WHERE LIFE IS SIMPLE.

Auckland Star, Volume LXII, Issue 2, 3 January 1931, Page 1 (Supplement)

WHERE LIFE IS SIMPLE.

A SOUTH PACIFIC CRUISE,

IMPRESSIONS OP FIJI AND TONGA.

(By CHAS. E. WHEELER.)

i i (No. 1.) In a few weeks' cruise around the South Pacific, including Fiji, the FriendlyIslands, and Western Samoa, one is able to collect some vividly interesting impressions of new peoples, different forms of government, and —not the least, to a New Zealander after October and November of record coldness —obtain and enjoy some brilliant weeks of summer just in advance of the hot wave which arrived happily in time for the Christmas and New Year holidays. On tie fifth day out from Auckland, following a course almost due north, we make the first landfall after bidding farewell to Mokohinau lighthouse. We are off Kandavah, one of the larger islands of the Fiji Group, and in a few hours the wide reef entrance of Suva Harbour is behind us, and we berth at a wharf crammed with spectators, who present an unfamiliar medley of nationalities to the onlooker accustomed to New Zealand's 98 per cent British-born population. The happy, muscular Fijian is in the majority, but' he is closely approached by the Indian, and there is only a sprinkling of white faces—Fiji has an established European population of 4569 amid a total of 175,735. A Racial Problem, Here we are in the midst of a racial problem, with the Indian Empire demand for equality of status presenting itself as a local problem for the Suva Municipal Council. Fine municipal baths were constructed, with the usual separate provision for Europeans and natives. The Indians demanded the right to use the European section. Prompt refusal led to the usual Indian boycott, but as this movement relates only to the baths, there is nothing serious about it to the European mind, except its foretaste of possibilities of the future. In. 1883 the Fijian native population was estimated to be 115,000, but it dwindled, and the last census places the total at 91,000, while the Indians, with their high birth rate, are slowly but inevitably overhauling them, the most recent enumeration placing this section of the population at 72,000. The Fijian has a low resistance to disease, due to the inadequacy of vitamin A in his diet, but a very active health programme is being pursued, and there is some hope that the administrators of this well-run British Crown colony will ultimately achieve the success of New Zealand's patient and enlightened efforts in connection with the Maori _race. There is practically no racial intermingling between Fijian and Indian. The latter looks down on the happy irresponsible owner of the soil, and calls Mm "Jungleman," -while the Fijian, enjoying a superior muscular development, despises the immigrants as "spindle-shanks." The number of intermarriages can be counted on the fingers of one hand. ° Suva and Surroundings. Suva town spreads itself along a range of moderate hills and away down the harbour runs into the distance the profiles of a lofty volcanic range reminiscent of many parte of New Zealand, though the foreground of delightful little islands and promontories covered with palms sheltering hundreds of thatched native huts, and' the ultramarine blue of the sea are all reminders that we are in a different clime. The visitor is offered many drives of great ecenic interest, while the town itself, with its mixture of races, is interesting at every turn. Suva has a museum worth a visit from those who would like to trace the development of the island races in culture. The 1 collection cf pre-European weapons and handicrafts is particularly complete and ample. It demonstrates that the Maori left his fellow Polynesian well behind in the fashioning of useful articles and ornaments. The Fijian decorative motive is based on the simple straight line, and there is no hint of the more difficult anf elaborate spirals which the Maor delighted to carve. In the models of the ancient doublt eanoes, decked and carrying a shelter one sees- the craft in which the Maor: made his Pacific voyage from Karo tongs to New Zealand. 'Two of the steering oars and a few of the spars of these olc craft are in the museum. They cornpe respect for those ■ early navigators, foi the steering oars are forty feet long with blades three feet in length by 15iii in width, and they probably required a dozen men to handle them at sea, Standing on the bottom of a . canoe, the observer could just see along the raised deck. Happy Tonga. In the kingdom of Tonga, ruled bj Queen Salote, with her husband, th( Hon. William Tugi, as Prime Minister one meets with the complete example of the simple life. At the age of sixteen the male Tongan presents a tas receipt 'for 36/, ' and straightway is given his birthright of eight and a quarter acres of land in the country, and a town allotment of 45 square yards. Coconuts are already growing. bo he is provided with food and the materials for his home. While he continues to pay the annual tax, the land is his. There is little need for hard Work. The ripe coconuts fall, and they provide the currency which every Island trader accepts when presented in the form of copra. Sometimes young Tonga hankers for a tin of bully beef, or Mrs. Tonga prefers a bright print to the dull tapa cloth. A little work in preparing copra, and some bartering at the store —that is all one does in Tonga to meet the needs of a simple life. Swallows' Cave. Vavau, the last port of call in the Tongan group, is approached through a beautiful series of volcanic islands and deep sounds. Vivid tropical vegetation comes down to the edges of bright yellow beaches, and everywhere are the huts of natives who enjoy a simple existence which one almost envies 'for its care-free qualities. At the entrance to this wonderful prospect is an island full of volcanic and limestone caves. On the 'round trip of the Union Company's Tofua, there is always a gay excursion to Swallows' Cave, a spacious cool retreat reached from the open sea in launches and lifeboats, which run right inside, and remain there not only for enjoyment of the remarkable stalactites and gorgeous colouring of the rocks, but a swim in the deep, clear blue waters of this great cavern. Luncheon on a "golden strand" and another dip in the warm water are features- of an mforgettabl§