Important anthropological observations on the natives of New Guinea, but also on the North Australian Aborigines: chapter XII is devoted to Melville Island, Port Essington and North Australia in general, and one of the folding plates gives anthropometric comparisons between North Australian Aborigines and New Guinea natives. There are numerous discussions of Australian Aborigines elsewhere in the text, particularly those of Melville Island and Port Essington.

Important anthropological observations on the natives of New Guinea, but also on the North Australian Aborigines: chapter XII is devoted to Melville Island, Port Essington and North Australia in general, and one of the folding plates gives anthropometric comparisons between North Australian Aborigines and New Guinea natives. There are numerous discussions of Australian Aborigines elsewhere in the text, particularly those of Melville Island and Port Essington.

The fine full-page handcoloured lithographs, produced in London, were based on drawings done on the spot by the Dutch artists Van Oort and Van Raalten.

This is the first edition, separate issue (another version had the series-title "Ethnographical Library" which here only appears as an imprint on the plates). This copy is from the library of Archibald Liversidge, Professor of Mineralogy at the University of Sydney, and author of a number of important Australian works on the subject.