A SOUTH SEA GRUISE.

Te Aroha News, Volume V, Issue 207, 18 June 1887, Page 2

A SOUTH SEA GRUISE.

(Hy MrF. J. Moss, M.H.R.)

Some interesting notes by Mr F. J. Moss, M.H. 11. , dm ing hisoruisc in thesteamer Busier to the Eastern Line Islands, and thence through Hie Central Groups westward to the Ciuoliuos, Aveie pooted to us at Swain's Island, but. did not reach Auckland for .some time after Mr Moss's return home. They hu\o, howexer, lost none of their freshne^ • -

FAR AWAY FROM CIVILISATION. I wvur you Liii* oil Swain's Island, ono of the Toku'.ui (Jioup. We are well into our third i loiilh, and T fear shall bo at least three moniln more before seeing Auckland. KoL a line or a woul from any quaiter of thewoild ninco we loft, and not likely to have uui ll we get home again The vessels that call al long into l-vals at these islands CO tin 1 lov.'ul and follow in our wake. Tint- 1. del Mill, I hope, be picked up by the Rhino, expected to call at Swain".- i,\ a couple of months and bound i la nee straight to Auckland. Yet here v. c aie within a couple of hundred miles «ii .Samoa, and if it were not for die great, 10-ot time in gelling to windward asrain vc might go to Apia, and be, by the Tiis-eo hi.til, Viithin a week of Auckland. Bui our >oad lies we-t, and we shall be much lu'aiev China than New Zealand before turning our face- homeward again. For'ne.uly two months we had a dead beat t) wind waul, with much vexatious calm. „'u-L on the -ivtieth day we got to Chri.-tiaa- Island, north of the line. We htne \is-ited scmal of the Ea-tern Wand-. The people weix much in advance of what one would expect. Aililicial ilov. er.s fashionable hats ieathfv-, and on en those aliocities of civilwition, high-heeled boots, are to be .seen i\ all of them. Happily, the high heels- a -e 1 are. The luitho ladies going to chinch a.c generally content \\ ith tiie hats and A\iea'hs and venv no boots at all. They .-iv. 1 u(.ctaij)ly much in ad\anee in all ihing> vi what the FijL'.n-s were \~> year^ ngo. Uiu, unlike Fiji, the^e Lagoon Islands p'oduee hardly an)' fruits or {lowers. The >'ut<'eo is coral lock, admiiablc for cocoa'ns i .md pandanus )">ut little el-e. WVi'ti i-^ scaico, but the milk of the young coi'oanut make^ amends'. The lagoon 'v\e j)earl Atcll and an occasional peail. Tiicy teem with ii-»h of an inferior qualit\, l>ut have al^o abundance of fine turtle "Melons lig-, and many other fi uitought to do well, and it is wonderful (hat thLyh.uo not long since been iutioduced among them.

