| Show written tor for this paper TRAVELS j latter NO L saturday february irth esth 1896 elder frank cutler and 1 I intent upon a missionary and historical tour to the islan island dF boarded the fine schooner Tea henry mervin supercargo at ii a m and at 12 noon we set sail and left the papered wharf island of the wind being contrary and a very little of it at that it took us two hours to get out of the harbor having to tack a number of times the american mail vessel tropic bird had most of her sails set as we passed her ready to go to sea but could not get out against the wind the island of tahiti and also the neighboring island moorea with their grand lofty mountains look grand and imposing from the sea having cleared the reef at 2 p rn we soon struck the trade wind which filled our sails nicely and enabled us to take a northeasterly course there was quite a heavy swell on the ocean which caused everybody on board who were not sailors to reel and stagger and contrary to my fond expectations I 1 got seasick and fed the fishes several times limes during my first night on the Tea in fact elder cutler and I 1 spent a miser miserable night lying on the cabin deck and trying in vain to sleep it was too warm and sickly in the cabin below sunday february letb we had kept a northeast northeasterly erIX course all night and at io 10 a m we sighted the island of maratea straight ahead failing to make the windward side we passed its extreme northwest point within adis a distance of yards at 2 p rn which gave us an excellent opportunity of studying the formation and vegetation of the island maratea is an uplifted coral island situated in latitude 15 52 south longitude 20 west of Greenw ichor about miles northeast of tahiti it is about five miles long by lour four wide and produces copra beans sweet potatoes etc which latter products the natives have commenced to import to other islands maratea Ma katea unlike all the other islands is elevated in the centre its highest point being feet above sea level and is covered with a brusk called the only village on the island is situated on the northeast coast the inhabitants numbering about are now nearly all josephites the island has recently been visited by elders eugene M cannon and alonzo F smith but with what success I 1 do not know a ak present the west coast of maratea was very interesting to look jook at as we sailed by its nearly perpendicular walls rise to a height of about one hundred feet perhaps more and they abound with caves and ancl numerous strange formations the work of corals corald and the actions of water during the past centuries after adiar leaving Ma makaila Maka katea iea we continued our voyage in the direction of Ragi roa monday february lath the early morning hour found us beating oft fl the south coast of Ragi roa which is is the largest of all the islands extending as it does from northwest to southeast about forty two miles and is twenty miles wide on an average its centre is is situated in latitude 15 9 south and longitude 1470 40 west of greenwich this island like most of its sister islands consists merely of a coral reef which here and there is covered with trees some of these patches are several miles long and from a few yards to half a mile or more in width but others contain only a few acres some of them as seen from a distance P puts its one in mind of a huge bouquet of flowers flowe rs the lagoon inside the reef abound with pearl shells for which the natives dive whenever the lagoon is open tot that purpose cocoa nut trees are plentiful on this island and the export of cobra amounts to something like tens a year Ragi roa which translated means long heaven was one of the islands ot the group where elder benjamin F grouard and other elders at an early day preached the gospel with success and branch organizations were kept up till about the josephites interfered and caused the natives to identify themselves with their organization during the day benira the hawaiian captain of the Tea related the following incident in his bis life some time in 1882 he sailed from bound for tahiti as master of the schooner abura having twelve souls on board including himself all natives there were eight men three women and one child the schooner was a vessel of seventeen tons register after after fter proceeding about miles from the port of embarkation a terrific whirlwind truck struck the vessel and capsized her spilling bp illing most of the passengers in the ocean the captain not being on duty on time but asleep in the cabin was not aware of what had happened till he felt his feet and soon his whole body in the water hamade he made a spring jor for the cabin door and soon found himself together with nine others sitting on the keel of the vessel vesel which by this time had turned completely upside down but two of the women were missing one of whom was the captains own wife though they were supposed to be drowned already teuila who like most natives of the pacific islands is a good diver and swimmer dove under the vessel and tried to force his way into the cabin but as one or more heavy boxes hadi rolled against the door from the inside he was at first unable to effect an entrance but succeeded after diving several times in pushing the door open when he found the two women standing in