STRANGE LIGHTS

Hokitika Guardian, 17 September 1938, Page 6

STRANGE LIGHTS

REMOTE PACIFIC ISLAND. INVESTIGATION BY WARSHIP. N An unexpected-call at a lonely Island- , called Tikopia, hr the Santa Cruz I Group, south of. tile Solomons, -In. I answer- to wliat were -taken to -be distress signals, wits;,the only incident outside the norami‘routine of the Imperial escort vessel AYellington’s winter patrol cruise among the , South Sea Islands/ from which she returned to Auckland early yesterday./morning.. . Her visit to -the island, first; iriade by a warship since 1930, when the. old. Australian cruiser Adelaide went, there. The Wellington, under the command of-. Cpmmandor G.- ,N. Loriston-Clarke, was|asked by a -fadio message at the beginning of. last month; to Investigate mysterious lights seen at night in the sky above Tikopia; /The? warship was the only vessel near at 'band that could possibly have been sprit, since the Melanesian Mi&sioiif steamer Cross, which normally) is thefisland’s sole coirimrinication with-the outside world, was then on her way to Auckland for srirvev. ' Lights Used for Fishing It was found on arrival, However,’ that the lights were riot distress signals. instead, they were bonfires, apparently lighted to assist the native inhabitants, of whom there are about 1,400, to fish off the reef at night: ' * For the islanders the fact that the Wellington had been diverted a considerable distance off her course was of no importance .She was the first' warship many of thrim/had/seen; and'her arrival caused intense excitement. This was also -the firsTWime that a Targe proportion of the natives had seen so/iriany white irieri at one time, and they were eager to have her stay there* more than the few hours slie could' spare. y . v-*- /■.•' ii-r ...pf.ji. Last Visit by a White Man -v. i\ ' li >- . >%•*!■ if If-Mi No white man lives .on the island, and, apart front the occasiririal ‘visits i of the Southern Cross) the last’ Time the inhabitants had seen a Euf'opeari 'Was’iri. 1928-29, when Dr. (Raymond 'T^irth; - k former; Aucklander, who is now Teader in anthropology at the London Schorii i of Economics, University of “(London, went there to carry out anthropological research for tfie Australian - hfatiririal Research Council. : . . The island, which is only about tbrdo miles long by two miles wide, is peopled by Polynesians, although all surround- '■ irig islands ..contain : '■' They ire of considerable importance in the) , study of Polynesian culture, being one of the few unspoiled -island; communities _ y in the South Pacific, persisting in & C close adherence to the old forms/of.cul- * ture. Although savage in appearance,' ’* Giov were kindly and hospitable to the Wellington’s company. ’ Embarkation of Bishop The warship also acted as transport during her cruise for the Right Rev. L. S. Kempthorne, . Anglican Bishop, in Polynesia, who was einbarked at Suva and taken to Ocean Island) from. where lie was to, go to Sydney by : steanier. ■ About 12 islands were visited altogether and the weather generally was fine arid the patrol, uneventful.'No cases of sick-. ness were brought back to Auckland. < Before she went to the Islands \the Wellington accompanied her . sistefi--.. ship Leith to Sydney, leaving Auckland on April,27, so that she-had.-.been away from New Zealand for oyer four .... months. The Leith is due to return from the Islands ori Monday; - 'V ~;