Show written tor for this paper TRAVELS LETTER NO thursday january syd 1896 after t biting giving the parting hand to elders william iliam gardner john johnson and R leo bird I 1 boarded the little steamer richmond and sailed from auckland new zealand at p m bound for tahiti society islands the weather was good and the long voyage com under the most favorable cir cum stances the course taken was a northeasterly one across the haurani u and anc we passed into the ocean pro r ver per with cape colville on our right and the ahe great barrier on our left just as we vve were eating supper in the cabin an alarm was sounded on deck and think ing that a man had fallen overboard or that something serious had happened evve we all rushed on deck when it was dis covered that one of the sailors had got JE his hand entangled in the chain connected with the ship ships Is rudder the limb was badly squeezed and wounded caus f ing the blood to flow freely but no 9 bones were broken I 1 had a good to nights rest but felt somewhat lone some I 1 friday january I 1 spent my first day at sea reading the weather t b being eing fine and the sea smooth no sea sickness was experienced rv DV any one on aboard board at noon our position was 17 17 south latitude and 41 east f longitude the distance from auckland was and to tonga 1463 geobra miles I 1 also became acquainted s with the other passengers of which there were only lour four namely three k brench pearl merchants and mr eden borough who is patt pait owner of the steamer the ships crew consists of the captain robert G sutton a congenial scotchman two officers nine sailors three engineers six firemen two cooks and two stewards making twenty five men altogether adding the five E passengers we are thirty souls on board and not a woman among u us s the ship is loaded with merchandise for different islands of the cook and society groups there are also five bullocks twenty sheep two cats and two canary birds on board the rats of which there are r many were not counted the ship registers tons was built in dundee scotland about ten years ago and has the reputation of being an excellent sea wat goat saturday january the we weather continued fine and the sailing pleasant sunday january ditto monday january ditto tuesday ditto wednesday ditto but the wea f thet ther is getting warmer L chave have spent the time on board so far reading writ jr ing and conversing with passengers ships officers and the ordinary sailors cooks and all on utah the mormons cormons Mor mons true versus false religion the condition y of the world the prospects of war and scores scares ot of other subjects but as it was not customary to have preaching or f lectures given on board the richmond SI 1 I did not apply for the privilege of I 1 speaking publicly the voyage has been somewhat monotonous not a sail or messel jy easel seen of any kind since we left M auckland one of the most enjoyable features of the trip has been the watching of the beautiful sunsets sunset nearly every evening thursday january aoth last night we crossed the line known as the tropic of C capricorn capricorn apri corn a and nd thus the beautiful morning found us watching the limits of the tropics at noon we were in latitude 22 26 south longitude tao 63 west we crossed the iloth meridian several days ago but the ship still keeps new zealand time we are now 1554 miles from auckland and it is 96 miles to tonga ithe the thermometer stands at 82 F in the shade in the afternoon some of the sailors announced that they saw land ahead and at 6 p m the ous heights of tonga could be seen with the naked eye by the ordinary mortal the evening was most beautiful and almost cloudless and the bright lull moon beamed upon us and upon the broad expanse of the ocean in such perfect grandeur that words fail to express the thoughts that passed through my mind in thus gazing upon the beauties of nature the island came nearer and nearer and its rugged mountain peaks which in some instances attain a height of nearly leet feet seemed to possess a peculiar charm and attraction on this occasion for hours I 1 never tired resting my eyes upon them soon we saw a bright light on the west shore of the island next we could see and hear the breakers spend their fury upon the coral reef which encircles tonga and finally after rounding a point we cast anchor off the town ot of avarra about half a mile irom from the shore on oi ithe the north side of the island at to 10 pm p m there is a little harbor at this place protected from the ocean by a coral reef through which there is ii an opening about one hundred yards wide but the water in the harbor is only deep enough for very small vessels the richmond draws too much water to go in hence our anchorage on the outside soon after anchoring a boat manned by about a dozen natives came out when it was decided to unload the cargo which we had bad on board for this island at once A whistle which was understood on shore was blown after which a number of boats were soon plying between the ship and the wharf bringing in the goods and this work went on most ot of the night I 1 landed in one of the first boats and spent about three hours on shore where I 1 found nearly the entire population of the town both whites and natives es gathered around the post office anxious to