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I m going to talk to you about your own native land, 
began Northrup Castle, owner of the Lanikai, in speaking 
to the students of Kamehameha boys’ school recently. Mrs. 
Castle assisted by running the pictures which were taken 
m his five years of exploration in the Polynesian archi¬ 
pelago. 
“The Hawaiian seal is found on 
this island. It is a very large ani¬ 
mal weighing 1,000 pounds and ex¬ 
tending eight to 10 feet dong. It 
crawls around like a caterpillar. We 
caught a 35 pound baby seal and 
took a picture of it. 
“The turtle is also found on this 
island. When approached slowly it 
does not run away. It lays from 10 
to 20 eggs about the size half way 
between the golf and tennis bally 
Leaving this island, the Lanikai 
next went to Pearl and Hermes 
reef. 
“On approaching the island, we 
could see a black and white strip 
indicating the long white sand 
beach and the grass covered area,” 
said Mr. Castle. 
“Pearl and Hermes reef is 20 
miles long and 15 miles wide. There 
is a long, narrow channel 60 to 90 
feet deep, leading through it. This 
is the first natural harbor outside 
of Pearl Harbor.” 
Pictures of sheds built on Easter 
island were shown. These sheds 
were built in 1928 for oyster shells. 
Fishing.Is Good 
Mr. Castle said that the ulua on 
those islands ran up to 150 pounds,- 
the average being 90 pounds. The 
mullet are so numerous that you 
can push them away with your leg 
while standing in the water, he 
said, and averaged eight to nine 
pounds. 
Mr. Castle also caught an eight 
foot shark while going pearl diving. 
“We got so used to seeing sharks 
passing before us while going pearl 
diving that we weren’t afraid of 
them,” said Mr. Castle. 
“My two Filipino helpers dived 
as far as 60 feet, while my average 
was about 40 feet. The record for 
pearl diving is 150 feet. This can 
be done only by taking several deep 
breaths before- descending to the 
bottom. 
“We think of the eight islands of 
Hawaii as a group surrounded by 
coral reefs extending from the 
island of Hawaii to Ocean island, a 
distance of 1,900 miles,” said Mr. 
Castle. 
Hundred and thirty five miles 
west of Kauai is the island of Niho. 
Only Japanese fishermen have been 
frequent visitors to this island, but 
there is no evidence of permanent 
inhabitants. In the olden days the 
Hawaiians used to travel to the is- j 
land to get bird feathers. Niho is 
surrounded along the seacoast with 
high cliffs ranging up to 900 feet. 
See Cable Station 
Our expedition led us to Midway! 
island where the Commercial Pa-: 
cific Cable, Co. station is located.' 
The vicinity where the cable station 
is located is densely covered with 
trees, and around the boarding 
house of the workingmen there are 
many different kinds of plants. 
These plants and trees were taken 
to Midway from Hawaii. 
“The manager of the cable sta¬ 
tion owns many canaries. When a 
person walks along the path towards 
the station, he can hear the canaries 
singing among the trees. 
“On approaching the island we 
saw the boat house where the Dick¬ 
inson docks when bringing in sup¬ 
plies. We could see the tops of the 
light houses just emerging above the 
trees.* 
“Windmills are constructed to 
pump water for bathing and wash¬ 
ing. Water tanks are built to catch 
rain water used for drinking pur- 
h poses.” 
'• The location ot the base where 
the Pan American air base is to be 
V built was shown in Mr. Castle’s pic¬ 
tures. 
On our way to Laysan island we 
missed Gardner island and passed 
the Moral reef,” said Mr. Castle. 
Albatross Are Tame 
Laysan island has more birds 
than any other island, except Mid¬ 
way. Albatross are found in large 
numbers, and they are so tame that 
you can touch them. The albatross 
has a wonderful way of flying. It 
does not flap its wings but glides 
away like an airplane. If a good 
, wind is blowing it can travel a long 
distance without flapping its wings. 
Its wings, when spread out, are five 
to eight feet wide. 
“In June the albatross flies to the 
Arctic circle, leaving the young be- 
* 5, md J;° die they are unable to 
r "kv These baby albatross sometimes 
die by the thousand. The devel¬ 
opment of the eggs is delayed most 
; of the time by the seal which 
crosses over the ^ nest, about one 
fifth of the total population sur- 
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