunity 
 of obtaining farther information respecting the interior of 
 Borneo until when again qu my return to England in 
 1845. One of my fellow-passengers on that occasion 
 was Captain Brownrigg, whose ship, the ' Premier^ of 
 Belfast, had been wrecked on the east coast of Borneo 
 duiing the previous year, when the European portion of 
 the crew found refuge with the Rajah Mudah of Gunung 
 Thabor, a place about fifty miles up the Burn or Kuran 
 River, whence they were removed after a residence of 
 several months by a Dutch vessel of war, which had been 
 
 * " The various tribes are said to differ considerably from each 
 other, an assertion which I do not pretend to dispute, although my 
 own experience would go to prove the contrary, since I saw indi- 
 viduals belonging to several distinct tribes, who, with the exception 
 of a difference of dialect, might be recognised as the same people, 
 those who lived entirely on the water being much darker than the 
 rest. It is said by the Dyaks themselves, that some parts of the 
 Ulterior are inhabited by a woolly-haired people ; but as they also 
 assert that men with tails like monkeys, and Hving in trees, are also 
 discoverable, the accui-acy of theii' accounts may be doubted. I met 
 with no Dyak who had seen either, but as a wooUy-haired people is 
 to be found scattered over the interior of the Malay Peninsula, 
 theh existence in Borneo seems by no means improbable." — " The 
 Eastern Seas," p. 255. 
 
 H 
 
146 BORNEO. 
 
 sent from Macassar for the purpose. Captain Brownrigg 
 was so kind as to entertain me frequently with accounts 
 of the people among whom he had been thrown, and who 
 had not previously been visited by Europeans. They 
 appeared to me to differ in no essential particular from 
 the other coast tribes of Borneo, except in being rather 
 more advanced, as was evident, indeed, from the hos- 
 pitable reception he met with among them ; but my 
 attention having been aroused by a repeated mention of 
 "darkies^-* as forming part^ of the population, I was 
 induced to make some inquiries, when I found that he 
 alluded to an inland tribe that only occasionally visited 
 Gunung Thabor, and who were a short, but stoutly built, 
 people, perfectly black, and with hair so short and curly, 
 that the head appeared to be covered with little knobs. 
 This perfectly agrees with the general appearance of 
 the hair of the Papuans who keep the head shorn; 
 and I have not the slightest doubt that they were 
 unmixed Papuans. He also described the skins of the 
 breast and shoulders as displajdng many raised scarifi- 
 cations, apparently similar to those of some New Guinea 
 tribes, but which do not appear to be common among 
 the mountain Papuans. On one occasion, a party of 
 seventeen men, chiefly young and middle aged, visited the 
 settlement for the express pm-pose of seeing the Em'o- 
 peans. They appeared to live on very friendly terms with 
 the people of Gunung Thabor, from whom they obtained 
 supplies of axes and chopping-knives, giving the produce 
 of the forests in exchange. 
 
 It should be mentioned that this was Captain Brown- 
 rigg^s first visit to the Archipelago, and he could scarcely 
 
BORNEO. 147 
 
 have been aware that any peculiar interest was connected 
 with this information, so that his evidence must be con- 
 sidered satisfactoiy. I have since searched the pubhshed 
 accounts of visitors to the east coast of Borneo, but the 
 onlv allusion I can find to a people who may be allied to 
 the same race, is contained in the papers of Mr. Dalton, 
 who resided for eleven months on the Coti River, to the 
 south of the Burn, dui'ing the years 1827-28. Mr. 
 Dalton's papers were originally published in the " Singa- 
 pore Chronicle^^ of 1S31 ; and the following extract is 
 from Mr. Mooi-'s "Notices of the Indian Archipelago/^ 
 in which they are reprinted : 
 
 " Farther towards the north of Borneo are to be found 
 men living absolutely in a state of nature, who neither 
 cultivate the ground nor live in huts ; who neither eat 
 rice nor salt, and who do not associate with each other, 
 but rove about some woods like wild beasts. The sexes 
 meet in the jungle, or the man carries away a woman 
 from some kampong. When the childi-en are old enough 
 to shift for themselves they usually separate, neither one 
 afterwards thinking of the other; at night they sleep 
 under some large tree, the branches of which hang low. 
 On these they fasten the childi-en in a kind of swing; 
 around the tree they make a fire to keep off the wild 
 beasts and snakes ; they cover themselves with a piece of 
 bark, and in this also they ^Tap their children ; it is soft 
 and wai-m, but will not keep out the rain. These poor 
 creatures are looked on and treated by the Dyaks as wild 
 beasts ; hunting parties of twenty-five and thirty go out 
 and amuse themselves with shooting at the children in 
 the trees with sumpits, the same as monkeys, from which 
 
 H 2 
 
148 BORNEO. 
 
 they are not easily distinguislaecl. The men taken 
 in these excursions are invariably killed, the women com- 
 monly spared, if young. It is somewhat remarkable that 
 the children of these wild Dyaks cannot be sufficiently 
 tamed to be entrusted with their liberty. Selgie (the 
 Dyak chief of Coti) told me he never recollected an in- 
 stance when they did not escape to the jungle the very 
 first opportunity, notwithstanding many of them had been 
 treated kindly for years.^^* 
 
 It must be remembered that this account, as well as 
 the extract from Yalentyn respecting the wild tribes of 
 Ceram, is derived from the information of natives who 
 avowedly made parties for the express purpose of hunting 
 them, and who are therefore interested in making them 
 appear as much as possible in the light of wild beasts. 
 Neither of these accounts alludes to the wild tribes as 
 being woolly-headed, but this is a point on which no 
 native is likely to give information, unless the question is 
 expressly put to him. When on the coast of Borneo in 
 1834, we had a Papuan sailor on board the vessel, who 
 fomied one of my boat^s crew, and the peculiarity of his 
 appearance was almost invariably a topic of conversation 
 wherever we went, and if any of the natives we came in 
 contact with had ever seen or heard of a people pos- 
 sessing similar peculiarities, the circumstance was nearly 
 certain to be noticed. 
 
 It is probable that information connected with the 
 existence of this race in Borneo, which is of considerable 
 ethnographical interest, may be found in Holland, among 
 
 — * Dalton, "Notices," &c, p. 49 
 
BORNEO. 149 
 
 the documents containing the reports of government 
 officers who have been despatched from time to time to 
 make researches on the east coast of the island, as Dr. 
 Roorda Van Eysinga, Professor of Oriental Languages 
 and Geography to the Royal ^Military Academy of Hol- 
 land, states in his " Geography of Netherlands^ India/^ 
 that '^ In the inaccessible parts of the island (Borneo) 
 Papuans yet reside in a savage state, bordering upon 
 that of wild beasts/'* No authorities are quoted in 
 the work, but as it is used as a class-book throughout the 
 Netherlands, it cannot be supposed that the statement 
 has been loosely made. 
 
 * " Ten zuiden van Let koningrijk Borneo wonen de wilden 
 volksstammen, Doesoems, Kajans en Maroets genaamd. In het 
 ontoegankelijk gedeelte van het eiland wonen nog Papoeaas in eenen 
 staat van vrildkeid, dewelke aan dien der wilde dieren grenst." — 
 ** Aardi'ijkbesckrijving van Nederlandsch Indie/^ p. 76. 
 
]50 MALAY PENINSULA. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE SEMANGS OF THE MALAY PENINSULA. 
 
 "WILD TRIBES OF THE MALAY PEXIXSULA MR. AXDERSOX's ACCOUXT 
 
 OF THE SEMAXGS DISTIXCTIOX OF TRIBES HABITS FOOD — SKILL 
 
 IX THE CHASE — ELEPHAXT AXD RHIXOCE:aOS HUXTIXG MODE OF 
 
 BESTOWIXG XAMES OX' CHILDREX CHARACTERISTICS OF A SEMAXG 
 
 BROUGHT TO PIX'AXG — THE PAXGAN TRIBES OF TRIXGAXU DO- 
 
 MESTICATIOX OF A SEMAXG FAMILY IX PROTIXCE WELLESLY 
 
 SUPPOSED AVOOLLY-HAIRED TRIBES IX AXAM OR COCHIX'-CHIXA 
 
 TRADITIOXS OF THE CHIXE5E AXD BUDHISTS OF HIXDOOSTAX*. 
 
 The woolly-liaired race of the Malayan Peninsula, 
 is a mere remnant of tribes which, according to native 
 tradition, occupied a considerable portion of the interior 
 of the Peninsula at a comparatively recent period. At 
 the present time the race is only knoicn to exist on the 
 mountain Jerei, in the Kedah territory, a little to the 
 north of Pinang ; in the neighbourhood of the mountain 
 range which lies immediately opposite to the latter settle- 
 ment ; and in the uplands of Tringanu, on the east coast 
 of the peninsula ; but it seems probable that scattered 
 remnants are to be found in several other spots, which 
 have not yet been visited by Europeans. The Sakai and 
 
SEMANG TRIBES. 151 
 
 Alias tribes of Perak, ^vliicli have hitlierto been classed 
 with the Semang, or woolly-haired race of the neighbour- 
 hood of Pinang, have curly but not woolly hair ; and 
 although they retain the Papuan custom of boring the 
 septum of the nose, and also mark their skins with 
 cicatrices, they cannot be considered as Papuans — indeed 
 their lano:ua2:e and leading: characteristics show them 
 to be wild tribes of the Malayan race. The Semang, 
 however, who are identical in every particular with the 
 Pangan of the interior of Tringanu, are Papuans in all 
 their purity, with woolly and tufted hair in every respect 
 similar to other unmixed tribes of the race. The Semangs 
 of Kedah have been very accm*ately described by Mr. 
 Anderson, a gentleman who was for many years secretary 
 to the Government of Pinang ; and his account, which 
 appeared originally in a Pinang newspaper, is here ex- 
 tracted from the fourth volume of the '^ Journal of the 
 Indian Archipelago.'-' 
 
 " Of the origin of that most singular and curious race, 
 called Semang, the Malays possess no tradition.. Certain 
 it is, however, that the tribes of them which inhabited 
 various parts on both sides of the peninsula, were much 
 more numerous, before many of the present Malayan 
 colonies were founded by euiigrants from Sumatra. 
 The Semangs are designated by the Malays, Semang 
 Paya, Semang Bukit, Semang Bakow, and Semang Bila. 
 The Paya are those who reside on the plains or borders of 
 morasses ; the Semang Bukit, whose abode is on the hills, 
 and the Semang Bakow are so called from their fre- 
 quenting the sea shore, and occasionally taking up their 
 quarters in the mangrove jungles. The Semang Bila are 
 
152 MALAY PENINSULA. 
 
 those who have been somewhat reclaimed from their 
 savage habits, and have had intercourse with the Malays. 
 
 '^ A similar race of people are said to have formerly 
 inhabited all the islands of the Archipelago, and small 
 parties are still to be found on many of them. To the 
 eastward they are called Dyak,* and on the east coast of 
 the peninsula, Pangan. They are at present most 
 numerous in the interior of Ian, a small liver to the 
 north of the Mirbow, near the lofty mountain Jerei, in 
 the Kedah territory. There are small parties also in the 
 mountains, inland of Juru and Krian, opposite Pinang. 
 Their huts or temporary dwellings (for they have no fixed 
 habitations, and rove about like the beasts of the forest), 
 consist of two posts stuck into the ground, with a small 
 cross-piece, and a few leaves or branches of trees laid over 
 to secure them from the weather. Some of them, indeed, 
 in the thicker parts of the forest, where the elephants, 
 tigers, and other wild animals are most abundant, make 
 their temporary dwellings upon the cliflfs, and branches of 
 large trees. 
 
 "Their clothing consists chiefly of the inner bark of 
 trees, having no manufactures of their own. A few who 
 have ventured to approach the Malayan villages, however, 
 obtain a little cloth in exchange for elephants^ teeth, 
 garru, wax, woods, gum, dammar, and canes, which they 
 procure in the forest, but of the intrinsic value of which 
 they possess little knowledge, and are generally imposed 
 on by the crafty Malay. From the Malays also, they 
 procure their arms, knives and tobacco, of which last 
 
 * It need scarcely be mentioned that the Dyaks have since been 
 ascertained to be a variety of the brown race — G. W, E. 
 
SEMAXGS. 153 
 
 they make great use. They in turn frequently impose 
 upon the superstitious Malays^ when they have no pro- 
 ducts to barter, and wish to obtain a supply of tobacco, 
 by presenting them with medicines, which they pretend 
 to derive from particular shrubs and trees in the woods, 
 and which they represent as efficacious for the cure of 
 head-aches and other complaints. 
 
 ''The Semangs subsist on the birds and beasts of 
 the forest, and roots. They eat elephants, rhinoceros, 
 monkeys, and rats, and with the exception of the scanty 
 supplies they obtain from the Malays, they have no rice 
 or salt. They are xery expert with the sumpit,* and 
 poison the darts with ipok, procured from the juice of 
 various trees, which is a deadly poison. They handle the 
 bow and the spear with wonderful dexterity, and destroy 
 the largest and most powerful animals by ingenious con- 
 trivances. 
 
 '' It is seldom they suffer by beasts of prey, as they 
 are extremely sharp-sighted, and as agile in ascending 
 the trees as the monkeys. Their mode of destroying 
 elephants, in order to procure the ivory, or their flesh, 
 is most extraordinary^ and ingenious. They lie in wait 
 in small parties of two or three, when they have perceived 
 any elephants ascend a hill, and as they descend agam, 
 which they usually do at a slow pace, plucking the 
 branches as they move along, while the hind legs are 
 lifted up, the Semang cautiously approaching behind, 
 drives a sharp-pointed bamboo, or a piece of neebong 
 which has been previously well hardened in the fire, 
 
 ♦ Blow-pipe for projecting small darts. 
 
 H 3 
 
354 MALAY PENINSULA. 
 
 and touclied with poison^ into the sole of tlie elephant's 
 foot with all his force, w^hich effectually lames the 
 animal, and most commonly causes him to fall, when 
 the whole party rushes upon him with spears and sharp- 
 pointed sticks, and soon despatch him. 
 
 '^ The rhinoceros they obtain with even less difficulty. 
 This animal, w^hich is of solitary habits, is found fre- 
 quently in marshy places, with its whole body immersed 
 in the mud, and part of the head only visible. The 
 Malays call the animal *Badak Tapa,' or the recluse 
 rhinoceros. Towards the close of the rainy season, they 
 are said to bury themselves in this manner in different 
 places; and upon the dry weather setting in, and' from 
 the powerful effects of a vertical sun, the mud becomes 
 hard and crusted, and the rhinoceros cannot effect its 
 escape without considerable difficulty and exertion.* The 
 Semangs prepare themselves with large quantities of 
 combustible materials, with which they quietly approach 
 the animal, who is aroused from his reverie by an im- 
 mense fire over him, which being kept well supplied by 
 the Semangs with fresh fuel, soon completes his destruc- 
 tion, and renders him in a fit state to make a meal of. 
 The projecting horn on the snout is carefully preserved, 
 being supposed to be possessed of medicinal properties, 
 and highly prized by the Malays, to whom they barter it 
 for their tobacco, &c. 
 
 " A more simple and natural mode of bestowing names 
 cannot well be imagined, than that adopted by the Semangs. 
 
 * The wild buffaloes of North Australia are ofteu found in a 
 similar predicament, and are sometimes shot bj the hunters before 
 they can extricate themselves. — G. W. E. 
 
SEMANGS. 155 
 
 They are called after particular trees — that is, if a child is 
 born under or near a cocoa-nut or durian, or any particular 
 tree iu the forest, it is named accordingly. They have 
 chiefs amongst them, but all property is in common. 
 They worship the sun. Some years ago, the Bindahara, 
 or General of Kedah, sent two of these people for the 
 inspection of some of his friends at Pinang ; but shortly 
 after leaving Kedah, one of them, whose fears could not 
 be appeased, became very obstreperous, and endeavoured 
 to upset the small boat in which they were embarked ; 
 the Malays, therefore, with their usual apathy and 
 indifference about human life, put the poor creature to 
 death, and threw him overboard ; the other arrived in 
 safety, was kindly treated, and received many presents 
 of cloth and money. He was taken to view the shops in 
 town, and purchased a variety of spades, hatchets, and 
 other iron implements, which he appeared to prize above 
 ever}i:hing else. On his return to Jan, he built himself 
 a small hut, and began to cultivate mace (maize ?) sugar- 
 cane and yams. He is still there, and is said to be 
 a quiet, inoffensive man. This man was at the time of 
 his visit to Pinang, when I saw him, about thirty years 
 of age, and four feet nine inches in height. His hair 
 was woolly and tufted, his colour a glossy jet-black, 
 his lips were thick, his nose flat, and belly very protu- 
 berant, resembling exactly two natives of the Andaman 
 Islands, who were brought to Pinang, in 1819. 
 
 "The Semangs are found also at Tringanu, on the 
 eastern side of the peninsula, and a gentleman of this 
 island (Pinang) has had one, who was sent to him by the 
 King of that countiT, in his service many years. He 
 
156 MALAY PENINSULA. 
 
 was procured when a cliilcl, and lias no recollection of 
 his own language. I am informed, however, by the 
 Malays, that the dialect of that tribe is different from 
 those of Kedah. He is not of such a jet-black glossy 
 appearance as the Semang from Kedah whom I saw, 
 nor the Andamans who were at this settlement some 
 time ago. A few months since, a party of fifteen of the 
 Semangs, who reside in the mountains of Jaroo, came 
 down to one of the villages in the Honourable Company^s 
 territory, and having experienced kind treatment, and 
 received presents from some of the inhabitants, they con- 
 tinued in that neighbourhood ever since, and frequently 
 visit the villages.-"* 
 
 The Semangs would appear to be less accessible now 
 than when Mr. Anderson wrote, about fifteen years ago, 
 as My. J. R. Logan, who visited one of the Kedah rivers 
 in 1851, found great difficulty in procuring an interview 
 with members of the tribe that was known to be in the 
 neighbourhood, t 
 
 * Audersou, " Journal of the Indian Archipelago/' vol. iv, 
 p. 425. 
 
 t Since the above was in type, I have received the January 
 number of the " Journal of the Indian Archipelago," which contains 
 the foUowing account of the personal characteristics of a tribe of 
 Semangs inhabiting the upper waters of the Krian River, of the 
 Malay Peninsula, opposite the Island of Pinang. It is from the pen 
 of Mr. J. R. Logan, and has evidently been the result of personal 
 observation. 
 
