_Departure from Parimau—Parting Gifts—Mock
Lamentation—Rawling explores Kamura River—Start for the
Wania—Lose the Propeller—A Perilous Anchorage—Unpleasant
Night—Leave the Motor Boat—Village of Nimé—Arrival of
“Zwaan” with Dayaks—Their Departure—Waiting for the
Ship—Taking Leave of the People of Wakatimi—Sail from New
Guinea—Ké Islands—Banda—Hospitality of the Netherlands
Government—Lieutenant Cramer—Sumbawa—Bali—Return to
Singapore and England—One or Two Reflexions._
After our return to Parimau in February, Rawling and Grant went down to
Wakatimi, while Marshall and I spent a week in visiting the village of
the Tapiro in a last but vain attempt to see the pygmy women. The first
few days of March were occupied in packing up the accumulated odds and
ends of our year’s occupation and on the 9th of March we were ready to
depart. We had told the natives that we were going away and for days
before we went they pestered us with questions as to whether we were
coming back and what we would give them when we went, and they quickly
decided which of our houses they intended to occupy.
[Illustration: BUTTRESSED TREES.]
[Sidenote: PARTING WITH THE NATIVES]
On the morning of our departure from Parimau we allowed no natives to
come into the camp until all the canoes were loaded up and ready for
a start. Then we called out to them to come over and about forty men
and boys splashed across the river and came swarming into the camp. We
had kept for them a number of axe-heads, knives and other pieces
of steel and iron, and when the people saw what they were going to be
given they became a crowd of madmen. I distributed the things, while
Marshall stood by with a big piece of wood and kept them from rushing
into the place and seizing everything at once. They shouted and raved
and screamed and grew almost pale with excitement, and the various
expressions of greed and cunning and anger and delight in their faces
were most interesting to watch.
After we had given them their presents we walked towards the canoes,
and then they began to set up their horrible wail. A few of them picked
up pieces of cloth and matting, through the middle of which they thrust
their heads and then began to howl with their hands over their eyes.
I took a last look round the houses to see that nothing of value had
been left behind and on going to the store-house I met a man, one of
our best friends, coming out of it with a tin of rice under his arm. He
immediately put down the tin, tore off from a climbing bean that grew
by the house a trail of leaves a yard or two long, and wound them about
his head and body. Then he burst into tears and the most heartrending
sobs, which changed in a moment, when he caught my eye, into a shout of
laughter.
When we finally got into the canoes all the men came down to the
water’s edge and wailed, while some of them sat down in the water and
smeared themselves with mud. In the meantime we could see their women
going off into the jungle carrying tins full of their possessions to
hide there, and it is probable that after we left there was a good
deal of quarrelling and fighting over the spoil. The wailing is a
purely perfunctory politeness, but I think there were a few men who
were genuinely sorry to lose us. On the following day a strong ebb-tide
bore us quickly down to Wakatimi and our navigations of the upper
Mimika river were at an end.
In the meantime Rawling had made an interesting exploration of the
coast and of the river mouths to the East of the Mimika. The motor
boat, which had been badly damaged some months earlier, had been
repaired by two Dutch pioneer soldiers and was more or less sea-worthy.
In a four days’ trip he had entered the Atuka river, or rather the
Atuka mouth of the Kamura river, a few miles up which he came to Atuka,
a large village of about six hundred huts surrounded by coconut palms
and tobacco plantations. Proceeding up the river into the main Kamura
river he went on almost to the junction with the Wataikwa river, thus
filling in a large gap of unknown river. On his way back he chose the
left (East) branch and after passing the village of Kamura, where
the inhabitants showed an inclination to plunder the boat, he came
to the lake-like estuary of the Kamura and Wania rivers and entered
the sea by a deep channel. It is worth noting that the inhabitants of
Atuka and Kamura villages, many of whom visited us two or three times
at Wakatimi, are of a decidedly lower type (in appearance) than the
people of the Mimika district, though the distance that separates them
is only a few miles. They have a fiercer and more brutal aspect and
many of them, both men and women go completely naked, a habit which is
never practised by the people of Wakatimi. Scarcity of petrol and an
irregularly sparking plug brought that excursion to an untimely end,
before the lower waters of the Wania had been investigated.
[Sidenote: EXCURSION TO THE WANIA]
From our hill-top (see p. 239) the Wania was evidently by far the
most considerable of all the rivers of the district, and apart from
our desire to see the people of the Wania, of whom the Mimika natives
always spoke with great respect, we felt bound to explore that river
as far as possible. Accordingly on March 14, Rawling, Marshall and I,
with a Dutch pioneer, two Gurkhas and three coolies, set off in the
motor boat towing the yawl, a ship’s boat about twenty feet long, laden
with tents and provisions for a week. In a few hours we arrived at the
mouth of the Wania river and found that owing to the low tide there
was no way of crossing the sand-bar that lay across the entrance. This
circumstance was the more remarkable, because only a few days earlier
Rawling had come through this bar by a very deep channel. The frequent
changes in the banks make the navigation of this coast and particularly
of the river mouths exceedingly difficult.
On this occasion the sea was already rather rough, so that we could not
anchor and wait until the tide rose, and as the wind was increasing in
force there was nothing for it but to turn back and try to take shelter
in one of the rivers between the Wania and the Mimika, if not in the
Mimika itself. All went well for a few miles and then, as happened
frequently, the leather band jumped off the driving wheel and the
engine was stopped. When it was replaced and the engine was started
again, there was no churning of water in the stern and we realized
with some consternation that we had lost our propeller. We were about
twelve miles from the mouth of the Mimika, in a shallow sea of less
than three fathoms, with a strong wind blowing towards the shore where
the waves began to break within a few hundred yards of us, and we were
ten men with a heavy motor boat and a heavily-laden yawl to get along
somehow. We put four men into the yawl to row and they tried to tow,
but the current was so strong against them that they made no headway at
all, so we had to anchor where we were and hoped for better things. We
pitched and rolled and bumped about most horribly and soon most of the
party were deadly sea-sick, perhaps luckily for them, because in that
condition one cares nothing for the prospect of shipwreck.
[Illustration: SCREW PINES (_Pandanus_).]
[Sidenote: AN UNPLEASANT EXPERIENCE]
Our anchor rope was short and none too strong, and the rope between us
and the yawl was thoroughly rotten—it had snapped once earlier in the
day—and we expected that every sudden jerk of the lumpy sea would break
it again. Had that happened, there might have been a nasty accident, as
the men were too sick to row, even if they had known the art, and their
chances of swimming ashore through a sea swarming with sharks were
not very bright. Our own predicament in the helpless motor boat would
have been unpleasant too, if the yawl had gone adrift, but happily the
ropes held. Another drawback was that the motor boat leaked like a
sieve, so that a man was kept constantly at work baling her out, and we
did not know that the strain might not open her old timbers even more.
There was a glorious full moon which one would have enjoyed seeing
from the smooth deck of a steamer, but there we could only think how
uncomfortable it was lying (without having had dinner) on boxes and
tins and gear of all sorts huddled in the bottom of the boat.
The wind continued all through the night and the sea did not moderate,
so at daylight, after having been for sixteen hours at anchor, we
decided to leave the motor boat hoping that it would not be swamped
before we were able to come back and fetch it. We all got into the
yawl, which we pulled through quite a nasty sea for about three miles
to a sand-bank in the estuary of the Timura river, where we camped
until the rising tide enabled us to reach the mainland about midnight.
On the following day, the sea having become calmer, we rescued the
motor boat, which was by that time half full of water, and towed it
slowly to the Timura.
But it was a most arduous business and without the help of a party
of natives, who fortunately came along the coast in canoes and were
prevailed upon to assist us in paddling, we should never have been
able to bring back both of the boats. The arrival of the motor boat at
the Mimika on the fifth day, propelled by native paddles instead of by
its own power, was not a very dignified affair—it resembled rather the
formerly familiar sight of the motor-car in tow of a horse from the
plough—but it was a piece of good fortune that it and we returned at
all.
We stopped for a night on the way at Nimé, a village at the mouth of
the Keaukwa River. This is a very large village—I counted four hundred
and thirty huts—but there were hardly a dozen people in the place, the
whole population having gone off on one of their periodical migrations
to a vegetable diet up the river. It was evident from the immense piles
of fishbones and empty shells about the houses that the inhabitants
must live largely by fishing, when they are there. The houses are
better made than those at Wakatimi, and they are arranged in terraces
and crescents along the water’s edge. It was there that we saw the
elaborate dancing-houses described above (p. 143).
Just as we paddled laboriously into the Mimika estuary we saw far
down on the horizon the smoke of a steamer, and in an hour or two a
white painted vessel, which turned out to be the Dutch Government
ship _Zwaan_, drew inshore and anchored outside the bar. We naturally
supposed that this was a ship that had come to take away the
expedition, as we had informed the Government some months earlier that
we hoped to be ready to leave the country by the end of March. But
that communication had taken a long time, as everything does in those
regions, in reaching its destination, and the _Zwaan_ had come, not
to take away the expedition, but to bring the means of prolonging the
expedition still further.
[Illustration: AT SUMBAWA PESAR.]
[Sidenote: LATE ARRIVAL OF DAYAKS]
It appeared that in the previous December the Committee of the
Expedition at home, hearing of our scarcity of coolies some months
earlier, had decided that a further supply of coolies should be sent
to us without delay. Though cables work quickly enough between London
and Singapore, communications beyond that are matters of days and
weeks, and it was not until the 18th of March that the party of Dayak
coolies, who had been engaged in Sarawak by the kind permission of
H.H. the Raja, arrived at the Mimika. They were in the charge of Mr.
C. B. Kloss, Curator of the Government Museum at Kuala Lumpor, who had
brought with him six months’ provision for himself and the men. Almost
at the same time that the Committee in England had taken this step, we
in New Guinea had decided that three months more was as long as we were
prepared to stay in the country, and a request had been sent to the
Dutch Government to take us away at the end of that time.
When the _Zwaan_ arrived we were all ready to depart, and Cramer’s
party, numbering more than a hundred men, were chafing with impatience
to get away; it would have been impossible for the Government to keep
them there yet another six months. Even if there had been a possibility
of our staying on in the country, the number of Dayaks, thirty-eight,
was quite insufficient for a long journey into the interior and the
prospect of reaching the moderately high ground of Tapiro Mountain, the
best that could be hoped for, was not sufficient inducement to tempt
any one to paddle again up the Mimika river. Added to this was the
further consideration that in a week or two the more rainy season would
begin and that for five or six months very little progress would be
possible even with an unlimited supply of the best coolies.
So there was nothing for it but for Mr. Kloss and the Dayaks to go
back in the _Zwaan_, which sailed for Amboina on the following day,
taking also Marshall, as many sick and useless coolies and soldiers as
could be crammed on board, and an urgent request to the authorities
to remove us as soon as might be. The Dayak episode was altogether an
unfortunate one; had the men reached us six months earlier, we should
have made a very good use of them, few though they were; but coming as
they did when we were on the point of leaving the country they merely
illustrated the uselessness of attempting to conduct an expedition from
the other side of the world.
During the next three weeks we waited for the ship with what patience
we could. By that time we were all somewhat stale and disinclined for
any exertion, and those days of waiting at Wakatimi seemed interminably
long. The only pleasant moments were when on fine evenings we could
sit outside and watch the sun go down behind the palm trees across
the river and hope each time that that would be the last. There were
times when for two or three days a strong wind blew and we could hear
the surf thundering on the beach, and we knew that even if the ship
came it could not approach the shore. Then there were false alarms of
whistles having been heard, or of boats seen coming up the river, but
our suspense at last came to an end on April 5th, when a steam-launch
towing a string of empty boats came puffing up to the camp, where
they were received with immense enthusiasm. They came from the Dutch
gunboat _Mataram_, which had been despatched to take away the native
escort, and the next day came boats from the _Zwaan_, which had come to
transport us and our men and the remaining stores of the expedition to
Amboina. There followed two days of busy loading and coming and going
of boats, during which our impatience to be off was a little allayed
by the forethought of one of the officers of the _Mataram_, who stayed
ashore with us and had brought with him that rare luxury, bread, and
one or two other welcome delicacies.
[Sidenote: DEPARTURE FROM WAKATIMI]
Before sunset on April 7th the last boat was loaded and ready to go,
and we had an amusing leave-taking with the people of Wakatimi. It
was known that we were going to depart and for some days people from
other villages had been crowding into Wakatimi. A large number of men
were waiting outside the fence of the camp, but when we invited them
to come inside they became unaccountably shy and would not venture.
So I went outside and took one bolder fellow, a man whom we knew
well, and led him by the arm to a hut, where there were a quantity
of old mosquito nets; he seized one and bolted as fast as he could
run, apparently thinking that there was something suspicious in this
unwonted generosity. Then a few more came very warily after him and
then fifty or sixty men dashed into the house and out again as soon as
they had snatched up something, it mattered not what. Most of them were
armed with spears or bows and arrows, and as there were men fighting to
get into and out of the house at the same time it was wonderful that
nobody was damaged.
When the people in Wakatimi saw what was going on in the camp they
began to yell with excitement, and in a few seconds twenty or more
canoes packed with men came paddling madly across the river; they were
so excited that some of them upset the canoes, a thing they very seldom
do, and they had to swim to the shore. For ten minutes or so the camp
was a pandemonium. About two hundred raving lunatics were dashing madly
from one house to another and carrying off boxes, sacks, mosquito nets,
cases of empty bottles, bits of iron, tables, beds, mats and everything
they could possibly move. They howled and raved and fought like wild
beasts in a manner horrible to see.
Several women came over and danced and sang in a canoe just in front
of the camp, while the crowd of people who had not been able to find a
place in the canoes shrieked from the opposite bank. When they could
carry no more, they loaded their canoes to the brim with miscellaneous
cargoes and went back across the river to the village. There they
at once began to squabble over the spoils, and the last we heard of
Wakatimi, as darkness came down, were the shrill shrieks of quarrelsome
women and the angry shouts of men.
[Sidenote: THE LAST OF NEW GUINEA]
New Guinea treated us kindly in farewell, and we steamed down the river
in a glorious starlight, the kind of night which many people think is
usual in the tropics, but is in fact most lamentably rare. We left
Cramer on board the _Mataram_ and went on to the _Zwaan_, where we
soon were lulled to sleep by the pleasant music of the screw. Early the
next morning a dull cloud on the northern horizon was our last view of
New Guinea, and before night we had reached civilisation again in the
anchorage of Dobo.
[Illustration: NEAR BULELING. ISLAND OF BALI.]
Two days later we came to the Ké Islands and went ashore to visit the
Catholic Mission at Toeal. There is nothing of great interest to see
there except the magnificent “iron wood” timber, which is cut in the
forests of the larger island, and is used for boat-building; it is
obtained in larger pieces than teak, and it is said to be equally good.
The fathers occupy themselves with carpentry and boat-building and with
teaching a class of small children. The few people whom we saw appeared
to be of a mixed Malay-Papuan race and were dressed in unspeakably
dirty clothes.
From Toeal we went on to Banda, where we spent a day of pouring rain,
a great pity, for a walk through the nutmeg woods of Banda is one of
the pleasantest excursions in the islands, and a day later we dropped
anchor in the harbour of Amboina.
It will be fitting to remark here that on the outward journey from Java
to New Guinea and on our return from the Mimika to Amboina, the members
of the expedition were the guests of the Netherlands Government. The
thanks of the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs have been conveyed
to the captains of the ships and to the other officials, who helped the
expedition in a hundred different ways.
At Amboina, where we waited a few days for the arrival of a steamer
to Singapore, we parted with Cramer, who was prevented by a sharp
attack of fever from coming with us. He was the one other man, beside
Rawling, Marshall and myself, who remained with the expedition from
the beginning to the end, and it is not paying him an empty compliment
to say that few other people would have managed more successfully than
he did to live with a party of foreigners in circumstances, which were
often exceedingly difficult.
