RABAUL.

Hokitika Guardian, 29 September 1921, Page 3

RABAUL.

OUR COCOA-NUT ISLANDS. STRATEGIC CENTRE. Before he has linislied his first buttle of beer in Rabnul the stranger will be informed of one slight impediment to the permanence of tilings in Raba«l’s life. That is tile joiirier, or earthquake. Rain is probably falling outside it always rains when a ship comes io there —.and heavy rain to the RrJ.aul resident always suggests a gourier. From the other side of the bottle of beer lie will indicate with a sweep of the arm the bold rim of volcanic bills at the back and say :—“Yes. I suppose the Mother will one day blow her lid oil' and then Rabnul; be die finish.’’ The Mother is the highest extinct volcano Of the local group, and was extinct when Carteret, an early British navigator in these parts (1,67) first found New Britain and New Ireland to be distinct islands. The Ninth Daughter and tile South Daughter are also extinct, but one small crater l's still marked active on the marine charts, south-west of the Mother and close to the eastern shore of HI niche Bav. There are sulphur springs at the foot, of it. and after heavy rain steam always rises from tile hot- subterranean beds, and the’ vapour issuing Irum this alleged active volcano gives verisimilitude to native legends of an evil day to come. Both native superstition and the theories of white scientists ap. parentlv agree that there is distinct connection between this old Iftibaul group of volcanoes and another greup near Tabisea on the middle t '■rib coast of the island—the Father rim active volcano) and the two Sons. The native legend is that when the FaU'cr loaves off smoking the Rabnul crater will return to duty in bis place. Whether the local gouriers are due io disturbance communicated from the 1 ather. or simply and solely to pressure ol steam generated from infiltrated ramfall ii|koi hotbeds below the surface of the Mother, is still controversy. Anyway the gouriers are often no ’laughing matter, And a heavy rainfall is the only recognised warning. « OUTSIDE OR INSIDE.

Local dispute centres about the point whether, when a gouricr happens, it is better to run outsido or stay in bed. The houses, it may be said, are built to fall down. Their wooden pillars | simply rest upon concrete blocks, and - are not embedded in them. Heavier sort sof furniture, such as cupboards and wardrobes generally held lo the nearest wall by hooks. There have'Jieen some had gouriers in Rabaul. About 10 years ago what is now called Beehive Rock, in the i middle of the top end of IWaneho Bay (not far from Rabaul wharf), .vrs a inueli larger island with a native vil- ! Lige on it>. One night in a 'mirier ,• lii-. eland was sunk, leaving, only the beehive showing above water. Towards the Ralauua side of the hay a new island of considerable extent appeared from the same convulsion. One man’s description of a more recent gourier was of the earth nforing in waves, so that people were afflicted with a nausea worse than any seasickness, and iron telegraph poles bent earthwards at any angle ol 15 degrees or more and then back again. During a gourier on New Year's Day, 11)16, the cause way to Matupi Island was sunk so that the telephone poles along it. went ( lean under water -they have since risen slowly several feet again-and the Marsina. had an exciting few t mments at Rabaul wharf. The sea receded suddenly anil bumped her on the hot tom: then the water came back in a big wave and lifted her up. and up. mil up. till it was thought she would he thrown on the wharf. The order was given to launch boats, and in the rush to getthis done one boat was lowered to the deck and launched on the captain's toe. Whereat the wrath of the skipper was added unto the wrath of nature, and the men for a few moments loigid their original alarm in the face of a more directly threatening vengeance. One man, in telling this story, (aid that the skipper’s fury stopped the gourier. and that tile Mirtnpi ereter. thwarted of a designed climax, forefort- to “blow its lid off.” STRATEGIC VAI.I’E.

