The Malay Archipelago, vol 2 | Page 9

true Malays',
nor so frizzly and woolly as the perfect Papuan type, but always crisp,
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 from Gilolo at a somewhat
remote epoch; while we learn from its natural history that an arm of the
sea twenty-five miles wide serves to limit the range even of birds of
considerable powers of flight.
CHAPTER XXIII.
TERNATE TO THE KAIOA ISLANDS AND BATCHIAN.
(OCTOBER 1858.)
ON returning to Ternate from Sahoe, I at once began making
preparations for a journey to Batchian, an island which I had been
constantly recommended to visit since I had arrived in this part of the
Moluccas. After all was ready I found that I should have to hire a boat,

as no opportunity of obtaining a passage presented itself. I accordingly
went into the native town, and could only find two boats for hire, one
much larger than I required, and the other far smaller than I wished. I
chose the smaller one, chiefly because it would not cost me one-third as
much as the larger one, and also because in a coasting voyage a small
vessel can be more easily managed, and more readily got into a place of
safety during violent gales, than a large one. I took with me my
Bornean lad Ali, who was now very useful to me; Lahagi, a native of
Ternate, a very good steady man, and a fair shooter, who had been with
me to New Guinea; Lahi, a native of Gilolo, who could speak Malay, as
woodcutter and general assistant; and Garo, a boy who was to act as
cook. As the boat was so small that we had hardly room to stow
ourselves away when all my stores were on board, I only took one other
man named Latchi, as pilot. He was a Papuan slave, a tall, strong black
fellow, but very civil and careful.