98 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



in communication with distant lands, for there is no rock, except 

 soft coral limestone, anywhere in the archipelago. They knew 

 the direction and distance of Cuba and Hayti, and they called the 

 larger island by the name which it still bears. Their language 

 was almost identical with that spoken in these islands, and, while 

 they were upon the extreme edge of the civilization of the Gulf 

 of Mexico, they were not entirely outside its influence, and the 

 discoverers were able to use them as interpreters as far away from 

 their home as Campeachy. 



This is about the sum total of our knowledge of the Cebay- 

 nas, and does not their share in the discovery entitle them to our 

 remembrance, and bind us to do what we can before November 12, 

 1892, to preserve them from complete oblivion ? 



What can we do to perpetuate their memory ? There is one 

 thing which would be a most worthy and becoming testimonial 

 if it were practicable. The injury which they have sustained is 

 past and irreparable, but if three years hence we could celebrate 

 the institution of a wise, humane, and consistent method of dealing 

 with the wards of our nation in place of the one which was ini- 

 tiated when Columbus devoted his first Sunday to a search for a 

 fort, the shades of the Ceboynas might accept the sacrifice. 



What else is there to be done ? Can we not restore to the map 

 the pretty word " Lucayas " as the name for the islands ? Surely 

 if Columbus has Columbia for his monument, the Lucayans are 

 entitled to the Lucayas ; and while this is only a little thing, it 

 would be a graceful tribute to them. 



In the little-known interior of the larger islands there are 

 many caves which have never been disturbed. Canoes, stone im- 

 plements, carved utensils, and other articles have been found from 

 time to time in the out-islands, and, while the articles have no 

 great archaeological interest, the part played by their owners in 

 the events which are so soon to be commemorated would give 

 great value to any new discoveries. 



The delightful climate and the beauty of the landlocked 

 sounds give to the Bahamas the greatest charm as a cruising- 

 ground ; and if some yacht -owner were to devote himself to 

 exploration, with a well-equipped and energetic staff of earnest 

 assistants, he might hope to gather a collection of Ceboyna relics 

 which, placed in one of our museums, would be a permanent monu- 

 ment to their memory. 



De. Eduard Nattmann, of Munich, has advanced the theory, in a British Asso- 

 ciation paper, that the magnetic curves of the earth, wherever a magnetic survey 

 has been made, show a distinct relation to mountain ranges, faults, eruptions, and 

 tectonic disturbances. He urges that the investigation of this subject be taken up 

 at once all over the world. 