Why. then, it will he asked, was the town built here, and why did it he. come the seat of Government under the (let man regime!- The (luvrrnmcni otlices. trailing stores, many of the white residences ami the pros) crmis Chinatown arc all built on the reclaimed Hals south ami west of the Mother and the Nalliilnula Itidge below the Mother. Government House, the hospital, null some lucky few ol the bungalows are ited o" the Nam.rnula Hill a long saddle between the Mother ami the North Daughter and are o| on to the breezes lia.m the sea on each side of the peninsula. This same volcanic ridge, running on down the peninsula to thu South Daughter, shuts in all the town on the llats below, and from November to March il stew s in a heavy moist lice I he bay i„ 1 1 miles long from the entrance opposite Kalinina, and Itnhaiil lies nl thi> very top of this hay. Knkopo (the old llorhcrtsliplio). same miles farther South of Ralnana, is open to at least the southern breezes and ten miles inland uphill, above Knkopo, is the delightful little health resort of Toma, where one utay even at times fed tlir cold. The German seat of government used to he at Kokcipo. Why did they move it por strategic reasons. 1 lie Nord-|)enls-i her Lloyd Company owned the marshy flats at Itnhaiil. The facility of tins silt- for defence Look the German eye. and on condition that the,,.seat 1 V Coverninent was moved’there, tluvX.D.I.. Company agreed to reclaim the Hats and construct a road up to Xnmnniiki. capable of taking heavy guns, These inte, P’d gulls did not arrive belure t m war hroke out. hut from the siVe intended for them tln-y could have cnpimamh'd on tile iinrtii the nearest approach to Rabaiil possible for a naval honibarding sijiuidi'on. Rahaul Flarhour too, is an excellent auclioragc for any fleet, whereas Kokopo is simply an open roadstead. The advantages jiitweigh the drawback of local climate, the dangers of which have been much reduced by scientific precautions a.gninst mosquitoes and the disappearance of ‘he former marshes; and Kabaiil to-day is the strategic centre ol Australia’s Pacific island group and wilt undoubtedly remain so j ' WELD LAID OUT. Its well laid out streets are hollow'

underneath the weight of the “bullnmaeov” carts, and soak up the heaviest rain like a sponge. White ants and teredos cat op the woodwork of houses 'and wharfs without mercy. But there is something substantial, even though entirely mud-made, about the modern Rabaul; and the eye cannot miss the attraction of its street avenues of acacia and soaring casiiaiiuu. The motor road along the sea front to Kokopo is, for its natural beauty, hardly to be beaten even by the famous drive around the Gape of Good Hope Peninsula about Table Mountain. The road itself, at its Rabaul end. is made of volcanic asli from the side of the Mother, and of pumice from the hillside farther along. The luxuriant native jungle relieves with perpetual variety ; ..g most of its length the monotony of thy eternal cocoa nut. The chief attraction of Kokopo is that it lies at the end of this road.

From Kokopo two other roads run uphill to Rita Paka, the big wireless station and to Toma. The Rita, l’aka mad especially is famous for the only lighting between the Australian naval and military force in 101 I against the Germ,ins, when Commander Elwcll and l)r I’orklcy and several others lost their lives. Toma should be a renowned oeal sanatorium in the future, and the view northwards from its high adjacent hill across the valley of the eight rivers is lield by many to equal anything to be seen in the Blue Mountains. Where the tracks wind through cocoanut plantations, as they frequently do. it takes tin- visitor, especially if he retains a lively memory of air raids in France, some time to get used to driving or walking free of care in such places. A eocoirnut is a thing which weigh- seven or eight pounds. and hangs often nt a height of forty feet or more overhead. In any large plantation some millions of them drop every year, and they drop all the year round. So do the heavy dead fronds. It is generally agreed that if a lint fell from such a height upon the head of a white man he could not ex|H’et to survive. Yet there are hardly any known eases of sueli an accident. There have been narrow escapes, and recently one did fall on a “mary” and stunned her for three hours. Rabaul. however in respect of accidents is thoroughly civilised. The casualty list from cocoalints is still blank: that from motorcar accidents along the Kokopo-road is becoming worthy of renown even in more populous places.