Bibliographical Notices. 135 



keeping us standing about an hour, eleven spears were thrown at us. 

 Three of my party then fired, slightly wounding one of them, when 

 they all immediately ran away as fast as they could." Dr. Latham 

 may be right in supposing these people to have migrated from Timor, 

 but such fiendish malignity would almost lead us to think them to 

 be our left-handed brethren sprung from Lilis, Adam's first wife, who 

 bore him all the devils. 



The inhabitants of New Guinea and of the Louisiade Archipelago 

 afford a very pleasing contrast to these degraded wretches. Fierce 

 indeed these people are, and apt to carry out the impulse of the mo- 

 ment by the strong hand whenever they are sufficiently powerful, or 

 think themselves so, as was seen in the unfortunate affray with the 

 ' Rattlesnake's' boats (vol. i. p. 234) ; but still they show evidence 

 of a much higher state of civilization, in their homes, their canoes, 

 their cultivation of the ground, their dress, and all their social habits. 



" We had no means of forming a judgement regarding the condition 

 of the women in a social state, but they appeared to be treated by 

 the men as equals, and to exercise considerable influence over them. 

 On all occasions they were the loudest talkers, and seemed to act 



from a perfect right to have everything their own way The 



circumstance of children being daily brought off by their fathers to 

 look at the ship and the strange things there, indicated a considerable 

 degree of parental affection." — Vol. i. p. 271. 



A great deal of zoological and botanical information is scattered 

 through these volumes, but an especial value is given to them in this 

 respect by the Appendices, which include disquisitions on the voca- 

 bularies collected, by Dr. Latham ; on the Polyzoa and Sertulariadae, 

 by Mr. Busk ; on the Mollusca by Prof. E. Forbes, and on the Crus- 

 tacea and some Insects by Mr. Adam White, besides the meteoro- 

 logical and magnetic observations of Lieut. Dayman. We shall pro- 

 bably return to this portion of the work in one of our next numbers. 



It is rumoured that Mr. MacGillivray is to accompany Capt. Den- 

 ham's projected expedition to the Feejee Islands, as naturalist. If it 

 be so, we congratulate ourselves and our readers on the prospect of 

 another work as readable and instructive as that which we have just 

 brought under their notice. 



A finer field for the naturalist could hardly be selected. We wish 

 our author God speed ; aud when he comes back laden with the 

 ' spolia opima,' may we be here to see. 



The Geology and Fossils of the Tertiary and Cretaceous Formations 

 of Sussex. By Frederick Dixon, F.G.S. London, 1850 : Long- 

 man and Co. Royal 4to. 44 plates, pp. 422. 



The county of Sussex has been fortunate in the illustrations of its 

 geologic history, and that executed by two members of the medical 

 profession, who, amidst their active and arduous duties, have been 

 enabled to collect, and, aided by their scientific acquirements, to exa- 

 mine and describe those fossil organisms, so interesting as revealing 

 the history of the past conditions and changes of life on our globe. 



The work by Dr. Mantell on ' The Fossils of the South Downs,' 



