revenge that the population now is, I believe, reduced to ' about half what it used to be.'

On the other hand, Mr. Christian, writing, before the recent transfer of authority, in reference to the recent massacre of Don Miguel Velasco and his sailors at Roukiti, says:

'Perhaps, if the Carolines are handed over to Germany, as Spain seems disposed to do, we shall hear less of this odium theologicum, which elsewhere has proved such a firebrand to the world, and here has brought about such lamentable waste of life and treasure and cruel humiliations to Spain.'

Small doubt but the American Methodist missionaries and their converts will fare better under the German than under the Spanish flag.

*

It will be noticed on the map that, by the demarcation line of 1886, four of the main islands forming the Solomon group were allotted to the British sphere of influence. These islands, Malaita, New Georgia, Guadalcanar, and San Christoval, were subsequently annexed, in 1893, by Great Britain. By the last (1899) arrangement,† two of the larger and more northern of this group (Choiseul and Ysabel) have been ceded to us; thus leaving Bougainville, the largest of them, still in the hands of Germany. It certainly seems a pity that the continuity of this fine archipelago should thus have been broken up and placed under separate governments, especially as Bougainville Strait is a very narrow one; but doubtless large German commercial interests had been created in this island superior to ours, as the German traders have usually been beforehand in these waters within the last few years.

All the larger islands of the Solomon group are mountainous; indeed, some of the summits are lofty, as Mount Balbi, in Bougainville, over 10,000 feet; in Guadalcanar is another of 8,000, and in the other five islands are ranges of 4,000 feet altitude. Their formation seems largely volcanic, as at least two active volcanoes are known there; but the

A British coal depôt has already been established on Gavutu. The residence of the Commissioner is fixed on the island of Tulagi.

In Article II. paragraph 3, of the Declaration of November 14, 1899, she (Germany) recognises as falling to Great Britain those of the Solomon Islands, at present belonging to Germany, which are situated to the east and south-east of the island of Bougainville, which latter shall continue to belong to Germany, together with the island Buka, which forms part of it.'

geological structure of older rocks offers a promising field for mineral research, as soon as the interior of the islands can be safely penetrated. The Melanesian inhabitants are vigorous, bold, and warlike, and are reputed cannibals. Some of them, especially in Guadalcanar, are good bowmen, and they are expert in building and managing large canoes. The practice of head-hunting, so characteristic of the Papuans of New Guinea, is universal among them; nevertheless, when taken over to Queensland they make tractable labourers. Altogether these islands will become a valuable acquisition to our Australasian colonies; and some day, let us hope, they may be developed into British colonies themselves. We must not forget to add that Germany has stipulated that she retains her right to freely engage labourers in all the Solomon Islands.*

South-eastwards from the Solomons are the Santa Cruz Islands, which by the German agreement of 1886 have been acknowledged as British possessions, and lately brought under direct British administration. The Santa Cruz Islands were first properly charted by that admirable geographer, M. Beautemps-Beaupré, who accompanied Admiral d'Entrecasteaux in 1793. But they are peculiarly interesting to French seamen, in that they include that reef-bound island of Vanikoro on which the ships of La Pérouse, the Boussole' and the Astrolabe,' were wrecked in 1788. The fate of these vessels was not ascertained until Captain Peter Dillon discovered in 1827 their relics, more of which were recovered by Dumont d'Urville in 1828 and later in 1838. Nitendi, or Santa Cruz, is the largest of the islands, and notable as the scene of the treacherous attack on the boats of H.M.S. 'Pearl' on August 12, 1875, when Commodore Goodenough and two bluejackets were mortally wounded by arrows. Another neighbouring island, Nukapu, is likewise celebrated in the annals of the Melanesian Mission as the place where Bishop Patteson and his companions were slain in 1871 by the natives, in revenge, as it is supposed, for wrongs previously inflicted by a labour vessel.

Bishop John Selwyn afterwards in 1880 courageously landed from the mission yacht Southern Cross' and made

* Article IV., Declaration November 14, 1899: The arrangement at present existing between Germany and Great Britain, and concerning the right of Germany to freely engage labourers in the Solomon Islands belonging to Great Britain, shall be equally extended to those of the Solomon Islands mentioned in Article II. which fall to the share of Great Britain,'

friends with the natives at both these islands, and native missionaries are now established on them. The whole group is volcanic, and one of them an active volcano.

Twenty-two years ago the British and French Governments agreed that neither Power should annex the islands known as the New Hebrides. In 1886, however, two of the smaller southern islands of the New Hebrides were occupied by some French detachments of marine infantry, and a certain amount of apprehension was created among the colonists of Australia and New Zealand that the French Government intended to annex the whole archipelago. Communications between the two Governments elicited assurances that no project of annexation was contemplated, and a Convention was negotiated by which provision was made for the protection of life and property in these islands by means of a Joint Commission in 1887. A declaration was signed at Paris in the following year by which a Joint Naval Commission was constituted of British and French naval officers on the Pacific station, charged with the duty of maintaining order and of protecting the lives and property of British and French subjects in the New Hebrides.

