A PACIFIC CRUISE.

Auckland Star, Volume LVII, Issue 252, 23 October 1926, Page 30

A PACIFIC CRUISE.

"SILVER ISLANDS OF A SAPPHIRE SEA. ,,

(By B. MAGEE.)

Next stopping place —though the steamer stands' well off from- the shore— I bears the unmelodious name of Nuiatou, though popularly it is known by the prosaic appellation of "Tin-Lan Island,"conferred on it by reason of the novel postal arrangements in vogue there. Long before the island was signted, members of the crew were busily engaged putting the postal matter for the inhabitants of "Tin-Can Island" in a large tin, somewhat larger than a petrol tin, which was soldered in order to make it perfectly watertight. Though it carries a fair population of natives, the ieland has only four white people. The rocky nature of the coast is said to be so treacherous that boats cannot be used to any great extent, but it is believed that this is a little fiction, and that the natives' attachment to old custom is the reason for the islanders continuing to swim out for the mail.

The sea was perfectly calm as we approached the island, and the steamer was able to go .within half a mile of lonely Nuiafou. The inhabitants were seen assembled on the shore for one of their red-letter days. When we were abreast of the© island, six black heads were observed right in the track of the. steamer. . They were the Post Office staff. . Each.one had. under him a bamboo pole, arid at the front of each pole was a small bamboo rod stuck in .like a. mast.. On the .top of the. latter was a browji paper .parcel containing the mail matter. As. the swimmers bobbed up and down in the waves, the parcels 'on the masts were high enough to keep them dry. The members of the crew of the. Tofua hauled up the .parcels to the deck, and then lowered the tin containing the mail matter from the outside world. This, the happy dusky postal officials take among them, scrimmage witk it, and dribble it ashore. When the sea is very rough, it is said that these men have to swim a mile,

and sometimes two, to the steamer when she dare not approach too near to the lonely and dangerous island of Nuiafou. The following day we .came in eight of many islands as we pursued our way back to Suva (Fiji), a distance of come 700 miles from Pago Pago. Among the islands of enchantment was one of suffering — the leper settlement where all the lepers from the Islands and New Zealand, to the number of 400, are concentrated, the youngest leper being a child of two years of age. But the heroic nuns in charge supply the motherly devotion and attention a cruel disease has robbed the children of, and the needs of the grown-ups are well attended to and everything done by the nuns to ameliorate the patients' unhappy condition. Gramophone music, j wireless and other aids to entertainment i are being supplied, or are in "contemplaJ tion by generous people, and New Zealand I has been well to the fore with benei factions. Glorious sunshine greeted us * on arrival back in Suva, and the place lost none of its charm by a second visit. Parties were formed to visit places time did not permit us seeing on the previous stay. Our Indian taxi man urged an excursion to Bau, the island near the mouth .of the Rewa River, which has the distinction of being the last place , whose inhabitants changed their diet from human flesh to that of animal. Here Gakabau (the last of the cannibal chiefs), .held supremacy and sway, t and died after living to a good age, which some attribute to the careful I selection of the primest of his enemies ' for culinary purposes. ! The writer ( formed one of a party of ! six setting out on a motor drive to [Bau, some twenty-five miles from Suva. An aristocratic English lady, who had set her heart .on seeing Bau,; was in the .party. ■ Her travelling experience - had ! been very extensive, one of her jaunts being a thousand miles up the Amazon. We crossed the Kewa River by punt, which is.capable of conveying four cars at one trip to the opposite sde. and passed , ' through Nausori, an - important town the journey also takes one through the locality of the large sugar refining works, round which .has grown up a . large . settlement.; The approach to Bau' for several miles is through sugar cane plantations. There is room but, for one car on the road, on either side of which - is. a channel of water.. We travelled along this road for a mile, and then within two or three miles of Bau we found a . large car across the road: it .was locked, and no one was within .coo-ec to claim ownership. The Indian taxi man's wrath was excessive, so too was the English lady's. It was impossible to get past the car; our car could not turn to- go back, and a plan to push the big car into the ditch was only frustrated by our inability to move it. With that determination that is/characteristic of the aristocracy, the English lady said she would see Bau .if she had to walk there. Another man and myself get offvntlTher under the blazing tropical sun. We walked about a'mile and'came 'to a Fijian's house. We asked the native working in the. garden how far it was to Batf. ' The Fijian, .is most - courteous and would not knowingly plant a thorn in the breast- of anyone, so noting our per-, spiring faces he replied; "JuSt round the corner." As the corner seemed about a mile' away, we requested him to express himself .in miles. "About two miles," he ■replied. Ouf look of disappointment touched the native, and he reduced the distance to ; one mile. Off we set and when we turned the corner a vista of an apparently interminable road ran into, the distance till it resembled a thread. We held a conference and persuaded the English lady to abandon the attempt. On returning we met the obliging Fijian who directed us, and on again inquiring the 7 number of miles he said separated us from Bau, he very considerately reduced the distance to half a mile. The imperious English lady raised hen lorgnette, critically, surveyed the unabashed fuzzy-head, turned on her heel and , started to walk back to the car. ; Her petulance was riot diminished later when she put her foot into a mud-hole ankle deep. When we arrived back at car slie curled herself up in the back seat and refused to be comforted. The taxi man was obligee to back his car along the narrow road for about a mile. .There is much of interest to see about the town and harbour. The latter is infested with sharks, and their sinisterlooking fins cutting the water as they cruise round the steamer are not pleasant to see. ; The water is so clear that 'their bodies : are visible, too. Accompanying. each shark are two or three pilot fish on each aide just below the* 'fine, 'and -their-' movements synchronise with ,those of the monster. It was t- wid that■■ the pilot flab, ' choose*

this position for safety; others maintain J that the pilot fish are parasites and \ feed on the shark. Frequently one of I the pilot fish would dart over the tail' of the shark as if escaping. • The natives, as they rotr about in their boats, take little notice of the ferocious-looking monsters. - The Fijian does not -bother his head about 'business, leaving that to the Europeans, Indians and Chinese who have overrun their country. In the , drapers' shops it needs little discernment ' to see that the Indian, Fijian and European women are all' sisters under their skins where dress is concerned. ', Fijian and Hindu'women (the, hitter being recognised by their .pierced noses with great ornaments on one side) have i harassed Chinese and -Indian salesmen j turning out half the shop on , to the j counters for them to feast their eyes ' upon. Keen bargaining takes place, ; and the chatter over quality, texture j and price is very animated. j The Islands appear to be attracting Americans of wealth. They are to be met with everywhere and keen on seeing everything that is worth while. At Suva there was a stylish three-masted auxiliary schooner owned by Mr. Edgar Palmer, of the New York Zinc Corporation, and of other big companies. He was cruising round the Islands in this palatial vessel with its high-powered radio equipment, having no set plans in moving about. We left Suva for Auckland feeling that in the not distant future the Islands will attract more ' New Zcalanders, there to revel in their abundant sunshine during our winter months.