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PREFACE » xxv
interest. Mr. Corlette writes of Deacon that he “ found him a
very lovable boy and liked him extremely. He was most keen
on his work and extraordinarily thorough in his methods. . . .
Deacon went to work in a quiet digniï¬Åed way, and by his methods
and his manners got the conï¬Ådence of the natives. . . . I
conï¬Ådently believe that he procured more real insight into those
things that were really valuable than any of his contemporaries
or any who tried previously. . . . He got what he wanted by
being natural and honest and not unduly sacriï¬Åcing the dignity
of a gentleman Mr. Corlette had been twenty~ï¬Åve years on the
island, never having returned to England and never intending
to return. “ It is amazing how much more in touch with the
world these long residents in the islands are than people in
England. It is very cosmopolitan here [the New Hebrides],
since more than half the white population is French, some Poles,
Austrians, and so on. The result is the English here have adopted
many French customs, and French newspapers and so on. Many
Americans oome down, and in fact most English know a great
deal about America, get American foods, appliances, etc., read
American journals~also, of course, Australian. It is amazing,
too,‘ how well travelled residents are. . . . There is no desire
to return to England. It ever they leave they’ll settle in Australia.
The'British Government has made such a mess of things here,
in the New Hebrides, that there -is a great swing over to the
French, and many Britishers are working as French companies,
under the French flag, owing to the stupid and impossible methods
of the British Government (at home), who of course know nothing
about‘ the position here and care less.â€ù He also criticizes the
methcdsof instruction of the native by missionaries and ends
by saying “ make them citizens, not halbbaked expounders of
the history of the Jews, about whom they care nothing â€ù. I have
not thought it necessary to transcribe a great deal of what Deacon
wrote in his letters to various friends, as had he lived he might
have expressed himself differently.
On his return to South~West Bay to pack up preparatory to
his departure from the island, Deacon wrote in his last letter
to me, “ I realize now what a very bad ï¬Åeld it is for ethnology,
Everything is gone. Since my arrival till now (a year or more)
only one man has made a Nimzmgki, and that is the only event
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