HERE AND THERE.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXXIX, Issue 10667, 17 January 1911, Page 2

HERE AND THERE.

GIBRALTAR A SANCTUARY FOR MONKEYS.

One of the distinctions of Gibraltar lies in its sanctuary for monkeys, the only place in Europe where they can live wild. But apart from the monkeys Gibraltar has won'derful attractions, as in her fossils and her great stalactite caverns, opening, into recesses of the rocks a thousand feet above the sea. One of these caverns is over 200 feet long and 70 feet high, and as the stalactite pillars extend from floor to ceiling the effect resembles the interior of a cathedral. The name of the rock has undergone a change since that distant day in 711 when Tank the Moor first built his castle on it m order to begin the conquest of Spain. It was then Gebel el Tarik (the rock of Tarika). But the change to "Gibraltar" is not serious if you pronounce the Moorish name quickly. THE ISLAND OP TIREE.

Tiree, which the Duke of Argyll would be glad to sell to anyone who loves a quiet island life, is rich in things which few people want, and poor in the treasures which appeal to the average man. Thus you can enjoythe proprietorship .of a multitude of lochs — without fish; broad acres, without trees or hills; marble quarries that cannot be quarried; Scandinavian forts that protect nothing; and standing stones without a history. Perhaps Skerryvore Lighthouse, although some miles off its coast, mav be claimed as the glory of Tiree. Built of granite from Mull, it has defied the waves of the roughest sea for over 60 years, 'and its reputation stands second to none among the lighthouses of the world. THE KING'S CORRESPONDENTS. King George receives at least 100 letters of more or less a begging character every day. Some of them contain requests for financial assistance, some for aid iu getting employment, whilst some of his Majesty's correspondents, who have become involved in legal difficulties, seem to think that it is part of the duties of the Sovereign to help them in getting out of the snares of the law. All letters of this sort arc consigned to a huge waste-paper basket kept specially for correspondence of this_ kind in the Sovereign's personal sitting-room, but the. receipt of every such letter addressed to the King is acknowledged' on a printed form in which the correspondent is informed by the. King's private- secretary that the Sovereign regrets lie cannot accede to his or her request. No one —probably not even the Prime Minister —has ro- ' ceived so many unsolicited letters of advice on the present political situation as the King; his Majesty, however, never even sees these letters or hears of them, for directly they are opened they are thrown away. A GIANT ICEBERG. Probably one of the largest icebergs seen of recent years near the track of ocean-going steamers was viewed from the liner Oravia as she passed the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic on her way to Liverpool on her last trip. A graphic description of the monster berg was given by an officer of the ship. "The night was cloudy," he said. "There was a cutting wind and the temperature of the sea was down to 33deg, when the great iceberg came in view—a huge mass 500 feet high, partly covered with mist, a long, shelving shore of ice, with the sea breaking upon it as upon a wide, desolate beach. When the moon appeared the sight was one never to be forgotten. We gazed upon what seemed-to be a floating city of ice as large as Liverpool, with its towers, its temples, its tapering monuments shooting up in fantastic architecture shimmering in the moonlight like polished silver. It is the lot of few to.see such a sight." Everyone on hoard the Oravia was spellbound by the majestic beauty of the scene. The berg, which was visible for some hours, is supposed to be the detached portion of a permanent Antarctic icefield. BUSINESSLIKE MATCH-MAKING. All sorts of expedients (says the Paris correspondent of the Daily Telegraph) continue to be suggested with a view to checking the depopulation cf Frauce, which is now causing considerable anxiety, and, pending their adoption, a very practical step has just been taken in an old-fashioned country town. Certain of its citizens, after discussing the situation, formed themselves into a committee, and sent a circular containing the names of upwards of .200 girls of 18 and over, with their addresses, to all eligible bachelors. The young women, it seems, were not, or, at least professed not" to be, particularly grateful for the interest thus shown in them by the committee; but, on the other hand, the men were deilighted, the only fault which they were inclined to find with the circular being, the omission to mention the amount of each girl's: dowry. The committee intends, if it succeeds in, finding husbands for all the young women, to devote -its benevolent attention to widows who ;ar© not stricken in years, and some; of whoniyare represented as being eager to marry again. Then, if it'is oqually fortunate, similar attention will bo shown to any old maids who care to be accommodated with a partner. As a- matter of fact, some rather mature, spinsters are indigna"iit at the fact that their names do not figure on the list - sent out. But in this primitive town; as elsewhere, it appears to be impo'ssible to please everybody.

COUNTRY WITH OUT P AUPER S. In the course of an address on "Ceylon, the Malay Slates, and Java," at a meeting of the Royal Colonial Institute, Mr Jobu Ferguson said that in Java the natives were naturally indolent and unthrifty, but the Dutch planters were second to none in intelligence and in their capacity as agri--culturists and in thoroughness; in fact, the latter quality might, perhaps, bo described as more than compensating for Anglo-Saxon exertion and activity. The Government was careful to correct the natives' apathy by ..many methods which we might deem extraneous, such as requiring them to cultivate and in dictating the succession of crops, as well as in preventing the sale or mortgage of their family and communal lands. There was scarcely a pauper amongst the 37 million inhabitants, and the only difficulty encountered arose from the prosperity, of the indigenous population.