Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 14.djvu/769

 signs of intermixture with other races, but always showing a decided predominance of true Papuan characteristics. In stature they present a medium between the short Malays and tall Polynesians, the average height varying at different parts of the coast from five feet two to five feet eight inches. Some tribes in the interior are believed to be as dwarfish as the Negritos of the Philippines, while others are nearly equal to the tall Feejeeans, who are often considerably over six feet high. They are strong and muscular, but rather less finely formed than many of the Malayan and Polynesian tribes. Their color is usually a chocolate-brown, sometimes almost black, at others almost as light as some of the Malays. It is, however, by their features that they are best distinguished from all other races of men, and especially by the form and size of the nose. This is always large and long, usually arched as in the Jewish type, and, when well developed, with the extremity so lengthened as to hide the nostrils and overhang the upper lip. This peculiar characteristic is found more or less developed everywhere round the coast of New Guinea, so that almost every traveler speaks of the "Jewish features"—the "aquiline" or "arched" or "very prominent" noses—or makes use of other similar expressions, clearly showing that this is the typical Papuan feature, a fact which is further demonstrated by the unmistakable though exaggerated manner in which it is represented in all their images and carvings. The nose is also very thick and coarse, as is the case in almost all savage races; the alæ are very oblique, and the base is much depressed between the eyes, a character which reaches its maximum in the natives of New Caledonia and the New Hebrides, though the nose itself is with them somewhat shorter. The forehead is rather flat and retreating, the mouth large, and the lips full but not excessively thick; nor is there any marked prognathism. The combination of these peculiarities in various degrees produces faces which are sometimes ugly and savage-looking, while others have so much the character of the Jew or Arab as to be really handsome. Comparing Papuans with typical negroes of equatorial Africa we find a radical difference in the small flat nose and very prominent jaws of the latter. In the South African races this difference is less pronounced. The Bechuanas and Natal Caffres have less prognathism and a straighter, better-formed nose, but this organ is always shorter and less arched than in the Papuan. The Hottentots have often well-formed features and sometimes have a considerable resemblance to the less typical Melanesians. The greatest resemblance, however, is to be found between the Negritos of the Philippines—who have short flat noses and somewhat projecting jaws—and some of the dwarfish tribes of Central Africa.

The Papuan contrasts strongly with Malays and Polynesians in being hairy-bodied and tolerably well bearded, but still more so by the wonderfully luxuriant growth of the hair of the head, which forms a dense mop often projecting six or eight inches from the skull. It is crisp, glossy, and very elastic, and each separate hair naturally curls itself up