362 THE CORAL LANDS OF THE PACIFIC. 



building, and most of their implements are inlaid with mother- 

 of-pearl. Although strictly of the Papuan race, they are 

 crossed with broAvn Polynesian blood, and most of their rites 

 and ceremonies are like those I have described in dealing with 

 Fiji and Tonga. In one of their islands, however, the dead 

 are all buried at sea. At St. Christoval the corpse is kept till 

 the flesh drops from the bones, the skull and finger-bones are 

 then retained as heirlooms, and the remainder of the body 

 exposed on a high platform. Infanticide is common, women 

 are killed on the death of a chief, and the wife or sister of a 

 deceased man first stupefies herself, and then commits suicide 

 by hanging. A kind of suttee, evidently derived from the 

 East, prevails, or has prevailed, in most parts of Polynesia. 



The formation of St. Christoval is uniform throughout ; it 

 is a long chain of lofty mountains, with gentle slopes towards 

 the sea ; the shores are low, and are often furnished with a 

 belt of mangroves, the edge of which is washed by the tide. 

 An active and vigorous vegetation, of the usual tropical 

 description, covers every inch of the soil, which in fact is 

 hardly to be seen. Large rivers descend from the hills, and 

 the climate is good. My brother is one of the few Europeans 

 that I know who have resided in the Solomon Islands, and he 

 fairly astonished me with his account of the fertility of the 

 soil of other islands in the group which I did not visit, and 

 their capacity for producing agricultural wealth of all sorts. 



The ivory or Corrossos-nut is to be found in abundance, 

 while betel-nuts are also plentiful. The Solomons seem to be 

 a favourite resort for those extraordinary-looking birds, the 

 hornbills, which grow to a size exceeding that of the domestic 

 fowl, while their enormous bill resembles that of the grossbeak 

 of South America. 



There are orchids peculiar to the group, and a large tree 