We sailed from Amboina on April 17th in the mail steamer _Van
Riebeeck_, and amongst our fellow-passengers we found Captain Van der
Bie and Lieut. Van der Wenn (Netherlands Navy), both of whom were
returning to Java invalided from the expedition to the Island River in
New Guinea. The expedition had penetrated a long way into the interior
of the country, but all the Europeans fell ill and the expedition was
withdrawn a few months later.
After calling at Macassar we went South past the Postilion Islands to
the little known island of Sumbawa, where we went ashore for a few
hours at Sumbawa Pesar. It looked a pretty country with well-wooded
hills and level cultivated plains. We were much struck by the
appearance of the natives, who have a longer type of face and a much
fairer skin than any other of the Malay races I have seen. The men all
go armed with a _kris_, and they smoke cigars of an incredible length.
[Sidenote: ISLAND OF BALI]
From Sumbawa we steamed along the Northern shore of Lombok, from whose
Peak (12,000 feet), the clouds rolled off magnificently at sunset, and
early the next morning we came into the harbour of Buleling in the
island of Bali. There we took a native carriage (_sado_), and drove a
few miles out into the country to see a very interesting Hindu temple,
where there are some remarkable good stone carvings, which shew signs
of being carefully tended. The Hindu religion still survives, though
it cannot be said to flourish, both in this island and in Lombok. The
native villages that we saw have quite characteristic features of their
own; they are surrounded by a high mud wall with a brick coping and
are guarded by a swarm of fiercely barking dogs. Inside the wall, if
you are bold enough to enter, you find a neatly swept compound, round
the sides of which are well-made dwelling-houses, and in the middle
are granaries of rice; both the houses and the granaries are raised on
posts several feet above the ground and all are neatly thatched with
rice straw. In the corner of the compound is a place set apart for a
number of little stone shrines, some of them very elaborately carved,
in which votive offerings of flowers and fruit are placed.
The Balinese seem to be a sturdy and industrious people; they have
a free and independent appearance, very different from that of
their somewhat grovelling neighbours, the Javanese. The roads are
picturesquely lined with shady trees, and a very pleasant feature
of them is the number of little mouse-coloured ponies, which carry
panniers on a high-peaked saddle and are the coolies of Bali; most of
them have an elaborate leather harness and many carry a large number of
little bells, which make a pretty music along the roads. They appear to
be hungry little animals, and they have the rare and valuable faculty
of being able to eat out of a basket tied round their necks as they
walk along. The country, what little we saw of it, looks extremely
prosperous, and the beauty of the cultivated lands, interrupted here
and there by groves of trees and backed by mountains, is beyond dispute.
From Bali to Java is only a few hours’ steaming, and from Batavia
another ship brought us to Singapore, where we arrived on May 2nd. A
month later we landed in England and the English Expedition to Dutch
New Guinea, 1910-11, was a thing of the past.
[Sidenote: THE END]
It is not easy to put down in words what were our thoughts on our
homeward journey from the Mimika River to Plymouth Sound. Naturally
enough there were feelings of pleasant anticipation in returning to
the comforts of civilised life, and there were feelings of profound
thankfulness that we had left behind us neither our bones nor our
health, as too many others less fortunate had done. There was also
a sense of (I think pardonable) satisfaction at having accomplished
something; the surveyors had made an accurate map of a large tract of
quite unknown country; the naturalists had made valuable collections
of birds and animals, and some most interesting races of men had been
visited and studied.
But beneath these was another feeling of vague disappointment. We
had set out full of hope, if not of confidence, of reaching the Snow
Mountains, and the disappointment of not having set foot on them was
aggravated by the fact that we had been so long in sight of them. It
was exasperating beyond words to see the mountains month after month
only forty miles away and not to be able to move a foot in their
direction; to study them so that we came to know the changing patches
of lower snow and almost the very crevasses in the glaciers, and still
to be forced to be content with looking and longing for “the hills and
the snow upon the hills.”
To look for fifteen months at that great rock precipice, and those long
fields of snow untrodden yet by foot of man, to anticipate the delight
of attaining to the summits and to wonder what would be seen beyond
them on the other side, those were pleasures that kept one’s hopes
alive through long periods of dull inaction. The aching disappointment
of turning back and leaving the mountains as remote and as mysterious
as they were before words of mine cannot express; but happily there is
always comfort to be found in the reflexion that
“Some falls are means the happier to arise.”
APPENDIX A
NOTES ON THE BIRDS COLLECTED; BY THE B.O.U. EXPEDITION TO DUTCH NEW
GUINEA
BY W. R. OGILVIE-GRANT
Our knowledge of the Birds of New Guinea is based mainly on Count
T. Salvadori’s monumental work _Ornitologia della Papuasia e delle
Molluche_, which appeared in three large volumes in 1880-82, and on
his _Aggiunte_ to the above work published in three parts in 1887-89.
Since that date our knowledge of the avi-fauna has vastly increased and
a very large number of splendid Birds-of-Paradise and other remarkable
new species have been discovered.
A list of the principal works subsequently published, placed in
chronological order, will be found at the end of this chapter,
the most important papers being no doubt those by the Hon. Walter
Rothschild and Dr. E. Hartert, which have appeared from time to time
in the Tring Museum periodical _Novitates Zoologicæ_. Mr. Rothschild
is to be congratulated on the success which has attended the efforts
of his various collectors in New Guinea and on the energy which he
has displayed in obtaining birds from unknown districts of the most
interesting island in the world.
To give in a single chapter a brief and partly scientific, partly
popular, summary of the ornithological work accomplished by our
Expedition in Dutch New Guinea is a more difficult task than might be
imagined, for there is not only an immense number of species to be
dealt with, but in most instances very little is known about their
habits. The jungles of South-western New Guinea are so dense that
white men can scarcely traverse them, and most of the collecting had
to be done by the trained natives from the Malay Peninsula, kindly
supplied by Mr. H. C. Robinson, and by the Gurkhas who accompanied the
Expedition.
By dealing with each family in turn, I shall endeavour to refer to all
the more important species in the collection in their proper scientific
order, briefly describing some of the more beautiful, so that those
without any special knowledge of birds may, if they care to do so, form
some idea of the marvellous types which have been brought home from the
interior of South-western New Guinea.
It is certain that the resources of that wonderful island are not
nearly exhausted: on the contrary, every fresh collecting expedition
sent to the interior produces remarkable novelties, and large chains
of high mountains are still unexplored. The members of our Expedition
were fortunate in procuring no less than 2,200 skins of birds in
New Guinea, representing about 235 species, of which ten proved to
be new to Science. A number of new birds were also obtained by the
late Mr. Wilfred Stalker in the mountains of Ceram, which he visited
before joining the main Expedition at Amboina. His premature death by
drowning, a few days after he landed in New Guinea, was an immense
loss to the Expedition, though his place was ably filled by Mr. Claude
Grant, who worked with his characteristic zeal and enthusiasm.
It will be noticed that the great bulk of the birds inhabiting New
Guinea belong to a comparatively small number of families, but that
each of these is represented by a large number of different species,
especially in such groups as the Pigeons, Parrots, Flycatchers, and
Honey-eaters.
Amongst the Pigeons of which no fewer than twenty-seven different kinds
were obtained, it would seem as though, in some instances at least,
Nature had almost come to the end of her resources in devising new
and wonderful arrangements of colour and markings; for in some of the
smaller Fruit-Pigeons, such as _Ptilopus gestroi_ and _P. zonurus_ we
find two perfectly distinct species, occurring side by side, possessing
almost exactly the same remarkable scheme of colouration, and only
differing in certain minor points to be found in the markings of the
wing-coverts. Another very similar instance is to be seen in _Ptilopus
coronulatus_ and _P. nanus_ almost the same colours and pattern being
repeated in both.
The collection obtained by our expedition is a very valuable one,
and has added many new and interesting forms of bird-life to the
incomparable series in the Natural History Museum, to which the bulk
of the specimens have been presented by the subscribers. A large
proportion of the birds were obtained at low elevations from sea-level
to 2,000 feet, only a comparatively small number being procured at
from 3000-4000 feet. It is to be regretted that the immense physical
difficulties encountered and other causes prevented our collectors from
reaching a higher zone between 5000 and 10,000 feet, where no doubt
much of interest remains to be discovered by those who are fortunate
enough to get there.
TABLE SHOWING THE NUMBER OF SPECIES COLLECTED AND THE FAMILIES TO WHICH
THEY BELONG
No. of
Family. species.
_Corvidæ_ Crows 2
_Paradiseidæ_ Birds-of-Paradise, Bower-Birds and Manucodes 13
_Eulabetidæ_ Tree-Starlings 4
_Dicruridæ_ Drongos 2
_Oriolidæ_ Orioles 1
_Ploceidæ_ Weaver-Finches 1
_Motacillidæ_ Wagtails 2
_Meliphagidæ_ Honey-eaters 26
_Nectariniidæ_ Sun-birds 2
_Dicæidæ_ Flower-peckers 2
_Zosteropidæ_ White-eyes 1
_Laniidæ_ Shrikes 8
_Prionopidæ_ Wood-Shrikes 4
_Artamidæ_ Swallow-Shrikes 1
_Timeliidæ_ Babblers 4
_Campophagidæ_ Cuckoo-Shrikes 11
_Muscicapidæ_ Flycatchers 30
_Hirundinidæ_ Swallows 2
_Pittidæ_ Pittas or Ant-Thrushes 2
_Cuculidæ_ Cuckoos 11
_Cypselidæ_ Swifts 4
_Caprimulgidæ_ Nightjars 2
_Podargidæ_ Frog-mouths 3
_Bucerotidæ_ Hornbills 1
_Meropidæ_ Bee-eaters 1
_Coraciidæ_ Rollers 2
_Alcedinidæ_ Kingfishers 11
_Psittacidæ_ Parrots } 22
_Loriidæ_ Lories or Brush-tongued Parrots}
_Bubonidæ_ Horned and Wood-Owls 1
_Falconidæ_ Eagles and Hawks 7
_Phalacrocoracidæ_ Cormorants 1
_Anatidæ_ Ducks 2
_Ibididæ_ Ibises 1
_Ardeidæ_ Herons 4
_Œdicnemidæ_ Stone-Plovers 1
_Charadriidæ_ Plovers 8
_Laridæ_ Gulls and Terns 2
_Rallidæ_ Rails 1
_Columbidæ_ Pigeons 26
_Megapodiidæ_ Megapodes or Mound-builders 3
_Casuariidæ_ Cassowaries 3
—-
Total 235
From the above table it will be seen that out of 235 species procured,
150 are included in eight of the Families; _viz._ Birds-of-Paradise
13; Honey-eaters 26; Cuckoo-Shrikes 11; Flycatchers 30; Cuckoos, 11;
Kingfishers 11; Parrots, 22; Pigeons, 26.
FAMILY _CORVIDAÆ_—CROWS.
Though the true Crows are never brightly coloured birds, many are
extremely handsome, but this epithet cannot be applied to the
Bare-faced Crow (_Gymnocorax senex_) which is common on the Mimika
River and distributed over New Guinea generally.
The adult is brownish-black with a slight purplish or bluish gloss
on the wings, but is generally in worn and shabby plumage. Even when
freshly moulted it is rather a disreputable looking bird, its naked
pink face, pale watery blue eyes, slate-coloured bill and livid feet
adding to its dissipated appearance. Young birds in their first year’s
plumage are even plainer than their parents, being dull drab-brown
inclining to brownish-white on the head and neck, and appear to be clad
in sackcloth and ashes. They have a weak uncrow-like call pitched in a
high key and their flight is feeble and seldom sustained.
In addition to this Crow of unprepossessing appearance, there is
a handsome Raven (_Corvus orru_), much like our familiar bird but
smaller, which was met with in pairs on the coast.
FAMILY _PARADISEIDÆ_—BIRDS-OF-PARADISE AND BOWER-BIRDS.
Closely allied to the well-known Greater Bird-of-Paradise (_Paradisea
apoda_) from the Aru Islands is the New Guinea form _P. novæ-guineæ_,
the males being distinguished by their smaller size and by having the
long ornamental side-plumes of a much richer orange-yellow. Though
the call of this bird was frequently heard on the upper parts of the
Mimika, it was rarely seen; but on the Wataikwa quite a number were
procured in all stages of plumage. The species was, however, nowhere
plentiful and confined to the foot-hills.
The Pygmies often brought plumes of the Lesser Bird-of-Paradise (_P.
minor_) to Parimau and traded them with the natives, but the species
was not found on the Mimika, the Charles Louis mountains probably
forming its southern boundary.
My account of the display of that species, as witnessed in the
Zoological Gardens, Regent’s Park, will be found in the _Ibis_, 1905,
p. 429, accompanied by various drawings and a coloured plate by Mr. G.
E. Lodge. The display resembles that of the Greater Bird-of-Paradise
(_P. apoda_) and the Red Bird-of-Paradise (_P. raggiana_) and no doubt
also that of _P. novæ-guineæ_. It is a wonderful and beautiful sight to
see these birds erect their splendid side-plumes in an arch over the
back, which is concealed in a shivering cascade of colour, orange and
white, or red according to the species.
Numbers of the beautiful little King Bird-of-Paradise (_Cicinnurus
regius_) were brought home in all stages of plumage from the young to
the fully adult male, with its scarlet head, shading into glittering
carmine on the back and wings and into purplish-carmine on the throat,
which is bordered below by a rich dark green band. The sides of the
chest are ornamented with fan-like arrangements of grey feathers
tipped with glittering golden green; the breast and the rest of the
under-parts are of the purest white: the outer tail-feathers are
earthy-brown edged with orange-red, while the middle pair, which cross
one another, have the bare shafts enormously lengthened, and terminate
in a tightly curled disc, golden green above and reddish-brown beneath.
These beautiful ornaments are seen to the greatest advantage when
the King is displaying, the green-tipped fan-like feathers on the
sides and the white feathers of the breast being spread out to form a
circular shield in front of the bird, while the green metallic discs
of the long middle tail-feathers are erected and waved overhead. An
interesting description of the display of this species is given by Sir
William Ingram in the _Ibis_, 1907, p. 225, with a coloured plate and
figures drawn by Mr. G. E. Lodge from a living specimen.
Mr. Walter Goodfellow made an interesting observation on the habits of
this species. While watching some Pigeons on the opposite bank of the
river through his glasses he saw a small bird rise from the top of a
tree and soar into the air like a Sky-Lark. After it had risen about 30
feet, it suddenly seemed to collapse and dropped back into the tree as
though it had been shot. It proved to be a King Bird-of-Paradise and
probably this soaring habit is a part of the display not indulged in by
captive birds confined in comparatively small cages.
A Rifle-Bird (_Ptilorhis magnifica_) was fairly common both on the
coast and near the mountains and its call consisting of two long-drawn
notes, one ascending, the other descending, might be heard at all
hours of the day. Its plumage is mostly velvety black on the head and
upper-parts, but the crown, middle of the throat and chest, as well as
the middle pair of tail-feathers, are metallic blue and a bronze-green
band separates the chest from the deep purplish-maroon under-parts. The
outer flight feathers are curiously pointed and strongly falcate and
some of the side-feathers terminate in long, narrow decomposed plumes.
The long curved bill and the legs are black, while the inside of the
mouth is pale apple-green as is the case in several other species of
Paradise-Birds.
