Dec. 29, 1887] 



NATURE 



IQ7 



consists in the possibility of tracing the native names of 

 certain trees across the Central Pacific from the Indian 

 Archipelago to the Austral and Society Islands. For 

 instance, in the former locality the Barringtonia speciosa 

 goes by the names of Boewa boeton and Poetoen ; in the 

 islands of the Bougainville Straits in the Solomon Group 

 it is cdiW^di Piiputu; in Fiji, Viitu j \n Tonga, Futu ; and 

 in the Hervey and Society Islands, E-Hoodu or Utu. The 

 name thus appears to have undergone a kind of progres- 

 sive modification as the tree has receded from its original 

 home. The large amount of information which Dr. 

 Guppy has been able to collect is mainly due to his 

 I emarkable tact in dealing with the natives : he seems to 

 have at once succeeded in estabhshing friendly relations 

 with all those with whom he came in contact, and though 

 he was continually in their power, going long journeys 

 with no other escort than a body of them, he met with 

 nothing but kindness at their hands. He modestly 

 ascribes this satisfactory result mainly to the soothing 

 influences of tobacco, without which, he says, the white 

 traveller in these islands " is worse off than a man with- 

 out any money in his purse in London," but something 

 must undoubtedly be attributed to the kindly and con- 

 ciliatory personal influence of the writer himself. 



Where so much excellent matter is given it seems un- 

 grateful to ask for more, but it is impossible to repress 

 the desire for knowledge regarding the dwellers in the 

 interior of these islands, who seem to be always at war 

 with the coast tribes, and are regarded by them with so 

 much contempt that "man-bush" is with the latter a 

 common term of reproach. Very interesting, too, are the 

 worked flints, not unfrequently found in the soil either 

 during agricultural operations or after heavy rains. They 

 may probably have been the work of the primitive Negrito 

 race which was at one time widely spread over this region 

 of the globe. It is worthy of notice that in none of the 

 islands visited by the author was any chalk found which 

 contained flints, but there are records of its existence in 

 Ulaua, another member of the group. 



Two chapters, certainly not inferior to the rest of the 

 work in interest, are occupied by a history of our know- 

 ledge of this group of islands. It does not often happen 

 that one who has distinguished himself as an explorer is 

 willing to undertake a piece of literary work, calling for 

 the patient and critical examination of an old manuscript, 

 but it is a peculiarly happy chance that has thrown the 

 translation of Gallego's journal into the hands of one 

 whose exceptionally accurate knowledge of the locality 

 has no doubt enabled him to avoid errors into which the 

 best of scholars without such information must have 

 fallen. Hernando Gallego was chief pilot to an expedi- 

 tion which was despatched from Peru under the command 

 of Alvaro de Mendana for the ostensible purpose of 

 spreading the Christian faith among the islanders of the 

 Pacific. In the year 1567 they reached the Solomon 

 Islands and gave names to most of them, but lest the 

 English should attempt to possess themselves of the new- 

 found territory no account of the discovery was published ; 

 and hence, after one or two futile attempts on the part of 

 the Spaniards to refind and colonize them, knowledge of 

 their whereabouts gradually became a vague tradition, 

 and at length even their very existence was doubted. 

 Two hundred years elapsed before Carteret sighted and 



anchored off the group, but he did not land. Then in 

 rapid succession came the discoveries of Bougainville, 

 Surville, Maurelle, and Shortland, but none of these 

 identified their discoveries with the previous work of the 

 Spaniards, and it was reserved for the genius of Buache 

 to point out " that, between the extreme point of New 

 Guinea as fixed by Bougainville and the position of Santa 

 Cruz as determined by Carteret, there was a space of I2i° 

 longitude, in which the Islands of Solomon ought to be 

 found." His conclusion, that the islands seen by Carteret 

 and others were the same as those previously discovered 

 by the Spaniards, though long disputed, is now generally 

 admitted, and justice has been rendered both to the 

 gallant explorers and to the laborious and gifted investi- 

 gator. 



In reading this journal it is impossible not to wish that 

 the chart accompanying the volume were on a somewhat 

 larger scale, that more names had been inserted, and that 

 the author, even if he did not feel at liberty to restore 

 those given by the original discoverers, had at all events 

 inserted them within parentheses. 



Of Dr. Guppy's work in natural history it would be 

 difficult to speak too highly. It embraces, in addition to 

 a mass of anthropological material, to which reference has 

 been made above, a general account of the chief divisions 

 both of the animal and vegetable kingdoms. Special 

 attention may be called to the observations upon floating 

 seeds and seed-vessels, which have been utilized by Mr. 

 Botting Hemsley in his work on the oceanic dispersal of 

 plants, and to a remarkable fungous growth {Pachyma ?) 

 found lying loose upon the soil. Of reptiles, batra- 

 chians, and mollusca many new species were obtained ; 

 an interesting discussion is given regarding the origin of 

 the edible birds'-nests, and an account of attempts to 

 ascertain by direct evidence whether the Birgtis latro is 

 really able to husk and break cocoa-nuts for itself, as well 

 as details of experiments on the power of various animals 

 to resist submersion in sea-water. The Solomon Islands 

 stand in a remarkable zoo-geographical position, on the 

 boundary between the Polynesian and Indo Malayan 

 regions, hence a special interest attaches to these lists of 

 species and biological data. The size of the authoi-'s col- 

 lections is little short of marvellous when it is remembered 

 that for two out of the three years spent there his own 

 cabin was the only place where he could store them. He 

 seems, indeed, to have met with but scanty encourage- 

 ment from those quarters whence he might reasonably 

 have expected it, and every Briton should blush when he 

 reads and reflects upon the truth of the closing words of 

 Dr. Guppy's Introduction : — 



" Stifling my own patriotic regrets, I cannot but think 

 that the presence of Germany in these regions will be 

 fraught with great advantage to the world of science. 

 When we recall our spasmodic efforts to explore New 

 Guinea and the comparatively small results obtained, 

 when we remember to how great an extent such attempts 

 have been supported by private enterprise and how little 

 they have been due to government or even to semi-oflicial 

 aid, we have reason to be glad that the exploration of these 

 regions will be conducted with that thoroughness which 

 can only be obtained when, as in the case of Germany, 

 geographical enterprises become the business of the 

 State." 



