SOLOMON ISLANDS.

Manawatu Standard, Volume L, Issue 120, 17 April 1930, Page 11

SOLOMON ISLANDS.

DESCRIPTIVE address. Last, night -there .was,, a. good attendanoo at the Cuba Street Methodist Sunday; Schoolroom'. to, welcome Rev A. N. Voyce,. who another interesting, illustrated address concerning the island of; Bougainville in the Solomon Islands., • *. ; i Mr R. Hi BilleusV who presided, introduced Mr Voyce and remarked that lie had -caught the -/missionary fire while a young ipan. in .the Palmerston North district., ~'.*o ~' , Before Mr Voyce commenced. Ins address -he asked -the children several questions concerning the- whereabouts of Bougainville,' explaining .that, it is part of the' mandated territory of New . Guinea. Sihoo 'l9n2,- Mr Voyce ] explained, thO/hpicrch had . been Woiking in thb /0.000 nativesi;bn the island Bougainville ajone. l, Mr Voyoe said that ha and Mrs Voyce, although described as piobeer" fflissibnaries, ~wero :' not: in reality' the 'lpfoJneerS. 'Five, Consecrated natives . nad, I .in 1916.-entered territory nevor.before visiteH by strangers for the purpose of giving the light io theso people of their own colour, through.. of theso men, cal s had come'for .teachers to carry on tno work' ’ cpmemnc'ed years Travel in the islands must be done on foot, through valleys, over mountains and plains, often thrqugh strange country. When the speaker and Mrs Voyce with their baby journeyed through this country, the natives were intensely curious, as many had never previously seen a white baby. The custom of drumming was explained; by the lecturer. The drums were kept in a largo building, anti when, a feast was held were beaten by 15 men from sunset till sunrise.' The drummers worked in relays so the noise might . not cease. ' Messages were transmitted long distances by the drumming systems, known by the white.man as “native wireless.” Mr Voyce told several'native legends and stories, their simplicity, and beautiful language being a feature. These people often told picturesque stories; but their imagination very often led them astray. Once .thejjr became “possessed of an evil spirit, very drastic steps had to be taken to “cure” them of their supposed illnesses. The langauge gave the missionary a great deal of trouble .when h® first began his work, but with ibe aid of a notebook he slowly learnt • ahe native idioms. “We arrogant Englishmen often expect that all people can speak oiir language, but this is not the case;” said Mr Voyce, in explaining that the : common vehicle of expression was “pidgin English, which comprised words and phrases from almost every tongue. Tho speaker gave several humorous examples of the “language.” The natives had names for the white men on Bougainville, calling a man with white hair “fella longa white grass. However, when they were taken to a large group of whites they thought that all were alike, recognising no distinguishing features. Following his address, Mr Voyce screened a number of naturally coloured slides taken by himself giving a short explanation or telling an anecdote as each picture was shown on the screen Particularly beautiful were views of villages m the tropical bush, and hardly less interesting were groups of native teachers. Mr Voyce said that it was possible to travel Up some New Guinea rivers a distance of 300 miles by steamer and aeroplanes could fly, to the goldfields in 40 minutes, while a native carrying only 10 pounds took eight or 10 days to make the journey. In Rabaul there were more motor cars per head than'in any other part of the world. Mr Voyce exhibited native shell money and ornaments explaining the values and uses of each. . The address and lecture were terminated by the Benediction.