Though a well-known species, we must not omit to mention the splendid
Twelve-wired Bird-of-Paradise (_Seleucides niger_). The plumage of the
male is like dark brown plush shot with bronze-green on the back and
deep violet on the wings, while the long dark breast-feathers are
edged with rich metallic emerald-green. The long ornamental side-plumes
and the rest of the under-parts are beautiful bright cinnamon-yellow
when freshly moulted, but this colour is so volatile that it soon fades
to nearly white in skins which have been kept for a few years. The
shafts of six of the long side-plumes on either side extend far beyond
the vane of the feather and look like twelve recurved wires, hence
the bird’s popular name. The eye is crimson, the bill black, the gape
bright apple-green, and the legs and toes yellowish flesh-colour.
The Expedition procured three examples of a new form of _Parotia_ or
Six-plumed Paradise-Bird on the Iwaka River, but unfortunately did not
succeed in shooting a fully adult male. Simultaneously A. S. Meek, who
was collecting for Mr. Rothschild, procured specimens of the same bird
on the Oetakwa River a few miles to the east, but he likewise did not
secure the fully adult male. The species has been named _Parotia carolæ
meeki_ by Mr. Rothschild.
The plumage of this bird is like brownish-black plush and equally soft
to the touch. The head is ornamented very wonderfully; on either side
behind the eye there are three long racket-like plumes on long bare
shafts, (a character common to all the members of this remarkable
genus of Paradise-Birds): the middle of the crown is of a beautiful
“old” gold colour in a setting of silvery white and golden brown: on
the occiput there is a marvellous patch of stiff metal-like feathers,
golden-green bordered with deep violet; the sides of the head before
and behind the eye are golden-brown, the chin and upper part of the
throat deep brown, and the lower part whitish, spotted with rufous.
A lovely metallic breast-plate of bronze-green and violet feathers
with dark middles covers the chest and the long flank-feathers are
white. The two outer flight feathers are curiously attenuated near the
extremity and terminate in a sharp point, the shaft bearing only a very
narrow web. No doubt all these ornaments are displayed in a similar
manner to those of _P. lawesi_ from British New Guinea, males of which
have been living for some years in the Zoological Gardens, Regent’s
Park.
Another very handsome species is the Golden-winged _Diphyllodes
chrysoptera_. The male has the bill and a bare space behind the eye
bluish-white, the inside of the mouth apple-green and the feet Prussian
blue. The head is clad in short velvety reddish-brown feathers with
two metallic green spots between the eyes; the nape bears a frill of
lengthened brown-tipped plumes; the mantle is light golden-yellow like
spun glass and forms a lengthened tippet; the inner secondary quills
and shoulder-feathers are orange-yellow, and the back carmine and dull
orange shading into sooty black on the upper tail-coverts. The throat
is deep velvety brown, the neck and breast rich dark green bordered
below with metallic bluish-green, and with a row of metallic green
bars like steps down the middle of the neck and chest; the rest of the
under-parts are black. The short outer tail-feathers are sooty brown,
while the middle pair which cross one another are very long and narrow
and of a metallic bluish-green. The female is very soberly clad, dull
brown above and narrowly barred with brown and buff below.
The Bower-Birds have received their name from their peculiar habit of
constructing bowers or runs where the males meet to play or pay their
court to the females. The bowers are built long before the birds begin
to build their nests which are placed in trees.
One of the most noteworthy species procured by the Expedition was the
gorgeously coloured Bower-Bird, _Xanthomelus ardens_. The male has the
eye yellow and the head, sides of the neck and mantle orange-scarlet,
the feathers of the latter being very long and loose and forming
a dense cape; the rest of the plumage is orange-yellow above and
golden-yellow below: the ends of the quills and the tail-feathers,
being black.
The female has the iris brown and is more sombrely clad, the head and
upper-parts, including the wings and tail, being earthy-brown, while
the under-parts, under wing-coverts and wing-lining, are yellow, like
those of the male, but less bright.
This beautiful species was originally described from an imperfect
native-made skin obtained by the Italian naturalist, D’Albertis, on
the Fly River. Subsequently, Dr. H. A. Lorentz shot two adult males on
the Noord River, which were described and figured by Dr. Van Oort. Our
expedition was fortunate enough to secure not only adult males, but
also the immature male and adult female, these latter being hitherto
unknown.
The display of the male bird must be a very beautiful sight, his
scarlet cape being no doubt erected, and forming a great hood over the
head.
Among the Bower-Birds, one of the most interesting was a remarkable
female example of a species of _Chlamydodera_ procured on the Kamura
River. Unlike any of the allied forms, it has the under-surface washed
with yellow, and appears to be the female of _C. lauterbachi_, of which
the brilliantly coloured male was described by Dr. Reichenow from an
example procured in German New Guinea.
The male has the crown and sides of the face golden-orange, the
upper-parts olive-brown, edged with yellowish, and the under-parts
bright yellow. It is a very striking bird and much the most brightly
coloured member of the genus.
Though the two specimens were obtained in localities so far apart,
there seems to be no reason why they should not be male and female of
the same species. The female obtained by the Expedition possesses many
characteristics in common with the male type of _C. lauterbachi_ and
the differences in plumage are just what one would expect to find in
the female of that species.
The beautiful Cat-bird (_Ælurœdus stonei_) was fairly plentiful, and
is remarkable on account of its peculiar colouring. The cap is brown,
the back grass-green, and the neck and under-parts buff, spotted with
black, or green on the longer flank-feathers. The eye is hazel and the
bill and legs slate-blue. The sexes are alike in plumage. It derives
its popular name from its peculiar hissing alarm note, not unlike the
sound made by an angry cat.
Of the Manucodes, four different kinds were met with. They are all
crow-like birds with brilliant metallic black plumage glossed with
purple, green or blue, and form a link between the Paradise-Birds and
the true Crows. The Purple-and-Violet Manucode (_Phonygama jamesi_) is
distinguished by possessing tufts of long, narrow metallic green plumes
behind the eye, and by having the neck-feathers similarly lengthened;
while the other three belonging to the genus _Manucodia_ have the head
and neck covered with short curly feathers. These curly-headed species
are much alike in general appearance, but _M. orientalis_ has the short
curly feathers on the chest and breast glittering golden-green, while
in _M. jobiensis_ and _M. altera_ the same parts are dark steel-blue.
_Inter se_ the two latter kinds differ considerably, both structurally
and in colour. _M. jobiensis_ is smaller and has the feathers of
the throat rounded and crinkled, and the upper-parts glossed with
a strong shade of violet; while _M. altera_ is larger and has the
throat-feathers short but rather pointed, and the general colour above
purplish-blue or steel-blue.
In most of the Manucodes the trachea is very long and convoluted, that
of the Purple-and-Violet species possessing no fewer than twelve coils
which lie between the skin and the pectoral muscles. In spite of this
marvellous instrument its cries are not nearly so loud as those of the
Birds-of-Paradise of the genus _Paradisea_.
Mr. Claude Grant discovered a nest of _M. altera_ with two eggs at
Parimau, an interesting find, as no properly authenticated eggs of that
species had hitherto been obtained.
FAMILY _EULABETIDÆ_—TREE-STARLINGS.
Among the smaller Glossy Starlings we must specially mention a new
species, _Calornis mystacea_, discovered by the Expedition. It has the
plumage purplish-bronze and is especially remarkable in having long
semi-erect plumes on the forehead as well as long neck-hackles. Three
specimens were obtained flying in company with large flocks of _C.
metallica_, a rather widely distributed species, which ranges to North
Australia, the Moluccas and the Solomon Islands.
The Grackles or Talking Starlings are represented by two lovely
species, the first being the well-known Dumont’s Grackle (_Mino
dumonti_) a dark glossy greenish-black bird with a yellow belly and
white under tail-coverts. It has a brown eye surrounded by a large
naked orange patch partially covered with short stiff filaments. The
second species Robertson’s Golden Grackle (_Melanopyrrhus robertsoni_)
is an equally handsome, but much rarer bird, and the fine series of
adults obtained by the Expedition proves that it is a species quite
distinct from _M. orientalis_, the form found in British New Guinea
which has a large black patch on the occiput.
Robertson’s Grackle has the cheeks and upper part of the throat, as
well as the back, wings and breast, black glossed with green; the rest
of the head, neck and chest, as well as the lower back, rump, upper
tail-coverts and belly, are orange-yellow. In the adult there is no
trace of a black patch on the occiput, but the quite young bird has the
entire crown black and specimens which have not assumed the fully adult
plumage and still retain some black feathers on the occiput might be
mistaken for _M. orientalis_. That they have been is proved by the fact
that Count Salvadori and many others have regarded _M. robertsoni_,
Sharpe, as a synonym of _M. orientalis_, Schlegel, but they are really
quite distinct.
A few very high trees left standing near the huts at Wakatimi were
the resort, morning and evening, of these Starlings and various other
species of birds. For a long time during the hot mid-day hours Mr.
Goodfellow had observed that some bird, possessing a remarkably sweet
Thrush-like song, rested there, and, after many days of watching, he
found it to be Robertson’s Golden Grackle. He says that the notes of
this Starling would not pass unnoticed, even in countries where the
birds, as a rule, have sweeter voices than those inhabiting New Guinea.
FAMILY _DICRURIDÆ_—DRONGOS.
The Drongos, small Crow-like Flycatchers with pugnacious habits, are
represented in the collection by two species—_Chibia carbonaria_ and
_Chælorhynchus papuensis_.
FAMILY _ORIOLIDÆ_—ORIOLES.
The Orioles are represented by one species only, _Mimeta striata_,
belonging to the dull coloured brown-backed group with heavily
streaked under-parts and the sexes alike in plumage. It was commonest
in the mangrove swamps near the coast.
FAMILY _PLOCEIDÆ_—WEAVER-BIRDS.
This widely distributed group of Weaver-Finches is not very numerous in
New Guinea and the only representative met with was a small species,
_Munia tristissima_, which was common in the clearing round the camp at
Wakatimi.
FAMILY _MOTACILLIDÆ_—WAGTAILS.
The Grey Wagtail (_Motacilla melanope_) and the Blue-headed Wagtail
(_M. flava_) were both met with on the Mimika and other rivers. It
is interesting to note that both species are included in the British
List, the former being a regular breeding-species in our islands. The
birds wintering in far-off New Guinea, no doubt formed part of the
eastern colonies of these species which nest in Siberia and visit the
Indo-Malayan Islands in winter.
FAMILY _MELIPHAGIDÆ_—HONEY-EATERS.
The Honey-eaters are very numerously represented in South-western New
Guinea and no fewer than twenty-seven species were met with by our
Expedition.
The family is divided in two sections, the first including the
comparatively brightly coloured genus _Myzomela_ the members of which
resemble true Sun-birds (_Nectariniidæ_) in general appearance.
Seven species were met with; the most brilliantly coloured being _M.
cruentata_ which has the plumage of the body scarlet and the wings
washed with the same colour, another species _M. obscura_ has the
entire plumage smoky-grey, and four forms are intermediate between
these two types of colouration, being partly scarlet and partly grey.
The seventh is a very small and very rare species (_Œdistoma
pygmæum_), which was described by Count Salvadori from the Arfak
Peninsula.
The other section contains a number of larger species, mostly with
dull greenish or brownish plumage and nearly all with a yellow tuft or
patch on the ear-coverts. Though rather uninteresting-looking birds
several are really of great scientific value, being new to the National
Collection, and one, _Ptilotis mimikæ_ proved to be new to Science.
The largest form is the curious Friar-bird (_Philemon novæ-guineæ_)
with the bare sides of the face and neck black and a swollen knob on
the base of the bill. It was generally met with in pairs and inhabited
the tops of the tallest forest trees whence its peculiar cry might
constantly be heard.
FAMILY _NECTARINIIDÆ_—SUN-BIRDS.
The Sun-birds are represented by two species _Cinnyris aspasiæ_ and _C.
frenata_. The male of the former is deep black with a dark metallic
green cap, shoulders and lower back, and purple throat, while the
female is olive above, and dull yellow below, with a grey head and
throat. The latter species is dull yellow above, brilliant yellow
below, with a purple throat in the male, which is absent in the female.
Mr. Goodfellow tells us that among the riot of parasitic plants which
covered the trees a few Sun-birds and Honey-eaters might always be
seen. The nests of the former, suspended from fallen and partially
submerged dead trees, were continuously swinging from side to side,
the strong current in the river keeping the trees in perpetual motion.
These nests might easily be mistaken for a handful of drift left there
by the river.
FAMILY _DICÆIDÆ_—FLOWER-PECKERS.
_Dicæum diversum_ and _Melanocharis chloroptera_, a dull-looking
greenish-grey species described by Count Salvadori, were the only
Flower-peckers met with. They are small Tit-like birds allied to the
Sun-birds, but with a short bill serrated along the edges of the
mandibles. Both species were very common everywhere except on the coast
and were extremely tame.
FAMILY _ZOSTEROPIDÆ_—WHITE-EYES.
_Zosterops chrysolæma_, a beautiful little species with the upper-parts
golden-olive, the throat and under tail-coverts yellow, and the breast
and belly pure white, was the only species met with of this most
numerous and widely distributed group. The popular name White-eye is
derived from the ring of tiny white plumes which encircles the eye in
all. They resemble Titmice both in their mode of life and notes. The
only pair observed were met with on the Iwaka River, and the species is
probably more numerous in the higher parts of the mountains.
FAMILY _LANIIDÆ_—SHRIKES.
The large Shrike-like birds with powerful hooked bills known as the
Piping-Crows are represented by two members of the genus _Cracticus_;
_C. cassicus_, a black and white species, and _C. quoyi_, with
uniform black plumage. Both are much like their well-known Australian
representatives, but smaller. _C. cassicus_ was much the commoner bird
and was generally observed feeding on berries and fruits in high trees,
its actions being very Crow-like.
The Pachycephaline group of birds allied to the true Shrikes is
represented by half-a-dozen species, two of which proved to be
undescribed: a grey form with a white throat _Pachycephala approximans_
and a black species with a white breast and belly, _P. dorsalis_.
Brilliantly coloured orange-yellow and black, or orangeyellow and
grey species were represented by _Pachycephala aurea_ and _Pachychare
flavogrisea_.
FAMILY _PRIONOPIDÆ_—WOOD-SHRIKES.
This group is represented by _Rhectes cristatus_ and _R. ferrugineus_
in which both sexes are rufous and by _R. nigripectus_ with the
sexes different, the male being partly black and partly chestnut.
_Pinarolestes megarhynchus_, an allied species with the sexes alike,
is brown above and dull rufous below. Some of these Wood-Shrikes lay
peculiar looking eggs of a long oval shape and large for the size of
the bird. The ground-colour is purplish- or pinkish-grey with scattered
spots or small blotches of dark purplish-brown or maroon-brown, often
blurred at the edges and running into the ground-colour. These eggs
have on several occasions been palmed off on travellers in British New
Guinea as eggs of the Red Bird-of-Paradise, which they do not in any
way resemble.
FAMILY _ARTAMIDÆ_—SWALLOW-SHRIKES.
These birds which closely resemble Swallows in their mode of life are
represented by one species only, _Artamus leucopygialis_, a grey bird
with the breast and rump white. It was common along the coast, and was
generally seen either perched on some dead tree or skimming swiftly
over the sands.
FAMILY _TIMELIIDÆ_—BABBLERS.
We now come to the Timeline group of birds: of these we may mention two
striking-looking species of _Eupetes_. One, _E. nigricrissus_, with the
plumage slate-blue and the throat white, edged with black, was met with
on the Mimika; the other, _E. pulcher_, was only seen further east on
the Wataikwa River. It is very similar to the above, but has the crown
and back rich-chestnut, instead of slate. Both species are ground-birds
and usually found in pairs; they are rather difficult to procure as,
when disturbed, they instantly conceal themselves among the trunks of
the trees and vegetation. The Scimitar Babblers were represented by the
reddish-brown _Pomatorhinus isidori_.
FAMILY _CAMPOPHAGIDÆ_—CUCKOO-SHRIKES.
