Photos by James W. Davidson,

and we then removed to one of the native houses, which we found dry and, under the circumstances, comfortable.

All the boats appear to be of one model. They are beautifully rounded, and both stem and stern are shaped alike, being prolonged upward in a graceful curve ending in a point, from which, in time of festivity, is projected a bunch of feathers or some other decoration. It is a built-up boat, and, considering the crude tools used in its construction, is a remarkably creditable affair. The tribe possess no saws, and consequently each plank is adzed down, thus obtaining but one plank from a tree. These planks, forming the sides of the boat, are so carefully shaped that they fit very closely. Holes are bored near the seams, through which rattan lastings are passed and drawn tightly, literally tying the parts together. The bottom planks are fastened to the strong V-shaped keel in the same manner. As in the Solomon Islands, the principal tool used is an adze. In Botel Tobago this implement is so made that it can be converted into a chisel by inserting the blade end first into the handle.

There are no dogs or cats on the island, which accounts for the great pest of rats. Immense rodents as large as the American musk-rat literally overrun the villages at night. One could

see them after dark, chasing about the place without the least sign of fear, as hungry hogs would overrun a garden, and it is no exaggeration to say we feared the rats more than we feared the natives.

The South American Republics. By Thomas C. Dawson. In two volumes. Illustrated with photographs and maps. Vol. I. Pp. xvi + 525. 51⁄2 by 8 inches. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. 1903.

Mr Dawson has been for many years American consul to various capitals of South America. This work is in two

parts, of which the first is out; the second will be published in a few months. The present volume describes Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Brazil. It is well written, interesting, and reliable and is commended to all who are seeking a good book on South America.

Two South American Republics, Argentina and Chile, may be called prosperous; there are evidences of an awakening in certain sections of a third, Colombia, which may bring equal good fortune to that state. Brazil is also becoming unified, and, according to Mr Dawson, is developing a solidity as a nation which is not generally realized.

Several of the author's statements about this republic, whose area is greater than that of the United States excluding Alaska, are worth quoting:

Capital is slowly accumulating, and a healthful tendency toward industrious habits and the employment of reasonable and moderate methods in exploiting the great untouched natural resources of the country is evident.

66

'Leaving out immigration, the Brazilian people have shown a steady natural increase of nearly 2 per cent per annum during this century. The total population has multiplied from less than three to more than eighteen millions. Not a fiftieth part of the territory is cultivated; its resources have never been studied, much less developed."

The Brazilians have the additional advantage of inheriting directly a European civilization. They They are too firmly established, too numerous and prolific, and possess a too highly organized and deeply rooted civilization to be in danger of expulsion or political absorption. Immense immigration into South America is inevitable as soon as the pressure of population is strongly felt in Western Europe and North America. This may transform Brazil economically, but the new conditions will have to fit themselves into the political and social framework already in existence."

Mr Dawson expresses great faith in the Argentine Republic:

The industrial impetus already acquired by the Argentine Republic is sufficient to carry it over all obstacles, and it seems assured that there will be a rapid settlement of the whole of this immense and fertile plain. Here Nature has done everything to make communication easy, and a temperate climate insures crops suited to modern European civilization.

"Two grave perils have so far been encountered, namely, a tendency toward political disintegration and an abuse of the taxing power. The former is now remote; for since the railways began to concentrate wealth and influence at Buenos Aires and to destroy the prestige and political power of the provincial capitals, the natural structure built by the patriots of 1853 has stood firmer each year.

"Argentina has had a bitter lesson of the evils of governmental extravagance and still groans under the burden of a debt which seems disproportionately heavy, but the growth of population and wealth will soon overtake it, and the very difficulties of meeting interest are the cause of an economy in administration, of which the good effects will be felt long after the debt itself has been reduced to a reasonable per capita. A nation is in the process of formation in the Plata Valley whose material greatness is certain and whose moral and intellectual characteristics will have the widest influence on the rest of South America."

