[?]Ore Gilbertese

[?]Spite

[?]Ugh Conditions

Dshop Museum Press An

» nounces “Ethnobotahy of the Gilbert Islands” by Dr. Kath ne Luomala, a 129-page summary information about the plants and ;ir uses in the sixteen atolls Of j Gilberts, and in particular in biteuea, in the drought-ridden ithern half. rhe study shows the fierce uggle for existence the people ge, especially in the drier islands, provide themselves with food im a ground so sparsely supplied th humus that some British ad nistrative officers bring in bags soil from Fiji for their gardens. ie Gilbertese themselves live linly on coconuts, fresh and Dked coconut toddy, pandanus lit (which is prepared in many lys) and babai, a coarse-textured :o which has so much prestige at it is harvested only for irn rtant ceremonial occasions. Islands Ter as to how much breadfruit, payas, and pumpkins are added their vegetable supply.

Despite the hardships of living, e population of 29,000, on the 114 nare miles of the Gilberts, con mes to increase, and over-popu non is a problem, which out .gration to previously uninhabited oils in the Phoenix and Line lands has scarcely begun to help.