The Cuckoo-Shrikes are well represented in the collection, no fewer
than eleven species having been obtained. They belong to four genera
and vary much in colour: the large _Graucalus cæruleogrisea_ has
the entire plumage bluish-grey, except the axillaries and under
wing-coverts which are pale cinnamon and the male has a black patch in
front of eye. Another genus _Edoliisoma_ is represented by _E. melas_
of which the male is entirely black, and the female chestnut and brown.
A very attractive and brilliantly coloured species is _Campochæra
sloetii_, forming a marked contrast to other members of the group. The
greater part of its plumage is orange-yellow, the forehead white, the
middle of the crown yellow and the wings black and white; the male has
the cheeks, throat and chest black glossed with dull green, while in
the female these parts are dull grey. Several examples of this very
rare Cuckoo-Shrike were procured on the Mimika River. It is no doubt
most nearly allied to the Minivets (_Pericrocotus_) which inhabit the
Indo-Chinese countries and islands, the predominant colour of most of
the males being scarlet and of the females yellow.
FAMILY _MUSCICAPIDÆ_—FLYCATCHERS.
Flycatchers are very numerously represented and among them two
new forms were discovered, a Fantailed Flycatcher (_Rhipidura
streptophora_) and a broad-billed species _Myiagra mimikæ_. Among the
more notable forms we may mention _Monarcha aruensis_, a brilliant
yellow and black species; _Todopsis bonapartei_, the male being vivid
ultramarine-blue, purple and black, while the female differs in
having the back and sides dark chestnut and the breast mostly white;
lastly _Peltops blainvillei_, a black bird with the rump, vent and
tail-coverts scarlet, a large white patch on each side of the head and
another on the middle of the mantle; the sexes are alike in plumage.
The Fan-tailed Flycatchers were commonly seen on the Mimika River
in May and June when numbers were busy hawking the canary-coloured
May-flies which swarmed at that time.
The Black-and-white Flycatcher (_Malurus alboscapulatus_) frequented
the tall grasses near the camp on the Wataikwa River. It was a
delightful little bird, very tame and might constantly be seen crossing
the open spaces with an undulating flight.
FAMILY _HIRUNDINIDÆ_—SWALLOWS.
Two species of Swallows were met with _Hirundo javanica_ and _H.
gutturalis_.
FAMILY _PITTIDÆ_—PITTAS OR ANT-THRUSHES.
Of the Ant-Thrushes or Pittas two species were met with, both
brilliantly plumaged birds. _Pitta mackloti_ which was far the commoner
of the two, has a dark crown, reddish-chestnut nape, and greenish-blue
upper-parts; the throat is black, the chest shining greyish-blue and
the breast and belly scarlet, divided from the chest by a wide black
band.
The other species, _Pitta novæ-guineæ_, which was much less frequently
met with, has the head and neck black and the rest of the plumage
dark green washed with bluish on the breast, which is black down the
middle. The shoulders are shining silvery-blue and the vent and under
tail-coverts scarlet.
These long-legged Thrush-like birds are entirely terrestrial in their
habits and frequent the depths of the forests. They can hop with great
agility and escape on the slightest alarm, but are easily taken in
snares.
FAMILY _CUCULIDÆ_—CUCKOOS.
Among the Cuckoos, the largest is a species of “Crow-pheasant” or
“Lark-heeled” Cuckoo, _Centropus menebiki_, a bird of black plumage
glossed with dark green, with a large whitish-horn bill and heavy
slate-coloured legs and toes.
An allied, but smaller and rarer species, _C. bernsteini_, was met
with near the mouth of the Mimika. It is very similar in plumage to
the above, but is easily distinguished by its smaller size, black
bill and long, nearly straight hind-claw. Both are almost entirely
ground-birds of skulking habits. Several other species of Cuckoo were
met with, and among these _Cuculus micropterus_, the eastern form of
the Common Cuckoo, closely resembling our familiar bird. The rarest
species obtained was _Microdynamis parva_, a remarkable little Cuckoo
about the size of a Thrush, first described by Count Salvadori in 1875.
The origin of the type specimen is uncertain, but it is believed to
have been obtained by Beccari in the Moluccas. Subsequently, Dr. H. O.
Forbes procured female examples in the Astrolabe Mountains. Mr. Claude
Grant obtained an adult male and female which form a valuable addition
to the National Collection. The general plumage is brown, but in the
male the top of the head and the malar stripe are black, glossed with
steel-blue and the cheeks and throat are cinnamon. In both sexes the
bill is short, thick and curved. The male has the eye bright red, while
in the female it is hazel.
FAMILY _CYPSELIDÆ_—SWIFTS.
The Swifts, though of especial interest, are not very numerously
represented in the collection. The commonest species was that known as
the Esculent Swiftlet (_Collocalia fuciphaga_) which produces the best
kind of edible nest.
A very interesting discovery was the existence in New Guinea of the
large fork-tailed species _Collocalia whiteheadi_ originally described
by myself from the highlands of Luzon, Philippine Islands.
A remarkable Spine-tailed Swift (_Chætura novæ-guineæ_) is new to the
National Collection. It was fairly common on the Mimika River and
originally described by Count Salvadori from specimens procured by
D’Albertis on the Fly River.
A pair of the magnificent Moustached Swift (_Macropteryx mystacea_)
with a wing expanse of more than two feet were also procured. The
plumage of this bird is mostly grey, but the crown, wings, and long
deeply-forked tail are black glossed with purplish-blue. The eye-brows
and moustache-stripes as well as the scapulars are white, the two
former being composed of lengthened, narrow, pointed plumes. The male
has a small chestnut spot behind the ear-coverts which is absent in the
female. The nesting-habits of this species are very curious, it makes a
very small exposed half-saucer-shaped nest of bark and feathers gummed
by saliva to a branch or stump barely large enough to contain the
single white egg, and ridiculously small in comparison with the size of
the bird. When incubating, the greater part of the bird’s body must
rest on the branch to which the nest is attached.
FAMILIES _CAPRIMULGIDÆ_ AND _PODARGIDÆ_—NIGHTJARS AND FROG-MOUTHS.
The common Nightjar of the country found along the shingly banks of
the rivers was _Caprimulgus macrurus_, a widely distributed species.
After the ground had been cleared for the base camp at Wakatimi it was
visited every evening by a number of Nightjars, which no doubt found
such a large open space an admirable hunting-ground and the members
of the Expedition derived great pleasure from watching their graceful
evolutions. Another very rare Nightjar was _Lyncornis papuensis_,
not previously included in the National Collection. Frog-mouths were
represented by the larger species _Podargus papuensis_ and the smaller,
_P. ocellatus_. At some of the stopping places on the river night was
made hideous by their mournful cries repeated to distraction on every
side, and ending up with a sharp snap.
A single example of the rare Wallace’s Owlet-Nightjar (_Ægotheles
wallacei_) was collected by Mr. G. C. Shortridge on the Wataikwa River.
It has a peculiar uniform blackish upper plumage, without any trace of
a distinct nuchal collar. No doubt, like its Australian ally, it roosts
in holes in trees during the daytime and captures its prey on the wing
at night, like the true Nightjars, though the flight is said to be less
tortuous.
FAMILY _BUCEROTIDÆ_—HORNBILLS.
The only representative of the _Bucerotidæ_ is the Wreathed Hornbill
(_Rhytidoceros plicatus_) a large bird with a casque formed of
overlapping plates on the base of the upper mandible. The male is
black with the head and neck chestnut and the tail white, while the
female differs in having the head and neck black. It was plentiful
everywhere and its flesh was reported to be good eating. It frequented
the fruit-bearing trees in company with various species of Pigeons and
Mr. Claude Grant on one or two occasions observed pairs at what he
took to be their nesting-holes high up in the bare trunks of very tall
trees. Their heavy noisy flight and raucous call, continually repeated,
renders these birds difficult to overlook.
FAMILY _MEROPIDÆ_—BEE-EATERS.
A species of Bee-eater, _Merops ornata_, was common about the base
camp. It ranges to Australia, the Moluccas and westwards to the Lesser
Sunda group. Mr. Goodfellow says it swarmed in some places after the
month of April; though previous to that date none had been met with.
FAMILY _CORACIIDÆ_—ROLLERS.
Two species of Rollers inhabit the Mimika district _Eurystomus
crassirostris_, a greenish-blue species with brilliant ultramarine
throat, quills and tail-feathers and vermilion bill and feet; and
a smaller species _E. australis_ with brownish-green upper-parts,
verditer-blue breast and bluish-green bases to the tail-feathers.
Both Bee-eaters and Rollers were common in flocks along the banks of
the Mimika during April and May when preying on the canary-coloured
May-fly, which swarmed on the waters at that season.
FAMILY _ALCEDINIDÆ_—KINGFISHERS.
Kingfishers were well represented in the Mimika district and Mr.
Goodfellow says that the Sacred Kingfisher (_Halcyon sanctus_) was
undoubtedly the most conspicuous bird about the base camp, where
its harsh cry could be heard all through the hot hours of the day.
The huts and storehouses were infested by myriads of black crickets,
which take the place of the cockroaches found in other countries
and commit fearful havoc among stores and personal possessions. The
constant packing up of goods to send up river drove thousands of these
insects to seek shelter in other parts of the camp, and, at such times,
Kingfishers became very tame and darted in and out among the buildings,
taking advantage of the feast thus afforded. Mr. Claude Grant shot a
single specimen of the lovely Kingfisher _H. nigrocyanea_, the only one
obtained. It has the crown, wings, upper tail-coverts, tail, and breast
dark ultramarine blue, the rump cobalt-blue, the throat and a band
across the breast pure white, and the remainder of the plumage black.
Another species met with at the base camp was _H. macleayi_ with purple
head, wings and tail, verditer-blue back, white lores, collar and
under-parts, and cinnamon flanks. Only one example of this fine bird
was procured. Others were the dark purplish-blue and chestnut _Alcyone
lessoni_, about the size of our Common Kingfisher and the much smaller
_A. pusilla_ similarly coloured above, but with the under-parts pure
white.
_Ceyx solitaria_, a closely allied species, with purple spangled
upper-parts and cinnamon-yellow under-parts was also found on the
Mimika and Mr. Goodfellow was surprised to find this diminutive
species which he had believed to be exclusively a fish-eater, greedily
devouring a canary-coloured May-fly which swarmed on the waters of the
Mimika during April and May.
On the river a few specimens of the large “Jackass” Kingfisher
(_Dacelo intermedia_) were obtained, but the species was by no
means common. The most conspicuous bird was Gaudichaud’s Kingfisher
(_Sauromarptis gaudichaudi_) and its loud grating call might be heard
in all directions. The adult is a very handsome bird, the black
of the upper-parts being relieved by the electric-blue tips to the
wing-coverts and feathers of the lower back and rump, the wings and
tail are washed with dull purplish-blue, the throat is white and
extends in a buff collar round the neck, the under wing-coverts are
buff and the breast and rest of the under-parts deep chestnut. The
natives brought numbers of the half-fledged young of this species
to the base camp during May and June and many were purchased by
the Javanese soldiers and convicts; but as they fed them on boiled
rice only, their lives were brief. The great Shoe-billed Kingfisher
(_Clytoceyx_) was not met with by the members of our Expedition, but
Dr. Van Oort has described a new form which he calls _Clytoceyx rex
imperator_, from a specimen procured by Dr. Lorentz on the Noord River.
Another large species, _Melidora macrorhinus_, with a curious brown
spotted plumage above was not uncommon; it usually frequented the lower
branches and undergrowth within a few feet of the ground and when
disturbed merely mounted to a more conspicuous perch.
The lovely Racquet-tailed species of the genus _Tanysiptera_ were not
procured, though Dr. H. A. Lorentz met with a specimen on the Noord
River.
FAMILIES _PSITTACIDÆ_ AND _LORIIDÆ_—PARROTS AND LORIES.
Another very numerously represented group is the Parrots of which
twenty-two different species were procured, varying in size from the
Great Black Cockatoo (_Microglossus aterrimus_), which is about the
size of a Raven and has an enormously powerful bill, to the tiny
Pygmy Parrot (_Nasiterna keiensis_) which is about the size of a
Golden-crested Wren. This latter species has recently been described
by Mr. Walter Rothschild as new, under the name of _Nasiterna
viridipectus_ from specimens obtained by A. S. Meek in the Oetakwa
district, but they do not seem to differ from the birds found on the
Kei and Aru Islands and also in the neighbourhood of the Fly River. The
plumage is green, paler below, the crown dull orange, the shoulders
spotted with black, the middle-tail feathers blue and the outer pairs
black with yellow and green tips. A few solitary Black Cockatoos might
be seen on the lower River, sitting on the tops of the highest trees;
their loud whistle always attracted attention and even on their high
perches their red faces and erect crests were conspicuous. The Common
Cockatoo of the country was _Cacatua triton_, a moderate sized species
with a yellow crest which was met with in small numbers throughout the
mangrove belt, but it was a shy bird and when approached always flew
away, screaming. Lories of different kinds were numerous and included
some of the most brilliantly coloured species, _Lorius erythrothorax_
combining in its plumage black, crimson, scarlet, purple, blue, green
and bright yellow. The adult has the under wing-coverts uniform scarlet
in marked contrast to the bright yellow inner webs of the primary
quills, but in younger birds the smaller under wing-coverts are mottled
with scarlet, blue, black, green and yellow and the long outer series
are yellow with greyish-black ends, making a dark band at the base of
the quills. In this stage the bird has been described by Dr. A. B.
Meyer as _Lorius salvadorii_.
A less brilliantly coloured and more common species in the
neighbourhood of the Mimika was _Eos fuscatus_ which has the general
colour above sooty-black shaded on the middle of the crown, neck, etc.
with reddish-orange and the under-parts widely banded with scarlet.
A lovely species with a longer tail was _Trichoglossus cyanogrammus_
which is green with a blue face and greenish-yellow collar, and has the
scarlet chest-feathers edged with purple, while the belly and flanks
are yellow barred with green.
The tiniest Lory is _Loriculus meeki_, a minute species, about the
size of a Blue Titmouse, with brilliant green plumage, orange-yellow
forehead, and the rump and upper tail-coverts as well as a spot on the
throat scarlet. The female differs in having the forehead and cheeks
verditer-green.
The genus _Geoffroyus_ is represented by two species: the commoner _G.
aruensis_ with the plumage green, the male having the crown and nape
violet-blue and the rest of the head and neck scarlet, while in the
female these parts are brown; also the much rarer _G. simplex_ which is
entirely green with a dull lilac blue ring round the neck. This latter
is a very rare bird in collections, but was seen on the higher parts
of the mountains above the Iwaka River in flocks of upwards of twenty
individuals.
Other small and brilliantly coloured species of Lories are
_Charmosynopsis pulchella_ and _C. multistriata_, the latter a
remarkable new species with green plumage, and the whole of the
under-parts streaked with bright yellow. It was recently described
by Mr. Rothschild from a male, shot by A. S. Meek on the Oetakwa
River; a second specimen, a female, was obtained on the Mimika by
Mr. Goodfellow. We must also mention _Chalcopsittacus scintillans_,
_Hypocharmosyna placens_, _Charmosyna josephinæ_, the rare
_Glossopsittacus goldiei_, and three species of _Cyclopsittacus_, viz.
_C. melanogenys_, which is green with a white throat, black cheeks,
deep orange breast, and ultramarine wings; _C. diophthalmus_; and _C.
godmani_, a new and handsome species with the general colour green,
the head and nape orange-scarlet, the upper mantle orange-yellow, the
cheeks covered with long, pointed, yellowish feathers, and the chest
verditer-blue.
