PASSING THE REEF, AOBA, NEW HEBRIDES
CHAPTER XVIII
The cultivation of copra—The labour traffic; when slavery really existed, and the traffic in natives of to-day.
Copra is the staple industry of the New Hebrides, as they say in the geography books, but the output of it is about as reliable as the rainfall, for the supply depends not, as might be expected, on the demand, but on the whim of the natives; if they feel industrious, or are hard pressed for tobacco and provisions, they will go into the bush and bring in a sufficient quantity to meet their needs; but as a rule they will only collect it from their own particular trees near their village and will not go far afield, where they could get double the amount for half the labour.
Cocoa-nut palms grow in patches all over the islands, and particularly along the coast, and they make a charming picture viewed from the sea, with their swaying trunks, and the quaint cluster of leaves at the top: storm-tossed as they are, owing to {184} being top-heavy, they all lean in one direction, the way the wind blows strongest, and give the islands a wild appearance. The rustle of their leaves as one walks beneath them makes a strange noise, and the falling of the nuts on a windy day is a thing one has to be careful to avoid, as a good-sized nut would seriously injure, if not kill, the person on whom it fell.
I have seen a natural grove of these trees nearly a mile long; the dark stems and sage-green leaves against a blue sky, a bright yellow road underneath which scintillated in the sun, and at its far end was all blurred by the heat which rose as heat does from a stove making everything quiver, presenting a beautiful picture not easily forgotten.
All along the coast of Malekula and Tanna the cocoa-nuts grow in abundance. At Samari, New Guinea, there is one giant tree standing by two others and away from the rest, the height of which has been the means of many a sovereign changing hands. For the first thing a new chum, fresh trader, or captain is asked is to guess its height, and few ever guess it correctly, for a more deceptive-looking tree was never born. It grows just behind the village and towers over everything, and is a landmark that guides many a wanderer by land and sea.
THE ISLAND OF SAMARI, BRITISH NEW GUINEA
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