 "As the Simang characteristics do not appear to be well under- 
 stood, the foUowij^g j^Q^gs^ ^]^^^ l^^^g reference to a party of Sunang 
 Bukit on the Ijau, a feeder of the Krian, wiU not be out of place 
 here. Average height of adults, four feet eight inches ; highest, four 
 
SEMAXGS. 157 
 
 Although the mountain range which traverses the 
 Malayan Peninsula, is continued without interruption 
 
 feet ten inches. Head small, ridged, that is, rising above forehead 
 in an obtuse wedge shape, the back rounded and somewhat swelling ; 
 the forehead small, low, rounded, and markedly narrower than the 
 zygometic or middle zone : the face generally narrower and smaller 
 than the Malay; eyebrows very prominent, standing out from the 
 forehead and projecting over the ocular furrow which extends across 
 the face, the root of the nose sinking into it, and forming a deep 
 angle with the base of the supercdiary ridge ; the nose short and 
 somewhat sharp at the point, and often turned up, but the alae 
 spreading; eyes fine, middle-sized and straight, iris large, black 
 and piercing, conjunctive membrane yellow, the upper eyelashes, 
 owing to the deep ocular depression, or prominent ridges, are com- 
 pressed or folded, the roots of the hair being hidden; the cheek 
 bones generally broad, but in some cases not remarkably prominent, 
 save with reference to the narrow forehead ; mouth large or wide, 
 but hps not thick or projecting; the lower part of the face oval or 
 ovoid, not square. The deep depression at the eyes, and sinking in 
 of the root of the nose, gives a very remarkable character to the head 
 compared with the Malay. The projecting brow is in a vertical line 
 with the nose, mouth, and chin, and the upper jaw is not projecting 
 or prognathous. The person is slender, the belly protuberant, owing 
 to their animal life in the jungles, and precarious food. This induces 
 them to cram themselves whenever they can, and the skin of the 
 abdomen thus becomes flaccid and expansible, like that of an ape. 
 The skin generally is fine and soft, although often disfigured by 
 scurf, and the colour is a dark brown, but in some cases lighter, and 
 approaching to the Malay. The more exposed hordes are black. 
 The individual who, many years ago, was brought to Pinang, and 
 who has hitherto represented the race in European ethnology, pro- 
 bably belonged to such a horde. His hps were thick, and ^Ir. 
 Anderson says he exactly resembled two natives of the Andamans, 
 who were brought to Pinang in 1S19. !Mr. Anderson adds that a 
 Simang of Tringanu, who hved in Pinang, was 'not of such a jet- 
 
158 INDO-CHINESE PENINSULA. 
 
 through Pegu and xlrracan, until it joins the great range 
 of Central India, no traces of Papuans have been met 
 with north of Kedah. Perhaps an affinity will be found 
 in the Goands, and some other of the wilder tribes of 
 Hindoostau, but this race belongs to another geogra- 
 phical division of the subject under review. 
 
 Several intelligent natives of Anam or Cochin-China, 
 with whom the writer has had opportunities of conversing, 
 assured him that woolly-haired tribes still existed in the 
 mountain range which traverses the eastern side of the 
 Indo-Chinese Peninsula, and the statement will form an 
 interesting subject of inquiry to any traveller who may 
 visit that hitherto little known region. The most recent 
 writer on Cochin-China, Bishop Le Fevre, who describes 
 that country in the first volume of the " Journal of the 
 Indian Archipelago,^^ states that : " There are on the 
 mountains, which di\'ide Cochin-China from Laos, many 
 wild tribes ; some of whom are subject to the King 
 
 black glossy appearance ' as the Simang from Kidah whom he saw, 
 and the two Andaman!. (Jour. Ind. Arch, vol. iv, p. 427.) The 
 liah is spiral, not wooUj, and grows thickly on the head in tufts. 
 They have thick moustaches, the growth being much stronger than 
 the Malay race. The head is neither Mongohan nor Negi'o of the 
 Guinea type. It is Papua-Tamuhan. The expression of the face is 
 mild, sunple, and stupid. The voice is soft, low, nasal, and hoUow, 
 or cerebral. A hue of tatooing extends from the forehead to the 
 cheek bones. The adjacent Binua also tatoo. The practice is 
 Indian (Konds, higher Abor tribes, &c.), Ultraiudian and Asianesian. 
 The right ear is pierced, the orifice being large, but they do not 
 pierce the septum of the nose like one of the adjacent Binua tribes of 
 Perak, and many of the Asianesian Papuas. The hah is cropped, 
 save a ring or fringe round the forehead." 
 
MOTS OF COCHIN-CHINA. 159 
 
 of Cochin-China ; others are ouly his tributaries, and 
 others are independent/'* 
 
 And farther on, when alkiding to the chain of moun- 
 tains which separates Tonkiug from China, the Bishop 
 says, that " the greater part of these mountains are only 
 inhabited by some barbarians ; the Cochin-Chinese, and 
 much more the Europeans cannot Hve on them, on 
 account of the insalubrity of the air which we breathe 
 there/^t ^^^ he nowhere alludes to their physical 
 character being distinct from that of the Cochin- 
 Chinese; and the only European traveller, as far as the 
 ™ter has been able to discover, who contributed to fix a 
 Papuan character on any of these tribes, is Mr. Charles 
 Chapman, an officer in the civil service of the English East 
 India Company, who was dispatched from Bengal on a 
 diplomatic mission to Cochin-China, in the year 1778. 
 Mr. Chapman's Report to the Bengal Government is 
 pubhshed in the Parliamentary Papers relating to India, 
 from which the following extract is taken : 
 
 " The aborigines of Cochin-China are called ^loys, and 
 are the people which inhabit the chain of mountains 
 which separate it from Cambodia. To these strongholds 
 they were driven, when the present possessors invaded 
 the countiy. They are a savage race of people, very 
 black, and resemble in their features the Caffrees." 
 A tribe called " Mai," which may be the same people, 
 is also mentioned in an Essay on the Indo-Chinese 
 countries in Moor's " Notices of the Indian Archipelago,'' 
 and which has been attributed to IMr. Crawfurd, the 
 
 * Le Fevre, " Journal," &c., p. 50 
 t Le Tevre, "Journal," &c., p. 54. 
 
160 INDO-CHINESE PENINSULA. 
 
 historian of the Indian Archipelago. '^The most nu- 
 merous inhabitants of this province are the proper Kam- 
 bojans. The Anam race are the masters. The original 
 inhabitants of that portion of it lying to the eastward 
 of the great river_, and bordering upon Lao, are a tribe 
 called Mai/^* 
 
 I have entered into this subject more fully than I 
 should othervme have done, with the view of suggesting 
 to those interested in the archaeological branch of ethno- 
 graphy, the importance of the results that may attend 
 a closer inquiry into the characteristics of this primitive 
 race. It is well known that many of the ancient idols 
 of the Hindus have negro characteristics, and the great 
 Budha himself, who is also sometimes represented as 
 a negi'o, is said by his worshippers to have been born 
 of a female named " Maia.^^ The traditions of the 
 Chinese respecting the earlier inhabitants of their 
 country, and the high veneration in which even those 
 who are untainted with Budhism hold the Waringin, 
 the banyan-tree of the Far East, are also interesting 
 subjects of inquiry. 
 
 * Page 192. 
 
THE ANDAMAN GROUP. 161 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE ANDAMAN'S. 
 
 BRITISH SETTLEMEXTS OX THE GREAT ANDAMAN ISLAND FEROCIOUS 
 
 CHARACTER OF THE INHABITANTS FATAL TO THE CREWS OF SHIP- 
 WRECKED VESSELS WRECK OF THE ' BRITOn' IN 1844 MR. COLE- 
 
 BROOKE's DESCRIPTION OF THE NATIVES APPEARANCE AND CHA- 
 RACTER MODE OF ATTACKING STRANGERS MODE OF PROCURING 
 
 FOOD — SONGS AND DANCES HABITATIONS CANOES ARMS HUNT- 
 ING AND FISHING IMPLEMENTS CHARGE OF CANNIBALISM 
 
 ANECDOTE OF TWO YOUNG WOMEN SEVERE PRIVATIONS PROGRESS 
 
 TOWARDS FRIENDLY INTERCOURSE WITH STRANGERS WANT OF 
 
 VEGETABLE DIET CAUSES OF THEIR PRESENT DEGRADED STATE 
 
 THE COCOA-NUT COMPARISON WITH THE NATI\T:S OF THE NICO- 
 
 BARS PLANTING FRUIT TREES THE FIRST GREAT STEP OUT OF 
 
 BARBARISM. 
 
 The Andaman Islands, on the eastern side of the Bay 
 of Bengal, form part of the volcanic chain which extends 
 from Sumatra to Cape Negrais on the coast of Burmah. 
 The coasts, and probably the inland parts also, are covered 
 with dense jungles of lofty trees, scarcely pervious, it would 
 appear, even to the wild savages by whom the islands 
 are exclusively occupied. In the year 1791, a settlement 
 was formed by the British Government at Port Chatham, 
 
162 THE ANDAMAN GROUP. 
 
 near tlie southern extremity of the Great Island, which is 
 about one hundred and forty miles long, and twenty 
 miles broad. The chief object was the establishment 
 of a naval station, at which ships of war on the Indian 
 station might repair and refresh, the luxuriant growth of 
 the timber trees, and the favourable position of the 
 islands for communication with all points of India, having 
 led to the selection of the An damans for thi^ purpose. 
 The establishment consisted of a few companies of native 
 troops from Bengal, and of a body of convicts from the 
 same place. In 1793, the establishment was removed, at 
 the suggestion of iVdmiral Comwallis, to the port at the 
 opposite end of the island, which now bears his name. 
 The establishment was only maintained for a few years 
 longer ; but in the interim the settlement had been 
 visited by Colonel Sj'^mes, when on his voyage to Burmah 
 on a diplomatic mission, and the interesting description 
 of the inhabitants, which is contained in the narrative of 
 his embassy, is that by which the natives of these islands 
 are best known. An account of the Andamans by Lieu- 
 tenant R. H. Colebrooke, an officer attached to the 
 establishment, is also given in the Asiatic Researches for 
 1725 j and as his description of the natives is less known 
 than that of Colonel Spnes, it will be extracted here. 
 Mr. Colebrooke introduces his account with the following 
 remarks : 
 
 '' It is perhaps a wonder that islands so extensive, and 
 lying in the track of so many ships, should have been, 
 until of late years, so little knov>*n, that while the coun- 
 tries by which they are almost encircled have been 
 increasing in population and wealth, having been from 
 
NATIVE TRIBES. 163 
 
 time immemonal in a state of tolerable civilization, these 
 islands should have remained in a state of nature, and 
 their inhabitants plunged in the grossest ignorance and 
 barbarity. The wild appearance of the country, and the 
 untractable and ferocious disposition of the inhabitants, 
 have been the causes, probably, which have deterred 
 navigators from frequenting them, and they have justly 
 dreaded a shipwreck at the Andamans more than the 
 danger of foundeiing on the ocean ; for although it is 
 highly probable that in the course of time many vessels 
 have been ^Tccked upon their coasts, an instance does 
 not occur of any of their crews being saved, or of a 
 single person retui'ning to give any account of such a 
 disaster.^^* 
 
 These remarks are equally applicable at the present 
 day, except that it does not always happen that the 
 crews of ships wrecked on the coast (of which scarcely a 
 year passes without one or more instances occui-ring) fall 
 a prey to the savages. In the year 1845, the ship ' Briton^ 
 conveying more than three hundred troops of the 80th Re- 
 giment from Sydney to Calcutta, was driven, dismantled, 
 before a hurricane, upon the east coast of the Great Anda- 
 man ; and within an hour a second ship, the ' Runnymede,^ 
 conveving militaiy stores and a detachment of the 50th 
 Regiment from England to Calcutta, Twas wTccked within 
 half a mile of the same spot. The ' Briton' was short of 
 provisions, but by a merciful Providence the cargo of the 
 other vessel furnished an abundant supply, which enabled 
 the crew and passengers to subsist until assistance could 
 
 * "Asiatic Researches," vol. iv, p. 3So. 
 
164 THE ANDAMAN GROUP. 
 
 be brought from the Indian ports^ otherwise upwards of 
 five hundred souls, inchiding many women and children, 
 w^ould have perished on this inhospitable coast. The 
 fortified camp of the shipwrecked people was repeatedly- 
 attacked by the natives until the moment of the arrival of 
 the steamers ; but having abundance of provisions, they 
 were able to keep together, and repel their assailants. 
 Mr. Colebrooke's description of the people, among whom 
 he appears to have resided for some years, is as follows : 
 
 "The Andaman Islands are inhabited by a race of 
 men, the least civilized perhaps in the world; being 
 nearer to a state of nature than any people we read of. 
 Their colour is of the darkest hue, their stature in general 
 small, and their aspect uncouth. Their limbs are ill- 
 formed and slender, their bellies prominent ; and like the 
 Africans, they have woolly heads, thick lips, and flat 
 noses. They go quite naked, the women wearing only at 
 times a kind of tassel, or fringe round the middle ; which 
 is intended merely as ornament, as they do not betray 
 any signs of bashfulness when seen without it. The men 
 are cunning, crafty, and revengeful; and frequently 
 express their aversion to strangers in a loud and threaten- 
 ing tone of voice, exhibiting various signs of defiance, and 
 expressing their contempt by the most indecent gestures. 
 At other times they appear quiet and docile, with the 
 most insidious intent. They will afi'ect to enter into a 
 friendly conference, when after receiving, with a show of 
 humility, whatever articles may be presented to them, 
 they set up a shout and discharge their arrows at the 
 donors. On the appearance of a vessel or boat, they 
 frequently lie in ambush among the trees, and send 
 
NATIVE CUSTOMS. 165 
 
 one of their gang, who is generally the oldest among 
 them, to the water^s edge, to endeavour by friendly signs 
 to allure the strangers on shore. Should the crew ven- 
 ture to land without arms, they instantly rush out of 
 their lurking-places, and attack them. 
 
 " In these skirmishes they display much resolution, and 
 will sometimes plunge into the water to seize the boat ; 
 and they have been known even to discharge their arrows 
 while in the act of swimming. Their mode of life is 
 degrading to human nature, and like the brutes, their 
 whole time is spent in search of food. They have yet 
 made no attempts to cultivate their lands, but live 
 entirely upon what they can pick up, or kill. In the 
 morning they rub their skins with mud, or wallow in it 
 like buffaloes, to prevent the annoyance of insects, and 
 daub their woolly heads with red ochre or cinnabar. 
 Thus attired they walk forth to their different occupations. 
 The women bear the greatest part of the drudgery in 
 collecting food, repairing to the reefs at the recess of the 
 tide, to pick up shell-fish ; while the men are hunting in 
 the woods, or wading in the water to shoot fish with their 
 bows and arrows. They are very dexterous at this ex- 
 traordinary mode of fishing, which they practise also at 
 night, by the light of a torch. In their excursions 
 through the woods, a wild hog sometimes rewards their 
 toil, and affords them a more ample repast. They broil 
 their meat or fish over a kind of grid, made of bamboos ; 
 but use no salt or other seasoning. 
 
 '^The Andamaners display at times much colloquial 
 vivacity, and are fond of singing and dancing, in which 
 amusements the women also participate. Their language 
 
166 THE ANDAMAX GROUP. 
 
 is rather smooth than guttural, and their melodies are in 
 the nature of recitative and chorus, not unpleasing. In 
 dancing they may be said to have improved on the 
 strange republican dance, asserted by Voltaire to have 
 been exhibited in England. The Andamaners likewise 
 dance in a ring, each alternately kicking and slapping 
 the lower part of his person ad libitum. Their salutation 
 is performed by lifting up a leg, and smacking vaih their 
 hand the lower part of the thigh. 
 
 " Their dwellings are the most wretched hovels ima- 
 ginable. An Andaman hut may be considered the rudest 
 and most imperfect attempt of the human race to procure 
 shelter from the weather, and answers to the idea 2:iven 
 by Vitruvius of the buildings erected by the earliest 
 inhabitants of the earth. Three or four sticks are planted 
 in the gi'ound, and fastened together at the top in the 
 form of a cone, over which a kind of thatch is formed 
 with the branches and leaves of trees. An opening is 
 left on one side, just large enough to creep into, and the 
 ground beneath is strewed with dried leaves, upon which 
 they lie. In these huts are frequently found the skulls 
 of wild hogs suspended to the roofs. 
 
 '^ Their canoes are hollowed out of the trunks of trees 
 by means of fire and instruments of stone, having no iron 
 in use among them, except such utensils as they may 
 have procured from the Europeans and sailors who have 
 lately visited these islands, or from the wrecks of vessels 
 formerly stranded on their coasts. They use also rafts 
 made of bamboos to transport themselves across their 
 harbours, or from one island to another. Their arms 
 having already been mentioned in part, I need only add 
 
ARMS AND IMPLEMENTS. 167 
 
 that their bows are remarkably long and of an uncommon 
 form ; their arrows are headed with fish-bones, or the 
 tusks of wild hogs ; sometimes merely with a sharp bit of 
 wood hardened in the fire, but these are sufficiently des- 
 tructive. They use also a kind of shield, and one or two 
 other weapons have been seen amongst them.* Of their 
 implements for fishing and other purposes, little can be 
 said. Hand-nets of difi'erent sizes are used in catching 
 the small fry, and a kind of wicker-basket, which they 
 cany on their backs, serves to deposit whatever articles of 
 food they can pick up. A few specimens of pottery 
 ware have.been seen in these islands.^''t 
 
 Vrith regard to cannibalism, which has been imputed 
 to these people, Mr. Colebrooke says : " That they are 
 cannibals has never been fully proved, although from 
 their cruel and sanguinary disposition, great voracity, and 
 cunning modes of living in ambush, there is reason to 
 suspect that in attacking strangers, they are frequently 
 impelled by hunger, as they invariably put to death the 
 unfortunate victims that fall into their hands. No 
 positive instance, however, has been known of their 
 eating the flesh of their enemies, although the bodies of 
 some whom they have killed have been found mangled 
 and torn." J The testimony of Colonel Symes is to the 
 same efi'ect ; and he notes as an instance that when two 
 of the Bengali fishermen were killed by the natives for 
 attempting violence on one of their women, the bodies 
 " were pierced by sharp weapons, and pounded by stones 
 
 * Colonel Symes adds, "A spear of heavy wood sharply pointed." 
 f " Asiatic Researches," vol. iv, p. 3 89 et seq. 
 % Note to p. 389. 
 
