From The Westminster Review. THE DISCOVERY OF THE SOLOMON ISLANDS. DESCRIPTIONS of newly discovered countries and their inhabitants are extremely attractive and interesting to almost every one who is not exclusively preoccupied with his own affairs, or with those immediately around him. But of all the habitable parts of our little globe few now remain to be described, and still fewer to be discovered. Among those of which the public knows next to nothing, and concerning which geographers and ethnologists knew but little until recently, are the Solomon Islands. Happily, we are now enabled to become acquainted with this extensive and especially interesting group of tropical islands; and, though the knowledge of them which is as yet ren with fortune he must come even again, or in a long enough time will have neither gained or lost; if in the mean time he gets a certain sum ahead he will, in the long run, lose that sum; and if in the mean time he gets a certain sum in arrears he will, in the long run, gain that sum (for no otherwise can he get even). We may be sure, then, since he cannot be always just even, and must sometimes be ahead and sometimes in arrears, by a certain sum, be it what it may, that in the long run (1) be will gain that sum, (2) he will lose that sum, and (3) he will come out even. Take the second case, and let the sum be £10. In the long run our gambler, starting even, will lose 10. In another long run, from what we have just proved, he will lose it again. Therefore, in a long enough run he will certainly lose £20; in another long enough run he will lose another £20; ordered accessible to us is partial, and is £40 in all. And so we go on, doubling at each stage, till we eventually show that in the long run, owing to the tendency of luck to run even, the gambler must lose any sum that may be named, however great it may be. Of course, we may equally well show that in the long run the gambler must find himself the winner of a sum greater than any that can be named. This result, though manifestly not to be trusted as it stands, yet indicates an important truth, viz., that in a sufficiently long series of gambling ventures the ranges on either side of neutral fortunes may be expected to be very wide indeed, while the general evenness of the balance in the long run shows that the widest ranges on one side will be matched by ranges as wide on the other. Hence it follows that no matter what the fortune may be with which a gambler starts, he is practically sure, if he continue gambling long enough, to incur ruin. For whensoever the range on the wrong side touches the amount of his means, there is for him no longer run. It matters nothing, so far as his fortunes are concerned, that if he could go on indefinitely the score against him would be wiped off, or replaced by as large a score in his favor. Other gamblers may come and others may go; his fate is sealed, his fortune gone forever. Among all the certainties of chance this conclusion, that persistent gambling means loss of fortune, that the run of luck is running blindly to ruin (run being simply ruin without an "i" or blind ruin), is the most certain of all. Never in the whole history of gambling has this law been observed to fail. R. A. PROCTOR. mainly restricted to a small number of the many islands constituting the group, that knowledge, owing to the scientific character of the observer who has offered it to the public, is, so far as it extends, undoubtedly accurate. For this knowledge we are chiefly indebted to the two very interesting volumes recently published by Dr. H. B. Guppy, which, though published simultaneously, form two separate works. One of them contains a description of the geological and general features of the islands; the other gives a large amount of information concerning their climate, their flora, their fauna, and, especially, concerning their human inhabitants.† This volume is also enriched by a translation, made by Dr. Guppy himself, from a Spanish manuscript, of a most important and intensely interesting journal, extending to upwards of fifty octavo pages. This journal, written by Hernando Gallego, one of the original discoverers of the islands, upwards of three hundred and twenty years ago, has not hitherto been published. In the beginning of 1881, her Majesty's ship Lark was fitted out "as a surveying ship in the western Pacific," and Dr. Guppy was selected by Sir John Watt Reid, the medical director-general of the navy, to be appointed as surgeon. "For this selection," Dr. Guppy tells us, he was also "in some measure indebted to the late Sir Frederick Evans, then hydrogra pher, who was desirous that a person pos Features, and Suitability for Colonization. By H. B. sessing tastes for natural history should | 8,005 feet above the sea." St. Christoval be chosen." Certainly, the wisdom of the selection has been amply justified by