FOOD IN THE ISLANDS.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 180, 4 September 1914, Page 8

FOOD IN THE ISLANDS.

FLOUR RUN OUT. Press Association. AUCKLAND, September 3. There was no more astonished man in New Zealand waters last evening than Captain Ross, master and owner of the barquentine Ysabel, when a flashlight played upon him outside Tiritiii i and his ship was detained pending compliance with the Defence Department | regulations respecting the inspection of I shipping. It was his first intimation of the existence of a state of war. i At Tonga and Niue, whence the Ysabel comes, residents knew nothing of the outbreak of hostilities, and it is exceedingly improbable that they yet know 1 anything about it. That something is radically wrong, however, they will have realised by this time, for *:'iO white and Native population of the Friendly. Group will be very nearly starving. When Captain Ross left Nukualofa, the Navua, with food supplies, was already long overdue, and, as the steamer in question is still at Auckland, the plight of Tongans can well be imagined. The Navua will sail out this evening, but her destination is fiji only. Tonga has been cut out. : The position in regard to food supplies in the Tongan group is a somewhat extraordinary one. The residents have almost entirely ceased to cultivate Native foods, and even yams are regarded as a luxury these days. The reason is that such high prices have been paid for copra that the Natives have devoted their attention almost entirely to this industry, and have depended upon shipments of food from Auckland. In fact Auckland flour, biscuits and canned meat and American j kerosene form the main items of Tongan imports. Up to the time of the Ysabel's departure, there were many conjectures as to the reason for the non-arrival of the Navua with stores, but no one ever hazarded a guess that a great European war was the cause of the trouble. Their continued isolation will be matter ft>r profound concern. When the Ysabel left --Nukualofa, the flour and biscuit supply had almost run out, and the European population, in particular, was becoming somewhat alarmed at the non-arrival of fresh supplies. The Ysabel saw nothing of German cruisers on her run to Auckland.