This extensive archipelago stretches from Banks Islands, in latitude 14° S., to Aneiteum, in latitude 20°. The islands are actively volcanic, and the most powerful volcano of the group, Tauna, when discovered by Captain Cook, was in full eruption, forming a splendid natural lighthouse, 980 feet high, its noise and flames being visible forty miles around.

Although the inhabitants of the New Hebrides are mostly Melanesians for Polynesians inhabit Cherry Island, Tucopia, and the Duff Islands--they are divided into as many independent and separate tribes as there are islands, and the islanders likewise differ greatly in physical qualities, speaking also a great variety of languages. The English Church Mission, having established itself in the northern islands, has adopted the language of Mota,* one of the Banks group, as their standard language at St. Barnabas School on Norfolk Island. The Presbyterian Mission occupies itself with those islands south of Ambrym, on one of which, Erromanga, the missionary John Williams was murdered.

*The island of Mota is one of the smallest of the Banks Islands; but it was in 1860 that openings occurred for mission work there, and Bishop Patteson took a party of sixteen to Lifu in the Loyalty Islands, where in 1863 some of the boys from Mota were christened; thus the Mota language became the one used by the mission.

Since, four other missionaries have there met with a similar fate.

In January 1895 a terrible eruption took place from the Crater Mountain, or Mount Marum, in Ambrym, by which half the island was devastated by the flow of lava and the fall of ashes, and a large number of the inhabitants lost their lives. Espiritu Santo is the largest of the whole group, measuring sixty-five miles by thirty miles, with mountains four thousand feet high. There are here some remarkable ruins, which seem to resemble somewhat those of the Carolines. At Mallicollo, another good-sized island, fifty-four miles in length, Bishop George Augustus Selwyn nearly lost his life

in 1851.

Great Britain having acquired Fiji, and France being already in possession of Tahiti, with the adjacent islands, it can be well understood that both for Germany and the United States it also became an object to establish a centre of trade and influence within the Western Pacific. The Samoan group, situated nearly midway between the French and British possessions, was therefore naturally regarded as a desirable strategic possession by both these Powers.

The largest of the Samoan or Navigator's Islands are Savaii, Upolu, Tutuila, and Manua. Upolu contains the principal harbours and the chief town, Apia, which has attained importance as the chief emporium of many of the other Pacific Islands, excepting Tahiti and Fiji. The Samoan group collectively contain an area of about 2,650 square miles, with a population of 56,600, of whom 14,850 had embraced Christianity, and 12,300 attended schools in 1840. The political history of these interesting islands, the headquarters, so to speak, of the Polynesian race, is most complicated, but we may try to sketch a general outline of the principal facts connected with it.

The Tongans, a superior race, appear to have invaded Upolu and Savaii some five hundred years ago, and to have effected their conquest by making a road along the central mountain ridge, and thence descending on the villages. Traces of these roads, called Ala-i-Tonga, can still be seen. The Samoans, however, revolted under their chief Malietoa, perhaps about three hundred years since, and expelled the Tonga dynasty. Between twenty and twenty-five generations of Malietoas have succeeded to the title of supreme chieftain of Samoa, so that the legitimacy of the claim of the modern family of Malietoa to the chieftainship is undeniable.

When John Williams, the pioneer of missionary work in

the Western Pacific, arrived in Samoa in 1830, he found the only European residents, ex-convicts, and other cosmopolitan rascals from Australia bad been before him and greatly interfered with the success of his first efforts to introduce the blessings of Christianity and civilisation. At that time the chief Malietoa was king, his dynasty having ruled the Samoans for some generations back, although representatives of the original Tui Samoa, the more ancient Tupua dynasty, were still extant.

In 1840, however, civil war broke out on the death of the then reigning Malietoa, and since that date at irregular intervals there has been continual strife between the contending factions, but the Malietoa dynasty has generally held its own.

In 1857 the house of Godeffroy, of Hamburg, became firmly established in Apia, and rapidly absorbed a large proportion of the trade throughout the Western Pacific. To this firm the intertribal disputes for the sovereignty afforded an opportunity for disposing of arms manufactured at Liège to the combatants in exchange for land at two or three marks per acre. By this means Godeffroy's house obtained some thousands of acres, on which cotton plantations were formed, with cheap labour imported from other islands. A shipbuilding yard was constructed, and, altogether, the transactions of this firm were on an extensive scale, for there was no competition until the arrival of an American company in 1868-the Polynesian Lands and Commercial Company of San Francisco. This company arrived at an opportune moment for supplying arms to the Samoans; for a split in the Malietoa dynasty occurred on the death of the king in 1869, his two sons contesting the succession. The chiefs of Savaii elected the elder brother, while those of Manua elected the younger. The islands of Auna and Atua seem always to have remained faithful to the old Tupua family. The American company likewise were willing to take broad acres in exchange for their firearms, and soon became proprietors of large estates; and a quasi-official protectorate was exercised by the United States Consul. Affairs remained in an unsettled state, with varying success on either side, until 1873, when the Samoans apparently resolved to have a king of each dynasty to rule conjointly, and Pulepule ascended the throne, as a puppet, we may suppose, with Malietoa Laupepa as his executive coadjutor. This arrangement lasted until 1875, when Colonel Steinberger was sent by the United States Govern