A LAC-OON ISLAND.— HIGID CLERICAL RULE. At Xknc mt enjoyed the hospitality of the Iv^n.m •>nd Frank Lawes, a Congregationah f ( }• rgynnn. whoso name, with that of hi- li! odier and Mr Chalmers, both now in "Ssev. ( uv a. o'ie hrars mentioned by people of all L'- (Is -,v ith affection and re-pect Thi-, coiiiioi '■' oiid of all the missionaries-, between • > >no of "whom and tlv tradei- theie I- be a standing- hostility. Nieue mot aL v i i-land. and has a r.atne population oi a ; «ont 5,000, but, unfortunately, no good .!■ uviage or harbour. It abound", with flu I-,1 '-, pi ounces splendid yam-, and taro, a:i'i "Mr Lawc- ha* -ome en fine date pslm- which buar plentifully but \u\\o nit, so far, lipened their fruit. Probal>\\ the climate is too moist for the date, but in tue fbier lagoon islands it ought iv float ish. The lagoon inland- or atoll? e<n-i t of a largo saltwater lake within a belt of roial reef from 100 to .">();) yard- \. id--. The lake i- generally \eiy deep, tt 1 !' \ ater a beautiful blue, and the land v. Mo. n moie than 10 or 12ft. aboAC high-wait: mark. The population of a latjoon i-l. >nd i^ too small to a Euio|> mti . lei i) man, and a trained mti\o ini--iu ii i l i\ takes hi- place. These inenHi' i fully im])re— ed with their own impoi t.'M" ) and ble— ed with an abundant. apprecu"ii.n uf the man.y viitue.s to which alone th <y attribute their pi-e-ent lofty po-itii !i c They aio sliininc" lights, but too often fi'- v, dotnineenng and nairow. The power wl ich their inquisitcnial system ot church d 1d 1 "ipline give-: is \ery great, and it- igno a' nxereise more likely to make pne'ik - a-i' 1 hypoeiites than to dc\^lop manh - lf-res{)oct and indi\ idual conscience, dancing, musicfd in-tm-ment'. i, 'ids fof course), and all "li^ht/' or "\(,,.11y' [iloa-ures are tabooed by these i i .i' ! piimitive pastois. The childien liavei ) . r,\ - me! a few Jewsharps that found their A< . a\ to one inland were sternly confi<rattd and piospribed. The great leereations o f i ]u> people are church-going and law-mf'.-ii'. I.1 '. On Sunday they have five public --i\icfs, and on Wednesday and Fiida\ o I-- sen ice each day. There are, inaddtl.on. innumerable praj'er meetings. The S.Jib ith is mo^t ugidly observed. No woik i- done, no fire kindled, and, till latulj,n.i -moking was allowed. The lawis now -ofir iela\ed as to allow Sunday smoU'D'.' \n the house, but not outride. The litua".' ■ consists cxelusi\ely of the Bible. They .i:l lichind the Fijian^, who ha\e rl^o the ]'Ji;iim'a l J iogre.ss and Robinson Cru-f.e. T!iu ' isv making and its administration are en !!< - sources of distraction. TJic Tiuinv m OI.H.T.'A) are elected by the head? (> f i on'-ehold-. They are judges and policei j t ..s well as legislators ; a ice and crime..'*, equally within their jurisdiction. Xothit.g js left to individual conscience, and tin v' a>e none of the distinction?; between •> ' '. and crime which public polity has die; >i^d in other countries. But I fear that their s-\,vtem of repressing vice by Ir* li-'idens the offender, destroys all ii'dmdual delicacy and sense of phawe. aid is far less effective than a heal* I " >> iblie opinion would be. Women put li^o Ih»j public .stocks, or ]3ublicly drummed thiough the town with a crier .shout in,j out their ofTence, for the edification of th'j gaping crowd, are not likely to liaMj mu< h -shame or modesty left. Nor can th( Lone of the jieople bo raised by the fepectacl" The'-e islands having no anchorage, landing is only possible at most of them oji Iho icef. It requires a skilful ci'ew to put i I"' I'oaX through the breakers, and more r-,1 L 'l to get her off again. Hence the men-of-\..r or missionary vessels which occasion, 11 y touch at them spend only a few hoin - it each. If it Avere otherwise, they wr,u id see the working of this wretched .system, ,"ud, I doubt not, soon bring about a change.

INTOXICANTS ST3ICTLY PROHIBITED. One fM,od Lhin^ they do - they allow no winc.^ 01 pints to he sold and none to be landed ( .ropl, it he for Emopenns, who arc Stveiv 1;> li .od if they give or sell to natives. Among a people uho.se amusements and refeourcc > a c so few, the introduction of liquor \\>;ald ho fatal. With their primitive habits ;»ii'l life, its absolute exclusion is easy and doe.-? not lc&sen their comfoit. I rememl , i Rii W. Fox denouncing in the A&sortihl the wretched character of the public Ileuses in borne [)avt,s of the Wellington country. He was particularly severe on one landlady whose breath " .smell aboinin..! ly of gin." I think it was Dr. \Vallib v, ho afterwards referred to the interesting speech of the honorable member, but the thing that puzzled him was his, how had he found out thai tho lady's

breath was of so abominable an odour? There need have boen no doubt about it" in the case of a Lagoon Island Turimaiu He thinks it only pavt of his duty, if he euspects man or woman of having taken spirits, to put his face to the culprit's mouth and order him to " blow." lam afraid the New Zealand people are not yet prepared to give such power to their Turimon.

