Tropicalitils

AN interesting story from Mrs. A. V.

G. Price, Gresford, NSW: A few weeks ago I received a registered packet, containing my hus band’s wrist watch, lost, over two years ago, during the evacuation of the Terri tories. Mr. Downing wrote to tell me that he had received the packet at his office by mail with an unsigned note asking him to forward it to “Mrs. Dr.

Price, late of Kieta.”

Dr. Price arrived in Port Moresby, in February, 1942, with his Rolex watch as his only possession worthy of the name.

Imagine his chagrin when, acting as ship’s surgeon on an evacuee ship coming over from Moresby, he left the watch in one of the bathrooms —and returned for it in two minutes, to find it gone!

I have returned the watch to him at the 128th AGH, New Guinea, and there is great rejoicing. The watch is in good order, and still keeps perfect time. • IN a recent address to the Fiji Society of Science and Industry, Mr. G. K.

Roth, the president, said: “Many old Fijian customs now linger on only in an incomplete and half-forgotten form but custom nevertheless still plays a very big part in Fijian life!

“From October, 1936, to March, 1938, no cricket was played on the island of Bau. This was an expression of respect for the memory of Ratu Popi Epeli Cako bau, Vunivalu of Bau, who is his youth had been a fine cricketer and who died in October, 1936. When, 18 months later, the people of Bau decided to resume cricket, the chiefs thought it proper that before they did so the ceremony known as ai madrali—i.e., offerings or thanks givings to the Kalou—should be per formed. The cricket gear was accordingly brought out, a full kava ceremony was performed, and this was followed by a short feast.

“Then the stumps were set up and cricket practice resumed.” * rOM Lewis Lett’s latest book, “Papuan Gold”: “ . . . Armit, when he made his eventful patrol to the Yodda field, reached the isolated camp of a miner at the end of a long day’s march.

He found the miner asleep, lying on his back on his bush stretcher, with one foot in a stew-pan of soup that stood on the floor.

“He waked at Armit’s entry and stood up—still with one foot in the soup. ‘You’ll be staying for supper, won’t you?’ he asked, removing the wet foot and scrap ing the soup from it back into the pan. ‘l’ve got some fine soup, and that’s a thing you don’t often get on the Yodda.’

“Armit apologised and explained that he could never eat soup, as it gave him indigestion. His host was plainly dis appointed. ‘Can’t you eat chicken?’ he asked, suddenly.

“Chicken on the Yodda was a rarer luxury even than soup, and Armit accepted the offer. The miner bawled for his cook-boy, and gave him directions, going outside to him where the words could not be heard. And an hour later Armit was presented with a billy of white stewed flesh that he ate with enjoyment.

“ ‘What’s it like?’ his host asked, as he swallowed it hungrily.

“ ‘First class,’ Armit replied. ‘Tender est chicken I’ve ever tasted in New Guinea.’

“The miner grunted with satisfaction. ‘Then I’ll have some myself,’ he said. T wasn’t sure how it would go. ’Tain’t chicken; it’s frog.’”

A LIEUTENANT in the US Navy writes:— “I would like to say that your article in the January ‘PIM’ does not do full justice to Lieutenant Bruno Reymond, in that it makes no mention of the valuable service he performed in Butaritari dur ing our November landing.

“He was ‘loaned’ to us by the Austra lian Navy, to accompany our invasion force as a special member of our intelli gence staff.

“His knowledge of conditions in Makin lagoon was of great help in planning the amphibious phase of the operation; and his knowledge of the local terrain on Butaritari was of the utmost value to our troops during the battle and the ensuing ‘mopping-up’ operations.

“It was only after four or five days spent with our troops in the very van of the fighting that he was able to retire and search out his father, whom the medical officer of the Naval landing party, to which I was assigned, had pre viously located in Butaritari village.” * LEND-LEASE and Reverse Lend-lease cover pretty well every commodity used by the Allied Nations. Colonel Owen Noel, Resident Commissioner of BSI, tells how the Solomons natives are contributing their bit to the process by cutting fronds of the ivory nut palm and sewing them together into approved pat terns and sizes so that they can be used in construction work. Tremendous quan tities are needed by the American forces for temporary buildings and, as it is paid for by the Solomons Administration out of Reciprocal Aid, it can be regarded as an interesting, if somewhat humble, example of the functioning of Lend-lease in reverse. * HOW two new US aircraft-carriers have been given Pacific Islands names, is told by Harold Cooper.

“In a ceremony at the Resident Com missioner’s camp on Guadalcanal re cently,” he says, “there was presented to an American Admiral, a simple wooden plaque on which, inlaid in pearl by skilled native craftsmen, is a design represent-