CHATHAM ISLANDS.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXX, Issue 8559, 19 October 1907, Page 3

CHATHAM ISLANDS.

(From Our Own Correspondent.) TE ONE, September 28. There is a terrible dearth of news this time. Nothing has happened worth writing about, and one does not know whether that is a matter for congratulation or otherwise. Winter is quiet anywhere; you can imagine what it muse be. in a place like this. We look to the Steamer next week to liven things up a bit. There was a shooting match x on the 21st September at the rifle range, a handicap sweepstake with money added by the Club. The distances were 400, 500 and 600 yards. It was a cold bleak day, with a strong jteou-'wester right across the range. This made the scores low, and the winner, P. Lanauze, made only a few over half the points possible. There was a good muster and a little excitement at times. It is proposed, I believe, to register the Club with the Defence Department, in the hope of getting ammunition, etc., at a cheaper rate. It is altogether too dear at present.

The Maoris here are at present getting together their annual supply of fish, game, etc., that they send to Te Wbiti. They are nearly all followers of his, and send him the best of everything they can get together. He sends along his thanks sometimes, but seldom anything more tangible than that. It is strange what a wonderful faith they have in him. They obey his every wish, and as his policy is to keep back tKe pakeha at every possible point, so do they look upon the Europeans as interlopers to a certain extent. They would be glad to have the Islands entirely to themselves. One wonders what sort' of a place it would be then. Certain it is that a great many of the leases of runs here, that are at present Held by white men, will fall in in a few years time, and in nearly every case the native owners refuse to re-let. ' They say they want to farm She land • themselves. There are at present few whites compared with the number here some time ago. There will be less again when the leases do fall in. The swans on the big lake are laying as plentifully as ever this year. The birds themselves ara plump, and very good eating. Hundreds of them I are killed every year, and at any ./'tima of the year, for they are not they would soon overrun the whole Island, so the killing of them is good in more ways than one. The eggs are vexy large, and about equal to six or seven hens' eggs. One is rather too much for your breakfas;, though the flavour is and quite equal to the fowl's egg. Some of the native children attending Te One " School-that is, those who come som? distance bring a hard-boiled swan's egg for their lunch. Compact, convenient, and satisfying. What, more could any one desire? When, collecting a cargo on the lake, there is always a certain percentage ot the eggs rather advanced in age. What a chance at election time!. But there is no election here. All sorts of reports are current here about the chance of these islands being made a depot for the fish supply of New Zealand. These ideas arise from the visit of the "Nora Niven" two months ago. So credibly informed do some people appear to b3 that the actual fishing stations on the island are named, the numbor of fishermen to be stationed here stated, and the steamers to run backwards and forwards with their spsed, times of visits, etc.. all fixed. Where the information comes from one would like very much to know. Perhaps the wish is father to the thought, as usual. It would be a ' great thing for everybody here if a trade of that sort were established. It is doubtful if there is a better fishing ground to be found, but the ' 500 miles that separate: us from the main.land are a difficult matter .to overcome. Still, other -countries send farther than that, and maybe New Zealand will do so, but I arii afraid not yet awhile. Some day it will be an accomplished "fact, no doubt.

The winter so far hns been a rather worse one than last year. Plenty of rain and wind, mostly from the southward. The sou'-wester is a particularly nasty customer. It blows Tor days, even weeks sometimes, without a lull hardly, and on occasions it brings along squalls of hail that batter and blight all the young plants and flowers in the gardens. Hail is much more plentiful here than in New Zealand, and the squalls are first "cotfsins to a blizzard. After a day or so of such hail showers, one would think, to look at a garden, that a severe frost had passed over it. All the leaves are turned perfectly black, and in many cases knocked off the plants. The stones are of the average size, but they are.thrown with great force by the furious gusts of wind that accompany the squall, in five minutes the sun shines again, but the wind is still keen and makes one think that icebergs cannot be very far south of us. They are sometimes seen off the coast. It may not be generally known, but this Inland boasts a shag of its own. So does Pitt Island, not far off, and the two birds are quite distinct. When talking of shags, people are apt to look upon them as dirty ugly wolves or hyenas of the bird creation. And that is generally the case, particularly the common shag that haunts the rivers of New Zealand, and is to'be found here in hundreds. • But the two shags that belong to these .islands are not by any means ugly, and at certain seasons of. the year, when most of them have two' crests on their heads, they are decidedly beautiful. They are, not very numerous and a good skin is worth getting, if only to add to your • collection. They are to be found on small islets in the Whanga Lagoon, where they are nesting now. They are generally fat and sleek looking, owing, I expect, to the abundance of eels "to be got. There is no fee for killing them" so they are generally left alone. If there were any trout here, perhaps things would be different. It is quiet on this main island, goodness knows, but the case of Pitt _,' Island must be even duller. The mail certainly goes there every two months as it does here, but then "there are no weekly trips during the , summer months, and the population , is very small, only two or three families living there. However, I believe it is a fine island, though j small, and there U more solid land there than here. No bogs or mor- J

asses or whatever you like to call them, where, if you stop and jump two or three times the whole surface for chains round you undulates, in the same manner as water does when you throw a stone in it. The Hunts are practically the owners of the island. There are one or two boat harbours, notably Glory Bay, where shoep and wool are taken to the steamer.lying off. The only church on the island is at Te One. It is called St. Augustine's, and the Rev. J. De B. Galwey, of Belfast, Christchureh, has charge of it. He comes down for a few weeks every year, and officiates at baptisms and marriages. Those wanting to get married heed not wait, however, till he as our worthy Magistrate, Dr ( . Gjbspn> can tie them equally as tight in the eyes of the law. The little church will hold about 40 people and the average congregation is more than half that. There is no choir, but there are several singers amongst the people, and the organ is played by Mr Guest, the Headmaster of the school. There is a flourishing Sunday School also, carried on by the same gentleman, with Miss Lanauze as his assistant. When Mr Galwey is not here, the services are conducted by lay-readers, generally Mr,. Rayner, ' who is the local postmaster, etc., and sometimes Mr Cox, J.P. Some of the congregation come long distances, and only severe weather prevents their attendance.