VISIT TO A TURI-HOU3E. I paid a visit to a Turi-house at one of the Islands. A fine large building about 90ft long and 25ft broad, lighted with a few cocoanut shells of oil, each having a lamp wick in it. A number of the elders of the Turimen were present, and 1 was introduced as a fellow Turiman from New Zealand. They were very kind, and while I sat with them there entered one with a tremendous oilicial strut. He had been with the rounds beating the drum which is their curfew, and came to report all well and the people at homo and quiet. This was about oight o'clock. Anyone out after that hour is lined. They havo no prison, but, if they ufch to secure a prisoner, put him in stocks or padlock his ankles to a post in the Turi-house till his trial. I ought rather to say till he hears his sentence, for one of their peculiarities is that no ono is heaid in his defence. Unhappy is the wretch thus taken up on Saturday, for in the stocks he must remain, an object of amusement to all and with great discomfort to himself, till his ca=e can be taken on Monday. Another curious feature with these Turimen is that they divide all the lines among themselves. No doubt this quickens their zeal greatly — too much so, occasionally. The system is altogether extraordinary, and none but people naturally so docile and amiable as these " savages " could stand it.

A SHIPWRECKED CRSW. At Manahild we found the captain and seven of tho crew of the Swedish bark IHau.ij from British Colombia to Sydney, and wrecked at Starbuek Island on the 12th August. They waited two months and would probably have waited many months longer, as Stavbuck is a desolate, barren place, luckily with some brackish water, but never good for anything but guano and abandoned long since for that. They saved bub two boats and could only carry eight men, so had to draw lots for the four who should be left behind. Their intention was tomakeforMaldon lsland, where the "guano is being worked, but they could nob letch it and had to go with the wind. | After twelvedaysatsea,and for the last three days no water, they biouyht up at Manahiki, ju^fc nix days befoie wo arrived, and having sailed GoO mile-. Our long pas-age was therefore a good thing for the unfortunates they had left behind them. Our captain promised to call and take them oil' if lie could. He succeeded m doing so, bufc it took two d<\ys, simple as picking them up might appear. The first (lay we sighted the island and got opposite the wreck at 3 p in,, but could not lind a Handing place, and the men ha\ing no boat* 1 , could not communicate with us. So sunset came, and to our great icgtec, though v-'o saw them running about on •»hore, we could do nothing for the men, and had to bear aw ay from tho land. At night we stood off and on, and nevfc day tho stiong current had cairied us out of sight of the island. We succeeded in making the leeside at 2 p.m. next day, and got a boat ashore about four miles fiom where the men werehving. Now, four milesalongsharpcoral roelcs and deep sand are very different to tour miles of the road to Ouehunga. It was necessary the men in the boat should go the-e four miles, and the men ashore came back ■with them before daik. The boat brought them oft", but not till after dark, and after gieat anxiety on our part as to the boat and its crew, as well as theslupwreckedm.cn. The latter had to leave the few things they saved fiom the wreck in order to get to tho boat before dark, by which they were overtaken after all, and we were glad enough to hear tho boat's " cooey " close to us about eight o'clock at night. One of the men was the ship's carpenter, and he had to leave his tool chest — a great loss, but there was no help for it. We shall probably iind no proper place to land these men on the aoj age, and shall have to carry them all the round to Auckland. If there is a Swedis.li Consul in Auckland, he should represent to his Government the conduct of our captain, "Peter Theet," in so per^everingly sticking to the island to save these men. If there is not, our own Government ought to do so. I know it cost him two nights' sleep, and a great deal of anxiety, hanging about this dangerous inland, which is nothing but a big reef, ■with a Aery powerful westerly current settling dead on to it. The men tell us that the best landing-place is on the windward side, opposite a beacon put up by the old Guano Company, who have apparently widened by dynamite a small natural opening in the reef, ending in a little sandy beach. You should see that Lhi^ goes into "Brett's Pacific Directory," for the benefit of future visitors at Starhuck, if visits should unhappily be lieccvaiy.

