50 
party started, but they forded it eleven times in that con- 
dition the first day, having, however, many narrow escapes. 
They left Stephansort on March 22, and reached their 
furthest distance on April ro. In giving no map of this 
journey Captain Webster is just neither to himself nor 
to his reader. Where he really got to, it is quite impos- 
sible tosay. But this much is clear: that as the Minjim 
valley runs from the coast towards the Ramu nearly at 
right angles, and as our author did not reach the Ramu, 
and never left the watershed of the Minjim, his claim to 
have beaten the German record falls to the ground, and 
need not be further considered. 
The second and most important geographical discovery 
of Captain Webster is of a decidedly negative character, 
He unhesitatingly asserts the non-existence of the great 
Bismarck Range, of which the German travellers are not 
a little proud, as it is the highest part of their colony, 
and on their map a note, “ Zeitweise Schnee,” appears at 
a spot where Captain Webster’s map makes him cross 
the range. 
The Bismarck Range was discovered and named by 
Dr. Otto Finsch (‘ Samoafahrten,” 117). He estimated 
its altitude with wonderful accuracy at 14,000 to 16,000 
feet ; its distance from the coast at seventy or eighty 
miles. It was seen by Romilly (/oc. cz¢., 227). Zoller 
says that in clear weather it is visible from Astrolabe 
Bay. In his “Routenskizze der Expedition in das 
Finisterre-Gebirge,” Zoller gives the bearings from his 
highest point on that range to the different summits of 
the Bismarck Range. These, with bearings from Astro- 
labe Bay, must give the position with sufficient approxi- 
mation to accuracy. In 1896, Drs. Lauterbach and Kersting 
examined the middle course of the Ramu, and actually 
ascended from thence some of the slopes of the Bismarck 
Range (Wachrichten, 1896, 42) to an altitude of 1000 
metres. Lauterbach’s positions were determined by 
astronomical observations, since published. Against 
this we have the statement of Captain Webster, that 
from his furthest point he “ascertained the true position 
of the Albert Victor Range of mountains in British New 
Guinea,” which he thinks was mistaken by “some,” who 
proudly named it after the late ex-Chancellor. In what 
manner our author ascertained in a few hours the true 
position of a mountain in British New Guinea from a 
single unknown and undetermined point on the Minjim 
will probably remain unknown for all time. 
We entertain no doubt that Captain Webster, from his 
position on the watershed of Astrolabe Bay, was looking 
at the Bismarck Range itself in the distance. It should 
interest him greatly to peruse the reports on the splen- 
didly conducted and completely successful expeditions 
of Zoller (1888) and Lauterbach (1896), and to study 
their maps, prepared and worked out on scientific 
principles. If our author will do that, he will wish to 
rewrite his preface. 
In May 1894, Captain Webster visited New Britain 
just after a massacre of white men, and received the 
proverbial hospitality of Ralum. He givesan interesting 
account of how Mrs. Parkinson defeated a native attack, 
and relates how “the natives for many miles round 
worship the very ground she walks upon.” This follows 
the very remarkable statement :— 
NO. 1542, VOL. 60] 
NATURE 
[May 18, 1899 
“Within a mile or two of Ralum one may find, even 
to-day, chiefs who keep slaves for the purpose of food, 
and who are in the habit of killing them every few days 
to satisfy their diabolical tastes.” 
Now there lives at Ralum the enlightened and philo- 
sophic Parkinson, a name known to, and deservedly 
held in high esteem by many of the best men in Europe 
and elsewhere. That the atrocities mentioned by 
Captain Webster should be in constant practice under _ 
the eye, so to speak, of Mr. and Mrs. Parkinson, it is 
not easy to comprehend. The attitude of the German 
authorities is not alluded to by our author. He visited 
the Sacred Heart Mission, which he pronounced to be 
“excellent.” His historical account of the mission is not’ 
quite accurate. The missionaries did not, according to 
this story, leave Woodlark Island on account of its smal} 
size, or of fever, but because they could do nothing with 
the natives. He states that the country has been divided 
into Protestant and Catholic countries. We know, from a 
recent issue of the ///ustrirte Zeitung, that these divisions 
are not observed by the Roman Catholic missions in 
other German colonies. Captain Webster does not say 
whether the boundaries are respected in New Britain, 
but he states that the mission is obliged by law to teach 
the children to read and write German. 
He then visited the Solomon Islands, where, as usual, 
several murders had been committed. He points out 
that ships of war cannot deal with these matters, a fact 
that has long been well known to those who study the 
subject. Captain Webster says the Solomon Islanders 
are all cannibals, ‘and that the practice of offering up 
human sacrifices on even the most trivial occasions 
prevails throughout the group. No information what- 
ever is vouchsafed as to the nature of this strange sacri- 
ficial practice. 
On page 136, Captain Webster says :— 
“T have been an eye-witness to more than one such 
expedition (head-hunting raids) when a large haul had 
been made, and more than sixty trophies in the shape 
of heads had been captured, which were immediately 
smoke-dried and preserved by being plastered over with 
chinam.” 
It is much to be hoped that in the interests of social 
and political evolution Captain Webster may in the 
proper place lift the veil on his unique and gruesome 
experiences. He does not state where or when he 
assisted at these scenes, which must be very rare. Weare 
not able to believe that “ heads” can be preserved in the 
manner described by our author. The few we have seen 
had been carefully preserved by a different process, on 
rational and scientific principles. 
Captain Webster brought his visit to the Solomons 
to a characteristic close by backing out in the presence 
of a hostile tribe with his face to the foe and his revolver 
in his hand. 
The second part of his book shifts the scene to the 
Batavian archipelago. On the south-coast of Dutch New 
Guinea the author met Arab traders, and Christian mis- 
sionaries who are making very little progress. At the 
Kei Islands he met his yacht, and was henceforth master 
of his own movements. He sailed for the nearest part of 
the New Guinea coast, provided with hunters, and the 
yacht armed with a quick-firing Krupp gun. 
