VII.— S s
This country was first discovered by the Portuguese commanders Antonio d'Abrew and Francisco Serrani in 1511. It was in part visited by the Dutch under Schouten in 1G15; in 1828 their government built a fort, called Du Bus, in Triton Bay, 8° 42' S. lat. and 133° 51' 5" E. long., but it had to be abandoned after a few j'ears on account of the unhealthy climate. In 1774 an English officer, captain F'orrest, was sent by the East India Company to search for spice-producing districts, and he took up his residence at Port Davey, on the north-east coast, and there maintained constant friendl}' intercourse with the natives. Captain Cook, who visited the south-west coast in 1770, was the sole authority respecting the natives till 1828. In 1845 a British man-of-war surveyed a part of the Great Bight ; in 1848 others surveyed the Louisiade. In 1871 the exploration of the southern part was undertaken by captain Moresby, and to him we now owe most of our knowledge of the east end of New Guinea and its adjacent islands (see our reference to his work below). Many explorations have also been made and are now making by the missionaries. The Italian naturalist D'Albertis, who returned from Papua in 187G, is now preparing reports of his observations, and thej' are to be supplemented by the observations of the English naturalist Octavius Stone ; but none of these explorers will and can do so much to enlighten us in respect to New Guinea as the missionaries who have recently gone there. The population of Papua and the imme- diately adjacent islands cannot of course in our pres- ent unsettled knowledge of it be definiteh' stated. From what has been seen of the country it is sup- posed to have about 800,000 natives. The northern part of the island has been for many years occupied by the Dutch settlers from the AVest Indies, and is claimed by the Netherlands. It is that part of Papua which was formerly tributary to the sultans of Tidore, stretching from Cape Bonpland, on the east of Hum- boldt Bay, in 140° 47' E. long., to the Cape of Good Hope, and farther west and south-west to 131° E. long., with the islands on the coast, and is estimated to have a population of about 200,000. The natives of the interior have never acknowledged the supremacj' of the sultans of Tidore, but the coasts and islands are governed b}' rajahs and other chiefs appointed by them to certain districts or kingdoms. This power is still exercised by the sultan of Tidore, but subject to the approval of the Netherlands resident at Ternate. The southern part of Papua, as we have seen above, is not as yet claimed by anj' civilized power. The Aus- tralians are very much agitated about its possession, and strong colonial influence is now seeking to further the annexation scheme in Great Britain. The Eng- lish press is questioning the project, and it is doubt- ful whether the occupation 1)}' the Dutch will be dis- puted. The possession of Papua b}' some European power seems almost a necessity if the country is ever to be reclaimed from barbarism.
According to the sj'stcm of Bory de St. Vincent, the natives of Papua are a race sprung from Neptu- nians and Oceanians, in character, features, and hair standing between the Mala3's and Negroes. Dr. La- tham places them under the sub-class Oceanic Mon- golida3. D'Albertis believes with Moresby and Gill that the people of Eastern New Guinea are of Poly- nesian origin along the coast, but that the indigenous Papuans are morally and phj'sically inferior to the in- vaders of their land. Those who live on the coast and islands now go by the name of Papuans, probablj' from the Malay word Papoeu-ah or Poeivah-Poewah, which signifies curbj or woolly ; the inhabitants of the inte- rior are called Alfoers. Tiie Papuans are of middle stature and well made, have regular features, intelligent black eyes, small white teeth, curly hair, thick lips, and large mouth ; the nose is sharp, but flat beneath, the nostrils large, and the skin dark brown. Around Hum- boldt Bay the men stain their hair with the red earth
PAPUA
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PAPUA
which is abundant in that locality. Generally the men are better-looking than the -women, but neither are re- pulsively ugh', as has been repeated!}' said. The Papu- ans of the coast are divided into small distinct tribes, frequently at war with each other, when they plant the paths to their villages with pointed pieces of bam- boo or Nipa palm, called randjoes, which run into the feet of a party approaching to the attack, and make wounds which are difficult to cure. The men build the houses, hollow the trunks of trees into canoes, hunt and fish ; while the women do all the heaviest work, cultivating the fields, making mats, pots, and cutting wood. Their food consists of maize, sago, rice, fish, birds, the flesh of wild pigs, and fruits. The Alfoers of the interior do not differ much in appearance from the Papuans, but, lower sunk in the savage life, are independent noniades, warlike, and said to be in some districts cannibals. They are called by the coast peo- ple Woeka, or mountaineers, and bring down from their forest retreats the fragrant Masooi bark, nutmegs, birds-of-paradise, and crown-pigeons to the coast, bar- tering them for other articles. The natives of the Arfak and Aml)erbakin ranges are more settled in their habits, and also cultivate sugar-cane and tobacco as articles of commerce, but never build their houses at a lower level than a thousand feet from the base of the mountains. The people of the south-west coast are perfectly honest, open-hearted, and trustworth}-. They have no religious worship, though some idea of a Supreme Being, according to whose will thej' live, act, and die, but to whom no reverence is offered. They reckon time by the arrival and departure of the Ceram traders, or the beginning and ending of the drj' and rainj' seasons, and number onl}* up to ten. Their dead are buried, and after a year or more the bones are taken up and placed in the family tomb, erected near the house, or selected from the natural caverns in the limestone rocks. The women cover the lower part of the bod}'; the men go all but naked, have tlieir hair plaited or frizzled out, and ornamented with shells and feathers. Marriages are contracted early, and are only dissolved by death, and the women are chaste and modest. At Doreh, on the north coast, the bride- groom leads the bride home, when her father or near- est male relative divides a roasted banana between them, which they eat together with joined hands, and the marriage is completed. They have no religion