THE AUSTRALIANS.
Phvsical Characteristics Stature and races of the north are physically and intellectually better developed than those of the south, east, and west; they are tall (often six feet) and well formed, while the latter are for the most part smaller in stature and of puny figure, with thin, weak extremities, and, in consequence of large quantities of innutritious food, have the abdomen unduly enlarged. The physical strength of the Australians is throughout slight, but their dexterity and agility are actually astonishing. The color of the skin is seldom fully black, being for the most part a lighter or darker brown, and often cop per-colored.
The hair is generally dark-brown, in some cases coarse and straight (p1. 4, 8), again wavy and quite curly or bushy; in general, coarse, but in some cases of a silky softness. The hair of the Tasmanians, who are now nearly or quite extinct, is always curly, in some cases short, in others falling in ringlets, and at times tufted (AL 6, figs. 2-4), the beard and the hair of other portions of the body being profusely developed. The eyes are small; frequently somewhat oblique, and the upper lid as if swollen, their color being always dark. The nose is depressed at the ridge, broad at the apex, even when, as at times, it is beak-shaped in form. The lips are generally thick, the mouth is large, the teeth are well grown; the third upper back tooth is always triple-rooted, and the eye-teeth are often strongly developed.
The crania, which are sometimes artificially shaped, are, especially in the southern portion of the continent, remarkably thiek dolichocepiaBc (breadth index, 70 ; i. e. proportion of width to length of skull as 70 to too; see p. 48)—and at the same time quite high (pl. 2, jig. 15). The countenances are for the most part quite repulsive and wild in expression (p1. Ars. 4); often, however, among the more favorably situated races, they are comely and attractive.
Domestic Australians are by no means of a cleanly habit, the Tasmanians being somewhat superior in this respect. Both races for the most part live in a nude state, though the males are often provided with a covering of opossum-skin; to them, likewise, all orna ment is reserved, such as feathers, chains of shells and of the teeth of ani mals, and tufts and cords of human hair artistically woven (fil. 5, fig.
which are plaited into their own hair; the tails of animals arc likewise so utilized, generally in connection with the beard (fil. 4, fig. x). Both
sexes, and particularly the women, are wont to carry their worldly goods in a sack, which is often of artistic workmanship (pl. 5, fig. 22), and which is thrown over the shoulder and fastened by a band around the head; in this manner, also, they carry their infants, which, wrapped in a pelt, rest upon a straw mat (pl. 5, fig. 17), thus preventing them from beating against the back of the bearer. They rub their bodies as often as pos sible with fat and with ochre or earth, or they paint themselves with gay colors. They often display upon the arms and breast the scars of wounds, which they inflict upon themselves with great ceremony (p1. 4, figs. I, 2); this practice prevails mostly among the men.
the south and south-east they build no houses; wherever they rest they erect some temporary protection against the weather, made of the twisted twigs and bark of trees. In the north and in the interior of the continent, likewise often in Tasmania, they have round, hive-shaped lints composed of interwoven twigs, which rest upon a foundation of logs, and which are made water-tight by means of earth and bark (fil. 5, fig. 4). Larger huts are also to be found, and in the northern portion even villages are to be met with in which every dwelling has a sleeping-hut attached (p1. 5, fig. 4); even artificial wells and bridges have been noticed in these districts. This indicates a more settled mode of life in the north than that which prevailed in the southern portions and in Tasmania, in which regions only wandering tribes without settled habita tions were to be met with. These latter were forced to this mode of exist ence by the sterility of the country, which, less generous than in the north, compelled the southern aborigines to wander about for a subsistence. By this, however, their agility in climbing- trees and stealthily securing their game was remarkably developed. They generally carry fire with them in their wanderings, or kindle it by friction; very little of their food is eaten raw. They have a variety of hooks, nets, and other fishing implements, traps for birds, etc. Others of their simple utensils are depicted on Plate 5 (figs. 121, 16, 20). They have been found to possess canoes simply con structed from the bark of trees (p1. 6, fig. 7), and in the north even make boats from the hollow trunks of trees.