A Nostalgic Tribute

Letter to the Editor A Nostalgic Tribute to a Priest and a Period

IWAS sorry to read of the death of the Rev. Father Boudard (Pirn, Dec., P. Ill). I knew him well, and had met him when I first went to the Solomons after coming back from England and be ing discharged from the AIF (Dec., 1918).

I went to work for Captain Hamil ton, of Faisai, as supercargo on his boat, the Awa. What a boat!

She was 21 tons, a fore-and-aft schooner, and there was nothing in

the Islands that could touch her, even steamers. The skipper was one of the finest: his only fault was bending the elbow—but only when we got to Tulagi, never at sea.

Once we struck a very bad storm that blew out the fore-mast, and we had to cut the rigging away, but next morning we retrieved same.

We were at the time near Lunga Lunga harbour, and so good a sailor was our skipper that he went into the bush, cut down a tree and stepped as good a mast as any ship might have. Even in heavy blows he never reefed sail.

Part of my job was to work the engine, such as it was, but only for going in and out of port.

On one occasion the engine back fired and flames came out of the carburettor. My native assistant came running up on deck and said to me before jumping overboard, “Master, engine’s bacgarap finis.”

After 12 very pleasant months on Awa, I left and went to work on Here, Guadacanal, for Gibson Trad ing Co.

I returned to the Solomons in 1953, just to renew old acquaint ances and was offered a very good job, but I am now in my sixties and could not again stand faver, although to my mind there is no place in the whole world like the Islands.

I am, etc.,

A. Minshull.

Trinity Beach, North Cairns.