Calling Sir Edward...

I Captain John Taylor said the cyclone which the Soochow en countered 100 miles from Brisbane on the run to Sydney from Port Moresby, early in July, was the worst he had encountered in his 35 years at sea. The 25 passengers were bruised and furniture was

smashed in the 56 hours that the ship was buffeted by constant winds of 45-50 miles an hour, with gusts up to 65 miles an hour. Captain Taylor said he could not take a sextant shot for four days. Soochow arrived in Sydney a day late on July 14. .

These are the wonder African fish Tilapia mossambica about which people who have the welfare of underprivileged nations at heart become lyrical. Ap parently it is only necessary to toss a few pairs of these fish into ponds for them to multiply out of all reason within a matter of months.

In Siam, 400 of these fish multiplied to 134,700 in a year when placed in a half-acre pond. They will provide a cheap source of protein, it is hoped.

About 50 of them, 2 inches long, were in a fish pond at Sigatoka, Fiji, some time ago. In two months they had increased to seven inches long and had

begun to reproduce. These fish were said to be there for the benefit of some pigs which were installed in pens near the pond apparently pig pens near ponds cause algae to grow on the ponds, Tilapia like algae and the pigs like tilapia. How ever, there are a lot of people in the world who would just as soon take their protein straight from the tilapia, rather than via the pigs. Tilapia would probably be a welcome addition to the diet of inland New Guinea natives. Sir Edward Hallstrom and others have introduced trout to Highland streams with a view to providing edible fish in the future.

Tilapia may prove a sounder proposition. —Fiji Public Relations Office Photo.