THE SOLOMONS

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 64, Issue 4557, 8 April 1942, Page 3

THE SOLOMONS

NEW CHAPTER FOR “PACIFIC PARADISE ”

(By

H.W.L.S.)

For an island group of such insignificant dimensions and isolation from migratory streams of race and culture the Solomons have figured vividly in the history of the Pacific. And now the supreme ordeal for their “ island story” seems to have reached this out-of-the-way archipelago. '

Natural calamities, the havoc and destruction wrought by the “ blackbirders,” the depredations of the sandalwood era, and, later, severe economic crises, have surely tried the faith of the natives. Not only have they had to fight hard against the deadly climate, but ever and again dynamic natural visitations have destroyed the work of man and torn the islanders out of their naturally happy condition. ' *

Torrential rain and storms rage at times with an unimagined violence, and this scattered little island group is continually shaken by earthquake and swept by hurricane. Not long ago- the natives survived a severe earthquake. It began one night with a slight shock, which disturbed nobody, since everyone is used to such things there. Even, when the shocks were repeated the . natives did not trouble about them. It was only when at daybreak the island was torn this Way and that for five minutes amid a thunderous racket that they rushed out of their huts in terror. -The powers of Nature flung men to the ground like toys, houses crashed and buried their contents under them. Men might yell at the top of their voices, they could not make themslves understood; the din below the earth drowned the human voice.

It is supposed that the group represents the rim of an enormous submarine volcano, from the submerged edge of the crater of which coral insects built up to the surface to produce the circlet of islands. We may suppose at some time thereafter a coconut would get washed ashore, and so we are provided with a brand new group of islands, and an international squabble as to who saw it first. CONVERTED NATIVES On a recent visit to the islands we approached by a 250-mile voyage from the New Ireland Group, first by a 50mile run to. Ysabel Island, and then by the Roncador reef toward the equator. Ysabel is a high mountain peak sloping down gently to the water’s edge. One slope is nearly all good plantation country, and is largely under copra. At the head of the harbour lies Tumbuli, the Government post, in which lies the wreck of the steamer Bellama, which was a total loss in a tempest in 1920. It is said that the natives of Ysabel were once the “ toughest ” of all the warlike Solomons and their outposts, but to-day they have gone a full turn of the circle, and the Melanesian mission is an extremely successful one. Leaving Ysabel behind, we then had to face the formidable Roncador reef. It is known to seamen as “ The Snorer,” and is a veritable death-trap of almost submerged coral of horseshoe shape, about 16 miles in circumference and practically invisible until the navigator is well within its orbit. Louis Becke wrote a story about the reef called “ The Pearl Divers of the Roncador ” which is a good description of its hazardsNorthward from the Roncador in perfect weather a leg of our- voyage was passed like a flash, and one brilliant morning we woke to see, like three men’s heads on the horizon, the plumes of the highest palms on the low-set atolls of Buka and Bougainville.. JACK LONDON SCENES For many years Mr H. A. Markham ran a trade store and trading station at Liueniua, the largest of the group, making frequent voyages across to Tulagi with produce carried in his cutter, the Lily. This cutter sails through many of Jack London’s south sea stories, and has made a name for herself in Pacific lore. After Markham left, the station was for some years without a white resident, and the writer was one of those who, after this temporary reversion to the group’s aboriginal state, once more violated its tranquil isolation, arriving with the new trader. The water surrounding the atolls on a bright day like that of our arrival shades from nile-green, where the coral rises close to the surface, to jade over the deeper reef, and so to turquoise where the sea-floor drops; but so clear and translucent is the surface that the sun can be seen playing in distorted dapples on the white sand bottom far below. The reef is unusually wide and the entrance tortuous and confusing, that to the lagoon near Liueniua being known tc traders as “ the Suez* Canal.” We went ashore in a little pinnace owned by my trader companion, who seemed very happy in the prospect of the solitude of his island paradise. The plantation house of three rooms and a wide verandah was very inviting, like its master in his spotless white drill, looking well groomed, clean, and cheerful. The islands grew very little food-stuffs, chiefly the coconut and a little bread-fruit, but a party of natives met us with bananas

and mangoes brought from some neighbouring island, much to our delight, as fresh fruit always means a lot to tlie island tramp. The trader’s boss-boy did the buying, much to our amusement. Glancing at the pile of fruit contemptuously, he ruthlessly kicked aside what he considered unfit, and paid in plugs of tobacco about a tenth of what we should have given for enough fresh fruit to last us several days. Canoes about the landing stage of Liueniua, which is a long, narrow atoll about four miles long and half a mile broad, were but tiny dug-outs with flimsy outriggers, handled by natives of a deep chocolate hue, naked except for a small strip of calico round the waist. TINY “HEADQUARTERS” Tulagi is a port of entry for the Protectorate, and is the seat of government. The white population of Tulagi is between 40 and 50, and the Chinese population about 180. Messrs W. R. Carpenter and Company have their headquarters there. Fhe Fresh Food and Ice Company has an iceplant and butchery. Between Tulagi and Florida there is a narrow passage through which trading vessels can pass. Tulagi has a deep-water harbour, with a good anchorage for big ships. Within Tulagi harbour is the small island of Makambo, the head station of Messrs Burns Philp (South Sea ) Company in the Protectorate. Guadalcanal, which in area is the largest island in the group, lies to the south of Florida. It is very ragged, and has many razorback mountains, the highest reaching to 8000 feet. There are many coconut plantations, mainly on the north-east coast which is the most fertile part. Aola, the Government station for the district, is situated there. The opposite coast of this island is exposed to the sea, and the ports there can be worked only in favourable weather. About thirty years ago eleven members of an Australian scientific expedition were killed by natives on Guadalcanal. A stone has been erected to their memory at Tetere. Like Guadalcanal, the settlement on San Christoval is on the “ lee ” or north side. The island has many of the characteristics of Guadalcanal, but is not so mountainous. A Government station on the north coast is used occasionally by visiting officers, there being no permanent district officer. There are several plantations and trading stations. Star Harbour, at the eastern extremity, offers good shelter in any weather. The islands off the coast are Ugi, the Three Sisters, and Santa Anna. These all produce copra, the last-mentioned being well planted; it also supports a trader. Ideas of town planning have been imparted to the natives at Santa Anna, the village having been particularly well laid out and well kept. Santa Anna “ Marys ” are celebrated in the Solomons for their dances. The explorer Mendova has left his mark on San Christoval, as its place-names plyThe island of Malaita is the most thickly populated of the group, and holds perhaps the most virile tribes of that region. The Malaita boy is as well known as the Buka boy, these two standing out among the racial groups of the Mid-Paeific, both as workers and fighters. Many a hefty manager, inclined on his arrival to I think that he could knock the “ nig-

ger ” about, learned to change his tactics when he tackled a Malaita* boy. Short and stockily built, the native of Malaita is as strong as a horse and is full of “ ginger.” He will. When ih the mood, cut down trees and Clear “ bush ” at an astonishing pace and with tremendous vigour; but he needs tactful an« juiicieas handling.

The interior of Malaita is practically • unexplored, and is seldom visited, un- • less by the district officer intent on ; catching a murderer or obtaining wit- ; esses or on some other Government ; . errand. Naked savages, armed with ; rifles, still roam about the island, aud X th» old head-hunting ideas still ex- t Ist. * • C