CHAPTER VIII 



ANOTHER TRIP TO THE SOLOMONS AND TO THE 

 NEW GUINEA HILL COUNTRY 



AFTER a holiday spell at Cooktown I went back to 

 Samara! to inspect my farm, which I now let to a 

 tenant. From there I went across to the Solomons 

 in the Hekla. In some cases I was fortunate enough 

 to come upon new territory which had never been 

 worked before, and got some new specimens, but 

 there was no hill work to be done in the Solomons, 

 and the hills are always best for butterflies and moths. 

 At Gizo I did fairly well for three weeks and then 

 made for Choiseul Island, where the natives had at 

 this time (1903) a very bad reputation. The danger 

 there was thought to be so great that it was not 

 considered wise for all the party to work ashore at 

 the same time. I established my camp on a small 

 island off the main island, so as to be in a better 

 position for defence in case of attack, and one of us 

 always cruised about near the shore in a boat whilst 

 a party was collecting on shore. The boat would 

 have taken off the party to the island camp in case of 

 danger threatening. 



The natives of Choiseul are not only savage to 



strangers, but are by no means friendly among 



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