Ovampos. The chief Bantu Negro race of German South-west Africa, tall and well-proportioned, with regular features—a fine Negro type. They are industrious agriculturists, given to raiding and inter-tribal warfare.
Oworos, Oyos. See [YORUBAS].
Pampas Indians. See [PUELCHES].
Pangasinans. A semi-civilised Malayan race in the Philippine Islands.
Papagos. See [OPATA-PIMA].
Papuans. The savage aborigines of New Guinea and the neighbouring islands of the Torres Strait and East Malaysia. They belong to the Oceanic division of Ethiopic Man, and are allied to the African Negro, though they stand at a somewhat higher intellectual level. They are of Negroid physical type, characterised specially by their mops of frizzy hair; colour, a sooty brown to black, with projecting jaws, thick lips and retreating foreheads; nose sometimes flat, but oftener hooked and of Jewish appearance. The race has probably been modified by Malayan and Polynesian intermixture. Probably the Melanesians and the Australian aborigines are closely related to the Papuans. They are a fierce and treacherous race, hostile to strangers, and given to cannibalism and head-hunting. They show much agricultural skill, and in some cases are susceptible of European civilisation.
Paraguay Indians. See [TUPI-GUARANI].
Parsees. Followers of Zoroaster, of Persian descent, who have settled in India, chiefly near Bombay, where they have become one of the most thriving sections of the community, owing to their marked ability for commerce. A small remnant of Parsees, known as Guebres, is still to be found in Persia itself.
Parthians. A warlike people of the ancient world, inhabiting a district of Northern Persia. They seem to have been of [Scythian] (q.v.) descent, and were noted for their habit of fighting on horseback and discharging their most fatal arrows whilst in pretended flight. Under Mithridates (171–138 B.C.), the Parthians became supreme in Persia, and afterwards warred for long successfully with the Romans.
Patagonians or Tehuelches. Natives of the most southerly region of the American continent, noted for their great stature, in many cases approaching the gigantic. They are one of the physically strongest races of the earth, of a yellowish brown colour, with well-formed and regular features. They are nomadic tribes of [Araucanian] (q.v.) descent, who live by fishing and hunting; and peacefully disposed to strangers.