60 ON A CRUISE TO THE SOLOMON ISLANDS, 



Our naval authorities having thought it expedient to investigate 

 the cause of some recent murders committed there, H.M.S. 

 Cormorant was despatched on the service, and an opportunity- 

 being afforded the Trustees of the Museum of sending a Collector, 

 I left in the " Cormorant " on the 16th of April 1881, and 

 arrived at the Solomons on the 26th. Crossing a narrow strait 

 between the islands of St. Christoval and Ugi we anchored near 

 the latter in a well sheltered roadstead. On the afternoon of 

 the same day we landed and were hospitably received by Mr. 

 John Stephens, after which we set out for a small native village 

 situated on the shores of the Bay, about a mile from Stephen's 

 homestead. Our route lay through exteusive groves of Cocoanut 

 trees, thickly interspersed with various kinds of Palms among 

 which I recognised two species of Betle Nut, an Areca, and a 

 Ptychosperma besides the Ivory Nut Palm common throughout 

 the South Seas ; a very large and beautiful species of Ficus was 

 abundant on the trunk and larger stems on which grew great 

 quantities of fruit ; a large species of a very beautiful Tree Pern 

 was plentiful. In the gorges and on the hill sides several species 

 of Lycopodiums and mosses completely covered the ground with 

 a dense undergrowth. 



On arriving at the village we found it to consist of about thirty 

 houses, almost uniform in size and design ; they were constructed 

 for the most part of split bamboos, and neatly thatched with the 

 leaves of the Cocoanut and Ivory Palms. 



While here we noticed that the greater number of the children 

 differed strongly in many typical characters from the majority of 

 the adults, this anomaly we afterwards ascertained was due to 

 the strange custom of many of the inhabitants of Ugi, who in 

 order to avoid the trouble of rearing their own offspring, usually 

 destroy them at birth without respect to sex ; preferring to 

 adopt at a more mature age, the purchased children of another 

 tribe, inhabiting the neighbouriug Island. Even on the death of 

 their Chief or head-man, in place of electing a successor from 



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