VIA SAN FRANCISCO.

Otago Witness, Issue 1191, 26 September 1874, Page 9

VIA SAN FRANCISCO.

The folio-wing is the first of a series of letters we have arranged for by a gentleman who lately left by the Cyphrenes for England, and who has often written foi these columns :—: —

KANDAVU,

The Cyphrenes left Auckland at 4 o'clock on Tuesday eveniug, and for the next four days the weather, though steadily becoming warmer, sultrier, and more tiopical, was a constant succession of bhowers, with very light breezes, keeping everybody under cover, and forcing the passengers to pass their time in the very energetic way that steamer passengers geneially do. Owing to the bad weather and the constant cloudiness of the atmosphere, no observation of the sun could be taken, and the course had therefore to be decided by dead reckoning. That this was not the surest of means to the navigator we discovered on Sunday, which was the first tropical day we had had. The altitude of the sun, as taken then, showed that we had gone clean past Kandavu, and that the land for which we were steering on the starboard bow was Oatulele, a small island about 70 miles to the north-west of Kandavu. On discovering this the ship's head was put round at once and headed for Kandavu; but we had lost our chance, and could not get to the island until too late an hour to enter the B^y. About three o'clock land was sighted, and at dinner time we were rounding the western extremity of Kandavu, which is prominently marked by Mt. Washington, 2600 ft, a striking mountain, -which rises abruptly from the water, and was crowned in a tremendously thick nightcap of white clouds as we passed. Down on the promontories below, was the first glimpse afforded of the prince of trees in the South fe i Islands, the graceful and beautiful cocoanut palm, the home, clothing, food, and commerco of hundreds of these natives. Many of course saw them only for the first time, and loud whs the admiration expressed. The general appearance of the land us we passed was very fine, the cocoanut trees clsimbering up to the hilltops, and their bpautiful spreading leaves standing out in striking relief against the sky beyond, while the grass would have made an Otago squattei'd heart leap into his mouth for joy. We kept in pretty cloae to the land for a time and had a good view of it, but it line of white foam in front admonished the captain of the near vicinity of a repf of the beautiful but treacherous coral, of which the Earl speaks so amusingly in that wickedest of books, " South Sea Bubbles," and we kept some distance out. At nine o'clock the steamer was off Ngaloa. Bay, and our rockets and blue lights weio speedily answered from the Mikado inside. It was too late, however, to attempt an entrance, and we prepared to lay off for the night. About the tiuiH when the mail steamers are expected an Kaudavu, and for two or three dnys before, precautions are taken to guai d against danger. The island itself being somewhat difficult to hit, being like a needle in a bottle of hay, the harbour is much move so, and there being no lighthouses in this primitive country, three enormous beacons are lighted during the night, which seive as guides to the position ot the entrance.

As the steamer lay motionless off the island, the true delights of an evening in the tropics, of winch one reads so much, were found and enjoypd. The stars were shining with a biilliancy such as they can only gleam with in these regions, some of tho planets being particularly resplendent, and the starlight alone was enough to mnko objects clear. There was not a breath of wind to stir the water outside, but a gentle breeze came off from the land, wafting a most delicious fragrance, and filling the air with its balmy odour— probably of the richest tropical trees and flowers. The harmony of the evening was not disturbed by those pests of sentimentality — the n osquitos, and everything was calmly enjoyable. At daylight on Monday morning the splash of some oars was succeeded by a terrible outburst of gibberish and laughing, and getting up on deck we found that the pilot had come on board in a boat manned bj- four or five brown Natives, with nothing on but a srirdle, and looking particularly like demons as tho unsophisticated New Zealanders stared at these new specimens of the noble savage, so different from the Maoris. They were not allowed on board, but hooked themselves on by the painter, and seemed to enjoy being rushed along with at the rate of ten knots an hour much better than pulling themselves, for they nre a very lazy sot of dogs, j.s anyone will tell you.

