Physique and Character
Physique.
The Mafulu people are of short stature, though perhaps a trifle taller
than the Kuni.
They are as a rule fairly strong and muscular in build, the women
in particular having very strongly developed thighs; but, speaking
generally, their limbs are more slender, and their general development
is slighter, than is usually the case among the Roro and Mekeo people.
They appear to be usually mesaticephalic, but to have a very marked
tendency to brachycephaly.
Their noses seemed to me to be generally strong, and of prominent
size, varying considerably in width of bridge, but usually having
rather widely distending nostrils; and sometimes the width of the
nose was equal to its length, or nearly so.
Referring to the above matters, the following are the results of
twenty measurements of Mafulu men. These were obtained from men of
upwards of six different communities or groups of villages, so as to
avoid the possible misleading character of measurements made in only
one village or group of villages, in which some family relationship
between the persons measured might militate against the true average
character of the figures obtained.
No.
| Stature in cm.
| | Length of head in cm.
| | | Breadth of head in cm.
| | | | Cephalic index
| | | | | Cranial index (2 units deducted
| | | | | from cephalic index).
| | | | | | Nose length in cm.
| | | | | | | Nose breadth in cm.
| | | | | | | | Nasal index
1 150 18.5 14.7 79.5 77.5 4.9 4.4 89.8
2 155 18.8 15.1 80.3 78.3 4.8 4.8 100.0
3 155 19.5 14.8 75.9 73.9 5.3 4.3 81.1
4 157 18.5 15.4 83.2 81.2 4.3 4.3 100.0
5 153 18.9 14.6 77.2 75.2 4.8 4.4 91.7
6 151 18.6 14.3 76.9 74.9 4.9 3.8 77.6
7 151 19.3 15.2 78.8 76.8 5.4 4.4 81.5
8 163 19.4 14.5 74.7 72.7 5.6 4.4 78.6
9 162 18.8 15.2 80.9 78.9 5.3 4.0 75.5
10 163 17.4 15.1 86.8 84.8 5.5 4.6 83.6
11 155 18.0 14.0 77.8 75.8 5.3 4.4 83.0
12 157 17.4 14.6 83.9 81.9 4.6 4.0 87.0
13 158 19.7 14.8 75.1 73.1 5.3 4.3 81.1
14 160 17.9 14.4 80.4 78.4 5.1 4.3 84.3
15 153 17.7 14.7 83.1 81.1 5.2 4.1 78.8
16 156 18.5 14.8 80.0 78.0 5.5 4.5 81.8
17 152 17.7 14.9 84.2 82.2 5.6 4.0 71.4
18 154 18.6 14.9 80.1 78.1 5.2 4.5 86.5
19 150 17.8 15.2 85.4 83.4 4.9 3.9 79.6
20 147 18.8 14.5 77.1 75.1 4.6 3.8 82.6
Analysing these figures, we get the following results:--
Highest number. Lowest number. Average.
Stature [26] 163 cm. 147 cm. 155.1 cm.
(64.2 ins.) (57.9 ins.) (61.1 ins.)
Head length 19.7 cm. 17.4 cm. 18.5 cm.
Head breadth 15.4 cm. 14.0 cm. 14.8 cm.
Cephalic index 86.8 74.7 80.0
Cranial index 84.8 72.7 78.0
Nose length 5.6 cm. 4.3 cm. 5.1 cm.
Nose breadth 4.8 cm. 3.8 cm. 4.3 cm.
Nasal index 100.0 71.4 84.3 [27]
Number of cranial indices under 75 = 4 (20 per cent.).
Number of cranial indices between 75 and 80 = 10 (50 per cent.).
Number of cranial indices over 80 = 6 (30 per cent.).
