"THE SUNNY SOUTH SEAS. GAMBIER ARCHIPELAGO. A LITTLE-KNOWN GROUP.

Te Aroha News, Volume VII, Issue 379, 22 June 1889, Page 6

"THE SUNNY SOUTH SEAS. GAMBIER ARCHIPELAGO. A LITTLE-KNOWN GROUP.

Amongst the Island-trading vessels now in port iB a Chilian brigantine, the Nautilus^ Captain Y. Micheli, which arrived lately from Tahiti with fruib and pearl-shell. She sails next week for the South Sea Group of Mangarewa or Ganibier, to the southward of the Paumota or Low' Archipelago, in the Eastern Pacific, to trade and collect pearl-shell, etc!, for this port. Captain, Mioheli, who has been an Island trader for the last 23 years, is very well acquainted with the valuable and productive Gambier Group, where he has an agent^ established, and furnishes some interesting information about these comparatively unknown coral islands, which have been for some years past under the authority ot' " La Belle France." .

DESCRIPTION OF THE ISLANDS. The Gam bier Group, more commonly known amongst the few Island traders which visit, it as Mangarewa, its native name, has its central island in about 23.0'S south latitude, and 135. 05 west longibude. Its collective area is small, the largest island, Rikibea, being only some five miles long by three wide. The principal islandsare Kikibea, Taravai, Tearai, Akena, Akamaru, Mekiro, Kamaka, Makapu, and Makaroa, besides? which there are numberless uninhabited small atolls and islets elevated only a very few feeb above the sea level, but all clothed withamost luxuriant tropical vegetation. Theyareblessedwithagloriousclimace, and are but very seldom visited by hurricanes, being out of the ordinary track of violent storms. The larger islands are mountainous in their small way, and possess in some places lovely bits of scenery. Indeed, the tropical luxuriance of the plant life, covering every locality except the actual sites of the native villages, gives an appearance of striking beauty to the whole of the islets. Every island is of course encircled by barrier-encircling coral reefs, and the outlying patches and reefs necessitate very careful navigation in entering the lagoons.

THE NATIVES. The Mangarewa natives are a fine, handsome, light olive-coloured race of people, but are fast disappearing from the face of their beautiful islands before the advance of civilisation. Many of the young men ship as sailors on board island traders and make active and handy seamen. One or two young fellows whom Captain Micheli has on board the Nautilus are fine specimens of the native race, who in appearance, language and custom, are closely allied to the Tahjtians. The rapid decrease of the people is shown by the fact that from a population of 2,000 souls some dozen years ago they have now dwindled to about 400 in the whole group, of whom only a small proportion are women. This circumstance is partially explained by the statements that many women have left yearly with the crews of vessels for Tahiti and elsewhere, and that many more women than men have been carried off by introduced European diseases and ailments. As a consequence of this state of things, some of the men voyage to Tahiti, Paumota and elsewhere to gain spouses, whom, however, th»y do nofc take with them to their island homes. Naturally, as would be the case in more civilised communities, those few barefoot, muslin-clad Mangarewa belles, being in such great request amongst the male brown - skinned "mashers," think themselves "no small beans," and put on airs and •• dash " accordingly, which all goes to> illustrate the fact thac the female breast is the same all the wide world over. As an inevitable consequence of this inequality ot sexes in numbers, but few children are born. The population is rapidly decreasing and in a very few years the Mangarewaites as a race will most likely be extinct. Few of them live beyond the age of forty. It is sad to witness the gradual disappearance of a fine, open-hearted people like these, but it seems to be the fate of all savage and uncivilised races to vanish before the advancing Caucasian with his two inseparable accompaniments, the Bible and the rum-bottle.

A " LOTUS-EATING " RACE. The genial denizens of Mangarewa have brought the art of taking life easy to perfection amidst their cocoanut and breadfruit groves. .Like the proverbial lilies of the valley, "they toil not, neither do they spin " — and with good reason too, for thoy have no need to. Their little plantations of bananas, yams, etc., with the cocoanut and breadfruit, yield them food in plenty, varied by fish or a few typical Island razor-backed " porkers," and about the only work they do is in the pearl-diving season, when the acquisition of the valuable pearlshell yields considerable profit to the divers. The liberal remuneration tendered bhetn by the island traders is mainly laid out in expensive and gorgeous dresses for the women imported from Tahiti, of all sorts of gay fabrics, which the much-prized damsels delight in having trimmed heavily with lace, brocade, and all sores of things of fearful and wonderful mystery to the male beholder, " Give Rosalinda a stunning rig-out and hang the expense," is what the bare-legged admirers of those comely "womenkind" seem to say, and it is not surprising" to hear that the Sunday march-out to mass at Rikitea is a sight worth seeing. The pattern of the women's dresses is exactly similar to those of the Tahitian women — long-flowing light gowns unconfined at the waist. Theunsophisticated Mangarewa damsels are as yet innocent of high bonnets, stylish dress improvers, &c, amongst other plagues of civilisation, and it is satisfactory- to know that they have not up to date attempted to squeeze up their buxom waists in hideous corsets, or confine their fair-sized " daisy-pressers " in high-heeled shoes.

