A.—4d

6

to forty years old, and appear to be in perfectly good condition, the only repairs necessary being the replacement of the cord (sinnet) with which the various sections of the hull are secured by lacing together. These canoes are built up in sections, as many as twenty pieces of wood being used to make the complete hull. There are no tauanave trees with trunks of sufficient length to make the hull from one complete piece of timber. The tauanave is a short, stubby tree, and the specimens seen did not exceed 1 ft. in diameter. There are a few soft woods of very little value, excepting the pukakaekae, which is used for the inner structure of Native houses where it is not affected by the rain. One islet in each atoll, is usually set aside for the growing of timber. Three types of fala were observed, the fala-ai (edible), and two others the leaves of which are used for the making of thatches and mats, but which differ in that one bears a fruit like the fala-ai of Samoa but is not edible. The reef at each island extends only a short distance from the shore and then descends steeply into very deep water, so that there are no anchorages, with the exception of an indifferent one off the north-west shore of Atafu, and vessels have to drift off the leeward side of the island and land or ship their stores and personnel in the local Native canoes or small boats. If remaining at night a lamp is placed on the shore to assist the officer on watch to maintain his ship in position. The so-called entrances through the reef on each island are bad, and great skill is required on the part of the Natives to successfully shoot their canoes through the reef, except when the sea is very calm. All the Natives in each atoll reside on one of the small coral islets on which the village is located, and which in each case is on the leeward side of the atoll—i.e., on the west or south-west. This is an advantage to vessels visiting these islands, as the prevalent trade winds from the north-east as well as the drift of the current from the east both tend to cause any vessel lying off the western shore to drift away from the reef. The size of each atoll is approximately as under : —

The largest islet is on the east coast of Nukunono —four miles long and 300 yards wide. 3. Estimated Resources. The only exportable product grown on these islands is copra. The food of the Natives consists of fish, fowl, pork, bananas, ta'amu, pandanus. Pish is fairly plentiful. Fowls, although plentiful, are used sparingly for food. About fifty pigs are kept in each village, and are therefore not sufficiently plentiful to provide meat even once a week; in fact, they are reserved for special feast days. Only two kinds of bananas are grown, and very few of these, owing to the absence of humus. In planting bananas, humus is provided as far as possible from leaves, coconut-husks, and ashes. Bananas are therefore a luxury in these islands. Taro will not grow on any of the atolls, but ta'amu (a coarser plant of the taro family) is grown in Atafu, and smaller quantities in each of the other two islands. The edible pandanus-tree fruit twice a year (May and November) : this is therefore also a luxury. The Natives have no regular meals, and families sit down together to partake of a meal only on those occasions when a plentiful supply of fish has been caught and cooked, which is very seldom. On all other occasions individuals appease their hunger by eating coconut. This food is apparently very nutritious, for the people are generally strong and healthy, and the children well nourished. The infant-death rate is very low. Babies when weaned are fed upon the juice from the apples of germinated coconuts, and the " meat " or white-jelly substance of young and immature nuts. The total amount of copra which can normally be produced for export is estimated as under :• —

During the year 1924-25 the export of copra is given as 437 tons. Export returns, however, do not necessarily correspond with production, as, owing to paucity of shipping facilities in any one year, the exports of the following year include a portion of the previous year's products. It is estimated that if more cement cisterns are installed, and the drinking-water thereby increased, the exports of copra will correspondingly increase, owing to the fact that such a large number of nuts are now used for drinking.

Mand " North'toSouth. Easfto West. Circumference. Number of Islets. Miles. Miles. Miles. Atafu .. .. .. .. 3 2| 8 19 Nukunono ...... 7 6| 24 22 Fakaofo ...... 6J 5 16 61

, 1TJ „ „ Estimated con- Available for Island. Area of Land. Estimated Crop. sumed for Food . Export . Acres. Tons. Tons. Tons. Atafu .. .. .. .. 550 90 25 65 Nukunono .. .. .. 1,350 225 15 210 Fakaofo .. .. .. 650 120 30 90 Total .. .. .. .. .. ■ • 365