well believe that before these blacks came
hither,--perhaps a thousand years ago,--this land was untrodden by human
beings, though scientists are by no means agreed upon this point. No
species of grain was known to these natives; not a single fruit worthy
of notice grew wild, and not an edible root of value was produced. The
only game of any size was the kangaroo and a few species of birds. Now
the trees, fruits, vegetables, and game of all regions have become
domesticated here, and have all proved to be highly productive, whether
transplanted from tropical or from semi-tropical regions. While we write
these lines, one most palatable and peculiar product is recalled,
namely, the passion-fruit. The gorgeous flowering species is familiar to
us all, but the fruit-bearing vine grows in Australia to perfection.
When ripe it is egg-shaped, and about the size of a hen's-egg, being
eaten in much the same manner. The top is cut off, leaving the skin as a
shell from which the luscious contents are eaten with a spoon. The
flavor is a most agreeable sub-acid.

We have intimated that appearances lead to the conviction that both
Australia and New Zealand were uninhabited about ten centuries ago; and
yet it would seem as though the South Pacific must have been peopled by
races of a certain degree of civilization in the far past. On the
Marshall and the Gilbert groups of islands, as well as on the Kingsmill
and the Ladrones, there are prehistoric stone monuments which were never
constructed by savages. On Lele, near Strong's Island, there are
elaborate stone fortifications overgrown by tropical forests, the walls
of which are twelve feet thick, underlaid by caverns, vaults, and secret
passages. Here also is a quadrangular tower forty feet in height. The
tradition of the present inhabitants is that a great city once existed
on this site, of which they know nothing. Ruins are also found in the
Navigator's Islands, the Marquesas, and even the Sandwich Islands, whose
origin is as much a mystery to the present inhabitants as to the
inquiring stranger. Was there once in the far-away past a great Malayan
Empire existing in the Pacific Ocean? There is a Peruvian tradition that
in the olden times strangers came from the great South Sea in ships to
the west coast of America, for commercial intercourse with the civilized
race which existed there.

In visiting these various by-paths of the globe, one realizes that there
are problems as to the ant