THE SOLOMON ISLANDS

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1768, 16 February 1888, Page 2

THE SOLOMON ISLANDS

("Field.") Tbla work (» book under review) Is ft narrative of tbe voyage of the Lark m the Western Pacific, bat it would be of Ultl*) interest to the general public bad it been written by. one whose knowledge was of a lens varied obaraoter than that o! Dr GoppFt *°d those interested m the ex* ploration of (his little-known group mast fuel greatly indebted to tbe la*e Bit Frederick Evans,, to wbom tbe author owed hit appointment. It {0, however, o be regretted that no fond wat placed at tha disposal of the author, and that no Ina'rcct.ionn were given to the ottnmander of the expedition to assist him m his d ffieuU and somewhat dangerous . enterenterprUe, m whioh many a man with le«a determination would hay* given way. * It \*ae alao unfortunate »h t,ow agtoaserlous iltueis, he w«o nnable to take advantage of a grant of £150 fnm the Royal Boo\ety for th« porpcß^ of exploring tbe Interior of the large island <»♦ Gaa alcansr. Although discovered by . tJ» « Spaniards -as long ago m the y*a»> 1667. little is known of the Solomon Isiaiid*, prssibly owing to the character that; the native! have acquired for ferocity, 'b «*r head hunting and o nniballatioprccl vites ; bat we are told that, although head hunting does exist, it is, m general, only practised m cases of rev^nup, such at a otae of murder, when the friends of a murdered man for a large amount of shell money for the head of the mur deter, As, however the avenger may have to Ingratiate bim■elf. with hta victim before he can find an opportunity of carrying out his purpose, there may be considerable dalay ; pat th y are nearly certain to obtain their revenge io the ecd. The launching of a cinoe, is, we God, also aooompanied with slaughter, as the canoe is believed to ba Invested with aupernatnral power when life has been taken by her crew. The second ohapter contains a good deal about cannibalism and slavery. It states that caonibtlism does exist, but its victims are to a great extent, slaves, and that there ire natives who do a thriving trade as purveyors of human flash to the different chiefs, bat that m some islands tha practice is fast dying out. Head-bunting, oauuibatiam, and infanticide would soon depopulate moot of tbe islands, were it not for the habit of importing slaves,' whdie servitude, it would appear, is really nominal, ac, on attaining manhood, the slave is virtually under no authority, and, were it not for the faot that they are liable to be sacrificed at any moment, their lot would not be a hard one, As m most polygamoas tribes, the women are the drudges, they are not admitted to the Tamba Homo, and they aro not permitted to remain m the presence of a chief at bis meal, only returning to partake of what he leaves. Obastity is a 1 unknown virtue among them, and the men of St» Anna frequently exchange their wives for a short period with their neighbors Some of tbe chiefs, however, seem to be honorable exceptions m the mode of treating tbeir wlv**. As au example, wo read of the great affection of Mai, the chief of Sbaliaod for hii principal wife Kaika. The manufiotases of the Solomon Islands, as might b» expected, are rude m the extreme, and consist chiefly of mats, rough and unglnad pottery, made of a dark red clay, fans, and oocanut shell bowl*, all of whioh are made by the women. Q juslderable skill is 'shown m buiding their sacred or T\»tnba Houses, and m the manufacture of their weapons. None of their arrows are feathered, neither are any of them poisoned, with t> c exception of those wed by the men of Sivo,

In the Interesting chapter on the physical ohsractbr of the Solomon Inlanders, we learn that, although of loir stature (sft. 4in. Is the average height), they have a well proportioned phjsq^e, a good carriage, lips of moderate thickness, and a good humored face. Thu xomen werasa ooly 41 1 10 n. high, and when yonng are not unattractive ; but they soon lota their good lnoku, Toere are mvny «tat>st{o< given, which will be more naeful to th« unthropologioal student than to the reaier. Gappy not cos at a ouriou* incident the fsot thar, although the native* never wear hats, the figures on the posts of their Tatnba Houses are ueual with very Euro-pean-looking hate ; and ho gives ns a probable Reason that the natives may have been Impressed by the hats worn by the Spaniprds; when they visited the group nearly three cantares ago, at which time they gave thu islanders very good reason to remember them, ' < An ingenious mode of fishing prevails, wKitih fo Well worth repordiog. A {cite id fl-wn from the canoe; inetead of tail, it has a fishing line, and is •o arranged that, whilst the canoe is el'-wly buiog paddled aboafc, the bait la skimming abont on the enrfaco of the water. Dir. ctly a fifth bites the kito falls . Tuis mode of fnhiog ia considered adv«n« tageous, as tha kite is roughly fash'uncd to represent one of those aquatio birds which nsanlly hover over the Bboals of sm»l flsh.and whoso movements ihe larger tieh <*re said to follow. A somewhat similar ouftom prevails m the Society group, where v bm;oheß of feathers* are placed on the end of poles, vvhioh project itbm tha Cftn-it ; f ' and from "whloh the 'lipes I ' l are laapended. Tbe Qah spear m also ftpqoently employed. The chapter on the prevalent diseases contains much uee'ut information, but part of it might, with bentfir, have been omitted from a rroik Intended for the general reader. A considerable speice is piven to the journal of Gall ego, and an historical eke'.oii of the redieoovery of the group, is not the least Interesting part of the book, whilst the concluding chapters will bo of interest only to tha ,eient,'«. ?"! " ork ■ -ta^out U written m a pleasant style, and shows iireat power of observation m tha author. It is well brought out, and the illustrations are exceedim-lv n^nrt,