receive the mail which the richmond had just brought and this was not to be wondered at for it was nearly two months since the previous mail had reached the island as the steamer did not make her usual trip in december last I 1 conversed with a number ot of people among whom mr fred J moss the british resi resident deni john J K hutchin Hutc bin the chief protestant missionary i in the cook islands henry nicholas a mw new zealand maori who is the editor and proprietor of a little news paper called te torea mr hubert chase a josephite missionary and others by means of these conversations I 1 obtained considerable information about the cook islands which I 1 believe are very little known know nto to the average american news pa paper er reader it was about two in the night when I 1 returned to the ship the cook islands are eight in number which lie in the pacific ocean between 1181 18 and 22 south longitude and and jai west longitude the most important the most fertile and perhaps the most beautiful island of the group is tonga which is situated in 21 S latitude and between W longitude the island is of volcanic formation with mau mountains stains rising to a height of nearly feet clothed in forest and bush of different tropical varieties the circuit of the island is about twenty five miles and a good carriage road has been made all around it A few small openings break the coral reef surrounding the island an advantage which has wave made tonga the chief resort of shipping and the centre of trade for the group the natives are good ship and boat builders one of their vessels a schooner of about too loo tons recently built entirely by the natives has already made several visits to auckland all their vessels are worked by native sailors but when they make distant voyages a european master is engaged A census of the inhabitants of tonga was taken june aoth 1895 which was the first regular census attempted in any ny one of the cook islands according to the returns of that census the inhabitants of tonga numbered 2454 souls namely 1350 males and z 1104 toa females of this number 2121 were natives of cook islands were born itt other pacific islands 19 9 in great britain 24 in america 4 tn in germany I 1 in france 2 in norway 8 in portugal rt in china and 38 mostly half casts in other countries in the matter of fruit growing especially oranges and bananas tonga can hardly be surpassed the native houses of the island are generally roomy and well built and art are mostly clustered together in villages which are all situated on the sea coast on the strip of level lands which intervened between the toot foot of the mountains and the sea shore the weekly news new paper te torea is published at tonga by henry nicholas a small four page folio printed in both english atud anda native in in parellee par p ellel columns it is hafg appreciated by the natives who akki special delight in waiting for it the editors greatest tto trouble uble bei being ing to sod space for their ef fusions the other islands belonging to the group are mon gaia lying no ito miles southeast of tonga Aitu taki about iso miles north of tonga atin and mauke lying about twenty miles apart und and from I 1 to miles northeast ot tonga and the two small hervey islands called by the natives manual and litake tying lying between Aitu Altu taki and abiu the cook islands are now a federation which has a regular government and derives a regular revenue from import duty the population is about the imports for 1894 amounted to 1 and the exports to of trie me imports 13 rai were irom and of the exports to new zealand the chief exports are coffee ot of which a very fine quality is grown 6 copra the dried cocoanut coco anut oranges and general tropical fruits and cotton coffee and oranges grow very luxuriantly and with out much care cotton owing owin K to lo 10 lotair prices has gone largely out of of cultivation though 1700 sterling worth ads shipped in 1894 owing to their thorough natural drainage the islands have a wonderfully wonder tully good and dry climate cool and agreeable for a tropical climate hurricanes are rare the wei season lasts only from december ti to the end of march and has little of tile the close humid weather that prevail in many south pacific islands the natives belong to the polynesian race and speak nearly the same language as the maoris laoris of new zealand and possess all the qualities good and bad of that most amiable of dark skinned races the rule of the chiefs among the natives has always been absolute each tribe has its ariki king or queen as the case may be who is really the leading or noble the ariki is only the first among equals the matai apos being the real rulers those holding land directly of a matai apo are called ranga tiras there are no money rents but an ariki receives certain definite services from the matai apos and through the mataia pos from the ranga tiras these services are all honorable but below the ranga tiras are the angas whose work is of a menial nature such as pig ing etc there is no armed body of any kind on the islands and crime is claimed to be almost unknown at least on tonga avery A very small body of police or rather watchmen suffices to keep order despite the perpetual petty quarrels in which the remnants of old jealousies still involve