TYPICAL PORTRAITS OF THE NEW ZEALANDERS, The New Zealanders Illustrated, 1847, George French Angas

Typical portraits of the new zealanders. [image of page 113] plate xlix. The aboriginal inhabitants. Typical portraits. On the annexed plate are given several portraits which display strongly the physical character, and show the facial angle, of the heads of the new zealanders. In the centre portrait the elaborate markings of the moko, or tattoo, are carefully represented, as also in the profile to the left; the remaining heads are those of females, who only tattoo the lips and chin. The complexion of the new zealanders varies greatly in different individuals: sometimes it is no darker than that of an italian or a spaniard; at other times it is considerably deeper in shade. Their hair is remarkably black, glossy, and luxuriant; occasionally it inclines to a brown colour, and i have now and then met with children in the very heart of the interior possessing flaxen hair, but this is a circumstance of rare occurrence. The hair of the men is often curly, but no approach to a woolly nature is discernible. The eyes of both sexes are almost invariably of a dark hazel; their eyebrows are regular and well-defined, and their eyelashes strong; but owing to the practice of tangi, combined with the effects of sitting over the smoke, they soon lose the beauty of their eyes and lashes. The new zealand heads are good and well-formed, and frequently approach in shape those of the most intellectual nations of europe: both animal and intellectual faculties are strongly developed, and the facial angle is large. Their teeth are regular, and remain good up to a late period of life. In many individuals the nose is aquiline and well-shaped; in others it is flatter, more resembling those of the people of luzon or pelew. The mouth is rather larger than with us, and the lips, especially the upper one, are more fully developed. The new zealander is naturally long-lived; many of the chiefs have attained a great age: at the present moment there is a chief residing at coromandel harbour who distinctly remembers the visit of capt. Cook to barrier island, and several others of the inhabitants recollect events that occurred about the same period. Date: 1847.