water to the th neck eneck being just able to breathe bidding one of them to follow him at a time by diving for the door he succeeded in pulling them out from the interior of the vessel and them helped them to a bostion on the keel thus all hands were saved so far but how to proceed next was a question of vital importance most of the others seemed to have lost their presence of mind and could think of no means of escape from the doomed vessel but the captain unaided by the set to work to unfasten the little boat which was secured to the deck or rigging of the vessel deep under the water this he did by diving down repeatedly and under the water as long as possible ble wor working king at the ropes at length his toil was rewarded and to the great joy of all the little craft scarcely ten feet long was floating on top of the water to bail it out was an easy task but after eight persons had got into it it commenced to sink thus showing that it was altogether inadequate to carry away any more than half of the chis wrecked people and even that number would by no means be safe in case of stormy weather and a rough sea something else must yet be done in or berto der to save all though considerably exhausted from his previous diving the captain renewed his labors under water and succeeded succeed td after going down many times in un fastening the booms of the ship and bringing them together with some of the sails ails to the service all hands now went to work assisting the in constructing a sort of a craft by tying the two booms together with three ropes in in such a way that the bolt boat mccu occupied aed a central position between them being lashed to the timber and thus prevented from sinking secured in this manner ill all the people after deciding to make their way to tahiti if possible left the capsized vessel at 6 on a friday evening the cap sizing having occurred in the morning A womans comans shawl fastened to a short stick or paddle which was raised from the raft served the purpose of a sail the canvass taken from the schooner having been used to wrap around the boat being exposed to the mercy ot of wind and waves the unique rafter was kept heading in the direction of tahiti for three days but as the wind was contrary that island was about as far off at the end of that time as when they started out the wind blowing in the direction ot of it was now decided to change course prid and head for that island and alter after suffering terribly from want ot of food and water a single box of oranges being the only eatables secured from the schooner was finally reached on the saturday just eight days from the time of the shipwrecking shipwreck ship wrecking mg As the raft was thrown violently against the reel reef all the peo people ale were cast into the seas sea but they had strength enough left to swim to shore and thus they were all saved rhe phe people ot of treated the unfortunate navigators with great kindness and after recuperating for several days they were taken back on another vessel to their own island As an appreciation ot of bravery and true merit captain teuila was subsequently awarded a gold medal by the french frenc government of which he appears to be justly proud tuesday february irth early in the morning the island of was seen straight ahead and we were making good speed towards it when the wind suddenly died out and left us drifting helplessly at sea about noon however a breeze sprang up which enabled us t to reach that particular motu or part ol of which is known as raitahiti Rai tahiti where some of the people are located temporarily to gather and dry cocoanuts cocoa nuts for the markets at 2 p in the ship boat was launched and elder cutler and I 1 landed together with a part of the crew who were going to work with the cobra the passage over the reel reef at this point is a dangerous one and several accidents have happened of late both to men and boats but the weather being good we got safely in on landing we met a number of natives r h who greeted us warmly and invited us into one ot of their huts where we were given cocoanut coco anut milk to drink we then engaged in long conversations with some of the leading men present among whom were who presides preside S over the josephite organization on the island of Ka elder cutler I 1 talked along a long time to the people who J gathered to see us and they all seemed very much pleased with what they heard and when we left jett they presented us with two baskets of cocoanuts cocoa nuts and two live chickens we returned to the ship after sundown the island ol of is twenty six miles long from northwest to southeast and ten miles b road broad on an average its west point is in latitude isa son south th longitude and about V miles northeast of tahiti it has a boat V entrance neat the northwest end about tons of cobra is exported from the island per year the lagoon also abound with pearls but it is closed at present among those elder cutler and I 1 met on shore the two white traders of the island one peter peterson was a Sha leswick dane the other george richmond an american from the state ot of massachusetts no schooner or other vessel from tahiti having called for a long time the island had been short of provisions for over two months and even the traders asserted that they had been