The Remote And Gracious

Fead Islands

By Roberta Rhodes

DOCTOR Jamieson, in charge of tuberculosis investigations in Papua- New Guinea returned to Rabaul from a trip to the Fead Isands in early June. He made the voyage aboard vessel Nuguria, recently purchased by the Fead Islands Estate, from the Catholic Mission.

The Feads lie 120 miles off the East Coast of New Ireland. They consist of 58 coral cays circling two huge lagoons, one of these being a perfect anchorage in the North-West Season, and the other in the South-East.

All the Islands have Polynesian-sound ing names. Homestead Island is Hagani.

To the right and left of the narrow pas sage entering the lagoon lie Pieti and Arenau. Tehenuatenuwaru is, literally, in Nugurian, The Island of the Frigate Birds.

The remotest and largest Island in the group is Nuguria, from which the indigine takes his title. The longest Island in the Northwest Group is Hinaurohi. Teheno atugutugu and Tegauhotategia are two of the smallest.

Not only do the names of their Islands indicate the Polynesian influence or or igin of these people, but their language bears a strong similarity.

Their word for woman, for example, is hine, man is tama, house is hare, road maria, knife neihi.

The physical appearance of the Nu gurian is striking. The most noticeable thing is their straight black hair, and their fine erect carriage. They are an extremely happy and simple people, and it is pitiful to see how their population figures are dwindling.

Their main food is fish, which is ex tremely plentiful. If you are a keen fisherman, visiting the Feads is Paradise.

Apart from small fish, readily caught with spears on the reef, fishing in canoes in the deep water yields an average catch of 80 large fish to the hour.

Gona gona, similar to native taro, is another native food which is plentiful and apparently nourishing. This grows in the swamps of the Islands. The native picks the plant, removes the edible root, and replants it in the water, thus being assured of a never ending supply.

ONE of their most interesting industries is rope making. Coconuts are husked and the husks put into the sea, where they remain for three to four months. They are then taken out and teased into single strands twice the thick ness of human hair, and about eight inches long. This is then spliced into long lengths of rope. The result is almost as durable as nylon.

As a tourist resort, Fead Islands begin where Waikiki leaves off. But due to their remote situation they are seldom visited.

IN 1946, young Graeme Carson, only son of the late Lewis Carson, planter of the Feads, who died at the hands of the Japs in Rabaul, came here direct from school in Melbourne. After complet ing his preparations in Rabaul, he left for the Feads in a small 20-foot craft.

This in itself was an intrepid enough feat for a young lad.

Although only a schoolboy, with only childhood memories of the Islands to guide him, and faced with difficulties which would have disheartened many an older and more experienced man,

where his father had spent so many years, to buoy him up, and a certain natural tenacity of character, stuck to the task.

It was Graeme who took Dr. Jamieson to the Feads, this time as Skipper of his own 80-ft. craft, the Nuguria. You can say that young Graeme has come a long way in the last few years. Any good luck which now attends him has come the hard way.

DUE to the smallness of the Fead Islands native population it is im perative that something be done to increase their numbers, and preserve what remains of this race of really fine natives.