Suva Knew Darling,

Tahiti s Nature Man

By Bill Craig

SOMETHING has appeared in PIM recently about the Tahiti “Nature Man”, Ernest Darling, and I have noticed that little or nothing has been said about his last few months, spent in Suva in 1918.

Mailboat day in Suva was usually a most interesting event for the local inhabitants; and, when there were no counter-attractions, many of the lads of the village (par ticularly those young colonials from the Pacific Cable station who worked night shifts) wandered down to the wharf to see the passengers dis embarking. As Suva at this time was rather dull and drab, mailboat day became one of the highlights of the month; and the American passengers always provided an in finite variety of clothes, dress, accents and verbosity.

One day we were startled to see a very odd figure coming down the gangway, and there was a buzz of excited comment from the little group in which I was standing. I distinctly remember one lad in the group giving expression to his thoughts by a spontaneous ejacula tion, “Jesus Christ, Himself”! In deed, the figure might well have been a Biblical character; for here was our “Nature Man,” Ernest Darling.

With long straggling hair and beard, Darling’s slim, athletic figure was adorned with only three articles of clothing; a one-piece “romper” suit made of a dark grey material, a pair of large, comfortable sandals, and—looking most incongruous—a dark-green celluloid eyeshade.

The romper suit had short sleeves, and the short trousers appeared to have a bloomer effect, being fastened above the knees. I forget whether it buttoned up the back, but there did not appear to be a buttoned flap normally seen in a romper suit. On his back he carried a bundle—apparently clothes —at the end of a short pole. Dur ing his stay in Suva, I never saw him wear anything different.

He had little difficulty in passing through the Customs and, eventu ally, he proceeded through the township, followed by a small but eager troop of curious Fijian boys.

Darling secured lodging in the Nagangi district—between the pre sent Government Buildings and the Melbourne Hotel. Nagangi was also the centre of the Samoan settle nient, where the well-known identity Seho the washerman” lived; and here he occupied a small hut at the rear of Robinson & Ballantyne s stables (later a garage).

For the first few days, Darling’s comings and goings were always fol lowed with great interest by both Europeans and Fijians. The small Fijian boys were delighted to follow their newly-found hero as he wandered down to the markets every morning. After a week or two, he was accepted as a matter of course; and his one-piece romper and eyeshade became a familiar sight to us as he passed the Cable station, laden with bananas, coco nuts, taro or fish. . To those interested in him, Darl ing was always ready to discuss world affairs; and his arguments on the philosophy of life were really convincing, and one felt that here was a man who was at peace with the world.

Occasionally, he distributed a few pamphlets—not indiscrimin ately, but only to those who had befriended him. These pamphlets were printed in phonetic English and I remember one that was headed “THE MARRIJ RE LASHUN,” and referred to the necessity for keeping fit and well before entering the state of matri mony.

On one occasion, during a con versation I had with him, Darling suddenly turned to the grassy lawn on the side of the road and quickly turned a couple of handspring somersaults. “If you can do that when you are my age of fifty-two, you are very fit,” he said.

On returning to the Cable Quarters that evening, I tried several times to do one somer sault; but failed miserably, although I was only nineteen at the time.

There is no doubt that Darling enjoyed his sojourn in Suva, and he was always thrilled when we called on him to discuss his “system.” However, Nagangi was, to a certain extent, “out of bounds,” and he was more or less looked upon as a man who had “gone native.”

During the great influenza epidemic of 1918, poor old Darling was stricken with the complaint.

He was attended by a well-known Suva doctor, who prescribed a light diet and hospital treatment. But Darling refused to go on a diet, and insisted on his usual fare of coco nuts, bananas and fish. Unfor tunately, this proved too much for his weakened system, and he passed away. At this time, I also was laid up with the flu, and weeks later, when I missed his familiar eye-shaded figure jog-trot ting past the office I was told of his death.