He lived his life with gusto . . . "

In 1937 the District of Ysabel in the Solomons also included the Russell Islands some 60 miles to the south and it was on the Russells that most of the copra production and consequently the labour force, of the Solomons was concentrated.

My first tour of the Russells, in 1937 as Acting District Officer, led to my meeting Ken Hay, as he was then known, in his guise as manager of Banika plantation. The Wai Ai tied up to the wharf and Ken came down to meet me. He was a large man, very solidly built and had the air of being king in his own domain if not of the Russells.

He had a case of assault to bring against one of his labourers and I heard the case straight away. It soon transpired that the assault had been occasioned by Ken’s interpretation of the Labour Regulations and led immediately after the hearing of the first case to a second case in which I fined Ken for “bending” the pro visions of the Regulations to suit himself.

After the proceedings were over, I thought that he would be incensed at what had happened and was pre paring to return to the Wai Ai and to continue with my tour of inspection— but he would have none of it. He

said I must come and have a mea and meet his wife. There was no trao of rancour and I returned with hin to meet the charming Sylvia and t( enjoy the first of many such meetings Ken lived life with gusto and panache His outlook took little note o whether fortune was smiling oi him or whether he was for the tim being reeling from the blows of fat —often occasioned by his own some what unorthodox behaviour. His sens of humour remained intact and h had a keen sense of irony. His friend were his friends and his enemie were his enemies, and quite ofte:

D. C. HORTON, AUTHOR OF "FIRE OVER THE

Solomons", Pays Tribute To Fellow Coast

Watcher Ken Dalrymple-Hay.

returned to his esteem if, in his view, they were fundamentally decent people, but he could not stand meanness and was himself a most generous person; although, if he had reason to believe himself unjustly treated, he would pursue the per petrator of the deed, whether it was government or a private individual, with vigour and vehemence until the matter was settled to his satisfaction or he found that he could get no further.

Our paths crossed in the Islands from time to time and whether I was dealing with him officially or drinking

with him, Ken always added a sparkle to the occasion, and when war came to the Solomons he remained behind when he could have left, and did sterling work in removing valuable commercial material from the enemy’s reach. He was then made a Coast watcher and added lustre to that highly individual body of men.

After the war he threw himself into the commercial side of the rehabilita tion of the Solomons and did an enormous amount to prepare the ground for postwar developments. I met him again in Honiara in 1969.

Physically he had become a great deal

larger than when I first knew him but fundamentally he had not changed.

He said he could not be bothered to alter his way of life—which con tinued to exhibit a buccaneering spirit with all its faults and virtues—and on that basis we continued our friendship. I did not see him again and the news of his passing brought a sense of loss. He did a great deal unobtrusively for a number of people and whatever he did was in keeping with the beliefs with which he had enlivened the ways of those who knew him. We shall miss him.