Behind the camp at Wakatimi lay a swamp which Mr. Goodfellow tells
us was every night the roosting-place of thousands of Lories, chiefly
_Eos fuscatus_, and there were also smaller flocks of _Trichoglossus
cyanogrammus_. Long before sunset and until it was quite dusk flocks
of many hundred birds coming from all directions flew over with a
deafening noise. Often some weak branch would give way under their
weight, causing a panic just as the noise was beginning to subside,
and clouds of these birds would again circle around, seeking a fresh
roosting place and keeping up a continual din.
One of the most peculiar Parrots, and bearing a marked external
resemblance to the Kea of New Zealand, is the Vulturine Parrot
(_Dasyptilus pesqueti_) which has the black skin of the face almost
entirely bare, the plumage black and scarlet on the wings, rump and
belly, the breast feathers having pale sandy margins. Its hoarse,
grating call, quite unlike that of any other species, could be heard
a long way off, and was continually uttered when on the wing. Mr.
Goodfellow says it usually moves about in parties of four or five
individuals, and that occasionally as many as seven may be seen
together. When not feeding they always select the tallest trees to
rest in, preferring dead ones which tower about the general level of
the jungle, and in which they remain for hours at a time in rain or
sunshine. They do not climb after the usual manner of Parrots, but jump
from branch to branch with a jerky movement, like the Lories, and with
a rapid flicking movement of the wings. They feed entirely on soft
fruits, chiefly wild figs. Apparently the species feeds on the plains
and retires to the mountains to roost, for every evening flocks or
pairs were observed passing high over the camp at Parimau, and making
their way towards the Saddle-peak range.
A handsome new Parroquet of the genus _Aprosmictus_ was discovered, and
has been named _A. wilhelminæ_, in honour of the Queen of Holland. The
male has the head, neck and under-parts scarlet, the wings green, with
a pale yellow green band across the coverts, the mantle and back mostly
deep purplish-blue, and the tail black tinged with purplish.
Finally, the Eclectus Parrot (_Eclectus pectoralis_) was common. The
remarkable difference in the colouration of the sexes might lead some
to believe that they belonged to quite different species, the male
being mostly green with scarlet sides and under wing-coverts, while
the female is maroon with the head, neck and breast scarlet, and the
mantle, belly, sides and under wing-coverts blue.
FAMILIES _BUBONIDÆ_ AND _STRIGIDÆ_—WOOD-OWLS AND BARN-OWLS.
The only Owl of which examples were obtained was a small species of
Brown Hawk-Owl (_Ninox theomaca_), with the upper-parts, back, wings
and tail uniform dark brown, and the under-parts deep chestnut. It was
a strictly nocturnal species, and confined to the jungle along the
base of the mountains, where its weird double call “yon-yon” might
constantly be heard after dark.
A form of the Barn-Owl (_Strix novæ-hollandiæ_), which occurs in the
district, was not obtained by the Expedition.
FAMILY _FALCONIDÆ_—EAGLES AND HAWKS.
New Guinea possesses a very remarkable Harpy-Eagle (_Harpyopsis
novæ-guineæ_) allied to the Harpy Eagles of America and to the Great
Monkey-eating Eagle (_Pithecophaga jefferyi_) which inhabits the
forests of the Philippine Islands. The New Guinea bird is like a
large Goshawk, having a long tail and comparatively short and rounded
wings; the feet are armed with very powerful claws, but in strength
and power it is far inferior to its great Philippine ally or to the
still more powerful species inhabiting Central America. Mr. Claude
Grant says that this species was seldom met with; it has a rather
loud cry and a beautiful soaring flight, often in ascending circles.
Besides this large Eagle, two species of Goshawk _Astur etorques_
and _A. poliocephalus_ were met with, likewise a small chestnut and
white Brahminy Kite (_Haliastur girrenera_). A small Sparrow-Hawk was
obtained near the mouth of the Mimika River, but being in immature
plumage its identification is at present uncertain. Reinwardt’s
Cuckoo-Falcon (_Baza reinwardti_) with a crested head and banded
breast, was rather a rare bird and appears to feed largely on insects.
FAMILY _PHALACROCORACIDÆ_—CORMORANTS.
The small black-backed white-breasted species _Phalacrocorax
melanoleucus_ is the only representative of this group. Several
specimens were shot on the upper waters of the Mimika, at Parimau and
at the base camp at Wakatimi.
FAMILY _ANATIDÆ_—DUCKS.
The handsome white-necked Sheld-duck (_Tadorna radjah_) differs from
the Australian form in being much darker on the back, the plumage being
practically black with indistinct mottlings of dull rufous on the
mantle. This dark form, found also in the Moluccas, was common about
the mouth of the Mimika River. The more rufous-backed Australian form
has been named _T. rufitergum_ by Dr. Hartert.
The only other species of duck brought home was an immature male
Garganey (_Querquedula discors_) shot on the Kapare River.
FAMILY _IBIDIDÆ_—IBISES.
The Eastern form of the Sacred Ibis (_Ibis stictipennis_) was met with
at the mouth of the Mimika. It is easily distinguished from its western
ally by having the innermost secondaries mottled with black and white.
FAMILY _ARDEIDÆ_—HERONS.
Several different species of Herons were procured including the Night
Heron (_Nycticorax caledonica_); the Yellow-necked Heron (_Dupetor
flavicollis_); the White Heron (_Herodias timoriensis_); and a
Tiger-Bittern (_Tigrisoma heliosylus_). The last named is a very fine
bird with the general colour above black boldly barred with rufous and
buff; the under-parts buff barred on the neck and chest with black. The
feathers on the neck and chest are very long and broad and no doubt
form a most imposing ruff when the bird is displaying.
FAMILIES _ŒDICNEMIDÆ_, _CHARADRIIDÆ_ AND _LARIDÆ_—STONE-PLOVERS,
PLOVERS, AND GULLS.
A number of small wading birds were also procured near the mouth of
the river, and two species of Terns, but as all belong to well-known,
widely distributed species, there is no special interest attaching to
them. I may however mention that the great Australian Curlew (_Numenius
cyanopus_), and the large Australian Thicknee (_Esacus magnirostris_)
were among the species found at the mouth of the Mimika.
FAMILY _RALLIDÆ_—RAILS.
The only Rail met with was an example of _Rallina tricolor_ which has
the head, neck and chest bright chestnut, and the rest of the plumage
dark brown with white bars on the wing-feathers. It is also met with in
some of the Papuan Islands and in North-eastern Australia.
FAMILY _COLUMBIDÆ_—PIGEONS.
Pigeons were very numerously represented, no fewer than twenty-six
different species being obtained by the Expedition. Some of the smaller
forms are among the most beautifully coloured birds met with in New
Guinea. The Crowned Pigeons (Goura) are represented by _G. sclateri_
which was fairly common near the base camp and met with in all places
visited by the Expedition. In spite of the numbers shot for food during
the whole time the Expedition remained in the country, the supply did
not appear to diminish. This fine Pigeon and a few others afforded the
only fresh meat to be had. On the canoe-journeys up the river Sclater’s
Goura was frequently met with in the early mornings in parties of
two or three searching for aquatic life along the muddy banks. When
disturbed they did not immediately take flight, but with raised wings
pirouetted around for a few seconds and then flew to the nearest high
tree. Mr. Goodfellow found the remains of small crabs in their stomachs
and a large percentage of the birds shot were infested by a small red
parasite, the same, or similar to that which is known in other parts of
New Guinea as “Scrub-itch.”
Another very handsome bird is the Ground-Pigeon (_Otidiphaps nobilis_)
with the head bluish-black, the nape dull metallic green, the mantle
and wings purplish-chestnut and the rest of the plumage deep purple,
all being more or less metallic. Its long legs and the upward carriage
of its long tail give it much the appearance of a Bantam hen. It was
fairly common, but being extremely shy was rarely met with.
Among the larger Fruit-Pigeons we must specially mention _Carpophaga
pinon_ which has the general appearance of a large Wood-Pigeon. It was
met with in large flocks and proved an excellent bird for the table.
Another very striking species, of rather lesser proportions and very
much rarer, was Muller’s Fruit-Pigeon (_Carpophaga mulleri_) easily
distinguished by its white throat, the bold black ring round its neck
and its shining chestnut mantle. Among the handsomest was _Carpophaga
rufiventris_, a bird with the breast cinnamon and the wings and back
metallic green, copper and purple. Lastly a very striking form was the
large creamy-white Pigeon (_Myristicivora spilorrhoa_) with the flight
feathers, tips of the tail-feathers and under tail-coverts blackish. It
appears to be entirely confined to the mangrove swamps and was observed
breeding in May along the creeks near the mouth of the river, no less
than seven nests being found in one tree.
As already stated among the smaller Fruit-Pigeons many are very
beautifully marked and brilliantly coloured, but always with the most
harmonious shades. It would seem as though Nature had almost exhausted
her scheme of colouration in dealing with some of these birds; for
we find two totally different species, _Ptilopus zonurus_ and _P.
gestroi_, occurring together in which the markings and colours of the
plumage are almost identical; on the under-surface the two species
are practically alike, both have the chin and throat pale lavender,
extending in a ring round the neck, the throat orange, the chest
washed with vinous and the remainder of the under-parts green; on the
upper-surface, the top of the head and nape are greenish-yellow and
the rest of the upper-parts green, but in _P. zonurus_ the median
wing-coverts are green with a subterminal spot of bright pink, while
in _P. gestroi_ the least wing-coverts are crimson and the next
series grey fringed with greenish-yellow. Another parallel case of
close resemblance is found between the small _Ptilopus nanus_ and the
larger _P. coronulatus_. Though really extremely distinct species
the under-parts are very similarly coloured both being green with a
bright magenta patch on the middle of the breast and the belly and
under-tail coverts mostly bright yellow: viewed from the upper surface
the two birds are, however, very different, _P. coronulatus_ having the
crown lilac-pink, edged posteriorly with bands of crimson and yellow,
while _P. nanus_ has the head green, but the ends of the scapulars and
secondaries are deep shining bluish-green, tipped with bright yellow.
Even more brilliantly coloured species than the above are _Ptilopus
pulchellus_, _P. superbus_, _P. aurantiifrons_ and _P. bellus_.
Near the camp at Wataikwa large flocks of D’Albertis’ Pigeon
(_Gymnophaps albertisii_) were observed coming in every evening from
their feeding-grounds on the high mountains to roost on the plains
below. Mr. Goodfellow tells us that their flight is extremely rapid and
that their strange aerial evolutions remind one of the common “Tumbler”
Pigeons.
The Long-tailed Cuckoo-Doves were represented by the very large
_Reinwardtœnas griseotincta_ and the smaller chestnut-plumaged
_Macropygia griseinucha_; the former being a large and abnormally
long-tailed bird with the head, mantle and under-parts grey, and the
back and tail chestnut.
FAMILY _MEGAPODIIDÆ_—MEGAPODES OR MOUND-BUILDERS.
The Game-birds are represented by three species of Mound-builders,
two being Brush-Turkeys and the other a true Megapode (_Megapodius
freycineti_). The fact that two closely allied species of Brush-Turkeys
are found in the same district is of considerable interest. The common
species of the country _Talegallus fuscirostris_ has a very wide
coastal range, being also found in S.E. New Guinea and extending along
the north coast to the middle of Geelvinck Bay. The other species
_T. cuvieri_ is of western origin being hitherto known from the
Arfak Peninsula, and the islands of Salwatti, Mysol and Gilolo. Its
occurrence on the Iwaka river was quite unexpected and no doubt the
range of the two species overlap in the neighbourhood of the Mimika in
the south and in the vicinity of Rubi on Geelvinck Bay in the north. In
both the plumage is black, but _T. cuvieri_ is a larger bird than _T.
fuscirostris_ and is easily recognised by having the tibia feathered
right down to the tibio-tarsal joint and the bill orange-red instead of
sooty-brown.
All these species are of the greatest interest on account of their
remarkable nesting habits, and their nesting mounds of decaying
vegetable matter were conspicuous objects in the jungle. The eggs,
which are very large for the size of the birds, are buried among the
débris which the birds rake together into a large heap, the young being
hatched, as in an incubator, by the warmth of the decaying leaves. The
parent bird, after burying its eggs, takes no further notice of them,
but the young on leaving the shell are fully feathered and able to fly
and take care of themselves.
FAMILY _CASUARIIDÆ_—CASSOWARIES.
The discovery made by Mr. Walter Goodfellow that two distinct forms
of two-wattled Cassowary occur side by side on the Mimika River has
greatly modified Mr. Rothschild’s views on the classification of the
genus, and he now finds that the ten forms possessing two wattles, when
placed side by side fall naturally into two groups, one consisting
of the Common Cassowary (_Casuarius casuarius_), divisible into six
sub-species or races, and the other of _C. bicarunculatus_ which may
be divided into four sub-species. The large forms found on the Mimika
are _C. sclateri_, representing the first group, and _C. intensus_
representing the second. Both these birds have a large elevated casque
or helmet and differ chiefly in the pattern and colouration of the bare
neck-wattles.
These Cassowaries were seen at various times searching for food
in the pools and shallow waters of the river-beds, and during the
cross-country marches would sometimes dash across the trail, affording
but a momentary glimpse.
The natives have distinct names for the male and female birds and
judging from the quantities of feathers in their possession must often
succeed in capturing them. Eggs and newly-hatched chicks were brought
in during January and February. On one occasion at Parimau some eggs
must have been kept by the natives for a few days before they hatched,
for young were brought to the camp which had evidently just emerged
from the shells.
A very interesting discovery was made by Mr. Claude Grant on the
foot-hills, where he met with a new dwarf species of Cassowary, _C.
claudii_. It is allied to _C. papuanus_, but has the hind part of the
crown and occiput black instead of white. Like that bird it has a low
triangular casque and belongs to a different section of the genus from
the two larger species already mentioned.
_C. claudii_ has very brilliantly coloured soft parts. The occiput and
sides of the head are entirely black; between the gape and the ear is
a patch of deep plum-colour; the upper half of the back of the neck is
electric-blue, shading into violet-blue on the sides and fore-part of
the neck including the throat; the lower half of the back of the neck
is orange-chrome, this colour extending down the upper margin of a bare
magenta-coloured area situated on each side of the feathered part of
the neck. This fine bird is now mounted and on exhibition in the Bird
Gallery at the Natural History Museum.
LIST OF THE PRINCIPAL PAPERS RELATING TO THE BIRDS OF NEW
GUINEA, INCLUDING THE KEI AND ARU ISLANDS.
1875-88. _Gould._ Birds of New Guinea and the adjacent Papuan Islands.
(Completed by R. B. Sharpe) (1875-88).
1880-82 _Salvadori._ Ornitologia della Papuasia e delle Molluche. Vols. I-III.
& 1889-91. (1880-82). Aggiunte, pts. I.-III. (1889-91).
1883. _Ramsay._ Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W. VIII. pp. 15-29 (1883).
1884. _Sharpe._ Journ. Linn. Soc. Zool. XVII. pp. 405-408 (1884).
_Meyer._ Zeit. Ges. Orn 1. pp. 269-296, pls. XIV.-XVIII. (1884).
1885. _Finsch and Meyer._ Zeit. ges. Orn. II. pp. 369-391, pls. XV.-XXII.
(1885).
_Guillemard._ P.Z.S. 1885, pp. 615-665, pl. XXXIX.
1886. _Meyer._ Monat. Schutze Vogelw. 1886, pp. 85-88, pl.
_Meyer._ P.Z.S. 1886, pp. 297-298.
_Finsch and Meyer._ Zeit. ges. Orn. III. pp. 1-29, pls. I.-VI. (1886).
_Meyer._ Zeit. ges. Orn. III. pp. 30-38 (1886).
_Salvadori._ Ibis 1886, pp. 151-155.
1887. _Ramsay._ Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W. (2) II. pp. 239-240 (1887).
_Bartlett._ P.Z.S. 1887, p. 392.
_Oustalet._ Le Nat. I. pp. 180-182 (1887).
