great longing to see something of savage life, but it was not till
about four years ago that he saw his way to attempting the realisation
of this desire by an expedition to Melanesia. He made my acquaintance
in the summer of 1908, and seeing that he was so keenly interested,
I lent him a number of books and all my MS. notes on Melanesia;
by the help of these and by the study of other books he gained a
good knowledge of the ethnology of that area. In November, 1908, he
started for Oceania for the first time and reached Fiji, from which
place he had intended to start on his expedition. Circumstances
over which he had no control, however, prevented the carrying out
of his original programme; so he went to Sydney, and there arranged
modified plans. He was on the point of executing these, when he was
again frustrated by a telegram from England which necessitated his
immediate return. It was a sad blow to him to have his long-cherished
schemes thus thwarted and rendered abortive, but, undaunted, he set
about to plan another expedition. Accordingly, in January, 1910, he
once more set sail for Australia as a starting place for the Solomon
Islands and British New Guinea, and this time achieved success; the
book which he now offers to the public is the result of this plucky
enterprise. In justice to the author it should be known that, owing
to climatic and other conditions, he was unwell during the whole of
his time in New Guinea, and had an injured foot and leg that hurt him
every step he took. The only wonder is that he was able to accomplish
so large and so thorough a piece of work as he has done.

It is interesting to note the different ways by which various
investigators have entered the field of Ethnology. Some have approached
it from the literary or classical side, but very few indeed of
these have ever had any experience in the field. The majority of
field workers have had a previous training in science--zoology not