1886. | Geography and Travels. 1039 
and Transbaikalia, which were much explored during the publi- 
lication of the dictionary. 
PACIFIC IsLanps.— Captain Bridges’ Cruises.—Captain C. Bridges’ 
notes upon cruises among the Pacific islands (Proc. Roy. Geog. Soc., 
Sept.) give a good idea of the present condition of the islands 
visited. Inthe southern section of the New Hebrides the tem- 
perature ranges from 62° in July and August, to about 92° in 
January and February. The natives of Aneiteum are devout 
Christians. Among the Melanesians of these islands, communi- 
ties of Polynesians preserve themselves distinct. The staple pro- 
duct is copra, the dried pulp of the coco-nut, and several white 
traders are engaged in procuring it. On Sandwich or Vaté, the 
women shave their heads completely, while on Espiritu-Santo 
they leave a ridge of hair from poll to forehead. The houses are 
neat and clean; on some islands the unmarried men sleep ina 
special house. 
The people of the Solomon isles are good seamen. Their 
canoes, except as New Britain and New Ireland are approached, 
have no outriggers. The New Britain people go quite naked, 
and lack the vigor of the Solomon islanders. They are the only 
cannibals of the region who are not ashamed of their cannibalism. 
It is not etiquette in New Britain to ask a man his name, it should 
be asked of some one else. Captain Bridges mentions a curious 
mode of shark-catching practiced by the Kingsmill islanders. 
They tow from a canoe a large line with an open noose. Through 
the centre of the noose is passed a small line with a bait on the 
end. As the shark follows the bait, it is hauled in, until at last 
the fish has his head in the noose, which is quickly tightened. 
The people of the Ellice islands are all Episcopalian Christians, 
while those of the Gibert islands are partly Christianized. 
The Marshall island men are tall, the women singularly short. 
The dress of the latter consists of two ornamented mats tied 
around the hips so as to resemble somewhat a sleeveless and low- 
necked gown. On these islands and some of the Carolines the 
women tattoo the hand and fore-arm in such a way that they ap- 
pear covered with open-worked mitts. The money of Yap (Car- 
Olines) is in the form df disks of arragonite, like great grindstones. 
They are quarried in the Pelew islands, and some pieces weigh 
three tons. The people of Ni¢guor and Greenwich islands, two 
low atolls of the Carolines, are almost gigantic, and are now ruled 
by queens. In the Pelew islands the younger men have large 
“club-houses.” Women may not enter the club-house of their 
own village, but may without losing caste visit that of the next. 
The constitutional government of Tonga seems to be a success. 
Most of the Tongans are now fearless horsemen, though man 
Can remember the time when there was not a horse in the Archi- 
= pelago. The people of the Louisiades are in physique and knowl- 
