THE OCEANIC PEOPLES.
This group is subdivided into the following six main divisions: I. The Malaysians, from the peninsula of Malacca and the Andaman Islands to Formosa, the Philippines, and the Molucca Islands.
2. The principal peoples of Madagascar, the Malagassies, the Sakalavas, and the Hovas, besides a number of other subordinate tribes.
3. The Micronesians, the inhabitants of the islands from the Philip pines eastward to the Marshall and Gilbert groups.
4. The Polynesians, who, widely distributed in space, spread from New Zealand to the Hawaiian Islands, and from several islands of the Solomon group eastward as far as Waihu (Easter Island).
5. The Melanesians (Papuas, Negritos), from New Guinea (Papua) to New Caledonia and the Feejee Archipelago.
6. The inhabitants of the continent of Australia and the island of Tasmania.
Several of the divisions manifest a closer relationship to one another, such as the first and second—the Malaysians and Malagassies—and likewise the third and fourth, the Micronesians and Polynesians. On the other hand, they divide within themselves into a number of smaller subdivis ions. Thus, in Polynesia, every larger island-group constitutes a _dis
tinctly characterized branch of the race; the same appears in Melanesia, as shown, for instance, on the Feejee Islands; the Australians are divided into three groups, the northern, southern, and western tribes, to which the Tasmanians may be added as a fourth. Particularly numerous, and varying with the nature of their territory, are the races of Malaysia. First, the inhabitants of Malacca, the Malays proper, are to be dis tinguished; next, those of Sumatra; then Java, Borneo, Celebes, each with its smaller neighboring islands; further the Philippines, together with Formosa, the Moluccas, and finally the little south-eastern island groups which constitute the transition to the Melanesians. The Negritos, who are found in several parts of the archipelago, we shall more partic ularly allude to in connection with the Melanesians.
We will now proceed to the ethnological description of these races, beginning with the most uncivilized.