its results. Dr. Guppy not only made the best possible use of the time and opportunity afforded him while the Lark was occupied in her survey, but brought to his interesting work a mind at once scientifically trained, stored with a large amount of scientific knowledge, and imbued with an enthusiastic, as well as a genuine, love of scientific investigation. Those results are presented to us in the two excellently printed and handsomely bound volumes now before us. The extensive, varied, thoroughly interesting and trustworthy information they contain cannot fail to ensure for them a cordial welcome from every intelligent reader who becomes acquainted with them. Availing ourselves of them, we shall now endeavor to give a brief sketch of the Solomon Islands and of the history of their discovery. is over 70 miles in length; it is about 22 miles broad in its broadest part; but its average breadth is, probably, about 15 miles, and it reaches an elevation of about 4,100 feet. The remaining four of the seven islands named are also of considerable size; Isabel and Maleita appear to be each from 80 to 90 miles long; Choiseul and New Georgia are each somewhat less extensive. Among the most notable of the smaller islands we may mention Fauro, which is 12 miles long; Alu, 11 miles long, 7 broad, and 350 feet high; Treasury, 9 miles long, 5 and a half miles broad, and 1,150 feet high; Ugi, 6 miles long, 2 and a half miles broad, and 500 feet high; Simbo, 4 miles long; Savo, which is circular, and 3 miles in diame ter; Santa Anna, 2 and a half miles long, and 2 broad; Piedu, 2 miles long; and the two tiny groups—the Shortland Islands and the Florida Islands. soon Though the Solomon Islands were discovered as early as 1567, the knowledge then gained, and actually recorded, of their position and character was afterwards lost, and the vague tradition of their existence and discovery was long treated as a myth which itself became almost forgotten. And yet their Spanish discoverers actually spent six months, three hundred and twenty years ago, in examining them, and at that time took formal possession of them in the name of his Majesty the king of Spain. The islands constituting the group called the Solomon Islands are very numerous; there are seven principal islands, and many small ones, differing greatly from each other in size, as well as in various other respects. The seven large islands are named, respectively, Bougainville, Choiseul, Isabel, New Georgia, Guadalcanar, St. Christoval, and Maleita. The whole group lies south of the equator in the western part of the Pacific Ocean, about a thousand miles from the north-east coast of Australia, and forms the eastern most part of the Indian Archipelago. The north end of the most westerly of the chief islands, Bougainville, is in latitude 5° south, and longitude 155° east. The south end of the most easterly of the chief islands, St. Christoval, extends to the south-ered, became known to geographers. The ernmost part of latitude 10° south, and to the 162nd degree of east longitude. The islands form, collectively, a sort of chain extending along a line parallel with the north-east coast of Australia, from the northern extremity of the island of Bougainville in a south-eastern direction to the south-east point of the island of St. Christoval. The island of Bougainville is the largest and loftiest of the group; it is about 110 miles long, 30 miles broad, and "its loftiest mountain peaks attain a height varying between 7,000 and 10,000 feet above the sea." Guadalcanar, "the finest and most interesting of the Solomon group," is about 80 miles long, and, on an average, is about 25 miles broad. "Its eastern portion rises in lofty mountain masses, which attain, in Mount Lammas, an elevation of It appears that only in the second quarter of the present century the existence of the journal written by Hernando Gallego, one of the officers of the expedition by which the Solomon Islands were discov original manuscript was, a few years since, in the possession of Mr. Amhurst. There is a copy of it in the library of the British Museum; this copy was purchased of M. Fr. Michelena y Roiss in 1848. It is a translation of this copy which is "given in great part" by Dr. Guppy, and which gives a detailed account of the discovery of the islands in question. Gallego explains why he wrote the journal, as follows: It moved the mind of that most Christian and most Catholic monarch, Don Philip, to write to his Governor, the most illustrious Lope Garcia de Castro, that he should convert every infidel to Christ. Imbued with this feeling, I have made it my first object, by means of this relation and of the additions made by me to the sea-chart, to enable the missionaries who are to guide the infidels into At the vineyard of the Lord, to know where these | not sight it until the end of the month. places will be found, and