CHATHAM ISLANDS.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXIX, Issue 8312, 15 December 1906, Page 5

CHATHAM ISLANDS.

(Prom Our Own Correspondent.) TE ONE, October 28. Tbe days are now drawing out, the wentbwt is getting rapidly warmer, and the Ohathams, in common with the rest of the southern hemisphere, is putting on its mantle.of green. And nowhere is tbe change more marked than on these lonely isles. L (1 or where there is suob a superabundance of water in the shape o' lakes, lagoons, and bogs, tbe winter : with its rain and drizzle, makes things very g!oomy at times. But, with tbe udvent of spring, with finer days and warmer winds, the whole aspect of the place is changed, and one and all ; seem happier and more contented. ' And tbe fiuffliaei" season, ton, is the time or more frequent communication with tbe mainland. Early in the new year tbe Ripple runs backwards aud forwards Crom Lyttelton, only staying long enough at eaon end to load and unload Thar, means she is here ev«ry week. It will be very convenient for those wbo intend to make the trip to tbe Exhibition at Ohristourob. There are many going up to see it, and the boat stiould be full every trip. Here also is a nice ohanoe for a trip to the* islands for the New Zealnnder. There are many things here to repay the travnller for his trouble.

Tbe usual salutation among friends in most parts of the woAA is "Bow are yoa getting on?" Here IV is, "Hnw are your potatoes getting on?" At least, snob has tbs case for some time now. Everybody who is able bas an acre, or two, or more plaatei. or «iu the of planting. Given a good season, there should be full cargoes of potatoes from here by the June and August boats next year. All tbe seed potatoes available are in tbe ground at any rate. There is great jubilation among the gnhoolboys of the island. Tbe I Government have gazetted tbe "Te One Public Mehool Cadet Detachment," and have forwarded model and miniature rifles, ammunition, and other accoutrements, for their use. Nothing of the kind has ever been seen by moat of tue lads, and their initial efforts in the soldiering Hue are exceedingly creditable. They are all in earnest, and the result, as yoa may imagine, is excellent, ka most of the boys have handled rifles before, there aie great hopes that some of them will turn out good marksmen. You shall hear of their progress later on. Rumour has it—l- gi?9 it for what it is worth—that tue Governor intends to pay us a visit during his term of office. In the absenoe of volunteers or others in tbe military line, the School Cadets should be able to line up on tbe wharf when be lands, if His Excellency should come, the welcome of the settlers would be as warm as any he baa met on the mainland. Distinguished visitors are not frequent here, though tourists often take a run over t» see what the 1 islands are like. Occasionally one of the oruisera of the Australian Station pay a flying visit, and. if Jaok gets ashore he does as) he always does—gets a horse and goes for a ride. 1 think the Phoebe was the last to call, and the officers and men had a good time/

Id the beginning of November some exoitement 'was caused by the stranding of a large whale on Te One beach. It was a Southern Right, whale, over fifty feet long, terribly Knocked about. Perhaps it bad been killed ty "killer" sharks. In one of Bullen's books you mill find a granri aocount of tbe worrying to death of a whale by these jaokale of the sea. The Southern Right whale is noted for the quantity of oil and whalebone it produces. Over 200 barrels of the former and over a ton of tbe latter are sometimes got from one fish. As whalebone was recently sold in Suotland at £1,200 a ton, it is worth while taking it from the mouth of a stranded whale. In (.bis case the mouth was terribly torn, bnfc the finder got over a hundredweight of bone. Whalers ara now conspicuous by thoir absenoe from the Southern Ocean. In yaars gon3 by the Obathams were much used as a depot for whaling ships of all nations. But as tbe number of hunters increased the number of whales decreased till it became a hard job to find any about. It is many years now since a ship called, and, presumably, there are- a few more whales about after being left in peaoe to multiply. At any rate, it is a common thing to see them spouting as you are orossing from New Zealand. There is some beautiful seaweed to be got round these coasts. I have seen some very fine specimens pressed in a similar manner to that in whioh feros are pressed. Beautiful designs can bo abstracted with the various colours and texture. It is tedious woru doing it, though.

The "oldest inhabitant" has been giving us his views here, as he does in every other quarter of the globe. I This time he says there never was such a spring experienced on the Uha*;bam Islands. I believe he refers to the remarkable absence of rain, of which it is usual to get more than enough here all the year round. He' may, however, be meaning the quantity of wind, and the many quarters of the compass it seems to blow from daring the twenty-four hoars of each day. And sometimes they ar° furious zephyrs, too. When by ohanee the breezes do settle down to one particular quarter, they make things as oold and miserable as they oan, and keep it ap for days at a stretoh. Te One is a very sandy place, and the sand finds it way through every orevioe in the walls, doors and windows. These islands might certainly be called a birds' paradise when one considers the enormous number there are of them. They are of all kinds and from all oouutries. Of course, there are countless swarms of seabirds, including the albatross and the wrongly-named "mollyhawk." I have before mentioned the blaok swans, of which the numbers run well into Ave figures, and the duoks—the common wild duok of New Zealand. Then there are shags— 'Common ones and those that are found only on the Ohathams. OC course, we have the usual nuisances, sparrows, thrashea, blackbirds, Jgold-

flnobes, eto., in too great a quantity Ito bo pleasant. Tbe wild pigeon here is not tbe same as that in New Zealand, though it is very Bimilar. It looks plumper about the body aud neofe, and is noloured slightly differently. Fantails are numerous, as are woodpeckers, linnets,, starlings, pukakos, hawks, nod skylarks. Notioeabie absentees are, however, tbe morepoik, the minab, tbn heron, the bittern, the kaka, the buia, and several otheis.