waved, and rough, such as often occurs among the true Papuans, but never
among the Malays. Their colour alone is often exactly that of the Malay, or even
lighter. Of course there has been intermixture, and there occur occasionally
individuals which it is difficult to classify; but in most cases the large, somewhat
aquiline nose, with elongated apex, the tall stature, the waved hair, the bearded
face, and hairy body, as well as the less reserved manner and louder voice,
unmistakeably proclaim the Papuan type. Here then I had discovered the exact
boundary lice between the Malay and Papuan races, and at a spot where no other
writer had expected it. I was very much pleased at this determination, as it gave
me a clue to one of the most difficult problems in Ethnology, and enabled me in
many other places to separate the two races, and to unravel their intermixtures.
On my return from Waigiou in 1860, I stayed some days on the southern
extremity of Gilolo; but, beyond seeing something more of its structure and
general character, obtained very little additional information. It is only in the
northern peninsula that there are any indígenes, the whole of the rest of the
island, with Batchian and the other islands westward, being exclusively
inhabited by Malay tribes, allied to those of Ternate and Tidore. This would
seem to indicate that the Alfuros were a comparatively recent immigration, and
that they lead come from the north or east, perhaps from some of the islands of
the Pacific. It is otherwise difficult to understand how so many fertile districts
should possess no true indigenes.
Gilolo, or Halmaheira as it is called by the Malays and Dutch, seems to have
been recently modified by upheaval and subsidence. In 1673, a mountain is said
to stave been upheaved at Gamokonora on the northern peninsula. All the parts
that I have seen have either been volcanic or coralline, and along the coast there
are fringing coral reefs very dangerous to navigation. At the same time, the
character of its natural history proves it to be a rather ancient land, since it
possesses a number of animals peculiar to itself or common to the small islands
around it, but almost always distinct from those of New Guinea on the east, of
Ceram on the south, and of Celebes and the Sula islands on the west.
The island of Morty, close to the north-eastern extremity of Gilolo, was
visited by my assistant Charles Allen, as well as by Dr. Bernstein; and the
collections obtained there present some curious differences from those of the
main island. About fifty-six species of land-birds are known to inhabit this
island, and of these, a kingfisher (Tanysiptera Boris), a honey-sucker
(Tropidorhynchus fuscicapillus), and a large crow-like starling (Lycocorax
morotensis), are quite distinct from allied species found in Gilolo. The island is
coralline and sandy, and we must therefore believe it to have been separated