Abstract
A COMMUNICATION received from Mr. R. A. Lever of Tulagi, British Solomons, referring to a Research Item in NATURE of June 11, p. 872, based on a paper by Mr. A. M. Hocart on warfare in Eddystone Island of the Solomons (J. Roy. Anthrop.Inst., vol. 61, pt. 2) points out that the only weapons to be seen now among the islanders are light spears and bows and arrows for shooting fish and small birds, while head-hunting, murder and adultery, to which Mr. Hocart had referred as the causes of strife, have long been dealt with under the British protectorate, as in all other parts of the globo where wo have any i share in the government. In fairness to Mr. Hocart, it must be pointed out that the brief paragraph in our columns summarises a paper of 24 pages. Reference to Mr. Hocart's complete paper will show that he was dealing with conditions in the island when I ho visited it in 1908–9, and further, that in describing as a whole this aspect of native culture, he covered practices which were obsolete, or had fallen into disuse not long before his visit, as well as customs which he himself observed or of which he was informed. At times, both in his own narrative and in that of his informants, ho makes use of the historic present, but the context makes it clear whether he intends a reference to what was then current or to what had become obsolete.
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Warfare on Eddystone Island. Nature 130, 606 (1932). https://doi.org/10.1038/130606b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/130606b0