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318
The Royal Mail: Its Curiosities and Romance
·
James Wilson Hyde
149
Profiting
by
the
example
furnished
during
the
progress
of
the
Franco-German
war,
the
good
people
of
the
Fiji
Islands
have
quite
recently
established
a
pigeon-post,
to
serve
them
in
the
peaceful
pursuits
of
trade.
The
colony
of
Fiji
is
a
group
of
225
islands,
between
which
the
communications
by
sailing-vessels
or
steamers
are
not
very
regular,
the
former
being
frequently
becalmed
or
retarded
by
head-winds,
while
the
latter
are
of
small
power
and
low
speed.
An
important
part
of
the
trade
of
the
Islands
consists
in
exporting
fruit
and
other
produce
to
Australia
and
New
Zealand,
the
largest
portion
consisting
of
bananas,
of
which
a
single
steamer
will
sometimes
carry
about
12,000
bunches.
It
is
desirable
not
to
cut
the
bananas
till
the
steamers
from
Australia
and
New
Zealand
arrive
at
Fiji,
and
consequently
early
news
of
the
event
is
most
important
to
planters
in
the
more
remote
islands;
for
if
the
small
schooners
or
cutters
which
carry
the
fruit
between
the
islands
arrive
too
late
for
the
steamer,
the
poor
planters
lose
their
whole
produce,
which,
being
perishable,
has
to
be
thrown
overboard.
In
these
circumstances
a
pigeon-post
has
been
called
into
operation:
and
should
this
method
of
communication
be
extended
to
all
the
important
islands,
as
it
has
already
been
to
some,
many
a
cargo
will
be
saved
to
the
poor
planters
which
would
otherwise
be
wholly
lost.
Subjoined
is
a
copy
of
news
by
"Pigeon-post,"
taken
from
the
'Polynesian
Gazette'
of
the
10th
June
1884.
It
was
conveyed
by
pigeon
from
Suva
to
Levuka,
a
distance
as
the
crow
flies
of
about
40
miles,
and
the
time
occupied
in
transit
was
42
minutes,
the
actual
flight
to
the
home
of
the
pigeon
taking
but
30
minutes:--
Marker
Marker
Fine marker
White-out
Fine white-out
Circle
Paint
Unmarker
Hand
Scalpel
Dice
Sieve
Purify
Undo
Redo
Start over
