FRIENDLY CALL FROM SOUTH SEA EXPEDITION.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17755, 27 January 1926, Page 7

FRIENDLY CALL FROM SOUTH SEA EXPEDITION.

WHITNEY SCHOONER FRANCE VISIT^PQRT.

An unexpected, arrival at Lyttelton this morning was the American auxiliary schooner France, which is owned by the American Museum of Natural History of New York. The vessel, which is in command of Captain E.. A. Stenbeck, is on a tour round New Zealand and adjacent islands. The France arrived at Lyttelton about 8.30 a.m., wind bound, and to take in supplies of foodstuffs and water. Four years ago Dr Leonard C. Sanford, a trustee and Hon. Fellow of the American Museum, with an interest in oceanic birds, induced Mr Harry Payne Whitney to support a notable project in the Pacific. Th 4 choice of a leader in the field was fixed by virtue of former accomplishment upon Mr Rollo H. Beck, a veteran exploring naturalist, who had previously served the Museum on expeditions in South American waters and elsewhere. Fortunately, the plan appealed to Mr Beck, and so in August, 1920, the Whftney South Sea Expedition was launched. Later the France was purchased at Papeete, where she was built. The chief reason for acquiring the France was to make the expedition independent of sailing schedules and trade routes. Since she was commissioned she has visited more than a hundred islands of the Society, Marquesas, Line, Tuamotu, Austral, Cook and Samoan groups. She has also visited the rich field of the Fiji Islands which consist of a group of close on 300 islands. Every island, rock and sanctuary is visited en route, for the collection of rare 'specimens of all kinds. The camera, too. is brought constantly into use to illustrate the environments and habits of bird life.

Although several thousand birds have been collected in the course of the field work pf the Whitney Expedition, no excessive destruction of life has been countenanced, and in the case of sea birds the specimens have been taken mostl}* - on the open ocean or in colonies made up of thousands of their kind.

Mr Beck, who is credited with being the oldest ornithologist in California, has trained one of the natives on board to assist him in skinning the birds and packing them for exportation to New York. Some very valuable specimens have been collected. When navigating it is customary for the vessel to search ail island during the early hours of the morning. Collecting and studying bird habits are started immediately, and at night the species are skinned and packed. Work never ceases.

At sea Mr Beck continues his collecting and puts out in fm open boat to go in search of birds along the coast line or in the open sea hundreds of miles from land. Sometimes the France gets into line with a flock of migrating birds and efforts are made to shoot some for the collection.

With the continual dwindling of unknown areas on the* Continent, the Pacific Islands stand in a sense as the last rich field for scientific exploration. Eastward from Australia and New Guinea, a great assemblage of islands exists. The separate archipelagos which lie mostly between the outer borders of the tropics are too varied to be considered as a unit. The Polynesian islands are by no means of one tj-pe, and many rare species of birds have been obtained from these islands.

The introduction of dogs, cats, and even the mongoose into islands which had no indigenous animals, with the rapid spread of starlings and weaver finches and of a hawk transported from Australia make it certain that the original Polynesian birds are doomed to go the way of lost species, even before they are known to science. The France is an auxiliary schooner of 74 gross tons. The propelling ma'chinery consists of a 60 h.p. motor. She is 71 feet in length. 25 feet in width, and draught 6ft. She carries a crew of eight, consisting of the captain and seven native sailors. She is expected to leave Lyttelton this evening for the Snares, Chatham Islands, and Stewart Island, and if conditions permit she will also visit the Auckland Islands, later returning to Auckland before going to Fiji.