The Royal Mail: Its Curiosities and Romance

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:--