1888. _Meyer._ Reisen in Kaiser Wilhelms-Land und Englisch New-Guinea
in dem Jahren 1884 u. 1885 an Bord des Deutschen Damfers
“Samoa.” Leipsig, 1888.
_Cabanis._ J.f.O. 1888, p. 119.
1889. _Cabanis._ J.f.O. 1889, p. 62, pls. 1 & 2.
_Meyer._ J.f.O. 1889, pp. 321-326.
_De Vis._ Proc. Roy. Soc. Queensland VI. pp. 245-248 (1889).
1890. _De Vis._ British New Guinea. Report of the Administration for the
period 4th Sept. 1888 to 30th June, 1889.
App. G. Report on Birds from British New Guinea, pp. 105-116
(1890).
(Reprinted, Ibis 1891, pp. 25-41).
_Goodwin._ Ibis 1890, pp. 150-156.
_Meyer._ Ibis 1890, p. 412, pl. XII.
_Salvad._ Ann. Mus. Civ. Genov. (2) IX. pp. 554-592 (1890).
1891. _Oustalet._ Le Nat. V. pp. 260-261 (1891).
_Sclater._ Ibis 1891, p. 414, pl. X.
_Meyer._ Abh. Zool. Mus. Dresden 1891, No. 4, pp. 1-17.
1891-98. _Sharpe._ Monogr. _Paradiseidæ_ and _Ptilonorhynchidæ_ (1891-98).
1892. _De Vis._ Ann. Queensland Mus. II. pp. 4-11 (1892).
_De Vis._ Annual Report Brit. New Guinea, 1890-91. App. CC.
pp. 93-97. pl. (1892).
_Salvad._ Ann. Mus. Civ. Genov. (2) X. pp. 797-834 (1892).
_Meyer._ J.f.O. 1892, pp. 254-266.
_Crowley._ Bull. B.O.C. 1. p. XVI. (1892).
1893. _Meyer._ Abh. Zool. Mus. Dres. 1892-93, No. 3. pp. 1-33, pls. 1 & 2.
_Oustalet._ Nouv. Archiv. Mus. Paris, (3) IV. pp. 218-220, pl. XV.;
V. pp. 295-299, pl. VI.
_Sclater._ Ibis 1893, pp. 243-246, pl. VII. text fig.
_Finsch._ Ibis 1893, pp. 463-464.
_Meyer._ Ibis 1893, pp. 481-483, pl. XIII.
1894. _De Vis._ Annual Report, Brit. New Guinea, 1894, pp. 99-105.
_Salvad._ Ann. Mus. Civ. Genov. (2) XIV. pp. 150-152 (1894).
_Meyer._ Bull. B.O.C. IV. pp. VI., VII., XI., XII. (1894).
1894. _Rothschild._ Bull. B.O.C. IV. p. XI. (1894).
_Sharpe._ Bull. B.O.C. IV. pp. XII.-XV. (1894).
_Reichenow._ Orn. Monatsb. II. p. 22 (1894).
_Meyer._ Abh. Zool. Mus. Dres. 1894-95. No. 2. pp. 1-4. pl. (1894).
_Büttikofer._ Notes Leyden Mus. XVI. pp. 161-165 (1894).
_Mead._ Amer. Natural. XXVIII. pp. 915-920. pls. XXIX.-XXXI.
(1894).
1895. _Meyer._ Bull. B.O.C. IV. p. XVII. (1895).
_Meyer._ Abh. Zool. Mus. Dres. 1894-95, no. 5. pp. 1-11. pls. 1 & 2.
No. 10. pp. 1-2, pl. I. figs. 1-4 (1895).
_Rothschild._ Nov. Zool. II. pp. 22, 59, 480, pls. III. & V. (1895).
_Hartert._ Nov. Zool. II. p. 67 (1895).
_Rothschild._ Bull. B.O.C. IV. pp. XXI., XXVI., XLII. (1895).
_Ogilvie-Grant._ Bull. B.O.C. V. p. XV. (1895).
_Mead._ Amer. Natural. XXIX. pp. 1-9, 409-417, 627-636, 1056-1065,
pl. VII. (1895).
_Sanyal._ P.Z.S. 1895, pp. 541-542.
_Oustalet._ Bull. Mus. Paris. 1895, pp. 47-50.
_Sclater._ Ibis 1895, pp. 343, 344, pl. VIII.
1896. _Rothschild and Hartert._ Nov. Zool. III., pp. 8, 252, 530, 534, pl. I.
(1896).
_Rothschild._ Nov. Zool. III., pp. 10-19 (1896).
_Salvadori._ Ann. Mus. Civ. Gen. (2) XVI., pp. 55-120 (1896).
_Salvadori._ Bull. B.O.C. V. p. XXII. (1896).
_Rothschild._ Bull. B.O.C. VI. pp. XV.-XVI. (1896).
_Oustalet._ Nouv. Archiv. Mus. Paris (3) VIII. pp. 263-267, pls. XIV.
& XV. (1896).
1897. _Rothschild._ Bull. B.O.C. VI. pp. XV., XVI., XXIV., XXV., XL.,
XLV., LIV. (1897).
_Rothschild._ Bull. B.O.C. VII. pp. XXI.-XXII. (1897).
_Reichenow._ Orn. Monatsb. V. pp. 24-26, 161, 178, 179 (1897).
_Kleinschmidt._ Orn. Monatsb. V. p. 46 (1897).
_Kleinschmidt._ J.f.O. 1897, pp. 174-178, text-fig.
_Reichenow._ J.f.O. 1897, pp. 201-224, pls. V. & VI.
_Rothschild._ Nov. Zool. IV. p. 169, pl. II. fig. 2 (1897).
_Hartert._ Nov. Zool. IV. p. 396 (1897).
_De Vis._ Ibis 1897, pp. 250-252, 371-392, pl. VII.
_Madarasz._ Termes, Füzetek XX. pp. 17-54, pls. 1 & 2 (1897).
_Mead._ Amer. Natural. XXXI. pp. 204-210 (1897).
1898. _Hartert._ Bull. B.O.C. VIII. pp. VIII. & IX. (1898).
_Rothschild._ Bull. B.O.C. VIII. p. XIV. (1898).
_Rothschild._ Das Tierreich _Paradiseidæ_, 52 pp. Berlin, 1898.
_De Vis._ Annual Report, New Guinea, App. AA. Report on birds for
1896-97, pp. 81-90 (1898).
_Finsch._ Notes Leyden Mus. XX. pp. 129-136 (1898).
_Rothschild._ Nov. Zool. V. pp. 84-87, 418, 509, 513, pl. XVIII. (1898).
_Reichenow._ J.f.O. 1898, pp. 124-128, pl. 1.
_Caley-Webster._ Through New Guinea and the Cannibal Countries.
Appendices on birds by Messrs. Rothschild and Hartert (1898).
1899. _Salvadori._ Ann. Mus. Civ. Genov. (2) XIX. pp. 578-582 (1899).
_Rothschild._ Nov. Zool. VI. pp. 75 & 218, pls. II. & III. (1899).
_Hartert._ Nov. Zool. VI. p. 219, pl. IV. (1899).
_Madarasz._ Termes, Füzetek. XXII. pp. 375-428, pls. XV.-XVII.
(1899).
1900. _Finsch._ Notes Leyden Mus. XXII. pp. 49-69 & 70 (1900).
_Rothschild._ Bull. B.O.C. X. pp. C. CI. (1900).
_Rothschild._ Bull. B.O.C. XI. pp. 25, 26, 30 (1900).
_Madarasz._ Orn. Monatsb. VIII. pp. 1-4 (1900).
_Renshaw._ Nature Notes XI. pp. 164-167 (1900).
_Currie._ P.U.S. Nat. Mus. XXII. pp. 497-499, pl. XVII. (1900).
1900. _Le Souëf._ Ibis 1900, pp. 612, 617, text-fig. 1.
1901. _Rothschild._ Bull. B.O.C. XII. p. 34 (1901).
_Reichenow._ Orn. Monatsb. IX. pp. 185-186 (1901).
_Madarasz._ Termes Füzetek, XXIV. p. 73 (1901).
_Hartert._ Nov. Zool. VIII. pp. 1, 93 (1901).
_Rothschild and Hartert._ Nov. Zool. VIII. pp. 53, 102, pls. II.-IV.
(1901).
1902. _Weiske._ Ein Beitrag zur Naturgeschichte der Laubenvogel. Monat.
Schutze Vogelw. XXVII. pp. 41-45 (1902).
_Sclater._ Bull. B.O.C. XIII. p. 23 (1902).
1903. _Rothschild._ Bull. B.O.C. XIII. p. 32 (1903).
_Finsch._ Orn. Monatsb. XI. p. 167 (1903).
_Renshaw._ Avicult. Mag. (2) II. pp. 26-27, fig. (1903).
_Rothschild and Hartert._ Nov. Zool. X. pp. 65-89, pl. I. 196-231,
435-480, pls. XIII. & XIV. (1903).
_Hartert._ Nov. Zool. X. pp. 232-254 (1903).
1904. _Rothschild._ Bull. B.O.C. XIV. pp. 38-40 (1904).
_Ogilvie-Grant._ Bull. B.O.C. XIV. p. 40 (1904).
1905. _Ogilvie-Grant._ Ibis 1905, pp. 429-440, pl. VIII. text-figs. 22-26.
_Pycraft._ Ibis 1905, pp. 440-453.
_Sharpe._ Bull. B.O.C. XV. p. 91 (1905).
_Salvadori._ Ibis 1905, pp. 401-429, 535-542.
1905-10. _Salvadori._ In Wytsman, Genera Avium. Psittaci, pts. 5, 11, & 12
(1905-1910).
1906. _Salvadori._ Ibis, 1906, pp. 124-131, 326-333; 451-465, 642-659.
_Rothschild._ Bull. B.O.C. XIX. pp. 7-8, 27 (1906).
_Foerster and Rothschild._ Two new birds of Paradise Zool. Mus. Tring.
3 pp. Tring. 1st October, 1906.
_Van Oort._ Notes Leyden Mus. XXVIII. p. 129-130 (1906).
_Ogilvie-Grant._ Bull. B.O.C. XIX. p. 39 (1906).
_North._ Vict. Nat. XXII. pp. 147, 156-8, pl. (1906).
1907. _Salvadori._ Ibis 1907, pp. 122-151; 311-322.
_Ingram, (Sir W.)._ Ibis 1907, pp. 225-229, pl. V. text-figs. 8 & 9.
_Simpson._ Ibis 1907, pp. 380-387, text-figs.
_Rothschild and Hartert._ Nov. Zool. XIV. pp. 433, 447 (1907).
_Rothschild._ Nov. Zool. XIV. p. 504, pls. V.-VII. (1907).
_Rothschild._ Bull. B.O.C. XXI. p. 25 (1907).
_Hartert._ Bull. B.O.C. XXI. p. 26 (1907).
_North._ Vict. Nat. XXIV. p. 136 (1907).
_Ingram_, (C.). Avicult. Mag. (2) V. p. 364, pl. (1907).
_Le Souëf._ Emu. VI. p. 119-120 (1907).
1908. _Van Oort._ Notes Leyden Mus. XXIX. pp. 170-180, 2 pls. pp. 204-206
1 pl. (1908).
_Van Oort._ Notes Leyden Mus. XXX. pp. 127-128 (1908).
_Rothschild._ Nov. Zool. XV. p. 392 (1908).
_Sharpe._ Bull. B.O.C. XXI. p. 67 (1908).
_Rothschild._ Bull. B.O.C. XXIII. p. 7 (1908).
_Goodfellow._ Bull. B.O.C. XXIII. pp. 35-39 (1908).
1909. _Beaufort._ Nova Guinea V. Zoologie Livr. 3, pp. 389-420 (1909).
_Van Oort._ Nova Guinea IX., Zoologie Livr. 1. Birds from South-western
and Southern New Guinea, pp. 51-107, pl. III. (1909).
_Van Oort._ Notes Leyden Mus. XXX. pp. 225-244 (1909).
_Horsbrugh_, (C. B.). Ibis, 1909, pp. 197-213.
_Sassi._ J.f.O. 1909, pp. 365-383.
_Nehrkorn._ Orn. Monatsb. XVII. p. 44 (1909).
_Astley._ Avicult. Mag. (2) VII. pp. 156-158 (1909).
1910. _Van Oort._ Notes Leyden Mus. XXXII. pp. 78-82, 211-216 (1910).
_Madarasz._ Ann. Hist. Nat. Mus. Nat. Hung. Budapest VIII., pp. 172-174,
pl. II. (1910).
_Goodfellow._ Avicult. Mag. (3) 1, pp. 277-286 (1910).
1910. _Ogilvie-Grant._ Bull. B.O.C. XXVII. p. 10 (1910).
_Rothschild._ Bull. B.O.C. XXVII. pp. 13, 35, 36, 45 (1910).
_Hartert._ Nov. Zool. XVII. p. 484, pl. X. (eggs) (1910).
1911. _Rothschild._ Ibis 1911, pp. 350-367, pls. V. & VI.
_Rothschild and Hartert._ Nov. Zool. XVIII. pp. 159-167 (1911).
_Ogilvie-Grant._ Bull. B.O.C. XXVII. pp. 66, 68, 83, 84 (1911).
1912. _Rothschild._ Ibis 1912, pp. 109-112, pl. II.
_Ogilvie-Grant._ Ibis 1912, pp. 112-118, pl. III.
_Hartert._ Nov. Zool. XVIII. p. 604. pls. VII. & VIII. (1912).
_Rothschild._ Bull. B.O.C. XXIX. pp. 50-52 (1912).
APPENDIX B
THE PYGMY QUESTION
BY DR. A. C. HADDON, F.R.S.
Pygmies, as their name implies, are very short men, and the first
question to decide is whether this short stature is normal or merely a
dwarfing due to unfavourable environment. Although stature cannot be
taken as a trustworthy criterion of race, since it is very variable
within certain limits among most races, there are certain peoples who
may be described as normally tall, medium, or short. The average human
stature appears to be about 1·675 m. (5 ft. 6 ins.). Those peoples who
are 1·725 (5 ft. 8 ins.) or more in height are said to be tall, those
below 1·625 m. (5 ft. 4 ins.) are short, while those who fall below
1·5 m. (4 ft. 11 ins.) are now usually termed pygmies. One has only to
turn to the investigations of the Dordogne district by Collignon and
others to see how profoundly _la misère_ can affect the stature of a
population living under adverse conditions, for example in the canton
of Saint Mathieu there are 8·8 per cent. with a stature below 1·5 m.
But when one finds within one area, as in the East Indian region,
distinct peoples of medium, short and pygmy stature, living under
conditions which appear to be very similar, one is inclined to suspect
a racial difference between them, and the suspicion becomes confirmed
if we find other characters associated with pygmy stature.
Pygmy peoples are widely distributed in Central Africa, but these
Negrillos, as they are often termed, do not concern us now.
Asiatic pygmies have long been known, but it is only comparatively
recently that they have been studied seriously, and even now there
remains much to be discovered about them. There are two main stocks on
the eastern border of the Indian Ocean, who have a very short stature
and are respectively characterised by curly or wavy hair and by hair
that grows in close small spirals—the so-called woolly hair.
(i.) The Sakai or Senoi of the southern portion of the Malay Peninsula
are typical examples of the former stock, their average stature is
slightly above the pygmy limit, but they need not detain us longer
as they belong to a different race of mankind from the woolly-haired
stock. It may be mentioned however that cymotrichous (curly-haired),
dolichocephalic (narrow-headed), dark-skinned peoples of very short
stature, racially akin to the Sakai, have been found in East Sumatra
and in Celebes (Toala) more or less mixed with alien blood; and quite
recently Moszkowski, as will be mentioned later, has suggested that
the islands of Geelvink Bay, Netherlands New Guinea, were originally
inhabited by the same stock. All these peoples together with the Vedda
and some jungle tribes of the Deccan are now regarded as remnants of a
once widely distributed race to which the term Pre-Dravidian has been
applied; it is also believed by many students that the chief element in
the Australians is of similar origin.
