THE SOLOMONS AGAIN isi 



and my strong faith in Santa Cruz.) If I made a 

 mountain trip on Guadalcanar, as I had intended, 

 I should go through the low-lying country and get 

 into the ' true ' mountains, where my experience 

 always has been that collecting can be carried out 

 under conditions very much more favourable for 

 success than where the hills come down to the sea. 

 (I mean when one is going for mountain species only 

 and not to make a general all-round collection.) 

 The reason I collected at Aola was partly owing to 

 want of knowledge on my part and partly because 

 the natives were at that time too bad elsewhere. 

 I have every faith in Guadalcanar, if only for the fact 

 of its being the only island in the Solomons where it 

 is practicable to get to any height, with the exception 

 of Bougainville. I am not quite mad enough to 

 attempt a mountain trip there at least not without 

 knowing a great deal more than I know at 

 present. 



ic Re the mountains of New Georgia. The hills on 

 New Georgia (there are no mountains) are of a basaltic 

 nature. The natives there dig out clam shells from 

 the top of them, for making native money. They 

 must be very recent hills. On Vangago and Gotakai 

 there are fairly high mountains. I shall be collecting 

 on either one of them. I shall also be collecting on 

 Rossel Island, but I have no faith in doing much good 

 there, it being of low coral formation. (I forgot, 

 though : there is one fairly high hill or mountain on 



