x PREFACE 



sent home from the Solomons by A. S. Meek. As we 

 go from Bougainville in the north to Guadalcanar 

 and San Christoval in the south, many species change 

 in appearance, in some of the islands gradually, the 

 stages in the modification being at times almost 

 imperceptible, whereas on other islands the change 

 is by leaps and bounds, the differences being generally 

 most abrupt and greatest in the forms occurring on 

 the New Georgia group of islets lying to the west of 

 the main chain. If we now recollect that there are 

 two opposing views on the evolution of species, the 

 one view maintaining, with Darwin, that evolution 

 took and takes place by a gradual modification of 

 the species, and the other view asserting that new 

 species spring up suddenly without intergradation 

 with the parent species, the collections assume a 

 profounder philosophic interest than if they were 

 treated merely as an accumulation of rare, new or 

 beautiful species. 



Greatly as I have always been pleased with the 

 results of Meek's expeditions, I have often regretted 

 that his modesty prevented him from giving to the 

 public some record of his experiences in countries 

 which few or no white men had ever visited. We 

 are therefore very glad that he has at last consented 

 to do so. 



Meek is a man who faces a danger bravely and then 

 forgets all about it. He has been so long in Papua, 

 exposed to the attacks of the natives, the vicissitudes 



