LANGUAGES OF THE NEW HEBRIDES. 101 
differences of temperature and pressure in the Western Districts 
to produce currents both at the surface and high in the air, and 
to assume that the currents may be descending as well as ascend- 
ing in order to produce a whirl. But without facts I take it that 
theory goes for nothing. 
These whirls are looked upon here as portents of a dry season, 
but then our summer is generally dry, as is well known. In con- 
clusion, I can only add that their insignificance and brief existence 
makes these phenomena difficult to observe, and if this paper will 
aid in building up the system of our Australian ‘‘ weatherology,” 
the labour spent thereon will be amply rewarded. 
‘THE LANGUAGES OF THE NEW HEBRIDES. 
By Sipney H. Ray, London; revised by Dr. Joun Fraser, Sydney. 
| [With Plate IX.] 
[ Read before the Royal Society of N. 8. Wales, July 5, 1893.] 
ContTENTs :—1. Introduction. 
2. Classified list of Languages. 
3. Comparative Vocabulary. 
4. Notes on the Vocabulary. 
. J. INTRODUCTION. , 
Tur New Hebrides consist of about thirty inhabited and many 
uninhabited islands in the south-western part of the Pacific Ocean, 
and are situated between 14° 29’ and 20° 4'S. latitude, and 166° 
41’ and 170° 21’ E. longitude. The most southerly island, Aneit- 
yum, is distant from Sydney, New South Wales, about fifteen 
hundred miles, and from Auckland, New Zealand, about twelve 
hundred miles.* 
* For a general account of the productions of the New Hebrides, the 
reader is referred to the following works :—“ The New Hebrides,” by the 
Rev. Robert Steel: London, 1880; “Islands of Melanesia,” by the Rev. 
Rh. H. Codrington, in Scottish Geographical Magazine, 1889; ‘‘ The Western 
Pacific,” by Walter Coote: London, 1883; “Missions in Western Poly- 
nesia,’ by the Rev. A. W. Murray : London, 1863. 
