SKETCHES OF SUNLIT SEAS.

Otago Witness, Issue 3511, 28 June 1921, Page 51

SKETCHES OF SUNLIT SEAS.

Bv

Te Pana.

For the Otago Witness. SIDELIGHTS ON SUVA. Suva, capital of the Fiji Islands, i- a product of civilisation. Shops, offices, churches, fashions, newspapers are reminder-'- that commonplace lias touched Fiii. Policemen with brown faces and quaint uniforms stand at street comers with all the solidity of our own “Johns.” Still there is a dash of garish colour in the streets and a roar of i-urf from the reef and the swish of the palm fronds overhead which are distinctly foreign. The sulu clad Fijians as they saunter through the •town command attention by their enlendid physique. Thev are in sti iking contrast with the spindle legged, narrow-chested, sharp-featured Indians who ; com to predominate. Chattering, gesticulating Hindu women stroll pant chewing hotel nut and showing rows of blackened teeth. Ihev are attired in Eastern costumes of multi coloured stuffs —orange, pink, crimson, blue, green and lemon —all in bewildering confusion. Their heavily jewi lied faces are partly concealed by a veil, but space is left for the glance of dark mysterious eves which seam out of place save in an Ea tern harem. European.-- in starched white drills drift idly about fanning away the swarms of flies, and seeking cool liquid refreshment. Suva is hot, fearfully hot in the daytime: at night rain falls in a steady downpour : vapour rises—-and a Turkish bath is mild by comparison. —Tropical Food.The casual tourist dropping in at Suva is wont to become enthusiastic about island life. Particularly is this (he case when lie elaborates on the foodstuffs growing by the wayside. He is merely superficial in his praises for lev ing dined at a tip-top hotel be can afford to write to bis friends about ihe excellence of tropical fruits and vegetables. As a matter of fact it is only after long years of residence that the white man really relishes

native products. Yanks are not to be com- ! pared with potatoes, and a ton of the j .stodgy, water-logged mess the Fijian gar- ! niislies the table with mid labels “bread fruit” is only equal t:> a basketful of its wheaten namesake. The paw-paw or mummy apple is an insipid thing and wants port wine or fresh lime juice to , make it acceptable to European palates. Taro root aa a vegetable Ls too bitter to be appreciated with gusto. As for drinks, the milk in the young coconut is good enough when there is nothing better offeryig. Kava. “the wine of the Pacific” is nauseating to a stranger, and the bars of the Suva hotels offer much more tempting beverages. Outside of bananas, pineapples and oranges there is little home grown foodstuffs in Fiji that appeals to the white man who i? keeping white. It is one thing to dine table de hote or a modern .steamboat and laud the fruits passed by in a motor oar run. It is finite another thing to li>-e in the islands and at times be compelled ■>> eat native food. The romance fades q aickly away. —Where Gaol is a Joke.— The. gaol in Suva is a most imposing place ii presents a fine stone wall to the gaze of the visitor coming up the road. There is a great gate with a small gate to nome in by just like the best- approved prisons in European countries, lint once inside the gaol it dawns upon you that the imposing stone wall is nothing hut a joke, one of the many jokes of the Fijian penal system. It extends only round three sides of the ground leaving the back completely open to the bush and hills as if the whole establishment were simply a model meant to he looked at only from tae front. “Doing time’’ is not a very heartbreaking affair. The grass edgings and lawns of the town want a great deal of trimming and the convicts with knives two fee' in length are set on the job. Thev souat side bv side dressed alike in neat' shirts and “sulus” of unbleached calico stamped over with broad arrows, working awav as leisurely as possible thoroughlv enjoying the gay sight presented by the main street. Sometimes a convict acts as messenger to various Government Departments. All day long one may see stalwart Fijians in broad-arrowed ri"- - loafing around the doorways and shady verandah i or conveying letters to Government House, the banks or the (able Station. There may be money to send to or from a business house. The convict carries it, get* a re-eint and brings it back a-rain. One of the pet hhes of Suva is the home going of the prisoners. The gaol gates are clo'“d at six o’clock and a few minutes earher, gangs of convicts can he seen collecting from every past c the town some in charge of a warder, others alone, all hurrying towards the gaol. If thev are not in bv ,ix o’clock a terrible punishment awaits them, a punishment they would do to avoid. Discipline must be kept and there is no excuse accepted from the prisoner who neglects the dosing hour. TTe i-~ shut out of gaol. If vou drive past the great na.te after sunset vou mav see hln\ sitting a«£^iin. c t the wall waiting f or the opening in the morning. —-Might in All Nations.- — A few minutes walk from the wharf at Suva there is a dirty, straggling roadway known as All Nations Street. At "ight the place wakes up. Dark shado* . move in the ror.dwav and savage-looking bearded men move stealthily in the gloom. The hubbub of a Babylonian like rabble hums in the air. The coconut oil lamps burning at the doors spladi the gloom nitd reveal weird scenes. At different points crowds of coolies are gathered listening to lecturers who aspire to propagate their special v’ews. A tawny old Fijian revelling in the creed of immigrant Mohammedism veils forth the manifold virtues - 0 f the old heathen doctrine. “Vma-ka! Vinaka!” veil the listeners. A little further along another speaker tells of the glorv of Mohammed. In his hand he waves a Fi'i-m Koran. Ho glares scornfully at H>e Fiiian girls who are nursing babies with fierce, tiny, Indian -like faces. From the nearby houses come strange weird rounds,—of dancing, of chanting, of orators. Thr kava ship !s In full swing and native* from all the island:; are squatting on the floor drinking, drinking, drinking. All NViV>n«, Street.. Suva, is a little bit of the Fast in the (Vest-.