At first they appear to resemble each other very much; and a stranger, even after seeing them frequently, is often unable to distinguish one man from another.
Though unlike the Australian natives in many respects, the Tasmanians still exhibit in their countenances a resemblance to them; and years ago, when it would have been possible to have made a selection from a large number, it is probable that some individuals could have been found not differing at all in features from the rather lighter colored natives of Victoria. William Lanny, whose portrait is given here (Fig. 7), and who is described as the last of the Tasmanians, is not unlike many natives that are seen in the eastern parts of Australia. The eyebrows do not project much, the head is round, the hair is frizzled, and, but for the full beard, he might be mistaken for a native of the north-eastern coast.
At the time the photograph from which the wood-cut is drawn was taken, William Lanny was 26 years of age. He was a native of the Coal River tribe.
There are marked differences of form in the head and features of the two races in New Zealand—the Maori, and the Pokerekahu or black Kumara.[1] Hale, the ethnologist who accompanied the United States Exploring Expedition in 1838-42, seemed, however, to disbelieve in this distinction, regarding the yellow Polynesians and the so-called Papuans as the same; the one class being idle and luxurious, and the other workers, half-starved and ill-clad. That there is a striking difference in appearance is admitted; and though it is true that in many of the islands in the South Seas different modes of life largely affect the appearance of the natives—the chiefs being tall, well-made men, of a light complexion, and the workers smaller, thinner, and dark in color—it is conclusively proved by the Rev. Richard Taylor that the Melanesian preceded the Maori in the occupation of New Zealand.
The accompanying portraits of New Zealanders have been selected with the view of affording some information on this point. Fig. 8 represents a native chief, Tomati Hapimana Wharehinaki, whose family name was, he said, Tapuika, and that of the land he once owned, Maketu. When I saw him, in November 1870, he was about fifty-seven years of age. He is, I believe, now dead. His head was small, his forehead narrow, his eyebrows rather prominent, but, on looking at the full face, not coarse; his skin light-brown, and his eyes a not very dark-brown. His hair was soft, dry, and black in color. He was very talkative, and used odd little gestures to eke out his meaning. Though he had been an actor in a theatre, and had lived long with Englishmen, he spoke the English language with diffieulty. Many words he could not pronounce at all; and though belonging to the better class of his people, he appeared to me to be far
- ↑ Te Ika A Maui, p. 13.