to learn how to navigate these seas, exposed to the fury of the winds, and how all dangers and enemies may be avoided. This is my design, unless I am otherwise convinced. Let the curious accept this brief discourse. It is from fear that its author has not wished to print it. this time some of the people began to doubt whether we should ever see the land. But I always told them that, if God was with them, it would be His pleasure that they should not suffer ill. Happily, in this instance, Gallego did not prove a true prophet; but no doubt his false prophecy was willingly forgiven him. Instead of waiting anxiously till the end of the month for the sight of land, it was found on the 15th. distance. We reached it at sunset. "The governor of Peru, Lope Garcia de Castro, gave orders for the equipment of two ships of the fleet for the discovery of certain islands and a continent (tierra firme), concerning which his Catholic Majesty D. Philip II. had summoned a A seaman went to the top, and discovered number of persons versed in mathematics land in the shape of a small island. . . . We in order to deliberate on the plan to be were about six leagues from it, because, being followed. After selecting the vessels, he a low island, it could not be seen at a greater nominated as general in command of the It has many reefs about it, and has quite a expedition his nephew, Alvaro de Men- bay of the sea in the middle of it. After we dana; as commander of the troops (maes- had arrived, I found the latitude to be 634°. tro de campo), Pedro de Ortega Valencia;.. Seven canoes full of people started from as the royal ensign, D. Fernando En- the island. Some turned back to the shore, riquez; and lastly, as chief pilot-to and the remainder came off to the ship. But quote the words of the journal-myself, when they saw so many persons they returned the said Hernando Gallego." to the beach, and made great bonfires. The people in the canoes were naked, and of a tawny hue. When the Almiranta arrived, we agreed that no boats should land until the next day, as it was then evening. And when it dawned, it blew so strong from the northwest that we drifted a quarter of a league to the leeward of the island. I wished to reach it, but could not as the wind was so strong that we could carry no sail. "The number of all that embarked on this voyage, including, besides the soldiers and sailors, four Franciscan friars, and the servants, was a hundred. The preparations were made with such alacrity and willingness that the ships were fitted out with a despatch that seemed scarcely credible; and on the 19th day of November, 1566, being Wednesday, the day of St. Isabel, the two ships sailed from Callao, the port of the City of Kings." The two ships sailed westerly across the Pacific Ocean. Gallego recorded in his journal the course they pursued and the distance they accomplished each day. Buoyed up with hope, the crews believed, day after day, that they were on the point of discovering the land; but, when the last day of the year arrived, and still no land was to be seen, their courage began to give way. "The pilots told me," writes Gallego in his journal, "that I was the only person who was not disheartened after having sailed so many leagues without seeing land, and when I told them that they would suffer no ill, and that, with the favor of God, they would see the land at the end of January, they all kept silent, and made no reply." Gallego seems to have been the life and soul of the expedition- the one who kept up the drooping spirits of the crews. the 12th of January he writes: On They signalled from the Almiranta [the General's ship] to ask where the land should be. I replied that it lay, in my opinion, 300 leagues away, and that at all events we should Fearing that if they attempted to beat up to it the ships might be broken to island was inhabited, "the rest could not pieces on the reefs, and seeing that, as the be far away," Gallego advised that they should be searched for. The soldiers murmured because they were unwilling to leave the island. . . . Being weary of the voyage, they took no pains to conceal their displeasure; but I cheered and consoled them with the assurance that they would meet with no misfortune, and that, with the grace of God, I would give them more land than they would be able to people. Leaving this island (which, as Dr. Guppy remarks, "it is scarcely possible to iden tify with any of the islands marked in the latest Admiralty charts "), Gallego gave it the name of the Island of Jesus, "because," he writes, "we arrived at it on the day after that which we accounted the 15th of January." Continuing their voyage, these explorers discovered, February 1, some banks of reefs with some islets in the middle of them. Leaving these shoals, they steered south-west, and on the morning of the 7th of February, writes Gallego : I ordered a seaman to