701 



NOTES OF A VISIT TO THE ISLAND OF ERROMANGA, 

 NEW HEBRIDES, IN MAY, 1894. 



By SUTHERLA>fD SINCLAIR, SECRETARY OF THE AUSTRALIAN 



Museum. 



( Contributions from the Australian Museum, by permission of 

 the. Trustees. ) 



EiTomanga was first discovered by Captain Cook in 1774. He 

 landed at the east side of the island, but withdrew in face of a 

 hostile demonstration by the natives, and fired on them, so their 

 first contact with white men was unfriendly. Cook named the 

 high land near the spot where he landed and was attacked 

 Traitor's Head. The Missionary, Rev. H. A. Robertson, 

 suspects, however, that they must have seen white men before 

 Cook landed. Knowing the customs of the people well he thinks 

 they would have acted differently if he had been actually the first 

 white man they saw. This is only an inference ; there is no 

 evidence, and probably never Avill be any to bear it out. The 

 next contact with white men was even worse. Before 1835 the 

 island was occupied by sandal wood traders, who cut and exported 

 the sandal wood which grew abundantly in the forests, and was 

 visited occasionally by trading vessels, who did not cultivate 

 friendly relations with the natives. Every beach on Erromanga 

 has been the scene of some tragedy, and sometimes even the 

 sandal wood has been taken away covered with blood. It is said 

 that 300 white people and others not natives of Erromanga lost 

 their lives during this period. The sandal wood is gone now and 

 the trade extinct. 



The Erromangans are by no means a weak people — either 

 physically or intellectually; many of those I have seen are men 

 of good physique and strong character. They have the reputation 



