FROM THE TROPICS.

Auckland Star, Volume LV, Issue 248, 18 October 1924, Page 7

FROM THE TROPICS.

CRUISE OF THE LABURNUM. RESCUES SHIPWRECKED CREW. JUBILEE CELEBRATIONS AT FIJI. After her annual visit to the lalancß H.M. sloop Laburnum returned to Auckland this morning and berthed alongside the oil tanker Nucula, at the sheerlegs r wharf, Calliope Dock. 8 Commander Smythe has brought his little ship into port looking particularly . spic and span in the typically naval way, J in spite of the long time she has spent j in the tropics. Although she is not a . surveying ship, the Laburnum did some useful work in Western Samoa at Salufata, which, it will be remembered, was an old German coaling station. ? Both officers and men speak appreoi- c atively of the hospitality they received t in the many places at which the ship c called. Leavink Auckland on June 0, a the ship visited Fiji, Samoa, Rarotonga, c Aitutaki, and Mangaia, Tahiti, Tonfra, x and then back to Fiji again. During the ; cruise she covered something like 7000 miles. The first part of the cruise was \. marked by wet weather; in fact, wherever the vessel called they heard from j the old hands that the season had every- j where been exceptionally wet. As a j. rule the wet and dry seasons in the Islands—there is really no winter and 1 1 summer as we know them—are pretty -, well defined, but this winter it was t sometimes difficult to tell whether it was the wet or the dry ssason. Right up to July the weather was unusually moist, but after that the Laburnum had c generally good weather up to within t quite a short distance of the New Zea- j land coast. f To the Rescue. In spite of all the arts of navigation <; wrecks are still frequent in the coral j reef-infested waters of the tropics, and ] many a reef is decorated with the bones z of a once brave ship. The Laburnum < played the part of Good Samaritan in T one of these tragedies, and if it had not j been that the weather was exceptionally s calm—really yachting -weather—there * would have been loss of life. Lying j quietly in Nukualofa Harbour, Tonga, one night, a wireless call told of the wreck of a steamer on the Hakulisi j reef, 70 miles away. The fine Norwegian r steamer which left Nukualofa the pic- j vious afternoon, by midnight was a hopeless wreck on the reef, which is a ' treacherous spot, with very deep water ' all around it, what sailors call "steepto," and is exposed at low water. The steamer ram on this spot at midnight, ' and it was soon seen that she would become a total wreck. She drove plump j up on the reef, and as she had some * 3000 tons of ore in her hold, there was ' no chance of hauling her off. The j Laburnum rushed to the spot at full steam, and, arriving at the wreck in the \ late afternoon, soon bad the passengers ' and crew safely off. sea was for- ' tunately almost dead cabs, and there ' was no difficulty in boating off all on J board. There were 57 people, most of whom were native passengers, including two native women. These were all taken back to Nukualofa by the Laburnum. It will be remembered that most of the crew of the wrecked steamer were brought up to Auckland by the Tofua on her last trip. The rescue of the people of the Mesna , was the only incident out of the usual ~ run of an Island cruise. Wherever the , Laburnum called people were particularly f kind, and got up many entertainments ] for the amusements of the visitors. At Tahiti, the French possession, the , Laburnum's officers and men met with [ the utmost cordiality. The Frentli , residents went to no end of trouble to make the visit enjoyable. As a matter of fact, some of the Englishmen found it rather hard to keep pace with the , kindness of our brave Allies. Just when most sailormen are thinking of turning in—round about four bells, or ten o'clock pjn.—the gay French people t in lovely Tahiti are starting on their "'soirees," or "evenings" as we would say, and what with music and dancing they generally kept up the fun until dawn. A jolly ten days was spent at Tahiti. Surveying and Gun Practice. While the Laburnum was at New Zealand's Pacific "possession," Samoa, she spent most of her time at Salufata, which, in the days of German rule, was used as a coaling station. Hero the Laburnum put in ten days surveying and quite a lot of work was accomplished in that time. Probably one of the most picturesquely situated gun-practice grounds in the world is that at Lautoka, Fiji. There, iv the tropic sea, lies a little island famous in the annals of all naval vessels which frequent these waters, a lonely islet with one single cocoanut palm growing on it. At five miles range the warships carry out their big gun practice. The island bears many a scar from shells, but no one. lias ever accomplished the desire of every gunner —to hit the single palm tree. Considering the very small surface a slim cocoanut palm would present at five miles range it is more than likely that the lone palm will continue to wave in the breeze for a very long while, and score off the men behind the gun. Memory of Cakobau. While in the Fiji Group the Laburnum went over to the old capital of Levuka, and in company with HJU.s. Pioneer took part in the effective celebrations at Nasova to commemorate the jubilee of the first hoisting of the British flag over what was then Cakobau'e kingdonT, witn rather a gory recent history still clinging to it. The warships provided a guard of honour for the ceremony, and also fired a salute when the Governor went ashore. At almost the identical spot where the flag was first hoisted— Nasova was for years the Government House quarter of the old capital—the celebrations took place. An address by the Governor in English was interpreted into Fijian by one of the chiefs, who recently went Home to the Wembley Exhibition. The ceremony was most effective. As part of the celebrations a capital regatta was held at Levuka, and the old capital was quite a gay place once again. Like Auckland, Levuka. which is on the island of Ovalau, while Suva is on the big island of Viti Levu, has always rather felt the loss of prestige when the seat of government was removed, but nothing can rob Levuka of its striking situation or its charming surroundings, and it was most fitting that the jubilee should be celebrated at the old town.