Contentd:

PEOPLE: Personal Para graphs Of Islands’ Interest 5 Experts Confounded As Copra Prices Go Crazy 17 Suva’s Hibiscus Festival Is Now a Major Event 17 An American Edition Of the Coast Watchers 18 R. W. Robson Surveys The Month’s Events In The New Guinea Tax War 19 End Of The Pacific Flying- Boat Era Is Near 21 International Airport At Papeete Takes Shape ... 21 No Fiji Sugar Strike This Season: Talks Take Place 22 The P-NG Budget: Aus tralia’s Gift Is Now £7B Million 22 West Samoa Elects Its First Prime Minister 23

Commentary: The Pub

lisher And The Editors Look At World Affairs .. 25 The Editors’ Mailbag .. .. 26

HOME BASE: Sydneysider

Reports .. .. 27

Territories Talk-Talk

With Tolala 33 First Stage Of Nadi Airport Project Is Nearly Com pleted ... 37 Helping Islanders’ Native Skills •• 39 BBC Men Will Record Vanishing Customs Of Tonga 41 P-NG Malaria Control May Mean A “Population Ex plosion” 41 Fiji Band Does A First-Class Publicity Job In The US 45 P-NG In Search Of Cheaper Electricity .. 47 Is The Musa River Better Than The Purari? 49

Letter: Primitive “Idol s”

Were Just Visual Aids .. 51 Fiji Timber Future Looks More Hopeful 53 A Closer Look At Cook Islands’ Oysters 57 Do Migrating Birds Menace Atolls? 59 A Visit To Mariner’s Cave 61 Fiji Dried Bananas Might Make a Come-back .. 69 Banana Survey Shows How They Sell Best 69 Twenty-fifth Anniversary of An Epic Flight 73 Monument To New Guinea’s First Planter Lies Broken And Neglected 77

Magazine Section:

Tropicalities, 81; Grisly In cident Of Early Days, 81; Crossquiz, 82; Do You Re member? 82; Brett Hilder Profile, 83; BP Skippers Over 60 Years, 83; There Might Have Been Fiji Japanese, 84; A Fairy Tale Mutiny, 84; How The Bible Reached Samoa, 85; While There’s Golf There’s Hope, 87; Book Reviews 88 The Month’s News Of Ships And Yachts 101

Pacific Report; Round-

Up Of Pacific News and Pictures (Index Page 18) 117 Sports Review 151 OBITUARIES: Captain A. C.

Bird; Chief Molio’o Pouli Setu; Mr. P. R. Best; Mr.

A. W. Esson; Mr. R. E. P. (Larry) Dwyer; Mr. Robert Melrose; Mr. Hung Lee-Lo; Mr. W. E. Hardaker; Mr.

Norman Saggers; Mr. J.

Twycross 152 Shipping and Airways Time- Tables 155 Commerce And Produce .. 165