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COLONIZATION OF THE PACIFIC
ISLANDS.
THE interest which is being exhibited
in more than one quarter in the
colonization of Polynesia promises to
be productive, at no distant date, of a
considerable increase of European
settlers in those distant isles of the sea;'
The poet's statement that to these
"summer isles of Eden lying in dark
purple spheres of sea,'" " never comes
the trader, never floats an European
flag," is not true at this time of day.
Even in the days when "Lockeley
Hall "! was written, the state ofaffairs
was otherkise,,for the trade in tattoed
heads was '- not quite unknown,
and rum was regarded by the.
unsophisticated natives as a more
practical commodity than true re
ligion, even with the chance of
obtaining roast missionary thrown, in.
And surely it is to the credit of the.
brave men and women who took their
lives in their hands in their devotion
to religious duty that islands which
were shunned by even the most daring
traders were first- dwelt in by the
pioneers of Christianity. The enor
mous difference between them now
and then can only be truly known by
those who were acquainted with the
state of affairs ii the islands in' the
olden time. Every day the disabili
ties of'. residence there become
fewer and less. Regular steamehip
and mail communication are removing
the barriers of mental and physei
cal isolation which form the chief
penalties of life spent under the
great waving leaves of the palm trees
which line the coasts on which the
surgesbreak. wih. a 'thunderous sound.
It may be regarded as certain that at
no remote date every islet in the
Pacific Ocean will be definitely in
cluded in the sphere of some European
nation's influence, and that those
barbarians who Uefuse to accommodate
themselves to the new circumstances
which are quickly surroundingthem
will have to move on to their inevit
able fate.
Not all 'the' new influences are the
outcome of true knowledge. For
instance, the arrival in Fiji of a band
of settlers from California has been
caused by a grave misconception. of
the state of affairs which exists in the
Southern Pacific. A number of men
conceived the idea of forming a co
operative association entitled " The
Brotherhood of the Pacific." Its
members appear to have been hard
working and respectable settlers in
the rural districts of the golden State.
But even the advantages of that
sunny land did not come up to their
ideal of human exietence. The Cali-b
fornian papers state that the men were
on the outlook for'an Adamless Eden,
where there would be no wages, and
where all would share and share alike
in the kindly fruits of the earth.
Some there were who had the idea of
marrying dusky queens, and thus ob
taining a position of the utmost ad;
vantage in the islands. It is not
stated, however, that this idea was
universally prevalent, for the question
would doubtless suggest itself to the
minds of the less imaginative of them
if there were enough queens with
islands to justify such a (eanguine
hope. At all events, each mem
ber of the society deposited 50
dollars, an old whaler was bought,
provisioned, and sailed away with
the argonauts, every one armed
with a Winchester rifle and a
goodly supply of cartridges. Instead,
however, of arrivlng at an island suit
able to their views they chanced to
hit the now highly civilised Fijian
group. There also they found the
British in power, and the complete
paraphernalia of civilization tempered
by sugar and copra. Evidently the
original plan of campaign could not
be carried out there, so counsel with
the authorities was taken. The ques
tion was naturally asked whither
they were going. The leaders
of the expedition were not
quite certain, on the subject.
In reply to afurther question why
they had not obtained some, informa
tion before committing themselves to
such a serious enterprise, they said
they hadseen an old captain, who said
the Solomon Islands were really good
if they could get hold of them. This
was certainly very soothing informa
tion from the venerable " shellback,"
but his knowledge of the history of
the Solomon Group was certainly not
modern. Otherwise he would have told
them that the British had annexed
some islands of that group, and that
the rest had been placed within another
sphere of influence. When they found
how matters were, individuality
asserted itself, and the Winchesters
were sold in a glutted market. Some
of the brotherhood went on to New
Zealand in search of work, and others
are obtaining from the Fi~ji Govern
ment plots of land to settle upon. 'If
the news be truie that another armed
band of 200 men is being fitted out in
California for the purpose of acting
on the advice of the ancient JAICK
BUNSBY, who said he knew all about
the Solomons, there will be still fur
ther disillusionment for a number of
hard-working men whose information
is not abreast of the spirit of romance
which influences them. '
Contrast this uninformed and hare.
brained expedition with the project of
which the cable informs us. A com
pany has been formed in London with
a capital of £200,000, for the purpose
of promoting trade in and the occupa
~tion of certain islands in the western
Pacific. The directorate is a strong
one, and among the names are Lord
STANMORE (formerly Sir ARTHUR
GoeLoN), Lord ALRUNDELL, Mr.
D'AnRcy, and Mr. EDWIN HOULDER.
The first-named was formerly
Governor of Fiji and her Majesty's
High Commissioner of the Western
Pacific, and was later on Go
vernor of COeylon. Local knowledge
will certainly not be wanting on, the.
part of the directorate. It has been
stated that Lord ROsniBERY and the
celebrated island trader and littera
teur, Mr. Louis BEOKE, were inter
ested in a similar project, thqugh
whether it is the same one is at present
unknown here. Sir ARTUnR GOIDON,
when in Fiji, was dietinguished for
his strong pro-native sympathies,
and many of the whites believed
that it would have been better
both for the natives and the whites if
the GonRor policy had never been in
augurated. The appearance of Lord
STANMORE at the head of a company
formed to trade in and occupy certain
ilands may be regarded as the indi
cation of a determiiiation to revise a
policy which has been tried anld found
wanting. Undoubtedly the formation
of powerfulEuropean interests, which
will involve the 'residence of many
white ,men of good repute in
the islands, and promote in
dustry among the natives, .'will
greatly conduce to the'betterment
of a part of the globe which surely
was never intended to be the perpetual
haunt of ruthless cannibals and blood
thirsty head hunters. Whether fiaan-,
cial success attend such. development
or'not the attempt will be beneficial
to Australia. But there is little
doubt that the, operations .of such a
company will soon:put an end to those
black acts 'on: the part "obf island
natives to white' men 'which'
for a long time past have 'made
vessels returning from the 'Pacific the
means of' adding many fresh and
'sanguinary pages to the long: history
of brutality and treachery which has
been mainly that of not a few. of the
Pacific groups since their discovery by
Europeans.
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