(ii.) For a long time it has been known that there are three groups
of ulotrichous (woolly-haired), brachycephalic (broad-headed),
dark-skinned, pygmy peoples inhabiting respectively the Andaman
Islands, the Malay Peninsula and the Philippines; to this race the
name Negrito is universally applied. We can now include in it a fourth
element from New Guinea. The physical characters of these several
groups may be summarised as follows:
1. The ANDAMANESE, who are sometimes erroneously called Mincopies,
inhabit the Andaman Islands in the Bay of Bengal. Their head _hair_
is extremely frizzly (woolly), fine in texture, lustreless and seldom
more than two or three inches long, or five inches when untwisted, its
colour varies between black, greyish black, and sooty, the last perhaps
predominating. Hair only occasionally grows on the face and then but
scantily. There is little or no hair over the surface of the body. The
_skin_ has several shades of colour between bronze or dark copper,
sooty, and black, the predominating colour being a dull leaden hue
like that of a black-leaded stove. The average _stature_ of 48 males
is 1·492 m. (4 ft. 10-3/4 ins.), the extremes being 1·365 m. (4 ft.
5-3/4 ins.) and 1·632 m. (5 ft. 4-1/4 ins.). The _head_ is moderately
brachycephalic, the average _cranial index_ (_i.e._ the ratio of the
breadth to the length, the length being taken as 100) in male skulls
is 81, thus the _cephalic index_ of the living would be about 83. The
_features_ may be described as: face broad at the cheek-bones; eyes
prominent; nose much sunken at the root, straight and small; lips full
but not everted; chin small; the jaws do not project.
2. The SEMANG live in the central region of the Malay Peninsula, some
of them are known under the names of Udai, Pangan, Hami and Semán. The
_hair_ of the head is short, universally woolly, and black. Skeat says
it is of a brownish black, not a bluish black like that of the Malays,
and Martin alludes to a reddish shimmer when light falls on it, but
says there is not a brownish shimmer as in the Sakai. Hair is rare and
scanty on face and body. Skeat describes the _skin_ colour as dark
chocolate brown approximating in some Kedah Negritos to glossy black,
and Martin says the skin of the chest is dark brown with reddish
tinges, while that of the face is mainly dark brown, the remainder
being medium brown, with reddish or pure brown tinges. The data for
the _stature_ are not very satisfactory, the best are a series of 17
males by Annandale and Robinson, the average being 1·528 m. (5 ft.
0-1/4 in.), with extreme, of 1·372 m. (4 ft. 6 ins.) and 1·604 (5 ft.
3 ins.). The average _cephalic index_ is about 78 or 79, the extremes
ranging from about 74 to about 84. The Semang are thus mesaticephalic
on the average. According to Skeat the _face_ is round; the forehead
rounded, narrow and projecting, or as it were “swollen”; the nose short
and flattened, the nostrils much distended, the breadth remarkably
great, five adult males having an average nasal index of 101·2, the 20
measured by Annandale and Robinson varied from 81·3 to 108·8 with an
average of 97·1, but four men measured by Martin had an average index
of 83·5. The cheek-bones are broad; jaws often protrude slightly; lips
not as a rule thick, Martin remarks that very characteristic of both
the Semang and the Sakai is the great thickening of the integumental
part of the upper lip, the whole mouth region projecting from the lower
edge of the nose; this convexity occurs in 70 per cent., and is well
shown in his photographs.
3. The AETA live in the mountainous districts of the larger islands and
in some of the smaller islands of the Philippines. It is convenient to
retain this name for the variously named groups of Philippine Negritos,
many of whom show admixture with other peoples. The _hair_ of the head
is universally woolly except when mixture may be suspected or is known;
Reed says it is uniformly of a dirty black colour, sometimes sunburnt
on the top to reddish brown; Worcester describes it as usually black
but it may be reddish brown, and Meyer as a dark seal-brown to black.
Reed says that the beard is very scanty but all adult males have some
and that there is very little body hair, but Worcester states that the
men often have abundant beards and a thick growth of hair on the arms,
chest and legs. The _skin_ is described as being of a dark chocolate
brown, rather than black, with a yellowish tinge on the exposed parts
(Reed), sooty black (Sawyer), or dark, sooty brown (Worcester). The
average _stature_ of 48 men is 1·463 m. (4 ft. 9-1/2 ins.), ranging
from 1·282 m. (4 ft. 2-1/2 ins.) to 1·6 m. (5 ft. 3 ins.), but some
of these were not pure breeds (Reed); other observations also show
a considerable range in height. The _cephalic index_ of 16 males
averages 82·2, ranging from 78·8 to 92·3, ten range between 80 and 85
(Reed). _Features_: typically the nose is broad, flat, bridgeless, with
prominent arched alæ and nostrils invariably visible from the front.
Of 76 persons measured by Reed 4 males and 3 females had nasal indices
below 89, 10 and 3 of 90-99, 20 and 13 of 100-109, 7 and 7 of 110-119,
6 and 3 above 120; the median of the males is 102, the extremes being
83·3 and 125, the median of the females is 105, their extremes being
79·5 and 140·7; in other words they are extremely platyrhine. The
eyes are round. The lips are moderately thick, but not protruding. A
somewhat pronounced convexity is sometimes seen between the upper lip
and the nose in the photographs of Meyer’s and Folkmar’s Albums. Meyer
says the projecting jaw gives an ape-like appearance to the face, but
Reed says the Aeta have practically no prognathism, a statement which
is borne out by his and Folkmar’s photographs.
4. The discovery of pygmies in Netherlands New Guinea by the Expedition
has drawn public attention to a problem of perennial interest to
ethnologists. Nearly twenty-five years ago Sir William Flower stated,
“that it (the Negrito race) has contributed considerably to form the
population of New Guinea is unquestionable. In many parts of that
great island, small round-headed tribes live more or less distinct
from the larger and longer-headed people who make up the bulk of
the population.” (Lecture at the Royal Institution, April 13, 1888,
reprinted in _Essays on Museums_, 1898, p. 302.) No further information
is given, nor are his authorities mentioned. Perhaps he was alluding to
the following statement by de Quatrefages, “L’extension des Négritos en
Mélanésie est bien plus considérable. Ici leurs tribus sont mêlées et
juxtaposées à celles des Papouas probablement dans toute la Nouvelle
Guinée” (_Rev. d’Ethn._, 1882, p. 185); subsequently he wrote, “La
confusion regrettable (namely the confusion of the brachycephalic
Negrito-Papuans with the dolichocephalic Papuans, of which Earl,
Wallace, Meyer and others have been guilty) est cause que l’on n’a
pas recherché les traits differentiels qui peuvent distinguer les
Negritos-Papous des vrais Papouas au point de vue de l’état social,
des mœurs, des croyances, des industries.” (_Les Pygmées_, 1887, p.
97, English Translation, 1895, p. 62.) Dr. A. B. Meyer, from whose
essay these quotations have been taken, adds, “No, the confusion has
not been in this case in the heads of the travellers; a Negritic race,
side by side with the Papuan race, nobody has been able to discover,
just because it does not exist, and it does not exist because the
Papuan race, in spite of its variability, is on the one hand a uniform
race, and on the other as good as identical with the Negritos.” (_The
Distribution of the Negritos_, 1899, p. 85.) When reviewing this essay
in _Nature_ (Sept. 7, 1899, p. 433), I stated that I was inclined to
adopt the view that the various types exhibited by the natives of
New Guinea “point to a crossing of different elements,” and do not
“simply reveal the variability of the race,” as Dr. Meyer provisionally
believed. While agreeing with Dr. Meyer that the “different conditions
of existence” (p. 80) in New Guinea probably have reacted on the
physical characters of the natives (about which, however, we have
extremely little precise information), we have now sufficient evidence
to prove that the indigenous or true Papuan population has been
modified in places by intrusions from elsewhere, and of late years
data have been accumulating which point to the existence of a pygmy
population. Shortly before his death, Dr. Meyer drew my attention to
a more recent statement of his views, in which he says, “Although I
formerly stated (_Negritos_, p. 87) that the question whether the
Papuans, _i.e._ the inhabitants of New Guinea, are a uniform race
with a wide range of variation or a mixed race is not yet ripe for
pronouncement, I am now more inclined, after Mr. Ray’s discovery of
the Papuan linguistic family, to look upon them as a mixed race of
‘Negritos’ and Malays in the wider sense. I am eagerly looking forward
to the exploration of the interior of that great island, for may it not
be possible there to discover the Negrito element in that old and more
constant form in which it persists in the Philippines, Andamans, and
in Malakka.” (_Globus_, XCIV., 1908, p. 192.) This later view appears
to me to be less tenable than his earlier one, as it is difficult to
see how a mixture of pygmy, woolly-haired brachycephals with short,
straight-haired brachycephals (Malays) could give rise to the taller,
woolly-haired dolichocephalic Papuans.
The racial history of New Guinea has proved to be unexpectedly
complicated. We are now justified in recognising at least two
indigenous elements, the Negrito and Papuan; the effect of the island
populations to the east has not yet been determined, but in the
south-west two immigrations at least from Melanesia have taken place,
which, with Seligmann, we may term Papuo-Melanesian. (_Journ. R. Anth.
Inst._, XXXIX. 1909, pp. 246, 315; and _The Melanesians of Brit. New
Guinea_, 1910.) It is, however, almost certain that future researches
will reveal that the problem is not so simple as that just indicated.
Writing in 1902, Dr. Weule states (_Globus_, LXXXII. p. 247) that he
has no further doubts as to the existence of pygmies in New Guinea,
though it is not yet clear whether they live in definite groups or
as scattered remnants among the taller peoples. He points out that
information as to the pygmies was of necessity scanty, as expeditions
had always followed the course of rivers where encounter with them
might least be expected, since they are for the most part mountain
people. Through the activity of Sir William MacGregor and others,
British New Guinea is “the least unknown” part of the whole island;
there is therefore more likelihood of pygmy peoples being discovered in
German or Netherlands New Guinea, the latter being entirely a _terra
incognita_ from the geographical standpoint. Dr. Weule’s article
contains various references to previous literature on the pygmy
question, and three photographs of pygmies from the middle Ramu are
reproduced, which show three men well under 142 cm. (4 ft. 8-3/4 ins.)
in height.
The later history of the discovery of a pygmy substratum in the
population of parts of New Guinea is as follows:—
Dr. M. Krieger had visited the Sattelberg and the neighbourhood of
Simbang where he heard reports of dwarfs from natives, but no European
had seen them (_Neu Guinea_, 1899, p. 143); subsequently Dr. R. Pöch
stayed from December 1904 to February 1905 in the Kai area, which
lies inland from Finschhafen in German New Guinea. In the _Mitt. aus
den deutschen Schutzgebieten_, 1907, he writes (p. 225): “During the
first part of the time I remained chiefly on the Sattelberg itself,
and observed and measured the various Kai frequenting the Mission
Station. In them I became acquainted with a mountain tribe entirely
different from the coast peoples previously visited. In fifty men I
found the average height to be 152·5 cm. (5 ft.); the skulls are, as
a rule, mesocephalic to brachycephalic. Towards the coast (Jabim)
dolichocephaly becomes more usual and the type also changes. Very
small people are not infrequently met with among the Kai.” Among 300
adult males he found twelve ranging from 133 to 145·6 cm. (4 ft. 4-1/2
ins. to 4 ft. 9-1/4 ins.). “For the present,” he adds, “it cannot be
determined whether this is merely a variation in stature or whether we
have here survivals of an older smaller race not yet entirely merged
in the Kai” (_cf._ also _Sitzungsber. der Anth. Gesellschaft in Wien_,
1905, pp. 40 ff.). In the _Zeitschr. f. Ethnol._ XXXIX., 1907, p.
384, he states that on the north coast of British New Guinea and in
Normanby Island he often came across very small people. Dr. O. Reche,
in describing a journey up the Kaiserin-Augusta river, says that, “the
population consists of three clearly distinguishable types or races,
two of which have long, very narrow skulls, and one a short broad
skull. Inland from the river bank there seems to be in addition to
these a pygmy-like people of small growth; at all events, I found in
some of the villages situated on the upper river, among other skulls,
some which were remarkably small and of a special type, and which must
have been taken from enemies living further inland.” (_Globus_, XCVII.
1910, p. 286.)
Neuhauss studied the Sattelberg natives and is very certain that
a pygmy element occurs there. He notes the stockiness of certain
individuals, who have a long powerful trunk and short limbs, whereas
the Papuans are lean and slender; the shortest man measured by him was
1·355 m. (4 ft. 5-1/2 ins.). Again, the _cephalic index_ of 260 Papuans
averages 76·8, while that of thirty-two short individuals averages
78·8, and on the Sattelberg 79·7, some even ranging from 83-84·6. He
also noticed that the ears were short, wide and without lobe; the
hands and feet were unusually small. Von Luschan draws attention to the
convexity of the whole upper lip area as in African pygmies. Neuhauss
insists that the pygmies are almost merged into the rest of the
population, and that their low stature is not due to poor conditions.
(_Zs. f. Ethnol._ XLIII., 1911, p. 280.)
Dr. M. Moszkowski found that in Geelvink Bay the hair is not always
ulotrichous (woolly), as is usual with Papuans, especially on Biak and
Padeido Islands the hair often recalls the cymotrichous (curly) hair
of Veddas. Other points of resemblance with wild tribes of Further
Asia are:—A very dainty graceful bone-structure, small hands and
feet, relatively short limbs compared to the trunk, low stature, few
being above 156 cm. and most below 150 cm. (4 ft. 11 ins.), and now
and then the characteristic convex upper lip of the wild tribes (_Zs.
f. Ethnol._ XLIII. 1911, pp. 317, 318). On these grounds Moszkowski
inclines to think that the islands of Geelvink Bay were originally
peopled by pre-Malayan wild tribes allied to the Vedda, Sakai, Toala,
etc., and thus the present population is the result of crossing between
these and immigrant Melanesians; true Malays came later. Moszkowski
has not yet published any head measurements of these interesting
people, and the evidence is insufficient to decide whether this is a
Pre-Dravidian or a Negrito element in the population of these islands,
the curly character of the hair may be due as elsewhere in New Guinea
to racial mixture; the photograph of a “Vedda-type” from Padeido island
is by no means convincing (_l.c._ p. 318).
Finally Guppy, Ribbe and Rascher report the occurrence of very
short people in the interior of the larger islands of the Bismarck
Archipelago and of the Solomon Islands; recently Thurnwald refers to
very small people in the mountainous interior of Bougainville who speak
a non-Melanesian language, one man from Mari mountain had a stature
of 1·39 m. (4 ft. 6-1/2 ins.). In the mountains the mixed population
consists of types recalling the Solomon Islanders and “representatives
of a small short-legged, broad-faced, short-skulled, very hairy,
wide-nosed people.” (_Zs. f. Ethnol._ XLII. 1910, p. 109.)
Discussing the pygmies of Melanesia von Luschan referred in 1910 (_Zs.
f. Ethnol._ XLII., p. 939) to bones brought a century ago from the
Admiralty Islands which must have belonged to individuals 1·32-1·35 m.
(4 ft. 4 ins.-4 ft. 5 ins.) in stature; it is unlikely that the type
persists, though Moseley mentions an unusually short man, a little
over 5 ft. (_Journ. Anth. Inst._ 1877, p. 384). In the collection
made by the German Marine Expedition there are a number of extremely
small skulls from New Ireland, which von Luschan is convinced belong
to pygmies. Finsch brought from New Britain over thirty years ago the
smallest known skull of a normal adult person; it came from the S.W.
coast of Gazelle Peninsula. Like four other extremely small feminine
skulls from New Britain this one is dolichocephalic (ceph. index 73).
