PRIMITIVE AGRICULTURAL RACES 191 



Caroline Islands l (with the exception of Pelew). It was appar- 

 ently as common in the Sandwich Islands as in Tahiti. 2 It was 

 also practised in Fiji, but girls were destroyed in preference to 

 boys. 3 Glaumond states that it is * very common ' in New 

 Caledonia, 4 and this is confirmed by Bernard 5 and Moncelin. 6 

 The last named mentions that girls are killed in preference to 

 boys. It is moderately common in the New Hebrides, and again 

 more girls are killed than boys ; 7 according to Meinecke it is 

 not so frequent in Tala as in Fate. 8 Infanticide is ' very common ' 

 in Banks's Island, 9 in Radack, 10 in Vaitapu, 11 and in the Mar- 

 quesas. 12 It would not seem to be very prevalent in the Solomon 

 Islands, except in Ugi, where both Elton 13 and Guppy 14 report 

 it to be common. Otherwise, in the rest of the group it seems to 

 be rare, 15 and is absent in San Christoval. 16 It was formerly 

 common in the Bismarck Archipelago. 17 There is evidence of the 

 existence of the habit in various parts of New Guinea ; according 

 to Seligman it is ' common ' among the Southern Massim ; 18 

 among the Northern Massim it is practised if there is a large 

 family of girls. 19 The same is said of the Mafulu people. 20 Otherwise 

 it would seem, generally speaking, that infanticide is somewhat 

 rare in New Guinea. Murray suspects its existence among the 

 Baru tribe, 21 and Erdweg among the inhabitants of Tumleo. 22 

 Newton says that he only knows one district in British New 

 Guinea where it is frequently practised. 23 So, too, among the 

 Dyaks it is decidedly uncommon. 24 Lastly, it may be noticed that 

 there exists ' in some parts of the Solomons and New Hebrides 

 a most remarkable state of things, all the children are killed, chiefly 

 by infanticide, it would appear, and substitutes purchased '. 25 



1 Kotzebue, Voyage, p. 211. a Ellis, Narrative, pp. 324 8. ; Angas, Poly- 



nesia, p. 144; Dumas, loc. cit., p. 19. The last-named author says that it 

 was undoubtedly more prevalent before the arrival of Europeans than later. 

 8 Waterhouse, loc. cit., p. 328. 4 Glaumond, loc. cit., p. 79. 5 Bernard, 



loc. cit., p. 288. 6 Moncelin, loc. cit., p. 357. 7 Somerville, J. A. I., 



vol. xxiii, p. 4. According to Paton, ' Infanticide is systematically practised ' 

 (New Hebrides, p. 452). Meinecke, Z. O. E., vol. ix, p. 340. 9 Codring- 



ton, Melanesians, p. 229. 10 Kotzebue, loc. cit., p. 173. " Turner, Samoa, 



p. 284. " Hale, U.S. Exploring Expedition, vol. vi, p. 15. 13 Elton, 



/. A. I., vol. xvii, p. 93. " Guppy, Solomon Islands, p. 42. 18 Elton, 



loc. cit., p. 93 ; Somerville, J. A. I., vol. xxvi, p. 393 ; Parkinson, loc. cit., p. 8 ; 

 Ribbe, loc. cit., p. 144. 16 Verguet, Eev. d'Eth., vol. iv, p. 206. 17 Brown, 



Melanesians, p. 36 ; Pfeil, loc. cit., p. 18. " Seligman, Melanesians, p. 568. 



Ibid., p. 705. 20 Williamson, Mafulu People, p. 176. 21 Murray, 



loc. cit., p. 194. ** Erdweg, Mittheilungender anthropologischen Gesellschaft in 



Wien, vol. xxxii, p. 281. 2S Newton, New Guinea, p. 189. 24 St. John, 



Forests of the Far East, vol. i, p. 48 ; Brooke, loc. cit., vol. ii, p. 337 25 Ratzel, 



loc. cit., vol. i, p. 268 ; Romilly, Western Pacific, p. 68. 



