The Native Races of the Indian Archipelago: Papuans

The Native Races Of The Indian Archipelago: Papuans by George Windsor Earl. This 1858 volume, produced under the Ethnographical Library series edited by Edwin Norris, offers a comprehensive ethnographic survey of Papuan peoples across the Indian Archipelago, with a primary focus on New Guinea. Earl draws on contemporary voyage accounts and field observations to compare Papuan populations with the brown races of the Archipelago, detailing physical characteristics such as frizzled woolly hair, facial features, and stature, as well as cultural practices including dress, ornamentation, scarification, marriage, religion, and social organization. The work traverses broad geographic zones—from New Guinea’s south and north coasts to the Arru Islands, Ceram and the Moluccas, and beyond to the Philippines, Mindoro, Mindanao, Sulu, Borneo, the Andamans, and the Sunda chain—and discusses maritime trade, intertribal relations, and the impact of contact with Malays, Mohammedans, and European explorers. Rich with plates and maps, it lays groundwork for comparative ethnography and geographic framing of the Papuan peoples.