OUR NEW POSSESSIONS IN THE SOUTH SEAS.

Evening Post, Volume LX, Issue 108, 3 November 1900, Page 2

OUR NEW POSSESSIONS IN THE SOUTH SEAS.

THE MILDURA'S CRUISE. ' The special correspondent of the London Times and Christchurch Press (Mr. Malcolm Ross, of Wellington), who.accompanied Loi-d Ranfurly on H.M.fcJ. Mildura during the annexation voyage to the South Sea Islands has contributed to the Press a long and interesting account of the MUdura's cruise. The narrative is taken up after the record p+ the. ceremony at Rarotonga (previously published). From the narrative we take several extracts. Writing of the arrival off Mangara (Cook Gr^up) the day after leaving Rarotonga, Mr. Ross says : —"At . daylight we were awakened by the firing of a cannon on board, and, hastening on desk, we found the natives scurrying down to the beach in large numbers. It is a most interesting island, 30 square miles in, area, tvith a population of 1400 Maoris, four European traders, and a. resident missionary. A barrier reef runs all round the island, and the landing over this in eanod or catamaran is intensely exciting. . . Taking an outrigger canoe at' the edge of the reef I had an opportunity of witnessing how clever these Mangaians are in shooting the reef. Watching carefully for a favourable op-portunity-^-generally one wave in about eight — we went at it with hasty calls in Maori to paddle quickly i , and in a moment we were carried high up on the reef on the, crest of a wa ve whjch gradually curled over and became a foaming billow. My canoe waa too .big to be carried, and it struck on the reef with the seething waters hissing all round us, and another following wave, ready to break upon us. But before I had time to do anything it w'a,s seized by a young native, while 1 was hulled off on the back of a slippery Mangaiaii and conveyed to a place of safety without even getting my feet wet." A visit of the missionary is described, and of mission work in the Jslands the chronicler th.at some of missionaVies. he has met wilh. in 'tb> past two years, ifl the Pacific are splendid' fellows, who are entirely unselfish, and whose labQUi'3 have undoubtedly bee.n productive of good. Referring to hia visit to the King of ! the island, the writer says : — "I am increasing my list of royal acquaintance* with alarming rapidity. What with New Zealand, Samoa, Rarotonga, Mangaia, Aitutaki, I have now met no fewer than seven kings and one queen. It is true that all were, black, or, rather; brown, that one was a rebel king and wore only a layalava,' that the queen went barefooted, and that my last rpyal acquaintance wore his shirt outside his trousers. Nevertheless, they a}l had the manners of gentlemen— including the queen, who smoked — and, anyhow 4 i\, has been a unique experience There are two Arikis on the island, John and Nooroa. Nooroa is the rightful King, being the grandson of the old King by his first wife. John, who is nominally • King, is Nooroa's nephew, but he was regent when John was. a lad, and has ever since taken the more active part in affairs. The King, however, appears to have little or no power apart from the chiefs of the districts. The native designation of these chiefs is Havana, which one would take to be a corruption of Governor, though the Maoris here say it is a native* word. Pava was the ancient name applied to these chiefs, corresponding to the Matai,apo of Rarotonga. The King, or Ariki, is simply the mouthpiece of the M'ataiapos, or representatives of the people. Formerly there was a considerable difference between ' the dialeots of the Mangaians and Rarotongans, but more frequent intercourse'between the two peoples of late years is gradually doing away with the dialect differences." f Concluding hia notes upon Mangaia, .Mr. Ross writes : — "During the few hours I spent on this mpst interesting island I was able to note something of its geological formation, It is nqw a coral island 300 ft in height, mixed here and there with some basalt, and there are indications that its upheaval is pf comparatively recent date, , . . . The island would form an interesting study ' for a geqlogist and an anthropologist, if unobserved,, might fin^d many skulls and such-like treasures *in the caves inland. He would, however, have to be prepared, in case of emergency; to leave his own skull in these fantastic natural catacombs. For generations past the natives have buried their dead in these caves, and there are many, coffins stowed ( away on the coral ?helyes, These caves penetrate for miles underground, and even under the sea, with the graceful palms, and other tropic trees, waving in the breeze above, and the equally beautiful stalactites hanging in thousands from the roof in the gloom, and the stagnant air below, form, surely, a stranger burial ground than even the catacombs of ancient Rome. .