168 THE ANDAMAN GROUP. 
 
 until every bone was broken ; but the flesb was not cut 
 off, nor any limb severed/-'* 
 
 Colonel Symes, wbo appears to bave been much interested 
 in these poor savages, gives several anecdotes illustrative of 
 the more pleasing side of their character. " Two young 
 women, allured by the temptation of fish, were secured 
 and brought on board a ship at anchor in the harbour ; 
 the captain treated them with great humanity ; they soon 
 got rid of all fear of violence, except what might be 
 offered to their chastity, which they guarded with unre- 
 mitting vigilance. Although they had a small apartment 
 allotted to themselves, and had no real cause for appre- 
 hension, one always watched whilst the other slept ; they 
 suffered clothes to be put on, but took them off again as 
 soon as opportunity offered, and threw them away as 
 useless incumbrances. When their fears were over they 
 became cheerful, chattered with freedom, and were inex- 
 pressibly diverted at the sight of their own persons in a 
 mirror. They were fond of singing, sometimes in melan- 
 choly recitative, at others in a lively key; and often 
 danced about the deck with great agility, slapping the 
 lower part of their bodies with the back of their heels. 
 Wine and spirituous liquors were disagreeable to them ; 
 no food seemed so palatable as fish, rice, and sugar. In 
 a few weeks, having recovered strength and become fat, 
 from the more than half-famished state in which they 
 were brought on board, they began to thiok confinement 
 irksome, and longed to regain their native freedom. 
 
 '^ In the middle of the night, when all but the watch- 
 
 * " Eixoassy to Ava," 2nd ed. Note to p. 312. 
 
PRECARIOUS SUBSISTENCE. 169 
 
 man were asleep, they passed in silence through the 
 captain^s cabin, jumped out of the stern windows into 
 the sea, and swam to an island half a mile distant, where 
 it was in vain to pursue them, had there been any such 
 intention ; but the object was to retain them by kindness, 
 not by compulsion, an attempt that has failed on every 
 trial. Hunger may (and these instances are i-are) induce 
 them to put themselves into the power of strangers ; but 
 the moment their want is satisfied, nothing short of 
 coercion can prevent them from* returning to a way of life 
 more congenial to their savage nature/^* 
 
 The great straits to which they are sometimes put for 
 want of food is farther illustrated by the folloA^-ing anec- 
 dote : " A coasting party one day discovered a man and 
 a boy stretched on the beach apparently in the last stage 
 of famine : they were conveyed to the settlement ; un- 
 fortunately, every effort of humanity failed to save the 
 man, but the boy recovered, and is now in the service of 
 General Kvd at Calcutta, where he is much noticed for 
 . the striking singularity of his appearance/'^t 
 
 This also affords farther proof that the natives can 
 scarcely be addicted to the practice of cannibalism, a 
 charge which seems to have originated in the account 
 given by two early Mohammedan travellers, which was 
 translated by Eusebius Renaudot. An anecdote given by 
 Colonel Symes of a boat^s crew that was driven to sea and 
 picked up many days afterwards with diminished numbers, 
 shows that even Europeans would have been less scru- 
 pulous under similar circumstances. 
 
 * Symes, "Embassy to Ava,"' p. 303. 
 t Idem, p. 312. 
 
 k 
 
170 THE ANDAMAN' GROUP. 
 
 Captain Stokoe, one of the military officers in charge 
 of the settlement, appears to have entertained a very 
 kindly feelins; towards the natives, and there can be 
 little doubt that if the settlement had been maintained, a 
 o-ood understanding would ultimately have been estab- 
 lished between them and their visitors. 
 
 " Captain Stokoe, who constantly resided on the island, 
 disappointed in his attempts to estabhsh a social inter- 
 course, endeavoured to alleviate their wants by sending, 
 as often as circumstances would admit, soiall supplies of 
 victuals to their huts, which were always abandoned on 
 the approach of his people, but resorted to again when 
 they had withdrawn.^^* 
 
 This is the only effectual method yet discovered of 
 taming savages like those of the Andamans. Wlien once 
 they become accustomed to regular supplies of food, 
 however small the quantities, they refrain from offending 
 those at whose hands they obtain this assistance ; and 
 they will even take up arms to prevent others of their race 
 from doing so. To Captain Stokoe is due the merit of 
 having struck out a system which has subsequently been 
 pursued with eminent success by Captain MacAi-thur, 
 the Commandant at Port Essington, and has led to the 
 breaking up of that establishment being' looked upon by 
 the natives as a national calamity. 
 
 Captain Stokoe estimates the entire population of the 
 Andaman Group at from 2,000 to 2,500, and the extent 
 of coast could scarcely be capable of supporting a 
 larger amount of inhabitants, where they derived their 
 
 * Svmes. "Embassy to Ava," vol. i, p. 311. 
 
VEGETABLE FOOD. 171 
 
 entire subsistence from the spontaneous productions of 
 nature. 
 
 Very little information appears to have been acquired 
 concerning the vegetable diet of the natives. Colonel 
 Symes remarks that " the fruit of the mangrove is prin- 
 cipally used, having often been found in their deserted 
 habitations, steeping in an embanked puddle of water."* 
 This is more probably the fruit of the pandanus, which 
 abounds on the Andamans, as it is often mistaken for 
 the fruit of the mangrove, from the circumstance of the 
 pandanus being most abundant on the edge of the 
 swamps, and often mingling with the mangrove-trees. 
 The fruit of the pandanus is a common article of food 
 among the natives of the north coast of Australia, where 
 it is prepared in like manner, by steeping in an embanked 
 puddle.f 
 
 Nearly every voyager, who has given an account of his 
 visit to the Andamans, has expressed surprise at the fact, 
 that while the Nicobar Islands, which lie close to the 
 south, and the uninhabited Cocos Islands, which lie to the 
 north of the group, have extensive cocoa-nut groves, not 
 a single tree has ever been found on the Andamans. 
 This apparent anomaly is satisfactorily explained by a 
 
 ♦ Symes, '•' Embassy to Ava," vol. i, p. 310. 
 
 ■f Dr. Leichhardt, who found the pandanus fruit in extensive use 
 among the natives of the Gulf of Carpentaria, was inchned to beUeve 
 that they obtained a fermented Hquor by this process of soaking. 
 The practice is more probably adopted for the purpose of removmg 
 some deleterious substance, similar in its nature to the heart of the 
 manioc. The fruit of the cycas-palm is shced up and dried in the 
 sun, with the same object. — G. W. E. 
 
 I 2 
 
172 THE ANDAMAN ISLANDS. 
 
 paragraph in Colonel Symes^ narrative : '^ Unhappily for 
 them, the cocoa-nut, which thrives in the utmost luxu- 
 riance in the neighbouring isles, is not to be found here ; 
 but they are extremely fond of it, and whenever a nut 
 was left in their way by the settlers, it was immediately 
 carried off with much apparent satisfaction/^* Their 
 fondness for the nut has probably deprived them of the 
 benefit of the tree ; but it will be necessary to go again 
 to Australia for an illustration. Although, probably, 
 hundreds of nuts, capable of vegetating, are thrown upon 
 the northern coasts of that continent by eveiy north-west 
 monsoon, no living tree has been secD, except in the 
 European settlements ; and even those have hitherto been 
 destroyed soon after the establishments were removed; 
 for the heart or cabbage is only less an object of desire 
 with the natives than the nut itself. Every nut thrown 
 on the coast is seized with avidity, and generally eaten 
 upon the spot. Even should it be lodged in some 
 nook, where it might remain unperceived a sufficient time 
 to take root, the first appearance of its feathery leaves, 
 which could not escape the eye of any native who might 
 be passing along the beach in search of fish, would be the 
 signal for its destruction, in the hope that a portion of the 
 much-loved kernel might still remain within t 
 
 * Symes, "Embassy to Ava," vol. i, p. 311. 
 
 f Since the above was in type, I have had some conversation on 
 the subject with Colonel Mac Arthur, of the Royal Marines, who 
 resided permanently at Port Essington, in the capacity of Com- 
 mandant, dui'ing the existence of the settlement (from 1838 to 
 184:9; ; and he informs me that latterly facts came to liis know- 
 ledge, which have induced the opinion that some of the tribes of 
 
NICOBAR ISLANDS. 173 
 
 The iSicobar Islands, which lie immediately to the 
 south of the Andamans, the northernmost being only 
 thirty leagues distant, are inhabited by a people, .who, 
 although essentially Papuan in their leading characteris- 
 tics, are an industrious, and well-conditioned race, and 
 inferior in these respects to no native tribe of the Eastern 
 Seas. But they must have made the first great step in 
 civilization, by becoming cultivators of the soil, at least 
 some centuries asro. The ancient name of " Insul(P bon(S 
 fortunce" must have been applied only to this portion of 
 the island group. We have distinct evidence that the 
 produce of their cocoa-nut groves attracted traders from 
 the continent of India, many years before Europeans 
 found their way to the East. The cocoa-nuts, together 
 with the animals that were fattened on them, proved 
 equally attractive to the latter, and these islands speedily 
 became a favourite resort for refreshments, in the first m- 
 stance by trading, and latterly by whaling ships. 
 
 Whether the existence of cocoa-nut groves has led to a 
 taste for agriculture, or a taste for agriculture has led to 
 the formation of cocoa-nut groves, must ever be a myster}- ; 
 but the course of a long experience among races just 
 emerging from utter barbarism, has led the writer to 
 look upon that tree as the banner of hope to its posses- 
 
 Korth Australia are much opposed to the introductiou of foreign 
 vegetable productions; the cotton shinibs which he planted on 
 vai-ious parts of the coast having been generally destroyed by the 
 natives. This fact will be useful to those who may follow him in 
 attempting to reclaim the native tribes, as their prejudices, when 
 once known, are easily overcome by care and management.— 
 G. W. E. 
 
174 THE ANDAMAN GROUP. 
 
 sors. When assisting to form the remote settlement 
 at which he has spent some of the best years of his life, 
 several hundreds of cocoa-nuts for planting formed part 
 of the first ship-load of seeds and refreshments which 
 he procured among the neighbouring islands of the 
 Ai'chipelago ; and, assuredly, if the now deserted natives 
 preserve the groves that have been left for them, they will 
 have made the first great step out of the darkness of 
 barbarism. When once this boundary is passed, progress 
 becomes smooth and easy, although it may not be rapid, 
 except under very favourable circumstances. A fixed 
 residence becomes necessary to protect the newly-acquired 
 property, and the plantation soon becomes extended by 
 the addition of plants of every other kind of edible 
 fruit or root that is to be found in the woods, or can be 
 procured from neighbours. 
 
THE SUNDA CHAIX. 175 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 THE S U N D A CHAIN. 
 
 RELICS OF AX AXCIEXT RACE IS JAVA PAPUANS OF FLORES 
 
 SOLOR, PANTAR, L0M3LEX AXD OMBAI MARITIME PTRSUITS OF 
 
 THE COAST TRIBES OF SOLOR VARIETIES OF CHARACTER AMOXG 
 
 NATIVES OF TIMOR TRIBES NEAR COEPAXG LOCALITY IX WHICH 
 
 PAPUAXS ARE FOUXD PAPUAX OF TIMOR AT SIXGAPORE — MODE OF 
 
 CARRYIXG OX TRADE WITH THE XATIVES OF THE SOUTH COAST 
 
 TRACES OF PAPUAXS IX OTHER ISLAXDS OF THE ARCHIPELAGO. 
 
 No traces of a Papuan race have been met with in the 
 island of Sumatra, at least as far as the writer is informed. 
 The relics of a people, who are supposed to have been of 
 an anterior race to the present inhabitants, are found in 
 many parts of Java, and a description of several specimens 
 of ancient instruments, accompanied by figures, is given 
 in the " Xatuurkundige Tijdschrift voor Nederlandsch 
 Indie^^ for the year 1850. Some of these figures repre- 
 sent the exact form of the spear-heads of slate and " baked 
 sandstone/^ which are in common use among the natives 
 of the northern parts of Australia, and are made by the 
 natives of the interior, who understand the art of splitting 
 them from the rough pieces with a few blows of an axe or 
 
176 THE SUXDA CHAIN. 
 
 hammer of green stone. Mr. J. R. Logan is of opinion 
 that some of the other figures represent "fragments 
 of stone axes shaped like those which are occasionally 
 discovered in the Malay Peninsula, where the Malays, 
 like the Javanese, believe them to be thunderbolts.'^* A 
 collection of these ancient implements of stone, which 
 are also found in China and Japan, where they are vene- 
 rated as relics of ancestors,t would be highly interesting 
 to the speculative ethnographer ; as a comparison could 
 then be made with the stone implements still in common 
 use among those Papuan and Australian tribes which have 
 few facilities for procuring implements of iron. J 
 
 In the islands east of Java, genuine Papuan character- 
 istics are first met with on the great island of Flores or 
 Mang^Arai, where the uplands of the eastern half, at 
 least, are occupied by numerous tribes of the Papuan 
 race. No European appears ever to have visited the 
 parts in which the wild people reside, although the Por- 
 
 * " Journal of the Indian Archipelago," vol. v, p. 84. 
 I See Yon Siebold. " Archief voor de Beschrijving van Japan." 
 % While this work was going through the press the writer had an 
 opportunity of inspecting the Tliird Part of Dr. Schoolcraft's " Indian 
 Tribes ;" an American national work now in. the course of publica- 
 tion, iu which a representation is given (Plate xxxiii. Pig. 2) of an 
 instrument apparently identical in character with that described in 
 the " Tijdschrift." Dr. Schoolcraft introduces it among the " Anti- 
 quities of Massachussets ;" and describes it as " a fleshing instru- 
 ment (knife ?) of the north-east aboriginal inhabitants ;" and as 
 being composed of a " species of ' grauwacke.' " A veiy correct 
 representation of an Australian spear-head is given in Captain P. P. 
 King's narrative, and a specimen will be found in the United Service 
 Museum, — G. W. E. 
 
FLORES. 177 
 
 tu^uese have had a small establishment at Larantuka, on 
 the eastern extreme of the island^ for the last three cen- 
 turies. These tribes are, therefore, chiefly known through 
 the individual specimens who are to be met with at most 
 of the trading ports of the southern islands of the Archi- 
 pelago, where they exist in a state of slavery, or as 
 emancipated slaves ; considerable numbers having been 
 exported from time to time from the European and 
 Bughis settlements on Flores. They present the usual 
 characteristics of the mountain Papuans, the tufted hair, 
 especially, being universal. One specimen, an elderly 
 man, who was residing at Tanjong Cattong, in the. 
 neighbourhood of Singapore, in 1S50, was considerably 
 lighter in complexion than is usual with Papuans ; but as- 
 he had dwelt in our settlements at Bencoolen and Singa- 
 pore for nearly fifty years, this peculiarity may have been 
 the result of a different mode of life. Several of the 
 coast tribes near the eastern end of Plores are considered 
 to be Papuans, but their hair has not the tufted character, 
 being generally long and curly. In other particulars 
 they bear a considerable resemblance to Papuans. Many 
 of the natives in the neighbourhood of Larantuka are 
 Christians, and several who have been educated at the 
 Roman CathoUc College of Goa, on the west coast of Hin- 
 dostan, have been ordained priests, and perform religious 
 services in the Christian villages. 
 
 The mountainous parts of Solor, Pantar, Lomblen and 
 Ombai, are also occupied by a woolly-haired race resem- 
 bling Papuans in their general character ; but the coast 
 inhabitants, more especially on the three former islands, 
 are a bronze-coloured, curly-haired people, who are 
 
 I 3 
 
178 SOLOR. 
 
 thouglit to be Badjus or Sea-Gipsies, probably from tbeir 
 being very much like the Malay boatmen of Singapore, 
 who are supposed to be of the same origin. Certainly 
 the resemblance is very great, but we have no data from 
 which identity of origin may be inferred. The coast 
 tribes of Solor are remarkable for their skill in managing 
 their prahus and canoes, and are the most expert fisher- 
 men in these seas, frequently capturing the black-fish, a 
 small variety of the cachalot, or sperm-whale, which no 
 other fishermen in these seas will venture to attack. 
 The blubber or fat obtained from them is used as 
 food, and also as an article of barter with the inland 
 inhabitants; and the oil and spermaceti is sometimes 
 disposed of to the Bughis and Macassar traders, who 
 prefer it to cocoa-nut-oil for burning in their prahus. 
 Several of these Solor fishermen are always to be found at 
 Coepang, the Dutch settlement on Timor, chiefly in the 
 service of the government, from whom they obtain a fixed 
 allowance of rice and maize. These men, who are relieved 
 b}'' others every year, are sent in compliance with an old 
 treaty, by which the coast natives of Solor agreed to 
 furnish an annual quota of men for the public service. 
 As all the youths have to take their turn, the system 
 makes them accustomed to intercourse with Europeans, 
 and is attended with very beneficial results. 
 
 Indeed the settlement of Coepang presents an extraor- 
 dinaiy field for the inquiries of an ethnologist, for nearly 
 eveiy people or tribe inhabiting the southern islands of 
 the Archipelago are represented there, either as political 
 exiles, slaves or freed-men, or as casual visitors. The 
 traders are Europeans, Chinese, or natives of Celebes and 
 
TIMOR. 179 
 
 Sumbawa ; and a portion of the troops sometimes consists 
 of negroes from Elmina, on tlie west coast of Africa. In- 
 deed the island of Timor contains within itself materials 
 which may possibly enable the scientific ethnologist to 
 decide whether the variety of complexion met with in the 
 Indian Archipelago has resulted from a mixture of races, 
 or from natural developments connected with the mode 
 of life adopted by difi'erent tribes. On the table-lands 
 above Dilli^ a Portuguese settlement on the north-west 
 coast of the island, some of the villagers have opaque 
 yellow complexions, the exposed parts of the skin 
 being covered w4th light brown spots or freckles,, and the 
 hair is straight, fine, and of a reddish or dark auburn 
 colour.* Every intermediate variety of hair and com- 
 plexion, between this and the black or deep chocolate 
 
 * A specimen of this description of liaii', with several locks that 
 had been cut from the heads of ^ other brown races, Papuans, or 
 AustraHans, was deposited by the writer, in 18i5, in the United 
 Service Museum. As some of the tribes of the Serwatty Islands 
 dye the hair with Hme and other substances, I was particularly 
 careful in ascertaining that this aubui*n colour was natural, and not 
 the result of an artificial process. The person from whose head 
 the specimen of hair was cut with my own hands, was a giii who 
 had been in the service of the family of Colonel Cabrera, the 
 Governor of DiUi, for several years ; and had any artificial process 
 been employed to colour- the hair, the fact must have come imder 
 the notice of the members of his family. I met with several others, 
 both male and female, in DilH and the neighboui-hood, who had the 
 same peculiarity. They were all natives of the uplands, and Colonel 
 Cabrera assured me that he had visited villages in the interior, in 
 which nearly every inhabitant had this pecuhar hair and complexion. 
 — G. W. E. 
 
180 TIMOR. 
 
 colour and short tufted hair of the mountain Papuan, is 
 to be found in Timor. 
 