There are a few points in connection with these figures to which I
would draw attention. The very short man (No. 20--height, 147 cm.) has
a cranial index of 75.1, on the border line between dolichocephaly
and mesaticephaly. He has also a short nose (4.6 cm.), and is one
of the two with the narrowest noses (3.8 c.m.). The very tall man
(No. 8--height, 163 cm.) has a long head (19.4 cm.), and the lowest
dolichocephalic cranial index of 72.7, and is one of two with the
longest noses (5.6 cm.). The other very tall man (No. 10--height,
163 cm.) has one of the two shortest heads (17.4 cm.), and the highest
brachycephalic cranial index of 84.8, and has a long nose (5.5 cm.) The
man (No. 2) whose nasal index is 100 has the mesaticephalic cranial
index of 78.3 (almost the average index). The other man (No. 4)
whose nasal index is 100 has a head of exactly the average length
(18.5 cm.) and the greatest breadth (15.4 cm.), and the brachycephalic
cranial index of 81.2. The man (No. 17) with the lowest nasal index
of 71.4 has a very short head (17.7 cm.), and the brachycephalic
cranial index of 82.2.
The following tables, however, illustrate the fact that the
measurements of these twenty men do not appear to indicate, as
regards them, any marked connection between stature, cranial index,
and nasal index.
Order in stature (beginning with the shortest):
20--1--19--6--7--17--5--15--18--2--3--11--16--4--12--13--14--9--8--10.
Order in progress upwards of cranial indices:
8--13--3--6-20--5--ll--7--1--16--18--2--14--9--15--4--12--17--19--10.
Order in progress upwards of nasal indices:
17--9--6--8--15--19--3--13--7--16--20--11--10--14--18--12--1--5--2--4.
I brought home three Mafulu skulls, which Dr. Keith kindly had measured
at the Royal College of Surgeons, with the following results [28]:--
Skull
| Length in cm.
| | Breadth in cm.
| | | Height in cm.
| | | | Cranial Index.
| | | | | Proportion of
| | | | | height to length.
A 17.6 14.0 12.2 79.5 69.3
B 18.2 14.1 13.2 77.5 72.5
C 17.3 12.7 12.5 73.4 72.3
It will be observed that the lowest of these three cranial indices is
a trifle higher than the lowest of those of the head measurements,
that the highest of them is much lower than the highest of those
of the head measurements, and that their average (76.8) is a little
below the average of those of the head measurements.
Dr. Keith had further measurements made of these skulls from the
point of view of prognathism and characters of noses and orbits,
with the following results:
Skull.
| Basi-nasal length.
| | Basi-alveolar length.
| | | Height of nose.
| | | | Width of nose.
| | | | | Height of orbit.
| | | | | | Width of orbit.
mm. mm. mm. mm. mm. mm.
A 98 102 48 26 40 35
B 99 96 49 25 42 35
C 97 102 47 26 38 35
Dr. Keith, referring to these skulls, says that they disclose
relatively small brains, the cranial capacity of A being 1,230 c.c.,
that of B being 1,330 c.c., and that of C being 1,130 c.c. He compares
these figures with the average cranial capacity of the male European,
which he puts at 1,500 c.c.
The eyes of the Mafulu people are dark brown and very bright. I never
saw among them those oblique eyes, almost recalling the Mongolian,
which, according to Dr. Seligmann, are found, though rarely only,
on the coast, [29] and of which I saw many instances among the
Kuni people.
Their lips are usually not so thick as are those of the Mekeo and
Roro people, and are generally finer and more delicate in shape.
In view of their Papuan language I kept a sharp look out for the
curious backward sloping foreheads and projecting brow ridges and
Jewish-looking noses which are so often found among the Western
Papuans; but, although I saw a few examples of these, they were rare,
and I did not observe any noticeable tendency in these directions in
the faces of the people generally. [30]
A curious characteristic with them is the big toe, which is usually
much developed, and projects outwards at a larger angle than is the
case with the Roro and Mekeo people, and is much used for holding on
to roots, &c., whilst travelling along their rough mountain paths.
