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[[preprinted]] OCEANIC [[image - black and white photograph]] A SOUTH SEA ISLAND LANE LINED WITH PALMS AND TROPICAL FRUITS Chicago, and at the Mid-winter Fair in San Francisco. They know the warm brown skins, the bushy black hair, except where it is stained a dull golden brown by the plentiful bleachings with lime. They have heard their plaintive and warlike songs, their dances with beating of clubs and spears in time to the music; have seen the comely women and their gentle swayings in rhythm with the more active dances of the men. They know, too, their costumes, the lava-lava of tapa, mulberry bark cloth, about the loins, the necklaces, armlets, and anklets, and the tall and fantastic headdresses of the warriors. Besides this costume they wear an abundant coat of cocoanut oil,- which causes them to glisten as if varnished - and the men are tattooed. But all these things give but a superficial idea [[end page]] [[start page]] [[image - flag with red border, blue circle, red star]] S.S. CO. without the least danger of receiving anything but the kindest, most courteous, nay, even the most warmly hospitable treatment. The misleading nature of maps has long been realized. Little dots in the Pacific are supposed to be islands which one may reach by rowing from one to the other in fifteen minutes. It is something of a surprise to learn that in reality they like 100 miles, and more, apart. There is some change in the temperature when the wooded heights of Tutuila are left behind. If it happens to be the spring of the northern latitudes, it is the aftermath of autumn in the Antipodes - the pleasantest season to visit the colonies. The thick clothing that was put off at Hawaii is once more donned and found most acceptable; there is an invigorating quality in the air not felt in the tropics; the languor that has made the comfort of the deck chair peculiarly inviting, vanishes as by magic, and the arrival in Sydney is anticipated with fresh energy and interest. S. S. Sonoma, on her first voyage in the new service of the Sydney Short Line, was met at Pango Pango by 4,000 Samoans, who came from a radius of 500 miles, wearing full warpaint and feathers, and for three hours entertained the passengers with native songs and dances. Following the dances a big native feast was held, winding up with the passing of a huge bowl of Kava, the native drink, of which all partook. The steaming time of eighteen days and fourteen hours is being maintained by the Sonoma and Ventura between San Francisco and Sydney, on both outward and homeward voyages. On her outbound trip the S. S. Sonoma from Pango Pango sighted a volcano in full eruption on a barren Tongan Island, making a beautiful spectacle at night. Norfolk Island and Lord Howe Island were also sighted on the way to Sydney. [[image - black and white image of large vessel being approached by a group of canoes]]