 The latter variety of people, however, alone belongs to 
 the present division of the subject, as the other tribes must 
 necessarily be classed with the brown-coloured races. 
 The inhabitants of the south-western part of Timor, in 
 the neighbourhood of Coepang, are an exceedingly dark, 
 coarse-haired people; and travellers have great difficulty 
 in coming to a conclusion as to whether they belong to 
 i\Ialayan or Papuan races, so equally balanced are their 
 characteristics. The anonymous author of an excellent 
 '^ Account of Timor, Eotti, Savu, Solor, &c.,^^ in Moor^s 
 "Notices of the Indian xlrchipelago,^^ seems to have 
 fallen into this state of perplexity ; and as his observations 
 are evidently the result of long experience at Coepang and 
 its neighbourhood, I will give a few short extracts which 
 bear upon the point. "^ "The natives are generally of a 
 very dark colour, with frizzled, bushy hair; but less 
 inclining to the Papuans than the natives- of Ende (on 
 the island of Flores). They are below the middle size, 
 and rather slight in figure. In countenance?, they more 
 
 * I have been unable to discover who was the author of this 
 essay, which occupies seven closely-printed quai-to pages ; but I 
 suspect it must have been ^Ir. Francis, a native of Madras, who 
 entered the service of the Dutch Government on the restoration of 
 Java, and was at one time Assistant-Resident of Coepang. I 
 have never had occasion to refer to the essay without expe- 
 riencing a feeling of admii-ation at the extent, as well as ac- 
 curacy, of the information which is given in so small a space.— 
 G. W. E. 
 
TIMOR. 181 
 
 nearly resemble the South Sea islanders than any of the 
 Malay tribes/'* 
 
 When alluding to the island of Flores, he further says : 
 " The natives live chiefly in the interior, except at the 
 east end, whilst the sea-coast and ports are occupied to 
 the westward by colonies from Sumbawa and Celebes. 
 Very little is known of the manners and customs of the 
 natives : in their appearance they approach more nearly 
 to the Papuans than the natives of Timor, both in form 
 of countenance and hair.^f 
 
 The darker-coloured inhabitants of Timor are con- 
 gregated near the south-east coast or "hinder part'' 
 [achterwal) of the island, as it is termed by the 
 Dutch. The slaves, who once constituted the chief 
 article of export from the Portuguese settlements on 
 the island, were chiefly obtained, either by force or 
 barter, from these tribes, and were usually brought to 
 the settlements overland. Their Papuan characteristics 
 are so strong, that they are commonly termed ^' negroes" 
 by travellers who see them at Macao, where large 
 numbers have been imported from tiuie to time ; but 
 although I had examined many individuals at Dilli, I 
 never succeeded in detecting a pure tufted character in 
 the hair — which I had adopted as a test for genuine 
 Papuans — until the year 1850, when I met with a native 
 of Timor at Singapore, who had this characteristic in 
 its fullest extent. He had been brought from Dilli at an 
 early age, and had been thrown on his own resources by 
 the general emancipation of the slaves of Malacca ; when 
 
 * "Notices," <S:c., App. p. G. 
 f Idem, App. p. 11. 
 
182 TIMOR. 
 
 he was brought up by the Rev. Mr. Sames (a Dutch 
 missionar}', whose later hfe has been devoted to the educa- 
 tion of the poorer natives), and was qualified for service 
 as a printer, in which he was seeking employment 
 when I encountered him. He had the small active 
 figure, restless eye, and short tufted hair, which are the 
 chief characteristics of the mountain Papuans ; and I at 
 length had an opportunity of ascertaining from personal 
 observation that the race still existed in a pure state in 
 Timor. The numbers of the pure Papuans cannot, 
 however, be very great, as they are said to lead a life more 
 barbarous than that of the Ahetas of the Philippines ; for 
 the price set upon their heads in the slave-market causes 
 them to be constantly hunted down by tribes only a Httle 
 farther advanced than themselves, aad in a few years 
 their race must become extinct. At present they are 
 most numerous on the mountain Alias, which rises near 
 the south-east coast of Timor. 
 
 The gzm^i-Papuan tribes which have adopted settled 
 habits, also reside in the uplands of the same part of the 
 island, where they grow maize and yams, and occasionally 
 descend to the coast to barter the wax they obtain in the 
 forests with the small traders who come from the Ser- 
 watty Islands during the calm period which intervenes 
 between the monsoons. From these traders I have, 
 derived my chief information concerning the tribes in the 
 southern parts of Timor. They are described as being 
 extremely cautious in their transactions with strangers, 
 even with those who have held intercourse with them for 
 years ; and probably they have good reason to be so, for 
 the great slave mart of the Bughis and Macassar traders. 
 
TIMOR. 183 
 
 * 
 
 Kapalla Tanah, or the Land^s-end, is in their immediate 
 neighbourhood; and probably they have learned from 
 experience that strangers are not particularly anxious to 
 avoid a quarrel, when it is likely to end in their capturing 
 some valuable articles of traffic, to which they would then 
 consider that they had a lawful right. The traders are 
 allowed to land, but not to leave the beach, even to pro- 
 cure water ; which, when their visitors require a supply, 
 is brought down by the natives themselves in bamboo 
 buckets, and deposited on the beach. 
 
 The following description of the mode in which the 
 trade is sometimes carried on, is extracted from the 
 account of these islands quoted above; but more 
 generally the traders remain on board their prahus, 
 which are anchored close to the land, and push their 
 goods on shore in a small canoe, to which a line is 
 attached for the purpose of hauling it back when the 
 goods have been removed, and the articles given in ex- 
 change deposited in their stead. ^' When the prows arrive 
 off the coast, they land the articles they have for barter in 
 small quantities at a time on the beach, when the natives 
 immediately come down ^A-ith the produce they have for 
 sale, and place it opposite the goods from the prows, 
 pointing to the articles, or description of articles, they 
 wish to obtain in exchange for it. The trader then 
 makes an offer, generally very small at first, which he 
 increases by degrees : if not accepted, which the native 
 notifies by a shake of the head, should the trader hesitate 
 a moment about adding more to his offer, it is considered 
 sufficient by the native ; — he snatches it up, and darts off 
 with it into the jungle, leaving his own goods; or should 
 
184 SUMBA. 
 
 he consider it too little, lie seizes his own property, and 
 flies off with it with equal haste, never returning a 
 second time to the same person/^* 
 
 No decided Papuans have yet been found on the 
 islands lying between Timor and the Arru Islands, and 
 certainly none exist in the Serwatty Islands at the present 
 day ; but there is a tribe inhabiting the interior of Timor- 
 Laut, which, from the accounts given by the natives of 
 the coast, may prove to be of the woolly-haired race. 
 
 Every community of mountain Papuans, regarding 
 whose existence satisfactory evidence can be produced, 
 has now been noticed ; but it is still possible that rem- 
 nants of tribes may yet be found in some of the islands 
 whose interior continues to be a terra incognita. The 
 reports of the coast inhabitants of these islands con- 
 cerning the wild tribes of the interior are generally veiy 
 unsatisfactory; and the former are apt sometimes to 
 temper their information, in order to make it pleasing to 
 the inquirer, if they happen to be aware of the object 
 of his researches. The islands in which remnants of 
 Papuan tribes may yet be found are Sumba or Sandal- 
 wood Island, Buru, the Xulla Islands, and the small 
 eastern peninsula of Celebes, which terminates at Cape 
 Taliabo. Sumba is a mountainous island, three hundred 
 miles in circumference, lying to the south of Flores, from 
 the coast of which it is distinctly visible in clear weather. 
 The inhabitants of Savu possess a settlement near the 
 south-west extreme of the island, and the Bughis traders of 
 Ende have two or three small stations on the north coast 
 
 * " Notices," &c., p. 8. 
 
 I 
 
BURU. 185 
 
 which are occasionally visited by small European vessels 
 for the purpose of obtaining horses ; but the natives of 
 Sumba all dwell in the uplands, where they cultivate maize, 
 yamSj and other produce similar to that grown on Timor, 
 and are said to use the plough, which is unknown in any 
 other island to the eastward of Sumbawa. Their hair is 
 frizzled, but long, and their complexion is much darker 
 than that of any other agricultural people in the Archi- 
 pelago j but in other respects they resemble very closely 
 the brown tribes in the southern part of Timor. The 
 wild tribes, which dwell in the upper parts of the moun- 
 tain ranges, are said to be very black and very savage ; 
 but as the writer has not had the good fortune to meet 
 with a single specimen, he cannot vouch for the correct- 
 ness of this report, although there seems to be no good 
 reason for doubting it. >■ 
 
 Burn is also a large island, being about two hundred 
 miles in circumference. The bulk of the inhabitants are 
 a comparatively fair people, very closely resembling the 
 natives of Amboyna ; and the only tribe that is likely to 
 be Papuan, is a small community which resides in the 
 neighbourhood of a mountain lake near the centre of the 
 island. This lake, which seems to have excited much 
 curiosity at Amboyna, was visited by parties from the 
 garrison in 1668, and again in 1710, and their observa- 
 tions are recorded at some length by Yalentyn in his 
 " Beschryvinge Van Oost Indie ;'' but, as usual, this 
 excellent old historian is indistinct as to personal cha- 
 racteristics. Several of their villages were seen by the 
 exploring parties, each consisting of a single house, about 
 which were found plantations of yams, sweet potatoes. 
 
186 BURF. 
 
 plantains, and other fruit, together with some tame pigs, 
 which this tribe appears to use as decoys in captui'ing 
 the wild animals. The inhabitants invariably abandoned 
 their houses on the approach of the parties ; but on one 
 or two occasions the men were induced to return for a 
 short time, and hold friendly communication with their 
 visitoi*s. On one of these occasions they gave some 
 information respecting their mode of hunting, " showing 
 to Leipsig (the commander of the first expedition) how 
 they caught the wild pigs with the aid of the tame 
 ones/^* 
 
 This fact will probably afford an erplanation of the 
 mysterious value which the New Guinea natives place upon 
 their tame pigs^ according to Modera and Bruijn Kops. 
 Valentyn further says : " They took such little account of 
 the clothes, and even money, that were offered to them, 
 that it is to be wondered at that people who have nothing 
 but a strip of bark to cover their nakedness, were not 
 more covetous ; but habit is to them, as to other people, 
 a second nature ; and having been accustomed to the 
 bush cold from youth, they do not suffer from it as 
 strangers do. Our people saw swords and chopping- 
 knives among them, a clear proof that the natives of the 
 coast have communication with them, and can speak 
 intelhgibly to them, as they could not have obtained 
 these articles elsewhere : and they have neither materials, 
 means, or knowledge to make them themselves. They 
 requested the commander to drink matakau with them 
 (a mode of plighting troth), in order to assure them that 
 
 * Yalentyn, " Beschryringe van Amboina/' p. 17. 
 
XULLA ISLANDS. 187 
 
 he came for a good purpose, and not as a spy, for they 
 feared that the expedition might result in their being 
 overpowered, and sold as slaves, of which they had the 
 most deadly abhorrence.^'* 
 
 The reports as to the existence of mountain Papuans in 
 the Xulla Islands, and near Cape Taliabo in Celebes, rest 
 entirely on native information; indeed, these parts do 
 not appear to have been described by any writer since the 
 days of Valentyn, who gives the following account of the 
 inhabitants of Xulla Taliabo, which, however, is intended 
 for the coast tribes, who are generally considered to be of 
 the brown race. " The disposition of these natives is very 
 wicked, subtle, faithless, cowardly, and murderous. They 
 are also without honour or shame, and very lazy and 
 fickle. The men are gentlemen and the women slaves, as 
 the latter are obliged to do all the work, whether in the 
 household, or in the fields.^'t This indifi'erent character 
 may, however, have been conferred on them on account 
 of their obstinacy in resisting encroachment, which has 
 enabled them to maintain their independence until the 
 present day. 
 
 * Valentya, " Beschryvinge van Aniboina/' p. 18. 
 •j- Yalentyn, " Beschi-yvinge der Moluccos," p. 87« 
 
188 MELVILLE ISLAND. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 MELVILLE ISLAND AND NORTH AUSTRALIA. 
 
 PAPUAN CHARACTER OF THE ABORIGIXAT, TASMAXIANS XO "WOOLLY- 
 HAIRED TRIBES IX AUSTRALIA DOUBTFUL CHARACTER OF THE 
 
 MELVILLE ISLAXDERS — CAPTAIX KIXG's SURVEY IXTERVIEW WITH 
 
 THE X'ATIVES TRAITS AXD CHARACTERISTICS ESTABLISHMEXT 
 
 FORMED OX MELVILLE ISLAXD — LIEUTEXAXT ROe's ACCOUXT OF THE 
 
 NATIVES MALAYAN YOUTH IXDIAX ISLAXDERS THROWN' UPOX 
 
 THE COAST MAJOR CAMPBELl's DESCRIPTION* OF THE MELVILLE 
 
 ISLAXDERS PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS HABITS AND DISPO- 
 SITION' CHARACTER OF INTERCOURSE WITH THE GARRISON 
 
 NATIVE DREAD OF CAPTURE REASONS FOR SUPPOSING THAT THE 
 
 SLAVE-TRADE OXCE EXISTED FEMALES WEAPON'S UTENSILS 
 
 DOMESTIC HABITS HABITATION'S FOOD DIALECTS BURIAL 
 
 PLACES — SLAVE-TRADE PRACTICE OF THROWIXG SPEARS FROM THE 
 
 TREES TRIBES OF PORT ESSIXGTOX AXD CARPEXTARIA HILL 
 
 TRIBES OF XORTH AUSTRALIA THE ISLAXDERS OF TORRES STRAIT 
 
 COXCLUDIXG NOTE, 
 
 The aboriginal inhabitants of Tasmania or Van 
 Diemen^s Land^ a small remnant of whom still exists 
 on the Great Island of Bass's Strait, are Papuans in their 
 general characteristics; indeed their habits and appear- 
 ance very closely correspond with those of the xlndaman 
 
hno^-aplncal litraxY Yol.I. 
 
 rin 
 
 N E \^ GUINEA 
 
 MALES. 
 
 NEW GUINEA 
 FEMALES. 
 
 10 
 
 01 
 
 12 
 
 18 
 
 Cr r ciM^ 3 /fi('lc*t^Cff7iyS^StniMi 
 
KtiiDogiaphural Librar;v 7ol I. 
 
 NEW GUINEA 
 
 FEMALES, 
 
 ORTH AUSTRALIA 
 
 FEMALES 
 
 ^'^'iw,, 3 Ife/J^cn^'Smuui 
 
 (Tor p;uaicu]ars see .e^lajiatmn. of tke Platos^ 
 
 Imam's :SiBai*ni Jhiiis/i*fX'ir ^XiBrtujim^Mwlerk 
 
NORTH AUSTRALIANS. 189 
 
 islanders ; but in the neighbouring continent of Australia 
 the prevailing character of the hair, is straight,, or only 
 slightly waved, and often fine and silky, even among the 
 aborigines of Cape York, who from their close proximity 
 to the recognized Papuan tribes which inhabit the islands 
 of Torres Strait, might reasonably be expected to bear 
 some affinity to them in this particular. Frizzled hair is, 
 however, very common among several of the aboriginal 
 Australian tribes, more especially those of the north and 
 north-east coasts, and from the rough appearance of their 
 uncombed locks when cut short, travellers have, on several 
 occasions, been led to suppose that their hair resembled 
 the wool of negroes, until undeceived by a close inspection. 
 But the peculiar tufted hair of the Papuan has never, so 
 far as the wi-iter^s own experience goes, yet been detected 
 among the aborigines of the continent of Australia. 
 
 The Macassar trepang-fishers, who make annual visits 
 to the north coast of xlustralia, assert that tufted woolly 
 hair is common among the natives of Melville Island, 
 with whom they hold occasional intercourse ; and it is 
 certain that the native tribes of the nei2:hbourin2r coast of 
 Australia look upon the Mehille islanders as belonging 
 to another race, while at the same time they recognize 
 their own affinity with the coast tribes to the east and west, 
 with whom they are brought into correspondence by the 
 trepang-fishers ; the latter generally having a few of the 
 natives in their vessels to act as divers in procuring the 
 sea-slug from the deeper parts of the fishing grounds. 
 As Melville Island is only one hundred and seventy miles 
 distant from Timor-Laut, an account of the Papuan tribes 
 of the Indian Archipelago would scarcely be complete 
 
190 MELVILLE ISLAND. 
 
 without the insertion of authentic particulars concerning 
 the native inhabitants, which will enable the reader to 
 judge for himself as to whether any affinity exists between 
 them and the Papuans. 
 
 The insularity of Melville Island was first ascertained 
 by Captain Philip Parker King, E.N., during his cele- 
 brated survey of the intertropical coasts of Austraha in 
 1818 to 1822, during which he filled up "the greater 
 portion of the coast-line from Cape Wessel to the North- 
 west Cape, some of the prominent points only having 
 been seen by former navigators. The island was found to 
 consist of densely- wooded undulating land seventy miles 
 in length, thirty in breadth, and to be separated from the 
 main land of Australia by a strait only fifteen miles in 
 width, but through which the tide ran with great rapidity, 
 forming numerous eddies and tide races, which Captain 
 King suggests were of too fonnidable a character to be 
 na'^'igated with safety by the canoes of the natives. He 
 found a large opening on the north-west side of the 
 island, which he at first thought would prove to be a 
 river, but farther examination showed it to be a narrow 
 navigable strait which separated Melville from Bathurst 
 Island ; and it was on the shores of this strait, while 
 taking observations on a hill near the sea, that he first 
 met with the natives. The interview is thus described 
 in Captain King's narrative."^ 
 
 " Suddenly, however, but fortunately before we had 
 dispersed, we were surprised by natives, who, coming 
 forward armed with spears, obliged us very speedily to 
 
 * " Survey of the Intertropical Coasts of Austraha," by Captain 
 P. P. Kill?, R.X. Loudon, 1825. 
 
CAPTAIN KING^S INTERVIEW. 191 
 
 retreat to the boat ; and in the sauve qui pent way in 
 which we ran down the hill, at which we have frequently 
 since laughed very heartily, our theodolite-stand and 
 Mr. Cunniughani^s insect-net were left behind, which 
 they instantly seized upon. I had fired my fowling- 
 piece at an iguana just before the appearance of the 
 natives, so that w^e were without any means of defence ; 
 but having reached the boat without accident, where we 
 had our muskets ready, a parley was commenced for the 
 purpose of recovering our losses. After exchanging a 
 silk handkerchief for a dead bird, which they threw into 
 the water for us to pick up, we made signs that we 
 w^anted fresh water, upon which they directed us to go 
 round the point, and upon our pulling in that direction 
 they followed us, skipping from rock to rock with sur- 
 prising dexterity and speed. 
 