go aloft to the top | would be a graceful compliment to the galand scan the south for land, because there lant Gallego, who was the central figure of seemed to be in that quarter an elevated mass; this expedition, if, after the lapse of more and the seaman reported land. . . . Every than three centuries, the Spanish names one received the news with feelings of great should be associated with these islands in joy and gratitude for the favor which God had granted them through the intercession of the the Admiralty charts." Blessed Virgin, the Glorious Mother of God, whom we all believed to be our mediator; and the "Te Deum Laudamus" was sung. They were distant from the land when they first saw it about fifteen leagues. Gallego would fain have prolonged his explorations, but his companions would not allow him to do so, because they were all disheartened and wished to return to Peru." They began their perilous reAs they approached it, "they discovered ward of the small islands Santa Catalina turn voyage August 11. Sailing to windmuch more land belonging to the same and Santa Anna, the easternmost, and island, which appeared to be a continent. those they saw last, of the Solomon group, They did not get up to it until the evening they shaped their course north-east by of the next day, Sunday, the 8th of Feb-east and lost sight of them, and thus finally ruary." When they were searching for a left behind them the islands among which place of safety for their ships," although they had sojourned during six months. it was midday, a star," according to Gallego," appeared to" them "over the en trance of the reef." Taking it as a guide and as a good omen [he writes] we were cheered in spirit and became more hopeful. Presently we entered the harbor with the star over the bow, and we anchored, the Almiranta entering shortly afterwards. . . . It was the day of Santa Polonia, the 9th of February. The harbor, which is in the latitude of 70 50", we named the port of Santa Isabel del Estrella, and we named the island Santa Isabel. The Indians called the island Camba... Having disembarked with the other captains, I took possession of the island in the name of His Majesty. A cross was erected; and I chose a convenient place for building a brigan tine. This was quickly built and rigged, and on the 4th of April was launched. Gallego and Ortega, with eighteen soldiers and twelve sailors, embarked in her, April 7, and, leaving the port, set out to discover other islands and harbors. It is impossible, of course, within the limits assigned to this article, to give an account of the explorations and discoveries which were made by these intrepid Spaniards, chiefly by means of the brigantine. They spent six months in prosecuting their discoveries; they acquainted themselves with nearly the whole of the numerous islands constituting the group in question; they took formal possession, in the name of their king, of almost every one of the islands of any size, and they gave names to the majority of the small islands as well as to the large ones-excepting that of Bougainville. Dr. Guppy has given a list of the islands named by the Spaniards which do not, at present, bear the names given to them by their original discoverers; and, as he justly says, "It ber 17, they arrived at the small group of Ón reaching latitude 8° north, Septeminhabited islands which was called, by Gallego, San Bartolomeo, and which Dr. Guppy has identified as the Musquillo Islands. "There were many houses and much people and villos in these islands;" but "the people fled, abandoning their houses," when the voyagers landed to get fresh water. Finding none, they set sail again, and, September 22, they discovered a low islet which Gallego named San Francisco, and which is now known as Wake's Island. It was inhabited only by birds. Again their hope of getting fresh water was frustrated. On reaching latitude 30° N., October 14, they were over. taken by a terrible squall, succeeded by a prolonged storm. The two ships lost sight of each other; their sails were blown to shivers; the mainmast of each ship had to be cut away; the boat of each was lost; and blankets had to be used as sails. Referring to himself and his companions in this ship, the Capitana, Gallego writes: "We were much wearied, and suffered from hunger and thirst, as they did not allow us more than half a pint of stinking water and eight ounces of biscuit, a few very black beans, and oil; besides which there was nothing else in the ship. Many of our people were unable from weakness to eat any more food." Happily, at length, December 12, they reached the coast of Old California in latitude 30o N., and, December 23, having no boat, they "went ashore on a raft of casks to get water. There we made another raft of rushes and some casks, on which we carried on board twelve casks of water and many fish that we caught." On the 24th