The daily morning journal and courier., 1905-02-23
TRADE WITH CAHNIBALS,
RISKS TAKEN BY WHITE MEN
 IN THE SOLOMON ISLANDS.

Profit and Risk Roth Great--The Trad
 CTS are in Constant Danger of Relng
 Killed and Eaten---Human Flesh
 Delicacy. ~E..- @-
 The Solomon Islands. says the New York Sun, lie east of of New Guinea. The two northern islands belong to Germany and the others to Great Bri- tain. =...-. 4Z
 Neither country has done anything to develop ;. them. The interior Of the islands is almost unknown. The reason is that the natives are, extremely hos tile and exploring parties have never dared to venture sar from the coasts.
 Traders take their lives in their hands and live on the shores Of few islands, but rarely venture out of sight of the sea. As ships approach Bou- gainville, the largest island. they see many miles.aWay the great Kronprinz range, extending through the center and rising to 5000 feet, but through mariners have seen these mountains for centuries no white man has ever visited the range, because the region between it and the sea is densely peo- pied by the most Warlike of saVages. Carl Ribble, German naturalist, has had the courage to spend two years at trading stations along the coasts. He has just written a book that bristles with information about those islands and their inhabitants. He sketches the Ia o,ld 4oJ loff.i animal life. and his book zWel Jaflre unter den Kannibalen der Salomon- Inseln,' is especially timely because so little has been written about this archipelago.
 Ribble says that. there is no more dangerous trade in the world than that Itravelersare liable to be attacked atany time. Loaded revolyers are always in their belts.
 If the trade were not extremely pro- fitable white men could not be induced | to live there The natives gather large ] quantities of cocoanuts and are anx- 1 ious to sell them, though their com merciaI instinct does not keep them from killing the white trader if they catch him off his guard.
 They sell their commodities for a song in comparison with prices asked by other Pacific natives who know the whites better. The trader in the Solo, mon buys 100 cocoanuts for a piece of cloth worth about IS cents.
 The natives are at the same ridicu- l lous disadvantage in exchanging their commodities and So the traders con, ! tinue business relations that are So profitable to them They dry the meat of the cocoanut under the tropical sun, i turning it into copra, which vessels take away to Europe. where the oil is ! expressed for soap making and other 1 purposes.
 It must be highly exciting to live in a l land where day or night one may be .the target of a spear or q bullet. The 1 reckless traders finding that the na- ! tives are almost crazy for firearms sell I them to everyone who can produce the many shocsands of cocoanuts demand l ed.
 Now and then they are killed by the very guns that they have sold. Int sa.rie blacks who traffic peaceably witE l the traders in business hours are likely to Turk around his house in the dark ness in the hope of shooting him while asleep. ! Now and then they are caught spy ing around the houses to find the exact position of the bed In which the white man sleeps. They are likely to mark l the outside of the wall near which the ] bed stands for the purpose, of killing ] the trader by shooting through it. Al the especially dangerous stations trad. l CTS move their beds every night or else pile around them a will of boxes. | If a trader smells smoke during the
 night he is very careful about sticking | his head out of the door or window i for he has learned that it is a fayorite | trick of the blacks to create a smudge so that the whites may be tempted out of doors to see what is burning. Or
 such occasions they are likely to bt l killed by their unseen enemies. E | It is remarkable that the traders take their wives and children to these
 islands. Not q few white families art
 living along these coasts. The womea l and children lead no easy lives, fol
 they are engaged most of the day 1T i spreading coeoanlits meat, for drying
 or helping the men folk in many othel
 ways. Rihble says that a white wo l man there is surpassed by the men il l pluck and courage.
 4 Every woman carries a revolver, fol l the women are in as much danger al
 the men. Now and then they are con
 frontad with situations which requir,
 quick thought and action. The Writel l gives number of instances of tht
 courage with which the women anc
 even little girls meet danger.
 One day two traders named MacDon
 aid, of Munia sland. started on a bus
 mess trip along the coast of Bougain
 vile, leaving their wives and daughter in the newly built cabins which Wert
 not yet provided with doors or window
 few nights later a 12-year-old gir was awakened by smoke blowing
 through the house. %
 She .thought the natives were up t,
 mischief and picking up her revolve
 and awakening her 10-year-old siste
 she stole softly to the doorway. Push
 ing aside the cloth that hung before i
 the two girls diInly saw several .blacl figures crouched a few feet from tn house waiting for some of the inmate