Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 15.djvu/274

 REVIEWS

Reports of the Cambridge Anthropological Expedition to Torres Straits. Vol. VI. Sociology, Magic, and Religion of the Eastern Islanders. By Alfred C. Haddon and Others. Cambridge: University Press, 1908. Large 8vo., pp. XX+316. Map. 36 plates. This work is similar in character to Vol. V of the Reports al- ready printed but deals with other islands. The islands of Torres Straits, between Australia and New Guinea, are divided into the eastern and western groups. Those considered in the present volume are the Eastern Islands, which include Uga (Stephen's Island) Erub (Darnley Island), and Mer, Dauer, and Waier (col- lectively known as the Murray Islands). As Uga and Erub were not investigated by Dr. Haddon's expedition, the volume actually treats only of the Miriam, or Murray Islanders, In 1888-89 Dr. Haddon spent five months at Mer in zoological work; about ten years later, in 1898, his anthropological expedition spent four months there. The inhabitants are Melanesians who have been subjected to European influence for twenty-five years. They speak a broken- down English jargon and are, for the most part, nominal Chris- tians, the younger people having grown up in mission schools. Much of the old life and arts, magic and religion, and something of the social organization, remain.

The material here presented fills fourteen chapters. The whole is under Dr. A. C. Haddon's directorship and he contributes much himself. The assistant workers are W. H. R. Rivers, C. S. Myers, and A. Wilkin. Twenty-three Murray Island folk-tales are presented by Dr. Haddon. With the stories already printed from the Western Islands, the expedition secured a total of sixty- nine from the whole Torres Straits district. Fewer tales are com- mon to the two areas than might have been expected ; Dr. Haddon finds but six. In these cases, it seems as if the Eastern Islands have borrowed from the Western. Still, stories current in both groups may have been independently derived from the tales of another dis- trict. Dr. Haddon makes an interesting suggestion in connection with the stories; perhaps it has too slight a foundation, but it de-

260