[Note: this transcription was produced by an automatic OCR ENGINE]

200 WITH NATIVES IN THE WESTERN PACIFIC

the sea. In the blue distance rises Aoba, and the
long—drawn coast of Malekula disappears in the mist.
A quieter, sweeter place for convalescents does not
exist, and even the native patients, who are not, as
a rule, great lovers of scenery, like to lie under the
trees with their bandaged limbs and heads, staring
dreamin into the green and blue and sunny world.

Dr. B. is an excellent surgeon, famous all over
the group, not only among the white population, but
among the natives as well, who are beginning to
appreciate his work. Formerly they used to demand
payment for letting him operate on them, but now
many come of their own accord, so that the hospital
never lacks patients. The good that Dr. B. does
these people can hardly be overrated, and the Presby-
terian Mission deserves great credit for having
established the hospital; but it is a regrettable fact
that all these efforts are not strong enough to counter-
act other effects of civilization, such as alcoholism,
which is the curse of the native race, especially on
Ambrym.

Although the sale of alcohol to natives is strictly
prohibited by the laws of the Condominium, the
French pay no attention to these rules, and sell it in
quantities without being called to account. The sale
of liquor is the simplest means of acquiring wealth,
as the profit on one bottle may amount to five
shillings. The natives of Ambrym spend all their
money on drink, and as they are quite rich and buy
wholesale, the results, in money for the trader and in
death for the native, are considerable. For they