The Road
pp. 82-83 · Read in the full issue
Just One For
By Daika Tau
IN the days before World War II there was an outpost of Empire situated in the islands East ot Samarai, staffed by an Assistant Resident Magistrate, and a Patrox Officer, who did the wandering around the countryside; the station was supplied by a Gov ernment vessel about every six weeks. The place was regardeo highly by the staff although supplies' did run a bit short at times.
On one occasion the trawler was. returning from a trip to anothei; place and called in to pick up the mail and to anchor overnight. As. is usual at such times, the unj expected arrival and imminent de ; parture caused a last-minute flurr:' of letter-writing and checking. oc orders, lasting into the hours oc darkness.
The Captain visited the office about 9 p.m. and found the ARIV just finishing off his mail. Thes* men were old friends and were botl keen students of Grogology whei the opportunity offered, even goinu as far as to make opportunities; And here was a golden one offering The only cloud was the fact thac
the ARM’s wife was aware of his failing and endeavoured to keep his intake of alcohol under supervision sufficiently for him to be able to proceed under his own power when heading towards the marital couch To ensure this, she had locked up his grog supply as soon as the boat was sighted. But ARM’s did not reach their position without being able to cope with obstacles, and this one had been well coped with, earlier Precautionary measures taken had been to place grog in well-dis guised containers in various unlikely places and it was to one of these hideouts that the two old friends looked for spiritual comfort.
The first one lasted until the pressure-lamp went out. By then, he ARM was unable to rise unaided,’ he Captain was talking thickly and he time when wifely suspicion was ikely to produce results was getting lose.
By the light of a dim lantern, inder the mumbled instructions of he ARM, the Captain procured a mottle from another hideout and loured himself one for the road.
The ARM had passed the stage of eing able to contain any more and ven uttered an occasional snore, he Captain, knowing that he would et no more until he reached amarai, poured himself out another rink for the trip, a real woodener, nishing the bottle.
Just then a feminine voice came
from outside, asking the ARM to come home and let that othe?brut2 ™a y . With great presence of mmd the Captain downed his drink and, staggeringly discreet, left by the back steps for his boat, getting away from the wharf at oncl g H me after dawn th e next day the two passengers on board were shown a bottle containing some murky-looking fluid and were could be Blackwater.* Neither was sure, so to be on the safe side, the Captain took to his bunk and the passengers conned the boat with all speed to Samarai, where the Captain was carried to hospital on a stretcher. He had no temperature but Blackwater was a serious thing and it was wise to take precautions.
After several days, he was dis charged and came back to take his boat over again, saying that he had caught the complaint at a suf ficiently early stage to avoid serious complications.
A trip to another station caused a delay of several weeks before he saw his old friend again. As he sailed into the small harbour, he
could see the ARM walking up and down agitatedly. Before he was able po tie his boat up, the ARM called; Captain, have you any office sup plies aboard for me?”
“Yes,” was the answer, “I have your six-monthly requisition. Are you short?”
The answer was explosive: “Short!
You have held up the whole work ot the Government in this district.
We have not been able to hold a court case legally. And it is your Jamt. The night you left you drank the last of the ink on the island.”
Mr H. T. C. Bentley, who was transferred from the Fiji Postal Service in 1947 to the position of Bead Postmaster in Nyasaland, East Africa, was recently appointed Postal Inspector - Surveyor in Southern Province, with head quarters at Blantyre. Mr. Bentley is the son of Mrs. Ella Leembruggen now of Sydney. t In January, a meeting called in Suva by the Indian Society of Fiji, to discuss the Fiji Constitution! lapsed through lack of a quorum.
* For the uninitiated—now that malaria is regarded as an “entirely preventable disease”—Blackwater is an acute disease frequently associated with persistent or neglected malaria; it has a high mortality rate (about 50 per cent.) and one of its symptoms is the passing of red or dark brown urine.