INTliOimCTTOX. 
lower organisms becomes less, and consequently, the 
more pressing becomes the need for observation, 
collection and research. 
For the study of natives Sarawak is peculiarly for¬ 
tunate in possessing a government—now of some 
seventy years’ standing—whose sole object is the wel¬ 
fare of the natives of the country; thus there is no 
interference with the daily life, customs, beliefs, etc., of 
the people ; their independent characteristics are allow¬ 
ed to develop undisturbed ; and, at the same time, 
owing to the conditions of general peace and security, 
the European is free to pursue his research with advan¬ 
tage and safety. On the other hand, it is just this 
peaceful condition of life in Sarawak that calls for 
immediate attention and study in the ethnology of 
the country; for while tribes who are in close 
proximity to one another are continually at war with 
one another, they will preserve their separate charac¬ 
teristics of speech, weapons, ceremonies, etc., etc.; but 
once they are at peace they intermingle, smaller 
tribes become merged in more powerful tribes, so that 
the “specific purity” of the larger tribes becomes 
tainted through inter-marriage, and the task of the 
anthropologist becomes increased a hundred-fold. 
Many writers in the past have emphasized the press¬ 
ing need for immediate study of native races: thus 
some 30 years ago, Professor H. N. Moseley in “Notes 
by a Naturalist on H. M. S. Challenger ,” wrote . 
animals and plants and races of men are perishing 
rapidly day by day, and will soon be, like the Dodo, 
things of the past. The history of these things once 
gone can never be recovered but must remain forever a 
gap in the knowledge of mankind. The loss will be 
most deeply felt in the province of anthropology, a 
science which is of higher importance to us than any 
other, as treating of the developmental history of our 
own species”. And we know that since Professor 
Moseley, many other naturalists from time to time 
have written to the same effect. 
It remains then to consider who are the men most 
likely to meet this imperative call to action, and 
by what means they may be best encouraged and 
assisted. Unfortunately it is given to only a few 
