2003-12-18

Royal Commonwealth Society Library. Cambridge University Library. University of Cambridge.

Image

202 x 145 mm. A view showing the round palm-thatched houses, with people standing outside. A photograph taken at Graciosa Bay, where the Spaniards under Mendana attempted to found a colony in 1597: 'They mention that the natives live in round huts like beehives. Nowhere else does this habit attain, but here; here the custom has held its ground for three hundred years and more... I was amazed at the clustering villages in Te Motu. The people seemed to swarm, and the huts were built so close together that one quite lost ones bearings in the winding paths' (Montgomery, H.H (1896), 'The light of Melanesia'. London: SPCK, pp.140-141). Possible photographers include: Montgomery, Henry Hutchinson, 1847-1932, Bishop of Tasmania; Brittain, Arthur, fl 1892, clergyman; Welchman, Henry, fl 1890-1899, clergyman.

Melanesia (Oceania)

start=1892; end=1892; scheme=DCTERMS.W3CDTF