_(A Romance of False Perspective_.)
The Press, ever anxious, as the guardians of public sentiment, to
correct the reaction that is apt to follow upon any great outburst
of popular enthusiasm, did well to describe the impending arrival of
Prince Ongtong, of the Solomon Islands, with his famous mixed choir,
as the second best news since the signing of the Armistice. We are
glad to think that the reception of this illustrious potentate in our
midst was worthy of the occasion.
There was a time when our relations with the Solomon Islanders were
strained. Their pagan and, we regret to say, anthropophagous habits
laid them open to a certain amount of criticism. Not many years ago
Mr. Bamberger, the famous violinist, in the course of a triumphal
tour in the Southern Pacific, was captured by the inhabitants of
Kulambranga, detained for several weeks in captivity in a mangrove
swamp, where he suffered great inconvenience from the gigantic frogs
_(Rana Guppyi_) which infest this region, and was only rescued with
great difficulty by a punitive expedition--conducted by Sir Pompey
Boldero--when on the eve of being sacrificed to the gastronomic
exigencies of his captors.
But this happily is all ancient history now. The Solomon Islanders
for several years have been confirmed vegetarians, and the pronounced
modification in their mesocephalic skulls and the improvement of
their facial angle afford the surest guarantee against any relapse.
Furthermore the instruction in music which they received from Mr.
Bamberger has exerted a profoundly mollifying effect on their manners.
Mr. Clutton Brock has pronounced them to be the most artistic of all
the Papuans. Their paintings show a remarkable affinity to the style
of Picasso and Matisse. Their choral singing is the glory of the South
Pacific.
Prince Ongtong and his party, who made the journey by long sea in
a flotilla of catamarans and sampans, arrived at Southampton on
Saturday, where they were met by perhaps the most representative
and influential gathering of public men ever seen in our times. The
procession to the Town Hall was headed by Lord READING, Lord SYDENHAM,
Mr. BOTTOMLEY, Mr. HOGGE, Sir LEO CHIOZZA MONEY, Mr. SMILLIE and Mr.
EUSTACE MILES. Then followed Prince Ongtong and his choir, superbly
gowned in their flowing sarongs, wearing their long Papuan pampooties
and followed in turn by a group of instrumentalists playing on conchs,
nose-flutes and a species of mouth-organ closely resembling the
jew's-harp, but much larger and more penetrating in its quality. The
crowds in the street were enormous; hundreds of strong women fainted,
and the casualties are estimated at upwards of five thousand.
The proceedings in the Town Hall were brief but most impressive. After
the freedom of Southampton had been conferred on the Prince by the
Mayor, in a gold casket, Lord READING in a touching speech announced,
amid tempestuous cheers, that the Government had resolved to signalise
Prince Ongtong's services by conferring on him a dukedom and a grant
of two million pounds.
Continuing, Lord READING said that the Solomon Islands had always
appealed to him with peculiar magic. He believed that they were the
authentic seat of King SOLOMON'S Mines, in spite of the rival claims
of Africa put forward by Sir RIDER HAGGARD.
The Prince, who acknowledged the honour in fluent Melanesian,
was understood to say that he had only done his duty, that he was
speechless with gratitude and that he would always regard Lord READING
as a brother. A _recherché_ vegetarian luncheon was then served, after
which Lord ROTHERMERE presented each member of the choir with a cheque
for ten thousand pounds, and Mr. SMILLIE invited them to give evidence
before the Coal Commission.
The Prince and party were anxious to proceed by special train to
London, where rooms had been engaged for them at the Grand Palestine
Hotel, but, on leaving the Town Hall, were surrounded by the crowd,
which had now swelled to nearly a million and fought for the
privilege of escorting the visitors to the station with such desperate
enthusiasm that at a late hour on Saturday night no traces of Prince
Ongtong or any of his choir could be discovered. This is all the
more to be regretted as arrangements had been made for a competition
between the Solomon Islanders and the Czecho-Slovakian singers, at
which Lord ASKWITH had undertaken to adjudicate. All hope however of
tracing the missing party has not yet been given up, and a wireless
message received at Marconi House on Sunday night states that the
Ringwood police had arrested a partially-clad foreigner in the
neighbourhood of the Rufus-stone.
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[Illustration: A GENERAL STRIKE ON DERBY DAY.