The mirror., 1922-02-02


rainfall varies, from 81 to 1870 inches, but
more than eight inches may fall in sim
gle day. During the winter months, from
June to August, weeks may pass without
drop of rain. At such times the plants
get their moisture from the heavy dew.
No picture of island scenery in the Paci-
fc can omit the reef. In every glimpse of
the sea it lies in the middle distance as an
irregular line of white foam following the
trend of the coastline about mile out to
sea. Night and day the roar of the "lea-
que long roller" is heard in a muttered
undertone, and when the undertone rises
to booming roar, the natives foretell bad
weather. When a heavy sea is breaking,
the line of the reef may be traced by the
bank of spray that shrouds the breakers in
shimmering mist. When the wind is
blowing from the shore, the rollers take
on new beauty, their white crests stream
backward like horses names as they fling
themselves impotently on the sullen barrier
of coral. Above high-water mark, there
is a belt of dazzling white sand, composed
of minute particles of shell, and beyond,
without any intervening region of dune or
grass, the forest begins suddenly. Wher-
ever the shore slopes down to the waters
edge there is always luxuriant growth
of trees, whose roots must be drawing their
cnc<op,pca froy,, <bo eo1< ,vo<.s
The climate and scenery will have a
marked influence on the future destiny of
the islands. They have an extraordinary
fascination for Europeans, particularly the
European city dweller. No one can
describe the life of the settler as luxurious;
but he is well content to end his life there,
and when he is impelled by force of cir
cumstances to 60 back to civilized lands,
he is very apt to drift back to the islands.
If the islands could be unmoored and
towed, climate and all, to days steam
from Europe, all other holiday resorts
would be deserted
Copra (the sun-dried kernel of the
cocoanut, from which the oil for soap and
candles is derived), is staple industry in
nearly all the islands; coffee Aourished be-
fore it was attacked by disease; tea grows
well on the highlands of Fiji; tobacco,
anchona, maize cotton, rice and ramil
fiber have all been successfully grown.
The valuable discovery of rock phosphates
is quite recent. This chemical manure lies
in beds from one to four feet thick over
number of remote islands which were
otherwise commercially valueless. The
geological history of these beds is not per-
fectly established, but they are generally
supposed to have been formed by the fill
tration of solution of rain water and
guano, deposited by sea birds into the
loose grained coral of which the islands
are composed. Except in the French island
of New Caledonia, there is no mining in
the Pacific Islands, though it is quite like
ly that when the Solomon Islands come to
be fully explored, ores will be discovered.
Manufactures have been neglected hither-
to. Even in Fiji, which has been British
colony for nearly fifty years, and timber,
clay and building stone are plentiful,
nearly all the buildings have been con-
structed of imported material.
Since the world needs tropical products,
which thrive luxuriantly in the islands, it
is natural to ask why they are not abound
ing in material prosperity. The answer
may be given in single word-labor.