Swept To Sea

Santa Cruz Natives Lost in Fierce South-east Season

Prom a Special Correspondent

Vanikoro, Sept. 5.

11THEN Captain M. Harper, of W. R. f ▼ Carpenter and Co.’s MV “Balus”, landed eight thin, sun-peeled Ticopia natives and a canoe here this week, the story of yet another sea tragedy in these Islands came to light.

On August 30, when the “Balus” lay at anchor at Sabbin Bay, Utupua Island, sheltering from the wild south-east season weather, the natives went aboard and asked to be returned to their home on Ticopia. Captain Harper promised them passage as far as Vanikoro Island when they told him of their extraordinary experience.

It appears that three boys from Ticopia (part of the Santa Cruz Group) were out in a canoe, in sight of their people on shore, when strong seas and fierce winds drove them from view. Thereupon, two canoes—one with five boys in it and the other with three —put out to rescue them. But so boisterous were wind, tide and seas that they themselves were swept away, too.

After three days, they sighted Vanikoro, which is 120 miles to the west of Ticopia; but again the seas beat them as they tried to paddle ashore, so they decided to make for Utupua, 20 or 30 miles further west. They had only two coconuts and one coconut-shell of water to sustain them, when they left Ticopia. Two days after passing Vanikoro, they sighted Utupua and managed to shoot the reef around the island and reach the com paratively safe waters inside.

Unfortunately, a short time before making Utupua one boy was washed out of a canoe and, being very weak, sank before the others could get to him.

Crossing the reef, one of the canoes was smashed to pieces in the breakers and the other badly knocked about.

It was a minor miracle that any of the boys reached Utupua safely, when one considers the ferocity of the south east weather experienced in this part of the Solomons recently and their small, roughly-built canoes.

The three natives who were first swept away have not been heard of since and are presumed to have perished at sea.

Captain Harper learned during his voyage here that so far this season eight other Utupua boys have been lost, making a total of 11, in addition to the native who was lost overboard from the would be-rescuers’ canoe.

At the moment, the Ticopia boys are waiting here in the hope that later they will be able to get across to their home.

Isolated in the south-east of Santa Cruz Group, Ticopia is seldom visited by ships.

There are less than 1.500 natives on the little three by two miles island and they probably are the least “Europeanised” people of the Solomons. Scientists believe the Ticopians to be Polynesian in origin.

Mr. R. Wood, radio operator at Lae, New Guinea, recently married Miss Dorothy Stewart, of Sydney.