 " As soon as we reached the sandy bank on the north 
 side of Luxmore Head, they stopped and invited us to 
 land, which we should have done, had it not been that 
 the noises they made soon collected a large body of 
 natives, who came running from all directions to their 
 assistance, and in a short time there were twenty-eight 
 or thirty natives assembled. After a short parley with 
 them, in which they repeatedly asked for axes by imi- 
 tating the action of chopping, we went on board, inti- 
 mating our intention of returning with some, which we 
 would give to them upon the restoration of the stand, 
 which they immediately understood and assented to. The 
 natives had their dogs with them. 
 
 " On our return to the beach the natives had again 
 assembled, and shouted loudly as we approached. Be- 
 
192 MELVILLE ISLAXD. 
 
 sides the whale-boat, in which Mr. Bedwell was stationed 
 with an armed party, in order to fire if any hostility 
 commenced, we had our jolly-boat, in which I led the 
 way with two men, and carried with me two tomahawks 
 and some chisels. On pulling near the beach, the whole 
 party came down, and waded into the water towards us, 
 and in exchange for a few chisels and files, gave us two 
 baskets, one containing fresh water, and the other was 
 full of the fruit of the sago-palm, which grows here in 
 great abundance. The basket containing the water was 
 conveyed to us by letting it float on the sea, for their 
 timidity would not let them approach us near enough to 
 place it in our hands ; but that containing the fruit, not 
 being buoyant enough to swim, did not permit of this 
 method, so that after much difficulty, an old man was 
 persuaded to deliver it. This was done in the most 
 cautious manner ; and as soon as he was sufficiently near 
 the boat he dropped, or rather threw the basket into my 
 hands, and immediately retreated to his companions, who 
 applauded the feat by a loud shout of approbation. 
 
 " In exchange for this I ofi*ered him a tomahawk, but his 
 fears would not allow him to come near the boat to 
 receive it. Finding nothing could induce the old man to 
 approach us the second time, I threw it towards him; 
 and upon his catching it, the whole tribe began to shout 
 and laugh in a most extravagant way. As soon as they 
 were quiet, we made signs for the theodolite-stand, which, 
 for a long while, they would not understand ; at one time 
 they pretended to think by our pointing towards it, that 
 we meant some spears that were lying near a tree, which 
 they immediately removed : the stand was then taken up 
 
CAPTAIN king's INTERVIEW. 193 
 
 by one of their women, and upon pointing to her, they 
 feigned to think that she was the object of our wishes, 
 and immediately left a female standing up to her middle 
 in the water, and retired to some distance to await our 
 proceedings. On pulling towards the woman, who, by 
 the way, could not have been selected by them either for 
 her youth or beauty, she frequently repeated the words, 
 "Ven aca. Yen aca,^' accompanied with an invitation to 
 land ; but as we approached, she retired towards the 
 shore ; when suddenly two natives, who had slowly 
 walked towards us, sprang into the water, and made 
 towards the boat with surprising celerity, jumping at 
 each step entirely out of the sea, although it was so deep 
 as to reach their thighs. Their intention was evidently 
 to seize the remaining tomahawk, which I had been 
 endeavouring to exchange for the stand; and the foremost 
 had reached within two or three yards of the boat, when 
 I found it necessary, in order to prevent his approach, 
 to threaten to strike him with a wooden club, which had 
 the desired effect. 
 
 " At this moment one of the natives took up the stand ; 
 and upon our pointing at him, they appeared to compre- 
 hend our object; a consultation was held over the stand, 
 which was minutely examined ; but as it was mounted 
 with brass, and perhaps on that account appeared to 
 them more valuable than a tomahawk, they declined 
 giving it up, and gradually dispersed, or rather pretended 
 to do so, for a party of armed natives was observed to 
 conceal themselves under some mangrove-bushes near the 
 beach, whilst two canoes were plying about near at hand 
 to entice our approach ; the stratagem, however, did not 
 
 K 
 
194 MELVILLE ISLAND. 
 
 succeed, and we lay off on our oars for some time without 
 making any movement. Soon afterwards the natives, 
 finding that we had no intention of following them, left 
 their canoes, and performed a dance in the water, which 
 very conspicuously displayed their great muscular power ; 
 the dance consisted chiefly of the performers leaping two 
 or three times successively out of the sea, and then vio- 
 lently moving their legs, so as to agitate the water into a 
 foam for some distance around them, all the time shout- 
 ing loudly and laughing immoderately ; then they would 
 run through the water for eight or ten yards, and perform 
 again ; and this was repeated over and over again as long 
 as the dance lasted. 
 
 " We were all thoroughly disgusted with them, and felt a 
 degree of distrust that could not be conquered. The men 
 were more muscular and better formed than any we 
 had before seen ; they were daubed over with a yellow 
 pigment, which was the colour of the neighbouring cliff ; 
 their hair was long and curly, and appeared to be clotted 
 with a whitish paint. During the time of our parley, the 
 natives had their spears close at hand, for those who were 
 in the water had them floating near them, and those who 
 were on the beach had them either buried in the sand, or 
 carried them between their toes, in order to deceive us, 
 and appear unarmed ; and in this they succeeded, until one 
 of them was detected, when we were pulling -towards the 
 woman, by his stooping down, antl picking up his spear. '^* 
 
 The interview ended, however, without a rupture, 
 which, if the reader has already perused Mr. Modera^s 
 
 ♦ Kincr. "Survey," <S:c., vol. i, p. 110. 
 
 J 
 
CAPTAIN king's INTERVIEW. 195 
 
 account of his interview with the natives of Dourga 
 Strait, in the second chapter of this work, he will have 
 been expecting every instant ; and a similar termination 
 would probably have occurred on this occasion, but for 
 the caution of the experienced commander. On the 
 following morning the natives were again seen, but the 
 vessel was already under weigh, and their proceedings of 
 the previous day were not of a character to render farther 
 intercourse desirable. 
 
 " The night passed without our being disturbed by or 
 hearing anything of the natives; but at daylight, on 
 looking at the place where they had been concealed 
 during the last evening, a canoe, which had been observed 
 hauled up among the bushes, was missing, and we con- 
 cluded that they were close to us ; this proved to be the 
 case, for no sooner had we cleared the point, than the 
 natives sallied forth from the thicket, and, running up to 
 their middles in water to within thirty yards of the vessel, 
 set up a loud shout, which startled us not a little ; for, 
 busied as we were in securing the anchor, and making 
 sail, our attention at the moment was otherwise du-ected ; 
 and the first intimation we had of their vicinity was from 
 the noise they made, which was accompanied by violent 
 o-estures, and pressing invitations for our return ; but we 
 continued our way, and disregarded all their solicita- 
 tions.'^* 
 
 The information collected by Captain King in the 
 course of this sun-ey, led to the temporary occupation of 
 the north coast of AustraUa by the British Government ; 
 
 * Kms, " Sm-vev/' vol. i, p. 120. 
 
 K 2 
 
196 MELVILLE ISLAND. 
 
 and the spot where this interview took place was selected 
 as the site of the first settlement, which was founded by 
 the late Sir Gordon Bremer in September, 1824, previous 
 to the publication of Captain King^s narrative. 
 
 One of his officers, Lieutenant Roe, accompanied the 
 new expedition, and a letter from him to his former com- 
 mander, describing the preliminary proceeding at Melville 
 Island, arrived in time for insertion in the second volume 
 of Captain King^s narrative, from which the following 
 extract describing their first interview with the natives is 
 taken. 
 
 " Not one native made his appearance before the early 
 part of November (the vessel arrived on the 26th of Sep- 
 tember), when, as if by signal, a party of about eighteen 
 on each shore communicated with us on the same day, 
 and were very friendly, although exceedingly suspicious 
 and timid. They would not venture within the line of 
 the outer hut, and always came armed, but laid aside 
 their spears and clubs whenever friendly signs were made. 
 On the second day of their visit, I was greatly astonished 
 to see amongst them a young man of about twenty years 
 of age, not darker in colour than a Chinese, but with 
 perfect Malay features, and, like all the rest, entirely 
 naked ; he had daubed himself all over with soot and 
 grease to appear like the others, but the diiFerence was 
 plainly perceptible. On perceiving that he was the object 
 of our conversation, a certain archness and lively ex- 
 pression came over his countenance, which a native 
 Australian would have strained his features in vain to 
 have produced. The natives appeared to be very fond of 
 him. It seems probable that he must have been kid- 
 
SHIPWRECKED MALAYS. 197 
 
 napped when veiy young, or found while astray in the 
 woods/^* 
 
 A boy answering this description had been seen by 
 Captain King during his interview with the same tribe 
 about four years before, when he was carried on the 
 shoulders of one of the natives. The Nakodahs of the 
 Macassar prahus, emi)loyed in the fisheiy on these coasts, 
 are often accompanied by a favourite child, and this youth 
 may have been similarly circumstanced on board a prahu 
 which had been wrecked upon the coast, when his youth 
 and innocence may have preserved him from the general 
 massacre of the crew, which is stated by the Macassars 
 to be the inevitable result of shipwreck on the coast of 
 Melville Island. Many natives of the neighbouring 
 islands must have been driven upon the north coast of 
 Australia by the north-west gales which prevail in the 
 early part of the year, as nearly every village on the 
 south side of the Serwatty Islands has records of prahus 
 with their crews having been blown off to the south- 
 east, which have never returned, except on a few occa- 
 sions, in which they were so fortunate as to meet with 
 the trepang fishers who are upon the coast during that 
 season. 
 
 As an illustration of the fact given by Captain King, 
 which is not without a certain ethnographical importance, 
 I may mention that in the early part of 1843 a small 
 Dutch sloop was driven into Port Essington before one 
 of these north-west gales. She had been trading at the 
 Kapalla Tannah of Timor, and was riding out the gale 
 
 * Yol. II, p. 210. 
 
198 MELVILLE ISLAND. 
 
 under stelter of the land^ when her boat, with several of 
 the crew on board^ broke loose, and drifted out to sea, 
 on which the sloop was got under weigh to pick it up ; 
 but being unable to regain the anchorage owing to the 
 strength of the wind, the commander, an European 
 Dutchman, who had already visited Port Essington 
 several times, bore up for the settlement, and remained 
 there three or four months, until the change of the 
 monsoon allowed him to return to Timor. The entire 
 crew, with the exception of the commander, were natives 
 of the Indian Islanders. One of them, a native of 
 Mindanao, stated that he had been driven on the 
 coast once before, which is very likely to have been the 
 case, as the Macasssar Nakodahs had previously stated 
 that they had picked up the crew of a stranded Lanun 
 prahu on Croker's Island, a few years before the settle- 
 ment was formed at Raffles Bay. Shortly after the 
 arrival of the sloop, a ship of a thousand tons burthen, 
 the ^ Manlius' of Waterford, bound to China from Bom- 
 bay, was driven into Port Essington by the same gale, 
 with her cargo of cotton wet and heated ; and the whole 
 strength of the garrison was required to prevent the 
 vessel from taking fire by throwing the heated cotton 
 overboard. Similar cases may have occurred during the 
 three centuries in which Europeans have navigated the 
 neighbouring seas. At all events, the fact of individuals 
 bearing evidence of Malayan origin having been repeatedly 
 met with by visitors to the northern coasts of Australia, 
 can now be readily accounted for. 
 
 This young man, or one closely resembling him, was 
 repeatedly seen by the garrison of Melville Island, as 
 
MAJOR Campbell's account. 199 
 
 appears from Major CampbelFs valuable descriptiou of 
 the settlement, which is published in the "Transactions of 
 the Royal Geographical Society" for 1834. This gentle- 
 man resided at the settlement during two years in the 
 capacity of commandant ; and his description of the 
 natives, whom he evidently regarded with feelings of great 
 interest, is here extracted in full. 
 
 Natives. — " In personal appearance, the natives of Mel- 
 ville Island resemble those of the continent (if I may so 
 call it) of New Holland, and are evidently from the same 
 stock ; but they are more athletic, active, and enterprising 
 than those I saw on the southern coast of Australia, at 
 Port Jackson, Newcastle, or Hunter's River. They are 
 not generally tall in stature, nor are they, when numbers 
 are seen together, remarkable for small men. In groups 
 of thirty, I have seen five or six strong powerful men 
 of six feet in height, and some as low as five feet four, 
 and five. They are well formed about the body and 
 thighs ; but their legs are small in proportion, and their 
 feet very large ; their heads are flat and broad, with low 
 foreheads, and the back of the head projects very much ; 
 their hair is strong, like horse-hair, thick, curly, or 
 frizzled, and jet-black; their ej'cbrows and cheek-bones 
 are extremely prominent — eyes small, sunk, and very 
 bright and keen ; nose flat and short, the upper lip thick 
 and projecting ; mouth remarkably large, with regular 
 fine white teeth ; chin small, and face much contracted at 
 bottom. They have the septum of the nose perforated, 
 wear long bushy beards, and have their shoulders and 
 breasts scarified ; the skin is not tatooed as with the New 
 
200 MELVILLE ISLAND. 
 
 Zealanclers, but is scarified, and raised in a veiy tasteful 
 manner,* and tlieir countenance expresses good-liumour 
 and cunning. All those who have reached the age of 
 puberty are deficient of an upper front tooth — a custom 
 common in New Holland. The colour of their skin is a 
 rusty black, and they go about perfectly naked ; their 
 hair is sometimes tied in a knot, with a feather fixed in 
 it ; and they frequently daub it with a yellow earth. On 
 particular occasions, when in grief, or intending mischief 
 or open hostilities, they paint their bodies, faces, and 
 limbs with white or red pigments, so as to give them- 
 selves a most fantastic and even hideous appearance, f 
 
 " In disposition they are revengeful ; prone to steal- 
 ing, and in their attempts to commit depredations, 
 show excessive cunning, dexterity, arrangement, enter- 
 prise, and courage. They are affectionate towards their 
 children, and display strong feelings of tenderness when 
 separated from their families ; they are also very sensitive 
 to anything like ridicule. They are good mimics, have a 
 facility in catching up words, and are gifted with con- 
 siderable observation. AVhen they express joy, thev jump 
 about, and clap their hands violently upon the lower part 
 of their bodies ; and in showing contempt, they turn their 
 back, look over the shoulder, and give a smack upon 
 
 * " The breast of one taken prisoner was scarified, and formed 
 into ridges, much resembling the lace-work on a liuzzar's jacket." 
 
 f " They cover their bodies with grease, it is supposed to secure 
 them from the piercing sting of the sand-flies and musquitoes j and 
 their bodies smell so strong that even the cattle used to detect them 
 at half a mile distance, and gallop off, bellowing in great apparent 
 alami."' 
 
NATIVE CHARACTER. 201 
 
 the same part with their hand. In the construction 
 of their canoes, spears, and waddies, they evince much 
 ingenuity, although the workmanship is rough, from the 
 want of tools ; they are expert swimmers, and dive like 
 ducks. They show no desire whatever for strange orna- 
 ments or trinkets ; they are polite enough to accept of 
 them without any expression of astonishment or curiosity, 
 but very soon afterwards take an opportunity of slyly 
 dropping them, or throwing them away. The only 
 articles they seemed to covet were hatchets and other 
 cutting tools j but still, when they could steal, they 
 carried off everything they could lay hold of. 
 
 '^ As long as we occupied the island, the natives were 
 extremely shy and cautious in all their communications 
 with us ; they never intrusted themselves in our power ; 
 and notwithstanding my utmost efforts by acts of kind- 
 ness and forbearance to gain their confidence, and con- 
 vince them that we desired to be on friendly terms, I 
 found it utterly impossible to accomplish this desirable 
 object. Previous to my arrival they had committed 
 murder, various depredations, and daring acts of violence. 
 They had at length been fired upon whilst committing 
 acts of outrage ; and from aU my inquiries I believe they 
 had been the first aggressors by throwing spears. AVhen 
 I assumed the command, I was extremely anxious to 
 court their friendship, as without it, with our limited 
 numbers and means, we never could become acquainted 
 with all the resources of the island, or make them of 
 available use to us; I therefore prevented any of the 
 militaiT or prisoners from putting themselves in contact 
 with the natives without my presence or orders ; I allowed 
 
 K 3 
 
202 MELVILLE ISLAND. 
 
 no arms to be taken out, except by those on whom I 
 could depend, and strictly enjoined tliat they should only 
 be used against the natives in self-defence, and when by 
 the laws of England it would be justifiable. I feel confi- 
 dent, also, that these orders were strictly attended to ; but, 
 notwithstanding, they continued until the last day dis- 
 trustful, if not even determinedly hostile. They put two 
 gentlemen of the settlement, one soldier, and one of the 
 prisoners to death, and wantonly wounded several 
 others. 
 
 ''During my time we were obliged to fire at them 
 several times ; we never knew of any having been killed, 
 although in one or two instances they were wounded ; 
 they might have died, and the spirit of revenge might 
 have excited them to other acts of \iolence. There was 
 a curious inconsistency in their conduct ; on one day they 
 would appear good-humoured and friendly, and allow 
 individuals of our settlement to pass unmolested through 
 extended lines of them, and probably on the following 
 day would throw their spears at any individual they 
 could surprise by stealing upon him. They never came 
 near us T\dthout their spears and waddies ; but sometimes 
 they would leave their spears a few hundred yards in 
 their rear, concealed behind trees, amongst the long grass, 
 or in possession of some young boys, who would run up 
 to them on the first signal ; they would then approach 
 within fifty or sixty paces, extend their arms, throw their 
 waddies to the rear in token of amity, and then by signs 
 oblige all those who approached them from our side to 
 extend their arms also, and turn round to show they had 
 no weapons concealed ; when satisfied, they would enter 
 
INTERCOURSE WITH ErROPEANS. 203 
 
 •i 
 
 into a palaver^ and two or three of the most daring would 
 advance in front of the others^ which latter (part foraied 
 in a group, and a part extended singly to a distance of a 
 quarter of a mile on each flank), would remain ready to 
 support them in case of emergency. These few in 
 advance would allow one or two of our people to approach 
 within two or three paces of them, determined to main- 
 tain a superiority of two or three to one. 
 
 " Fearful of drawing out this memoir to too great a 
 length, I must refrain from relating any of their daring 
 and cunning acts of aggression, or the numerous interest- 
 ing occurrences which took place. Suffice it to say, that 
 we had one of these savages as a prisoner for several weeks, 
 from whom I learned a good deal of their character ; and 
 the following little circumstance caused me to conjecture, 
 at an early period, the reason of theii* being so suspicious 
 of strangers. 
 
