The independent-reporter. [volume] (Skowhegan, Me.) 1909-1955, 1924-09-04
LIFE IN THE FIJI ISLANDS AS En-
PERIENCED BY A SkOWHE.
GAN WOMAN
CONTINUED from Page u

farming, except some gardening done
by the Chinese. The horses there are
small and in speaking of the char
acteristics of the Ffjians, Miss Cabot
said they were wonderfully kind to
their horses and referred to these
beasts of burden as pampered little
brutes. HE simply won't go up the
least little rise, unless you get out
and put your hand on the carriage
to push" she said. The carriages
| there are on the style of dog carts
and they all have two wheels.
What are the amusements there?"
quieried the newspaperman.
There are no amusements," said
Miss Cabot, they have golf links and
cricket and, oh yes, they have horse
racing, two times a year" These
are gala events but it is hard to put
them in as it rains nearly all the time
in the Fiji Islands. In spite of this,
Miss Cabot said that she liked the eli
mate but that it sometimes was a bit
difficult to get clean clothes as the
rainfall was so constant that there
never seemed to be opportunity to dry
them. Dispute the lack of sunshine,
Miss Cabot averred that no n was
ever sick, in the Islands. They
have only one physician that isn't a
government physician. They have a
dentist. He has a cancer on the
nose, but you don't patronize him I'M
less you have to" she added. Asked
about crime on the Islands, Miss
Cabot said there was very little prac-
tically none among the Fijians. Their
ideas are different, but they live up
to them. They take things but it
isn't looked upon as thieving,' she
continued. 1t is of particular inter-
est to note that Miss Cabot was the
only American in the Islands until a.
short time before she left when n
of her countrymen came to that.
country to investigate the hook worm
disease. There were several Cam
adams there, however, during her
stay. The Fiji Islands are a crown
ed colony of England.
There was no end of unusual things
that Miss Cabot could have told the
newspaperman about the Islands and
their people but southeast Africa is
another interesting country and quite
as freely and g~raciously Miss Cabot
explained the customs of that country
as she left the Fiji Islands for that
place. She started home from Dur
ban, which she described as "a good
sized city, up-to-date in every way,
with beautiful bathing, except for the
sharks, and much like any other city.
! Rickshaws, drawn by native Zulus are
still used for riding purposes on the
streets of Durham. Miss Cabot show
ed the Reporter some of the pictures
of these quaint vehicles and the men
who pulled them through the streets.
These human beasts OF burden close
lv resemble the negroes of our own
country, only that they are extremely
fond of horns and in some way attach
them to their heads as a part of their
head gear. They are scantily clad
and have their feet and legs in some
instances, painted. The native wo-
, men seldom come into town. The
population of Durham is mostly white,
and there are a variety of manufac-
turing industries, similar to those of
any large city. There are not many
Americans there but a great many
Dutch. 1t is one of the fashionable
watering resorts of that section. The
working people are mostly natives
and Indians, the latter being of the
lOn cot 1ldoot nav " bt(h h1PN
in their places, there have been so
many laws made to protect them.
Another interesting spot of South
east Africa, which Miss Cabot visited
was the Island of Mauritius. This
is a very pretty little island. devoted
to sugar raising. The residents were
originally French and you hear much
of the French aristocracy, who have
kept themselves untainted by mar
riage with the English" said Miss
Cabot, but they forget to speak of
their inter-mixture with the Indians,
she added. She was at Mauritius
about four months. From there she
went to Zanzibar, where she remained
for another four months. Most en-
tertainingly she described this place,
with it's main street, too narrow to
take a motor through and Arab build
ings, with heavy iron doors, built for
protection against the pirates in the
} old days. Zanzibar is ruled by a
Sultan. There is one train, which
covers a distance of seven miles in
Zanzibar but goes very slowly. The
S~ultan's palace is the only building,
! which has any glass in it and that is
in the third story. Cloves and copra
are the industries, and all you1 car
SMELL" said Miss Cabot. More cloves
are exported from Zanzibar han
from any other country. Some idea
of the primitiveness of the place is
evidenced from the fact that there Is
no dock for landing purposes from
the boats. The natives on the APP
proach of a boat bring out a plank
and you land in that way. "If you
mind getting your feet wet, a native
can carry YOU" said Miss Cabot.
Miss Cabot's next visit was to Beira,
a couple of days from Zanzibar, One
of the features Of this place is the
sandy soil ard there is so much sane
in the roads hat it makes it practic-
ally impossible to walk through them.
There is one motor there, but it
won't go, ever the horn is broken.
There is one horse there owned by
wealthy Portuguese and kept more as
a curiosity. He is the proudest thing
you ever saw, she said. There are
small trolley lines and upon the
tracks queer little carts are pushed
by human power, the coolies doing
this work. There are two sets of
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