THE SOUTHERN CROSS.

Auckland Star, Volume LVII, Issue 303, 22 December 1926, Page 8

THE SOUTHERN CROSS.

RETURN TO AUCKLAND. \ MISSIONARIES OK HOUDAT. j _____ j i CONDITIONS IN OUTER ISLANDS. The missionary yacht Southern Cross returned from a" three months' tour of the islands to-day and berthed. at Queen's wharf. Among the missionaries who came to Auckland on holiday is Dr. C. E. Fox, headmaster of All Hallows School, Pawa, Ugi, Solomon Islands. Dr. Fox has been engaged in missionary work in the Solomons for 25 years, and it is four years since he was last on holiday in New Zealand. "Yes, I have seen great change- in the Solomon.: since I first . went there, although there has not been any great progress since the war," said Dr. Fox, in the cove of conversation with a reporter. "Not many aew people have come t-> the Solomons s" cc the war, and we are not going ahead now as we were. There is no encouragement to planters. The Government (we are under the Fijian Government, whi.h s a disadvantage, as we are not sufficiently in touch with Fiji) buys the land from the natives and leases it to planters, but on such terms that it cannot be profitably developed. There is no cannibr.lism in the Solomons now; there was plenty of it and plenty of head hunting wl -n I first went there, and indeed even up to t-elve years ago. Then it was - t 1 safe for "a white man to walk the shore; now you can walk inland anywhere, on any of the islands, in perfect safety. Growing Reef Population. The ship made- her usual round, as j far north as Ysabel, in the Solomons, ' said Dr. Fox. Bishop Steward was left, at All Hallows School, Pawa, Ugi, where he will remain for six months, and where a house has been built for him. On the return journey of the Southern Cross all islands were, vi-sited, and the . Rev. G. West and Mr. Francis, both ! trained at St.* John's College, Tamaki, . were put down on one of the reef islands, close to Santa Cruz, to make a , fresh beginning there. Santa Cruz is • greatly depopulated, but in the reefs ■ the outlook is more promising. Tau- , mako, an outlying Polynesian settle- ; ment, was also visited, and also Cherry ' Island and Tikopia. At the latter the.i population (pure Polynesian) is now , all schooling and growing so fast that ! the island will soon be too small to support them. There are great numbers of children—about equal numbers of each sex. Getting Kauri at Vanikolo. Vanikolo, where the Kauri Timber Company is working, was visited, Sunday being spent there. An evening service was held on board, to which about 30 of the white population 'came. Mr. Parr, a Hamilton carpenter, was put down here. The white men here are New Zealanders and Australians. The Burns, Philp steamer Makambo calls regularly from Sydney, and there is a> Government representative and a doctor. . The houses of the white people have now been built put on the coral reef, where the mosquitoes are less troublesome, but hurricanes may be dangerous. There is , said to be enough, kauri to keep the , mills employed on Vanikolo for 60 years, j and kauri has- also been discovered on the reef islands nearby and on San . CristovaL. Vanikolo is quite a growing white settlement. Murderers Go Free. At the Torres, the first part of the I Condominium touched at, the population . does not now seem to be decreasing, in ' s.pite of the promiscuous recruiting by! small cutters, with native captains for | French plantations. The Condominium Government scarcely pretends'to govern . the n—tivee. For example, a man on Vanualava, in the Banks group, lately, killed hie wife, but cannot be punished ' for it. If one native' murdered another in front of Vila Courthouse, nothing • could be done. Only offences against white men are pnnishable. There is talk of the Condominium- being ended by | division, England taking the southern! islands, including Vila, the capital; and! France the northern group, ' including the Banks and Torres and Segond Channel in Sasito, which is the beet harbour in the whole group. The Presbyterian I missionaries -work in the southern, the Melanesian Mission in the northern portion. New Teachers' College. Bishop Molyneax was - -set down at Lolowai, Opa, where a college for native teachers is being opened. The Bishop's house is not completed, but he is living, temporarily in that of the Rev. and Mrs. Godfrey, who have come up on leave. The ship touched- at- Noumea, in NewCaledonia, to coal. During the voyage good weatlier was experienced through-1 out. i Of the missionaries who have come up, it is a coincidence that all are from Newt Zealand, and the three priests on board, Dr. Fox (in charge of All Hallows School in the Solomons), Rev. R. Godfrey in charge of the new college in the New Hebrides), and Rev. C.; Mountford : (Guadalcapar, Solomonil Islands), are all old students of St.! John's, Tamaki. Miss Huree, headmistress of Torgil Girls' School, who has done nearly 30 years of teaching in. Melanesia; Mre. Godfrey and Miss 1 Satchel!, of Christehurch/are al«o all New Zealanders.