The harbour of the island of Kandavu is known as Ngaloa Bay, and is situated in the south-western portion of the island. As we nearcd the entrance it looked uncommonly narrow. Two coral reefs, as shown by the green breakers breaking wildly into foam across them with a Looming roar and showers of white foam, running out almost to meet one another from the two headlands which form the entrance. Steering his course, however, by two landmarks which are ao placed, one on Ngaloa inland aud the other on the mainland, that by taking them in a line with the ship the deep water channel is marked, the pilot brought us safely through these jaws of death : but not withaut going so uncommonly close that a gtone WuW easily have been thrown jnto the f qam ($

the breakers. As we passed up the place was pointed out to us where the unfortunate Mac-g'-egor went ashore, and it looked so near that one involuntarily expected the Cyphrenes to follow suit. The entrance, however, was passed successfully, being really less dangerous than ib seems ; and a further safeguard to the mail steamers is afforded by a large chart of the whole harbour, drawn by tho famous Lieut. Woods whose navy experiences have left him a firstclass surveyor.

Sailing down the bay the scenery is very splendid to anyone not acquainted with the tropics and tropical vegetation. The long low island of Ngaloa is on your right, clothed in the most gorgeous growth of scrub and bushes of the most vivid preen right down to the water's edge, in the calm deep blue of which their lower blanches and boughs lazily wave, in such places where the unsightly mangrove does not steal the shoro from them with his matted roots and gnarled stem. Here and there out of the thick growth the stately cocoa-nut rears his head, and spreads the beautiful palm leaves which make its crest so handsome ; while in other places three or four of them form a clump together and crown the ridge of the low eminences in the middle. Opposite is the main island, with a rather lofty chain of hills running east and west and sending spurs down covered with gorgeously green trees and grass. In a grove of cocoa nuts at the foot ot one of these nestles the villa°e which has sprunsr up since the line of steamers called there. The water in the bay is the most beautiful blue, and the steamer passes within less than a stone's throw of the shore of Ngaloa Once inside, the harbour is a very safe and extensive one, widening out into a broad bay with an arm running clown between the island of Ngaloa and the main island, which affords the cui ; e , sfc , °f anchorages to any number of vessels Ihe Mikado was lying at anchor with steam up. evidently ready to start, and about 8 o'clock m the morning the Cyphrenes moored alongside f' Almost the first news we heard was that the Tartar had gone on to Sydney without calling at Kandavu, and that the island was henceforth to cease to he a stopping-pjace for the San Francisco steamers. Some incredulity was naturally expressed at first, but the presence of Mr Hall himself on board the Mikado enabled the question at once to be decided, aud it was found that the Oyphrenea was to return the same day to New Zealand, being the last boat to be at Kandavu. Besides the Cyphrenes and Mikado, there were in Ngaloa Bay no less than three of Her Majesty's ships, viz., the Challenger, the Dido, and the Renard. The Challenger was there on surveying business, and her officers and boats have been engaged in taking a most careful and exact survey of the whole harbour and its surroundings, laying down buoys, taking soundings, and ensuring in every way a complete knowledge of the intricacies of the harbour Ko doubt this will l.every useful as an addition to the Admiralty charts, but its value will be considerably less than it otherwise would have been had the lino steamers continued to call there The Challenger left on Monday evening for the New Hebrides and Solomon Islands, whence she will make her way to Hong Kong. The Dido had just arrived from Sydney, and was lyinir at anchor a little in fiout of the Challenger, while the trim little Renard, one of the saucy sinele. gunned cruising schooners fitted out at Sydney for the suppression of the slave traffic, lay beyond them both _ The Lurlino, a handsome little schooner, which they say would have been His Majesty King Thakombau's pleasure yacht if he had been able to pay for it, was also at anchoring lecetl%I ecetl % bloU g ht fl own tho Chief Justice. Chief Secretary, Attorney-General, and other swells of this Lilliputian but grand- officious kingdom, for a holiday trip. One more schooner completed the list, making the harbour wear altogether quite a lively aspect. Discharging cargo, mails, and passengers from the Cyphrenea into the Mikado at once begun, while the unoocupied amused themselves with staring at the new sights and scenes around them.