AQUATIC SKILL OF THE KANAKAS. Speaking about the landing at these Islands reminds me of the wonderful skill of the kanakas in the management of their boats, with which they are now well sup plied instead of canoes. The resident traders are often sailors, and have taught them boat-building, in "« hich they are very proficient. They swim like ducks, are splendid divers, and are as much at home in the water as out of it. They have no fear of sharks, and I have seen enough to satisfy me that the stories of their surrounding ?nd driving a shoal of porpoises ashore to capture them arc quite ci edible. In landing at Penrhyn we had to leave the Buster some distance in the open sea and make for the passage through the reef, which was too shallow for her. As our people were pulling wo hailed a Kanaka sailing boat ahead for a tow, which thpy readily gave. But the breeze was fresh and we could not get up to them, whereupon one of their crew at once jumped over and hung on to the bow of their boat in the open sea in order to deaden ics way till we could overtake them. So, also, in landing on the reef. They wait a favourable moment, rush the boat in on top of a breaker, are overboard the instant the boat touches, and have it high on the rocks before the receding wave can take it out again. They are splendid boatmen, and no ship visiting these islands with a crew unused to the work could get on without them, or could attempt a landing through the sea that breaks upon these ocean reefs.

SUWARROW ISLAND. Wo called also at Suuwrow. It is a splendid lagoon with a fine passage fit for steamers of any size and at any time, and lies right on the road from Panama to Auckland. French men-of-war from Tahiti often call there, and know it well, but our own men-of-war never have occa&ion to visit it. No one has, so far as lam aware, ever mentioned it in New Zealand in connection with the Panama service. And yet its advantages over Eapa are obvious. There is nothing but the clear ocean, and there are none of the reuf.s and low islands that lio between Panama and Rapa. It is also far more directly on the road. Suwarrow seems to me very important, making us entirely independent of the French, and saving the necesoity of any bax'gain with

them for Rapa in return for the New Hebrides, or for any of the other toncessams on our part which, have been sug^fjsted. , One thing lms surprised me uid upset all , my notions about the tropics, derived from j a considerable experience in th«- Atlantic and in Fiji. The climate of tihese Line islands in the Pacific is altogether different, being remarkable for dryness mastead of rain. At Suwarrow and Christmas the air (out of the sun) was dry, cool, and!delightful. There must bo a great cold ocean current near them to cause this: pleasant change. I snail write again if 1 have a chance, but am afraid this is tho last opportunity. A telegram of a few lines from Auckland would 1)6 worth its weight in gold. We often growl at telegrams as a nuisance and long to get out of their way, but I should bo glad enough to get within reach of an oflicc, if only for half-an-hour, after being for nearly three months so completely isolated, and with the prospect of throe months more before us. These next three months will carry us westwards into newsceneSjtmd acquaint us with a now life. We shall visit some five-and-twenty islands yet. Some few are high volcanic islands, but tho great majority will bo coral lagoons. In some, the inhabitants will be only a repetition of those I have referred to in this letter. In others we shall sec peoplo in all stages, some on tho road towards artificial llowers and highheeled boots, others still hoathon and like Hans Breitman's Water Nymph "mid nodingson." Six months is a long time to be out of the woild in this way, but it has to be done,and thoro is no use growling about it,