Mop From Suwarrow

[R. D. C. BROWN, well-known pearlshell trader and ship owner of Rarotonga, reported an interesting development in the valuable liar-earning MOP trade of the Cook Is. when he went to Auckland December.

Mr. Brown has been trying to obtain permission to fish the Suwarrow lagoon for MOP and lately received a permit to survey the shell situation there and lift up to five tons on an experimental basis. He now plans to :e divers and a suit from Manihiki er the present hurricane season.

It is believed that there is conerable black-lip shell there, though doubt infested with worm. Experience has shown, however, that, once a lagoon is worked for a time, the wormy shell is cleared and the quality improves.

Suwarrow has a reputation for being unworkable due to sharks, though why this should be so when Penrhyn, a similar open lagoon, can be worked without trouble, it is not easy to see. Mr. Brown says that if the sharks prove troublesome, he means to try shark repellents as developed by the armed forces for rubber-dingy use during the late war.

Although A. B. Donald & Co. hed some shell from Suwarrow