In the eastern part of the island, the negro type of the inhabitants passes into that of the Polynesians: Captain Moresby says of them, that they have the light complexion and in all respects the appearance of the Polynesians, typically represented by the New Zealanders, that they are a friendly and intelligent people, and gladly received the Eng lish seamen at their villages, where they mixed freely with them. They practice several useful arts, such as pottery, and possess extensive, well-fenced plantations. In the north-eastern part of the island, their villages are terraced and cultivated to a great height, in a manner which a Chinaman might Cnvy. Captain _Moresby believes them to be a fine, promising race, and thinks that, with the aid of civilizing influences, a pros perous future is iu store for them.
The Dutch scientific expedition of 1858 appended to their report a vocabulary of the Myfore language, of about 1,200 words, collected by Ottow and Geisler, missionaries at Doreh, on the w. of Geelvink bay. - It is, howeirer, known to differ greatly from lan guages spoken in other parts; and natives of the South Sea islands have a facility in communicating with the Papuans on the Torres Strait. The London missionary society has therefore begun to Christianize them through Samoan teachers directed by British missionaries. The first chapel, on Murray Island, was opened in 1875.
The population of Papua and the immediately adjacent islands has been-estimated at' 800,000, but no correct estimate of the numbers can be formed. The exports are masooi bark, trepang or bOche-demer, tortoise-shell, pearls, nutmegs, birds of paradise, crown pigeons, ebony, resin, slaves, etc.
The inhabitants seem to be divided into a great number of petty tribes, quite inde pendent of each other. No native government is known to extend over a,great part of the island. The Dutch acquired the rights of their tributary, the sultan of Tidore, and it was partly to assert them that an expedition was undertaken in 1828. At this time,
the Dutch built a fort called Du Bus, in Triton bay, 3° 46' s. lat., and 134° e. long., and declared the whole island w. of a line running from cape Bonpland in the n., along 141° e. long., to Torres Strait, to belong to the Netherlands, but the settlefnent was aban doned. In 1858 the Dutch made another attempt to establish a colony. The Etna was fitted out for that purpose: .The expedition visited part of the north-western coast. Recent attempts of parties of miners to tap the metallic treasures of Papua have not as yet met with success. • That a great future is open to this vast territory is undoubted. Rich in naturai prod ucts and mineral wealth to an extent of which we can have no conception, situated in such close contiguity to one of our largest possessions, and betWeen it and China, Japan, and India, it is of immediate consequence to England; and if we are to profit by inter course and trade, no time should be lost in detaching a strong surveying expedition, furnished with scientific explorers, to complete the .survey of the coasts, and to ascertain its capabilities.
See De Zuid-West kust van. N. Guinea, door J. Modera (Haarlem, 1830); N. Guinea onderzocht en beschreven, door eene Nederlandsche Commissie (Amsterdam, 1862); .De Papoewa's van de Geelvinksbaai, by A. Goudswaard (Schiedam, 1863); The Malcw Archi pelago, by A. R. Wallace; Neu Guinea and seine Bewohner, by Otto Finsch (Bremen. 1865); Dall' Italia alla.Nuova Guinea—Waggle della Corvetta " Yittor Pisani" (Florence, 1873); Paper on "Beccari's Exploration of Papuasia," by Prof. H. .H. Giglioli, in Ocean Righsectys for Dec., 1873; Discoveries and Surveys in New Guinea and the D'Entrecasteaux islands, by Captain Moresby (1876); Chronicle of London Missionary Society for 1876.