CHATHAM ISLANDS.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXIX, Issue 8260, 13 October 1906, Page 6

CHATHAM ISLANDS.

(From Our Own Correspondent). TE ONE, September 12. Once more mail time draws Dear. Two months is a long wait, without letters, papers, or any other connection with the rest of the world. When the steamer leaves the island, time bangs very heavy for two or three weeks, and one wonders whether we shall be able to put in the time;, but as the days go by they mend their pace and the last few 'days soon pass. The news, when it does arrive, seems all at sixes and aevens. You do not know whioh paper to road first; you take the latest, o(6 course, and there you get quite lost among references to things J long past that you knew nothing ) about. It was nearly two months •after that sad occurrence that we * heard of Mr Seddon's death. It makes yon wonder sometimes whether it is not bettor t,o be awaj from all ' the bustlo and trouble, and to get your uens when the excitement or grief hits worn off nomewhat. A fine , spot for a hermit here. He would not be troubled with visitors or sightseers anyhow. We very little news here, except of the very ordinary kind, 'the weather has been very fine, Jiardly any rain or wind. The skies have b<?eu cloudy, but no moisture has fallen, and the wind has been cold but not boisterous. On the last day of Auaust, ' after a stiff southerly, wo had a heavy sea running into Petre Bay, and on a Btretch of bench about four miles long soaie fifteen whales, of the small kind called "blackfish," were stranded. They were vmy muoh alive, and struggled and spouted and roared with a noise somewhat resembliug a eow in distress. In shape they are like the usual whßles you see "in pictures," Bhort snouts, very small eyes, and a small mouth for su large a creature The longest would be about 25 feet and the Bhortest about 15 feet. They are not of much value, their blubber being only two or three inches thiojr, but a few pieces were cut off them and the oil "tried out" for immediate wants. It is usual with some people, who find the brutes stranded, to pnt an end to them with a bullet behind the flipper, as they have been known to lie on tbe beach alive fur days after being washed aehore. They seldom reach deep water again, and if they do they are too exhausted to recover, and the sharks find an easy prey. The school children bad fine fan watohing them being rolled about by the breakers, and ran up and down the carcases of those washed high and dry. The sea-gnlls have been having their turn ever since, and little is left now but the bones. Sharks are, 1 believe, to be found all round the islands, and even they get washed ashore at times, and the finder takes possession ot the teatb, which are much prized everywhere. Id the whaling days, when ships lay off the coast "trying out" blubber and throwing away refuse, sharks were about in plenty, and some skippers have expressed the opinion that nowhere have they seen larger specimen?, though their endeavours to catch them were fruitless. Potato planting is now in fnll awing, more so than for some time. The high prices realised in New Zealand are causing everybody that can manage it to put in every seed potato they are able to get. There will be plenty next season if all goes well and tfie blight keeps as religiously away as it has done up to now. 1 wonder what the people here' would do if the blight did come. The Maoris would feel it very muoh, and the white people too, for that matter, so strict precautions are being taken to prevent potatoes outside. " 'Tis an ill wind that blows nobody good" applies here at any rate, and it is time, too, for the Cbatbams has had its share of the ill winds. On all sid«s are heard expressions of sorrow at the loss the colony has suffered by Mr Seddon's death. . The Maoris are still talking abdut it, for, of course, it is a much more recent event with us than with you on the mainland. During bis visit here in r,be beginning of the year the great Premier wen the respeot and love of all and sundry. He was quite different to the man they expeoted. Just like one of themselves, and a friend to everybody. It was a pity when he did come a wireless telegram could not have been sent over saying he was coming. The reception would then have been worthy of the occasion. As it was, however, nothing was wanting in cordiality of welcome. One and hll say they feel glad of the occasion that gave them an opportunity to see the great man before he died. Speaking of wireless telegraphy, a question was asked in the House of .Representatives last year by one cf the southern members—l believe it was Sir W. J. Steward—concerning the possibility of connecting these islands with NdW Zealand by Marconi's celebrated invention. Sir Joseph Ward replied that when wireless telegraphy did come to the colony be would bear the matter in mind and see what could be done. And it would be a splendid ohanoe to kill two birds with the one stone; for where could you get a better or more convenient piece of ocean ;to experiment across, and it would moat certainly be a boon , to the islanders. Of course, communication is better here than in some parts of the world, but should anything Jbappen to the steamer down here, well, it Is hard to say what would Jbappen. Until her continued absence ■woke people up, wo should be quite witbbnt any means of sending news. Let us hope the apparatus for wireless telegraphy will be fixed up some time, and that soon. We are also at another disadvantage here. We are disfranchised. There Is no member for the Chatham Islands, nor is that important locality a part of any electorate of New Zealand. 1 believe Sir W. J. Steward " also asked a question in the House about that, and was told the matter would be considered when next the Electoral Committee, or some such body, sat, I do not know that we are any ttyj worse for not having a vote, though. Perhaps we might get oar member to speak for us a little, As it is we are ont in the cold, and members have to look after their own constituents. Maybe a titce . will come, Jf we to any other electorate, It will, 1 believe,

