PHYSICAL CHARACTER

The natives of Tasmania differed in appearance from the people of the continent; but, as has been remarked of the people of the continent, they were not all alike, and there is reason to believe that the members of some tribes were scarcely distinguishable from the Australians.

Cook saw the Tasmanians in 1777, “They were quite naked,” he tells us, “and wore no ornaments, unless we consider as such, and as a proof of their love of finery, some large punctures or ridges raised on different parts of their bodies, some in straight and others in curved lines. They were of the common stature, but rather slender. Their skin was black, and also their hair, which was as woolly as that of any native of Guinea; but they were not distinguished by remarkably thick lips nor flat noses. On the contrary, their features were far from being disagreeable. They had pretty good eyes, and their teeth were tolerably even, but very dirty. Most of them had their hair and beards smeared with a red ointment, and some had their faces also painted with the same composition.”

“The Aborigines of Van Diemen's Land,” according to Mr. R. H. Davies, “are a full average height, very sinewy and wiry. Stout, muscular men occur but rarely; this is in accordance with their habits, in which activity rather than strength is called into action.