Their general colour is a dark sooty brown, a trifle darker, perhaps,
than that of the Kuni people, and contrasting forcibly with the
varying shades of chocolate which you find among the Roro and Mekeo
people. They are smooth-skinned.
Their hair is frizzly, and generally dark brown, often quite dark,
almost even approaching to black, and sometimes perhaps quite
black. But it is frequently lighter; and indeed I was often, when
observing men's hair lit up by sunshine, impressed by the fact that
its brown colour was not even what we should in Europe call dark. [31]
I often saw marked variations in the depth of hair colour on the
head of the same individual. I saw no examples of the comparatively
straight or curly type of hair which is found in the Pokau district
and elsewhere. [32]
Plate 3 gives front and side views of the mesaticephalic (almost
brachycephalic) skull A and Plate 4 gives similar views of the
dolichocephalic skull C. All the photographs were made as nearly as
possible exactly half the sizes of the originals; but the photographer
has made the front view of skull A about an eighth of an inch too
narrow (with, of course, a corresponding deficiency in height), so
that the tendency to roundness of this skull is not quite sufficiently
shown, and the proportion of its height to its length is reduced,
in the plate. I am not a craniologist, and so I do not attempt to
discuss the more detailed points of interest which arise in connection
with these skulls.
A good idea of the somewhat varying characters of the general physiques
and features of the people will be obtained from my plates; but there
are a few of these plates which I may mention here.
The people shown in Plates 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 16 may, I think, be
regarded as fairly typical, and I would draw attention to the somewhat
Melanesian tendency of feature which is disclosed by the faces of
the man in Plate 6, the young man in the middle in Plate 7 and the
fourth and sixth men from the left in Plate 9; also to the great
diversity shown in Plate 9. The man shown in Plate 10, with his thick
and strong muscular development, is of a type which is occasionally
seen, but which is, I believe, unusual. The two men figured in Plates
11 and 12 are, I think, specially interesting. The one to the right,
with his somewhat backward sloping forehead, and slightly arched nose,
shows a distinct tendency towards the type of the Western Papuan, to
which I have already referred. The other one is in general shape of
head and appearance of features not unlike some of the dwarf people
found by the recent expedition into Dutch New Guinea (see the man to
the left in Plate 4 of the page of illustrations in _The Illustrated
London News_ for September 2, 1911), and indeed there is almost an
Australian tendency in his face. It is noticeable that he has a beard
and moustache, which is quite unusual among the Mafulu. A somewhat
similar type of face may be noticed in one or two of the other plates.
Character and Temperament.
It is difficult to speak with any degree of definiteness on this
question. It must be borne in mind that the Mafulu people have been
very little in touch with white people, the missionaries, who have only
been there since 1905, and on rare occasions a Government official or
scientific traveller, being almost the only white men whom the bulk
of them have ever seen; and they have been but slightly affected by
the outside influences which for some years past have been constantly
brought to bear upon the natives of the adjoining coast line and the
people of the Mekeo plains; so that comparisons of these people with
their more up-to-date neighbours as regards their relative natural
characters may well be in some respects misleading.
Subject, however, to this caution I would say that they are lazy
and easy-going (though not so much so as the Roro and Mekeo people),
lively, excitable, cheerful, merry, fairly intelligent (this being
judged rather from the young people), very superstitious, brave,
with much power of enduring pain, cruel, not more revengeful perhaps
than is usual among uncivilised natives, friendly one with another,
not quarrelsome, but untrustworthy and not over-faithful even in
their dealings with one another, though honest as regards boundaries
and property rights and in the sense of not stealing from one another
within their own communities (this being regarded as a most shameful
offence), and of very loose sexual morality.
A difference between them and the Mekeo and Roro natives is that
they appear to be not so conservative as the latter, being more
ready to abandon old traditions and adopt new ideas; though this
characteristic is one which shows itself in the young people rather
than in the elders with their formed habits.