Adventure Magazine Cover, June 18, 1921 — page 197: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

Ask Adventure South-Sea Island Life ia SURE seems to be the life: Question: —“‘Wish to ask about the South Sea Islands. Any chances for hunting and adventure? How about climate? Could a position as a trader be obtained? If so, what is the average pay? Could two young fellows, say, with $200—mean- ing with $200 after arriving at the islands—stay for perhaps a year? What about natives and firearms? Could we live on the fruits and such on the island? How about snakes and wild animals? Also mos- quitoes? Are the tropics as beautiful as some writers make them out? We would like to live apart from other white men if possible. Could we hire a guide for a year, meaning a native? Could we get an island by ourselves? Would we need a boat? Could we earn anything, I mean as traders or farmers? Does it really rain for months at a time? I hope I haven’t buried you under an avalanche of questions; but as you see I know nothing of the South Sea Islands. .I am, however, sick of this rotten climate and want to get out. What would it cost to get there from Maine? About how long? Well, I’ve bothered youfenough, # will close.”—C. F. DE Costa, South Portland, e. Answer, by Mr. Mills:—There is not much in the way of hunting in the South Sea Islands, taking them by and large, in the sense in which hunting is generally understood in the outside world. For you must understand that the S. S. Islands, gener- ally speaking, are of coral formation, and therefore do not run up into the mountains and forests with which good hunting is associated. Of course, there are the large islands, such as the Fijis and Samoas, that are somewhat different; but even there you can not hunt in the usual sense of the term. But if anybody wants real hunting, with any amount of risk to life and limb, why, Papua (New Guinea) is today the greatest place ever. And for the explorer after something new, the adventurer who would risk himself amongst the head-hunters and the prospector after oil and metals, there he has the terra incog. of these latter days. As for adventures in the South Seas generally, if by that term you want something unique and new experiences, you will find them aplenty all over the Pacific. The fishing is good sport everywhere, and all the natives will show you sensations in the game of hunting the big shark and other game of the seas. : The climate varies all over the areas of the groups of S.S. Islands. For the most part it is salubrious. Hot in spots, of course, for here you are in the region of the tropics and are more or less on the equator. Tourists from all the ends of the earth regularly do the rounds of such healthy groups as the Cook Islands, the Fijis, the Society group, the Samoas and the Tongan group, in all of which the natives are friendly. There are still cannibals in the New Hebrides, but despite this a good deal of growing and trading is done there by white people. ‘Local conditions largely influence the salaries paid to traders and managers {of plantations, for whom _ there is a fair demand. The salaries are not nearly so high as those ruling in the outside.world. 187 You should have at least $500 in your pouch when you land in the islands, so as to be free to move around before coming to a decision. Of course, with care $200 each would be some help, and would certainly help to make up your mind more quickly. The taking of firearms into the more settled groups is not encouraged unless the visitor is an ac- credited sportsman; and there are birds for the shooting. You could certainly live on the fruits of the islands. Snakes and wild animals are for the most part a minus quantity. The mosquito is ever present. | The S. S. Islands are lovely, they are beautiful, they are unique—and then some, as the tourist said when words failed him to describe their exquis- iteness. There are no guides for hire in the Pacific. If you want to get out of the beaten track, then you ship on a trading-schooner that has a roving commission from one of the busy groups—and then maybe you can pick a little island of your own. You certainly should have a boat if you want to make a living at the game of trading. ; It is infra dig. for white men to hire themselves out as anything but managers or gangers in charge of natives. The rainfall over the S. S. Islands is not phenomenal, and on the average as normal as in most other parts of the world. rain for months at a time. Your best plan, if you are determined to make the great adventure, would be to go down to New York, where you might be able to ship on a tramp steamer for a Pacific group at a cheap fare. If you wanted to take one of the regular three-weekly liners from San Francisco to the heart of the Pacific, then by rail and steamer the cost per passenger would run you into $300 second class. These are only round figures, for rates and fares on land and sea are changing so much that I can not be bound down to the definite. With luck and making all connections promptly, you can get from New York to Papeete in the Society Islands véa San Francisco, in some three weeks. It certainly does not How to Get a Springfield NCLE SAM will help you to become a marksman if you follow these direc- tions in asking him: Question:—“‘Can you tell me where I can procure a United States magazine rifle, model 1903; or as it is commonly called a Springfield?’”—James C, MAckINTOSH, Detroit, Mich. Answer, by Mr. Wiggins :—Write to the Secretary, National Rifle Ass’n, 1110 Woodward Bldg., Wash- ington, D. C., requesting a membership application blank, and prices of rifles, ammunition, etc. He will send a blank application for annual membership, costing two dollars. A list of arms and the prices on the same will also be sent. The membership will cost two dollars, as I stated above, and I think the rifle will cost about $35 for a plain gun and 69c extra for star-gaging, or measuring the bore to determine its diameter. I think a rifle with checked trigger and butt-plate especially selected for the national matches will COmicloo 5}