THE SEYCHELLES

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 55, Issue 295, 26 September 1935, Page 4

THE SEYCHELLES

ISLAND OF GUANO.

VISITORS’ IMPRESSIONS. The name Seychelles rs well known to the farmers of New Zealand because of the guano that comes from there, but to the average New Zealander it is merely the name of some islands in the Indian Ocean, and consequently Mr G. T. Stevens, of Invercargill, who recently returned from a trip to that part of the world by the Mamma, found much to interest him in the Seychelles Islands. When interviewed he expressed appreciation of the beauty of the islands but disappointment with the conditions existing there .

Mr .Stevens is grain and fertiliser manager for a well-known mercantile firm in Invercargill and was sent to the Seychelles to endeavour to arrange the shipping of guano in better condition, as his firm has not been satisfied with the condition of recent shipments. He also visited Africa to investigate tho possibilities of a market for New Zealand grass seed. Mr Stevens, who is an enthusiastic bowler,, was a member of the New Zealand bowling team that visited Suva a few years ago, and carried his bowls with him to the Seychelles but there is only one bowling green there and that is the property of the Governor, A Group of islands. Leaving New Zealand early in May, Mr Stevens went to Bombay via Sydney and took the monthly steamer service to the Seychelles. He spent sometime in the islands and succeeded in arranging for supplies of guano in good condition. The Seychelles group consists of 92 he said, but the total area is only 15G£ square miles. “Don’t forget the half,” he said with a smile. “The whole place could be put into the Taieri Plains.” The population consisted of about 28,000 creoles and 2000 whites and of these approximately 20,000 were on the main island. This island was a remarkably pretty place and was exceptionally healthy. Although the islands were only 250 miles south of the equator the climate was not unbearably hot and his opinion was that the place would make an ideal tourist resort.

Tho guano, which is such a popular farm manure in New Zealand, is obtained from the small islands where the seabirds have nested throughout the ages. The guano for New Zealand was taken from an island estimated to produce between 800,000 and 500,000 tons, but it would probably produce more as another island estimated to produce 10,000 tons had already yielded 178,000, with about 30,000 in sight. (Speaking of conditions on the islands, Mr Stevens said that the whole place was rather a tragedy. It was a Crown colony, with a Governor, a Chief Justice who had less to do than a Justice of the Peace in New Zealand, and other, officials receiving good salaries while the creoles received pitifully small wags. There were no hanking institutions on the island and the whole place was bankrupt, the only men of substance being three traders.

A Diet of Fish. The soil of the main island was reddish in colour, Mr Stevens said, and a certain amount of farming was done Some cattle were kept, but the meat was so dreadful that the people would not eat it One man told him that he had bought a carcase of mutton from a ship, but had to throw part of it away as his customers did not want it. The staple diet of the natives was fish and yams. They ate large quantities of shark and octopus. Mr Stevens tried some of tlie latter but did not relish it. “I’ve never eaten motortyre, but I guess it’s just as bad,” was his comment. The farming consisted largely of cocoanut growing, 5000 tons of copra having been exported last year. However, this was down to £ll a ton ami. did not pay and that accounted to some extend for the low wages paid on the island. Another industry was gathering the eggs of the sea birds and 51 tons of egg-yolk was exported last year. Native labourers were paid from five to seven rupees a month, with the rupee at Is Gd, Mr Stevens said. Tradesmen received 1 from twelve to fourteen rupees a month and women employed as scavengers in the streets had to work for ten days to earn one rupee. The men had to keep their wives and families on these wages and the only way they could exist was by catching lisli and growing a few yams to supply the kitchen. There was no State education on the islands, the schools being under the control of the Roman Catholic and Anglican Churches. The teachers were all women and one girl who was second to the headmistress in one of the large schools told Mr Stevens that she received sixteen rupees a month. Roads of Granite. There were some motor-cars on the main island and in one placo there was a regular bus service, Mr Stevens said, but the bus was a very old one and anyone using it had to put up with the company of native labourers. The roads were good as they were made from the hard granite rock of the islands. Each island had the appearance of being one huge granite boulder and the foadmakers blasted big lumps out of the ground. They then employed an ingenious method of breaking up the large pieces. A small lire was lit under each one and after it had been burning for some time cold water was poured over the rock. The sudden contraction caused the boulder to disintegrate and the pieces were pounded into the roadway. “There is one thing lacking there,” said Mr Stevens. “They could make a wonderful tourist resort of the place, but tlie Government will not do anything.” Mr Stevens said he had discussed the matter with an official who happened to be his namesake and the matter was now being considered. At the present time the accommodation was poor but cheap and there was no provision for sports. The steamer ser-

vice was monthly and after the first few days in the islands there was nothing to do. The Governor had a i>owling green, a croquet lawn, and two tennis courts and one of the hotels was building baths, but apart from that there was nothing. It would bo difficult to make a golf course, Mr Stevens said, because, apart from the farms, there was insufficient flat ground suitable for putting greens.

Beautiful Durban. “J would like to take my hat off to the civic authorities at Durban,” Mr Stevens said when discussing his visit to South Africa. The comparison with conditions at the Seychelles was striking. There was certainly a population of 21,GU0 but the civic authorities had done everything possible to encourage tourists from the Band. There were ninety hotels and two hundred hoarding-houses in the city aiid during the whole year the most of them were filled.

Durban reminded him of Timaiu, Mr Stevens said. There were low hills behind the coast and beautiful beaches fronting the city. The civic authorities had built a sunken garden in the form of an amphitheatre on the waterfront with pools and grottos illuminated at night. Along the beach ten or a dozen tall masts had been erected and from these lines of’ electric lights were strung in all directions so that the waterfront was festooned with coloured lights after dark. Last year the howling greens on the seafront took £768 in fees. “That is what they ought to do at the Seychelles,” he commented.

There was little prospect of any market for New Zealand, grass seed in (South Africa, Mr Stevens said mainly because the South African farmers were a long way behind the New Zealand farmers in their methods. In the past they had grazed out a piece of country and then moved elsewhere with the result that the grazing lands were infested with weeds. The Agriculture Department was trying to kill out these weeds and bring the native grasses back. The farmers used Seychelles guano for tpp-dressing but did not plough and sow English grasses like, the New Zealand farmers. The soil was woefully deficient in some essential elements and the farmers had to feed bonedust to their stock to supply them with lime, phosphates, etc.