without bread for three weeks all the flour consumed here is imported from san francisco and is sold by the local traders at the rate of seven chilian dollars per pounds mr richmond has married a native wife with whom he has twelve children the other man simply lives with a native woman wednesday february the shipping of cobra was continued from yesterday and it took all day before the crew finished their labors in the evening all the men came on board and the ship stood off and on all night as she had done all day elder cutler and I 1 remaining on board spent the day reading and writing the day was exceedingly hot and nd life on the Tea that day was in in cons consequence e quence anything but pleasant about fourteen tons of cobra was taken on board cobra has only been known in the pacific ocean during the last twenty years it was first introduced by effrof and company the well known hamburg house who laid the foundation ot of the german interests in the south seas the introduction of cobra changed the face of the oil trade and gave a new value to the low atolls or lagoon islands which are the cocoa nuts natural home the kernel ot of the nut is dried and sent to hamburg or other european ports where the oil is extracted and the refuse sent as oil cake to england the cocoa palm loves the sea air and the salt spray and on these low atolls it gets both the absence of grass or other competing growths makes the cost of cultivation small the cost of gathering the harvest is also easy the fruit which ripens on the tree is collected and husked when it falls and the kernel after being dried in the sun is cut up and loaded in bulk in the ships hold the natives are very skillful in the preparation of cobra and they seem to like the work connected with it thursday february we me awoke early enough to behold the beautiful sunrise at which time we were only half a mile off daniu the only village of any importance on the island of Ka at 6 a in elder cutler and my sell landed with lie ships boat which brought goods on shore the boat landing here is quite sale safe and consists of a break in the reef through which a small vessel can approach the dry sandy beach within one hundred feet or so As soon as we landed the inhabitants of the village flocked around to shake hands and bid us welcome and we were at once conducted through the main main portion of the village to the house of teura the native trader whom we had met before on the neighboring motu the principal men of the island soon gathered or rather followed us there and we now spent about an hour in livel lively conversation telling them something bout about church history and showing them views specimens of rocks from some of our temples etc which seemed to interest them very much when we were ready to leave some of them made us presents of shells and said they were much pleased with our visit I 1 the village of banau occupies nearly the entire surface ot of the motu known knowd by that name which is about half a mile long by a quarter of a mile wide and is covered with young thrifty cocoanut coco anut trees these have all been planted since the cyclone in 1878 when the entire island was bereft ol of its fine growth of trees and brush of every kind also the whole village was destroyed only one house being left standing and the ruined condition of that one was point ed out to us as we passed the most imposing structure of the village is ii the catholic church a stone building surmounted with a little spire which pre sen Is a fine appearance sea the meeting house which the josephites are using is a plain lumber structure with board shutters instead ot of windows this also was built after the cyclone mostly from the material which hwa had been in the former one that was blown down by the storm the main thoroughfare of the village is lined on both sides with cocoanut coco anut trees and the houses many ot of which are built in european style lie scattered somewhat irregular on both sides of the alley before the cyclone the island contained over zoo inhabitants now it has scarcely much above half of that number according accor diug to the best information we could obtain as one hundred persons perished during the storm this catastrophe need not noti have happened but when the natives saw their island almost inundated undated iq by br ocean water which the terrific wind over it and their cocoa nut trees pulled up by the roots or break square squam over in other instances some oi of them seemed to lose their presence of mind and ordinary judgment as they took to their boats and pushed oft on on to the lagoon but ot of course no boat could live upon the water in such weather and the consequence was that all those who embarked were drowned while all who remained on land escaped with their lives though they lost nearly all their property no other island of the groups group suffered in in that storm to such an extent as Kau kuraas the centre or the heaviest part of the cyclone seemed to strike it with all its force among the natives with whom we e conversed at was an old man by the name of Teho pea who claimed to have met the late elder benjamin grouard on the island ot of about the ithe year 1852 or jut jupt before that elder returned to america he also said that there was a continuous branch ot of church |
