Ethnographical Notes on the Murray Islands, Torres Straits
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 8050652 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Archibald E Hunt (corresponding author) |
| Year | 1899 |
| Volume | 28 |
| Issue | 1/2 |
| Pages | 5-5 |
| Publication date | 1899-01-01 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0959-5295 • E-ISSN: 2397-2564 |
| Publisher | JSTOR (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.2307/2842924 |
| OpenAlex | W2799892751 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 6 |
AT the eastern end of Torres Straits, about latitude 100 S. and longitude 1440 E., lies the little group known as Murray Islands, the islands being so namied after one of the officers of the "Fly" Expedition which visited Torres Straits about 1842-1846.1The group consists of three small islands, the largest of which, Mer, is only about five miles in circumference, and the others, Waier and Dauar, much smaller still.From the account given by Jukes in his Voi;age of H.M.S. Fly, the population has evidently at one time been very much larger than at present.In 1846 Jukes estimated the population at about 700; but in 1889, when counted by the writer, the census was only a little over 400, and a more recent census shows a further rapid decrease.There carn be little doubt but that in a comparatively few years the race will have become extinct.The following notes were collected by the writer during a residence of nearly three years as missionary of the London Missionary Society on the Island of Mer, from 1887 to 1890.The information was gathered fromn several of the oldest natives on the island, who met periodically at the Mission House and told their stories or answered the questions put to them.The conversation was carried on entirely in the vernacular, and, wherever the answers suggested doubt or uncertainty, the question was referred to other natives for further information or confirmation.The writer is conscious that many of the notes are deficient, and probably some are inaccurate; but in every case the greatest care has beein taken to ensure accuracy, and in many instances the same questions have been submitted to several different natives and their answers compared.Owing to a somewhat hurried departure from the island, the writer regrets he was unable to complete his task, and many important questions have had to be omitted owing to incomplete data.The lines followed were suggested by the Notes and Queries on Anthiropology, published for the British Association, and also Questions on Maniters, Customs, &C
Archaeology · Biology · Ethnography · Fishery · Geography · Maritime and Coastal Archaeology · Pacific and Southeast Asian Studies
| Citations per year | 0.19 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 1995 - 2022 (28) |
| Highly cited | No |