In Search of a Siberian Klondike. By Washington B. Vanderlip and Homer B. Hulbert. With many illustrations. Pp. xiv + 315. 51⁄2 by 8% inches. New York: The Century Co. 1903. $2.00 net.

One of the most interestingly illustrated books of exploration published in a long time. The story is well told. Occasionally the author slips up in his

statements-as, for instance, when he recommends the United States to import their reindeer for Alaska from Kamchatka instead of from Lapland. He is apparently ignorant of the fact that the United States Government has been importing reindeer from across Bering Sea ever since 1891, and has only once brought reindeer from Lapland, in the winter of 1898, when deer were needed immediately to rescue the miners in the Yukon Valley. The Alaskan and Siberian herds could not be drawn on then, because navigation had been closed by the winter ice.

On the Polar Star in the Arctic Sea. By the Duke of the Abruzzi. 2 vols., 8vo. With maps and illustrations. New York: Dodd, Mead & Co. 1903. $10.00.

Aus Insulinde, Malayische Reisebriefe. Von Ernst Haeckel. Illustrated. Pp. xi + 261. 61⁄2 by 91⁄2 inches. Bonn: Verlag von Emil Strauss. 1901. Geographic Influences in American History. By Albert Perry Brigham. With many illustrations. Pp. 366. 5 by 71⁄2 inches. Boston: Ginn & Co.

REGULAR MEETINGS OF THE SOCIETY

Τ

◄HESE meetings will be held in the
Assembly Hall of Cosmos Club at 8 p.
m. until the new home of the Society,
Hubbard Memorial Hall, is completed. No
tickets are required for these meetings.
December 4.-"The Work of the Bureau of
Plant Industry." Dr B. T. Galloway.

64

December 18.- Early Spanish Cartography
of the New World," by Prof. E L. Stevenson,
of Rutgers College.

January 8, 1904.-Annual Meeting; followed
by an address by Prof. Wm. M. Davis, of Har-
vard University, on "A Summer in Turkestan."

January 22.-" The Work of the Bureau of
Insular Affairs." Col. Clarence R. Edwards.
February 5.-"The Work of the Bureau of
Statistics Hon. O. P. Austin.

February 12.-"The Work of the Bureau of
Fish and Fisheries." Dr B. W. Evermann.
March 4. "The Work of the National Bu-
reau of Standards.” Dr G. M. Stratton.

March 18.- The Work of the U. S. Biolog-
ical Survey." Dr C. Hart Merriam.

POPULAR LECTURES

The Popular Lectures will be delivered in
the National Rifles' Armory, 920 G street, at
8 p. m., on the following dates (tickets are
required):

Saturday, December 12. Marches and
Movements of Arnold and André." By Mr
W. W. Ellsworth, of the Century Company.
Illustrated.

Friday, January 15, 1904.-"Travels in Ara-
bia and Along the Persian Gulf," by David G.
Fairchild, Special Agent of the U. S. Depart
ment of Agriculture. Illustrated.

Saturday, January 30.- Joys of the Trail,"
by Mr Hamlin Garland, author of "The Cap-
tain of the Gray Horse Troop," etc. Illustrated.
Announcement of definite dates for the fol-
lowing lectures in this course will be made
later:

Conditions in Macedonia," by Dr Edwin
A. Grosvenor, of Amherst College. Illustrated.
"The Louisiana Purchase Exposition." By
Hon. David R. Francis, President of the Lou-
isiana Purchase Exposition. Illustrated.

Provisional arrangements have also been
made for addresses on-

Little Known Peoples of Mexico.
Russia and Japan in Korea.
The Alaskan Boundary Decision.

The general subject of the Afternoon Course
of popular lectures is "The Growth of Diplo
macy. The special topics and the names of
the speakers will be announced in a later pro-
gram. The first of the series will be given on
Saturday, February 27, and the succeeding
lectures on March 5, 12, 19, and 26.

These lectures will be illustrated.