of January, 1569, they entered the port of Santiago. Before they left it they had a joyful surprise; three days after auspices of the new viceroy an expedition their arrival, "the Almiranta hove in of four ships was fitted out, on which sight. She was much in want of water were embarked sailors, soldiers, and emiand provisions; and she carried no boat, grants to the total number of four hunwhich, like ourselves, she had cast over dred." At the head of this expedition, in the great storms; and her mainmast Mendana, accompanied by his wife, Donna was cut away." Stopping on their way at Isabella Baretto, sailed from Peru in 1595 intervening ports, the Capitana entered the twenty-eight years after the return of port of Realajo, April 4, and the Almiranta five days afterwards. Here the two ships were beached, repaired, and re-victualled at a cost of eighteen hundred pesos (dollars), which Gallego advanced as a loan "for the service of his Majesty." They left this port May 28, and finally, June 19, reached Point Santa Elena exactly nineteen months from the date when they started from Callao. “On Sunday, the 26th of June, Don Fernando Enriquez left with the news for Lima or the City of the Kings." Mendana, nephew of Philip II., and the chief commander of the expedition above described, was animated by a lifelong ambition to colonize the group of islands he and his co-voyagers had discovered, and thus to add one more to the vast possessions of Spain. "In order to further his great aim, he gave to these islands the name of the Isles of Solomon, to the end that the Spaniards, supposing them to be the islands whence Solomon obtained his gold for the temple at Jerusalem, might be induced to go and inhabit them." But Mendana was not destined to witness the accomplishment of his purpose. The appearance of Drake in the Pacific Ocean some years after the return of the Spanish expedition to Peru caused Mendana's scheme of colonization to be abandoned; for it was feared that if Drake should become aware of the existence and position of the islands, it might be impossible to prevent them from being seized by the English. Therefore, to keep all knowledge of them from the English, "the publication of the official narrative of Mendana's voyage was purposely delayed; and so strong a pressure was brought to bear on Gallego, the chief pilot of the expedition, that he was afraid to publish his journal." Hence, "it not only remained in manuscript up to the present day, but, as before stated, was not brought to light until the second quarter of the present century." the first expedition. When about halfway across the Pacific, Mendana discov ered a group of islands which he believed to be those he was in quest of; but he soon became convinced of his mistake, and the voyage was continued during thirtythree days. Then, when general discontent expressed by the crews seemed likely to end in revolt, the ships were overtaken by a rain-storm; and after the clouds lifted, the voyagers saw within a league of them the shore of a large island. The discovery was signalled from the flag-ship to the other three vessels, but only two replied: the third, with "probably over a hundred souls on board," which had been seen two or three hours before, was never seen or heard of again. Mendana believed at first that the island was one of those he was in search of, but he was soon undeceived. Nevertheless, the search was abandoned, and the Spaniards proceeded to plant themselves on the shore of a harbor in the island which they had discovered, and to which they gave the name of Santa Cruz. Many of the colonists were destroyed by disease, and many others by the poisoned arrows of the natives; mutiny broke out and added to these disasters; Mendana, broken-hearted, sickened and died; Donna Isabella's brother, who had been selected by Mendana as his successor, died a fortnight afterwards in consequence of a wound he received in an affray with the natives; the survivors of the four hundred who left Peru, thor oughly disheartened, abandoned their colonial enterprise, and left the island in the three remaining ships; two of them finally reached the Philippine Islands; but the third, the Fragata, lost the company of the other ships, and "never more appeared." Among those who reached the Philippines was Quiros, who acted as the pilot of Mendana, and who, as well as Gallego, accompanied him in the expedition which resulted in the original discovery of the Solomon Islands. "Nothing daunted by Mendana persisted in his resolution to disaster and ill-success," Quiros deterplant a Spanish colony in the Solomon mined to renew the search for those Islands; and, at length, when he had be-islands "and the other unknown lands in come an elderly man, "a change occurred in the viceroyalty of Peru, and under the that region." He returned to Peru and sought assistance to fit out another expe |