A.—3.

On the 24th August, 1936, H.M.S. | Wellington " anchored in the lagoon. On the followingday the Captain, doctor, Bishop Kempthorne, and several of the crew paid a visit ashore. Mr. Templeton Crocker, owner of the auxiliary yacht " Zaca," paid a call on the 18th September, sailing again on the Ist October for Samoa. Dr. Miner, with members of the staff of the American Museum of Natural History, New York, were aboard. Two other auxiliary yachts " Director " and " Hurricane " paid calls while on their way around the world. On 27th September, 1936, " Tiare Taporo " arrived at the Island, bringing the Resident Commissioner on a visit to the Northern Group. A number of important matters were attended to by the Commissioner before sailing again on the 6th October for Manihiki, &c. During his brief stay the two villages and the two schools were inspected. A sitting of the High Court and an Island Council meeting were held. He also selected sites for the wireless station and the new public building, and on the Island of Te Souma a site was marked out for the proposed leper-segregation hospital. On the 28th November a very successful tutaka (inspection) was held in the Village of Te Tautua. Each household was well cleaned and tidy, with new mats spread out on the floors. Food was also prepared for the occasion ; fifty-three pigs were killed and forty bags of flour, chickens, puraka, utoes, breadfruit, &c., were used to make the feast. Throughout the year the people have been well behaved, contented, and industrious. PUKAPUKA. Owing to lack of communication the following comments are in respect of the year ended 30th September, 1936. Health. —Health conditions have remained very satisfactory, but there are still a few cases of yaws to clean up. The Native nurse attended the dispensary regularly. H.M.S. " Wellington " visited the Island on Bth September, when the ship's surgeon attended to urgent cases. Trade. —The auxiliary schooner " Makoa " has made two visits to the island during the year. One hundred and fourteen tons of copra were exported. As a result of the increased price of copra the people have made a larger quantity this last year than in the preceding year. Vital Statistics. —The population is now 653 according to the census taken during the year. Births—Males, 10 ; females, 16 : total, 26. Deaths—Males, 4 ; females, 4 : total, 8. Marriages, 4. Planting. —All taro beds on the Island are planted to their full capacity. During the past year bananas have been planted in large quantities, and it has been found that they will grow on soil which was hitherto thought unfitted for them. High Court. —There has been ten sittings of the High Court during the period and eighty cases were heard. Island Council. —Tamuta, of Roto Village, was appointed to the Island Council to replace Beni, transferred to the police. Four meetings of the Island Council were held during the year. During the absence of the Resident Agent between the 19th August and the 14th October the Island Council was given authority to attend to Government business, and this they did satisfactorily. School. —School attendance and the progress of the children have been satisfactory. The difficulty in obtaining clothes for the school-children, reported last year, has now to a greatextent been overcome as a result of the improved price of copra,. General. —There have been no violent storms during the year. The Island has been visited by the auxiliary schooner " Makoa " and H.M.S. " Wellington." The villages have been kept remarkably clean due to the vigilance of Mrs. Henry and her committee women. At regular intervals the people are required to clean their grounds and their houses. At such times the entire population inspects the island. The Resident Commissioner has sent a supply of new roofing iron, spouting, and paint, &c., for the courthouse. Ample medical supplies have been received during the past year. MANIHIKI AND RAKAHANGA. These two Islands, which are only twenty miles apart, are under the control of one Resident Agent, whose headquarters are at Manihiki. Consequent upon the death of Captain J. McCulloch, Mr. L. H. Trenn was appointed Resident Agent in October last. He is a fully qualified wireless operator and has charge of the wireless station at Manihiki, which is the parent station for the new stations in the Northern Group. Under the Superintendent of Radio-Rarotonga he will exercise supervision over these stations. Health. —The health of the people generally has been good. No health officer visited the Islands during the year, and a visit is needed to clean up cases requiring expert treatment. Both Islands have received at each visit of the local trading schooners plentiful supplies of drugs for the treatment of minor complaints. Shortly after the " Tiare Taporo " called in October a severe epidemic of fever broke out among the children, nearly every child on the two Islands being affected. On Manihiki a suspected leper, a boy of twelve, was isolated until his case could be diagnosed by a visiting doctor ; while on Rakahanga another youth, definitely diagnosed as a leper, was isolated until an opportunity occurred of transferring him to the leper station at Penrhyn. In October some gambusia, a fish which eats the mosquito larv®, were brought from Rarotonga by the Resident Commissioner and placed in the lake at Manihiki and in the extensive puraka swamps of Rakahanga. They are multiplying rapidly and will soon be distributed throughout both Islands to assist in stamping out the mosquito. Great attention is paid to keeping the villages clear

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