THE PRAISE OF TONGA.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 479, 12 April 1909, Page 3

THE PRAISE OF TONGA.

,-There we various'sights that the tourist would lite to see—though he never gets the chance t' do so. For ono thing, at ono end of the nain island there is a great curious stone aril, which they call tho Haamoga, mado ni. ono knows when or how. Two great stole pillars aro sunk deep in the sand, ad across them, in hollowed sockets, lies a giat stono beam. The puzzle is how did the hreo get there, by what engineering feat, arl who were tho engineers. Mr. Baker hd a theory that they might havo been bult .up in sand, and that when the great urights were buried to their heads, tho hug. ; cross-beam might havo been rolled up, aridtho sand dug away beneath it, but that is lere conjecture, and to-day the arch Brands here with grass growing at its base, and tree" all around—-ono of the fascinating wondorsthat keep men's minds perplexed. Then'though Tonga has no rivers open and above bdrd, it has an icy cold stream that flows siTeptit-iously, secretly, underground, tnroughvasty halls and caverns hung wit/i stalactite, bristling with stalagmites. Thia river, wose sourco 110 one knows, is to be found s tho back of tho island Liku, as the natres call it—and few Englishwomen have sea it. Aliss Baker, one of the few, perhaps tb. only, one, tells how sho descended' into th(depths of a black holo and explored the wbdors of tho cavern by the light of Jiatrve:'ibrous torches, finishing 'up with a swim lrthe ice-cold waters. lo cme to matters more domestic, to banana! H It sowns wo loso a great deal by not jisig bananas moro as a vegetable. Tho mushy, moist, unpleasant loog of a boiled bananals not unfamiliar to many of us, but havo wrovcr met it as a vegetable, eaten with oter vegetables and gravy ? The best banan'afor cooking is short and very fat but theordinary China bananas are to 'be recommoded when quito green, either boiled ° r cut in -slices and fried. This is tho way the Tbgan housewife does. , Therugar planter has not as yet turned ills attotion to Tonga, where labour is not easily, otained, and there are no coolies Lovers'i- Tonga hope that tho day will never come wen the Friendly Islands will bo overrun wit'tho riff-raff of India. Thetlte Mr. Shirley Baker was an excellent To^an 1 scholar, and he had at his fingerends th.legends of tho people, who speak a tongue ; io similar to the Maoris, and who worship the samo heroes. Miss Beatrice Baker,'is daughter, who is moro or less of an invad, shared to Iho full his interests, r and she is herself extremely well-informed 'on all, .latters pertaining to the Tongans, tbeii cutoms, and myths', and in her quiet island bme she pursues her studies: She is at presat engaged „in writing tho story of her fater's adventurous life, a task for which sle is well qualified

. AN ISL AND, PARADISE. ~ BY OXE WHO LIVES THERE. Grey skies, wot squdgy paths, raindrenched fqljage, anc, beyond the gate, the muddy sidewalks of ft most melancholy-look-ing town—Wcllingtm at its very worst— Wellington at Easte". What a day to dcara of the sunny Pacific, and what a relief io find someono who can takoyou thero witi talk of coral islands, of glorious tropical g.'owth, of trees with \aagnillcent foliage,' of scarlet hibiscus, or colthises, with theisun shining through their reil "veins with piik leaves, such coleuses as here in Wellinguii aro 'the glory of a. flower show, but there grow luxuriantly wild; of shining coral stands gleam in the sunshine, of the wider reaches of beach when the tide withdnws, and ono walks out over the whiteness ■ .for a milo /to peer into the depths of tho jlue deep and watch the coloured fish in their vari-colourcd homes, of gentle-voiced -Jeauties and kindly, simple folk still, righii off. civilisation's mian track —of Tonga, j.. Miss Shirley Baker, who is 'spending a few days n Wellington, knows Tonga as few Eiglish people have had a chance ,to,do,V: The name of her father, who went there is a young missionary of 22, with an 18-jcar-old bride, and who spent forty years on thoso islands, is inseparably associated wi;h Tonga to this day. His children havontw an island home at Haapai, ono of the smaller islets, whore several of thorn aro alvays to bo found. They spent thp.ir childhood in Tonga, nineofthem, a company/in thcmselTes, with tho children of other missinoaries as playmates, and though they .came to school in New Zealand, it is to Tonga they return. , Tonga lies off the main trade routes. Once a rionth a steamer from. New Zealand calls tho.-e, once a «onth from Sydney, but they only , stay a f«w hours, so tho tourist has littip chance .h see anything of tho island unless ho will leavo ono steamer and wait for'ianother,. and few tourists are keen to spend a; whole month on one coral island. .Life is very pleasant there, and behind its isolation there are few drawbacks. sn:kes, fb; instance, and tarantulas, don't Wffry tho'inhabitants much—there are none; wth the exception of an occasional wrigglng centipede there are no poisonous creep-, rci, the frequent earthquakes aro. not alarmin;, and tho littlo volcanoes seem to sit away 'oft in the sea, where they can erupt without ■ tiling < anyone any harm.- Hurricanes there are —devastating hurricanes, which swoop cbwn, from the north-east mostly, and play 'tver the low-lying islands madly, for the of two hours, wrecking houses and ■ stripping ;tho trees, and scattering tho fruit ■<ii - th© ground, to tho wrath of tho parents •ind the i delight of tho children, who run about- ail make rich harvest. But lifo is (asy and: naturo prodigal in Tonga. The 'damage that would take months to "repair in s more tlrifty, careful climate is quickly put straight: ihere, and. no need seems to exist for reliel'works. \