ISLAND NOTES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XVIII, Issue 6052, 11 April 1881, Page 5

ISLAND NOTES.

We are indebted to Mr. P. IC. Thompson, supercargo of the schooner Sybil for the following items relative to places where she called :— The three - masted American schooner Quickstep put into Papeete on the 20th January, from Fiji, with seurvey on board. The Quickstep sailed' from Liverpool for Fiji with plaut, &c, for a large sugar mill for a resident on the banks of the Rewa River. After discharging cargo she sailed for San Francisco. When three weeks out seurvey I made its appearance on board. All hands were more or less affected, likewise the captain's wife, who accompanied him. Tahiti j being the nearest port, course was made accordingly. Just previous to arrival the the second officer died from seurvey. She remained about three weeks in quarantine, then went on the berth for San Francisco, and sailed for that port on the 19th February with one of the most valuable cargoes that ever left Papeete, chiefly pearl shell, valued at £14,000. Shipping A was pretty lively in Papeete, the American brigautines Greyhound and W. H. Stevens arrived from San Francisco early in February with cargoes of provisions and lumber, also, two large French barques from Bordeaux, the St. Pierre and Ocean, the latter with 100 troops. One married officer, a lieutenant of artillery, died a few days before the vessel reached port, and his remains were burie I with the usual military honours in the Papeete cemetery. The French barque St. Marc was being repaired after lying in the Papeete harbour for the last two years. She was onthe berth for Liverpool. The barque Elizabeth was a full ship of copra ready to sail for Lisbon when we left. Business was dull in Papeete, but now that Tahiti is entirely a French colony, people are expecting the resumption of public works on a big scale. The weather in Tahiti has been unusually sultry, and rain was badly wanted. The Governor was away in the French man-of-war Guichen cruising through the Marquisas, Paumotos, and Gambier's Islands. The French Admiral was shortly expected. No English men-of-war were to be seen: There was rather a good lot of Her Majesty's ships in Papeete harbour during ISSO. The Osprey, Alert, Penguin, Pelican, Bourgeoise, the latter staying from August to December, with one or two short absences to the leeward. The Admiral has arranged to be in Papeete in the Triumph to meet the last three named, but the prolonged hostilities between Chile and Peru forced the Admiralty to give contrary orders. At Raiatea, the German barque Ellen Reckmere was loading copra for Lisbon.