A TRIP TO NORFOLK ISLAND.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XV, Issue 262, 28 December 1880, Page 4

A TRIP TO NORFOLK ISLAND.

The eorreepondent of the Auckland f< Herald " furnishes that journal with the following account of the (rip of the Southern Cross from Auckland to Norfolk Island :— On Thursday, the 27th ult., we embarked in one of the North Shore ferry boats, which was to convey us to the Southern Cross, mission 6hip, then lying in* readiness in the Btre&m to take us to Norfolk Island. Many friends and visitors assembled, on tho western tee to witness our departure, and lusti'y cheered na we stesmod away. Within an hour from our leaving the wharf we were dropping down the harbor. Nothing o» any interest took piece tili bed iime, when some of us discovered ui.ifters of unbounded interest. Tho first was that maty of us had got into a hotter plnca then we had over dreamt of in our philosophy. To cay that wo were packed closely would only be drawing the matter very mild, but such close qusrtois were rendered even cloacr still by the engine, which happened to be close to our cabin, nud it. wormed us up with v vengeance. Whether or uot the stoker ■wished ub to have a taste of what missionaries hove to endure now and then, or whether he had maliciously resolved to bake us alive, I ennnot Bay, but if he had been our biltertefc enemy he could not have tormented us more than he did. He seemed a very Torquemade, and we feared that unless the good boat looked ahurp in getting to Norfolk Island we could uot euivive this wasting process very long. A course of Turkish batha before leaving Auckland proved to have been quite a work of supererogation. But in the Joweet depths there is a lower still, and we found, on turning in that there were cockroaches on board o They were not little cockroaches but big ones— 'thoroughbred Norfolk Islanders ; and be it known unto all men that everything at No; folk Island ie on a big scale. For instance, a gentleman who represent the London Meteorological Society told me to-day that in one night laet year to leas thaneleven inches of rain fell ; and looking over his estate I saw a pig weighing over & quarter of a ton, banana leaves over eight feet in length, turnips running about one to the bushel, and cabbages like a dozen Auckland cabbages compressed by hydraulic pressure into one. Norfolk Island mosquitos are Bomewhat smaller than ours, but what they luck in size they m&ke up for in unflagging zeal. In future they will afford a far better illustration of industry than " the little busy bee." But this ie a digression — I have not finished about the cockroaches. To say they wore numerouß would be trifling with language, for tbo word is not yet coined to express their numbere. Tbe Btoker seemed to have leagued animate and inanimate nature agaiost up, for his roaßting firee attracted nearly every cockroach in the ship to our special quarters. These creatures intensified our torments in every way, for it was possible to throw off bedclothes to counteract tbe heat, bat that wa9 only playing into the hands of our enemies, and 8B we had not reckoned on being eateo alive, we muffled ourselves up and waited the issue of events. We did not wait long. Cockroaches of all sizes and colors oame in troops, from those of the size of an earwig to the fize of a mouse, minus the tail. A fact of natural history which we learnt— and I only mention these points to show how tbe observant and receptive mind can dißcern "Books in running brooks, eer--10008 in etonee, and good in everything" —I say a fact we learnt was that cockroaches eat people's eyebrows and toenails. This was news indeed to us, but as it was told us by the sailors we did not question it. It was sufficient to stimulate some of our party to device means to ward off the attack, and, as necessity is the mother of invention, they soon invented weapons of war. A bucket of weter had been tried in the ladies' cabin, where there remained two or three waifs and strays which had not been able to join the myriads in our cabin ; but they considered the cold bath only good sport, for they went into it and out again with tbe agility of adepts, and regarded the whole effair as done for their special benefit. The Bkipper afterwards said that a long° necked pickle bottle rigged up in Borne peculiar way was more likely to catch them alive, but there wos no time to theorise or temporise. Something had to be done, nnd whatever it was it had to be short, sharp, and decisive. Slippers were in immediate requisition for a purpose never intended by the snob. Some of our band of martyrs armed themselves with slippers, and commenced the work of slaughter with a zeal worthy of a better cause. This did not mend matters, and we learnt two more facts of natural history, namely, that cockroaches reseno ble flies in the numbers in which tho living " wake " the dead, and resemble Maori bugs in the influence they exert after they have departed this life. It has been said that Englishmen never know when they are beaten, and much a8 I would like to perpetuate this flattering fiction, I must own that we were beaten that night even by cockroaches. SCENEET. We sighted Philips' Island at daylight on the 2nd instant, and Norfolk Island soon afterwards. A good breeze was blowing at the time, and we made for the Cascades for smoother water. The little island called Philips', or Rabbits Island, is situated north-west of Norfolk Island, and it is about three miles distant from it. It swarms with rabbits, and the beauty of its scenery is indescribable. The brush or lens may give some idea of its magnificence, but it would be a faint idea only, and even fainter still if attempted by the pen. The beautifully tinted red, green, and purple slopes, here and there dotted with towering pines ; the precipitous cliffs, now and then hidden by gigantic green waveß breaking upon them in crested foam, must be seen to be realised. And the same may be said of the coast-line of Norfolk Island It is simply romantic. We arrived opposite the landing-place and dropped anchor at about eight o'clock, having been just a week on the passage. After breakfast Bishop Selwyn[caine off in a

whaleboat, himeelf woiking the rudder oar. As eogii as he was discovered, some one en board called for "three cheers for Bishop Selwjn," \yhich, one need not say, weie heartily given. There is no nonsense about him — he is essentially a practical man. After giving us a hearty welcome, he at once commenced gettiDg us landed, and then over to the mießion station at the other side of the island, about five miles from the landing place, where he had arranged considerately for our short stay. THE MISSION. In the evening Divine- service (conducted partly in Mota and partly in English) was he-Id in the new memorial ] chapel, when about two hundred and fifty natives and Europeans were present. Bishop Stuart (the Bishop of Wniapu) gave a practical discourse, which was interpreted by the Bey. It. It. Codriogton to the Islanders. One characteristic of the service was the hearty response of the natives, and their quiet, reverential deportment. Od entering the Church scarcely a sound was heard as the two hundred filed in und were pointed to their seats*, llieir conduct compared very favourably with European church-goers, too many of whom trifle, talk, criticise, and gape about them till the service begins, as if they were waiting only for the curtain to rise at a theatre. The Melaneaians enter very heartily into the Church service, which is held every day at 7 a.m. and 8 p.m. They have the Book of Common Prayer and a capital collection of hymns in their own language. When hearing them sing : — Jesus, lover of my soul, Let me to thy bosom fly, we felt that although we could not understand a word they uttered, we were brought iuto a unison of devotion by that well-known strain, and, despite the difficulties of foreign speech, could worship side by side with them in spirit and in truth. One forgets all differences of race and blood as he hears his fellow-creatures, just rescued from barbarism, repeating the very same hymns and prayers which have ingrained themselves into his being since childhood. The bearing of the missionaries towards them is exceedingly kind, and there appears to be great sympathy between them. We need not wonder at the sympathetic response on the part of tue Melanesians, for the missionaries are making men of them in every sense of the term. They are becoming cleanly in their habits, pure in thought, gentle in behaviour, and disciplined in mind and generally cultured.