The Central Caribs

Abstract

THIS sumptuously equipped and splendidly illustrated volume has all the virtues and some of the defects of the so-called “survey-work,” that is, work carried on over an area very extended, relative to the time devoted to its study. Hence the traveller, unable to learn the native languages, has to rely on interpreters and informants, he has to collect material objects and to be satisfied with observations which can be made rapidly and yet correctly. It is possible in such work to obtain a clear idea of the material culture of a tribe and a general view of their beliefs and social organisation; to map out, the differences between the peoples of the region studied; to signal strange customs of outstanding importance. The insight into the native ways of life and modes of thought, however, the intimate perspectives of their moral outlook, of their Weltanschauung, and of their social order are given only to those who have the opportunities and the patience indispensable for the study of the local idioms and for a life led among the natives.

The Central Caribs.

By William Curtis Farabee. (University of Pennsylvania: The University Museum. Anthropological Publications, Vol. 10.) Pp. 299 + 40 plates. (Philadelphia: University Museum; London: Bernard Quaritch, Ltd., 1924.) 44s. net.