 " In one of my interviews with a tribe of the aborigines, 
 who had approached to the outward boundary of the forest, 
 and within half a mile of the fort, I observed that they 
 appeared more familiar than usual. Having previously 
 prepared a medal attached to a piece of scarlet tape, I 
 expressed a wish to hang it round the neck of a iine- 
 looking young man, who bore a feather in his hair, and 
 appeared to have some authority. Tliis young man 
 remained at a short distance (two or three paces), took 
 hold of his wrists, and appeared as if struggling to escape 
 from the grasp of an enemy ; he then pointed his hand 
 towards his neck, looked upwards to the branches of a tree, 
 shook his head significantly (evidently in allusion to 
 being hung), and avoided coming nigh enough to receive 
 
^04 MELVILLE ISLAND. 
 
 the proffered gift. This led me to imagine that the 
 island had been visited by strangers^ and the natives 
 forced away by them as slaves ; in corroboration of which 
 opinion, I may add three other cu'cumstances which came 
 under my notice. 
 
 " The first is, that the Malay fishennen from Macassar 
 are forbidden to go near Melville Island (which they call 
 " amba^^), alleging that it is infested by pirates — probably 
 slavers, as " amba^^ in the Malay lan2:uao;e sio:nifies a 
 slave. 
 
 " The second circumstance relates to a lad. who had 
 been taken from a native tribe in 1825, and detained at 
 the settlement three or four days, when he escaped. This 
 lad was the colour of a Malay, and possessed their 
 features, whence it is probable that he was taken when a 
 child from some Malay slave-ship or fishing proa, and 
 reared amongst the INIelville Islanders. 
 
 "The thii'd circumstance is, that when Captain King, 
 R.N., entered Apsley Straits in 1818, and was proceeding 
 towards the shore near Luxmore Head in his boat, a 
 number of natives were on the beach ; and a female, who 
 entered the water in order to decoy him close to the 
 shore, called out, "Vin aca ! Yin aca !''* This being a 
 Portuguese expression, induces me to believe that vessels 
 from the Portuguese settlement of Dilhi, on the north 
 side of Timor, might have visited Mel\-ille Island for the 
 purpose of seizing the natives, and carrying them away as 
 slaves. 
 
 "During the four years that this island was occu- 
 
 * " Come here ! come here !" in Portuguese. 
 
"WEAPONS. 205 
 
 pied, only two aboriginal females were seen, and at a 
 distance ; they were both old and ugly, and their only 
 garment was a short narrow apron of plaited grass. "We 
 frequently saw young boys, from six to twelve years of 
 age, along with the men ; they were well made, plump in 
 person, good-looking, and with a remarkable expression 
 of sharpness in their eyes. 
 
 " The weapons used are spears and waddies ; the spears 
 are from ten to twelve feet long, made of a heavy wood, 
 and very sharp-pointed ; some are plain, others barbed ; 
 some have a single row of barbs, from twelve to fifteen in 
 number, and others a double row ; they may weigh three 
 pounds, and are thrown from the hand (without any arti- 
 ficial lever, as at Port Jackson), with great precision and 
 force, to a distance of fifty or sixty yards * 
 
 " The waddies are used as weapons of attack, as well as 
 for killing wild animals and birds. They are made of 
 heavy wood, twenty-two inches long, one and a half in 
 diameter, pointed sharp at one end, and weighing above 
 
 * The war-spears of the Melville islanders are sharp at both euds, 
 tapering off from near the centre of the length, and are poised when 
 about to be thrown, as is practised by the Caffres with their 
 " asseghais." The spears in ordhiary use among the Port Essington 
 tribes are of reed, or bamboo, and blunt at one end, which is also 
 hollowed out into a sort of socket to receive the hook at the end of 
 the rogorouk, or icondouk, varieties of the throwmg-stick, with which 
 they are projected ; but the IMelville Island spear, which is calledyw^o, 
 is not unkno-^Ti to them, as the chief warriors always have two or 
 thi-ee very beautifully shaped out of hard wood, which seem only to 
 be used in cases of duels between warriors. They acknowledge that 
 this fashion of spear is borrowed from the Melville islanders.— 
 G. W. E. 
 
206 MELVILLE ISLAND. 
 
 two pounds ; they are not round and smooth, but have 
 sixteen equal sides, with a little rude carving at the 
 handle, to ensure theii' being held firmer in the hand. 
 
 " Their canoes, water-buckets, and baskets, are made of 
 bark^ neatly sewed with strips of split cane. The canoes 
 consist of one piece of bark, are twenty feet long, twenty- 
 eight inches wide, and fifteen deep ; the stem and stern 
 are neatly sewed with thin slips of cane, and caulked 
 with white clay ; the gunwales are strengthened by two 
 small young saplings (such as grow in marshy places), 
 fastened together at each end of the canoe ; the sides are 
 kept from closing by pieces of wood placed across, and 
 which also answer as seats. 
 
 ^'The natives of Melville and Bathurst Islands are 
 divided into tribes of from thirty to fifty persons each. 
 I do not think that I ever saw above thirty-five or forty 
 men together, although some individuals, surprised by 
 them in the forest, have reported having seen a hundred ; 
 the noise they make, and their jumping from tree to tree, 
 make them often appear more numerous than they 
 actually are. They lead a wandering life, though I think 
 each tribe confines itself to a limited district ; and pro- 
 bably when tired of one, or their resources are ex- 
 hausted, the strongest may usurp that of a weaker. 
 In 1824-5, a tribe of daring athletic men kept con- 
 stantly in the neighbourhood of Fort Dundas. In the 
 beorinnins: of 1826, a stranjje tribe visited the settlement, 
 and they were generally slight-made men : bat by the 
 end of the year the former tribe returned, and continued 
 to remain in the neighbourhood until the island was 
 abandoned in 1829. During the dry season they dis- 
 
ENCAMPMENTS. 207 
 
 persecl themselves a good deal on liuDting excursions, and 
 burned the grass on the forest grounds for that purpose 
 from April to September. I think when they move, that 
 their women and children accompany them, as female 
 voices were frequently heard at a distance at night, pro- 
 ceeding from their encampments. They generally encamp 
 on sandy banks, amongst the mangroves, or on dry open 
 spots near swamps, or on the sea-coast. They do not 
 give themselves the trouble of constructing wigwams in 
 the dry season, merely forming a bed of palm-leaves, or 
 long grass, whenever they repose for the night ; but 
 during the wet season they have some covering, and 
 their encampment being more stationary, displays a little 
 comfort, and is generally in a pleasant spot near the 
 sea. 
 
 *' The following is an account of my visit to one. Upon 
 landing under the high sandy beach, we came upon 
 an extensive encampment of natives ; the men, women, 
 and children, all fled like frighted deer, and left us 
 quietly to examine their domestic economy. There 
 were thirty wigwams, all made of newly-stripped bark ; 
 each consisted of a single sheet of bark, formed into 
 a shed or mere roof, open at each end, with a fire 
 at the entrance; the interior space was four feet and 
 a half long, three in width, and three feet high. Pieces 
 of soft silky bark, rolled up in several folds, and an- 
 swering as pillows and seats, were in each wigwam. 
 Some of these erections were placed under spreading 
 shrubs ; and the twigs being artfully entwined into each 
 other, formed a tasteful inclosure. Several of them were 
 ornamented inside by figures drawn in white clay : one 
 
208 MELVILLE ISLAND. 
 
 in particular was neatly and regularly done all over, 
 representing the cross-bars of a prison-window. The 
 utensils consisted only of bark buckets and baskets, and 
 the ground around was strewed with shells of turtle, 
 crabs, oysters, and limpets. At one end of the encamp- 
 ment lay the materials for constructing a canoe ; and on 
 a block of wood close to it was observed marks made 
 with an axe, or tomahawk. We committed no depreda- 
 tions, and saw the natives hastening back when we quitted 
 the shore. 
 
 " The food of these people consists of kangaroo, opossum, 
 bandicoot, iguanas, and lizards, during the dry months , 
 fish, turtle, crabs, and other shell fish, during the wet 
 months ; and their vegetables are the cabbage-palm and 
 fruit of the sago-palm. They eat their meat just warmed 
 through on a wood fire ; and the seed of the sago-palm is 
 made into a kind of mash. Amongst those natives whom 
 we encountered, I never saw any deformed, or having the 
 appearance of disease or old age ; probably such were left 
 with the women, in places of security, and only the able 
 warriors came near us. There was one powerful, deter- 
 mined-looking fellow frequently seen, who had lost a 
 hand; and he threw his spear by resting it on his 
 maimed arm, and taking a deliberate aim. 
 
 "Although the aborigines of Melville and Bathurst 
 Islands are of the same race or breed as those throughout 
 New Holland, yet their language is different. We had a 
 native of the southern coast with us for a short time, and 
 he could not understand a word they uttered. They speak 
 low and quick to each other : but their pronunciation is 
 so indistinct, w^e scarcely ever made out a word. I was 
 
LANGUAGE. 209 
 
 in hopes of picking up mucli of their language from the 
 native we had made prisoner^ but during the time that I 
 was absent on an excursion to Port Essington he effected 
 his escape. His dialect did not sound harsh, and his 
 expressions were veiy significant, from the gestures with 
 which he accompanied them. 
 
 " The following are some of those expressions : Co 
 curdy ; water, give me some water, or I am thirsty. 
 Hooloo, hooloo ; my belly is full, I am not hungry. 
 Bungee : fire-arms. No bunged ; don^t fire. Peerce ; 
 an axe. Pakee ; peace, or friendship. Piccanini ; 
 children.^ 
 
 '^ I do not think that these islanders ever cross to the 
 coast of New Holland ; for the currents are so rapid in 
 Dundas and Clarence Straits, that it would be dangerous 
 for their slis:ht canoes ; and altbouo-h so close to the 
 Cobourg Peninsula, yet the spears of the Melville 
 islanders are differently formed from those used by the 
 natives of that peninsula, and much heavier. 
 
 '^ It appears to be the custom of the natives to bury 
 
 * Three of these terms, Bungee, Ko hungee, and Piccanini^ are 
 used in the same sense by the Port Essington natives, but no 
 doubt exists as to their having been introduced by Eui'opeans. 
 Bung, the root of the two first, is intended to represent the 
 report of fire-arms, and the last is the common term for black 
 children among Enghsh sailors. The late Sir Gordon Bremer, who 
 estabHshed the settlement at Melville Island, informed me that 
 during their first interview with the natives, the greater number of 
 them continued incessantly repeatmg the word " Paako" in an ex- 
 ceedingly rapid manner, at the same time imitating the process of 
 chopping by striking the fore-arm with the edge of the other hand 
 Paku is the Malay term for an iron nail or spike. — G. W. E. 
 
 I 
 
210 MELVILLE ISLAND. 
 
 their dead, their burial-places being in retired spots near 
 their most frequented encamping ground. The burial- 
 place is circular, probably ten or twelve feet in diameter ; 
 it is surrounded by upright poles, many of which are 
 formed at top like lances and halberts, fourteen or fifteen 
 feet high; and between these the spears and waddies 
 (probably of the deceased) are stuck upright in the 
 ground. It is quite impossible to form any estimate of 
 the numbers of the natives, but they are seen on all parts 
 of the coast of these two islands. I shall not presume 
 even to give a guess at their probable numbers.^^* 
 
 It is to be feared that Major Campbell was correct in 
 his surmises as to Melville Island having once been the 
 resort of slave-ships; for according to the testimony of 
 the older inhabitants of Tnnor, Melville Island was only 
 less a source of slavery than New Guinea, in proportion 
 to its smaller extent of surface, at the period in which the 
 slave-trade was encouraged or connived at by the Euro- 
 pean authorities in the Archipelago. However, there is 
 no reason to suppose that the island has recently been 
 visited by slavers, for although the words used by the 
 natives on the occasion of Captain King's visit were un- 
 doubtedly Portuguese, they may have been acquired at a 
 much earlier period; for foreign words, and short sen- 
 tences that are connected with remarkable events, are 
 handed down from generation to generation by the reci- 
 tations with which the native bivouacs are often enlivened 
 during the earUer part of the night. Indeed, expressions 
 that have been learned from strangers spread from tribe 
 
 * Campbell in " Journal of the Geographical Society/' vol. iv, 
 p. 152. 
 
NATIVE CUSTOMS. 211 
 
 to tribe over a large extent of country ; for Dr. Leichhardt 
 and his little party, during their memorable overland 
 journey^ heard English words, which had been originally 
 acquired at Port Essington, in use among the natives, 
 while still far in the interior of Australia ; and this un- 
 looked-for occun-ence seems to have had a veiy cheering 
 effect on the explorers. 
 
 Major Campbell speaks of two tribes of natives hanng 
 been seen in the neighbourhood of the settlement on 
 Melville Island; the one consisting of '^daring athletic 
 men," and the other of " generally slight-made men." 
 It would be interesting to know whether they also differed 
 in other particulars. The practice of ''jumping from tree 
 to tree," which is certainly not known to be a charac- 
 teristic of any native tribe of the adjacent continent, is 
 only casually alluded to, as rendering it difficult to ascer- 
 tain their numbers ; but this strange custom seems to 
 have caused great annoyance to the garrison, for those 
 who had occasion to go out into the woods were obliged 
 to keep a constant look-out overhead, in order to avoid 
 the spears that were sometimes hurled at them from the 
 upper branches. The two officers mentioned by Major 
 Campbell as having fallen by the hands of the natives, 
 are said to have been speared from the trees ; and a 
 Serjeant was also wounded under similar circumstances ; 
 on this occasion the native paid the penalty of his 
 treachery by being shot down from the tree. These last 
 particulars, together with much interesting infomiation 
 concerning this singular people, were obtained by the 
 writer from Mr. George Miller, who had charge of the 
 
212 MELVILLE ISLAND. 
 
 Commissariat Department at Melville Island during 
 the existence of the settlement^ and vrho now resides 
 at Sydney. 
 
 No intercourse with the natives of Melville Island took 
 place during the late occupation of Port Essington, 
 although vessels bound to and from the settlement some- 
 times passed close along the northern side of the island ; 
 and the entire southern coast was surveyed by Her 
 Majesty's ship ' Beagle -/ but on no occasion were the 
 natives even seen. It was several times in contemplation 
 to send a party to the east end of Mehdlle Island ; but 
 the strong objection on the part of the Port Essington 
 natives even to approach the coast^ led to the project 
 being abandoned on each occasion, as very little useful 
 information could have been acquired without their assist- 
 ance. Their prejudices were the more remarkable, as 
 they crowded to offer their services when the decked- 
 boat was about to be dispatched to the head of A"an 
 Diemen^s Gulf, or along the coast to the eastward. There 
 is certainly something peculiarly triste in the appearance 
 of the eastern part of jMelville Island, where the shore is 
 fronted by deep belts of mangrove jungle, and but for 
 the bush fires that are occasionally seen, the interior also 
 might be considered to be uninhabited. 
 
 In order to enable the reader to compare the Melville 
 islanders with the natives of the adjacent coast of 
 Australia, a general description of the tribes in the 
 neighbourhood of Port Essington is given below. It was 
 drawn up by the writer, from notes collected on the spot, 
 soon after his return from Port Essington in 1845, and 
 
KORTH AUSTRALIA. 213 
 
 was published during the following year in the ^' Trans- 
 actions of the Royal Geographical Society/^* from ^yhich 
 it has been extracted. 
 
 '^ The manners and customs of the native inhabitants of 
 a newly-explored countiy present an interesting subject 
 of inquiry; and by placing on record^ at the earliest 
 period of our acquaintance with them, the distinctive 
 features of the diflferent tribes of which they are com- 
 posed_, many peculiarities interesting to the researches of 
 the geographer and the ethnologist may be preserved, 
 which the progress of civilization, and the consequent 
 increase of intercourse between them, would tend to 
 obliterate. Several of our earlier travellers in Australia 
 appear to have felt the importance of this subject, and 
 have paid due attention to it. With the tribes, however, 
 of the northern coast, of whom I propose to speak, we 
 have, till lately, been less familiar than with others ; and 
 these possess a peculiar interest, from the circumstance of 
 the country they inhabit being in the close vicinity of the 
 islands of the Indian Archipelago. These islands, again 
 — that is to say, the groups more immediately adjacent 
 to Port Essington — are occupied by a portion of the 
 human family concerning which very little was known 
 pre\4ous to our occupation of the north coast, when the 
 measures that became necessary for establishing the 
 security of commercial relations in that quarter, brought 
 
 ♦ Yol. XVI, p. 239. 
 
214 NORTH AUSTRALIA. 
 
 US into communication with tribes with which we had 
 previously been unacquainted. At Port Essington, 
 indeed, we were completely suiTounded by singular and 
 interesting communities. A circle drawn around the 
 settlement at a distance of 500 miles would enclose an 
 almost equal number of distinct tribes, varying in com- 
 plexion from the sooty black of the negro to the freckled 
 yellow of the Polynesian mountaineer, and differing in 
 social condition as much as in personal appearance. 
 
 "The superior organization that exists in a colonial 
 establishment composed entirely of individuals in the 
 employ of government, is highly favourable to the main- 
 tenance of friendly relations with the aboriginal tribes ; 
 and it is probably owing to this circumstance that our 
 occupation of the Cobourg Peninsula has been unattended 
 with those collisions which so often occur when civilized 
 men are brought into close communication with savages. 
 Among the advantages attending this state of affairs may 
 be counted that of our having become familiarly ac- 
 quainted, not only with the tribes in the immediate 
 neighbourhood, but also with individuals from distant 
 parts, who had been induced, by curiosit}^, to visit the 
 strange people that had fixed their abode upon the coast. 
 Parties of warriors, headed by their chiefs, occasionally 
 came from the remote interior to pay us a flying visit, 
 and nearly every Macassar prahu that arrived from the 
 Gulf of Carpentaria brought two or three individuals from 
 one or other cf the tribes that are distributed alons; the 
 intermediate coast. Indeed, about the month of April, 
 when the prahus congregate at Port Essington, the popu- 
 lation of the settlement became of a very motley cha- 
 
COAST TRIBES. 215 
 
 racter, for then Australians of perhaps a dozen different 
 tribes might be seen mixed up with natives of Celebes 
 and Sumbawa, Badjus of the coast of Borneo, Timorians, 
 and Javanese, with an occasional sprinkling of New 
 Guinea negroes ; and very singular groups they formed, 
 busied, as they generally were, amid fires and smoke, 
 curing and packing the trepang, or sea-slug, which they 
 had collected from the shoals of the harbour. I propose 
 here giving a general sketch of the tribes inhabiting the 
 Australian coast, from the Coburg Peninsula towards the 
 east, confining myself chiefly to points more immediately 
 connected with geographical science — namely, the distri- 
 bution of the various tribes, the points upon which they 
 may happen to differ from other Australian tribes with 
 which we are already acquainted, and the social pecu- 
 liarities that may afford traces of a connection with other 
 races. 
 
