Bsi Languages

Interesting Remnant In The Russells

AN experiment in the transplantation of communities in the British Solomon Islands in being watched with interest by Dr. C, E. Fox, a member of the Mel anesian Mission who has spent 45 years in the group. He has made a special study of the local languages and has com piled three dictionaries.

Because of the difficulty of obtaining local labour in the under-populated Solo mons, a number of Gilbertese are being taken to Cape Marsh (Russell Islands, near the centre of the group) where are a number of the best coconut planta tions. Men from the over-populated Gil berts make excellent labourers.

There are only about 200 indigenous natives remaining in the Russell Islands, and Dr. Fox says that they are a rem nant which it is difficult to identify. They speak a language which he describes as “strange, and quite unique it is like nothing known in the world —a most complicated thing, with inflections re sembling those of Latin and Greek.”

Dr. Fox (he is a Doctor of Literature) although he is nearly 70 years old, was a coast-watcher for the Americans during the war. Certain American officers were deeply interestd in his research work and his MSS. One American, who was making arrangements for the publication of Dr. Fox’s dictionaries, unfortunately lost his life in an air accident.

Mr. Jeffrey Carr, who has been attached for some years to the Vacuum Oil Company staff in Suva, Fiji, has joined Pan American World Airways. He left Suva last Thursday for San Fran cisco, where he is to be attached for two months to the divisional headquarters of the Company for further training in traffic management.