NEWS FROM THE ISLANDS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXIX, Issue 12027, 25 July 1902, Page 6

NEWS FROM THE ISLANDS.

WiEiTiNG on July ' 19. our Tonga correspondent sends us the following items of news:—

! Tho British warships ; Pylades and Torch, the former from Fiji and the latter from ; Auckland, arrived in the harbour of Nukualofa simultaneously on. Juljr 11. By the Pyladea Mr. Hamilton Hunter, C.M.G., returned from Fiji. The Pylades remained : until the 14th inst. An official visit was paid to the King of Tonga, and a select party was given at the British Consulate on the ! Saturday evening. Officers and men from : the men-o'-war attended the service on Sunday morning at the Church of England, which was conducted by Bishop Willis, late of Honolulu. The Torch left with the British Consul on the Thursday morning for a cruise, which will last for about a month, and during which Samoa, the- Union Group, and other islands will be visited before returning to Tonga, on August 1* to meet the Royal Arthur and the Mildura, which are expected to arrive on August 16. On Juno 26 the picnic and games which were to be held in honour of the Coronation, of the postponement of which ceremony we were at the time ignorant, came off, as far as the weather permitted, at Tufa Makina, a place on the lagoon, about throe miles from Nukualofa. At ten a.m. about a score of carriages, richly decorated, assembled in front of the Government flagstaff, and after forming in procession drove through the principal streets of the town, and then made their way out to the appointed place. Various games and sports were indulged in. I The Wesleyan College held its annual' speech day on Wednesday, July 16. In the evening there was a " grand miscellaneous entertainment." Tho British Consul and Agent for Tonga was present, as was also the German Consul, His Lordship Bishop Willis, the captain and officers of the Torch, and all the principal residents of Nukualofa were amongst the audience. Our weather continues to be cold and wet at times. On the 7th inst., at twenty minutes past one a.m., wo had a smart shock of earthquake. Business has been somewhat better during the month. By tho Union Company's steamer which arrived from the Islands yesterday we are in receipt of Suva papers to July 9 and Levuka papers to July 12. Tho Levuka. Gazette of July 12 says: — There is a slight rise in copra this week, the quotation being £14- 5s per ton. Mr. C. W. Nicoll, of the Bank of New Zealand, Suva, was united in matrimony to Miss May Fookcs, daughter of Mr. Fookes,; of New Plymouth, New Zealand, at Holy Trinity Church, Suva, on July 2. The church had been nicely decorated with flowers for the occasion, and on the arrival of the bridal party the organ played a bridal hymn. The bridesmaids were the sister of the bride, Miss Gladys Garrick, and Miss Talfa, the daughter of the Roko Tui Cakaclrqvi. Mr. Taylor was best man. The Hon. W. Burton, M.L.C., gave the bride away. At the conclusion of the ceremony the bridal party proceeded to tho residence of Mr. .1. 11.. Garrick, where Mr. and Sirs. Nicoll received the congratulations of their friends. The Rev. Horace Packe, M.A., the rector of the church, was tho officiating clergyman. During tho evening the Fijians gave a. meke in honour of the wedding. There returned by the steamer Fazilka, which left Suva, for Calcutta, on July 5, 19 Parsee passengers. As an experiment as artificers these were imported to Fiji a year or. more since by the Colonial Sugar Refining Company. The experiment, such as it amounted to. failed, and the result is such as stated. One only of the original contingent, remains in tho colony. Another veteran pioneer settler has gone to his vest. Mr. H. E. Morel, of Naqara, died at the Suva Hospital on tho Bth inst., aged 72 years. Mr. Morel came to Fiji quite 40 years ago, and has followed many vocations. The deceased was the first constable sworn in in Fiji under the old British regime at Levuka. Later the deceased started the first butchery, the first hotel outside Levuka, at* Nakelo, back of the Rewa, River; and, later still, the first steamer, the Pioneer launch. Cotton and coffee planting and other agricultural purusits filled in the other gaps of a life devoted to energetic pioneering. .