 " In the first place I should state, that certain general 
 characteristics are observable among all the tribes of this 
 part of the continent with which we became acquainted. 
 Their skins are invariably embossed with raised cicatrices. 
 The septum of the nose is generally pierced, that is to 
 say among the men, for the custom does not appear 
 to extend to the other sex. Clothing is disregarded, 
 except by way of ornament, and in lieu of this they dis- 
 play a great tendency to adorn their persons with streaks 
 of white, red, or yellow pigment. These customs, indeed, 
 appear to perv'ade not only all the Australian tribes, but 
 also the negro communities of New Guinea, and of those 
 islands of the Indian Archipelago in which remnants of 
 this race still exist. But these northern AustraUans, at 
 
216 NORTH AUSTRALIA. 
 
 least the tribes with which we are most famihar, have 
 certain customs which are not general among the abori- 
 gines of this continent. For instance^, their mode of 
 burying the dead is singular. The body is deposited in 
 a sort of cradle, formed by a number of poles, arranged 
 within the crutches of two forked posts stuck upright in 
 the ground. It is enveloped in many folds of the paper- 
 like bark of the tea-tree, and is left there until the skeleton 
 only remains, which is then deposited either in a general 
 receptacle for the relics of the dead, or, if death should 
 have occurred at so great a distance from this spot as to 
 render removal inconvenient, it is placed upright within 
 the hollow trunk of a decayed tree. We also discovered 
 a distinction of caste, or rather, the remains of such a 
 distinction, for the natives themselves appear to have 
 forgotten its origin and purport. These castes are three 
 in number, and are termed respectively ^ Manjar-ojalli,' 
 ' Manjar-wuli,^ and 'Mambulgit.^ The former is sup- 
 posed to have sprung from fire, the term ' ojalli' having 
 this signification. The ' Manjar-wuli,'' as the term 
 implies, had their origin in the land. The signification of 
 the term ' Mambulgit^ is exceedingly obscure. The 
 natives themselves state that it implies ' makers of nets.' 
 The ' Manjar-ojalli' is certainly the superior caste, for, 
 among those tribes in which chieftainship exists, the prin- 
 cipal families are invariably of this caste, and are in the 
 habit of alluding to the circumstance with considerable 
 pride. With regard to the two remaining castes^ I never 
 could discover exactly which was the superior, indeed, the 
 statements of the natives themselves are so contradictory 
 upon this point, that it never has been, and, perhaps, never 
 
DISTINCTION OF CASTE. 217 
 
 will be cleared up. Tliis point is interesting, from the 
 circumstance of a very similar distinction of caste being 
 found to exist among the Polynesian tribes of the neigh- 
 bouring islands, who also adopt a similar mode of disposing 
 of their dead. The natives of the Cobourg Peninsula have 
 also certain superstitions respecting the ^' waringin^' or 
 banyan-tree, which are common to the Indian islanders. 
 Bevond this, their superstitions appear to resemble those 
 which pervade the greater portion of the Australian 
 tribes — a belief in the existence of evil spiiits, of kurlocks 
 or demons, and of shosts : a2:ainst the whole of which 
 fire afibrds protection. The spirits of the dead are also 
 recognised in the strangers, whether European or Indian, 
 who visit their country. 
 
 ft' 
 
 "Although, as I have before stated, these northern 
 Australians possess many of the general characteristics of 
 the tribes of the south, still some striking peculiarities 
 were found to exist, which contributed to excite a con- 
 siderable degi'ee of curiosity and attention, more especially 
 as they also served to distinguish one tribe from another, 
 even in some cases where their territories were imme- 
 diately adjacent. During our earlier intercourse, when 
 from inability to converse with the natives we could learn 
 little respecting them beyond what absolutely met our 
 eyes, we supposed that these peculiarities were merely 
 accidental ; but, subsequently, when our means of acquir- 
 ing information became extended, and bodies of individuals 
 from remote tribes occasionally resided among us, we 
 perceived that many natives, who had attracted notice 
 from being somewhat different in personal appearance 
 
218 NORTH AUSTRALIA. 
 
 from the people among whom they resided, were, in 
 reality, mere visitors from distant tribes. 
 
 " Before entering into any particulars with regard to the 
 characteristics of the various tribes, it will be necessary to 
 notice their geographical distribution. The Cobourg 
 Peninsula itself is occupied by four distinct communities. 
 Three of these inhabit the northern and central parts of 
 the peninsula, while the fourth, which is the most nume- 
 rous and powerful, occupies the entire southern coast and 
 the islands of Van Diemen's Gulf; the upper portion of 
 the harbour of Port Essington being also in their posses- 
 sion. This last appears to have only recently acquired 
 territory upon the peninsula ; indeed it would seem that 
 at no very distant period, the pressure of a powerful 
 people in the interior of the continent had driven one 
 tribe in upon another, until several distinct communities 
 have been crowded up within the Cobourg Peninsula, 
 where, until very recently, they have been making war 
 upon each other to such an extent, that two of these have, 
 within the memory of natives now living, been reduced 
 from numerous bodies to mere scattered remnants. 
 
 " These four tribes are distinguished among each other 
 by the term which in the particular dialect of each desig- 
 nates the monosyllable ^ No.'' Thus the tribe which 
 inhabits Croker Island and the country about Raffles Bay 
 (and which appears to have originally consisted of two 
 tribes, which have amalgamated to such an extent that 
 characteristic distinctions are almost entirely lost) is 
 termed ' Yaako / the Port Essington tribe goes by the 
 name of 'Yarlo,^ the western tribe by that of ^ lyi,' 
 
COAST TRIBES. 219 
 
 and the great southern tribe by that of ' Oitbi/ Another 
 powerful tribe, which occupies the coast for some distance 
 to the eastward of the peninsula, is called, from the 
 country it inhabits, *■ Jalakuru/ The Monobar tribe 
 resides upon the eastern shores of Van Diemen^s Gulf, 
 extending to the south until it comes in contact with the 
 Bimbirik tribe, which occupies the lower parts of the 
 Alligator Rivers. These are all comparatively large com- 
 munities, but the mountain range beyond is in possession 
 of a people which appears to be more numerous than all 
 the others put together, and which goes by the general 
 name of ^ Marigi-anbirik,' or people of the mountains. 
 This tribe occupies a great extent of the uplands. Of 
 those beyond we know nothing ; nor have we anv accurate 
 details respecting the distribution of the ti-ibes which 
 extend from Jalakui'u towards the Gulf of Carpentaria. 
 The individuals belonging to them that \dsited the settle- 
 ment from time to time, were in the habit of resorting to 
 the ports frequented by the Macassar trepang fishers, for 
 purposes of barter, but the latter were unable to inform 
 us whether they resided constantly upon the coast, or 
 came from the interior. It was only with regard to one 
 singular race, which I shall have occasion to mention 
 presently, a people residing upon the north-west horn of 
 the Gulf of Cai*pentaria, that we obtained any correct 
 details upon this point. 
 
 " With the Yaako, or Croker Island tribe, our acquaint- 
 ance is of older date than with the others, from the 
 circumstance of the Raffles Bay settlement, which was 
 established in 1827, having been situated within theii* 
 
 L 2 
 
220 NORTH AUSTRALIA. 
 
 territory. The people of this tribe are generally small in 
 stature, ill-formed, and their countenance are forbidding 
 and disagreeable. The hair is generally coarse and bushy. 
 The beards and whiskers of the men are thick and curly, 
 while the entire body is often covered with short ci'isp 
 hair, which about the breast and shoulders is sometimes 
 so thick as to conceal the skin. The eyes are small, and 
 what should be the white has a dull muddy appearance. 
 Their aspect, altogether, is more forbidding than that of 
 the Australian aborigines generally. Nor are their dis- 
 positions of the most amiable description. They did not 
 amalgamate with us so readily as the others, but this 
 probably was in a ^reat degree owing to the influence of 
 the chiefs, who evidently regarded us with considerable 
 jealousy, as being likely to supersede the influence they 
 possessed among their people. The occasional visits of 
 their chiefs to the settlement were invariably attended by 
 a series of petty thefts, undertaken not by the chiefs 
 themselves, but at their instigation. Mimaloo, one of 
 their principal chiefs, who was known at Rafiles Bay by 
 the name of ' One-eye,' was particularly obnoxious in 
 this respect, and latterly he was forbidden to enter the 
 settlement. This man was one of the most perfect 
 savages I ever remember to have met. His gestures, 
 when ofi'ended, were frantic in the extreme, and resembled 
 those of a wild beast rather than of a human being. His 
 henchman and bosom friend, Loka, was characterized by 
 a gloomy ferocity, even more distasteful than the fitful 
 fury of his savage chief. This man was lately entrapped 
 and killed by the Macassars, at a port on the north coast. 
 
COAST TRIBES. 
 
 221 
 
 for having, during the pre\dous )Tar, treacherously mur- 
 dered one of their number, by throwing a spear at him 
 when his back was turned. As far as we ourselves were 
 concerned, this tribe proved to be harmless ; but this was 
 evidently the result of fear rather than of affection. I 
 here allude more particularly to the chiefs ; for the people, 
 when left to themselves, conducted themselves well, and 
 treated the parties from the settlement that occasionally 
 visited Croker Island w4th a considerable degree of hos- 
 pitality. The Yarlo and lyi tribes, our more immediate 
 neighbours, resemble each other very closely in general 
 characteristics, although their dialects are totally dissi- 
 milar. They are a taller and better formed people than 
 the Croker Island natives, and from the very commence- 
 ment of our residence among them they evinced great 
 partiality towards us, which ripened into what I believe 
 to be a firm attachment. Being broken tribes, ^nthout 
 chiefs, but divided into a number of families, they pro- 
 bably looked upon us as being likely to afford them some 
 protection from their more formidable neighbours, who 
 had shown a great inclination to encroach upon their 
 little territory. 
 
 " The Oitbi, or, as it was more generally termed by us, 
 the Bijnalumbo tribe, which occupies the southern part of 
 the peninsula, becomes of interest, from the circumstance 
 of many individuals belonging to it possessing a superior 
 physical organisation to the people already mentioned. 
 Arched eyebrows, straight silky hair, and complexion 
 fairer than that of the Australian aborigines generally, 
 were by no means uncommon, and many individuals 
 
222 NORTH AUSTRALIA. 
 
 possessed, in a considerable degree, that obliquity in the 
 position of the eyes, which is considered as being charac- 
 teristic of some of the Polynesian tribes. These appear- 
 ances were even more developed in the people from the 
 mountain range who occasionally visited us. Upon the 
 whole, I am very much inclined to suppose that there 
 has been some infusion of Polynesian blood among the 
 aborigines of this part of the continent. With regard to 
 this point, however, it will be necessary to enter into 
 some farther details, which I propose deferring until I 
 have disposed of the tribes on the Coburg Peninsula. 
 
 " Of the four dialects spoken by the tribes of the penin- 
 sula, one only appears to differ in its general construction 
 from those spoken in other parts of the continent, and 
 this difference consists only in the words almost invariably 
 ending in a vowel. I think this peculiarity is accidental 
 for it occurs in the lyi tribe, which in every other respect 
 closely resembles the Yarlo, or Port Essington tribe. 
 The consonants s and / are rejected throughout the 
 dialects of the peninsula, and this is also the case with 
 the h aspirate. With the single exception mentioned 
 above, two-thirds at least of the words end in a conso- 
 nant, and often in double consonants, as ' alk,^ ^ irt,'' &c. 
 The nasal ' ng^ is very common. In addressing a 
 person at a distance, the words are made to run into one 
 another, so that a sentence is spoken as if it formed only 
 one word of many syllables. In the Croker Island 
 dialect, a ' cluck^ occasionally occurs in the middle of a 
 word, which is effected by striking the tongue against the 
 roof of the mouth. 
 
DIALECTS. 223 
 
 " A very considerable poi-tion of the coast natives have, 
 from frequent intercourse with the Macassar trepang 
 fishers, acquired considerable proficiency in their lan- 
 guage, which is a dialect of the Polynesian. They never, 
 indeed, speak it correctly, from theii* inability to pronounce 
 the letter 5, which occurs rather frequently in the Macassar 
 language. Thus berasa becomes ' bereja,' trusaan ' turu- 
 tan,' salat 'Jala/ &c. They, however, contrive to make 
 themselves well understood, not only by the Macassars, 
 by the people of tribes with whose peculiar dialect they 
 may not be famihar. On our first arrival, the natives, 
 fi-om ha^ino: been Ions: accustomed to address stransrers 
 in this language, used it when conversing ^vith us, and 
 the consequence was, that some vocabularies were col- 
 lected which consisted almost entirely of this patois, 
 under the supposition that it was the language of the 
 abori2:ines. 
 
 ^^As the great inland tribe to which I have already 
 alluded may be considered as one of the most interesting 
 communities on these northern coasts, I propose entering 
 into some details with regard to the origin and progress 
 of our intercourse with them. "We had scarcely been 
 established at Port Essington more than a few weeks, 
 when it became evident that by far the greater portion of 
 the axes, iron, clothes, &c., that the natives obtained 
 from our people, were carried into the interior for the use 
 of the inland tribes. We learned, also, that an indi- 
 vidual belonging to one of these tribes was residing 
 among the natives in our neighbourhood. He was a tall, 
 handsome young man, and, from the circumstance of our 
 
224 NORTH AUSTRALIA. 
 
 supposing that he was employed upon a diplomatic 
 mission, he was called ' the ambassador^ by our people^ 
 a name that soon superseded his proper appellation, 
 Manougbinoug. He had attracted attention from the 
 first, by his unassuming yet somewhat dignified manners 
 and from his being always a mere looker-on, while the 
 other natives were busily employed either in assisting our 
 people, or in procuring food. He was, in fact, on a visit, 
 and was treated with great consideration, not only by the 
 tribe with which he was residing, but by all the natives 
 who happened to be in our vicinity. This young man 
 returned to the hills about six months after our arrival, 
 taking with him a Macassar man who had been ensrasred 
 in the service of Sir Gordon Bremer, but who, bein^ 
 possessed of a wandering disposition, suffered himself to 
 be enticed away from the settlement. Timbo, the man 
 in question, returned among us after an absence of several 
 months, and spoke in the highest terms of the reception 
 he had met with from the people of the interior. He 
 described them as being much more numerous and better 
 organized than the coast tribes. One great chief, whom 
 he dignified with the title of 'rajah,^ possessed control 
 over several large communities, each of which had also 
 its own chief. The people derived theii' subsistence from 
 the spontaneous produce of the country, which appeared to 
 be in great abundance. The soil was not cultivated, but a 
 kind of grain, which grew spontaneously upon the alluvial 
 banks of the lakes, was collected and prepared for food by 
 pounding with stones, cakes being formed of the meal, 
 which were baked in the ashes of their fires. This grain, 
 
INLAND TRIBES. 225 
 
 with wild yams, and the roots of a rush called ' raaro- 
 wait/ constituted their chief vegetable food. The yams 
 were described by Timbo as overspreading the face of the 
 countrs'. Their animal food consisted of the kansraroo, 
 opossum J and wild-fowl (which last abounded upon the 
 lakes), with a few fresh- water fish. 
 
 " Timbo, on returning to the settlement, informed us 
 that a large party of inland natives purposed visiting us 
 in the autumn, the season usually selected by them for 
 making distant excursions. This information proved to 
 be correct, for, in the month of September, volumes of 
 smoke were seen rising to the south-east, which, as our 
 natives informed us, indicated that a party of people was 
 advancing towards the coast, and burning the dry grass 
 for the purpose of driving out the kangaroos, which are 
 then easily speared in the confusion. We were, however, 
 in a certain degree disappointed, for the party, which 
 consisted of about forty men, halted a few miles to the 
 south of the settlement, and, after remaining there a few 
 days, returned into the interior without visiting the camp. 
 Yet some little intercourse took place, for on two or three 
 occasions the men who were employed in tending the 
 cattle in the forest, accidentally met with them. I think 
 it probable that they sometimes approached the settle- 
 ment sufficiently close to see what was going on, for, on 
 returning one day from a shooting excursion, I encoun- 
 tered the entire party in the pathway, about half a mile 
 from the houses. They stopped short on seeing me, and 
 appeared to be inclined to run away, but after a little 
 dehberation they squatted down in a row by the way-side. 
 
 L 3 
 
226 NORTH AUSTRALIA. 
 
 I subsequently learned that this was intended by them 
 as a sign of peaceful inclinations^ and tbat^ if I had 
 stopped and spoken to them, they would have accom- 
 panied me into the settlement, as, partly from pride, and 
 partly from timidity, they wished to be attended during 
 their first visit by one of the officers of the establishment. 
 Such, however, is their account of the affair ; but not 
 knowing at the time the peculiar state of their feelings, I 
 adopted the plan that we had found from experience to 
 be the best calculated to give confidence to timid 
 strangers, and walked quietly past, without noticing them 
 particularly. When some distance away from them, I 
 turned, and saw that they had arisen, and were walking 
 gently towards the settlement, but they must have altered 
 their mind, for the next day we learned that they had 
 taken their final departure for the interior. 
 
 " During the following autumn we were more fortunate, 
 for a party, amounting to upwards of thirty, headed by a 
 tall, active chief, named Alarac, marched at once into the 
 settlement, and remained among us nearly a week. This 
 chief was nearly six feet two inches in height, but his 
 limbs were spare and sinewy. He differed in this par- 
 ticular from the people who accompanied him, the latter 
 being for the most part sturdy-looking men, with plump 
 and well-rounded limbs, and, although by no means short 
 in stature, still not remarkable for their height. They 
 appeared to be a well-fed, comfortable people, but their 
 most striking peculiarity consisted in the calm dignity of 
 their manners. Although evidently pleased with the 
 reception they met with, and surprised at the novelties 
 
INLAND TRIBES. 227 
 
 that presented themselves to their view, they carefully 
 abstained from displaying any approach to the monkey- 
 like vivacity which usually characterises Australian abo- 
 ngines when they first meet with strangers. Nor were 
 they endeavouring to enact a particular part, as we were 
 inclined to suppose, for we subsequently learned that this 
 style of manner is natural to them, or, at all events, such 
 as they generally adopt. 
 
