With An "L" Or An "R"?

AFTER the question of the correct spelling of Guadalcanal (R) was raised by Mr. P. W. O. Norton in the January “PIM,” we received the following extract (from a news bulletin of the Queensland Historical Society) from Mr. Fred Z. Eager: “The question attracted the attention of Miss Leeson, Librarian of the Mit chell Library in Sydney, who in a let ter addressed to the secretary, was able to settle the question beyond all pos sible argument. It seems strange that, although the name spelt with a final ‘R’ has been used for half a century or more in books by reputable authors, and in semi-official maps, this form should prove to be a corruption of the original; but Miss Leeson. by quota tions from the Spanish manuscripts of Mendana and Hernando Gallego, shows that the name ‘Gaudalcanal’ was given to the island by someone described as ‘the master of the camp,’ because it happened to' be the name of his native town in Spain.

“A letter from Mr. F. Z. Eager, a member of the Society also pointed out that Guppy in his book ‘The Solomon Islands,’ spelt the name with a final ‘R,’ but in the same volume gave extracts from Gallego’s Journal in which it was stated, ‘we named it Guadalcanal.’ ”

Miss Helen H. Barrett, daughter of the Dean of Brisbane, is a recent recruit to the Melanesian Mission. She flew to Rabaul in January; there she joined the “Southern Cross’’ and is now at the Fauaba Hospital, Malaita, BSI.