Nukualofa En Fete

218 American Tourists

Nukualofa, Feb. 15.

NUKUALOFA was en fete on January 30, when the Matson liner “City of Los Angeles,” in the course of an Island cruise, called here with 218 tourists aboard.

It was a red letter day for the natives, as this is the biggest passenger ship which has yet called here. The weather conditions were ideal.

Taxis were plentiful, the Government having permitted private car owners to register as public vehicles for the day.

Unfortunately, some of the country roads were impassable owing to recent heavy rains, and the visitors were thus robbed of the opportunity of viewing some of Tonga’s most interesting and historical spots.

During the forenoon native dances, etc. were in progress in the beautifully-kept grounds of the Tonga Government Col lege, and many of the visitors spent an enjoyable morning there.

The Supreme Court building presented a busy spectacle throughout the day, being arranged as a bazaar, and a bevy of native girls, dressed in Tapa cloth, attended to the wants of souvenir hunters. It is many years since such a varied collection of native handiwork has been seen here, some of the weaving and basketwork being of a particularly fine order, and of a nature which most Euro peans looked upon as more or less of a lost art among Tongans in this advanced and mechanical age.

One much-photographed personage at the bazaar was the tame turtle from the Palace. This turtle was brought to Tonga by Captain Cook in 1772, and is thus known to be over 162 years of age.

The ship arrived at 8 a.m. from Tahiti and sailed at 4 p.m. for Noumea.