THE MELANESIANS.
this head we include also the so-called Negritos, the dark-colored, curly-headed tribes which are scattered about here and there in Malaysia, such as the Mincopies of the Andaman Islands (,5/. zo, jigs. 16, 17), the Semangrs from the interior of the peninsula of Malacca, and the Aetas of Luzon (,5/. i I, figs. 6, 7); but it is very doubtful whether these peoples really belong in this class, and whether they are not unde veloped or partially extinct old Malay tribes. Their languages alone could decide this point, and we know little or nothing of them. With these should be included New Guinea (Papua) and its neighboring islands, the islands of the Torres Strait, the Louisiade, New Britain, the Solomon Archipelago, the Nitendi group, the New Hebrides, New Caledonia with its surroundings, and, finally, the Feejee group.
While Australia remained free from mixtures of other people (for the commercial voyages of the Malays to the north-east of the continent had only local influences), Melanesia was more frequently visited, first by Malays on Western New Guinea and its islands, then by Polynesians in Feejee on the easternmost islands of the Solomon Archipelago and the groups southward to New Caledonia. These visits, however, were mostly of an inimical character, and brought little real mixture. Polyne sian tribes forced their way in, drove back the Melanesians, and settled themselves on the islands. The population of the Feejee Islands is not a mixed one, except upon a few of the eastern islands of the Archipelago, where there is a small tribe of mixed blood, called the Red Feejeeans. The language of the remainder, as well as their corporal build, proves the purity of their descent.
We call the race Melanesians or Papuas. Throughout the Malay Archipelago the latter word means "dark-colored, very curly-headed men." The name Negrito (Negri11o) is not well chosen, for the people now under consideration have no relationship with the Negroes, and re semble them but slightly. Haraiiires, or A/fitres, is a term applied in Malaysia to dark-colored, straight-haired men, and is not applicable to the Melanesians.
Physical Characteristics: .9aIure and Melanesians are in general over middle size ; only a few tribes besides the Mincopies, the Semangs, and the Aetas are small. Their bodies are fine and well propor tioned, except that in the case of the poorer ones we find the paunchy bellies and the thin limbs of the Australians. The color varies from dark to gray, more frequently from chocolate-brown to light brown, or even tawny yellow.
The in the case of the Mincopies, who often shave them selves bald, does the hair grow short and in separate locks ; with the rest of the Melanesians it is mostly very long, stiff, and exceedingly curly. It never grows in separate locks, but curls in little tufts, often of great length, which are plaited together and fastened down with art and care. The Melanesians are very proud of their hair, so that we often see it made up into monstrous peruques, each separate hair standing out singly. It is cut, colored, and ornamented in the most singular manner (pl. 6, jigs. JO, I I ; 7, figs. I, 2, 3; ,61. 8, fig. 3; /M. 9, figs. 1, 25; Pi. I I, figs.
1, 4, 5; /5/. 12, figs. I, 2, 4, 19, 20), and long-toothed combs (pl. 9, fig. 16; pl. II, fig. i ; p1. 12, Jigs. 8, 9) and hairpins (pl. 12, fig. 4) play an im portant part in its arrangement. Special pillows (or curved stools) are provided for night-use, by which the frisure is protected (p1. i7, fig. 6; p1. 9, fig. 4). When a Melanesian makes a figure of a head, he always puts on it this immense peruque (p1. 9, fig. 16).
The heard grows luxuriantly, and in most cases also the hair of the body, which in some localities grows in tufts and in others thinly, when it is mostly pulled out. The nose is frequently Roman (p1. 7, fig. 1; p1. 12, fig. 2), often, also, straight, and always pressed in at the roots, and at the lower end is broad and full; the lips likewise are thick and large. The Feejee Islanders in particular often have handsome faces, and in Melanesia, also, handsome men are not rare (p1. i fig. 5; pl. 12, figs.