THE WHITE INHABITANTS. The total white population of the group is nine. They consist of fche French Resident Governor, Monsieur Barron, with his two gendarmes ; Pere Nicola and another French Roman Catholic missionary ; Captain Michelis local agent; an American trader, and a couple of other papalamji, as the natives call them (equivalent to the Maori pakeha). In addition to these there are fi ve Chinamen, whom the natives treat with lofty disdain, evidently sharing the European aversion to the übiquitous vendor of " velly good-eallots," who in those particular regions turns his Celestial abilities to the acquisition of pearl-shell and beche-de-mer. It is said that when a Mangarewa native wishes to express to a European his deep disgust at any particularly repulsive or obnoxious " creeping thing of the earth or fish of the sea," he vehemently characterises it as "all same him' dam Chinaman." [It is sorrowful to note that our own muchprized " cuss words "have even found their way into the mouths of the once guileless Gambierite.]

', FRENCH,' RULE. t The French Governor or Resident, has his residence ab Rikitea, 1 the capital, where he, has, a retinue of about 27 / employees, nearly all natives, who are, paid oub, of the Erench colonial reyenues. He has authority, over, the , group, but the duties are not .veryjiiaboriQus.V Until a few; months ago "there^ was a nominal native king, of the islands, but when , M King," Bernardo

Putairi on f January J7th* Hasfc/ leaving no descendant as successor^ the hereditary head-chieftainship became exfcincfc. This chief till the day of his death received a pension; of;. $100, a month from" the Erench Government. t , The. , two , < Frenc h, misaion ; aries have a'ddciWflock^andWthe, natives are more or less devout^Roman Catholics.

PEARL-SHELL ; DIVING. " The Ganibier Group is one of the riches* pearl-shell localities in tho Pacific, and it is for this valuable product that it is yisited by, island,' trading vessels. The shell is to be found in the lagoons of ;all the islands, and in tho vicinity of the reefs, but the finest quality of mother-of-pearl is obtained in the Taku lagoon at Rikitea, and at Akatnaru, The shell is obtained by diving, which is done by the natives, many of whom are experts at the business, which is a regular " profession" here— the only one, in fact. Out of the 400 natives, there are 145 divers, for some are better for the work than others, having" received special lessons in the art since their infancy. The usual duration of a dive is 75 seconds, although sometimes a man can remain under water a little longer. The ,_ great foe , , of the diver is the shark, which is particularly savage and ravenous in these seas. Many fatalities and accidents to divers have through a shark attacking when groping for the pearl-shell on the sea bottom or ascending to the surface, and victims have otten risen to the surface with an arm or a legtorn away and fcuccumbed to fcheir in juries. As a safeguard against the sea-tiger the divers generally keep together in clusters of five or six while engaged in their avocation, as bhe man-eater will seldom venture to attack a party of men together. The pearl-shell being of very considerable market value, the divers are well paid for their 'dangerous and exhausting task. A very large quantity of pearl-shell is annually taken away from the group by trading vessels, and also by European ships and barques, which after filling up almo3t fully at other groups with island produce, such as copra, etc., occasionally proceed to Mangarewa to fill up with so much pearl-shell as they can get, and take it direct to London, Havre, Marseilles or Lisbon. A considerable quantity of it comes to Auckland via Tahiti by the steamer Richmond and Island schooners, and is hence shipped Home. The brigantine Nautilus for a considerable time past has been the only vessel conveying the Mangarewa pearl-shell to Tahiti for shipment. This ia about the sole exported product of the group, but the value totals up to a large sum, the average value of shell exported annually being some £20,000. It fetches about £105 per ton in the European market, and often good profits are made by traders dealing in it. The last shipment from the Group was by the Nautilus to Auckland, amounting to 44 tons. The principal Mangarewa pearl-shell deposits as yet show no signs of exhaustion, and should yield a large profit for a long time to come. The natives depend upon | it for what little "base lucre" they may require, and neglect systematic cultivation, preparation of copra, or fishing for hichei de-mer.

PITCAIRN ISLAND. Pitcairn Island, famed as the spol which the mutineers of Admiral Blyth's British frigate Bounty made their home towards the end of last century, lies to the S. W. of Mangarewa, in lat. 25" South, and long. 130* West, some 350 miles away. There is often communication between the two places, and the inhabitants of Pitcairn have intermarried wibh Gambier Island women in the past. The women were celebrated for their beauty and grace in the South i Pacific, and fchia appears to be partly the reason why Mangarewa women are now so tew in number, being formerly in great demand in the neighbouring matrimonial market. The majority of the descendants o£ the old Bounty mutineers were removed to Norfolk Island in the middle of the present century, at their own request, by the British Government, but the remainder elected to remain where they were, and their little community now numbers some 127 souls, the offspring of intermarriage between the British seamen and the Tahitian and Pitcairn women. They live a very isolated but contented life, with little communication with the outside world.

THE BRIGANTINE NAUTILUS. • For the last couple of years or so the Nautilus has been about the only vessel communicating with Tahiti from Mangarevva. She is a well-known old interisland trader, having been engaged in the Pacific ever since her launch, 21 years ago, on the Californian coast. She changed her flag, and registered at Valparaiso (Chili) seven years ago, owing to the constantly recurring troubles experienced as an American vessel with the 'Frisco Customs authorities, for some reason or another. She has visited almost every port of importance on the Pacific coasts, China, Japan, Phillipines, Caroline Islands, North and South America, Honolulu, Samoa, and has made frequent visits to Auckland. Her skipper and owner, Captain Micheli, a trader in the Islands for the past tv/entythree years, has had charge of her the whole twenty-one years, during which he had some queer and eventful experiences, and it is with a feeling of some regret that he says he must leave his old vessel, for this trip of hers next week to Mangarewa and Huaheine (Society Group) will be her last voyage, and on her return here in August next she will be condemned as old and unseaworthy, and then be broken up ; thus another well-known old Island trader will have disappeared from the waters of "La Bleu Pacifique."