 " Our visitors were evidently adorned for the occasion. 
 Each man, with the exception of the chief, was painted 
 from head to foot with a red substance which is found in 
 the hills, supposed to be meteoric iron * Their only 
 clothing, if such it may be called, consisted in a large 
 tassel made from the fur of the opossum or kangaroo, 
 which was suspended before them from a waist-belt 
 composed of the same materials, and which was certainly 
 
 * This substance is also in general use for adorning the person, 
 amono- tlie tribes of the northern and eastern coast of Australia. 
 It is generally met with m lumps varying m weight from a few 
 ounces to one or two pounds, ^hich appear to have been broken 
 off from larger masses. Its appearance is that of a compact metaUic 
 ore, of the colour and consistence of red lead. Colonel Jackson, an 
 experienced metallurgist, who was Secretaiy of the Geographical 
 Society at the time, was of opmion that the specimen submitted to 
 him resembled cinnabar, and he has stated this opmion m a short 
 editorial note m the origmal issue of this paper. It is said by the 
 natives to abound in the range which termmates near Cape Wcssel, 
 the north-westem horn of the Gulf of Cai-pentaria. Cmnabar is also 
 stated by Lieutenant Colebrooke to be m use as a coloui-ing mat^ter 
 for the body, among the natives of the Andaman Group. See 
 ante, chap. x. 
 
228 NORTH AUSTRALIA. 
 
 an improvement on tlie state of perfect nudity in which 
 the coast natives delighted. We afterwards found, also, 
 that their women invariably wore before them a mat 
 formed of rushes, about two feet deep and three feet 
 wide, e^-incing a sense of decency not common among the 
 aborigines of this continent. Their weapons were spears 
 or darts, headed with lozenge-shaped pieces of quartz* or 
 slate, very regularly formed; womeras, or throwing sticks 
 of great length; and heavy two-handed clubs. Their 
 hair, which was generally fine and somewhat curled, was 
 adorned with little tufts of parrot^s feathers or opossum 
 fur, and they had altogether a very neat appearance. 
 Nothins: could exceed the deference and attention with 
 which they were treated by the coast natives, who intro- 
 duced each individual separately to the officers of the 
 garrison, and were evidently much gratified by the 
 favourable impression made upon us by the pleasing 
 manners of their countrjmien. 
 
 " Our new friends, on their departure for the interior, 
 were most pressing in their desire that their visit might 
 be returned, and I feel convinced that no hospitality 
 would have been wanting on their part. The very 
 
 ♦ Dr. Leicbhardt, who liad an opportunity of inspecting the 
 masses of rock from which the spear-heads are obtained, during his 
 journey across the Arnhem Peninsula, informed me that the rock 
 was " baked sand-stone." The slate spear-heads are obtained from 
 the same neighbourhood, which is one of the most interesting geo- 
 logical districts iu the continent. Some farther particulars respect- 
 ing stone spear-heads, which seem to have been veiy extensively 
 used in ancient times, will be found iu a note to the previous 
 chapter. 
 
INLAND TRIBES. 229 
 
 limited numbers of the garrison, and the amount of duty, 
 which, although not arduous, required many individuals 
 to perform it, rendered it impossible that a number of 
 men sufficient to form an organized party could be spared. 
 That they will be visited ere long, is, however, more than 
 probable ; and although no striking novelty may be dis- 
 covered, still it would be interesting to know something 
 concerning the social state of this people. I have already 
 stated that I have reason to suspect that these moun- 
 taineers have a considerable mixture of Polvnesian blood 
 in their veins. This opinion was formed after having 
 held long and close intercourse with the aboriginal tribes 
 of some of the adjacent islands of the Indian Archipelago, 
 whose pure Polynesian descent cannot be doubted, and 
 whose customs appear to have undergone no change since 
 the early migration of their race. At the same time, I 
 must state that I have no grounds for supposing that any 
 distinct tribe of Pol^-nesians is at present existing in the 
 interior. It would rather appear that, at some very dis- 
 tant period, a body of Polynesians (possibly of warriors, 
 who had been driven out from some of the neighbouring 
 islands, where the state of society resembled that of the 
 South Sea groups when first discovered) may have been 
 engrafted on an Australian, or rather, perhaps, on an 
 ' oriental negro^ stock ; for many circumstances which I 
 shall have to state more distinctly below, would induce 
 the supposition that the aboriginal inhabitants of this 
 part of Australia very closely resembled the Papuans of 
 New Guinea, or, what is almost the same thing, the 
 aborigines of Van Diemen's Land. The circumstance of 
 
230 NORTH AUSTRALIA. 
 
 the mixture being more apparent, hereabouts, in the 
 interior than upon the coast, does not mihtate against the 
 correctness of this supposition, since we find that in all 
 the neighbouring countries there exists a great tendency 
 on the part of the Polynesians to occupy the upland or 
 mountain districts in preference to the coasts. It is in 
 such positions, indeed, that we find the superior breeds of 
 this race ; witness the inland inhabitants of Borneo, 
 Celebes, Timor, Sumatra, and ^ladagascar. I think it 
 proper to state that in making this suggestion I have no 
 theory to support. The subject is one, indeed, that I 
 only enter upon from the circumstance of those countries 
 having been rarely visited by individuals who have had 
 sufficient leisure to promote inquiries into the matter, and 
 that J therefore, in the present state of our knowledge 
 concernins the native tribes, the information I have been 
 enabled to collect from time to time may prove acceptable 
 to parties desirous of solving the mystery that involves 
 the early history of these eastern nations."^ 
 
 " Our visitors from the interior spoke of a white people 
 who dwelt in the country to the south, and who built 
 houses of stone. This account excited a considerable 
 degree of curiosity in the settlement, but I have no doubt 
 that they alluded to our colonists in South Australia, or 
 New South Wales. Scraps of news pass so rapidly from 
 one tribe to another, that an event of any importance is 
 known over a large extent of country in the course of a 
 very few months, although it is certainly difficult to 
 
 • Vide Post. 
 
JALAKURU TRIBE. 231 
 
 detect the origin after it has passed through several 
 tribes, and been subjected to the variations introduced 
 by each individual narrator. In connection with this 
 subject, I may mention a circumstance, which, although 
 irrelevant to that I have now entered upon, may prove 
 interesting. The natives of New South Wale?, and, I 
 believe, of South Australia also, have long been in the 
 habit of alluding to certain monster amphibia that are 
 said to exist to the north. We found the same report 
 prevalent on the Coburg Peninsula, but here it was to the 
 south, in Van Diemen's Gulf, that these creatures had 
 their abode. They proved to be a species of ' dugong,^ 
 an animal, I believe, only recently known to naturalists. 
 The flesh is esteemed a great delicacy by the natives, but 
 they can only succeed in taking the young ones, the full- 
 grown animals being too formidable for them to encounter 
 in their frail vessels. I obtained two skulls, fi-om which 
 comparative anatomists may probably detect the class to 
 which they belong. They are in the possession of Sir 
 Everard Home, of Her ^Majesty^s Ship ' North Star,' to 
 whom I gave them, from the supposition that he would 
 arrive in England before me. The head somewhat resem- 
 bles that of the ^ ^lorse' or Sea-horse, two tusks project- 
 ing downwards from the upper jaw. 
 
 '' But to return to the aborigines. I have already 
 alluded to the Jalakuru tribe as occupying the coast to 
 the eastward of the Coburg Peninsula. Although the 
 territory they inhabit is remote from the settlement, 
 individuals of the tribe were constantly residing with ns, 
 and some of these, from their activit)^, intelligence, and 
 
232 NORTH AUSTRALIA. 
 
 good-temper, became great favourites. They were also 
 generally selected as guides when making excursions 
 either by land or water, and always evinced great readi- 
 ness in embarking on voyages to the Indian islands, 
 whenever their company was desired. 
 
 " The Jalakuru tribe, although it resides occasionally 
 upon the coast, generally occupies the uplands near the 
 termination of the hill range that has been already men- 
 tioned. This tract of country is called Merkilellal. It 
 is open and fertile, and is traversed by a chain of small 
 lakes, which abound with water-fowl. The wild yam is 
 also found here in great plenty. Mr. John MacArthur, 
 the son of the commandant of Port Essington, visited 
 Merkilellal, about two years ago, and was received with 
 great hospitality, indeed with a considerable degree of 
 ceremony ; for on landing from the boat, he was escorted 
 by an armed guard to the spot where the tribe was 
 assembled to receive him. Oui* intimacy with these 
 people will prove very favourable to the extension of our 
 intercourse with the natives along the coast to the east- 
 ward, since they are well acquainted with the tribes in 
 their neighbourhood, and have always shown the greatest 
 willingness to accompany exploring parties. 
 
 " The tribe or tribes which inhabit the Goulburn Islands, 
 do not requh'e any lengthened notice, as they were not 
 found to differ materially from those of the Cobourg 
 Peninsula. In personal appearance, they rather resemble 
 the Croker Island natives than the others, and are a 
 fickle, and somewhat vindictive race. They occasionally 
 prove very troublesome to the Macassar trepang fishers, 
 
CARPENTARIA TRIBES. 233 
 
 and are much inclined to attack strangers, as was expe- 
 rienced by Captain King, wlien employed in sun-eying 
 the coast. 
 
 '• I was unable to obtain any details that could be de- 
 pended upon with regard to the distribution of tribes 
 upon the coast between Goulbum Islands and the north- 
 west horn of the Gulf of Cai-pentaria. The inhabitants 
 hereabouts appear to reside chiefly upon the uplands, but 
 resort dui'ing certain seasons to the spots frequented by 
 the Macassar trepang fishers. With the people inha- 
 biting Arnhem Bay and the adjacent country we are, 
 however, better acquainted, from the circumstance of 
 many indinduals from these parts having nsited the 
 settlement from time to time in the Macassar prahus. 
 The trepang fishers describe this as being the most 
 numerous and powerful tribe upon the coasts visited by 
 them, and, when hostile, as being very formidable op- 
 ponents. For some years past, however, they have been 
 on the most friendly terms, and a considerable barter 
 trade was carried on, tortoise-shell being very abundant 
 there. The countiy occupied by this tribe is a spur from 
 the o-reat hill range. xA.ll the specimens of the tribe that 
 we have seen were remarkable for their bulky forms; 
 theii- chests, especially, being very fine and expansive. 
 The lower extremities, however, are not very well propor- 
 tioned, the curved shin being very common. Their fea- 
 tures are coarse, the nose being particularly flat and 
 broad, but the general expression is pleasing. All the 
 males above the age of twelve or fourteen years that I 
 encountered, had undergone circumcision. I was ex- 
 
234 NORTH AUSTRALIA. 
 
 tremely particular in my inquiries with regard to the 
 origin of this custom^ and I can confidently state that it 
 was not derived from the Macassars, the latter affirming 
 that it existed previous to the commencement of their 
 intercom-se with the coast. Indeed this singular custom 
 is not confined to the tribes of the north-west horn of the 
 Gulf of Carpentaria. Flinders observed a case upon the 
 "Wellesley Islands, and the custom is also prevalent among 
 the natives of certain parts of the south coast of Aus- 
 tralia. It will be difficult, perhaps impossible, to discover 
 now the origin of this custom. I should observe that a 
 peculiar formation prevails among the aborigines of this 
 part of Australia, and also of the adjacent coast of New 
 Guinea, which renders the practice exceedingly conducive 
 to comfort and health. 
 
 " The western side of the Gulf of Carpentaria, as far to 
 the south as Limmen Bight, appears to be well peopled ; 
 but beyond this, as far as the head of the Gulf, the 
 natives are few and scattered. Here, indeed, the means 
 of subsistence are not very abundant. The mud^banks, 
 which extend far out to sea, render it difficult to obtain a 
 supply of fish ; and vegetable productions suited for food 
 do not seem to be very plentiful, probably from the 
 nature of the soil (a comparatively recent alluvial deposit) 
 being unfavourable to the growth of the wild yam, or, 
 possibly, it has not yet had time to extend itself over 
 the face of the country. 
 
 " I have observed that upon the northern coasts of 
 Australia, the amount of the population upon a certain 
 tract of country, is great or small in proportion to the 
 
CONXLUDING NOTE. 235 
 
 quantity of vegetable food it produces. However abun- 
 dant animal food may be, a toilsome search for edible 
 roots gives almost constant occupation to a portion of 
 every tribe. ^Tomen and children labour for hours toge- 
 ther, with no other implement than a pointed stick, in 
 following up the creeping stem of the wild yam through 
 the earth until the root is arrived at, often at a depth of 
 six or ei2;ht feet below the surface. A certain proportion 
 of vegetable food appears indeed to be absolutely neces- 
 sary to their existence, and they \^'illingly forego the use 
 of animal food, if this more grateful diet can be obtained 
 in sufficient abundance. Boiled rice, without any condi- 
 ment, they will accept as their sole food for days together, 
 and scarcely seem to wish for change.^' 
 
 The paper extracted above, which was drawn up at the 
 request of the late Dr. Prichard, contains some specu- 
 lations respecting affinities between the northern Austra- 
 lians and some of the neighbouring races, which I am 
 now incUned to modify, as far as regards the supposed 
 introduction of Polynesian blood among the Marigi- 
 anbirik, or tribes of the Monobar Range. A more ex- 
 tended experience has led me to the opinion that it is by 
 no means necessary to infer a mixture of race in order to 
 account for the superior development of inhabitants of 
 elevated table-lands, either in Australia or elsewhere. 
 Indeed, thoughout the region which has come under 
 review in the present volume, it is found that aboriginal 
 
236 CONCLUDING NOTE. 
 
 tribeS; of whatever race, correspond in social, and often in 
 physical characteristics, to a remarkable degree, whenever 
 they have become inhabitants of a similar description of 
 country, w^hether dense jungles, or open table-lands. In 
 the former, maritime enterprise seems to form the natural 
 channel of improvement, and in the open uplands the 
 process becomes developed in the cultivation of the 
 soil. 
 
 A perusal of Mr. J. R. Logan's excellent description of 
 the Sabimba, Mintira, Sletar, and other tribes inhabiting 
 the coast jungles of the Malay Peninsula, which is given 
 in the first volume of the " Journal of the Indian Archi- 
 pelago,'' will show how tribes of the Malayan race may 
 possess a lower development of social and physical charac- 
 teristics than the coast Papuans, or even the Monobar 
 Austrahans, who although they do not cultivate the soil, 
 collect the seeds of the panicum levinode, and the grain- 
 like roots of the marawait, which they grind up to form a 
 kind of bread, their chief food during certain seasons of 
 the year. This system of grain-collecting extends far 
 along the range to the south-east, as it was found in use 
 among the natives met with by Sii' Thomas Mitchell near 
 the northern boundary of the Sydney district, and by 
 those encountered by Captain Sturt in the great central 
 desert. The system of collecting the spontaneous pro- 
 ductions of the soil to serve as food, of course interests 
 the natives in the preservation of the plants, and a 
 natural induction would lead them to appreciate their 
 propagation ; so that the introduction of a single native 
 of the neighbouring islands, acquainted with agricul- 
 
I 
 
 CONCLUDING NOTE. 237 
 
 ture, might lead to these tribes becoming cultivators. 
 The trepang-fishei-j Timbo, mentioned above, was in- 
 vited by the Monobar natives to reside amonjj them for 
 the sake of the superior knowledge he possessed ; but 
 being a fisherman, he was not well adapted for intro- 
 ducing improvements in agriculture, although even this 
 might have occun'ed had he become a permanent resident 
 with the tribe, which the natives appear to have desired. 
 Much additional information concerning these inland 
 tribes has been acquired since the paper given above was 
 written, and I am in hopes that Colonel MacArthur, who 
 returned to England in 1850, after the breaking up of 
 the Port Essington Estabhshraent (over which he had 
 presided for eleven years), will furnish the world with a 
 record of his experiences. Such a work would be of 
 great ethnographical value, were it only to develop the 
 system which enabled a party of civilized men to dwell 
 for so long a period in daily intercourse with savages, 
 without a single collision having occurred ; a result to 
 which history does not furnish a parallel. On only one 
 occasion during these eleven years was the intercourse 
 attended with a loss of life on either side, and singularly 
 enough this occuiTcd while carr}4ng out the system of 
 strict, but impartial justice, which had induced the 
 mutual confidence necessary to maintain a friendly cor- 
 respondence between such opposite elements. A ser- 
 geant of the garrison was sent in his capacity of peace- 
 officer to arrest a native who had committed a theft 
 in the settlement, and had escaped to his tribe on the 
 south coast of the Cobourg Peninsula. The capture was 
 
238 CONCLUDING NOTE. 
 
 effected quietly, but during tlie latter part of the return 
 journey, when the sergeant and his prisoner embarked on 
 board a boat to cross the harbour, the latter jumped over- 
 board, and for a long time eluded all attempts at recap- 
 ture, until at length the sergeant, wearied and irritated, 
 fired at him ; the ball took effect, and ultimately caused 
 his death. The native was a comparative stranger, and 
 the sergeant belonged to the new detachment which had 
 recently arrived, otherwise this single case would pro- 
 bably not have occurred, for the men of the old garrison 
 had become attached to the natives, and had learned to 
 treat their eccentricities as those of children. But even 
 this sad affair did not impair the confidence of the natives 
 in those whom they had been accustomed to regard as 
 protectors ; indeed, the result rather tended to confirm 
 the latter in their appreciation of the strict impartiality 
 that had been introduced ; for the Commandant considered 
 it necessary to keep the sergeant under arrest until an 
 opportunity occurred of putting him on board a ship of 
 war ; and imprisonment had been the severest punish- 
 ment inflicted on the natives themselves. Probably no 
 civilized community can present more favourable criminal 
 statistics than those of the little settlement of Port 
 Essington during the eleven years of its existence. 
 
 The natives of the islands of Torres Strait present a 
 fine development of the mental, as well as physical cha- 
 racteristics, of the Papuan race; but as these tribes will 
 have to be included with the Papuans of the Pacific, with 
 whom also their progress in the agricultural arts seems to 
 be identical, there will be no occasion to notice them in 
 
CONCLUDING NOTE. 239 
 
 the present volume. A comparison of the personal cha- 
 racteristics of these tribes described by Mr. J. B. Jukes 
 in his " Narrative of the Voyage of Her Majesty^s Ship 
 ' Fly/ " ^ath the details of Lieutenant Modera given in 
 the present volume, will show that upon this point the 
 Dourga natives and the islanders of Torres Strait very 
 closely correspond ; still there appears a sufficient dis- 
 tinction in their social characteristics to render it im- 
 probable that close intercourse can have subsisted between 
 them, at least at a recent period. Nor is it probable 
 that the Torres islanders will fall under the influence 
 of ^Malayan traders, although the latter are said to l)e 
 extending their voyages towards them ; for having once 
 entered into close and friendly correspondence with Euro- 
 peans, they are not likely to respect a race as inferior to 
 themselves in physical development, as to the whites in 
 civilization. 
 
 THE END. 
 
 LONDON": 
 
 Printed by Schulze and Co., 13, Poland Street. 
 
BY THE SAME AUTHOR. 
 
 CONTRIBUTIONS TO 
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 AND AUSTRALIA. 
 
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 THE NATIVE RACES OF THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO: 
 
 BROWN TRIBES 
 OF THE MOLUCCAS, TIMOR AND CELEBES. 
 
 . With Numerous Illustrations. 
 
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