THE SOLOMONS AGAIN 183 



I went up on the north side of Bougainville, where 

 the German Government had just established a 

 Station. There was a German doctor at this station, 

 who visited me on the Shamrock, and I was surprised 

 to find him talking " pidgin " English to me. I found 

 that it was the only English that he knew, and that 

 he had found it necessary to learn it in order to 

 talk with the natives, who understood something of 

 " pidgin " English, but nothing of any other European 

 language. Usually the European uses " pidgin " 

 English to the natives, but never dreams of using it 

 to another white man. However, my German friend, 

 as I have said, talked " pidgin " English, and I rather 

 welcomed it as a proof of the fact that the English 

 language was more general than any other among the 

 natives of that quarter. I paid my port dues to the 

 German authorities, not being anxious, or even willing, 

 to smuggle into German territory on this occasion; 

 and then went cruising round the coast. 



I made a camp on the north side of the island, and 

 stayed there for a month, collecting. The results 

 were pretty fair, but not very good. No notable new 

 discovery was made, and I did not get specimens of 

 the particular butterfly I was hunting after. On one 

 or two occasions I made voyages from the coast up 

 to the mountains, but saw nothing worth stopping 

 for. 



The natives of that district were singular from any 

 other natives in the South Seas that I had encountered 



