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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



Photograph from Mrs. Rosamond Dodson Rhone 



THIS IS TITI; UFE IN NAURU 



Not the least of this island's attractions are the many beautiful lagoons into which coral 

 rock pinnacles and coconut palms throw sharp reflections. 



must be excavated, leaving the pinnacles 

 standing - . 



There is, perhaps, no hotter working 

 place on earth, for as the workmen de- 

 scend, digging and blasting, they are be- 

 low the level of the trade wind's cool 

 breath and exposed to the fierce rays of 

 the tropic sun. 



When a coolie has filled a pair of bas- 

 kets he hangs one on each end of a carry- 

 ing-pole and makes his way by devious 

 paths through the worked-out places to 

 a central carrier, called the "flying fox," 

 running on a cable. He dumps his bas- 

 kets and trots back for another load, 

 while the carrier conveys the phosphate 

 to a hopper, a tall wooden tower with 

 chutes, from which it is dropped into 

 cars ready to take it to the dryers, huge 

 buildings containing crushing and drying 

 machinery and storage bins for the fin- 

 ished product. 



A worked-out phosphate field is a dis- 

 mal, ghastly tract of land, with its thou- 

 sands of upstanding white coral pinna- 

 cles from ten to thirty feet high, its cav- 

 ernous depths littered with broken coral, 



abandoned tram tracks, discarded phos- 

 phate baskets, and rusted American kero- 

 sene tins. Yet, in this waste, vegetation 

 begins and young pandanus trees and 

 sprouting coconuts are opening vigorous 

 leaves and sending strong roots down- 

 ward into the crevices of the coral. 



To get an adequate idea of the expense 

 and difficulty of equipping and maintain- 

 ing the phosphate works, which include 

 the maintenance of the employees, one 

 must understand that the islands furnish 

 nothing except coral rock and sand for 

 rock and concrete foundations, and a 

 little fruit and an abundance of fish for 

 food. On Ocean Island even the use of 

 sand is prohibited by the government, 

 as there is very little sandy beach, the 

 island being edged by vertical cliffs of 

 coral. With this exception, whatever I 

 say of Nauru is equally true of Ocean 

 Island. 



Even fresh water is lacking and must 

 be provided by catchment areas for rain- 

 water, the iron roofs of buildings serving 

 this purpose, with galvanized iron tanks 

 and concrete cisterns for storage, while 



