There was a time when our relations with the Solomon Islanders were
strained. Their pagan and, we regret to say, anthropophagous habits
laid them open to a certain amount of criticism. Not many years ago
Mr. Bamberger, the famous violinist, in the course of a triumphal
tour in the Southern Pacific, was captured by the inhabitants of
Kulambranga, detained for several weeks in captivity in a mangrove
swamp, where he suffered great inconvenience from the gigantic frogs
_(Rana Guppyi_) which infest this region, and was only rescued with
great difficulty by a punitive expedition--conducted by Sir Pompey
Boldero--when on the eve of being sacrificed to the gastronomic
exigencies of his captors.

But this happily is all ancient history now. The Solomon Islanders
for several years have been confirmed vegetarians, and the pronounced
modification in their mesocephalic skulls and the improvement of
their facial angle afford the surest guarantee against any relapse.
Furthermore the instruction in music which they received from Mr.
Bamberger has exerted a profoundly mollifying effect on their manners.
Mr. Clutton Brock has pronounced them to be the most artistic of all
the Papuans. Their paintings show a remarkable affinity to the style
of Picasso and Matisse. Their choral singing is the glory of the South
Pacific.

Prince Ongtong and his party, who made the journey by long sea in
a flotilla of catamarans and sampans, arrived at Southampton on
Saturday, where they were met by perhaps the most representative
and influential gathering of public men ever seen in our times. The
procession to the Town Hall was headed by Lord READING, Lord SYDENHAM,
Mr. BOTTOMLEY, Mr. HOGGE, Sir LEO CHIOZZA MONEY, Mr. SMILLIE and Mr.
EUSTACE MILES. Then followed Prince Ongtong and his choir, superbly