The Monmouth inquirer., 1926-05-06

scribed as having the body Of child
of twelve, with long red hair on head
and body. He is very shy and runs
| but does not climb.
In the mountainous regions of the
upper parts of the Malay peninsula.
according to information given to Doc
tor Hrdlicka. there still live thousands
of negritoid people, and there are
many old caves waiting to be ex-
plored
The visit to Java was made chiefly
to inspect the site of the Pithecan-
thropus, but Doctor Hrdlicka also de-
sired to satisfy himself as to any pos
sible cultural traces of early man, and
as1to the present population.
When the actual site of the Pithe-
canthropus was reached by Doctor
Hrdlicka, a whole gang of natives adj
vised by the police were already wait
ing there, each bringing little pile of
fossils gathered from the muddy
lodges of the river as they were ex-
posed by the receding water. These
fossils were eagerly examined and a
good selection was made for the Ma
tionaI museum, but they Included no
remains of any primate.
In the eastern portion of Java Doc
tor Hrdlicka found traces Of the pre-
Malay Hindoo population which peo-
pied the island in early historic times.
In the central part of Java these peo-
Pile evidently reached a rather high
degree of culture and left imposing
ruins
Full-blood and otherwise full-col-
ored Australians, but with tow hair,
were one of the phenomena observed
in a boat journey along the western
coast Of Australia. Doctor Hrdlicka
also attended some of the Impressive
ceremonies of the native Australians.
Sheds New Light.
'SThe data obtained in Australia"
writes Doctor Hrdlicka, throw very
interesting and to some extent new
light on the moot questions of both the
Australian and Tasmanian aborigines.
According to these observations, the
Australian aborigines deserve truly to
be classed as one of the most funda-
mental and older races Of mankind,
and yet it is a race which shows close
connections with our own ancestral
stock not with the negroes or MeIa-
nesians Except through admixture),
but with the old white people of post
glacial times.
AS to the Tasmanians, the indica-
tions are that they were but a branch
Of the Australians, modified perhaps a
little in their own country. Both peo-
pies have lived and the Australians of
the Northwest live largely to this day,
in a paleoIithic stage of stone culture.
They are still making unpublished stone
tools, which in instances resemble the
Mousterian implements or later Euro
pean paleolithic types. But they are
also capable Of a much higher class
Of work Today, about Derby, bottles
are used in making beautifully worked
spear heads"
From Australia Doctor Hrdlicka's
journey led to South Africa and dis
en- barking at Durham Natal the first
task was to see as many as possible OF
the Zulu, about whose exact blood af-
fi1lties there was some doubt From
an examination of many individuals
tile anthropologist reached the con-
clusion that the Zulu is unquestiona-
bly, a true negro, though now and then,
as in other negro tribes, showing a
trace of Semetic (Arab) type due
probably to old admixtures.
The two main objects of the visit to
South Africa were the Investigation of
the spot of the important find of the
Rhodesian skull, and Of the recent dis
covery of the skull of fossil anthro-
poid ape at Taungs, which had been
reported as being possibly a direct
link in the line of mars ascent. The
Rhodesian skull, found in 1921 at
Broken hill, shows man so primitive
in many of its features that nothing
like it has been seen before. Doctor
Hrdlicka was able to clear up some
of the moot points in connection with
this important find, and he collected
for study bones of animals from the
cave which gave the Ehodesian skull,
as well as two additional mineralized
bones belonging to two individuals,
all Of which were deposited with the
earlier relies in the British museum.
Land Rich in Material.
The fossil skull OF an anthropoid
ape, found in Taungs In 1924, belongs,
according TO Doctor Hrdlicka, to a
species OF anthropoid ape of about the
size Of a chimpanzee and evidently
related to tits form, though there are
certain differences, especially in the
brain. These differences suggested
that this ape slay possibly have been
somewhat superior to the cR .npanzee
and nearer to tie human. But it is
not necessarily a form thar stood in
the direct line OF the human phylum.