THE MALAYS.

Besides the large islands, which have already been spoken of as occupied by this family, they hold also the small islands south of the Phillippines, up to the west coast of New Guinea, and those on the east point of Java and Sumatra, up to the Straits of Mallacca. Their language, which is found purest on the Phillippines, is one of the most widely extended of Asia, traces of it being discovered from Madagascar to Easter Island, and from Formosa to New Zealand, over 70 deg. of latitude and 200 deg. of longitude. This race has for ages possessed the knowledge of letters, worked metals and domesticated useful animals, and has led the commerce and enterprise of the Pacific Ocean. The flexibility of its tongue has made it everywhere the medium of communication, and even in Madagascar, at 3,000 miles distance, Malay words form one-fifty-seventh of the vocabulary of the islanders. The Malay conquest and settlements after the remote emigration from the continent, are supposed by Crawford to have begun from the center of Sumatra, and to have extended from the Malay peninsula and the coasts of Borneo. Their influence was only excluded from two quarters by different causes-from the Asiatic shores, by the superior Chinese civilization already prevailing there, and from Australia, by the great degradation of its inhabitants. Physical objects alone prevented their reaching the coasts of America. The Malay language shows that it has been acted upon by both Indian and Chinese influences.

The Malay bodily type is described by Prichard as Indo-Chinese. The nose is short, but not flat, the

mouth large and lips thin, cheek bones high, and face broadest at that point, the complexion yellowish. The form is squat, and height only about five feet three or four inches.

THE POLYNESIANS.

The second great race, of similar physical structure and language with the Malays, and undoubtedly of the same origin, are the Polynesians. The islands especially occupied by this people are those lying between New Zealand and Easter Isle, north, up to the Sandwich Islands, and west, as far as the Fiji and New Hebrides. Mixtures of this with other races are found all over the islands of the Pacific. They were for centuries a half civilized people, and have possessed a well established government, together with religious doctrines and usages, and a sacred language unintelligible to the people, as well as a system of ecclesiastical authority. They exhibited skill in various arts, and were bold and experienced sailors. They had no writing, but possessed many legends and traditional poetry. Yet they and their kindred, the Malay race, have the infamy of being the principal and almost the only race indulging habitually in

canibalism.

Physically, the Polynesians are placed among the class of light-brown complexion verging to white. They are described by Hale as above the middle height, well formed, with thick, strong, black hair, slightly curled, and scanty beard; the head short and broad, and higher than most races in their stage of development, with a remarkably flat posterior head, like that of the American Indians. In disposi

tion they are represented as good-humored and fickle, and very ready to adopt new usages.

The Polynesian language, Hale supposes to spread especially from Bouru, the easternmost of the Malay islands.

The whole number of the Polynesians proper is less than 500,000.

From the evidence of language, Mr. Crawford. concluded that there was, in the ante-historic times, a great Polynesian nation, whose speech lies at the basis of all the various Malay and Polynesian languages at the present day. This people-judging from the records preserved in the words they have transmitted—had made some progress in agriculture, and understood the use of gold and iron; were clothed with a fabric made of the fibrous bark of plants, which they wove in the loom, while knowing nothing of the manufacture of cotton, which they acquired afterward from India. They had tamed the cow and buffalo, and possessed and fed upon the hog, the domestic fowl and the duck.

The massive ruins and remains of pyramidal structures and terraced buildings on the Pacific Islands, are probably from this primeval race.

THE MICRONESIANS.

Micronesia, as was before stated, embraces a long range of small islands in the North, Pacific, east of the Phillippines, including the Pelew, Ladrone, Bonabe and others, from 132 deg. east longitude to 178 deg. west, and from 21 deg. north latitude to 5 deg. south.

Owing to the peculiar position of these islands,

they are exposed to winds blowing from various quarters, so that the emigration which settled them would naturally be from many different sources. In physical type, the people are of reddish brown complexion, rough skin, and high, bold features; the head is high compared with its breadth, hair black and curled. They show skill in various arts, and, in Hale's view, give indications of having descended from a higher to a lower civilization. In advance of the Polynesians, they possess the art of varnishing and weaving; they also understand steering by the stars. The practice of tattooing is observed, not only for decency or ornament, as with other tribes, but for the purpose of distinguishing clans and memorizing events. Their government is more intricate than that of the Polynesians, and their religion is different, resembling more that of Eastern Asia, and recognizing the worship of parents. Taboo is not in use. On some of the islands, as Bonabe and others, architectural ruins of a remarkable appearance are found. The language of Tarawa contains a mixture of Polynesian and Melanesian, or Papuan, but on the whole, it is uncertain if there is a distinct Micronesian race.

THE MELANESIANS.

The black tribes of Oceanica present a difficult subject to the student of races. Not enough is known of their languages, to affirm either as to their origin or their division.

They are found first in the west, on the Andaman Islands, between 10 deg. and 14 deg. north latitude. These Melanesians, or Negrillos, are

Prof. Owen as the lowest of mankind.

considered by

They have no

tradition or history; no inventions, except door-mats, and bows and arrows; no agriculture, and their habitations are the rudest and most primitive. Both sexes go naked without shame, and families and wives are in common. According to the same authority, the Andamans have no notion of Deity, or spiritual beings, or a future state; an assertion which does not seem easily proved. They are not cannibals, but show a great hostility to strangers. Neither skull nor teeth present the characteristics of the lowest African tribes. Prognathism is no more more common than in the most of the South Asiatic peoples. The hair resembles that of the Papuans and Australians, as well as of the lower African negroes. They approach the orangs and chimpanzees in their diminutive stature, but show the well balanced human proportion of trunk and limbs. Latham states that there is a very evident link of connection between the language of the Andamans and the monosyllabic Burmese.

The black tribes next appear in the Nicobar Islands, then upon the mountains of Mallacca, where they are called Semangs, and in the Phillipines, where, under the name of Negritos,* they number about 25,

On Luzon there are 3,000 of them under the Spanish rule. On Ceram a tribe of them is found so

*The Negritos are said by Bowring to possess a remarkable facility in the use of their toes, and their feet are marked by a greater separation of the toes than usual. They can descend the rigging of a ship head downward, clinging with their feet. They are slight in form, agile, small and thin, with handsome face, and dark copper complexion. The hair is black and curly, head small and round, forehead narrow, eyes large and penetrating, and veiled by very long eyelids, the nose of medium size, slightly depressed, mouth and lips medium, teeth long.(Sir J. Bowring's Visit to Phil. Islands.)