THE SOLOMONS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 28 August 1942, Page 4

THE SOLOMONS

CONDITIONS UNFAVOURABLE FOR EUROPEANS PREVALENCE OF MALARIA. GREAT VOLCANIC ACTIVITY. United States forces engaged in the Solomons will find the climate almost as great an enemy as the Japanese, for intense humidity and heat and the prevalence of malaria make conditions most unfavourable for Europeans. Tuberculosis and pneumonia take heavy toll, and dysentery is endemic. Yaws and hookworm are common among the natives; leprosy less so; and there have been violent epidemics of measles and poliomyelitis. Sea level temperatures range between 92 by day and 73 by night. The average annual rainfall at Tulagi is 164 in. and in many other places is much greater. It is accepted that all Europeans arriving in the Solomons must experience at least one attack of malaria. Mosquitoes are abundant. ANIMALS AND REPTILES. In the mountains of Guadalcanal’, wild dogs hunt in packs and have killed men. On the same island are two species of bush rats, as large as rabbits. Bats abound, and there are multitudes of many kinds of birds. Carnivorous crocodiles frequent the sea coasts and mangrove swamps. Monitor lizards reach a length of 4ft., and there are many smaller lizards and geckos. Snakes abound, some being venomous, but cases of snake-bite are almost unknown. The Solomons form a region of great volcanic activity, one of the craters of Bougainville having erupted in recent times. Earthquakes are frequent and. in some of the north-westerly islands, violent. ISLAND OF SAN CRISTOVAL. San Cristoval, at the south-east extremity of the Solomon Islands, would probably be the first territory to be occupied by the United States forces, since the Japanese have been strongly established in the north-western extremity, cn the island of Bougainville,, for seven months, and have Rabaul, further west again, as a major base. San Cristoval, also called Makira, is 70 miles in length, lying north-west and south-east, thickens out’somewhat toward the south, and has a maximum elevation of 4100 ft. The north coast, with the exception of a precipitous portion between Cape Keiback and Flat Rock, is skirted by a margin of low-lying land of varying breadth. The south coast mainly rises precipitously from the sea, the anchorages there being workable only under favourable conditions, and settlement has naturally favoured, the north coast. EXCELLENT HARBOUR. Less mountainous than Guadalcanal - , the- general character of the interior of San Cristoval is a parallel series of long level-topped and gently-rounded ridges, separated by deep valleys, and running the length of- the island. Lofty spurs descend with a gentle slope and even profile to the north coast, where they protrude as bold headlands that often retain an elevation.of 800 ft or 1000 ft. The bulk of the island is formed of very ancient and muchall ered volcanic rocks, the seaward slopes of which are flanked by recent > calcareous or coral reef formations. At the eastern extremity of San Cristoval is an excellent all-weather I anchorage, Star Harbour.