Von Luschan is of opinion that the small people of Melanesia represent
an older stratum of population than their tall neighbours.
While other travellers have come across what is now accepted as a pygmy
element in the population, the members of this Expedition have for
the first time proved the existence of a pygmy people, known as the
_TAPIRO_, who may be regarded as predominantly Negritos. The _hair_
is short, woolly and black, but seemed brown in two or three cases,
there is a good deal of hair on the face and of short downy hair
scattered about the body. The _skin_ is of a lighter colour than that
of the neighbouring Papuans, some individuals being almost yellow. The
_stature_ averages 1·449 m. (4 ft. 9 ins.), ranging from 1·326 m. (4
ft. 4-1/4 ins.) to 1·529 m. (5 ft. 0-1/4in.). The _cephalic index_
averages 79·5, varying from 66·9 to 85·1. _Features_: The nose is
straight and though described as “very wide at the nostrils,” the mean
of the indices is only 83, the extremes being 65·5 to 94. The eyes are
noticeably larger and rounder than those of Papuans. “The upper lip of
many of the men is long and curiously convex.”
At the same time that the Expedition discovered pygmies in Netherlands
New Guinea, Mr. R. W. Williamson was investigating the Mafulu, a
mountain people on the upper waters of the Angabunga river in the
Mekeo District. He has shown (_The Mafulu Mountain People of British
New Guinea_, 1912) that in all probability these and some neighbouring
tribes are a mixture of Negritos, Papuans and Papuo-Melanesians. Their
invariably woolly _hair_ is generally dark brown, often quite dark,
approaching to black and sometimes perhaps quite black, but frequently
it is lighter and often not what we in Europe should call dark; a
beard and moustache are quite unusual. The _skin_ is dark sooty-brown.
The average stature is 1·551 m. (5 ft. 1 in.) ranging from 1·47 m. (4
ft. 10 ins.) to 1·63 m. (5 ft. 4 ins.). They are fairly strong and
muscular, but rather slender and slight in development. The average
_cephalic index_ is 80 and ranges from 74·7 to 86·8. _Features_: The
average nasal index is 84·3, the extremes being 71·4 and 100. The eyes
are dark brown and very bright. The lips are fine and delicate.
It is worth noting that Pöch had in 1906 measured two Fergusson Island
men with statures 1·403 and 1·425 m. (4 ft. 7-1/4 ins., 4 ft. 8 ins.),
who told him that “all the people in that tribe were as small or
smaller.” (_Zs. f. Ethnol._ XLII. 1910, p. 941.)
On reading through the brief synopses which I have given it is
apparent that, with the possible exception of the Andamanese, each
of the Negrito peoples shows considerable diversity in its physical
characters and this is more evident when more detailed accounts and
photographs are studied. There appears to be sufficient evidence
to show that a very ancient ulotrichous, low brachycephalic, pygmy
population once extended over the Malay Peninsula and a great part
(at least) of Melanesia and New Guinea, but the existing groups do
not appear to be homogeneous judging from the diversity in stature,
head index and nasal index. Stature, as has already been stated, is
always recognised as subject to considerable variation, but the bulk
of the measurements of these peoples fall below 1·5 m., and therefore
indicate a predominant very short population. The head indices mainly
show low brachycephaly; the occasional very low indices may be due
either to a Pre-Dravidian mixture or in New Guinea, at all events, to
a Papuan strain. The former existence of a Pre-Dravidian stock in New
Guinea is highly probable, nor must it be overlooked that there may
have been a hitherto undescribed pygmy or very short dolichocephalic
ulotrichous stock in New Guinea and Melanesia. The nasal index of these
Negrito peoples is very suggestive of racial complexity. Judging from
photographs, in the absence of measurements, the Andamanese have by no
means a broad nose, and a mesorhine index is found in all the other
groups, some of the Tapiro and Mafulu are even leptorhine. A constantly
recurring feature is the convex upper lip, but that also occurs among
the Sakai. The problem now is to determine what foreign elements have
modified these pygmies, and whether the Negrito stock itself will not
have to be subdivided into at least two groups.
The Negritos have certain cultural characters more or less in common,
some of which differentiate them from their neighbours. There is very
little artificial deformation of the person. The Tapiro and Mafulu
alone do not tattoo or scarify the skin; Skeat says that the Semang
“do not appear as a race to tattoo or scarify,” and the Aeta scarify
only occasionally. The nasal septum is not pierced for a nose-stick
by the Andamanese and Aeta nor among the purer Semang tribes, but the
Tapiro and Mafulu do so. The Semang women possess numerous bamboo combs
which are engraved with curious designs of a magical import, similar
combs are possessed by nearly every Aeta man and woman. The Andamanese
have no combs.
With regard to clothing, the male Andamanese are nude, the females wear
a small apron of leaves or a single leaf, but one tribe, the Jarawa, go
nude. The male Semang frequently wear a loin-cloth, or simply leaves
retained by a string girdle, sometimes the women wear this too or a
fringed girdle made of the long black strings of a fungus, but more
usually a waist-cloth. The Aeta men wear a loin-cloth and the women
a waist-cloth. The Mafulu men and women wear a perineal band of bark
cloth, while the Tapiro men wear a unique gourd penis-sheath. A gourd
or calabash is also worn by men on the north coast of New Guinea, but
not further west than Cape Bonpland, in this case the hole is in the
side and not at the end as among the Tapiro.
The Negritos are collectors and hunters, and never cultivate the soil
unless they have been modified by contact with more advanced peoples.
The Andamanese make three kinds of simple huts on the ground and large
communal huts are sometimes built. The Semang construct “bee-hive”
and long communal huts and weather screens similar to those of the
Andamanese. They also erect tree shelters, but direct evidence is very
scanty that pure Semang inhabit huts with a flooring raised on piles;
they sleep on bamboo platforms. The Aeta usually make very simple huts
sometimes with a raised bamboo sleeping platform inside. The pile
dwellings of the Tapiro have evidently been copied from those of other
tribes in the interior. The Mafulu build a different kind of pile
dwelling which has a peculiar hood-like porch.
All the Negritos have the bow and arrow. The Great Andamanese bow is
peculiar while that of the Little Andamanese appears to resemble that
of the Semang. The Great Andamanese and the Tapiro have very long bows.
Harpoon arrows with iron points are used by the Andamanese and Aeta,
the arrows of the Andamanese, Semang and Aeta are nocked, but only
those of the two latter are feathered. No nocked or feathered arrows
occur in New Guinea. Only the Semang and Aeta are known to poison their
arrows, and they may have borrowed the idea from the poisoned darts of
the blow-pipe. Some Semang have adopted the blow-pipe.
The Andamanese appear to be one of the very few people who possess fire
but do not know how to make it afresh. The Semang usually make fire
by “rubbing together short blocks of wood, bamboo or cane. A common
method consists in passing a rattan line round the portion of a dried
branch, and holding the branch down by the feet whilst the line is
rapidly worked to and fro with the hands.” Flint and steel are also
used. (The Sakai employ similar methods.) (_Skeat and Blagden_, I, pp.
111-114, 119.) Among the Aeta flint and steel have almost replaced
the old method of making fire by one piece of split bamboo being
sawed rapidly across another piece. Semper collected from Negritos of
N.E. Luzon, a split stick, bark fibre and a strip of rattan used in
fire-making, these are described and figured by A. B. Meyer (_Publ. der
K. Ethn. Mus. zu. Dresden_, IX, _Negritos_, p. 5, pl. 11, fig. 7 a-c).
It is interesting to find that the Tapiro employ the same method and
apparatus (p. 200). Thus there occurs among Negritos in the Philippines
and New Guinea the method of making fire by partly splitting a dry
stick, keeping the ends open by inserting a piece of wood or a stone
in the cleft, stuffing some tinder into the narrow part of the slit and
then drawing rapidly a strip of rattan to and fro across this spot till
a spark ignites the tinder. Pöch found it among the Poum, dwelling in
the mountains inland from the Kai (_Geog. Jnl._ XXX, 1907, p. 612, and
_Mitt. Anth. Ges. in Wien_, XXXVII. 1907, p. 59, fig. 2, 3). Precisely
the same method was described by the Rev. Dr. W. G. Lawes who found
it among the Koiari of Tabure on Mt. Warirata (_Proc. R. Geog. Soc._
V, 1883, p. 357). Finsch collected the apparatus from the same people
(_Ann. des K.K. naturhist. Hofmus. in Wien_, III, 1888, p. 323; Leo
Frobenius, _The Childhood of Man_, 1909, fig. 313, but Frobenius is
mistaken in representing the rattan as going twice round the stick).
Dr. H. O. Forbes had found it at Ubumkara on the Naoro, also in the
Central Division (_P.R.G.S._ XII. 1890, p. 562). Mr. C. A. W. Monckton
noticed it in 1906 among the Kambisa tribe, in the valley of the
Chirima, Mt. Albert Edward (_Ann. Rep. Brit. New Guinea_, 1907). Pöch
suggests that N. von Miklucho-Maclay was wrong in thinking that the
strip was rubbed in the split of a stick (_l.c._ p. 61); this is the
earliest Papuan record (1872).
From the above account it is possible that the split stick and rattan
strip method of fire-making may be a criterion of Negrito culture, but
it should be noted that the stick is not reported as split among the
Semang, and that the unsplit stick is found among the Sakai and the
Kayans and Kenyahs of Sarawak who are not Negritos. Also the split
stick is found at several spots in the mountainous interior of the
south-east peninsula of New Guinea where Negrito influence has not yet
been recorded, but Mr. Williamson’s observations are very suggestive
in this respect. Pöch (_l.c._ p. 62) points out that this method
is nearest akin to “fire-sawing with bamboo, both in principle and
distribution,” of which he gives details. A somewhat similar method
is that described by W. E. Roth. A split hearth-stick is held by the
feet, but fire is made by sawing with another piece of wood, a device
which appears to be widely spread in Queensland and occurs also on the
Lachlan River, N.S.W. (_N. Queensland Ethnogr. Bull._ 7, 1904, sect. 9,
pl. II. figs. 17, 18).
So far as is known the social structure of the Negritos is very simple.
Among the Andamanese there is no division of the community into two
moieties, no clan system nor totemism, neither has a classificatory
system of kinship been recorded; the social unit appears to be the
family, and the power of the head-man is very limited. Our knowledge
concerning the Semang and Aeta is extremely imperfect but they probably
resemble the Andamanese in these points. The Andamanese and Semang are
strictly monogamous, polygyny is allowed among the Aeta, but monogamy
prevails. The only restriction at all on marriage appears to be the
prohibition of marriage between near kindred, and divorce is very
rare. All bury their dead, but it is considered by the Andamanese more
complimentary to place the dead on a platform which is generally built
in a large tree, and the more honourable practice of the Semang is to
expose the dead in trees. The Mafulu bury ordinary people, but the
corpses of chiefs are placed in an open box either on a platform or
in the fork of a kind of fig tree. Nothing is known about the social
life of the Tapiro, and Williamson says, “The very simple ideas of
the Mafulu, as compared with the Papuans and Melanesians, in matters
of social organization, implements, arts and crafts, religion and
other things may well, I think, be associated with a primitive Negrito
origin” (_l.c._ p. 306).
SHORT BIBLIOGRAPHY.
This is not the place to attempt to give a record of the very
voluminous bibliography of the Negritos, and most of the works here
recorded are those from which the foregoing facts have been collected.
Books referred to in the text are, with one or two exceptions, not here
repeated.
_The General Question._
Danielli, G., “Studi di Antropogeografia generale.” _Memorie
Geografiche_, N. 18. Vol. VI. 1912.
Flower, W. H. _The Pygmy Races of Men._ Royal Inst. Lecture, 1888,
reprinted in _Essays on Museums_, 1898.
Lapicque, L. “La Race Negrito.” _Ann. de Géographie_, 1896, p. 407.
Meyer, A. B. _The Distribution of the Negritos_, 1899; translation with
additions from _Publikationen d. K. Ethn. Mus. zu Dresden_, IX. 1893.
Quatrefages, A. de. _The Pygmies_, 1895. (English Translation).
Schmidt, W. _Die Stellung der Pygmäenvölker in der
Entwicklungsgeschichte des Menschen_, 1910.
Pater W. Schmidt has gone into the whole pygmy question
with great thoroughness. He extends his comparison to
the African pygmies (Negrillos), between whom and the
Asiatic pygmies he attempts to prove a connection through
Southern India. Emphasis is laid on the “infantile”
physical characters of both African and Asiatic pygmies
and the extremely primitive features of their culture. He
is inclined to regard the Pre-Dravidian Vedda, Senoi and
Toala as of mixed pygmy origin, finding support for this
theory in the proximity of the Senoi to the Semang in the
Malay Peninsula. The eastward extension of the pygmies
into Melanesia and New Guinea is not dealt with.
Tyson, E. _A Philological Essay concerning the Pygmies of the
Ancients_, 1699. Edited by B. C. A. Windle, 1894.
_The Andamanese._
Dobson, G. E., “On the Andamans and Andamanese.” _Journ. Anth. Inst._
IV. 1875, p. 457.
Flower, W. H., “On the Osteology and Affinities of the Natives of the
Andaman Islands,” _J.A.I._, IX. 1879, p. 108, _cf._ also X., p. 124,
XIV., p. 115, XVIII., p. 73.
Lane Fox, A., “Observations on Mr. Man’s Collection of Andamanese and
Nicobarese Objects,” _J.A.I._, VII. 1877, p. 434.
Man, E. H., “On the Aboriginal Inhabitants of the Andaman Islands,”
_J.A.I._, XII. 1882-3, pp. 69, 117, 327, _cf._ also VII. p. 105, XI. p.
268.
Portman, M. V., “Notes on the Andamanese,” _J.A.I._, XXV. 1896, p. 361.
_The Semang._
Skeat, W. W., and Blagden, C. O., _Pagan Races of the Malay Peninsula_,
1906.
Martin, R., _Die Inlandstämme der Malayischen Halbinsel_, 1905.
Annandale, N., and Robinson, H. C., _Fasciculi Malayensis_,
Anthropology, Part I, 1903, p. 105.
_The Aeta._
Folkmar, D., _Album of Philippine Types_, Manila, 1904.
Koeze, G. A., “Crania Ethnica Philippinica,” _Publicatiën uit ’s rijks
ethnographisch Museum_, Serie II. No. 3, Haarlem, 1901-1904.
Meyer, A. B., _Album of Filipino Types_, 1885, Vol. II., 1891, and Vol.
III., 1904, with photographs taken by Dr. A. Schadenberg.
Meyer, A. B., “Die Philippinen, II., Negritos,” _Publikationen des K.
Ethnogr. Mus. zu Dresden_, IX. 1893 (and _cf._ _J.A.I._, XXV. p. 172).
Reed, W. A., “Negritos of Zambales,” _Department of the Interior,
Ethnological Survey Publications_, II. Manila, 1904.
Sawyer, F. H., _The Inhabitants of the Philippines_, 1900.
Worcester, Dean C., “The Non-Christian Tribes of Northern Luzon,” _The
Philippine Journal of Science_, I. 1906, p. 791.
Measurements of 22 Tapiro Pygmies (Males).
KEY:
A. No. of man.
B. Height of stature.
C. Girth of chest.
D. Vertexto tragus.
E. Head length.
F. Head breadth.
G. Face breadth.
H. Bigonial breadth.
I. Face length.
J. Nose length.
K. Nose breadth.
L. Interocular breadth.
Indices. a. {Head index.
b. {Face Index.
c. {Nasal Index.