AucusT 7, 1902 | 
NATURE 
347 
tiania programme, includes the instruction of observers, 
the verification of instruments, the preparation and dis- 
tribution of standard sea-water for controlling analyses, 
and experiments with new apparatus. : 
As inall international undertakings, concessions have 
had to be made on all sides ; but the proceedings at the 
Council were always harmonious, and there is good 
reason to expect that the various national organisations 
will cooperate heartily to obtain results which at the end 
of a few years may justify the experiment to the practical 
man engaged in fisheries as well as to the ee Sones 
i" 5 URS INGE 
POLYNESIAN POLITICS AND ANTHRO- 
POLOGY}} 
| ea the course of a long residence in the South Pacific 
as a British official, Mr. Basil Thomson has from 
time to time published several amusing and instructive 
works, illustrative of native life and thought and the 
book, however, and, to those who are interested in the 
well-being of the Pacific Islanders, the more pleasant 
part, is that which concerns the visit to Savage Island. 
The sovereignty of that island had been offered to Queen 
Victoria in 1887, and a protectorate so long ago as 1859. 
The island had been Christianised by the London Mis- 
sionary Society, of whose missionaries, and particularly of 
Mr. Lawes, the resident missionary at the time of the 
proclamation, Mr. Thomson speaks in the highest terms. 
The natives were accordingly well-disposed towards the 
object of the visit; and the ceremony of proclamation 
of British supremacy was performed, and the protectorate 
flag hoisted, after the signature of a formal treaty, in 
the presence of a general assembly of the people, with 
their full assent. 
Mr. Thomson took the opportunity of his visit to make 
inquiries into the history, customs and racial affinities of 
the natives. This was partly a business inquiry, for on 
coming under British rule certain changes in the law, 
particularly in the penal code, were requisite. It is only 
Fic. 1.—A grave in Tonga. 
problems with which a civilised Government has to deal. 
Not the least instructive, or the least amusing, of these 
was “The Diversions of a Prime Minister,’ issued in 
1894. There the author recounted the difficulties which 
beset him in repairing the evils of the misgovernment of 
the Tonga Islands by Mr. Baker, formerly a Wesleyan 
missionary, and afterwards, as prime minister of the king, 
practically despot of the islands. The present volume 
narrates his experiences as commissioner for the purpose 
of taking over the suzerainty of Savage Island and Tonga 
consequent on the Samoa Convention with Germany, 
whereby these islands were assigned to Great Britain. 
So far as regards Tonga, therefore, it is a sort of sequel 
to the former work. The more smportant part of the 
1 ‘* Savage Island: an Account of a Sojourn in Niug and Tonga.” By 
Basil Thomson. Pp. viii + 234. Illustrated. 7s. 6d. net. (London: John 
Murray.) 
NO. 1710, VOL. 66] 
one example of the intimate connection between anthro- 
pological study and the practical politics of the widely 
extended British Empire. Fortunate it was for the Savage 
Islanders that an official so experienced in the ways of 
the Polynesian and Melanesian races, and so sympathetic, 
was found to undertake these delicate duties. 
To enumerate the various subjects of scientific interest 
briefly discussed by Mr. Thomson would be to make a 
pretty long list. It must suffice to mention only three or 
four. The first is the physicaland mental characteristics 
of the Niuéans. Polynesians they are, but Polynesians 
with a dash of alien blood which has rendered them less 
indolent, more alert and enterprising, than others of 
Polynesian race. Another subject is that of the historical 
value of tradition. The author cites a Niuéan tradition 
of a Tongan invasion, and sets beside it the Tongan 
account of apparently the same event, as well as an 