the natives some of the islands belonging to the group were introduced to the civilized world by the great navigator captain james cook who in 1777 during his third great voyage of explorations around the world the islands visited by him that year were abiu and mangala Man gaia and the two little islets which he on first discovering 0 ver ing them in 1773 called the hervey C v i stands islands after one of the lords of the a admiralty miralta el of his day the name I 1 hervey 11 has in consequence often been a applied plied to the whole group but wrongly we the cook islands is the only name by which the group is officially known captain cook never visited tonga where he might easily have landed and obtained supplies but he discover that island those at which he touched faced him with unbroken coral reefe and surfs curfs through which no boats could pass while the natives were drawn up along the shore in menacing array at that time the natives were cannibals and in constant warfare with each other generally three distinct tribes lived on od each of the larger islands and each tribe was at war with its neighbors in 2821 1821 mr john williams a london society missionary came from Rai atea one of the society islands to Aitu taki and established a mission there from that island missionary labors were extended to the other members of the group and by 1825 nearly all had embraced braced christianity as taught by the london society missionaries and men women an and d children flocked to the schools to learn reading and writing soonaoso Soon also they began to adopt european habits some of which were good and others bad among other things they made for themselves a tasteful bayle of european dress from european cloth but while they had flouris flourished bed and multiplied in numbers under bethe hethe heathenism cism and athe in the midst of war they soon commenced fenced to decrease alarmingly fast under puder the new conditions of living various causes have been assigned for whop nth the missionaries first came hi 0 population wo wa esda estimated at it thus during the seventy years which have elapsed since that time they have dwindled down to one half of that number fearful that the islands might tie lie taken possession of by the french or germans the natives sought the protection of great britain in 1885 hakea hakau the ariki vaine or queen of avarra one of the three districts of tonga visited auckland new zealand and there saw mr ballance the minister of native affairs who agreeable to the queens request represented the situation in the cook islands to the imperial i government always on hand to extend her possessions and influence great britain readily responded to the request of the native queen for imperial protection and aad on the of october 1888 the british nag flag was hoisted on the islands which were thus placed under british protectorate the natives were assured that neither their laws and customs then in force nor the governments of their anikis chiefs would in any way be interfered with this agreement has ever since been complied with in december 1890 1890 a british resident was ap appointed 0 anted in the person of mr frederick 1 J moss oss who since april 1891 when he nally finally entered upon the duties of his office has done a great work in behalf ot of the people his office is to advise the natives to see that vo no injustice is done to any one on the islands and to protect british interest in particular at the instance of mr moss delegates were sent from the various islands to tonga to frame a constitution for a contemplated tem plated federation and government of the group the delegates met june ath 1891 and remained in session till the aoth when a simple constitution was adopted leaving each island free to regulate its own affairs but creating a federal parliament to raise a custom revenue and see to mail services and other purely federal matters the appointment of a chief was one of the greatest difficulties in the way of federation but finally after much disputation des the queen hakea hakau was elected to hold the office for life under the constitution adopted tonga mangada and aitu taki send each three members to the federal parliament and abiu and mauke who for a long time had been under one local administration sent three more making twelve in all the members meet at tonga in a parliament house which was built for that purpose in 1893 the islands have in great measure aid aside their mutual jealousies and the business of the government is now carried on without much difficulty public schools lor for teaching english and the general branches ot of education are also being established and the steamer ste anier richmond on her pre present sent trip brought the first furniture for such a school which is about to be opened at tonga at present the only taxation is a federal import duty of five per cent ad va lorum the sale of stamps by the post office i ia also a source ot of revenue british coin has ben been the only legal currency since january 1895 but the chilian dollar is still used by everybody except the government originally introduced as equivalent to four shillings this dollar has fallen in value until it is now passed for two shillings this is caused by the fall of 0 the price of silver of late years the |