Mutton-Bird Survey

A REPORT on his plan to establish an industry in the South Seas for the recovery of oil from “Puffinus Pacificus”, otherwise the Sooty Petrel (called Upoa in Tahiti, Titi in New Zea land, and Muttonbird in Australia) has been submitted to the Governor of French Oceania by Mr. John Paterson of Sydney.

It is claimed that muttonbird oil pro

vides a rich source of certain vitamins which are valuable in building up re sistance against tuberculosis.

Mr. Paterson claims that the Sooty Petrels are to be found in millions among the South Pacific Islands, especially in French Oceania, and he has asked the co-operation of the French Government in locating the rockeries and in arranging for the collection of the birds.

Mr. Paterson arrived recently in Noumea from Tahiti and, has been seeking the co-operation of the French authorities there, and the British Consul (Mr. Lee Johnson), in surveying the

Sooty Petrel rookeries on the reefs and islands around New Caledonia.