MELANESIA AND ITS PEOPLE. I8I 
strong web which some huge-bodied spider has been laboriously construct- 
ing. He proceeds on his way when he feels an uncomfortable sensation 
inside his helmet, in which he finds his friend the spider, with a body as big 
as a filbert, quite at his ease. Going down a steep slope, he clasps a stout- 
looking areca palm to prevent himself falling, when down comes the rotten 
palm, and the long-suffering traveller finds himself once more on the ground. 
To these inconveniences must be added the oppressive heat of a tropical 
forest and the continual perspiration in which the skin is bathed.”’ 
A Melanesian is always careful to turn his toes in as he walks, and 
the narrowness of the bush tracks causes him no inconvenience, but 
the white man is not so careful how he plants his feet and is constantly 
striking the numerous objects which lie by the side of the track or on 
its surface. Moreover, a native person keeps his hands by his side as 
he walks, whereas the white man does not know the necessity for care 
in the matter and he frequently hits the numerous obstacles with his 
hands, and some of the leaves on the edge of the track are studded with 
sharp thorns! Every Melanesian carries a “scrub” knife, and with 
it he cuts away the limbs that fall over the path, but he cuts them at 
his own height and in an immediate line with the path; this suits him 
well, but proves awkward for any person who is taller or less careful 
about his method of progression. 
It can hardly be said that the Melanesian islands as a whole are 
beautiful, for the prevailing colors of the forest are too somber and dull; 
brilliant-colored shrubs grow round the houses, but none of the forest 
trees bear such flowers as one sees on the trees in North Queensland, 
and the ground is a tangled mass of undergrowth and creepers. Wide, 
open views, panoramic scenes, outlooks over mountain or glen or sea 
are impossible to obtain, since the bush closes in everything. But 
there is something peculiarly exhilarating, both to mind and body, 
when, after struggling along through the numerous obstructions 
of the paths and sweltering under the oppressive heat, one suddenly 
emerges from the trees on the weather coast of an island and feels the 
invigorating blast of the trade wind, and the eye rests with complete 
satisfaction on the wonderful blue of the sea and the red of the shore 
reef, and the creamy whiteness of the breakers as they beat against it. 
Certain places in the Solomons, however, may quite easily rank as 
beauty spots. The Ututha Channel, which divides the two eastern 
islands in the Floridas; the channel in the Rubiana Lagoon; and the 
western end of the Mara Masiki Channel, which divides Malaita in 
two—all have delightful vistas and charm one with their tortuous 
and sharp windings opening out on here an island, there a cascade; 
the giant growths of the coral under the boat fascinate one’s gaze; 
beautifully colored fishes of vivid greens and reds dart about inthe 
shallows, while up in the trees, on the side of the steep hills, innumer- 
able cockatoos rend the air with their harsh cries, or the big wood 