be either Lyttelton, W allington, or Napier, the latter town being actually the nearest to the islands. Hundreds of swan's eggs are now to be got on the big le Wbanga l-iake. The birds are nesting, and long rows of nests may be seen, stretching in some caaeß right aoross the lake. The nests are large, roughly-made heaps of dried weed polled from the water by the birds and heaped up, sometimes on small rocky islets, j sometimes on rushes, and sometimes on the surface of the water where the 1 weed is thick. On the islets the nests are crowded together, otherwise each neat is by itself. The weed is very plentiful, so muoh so in places that it is a matter of difficulty to force a boat through, especially a boat with a keel, consequently the boats that are used are mostly flat-bottomed, ' Even then the weed has to be removed from the bow of the boat at intervals, as it collects there and impedes progress considerably. If there are only eggs in tbw nest the swans will leave on the approach of the boat, but if the young are hatched and cannot get away the parents show fight. But the cygnets are very soon able to leave the nest after they are batohed, and make off with the old birds. The eggs are very largo, quite equal to five hen's eggs. They are excellent for cooking; in fact, just the same as the ordinary eggs. The Maoris are fond of them cooked in the usual ways, and eat a lot of them. Most white people find them rather too muoh for one. The white has n more transparent look after boiling than the white of the hen's egg. Many are the parties that make expeditions collecting egga. One boat recently returned with considerably over a hundred. There are, of course, thousands of nests, but eggs are not to be found in all of them, and in others they have have beeo there too long. One frequently hears mention here of valuable finds of ambergris that have been mado on the shores of the main and Pitt Islands. For those who do not know what ambergris is, I may say that it is a substance obtained from the intestines of the whale. It ;s used in perfumery and the like, and bb ooly small quantities are found at a time and not in every whale, it is very expensive, averaging about £6 an ounce. It is oily substance of an ash-grey colour, and therefore hard to recognise. The ordinary paesefc-by would take it for a stone or a pieoe of wood battered by the waves. A lump weighing five or six pounds would be worth piokiDg up, and it is always to be found on the coasts of countries or islands bordering on those parts of the ocean where whales abound. The value of the celebrated marram grass has been proved on the shores of Petre Bay. The long, low sand-hills that are found uext the beach there are covered with it. It has been planted, of course, and has taken a firm bold,tbus preventing the sand from Blowing about. There are one or two places where the grass has not made headway, and the manner in whhh the snnd has spread inland at those places shows what would have happened without the aid of the grass, it thrives wonderfully, and where once the hills were bare sand, it is how very difficult to force one's way on foot. At various places on these and other sand-hills people often come across the hleached bones of Morioris who have died there, probably in battle. Meres, tomahawks, adzes, and other stone implements are also found at times, acd are valuable from the fact of tbo faßt-deareasing numbers of the true Moriori people. There was a little joild excitement at the north end of the island on the 23rd September. A few settlers living round there saw a large steamer approaching the island. She came within a mile or two of the coast and then slopped for two hours or more. 'lhen Bhe began her journey again, her funnels throwing out immense columns o£ smoke. The reason of her short sojourn is, of course, a mystery, likewise her name, origin, and destination. As the wind was strong from the south she was evidently taking advantage of the lee of the land, but for wbas purpose we : do not know. She did not signal in any shape or form. Hndjßbe come nearer, one or two venturesome spirits would have gone off to hpr in a dingy. We are now waiting for the papers from New Zealand. Perhaps we shall find oat what steamer was in our vicinity about that dote. We are just in the track pf vessels bound, to England by the Cape Horn route, and in fine weather sometimes catch a glimpse'of them. The few flower gardens there are here are in full bloom with spring bulbs, whioh seem to thrive wonderfully in the sandy soil. The winds are the only drawback to the flowers as a whole, and unless well sheltered they have a rough time. Sheltered, they grow even retter than in New Zealand. The famous Chatham Island lilies are also at their best as I write. They are like huge forget-me-nots, the blooms, however, being more closely packed together. The leaves are very large and of a very deep green. They grow wild along the beaches in some parts of the island, just above high-water mark. There are several pretty little shrubs growing wild that one does not meet in your part of the world, pnd I believe most of tne trees and shrubs that 'bear the same names as those of New Zealand are a slightly different species. The kaiaka, or, as the people here call it, the "kopi," is to be seen everywhere, growing to a great height and usually of perfeot. shape.