shipstamps.co.uk

"TE KOROBA": A Gilbert Islands canoe that was built around 1910 on the island of Abaiang, where the origin of canoeing in the Gilbert Islands is suspected. The inside of the canoe was made from a coconut tree, the outside probably from floating material from a sailing shipwreck. Their large sail was made from "pandanus nut tree" mats; it could carry 30 people. Used under King George V's rule to distribute mail across the islands. In 1959 it was rebuilt in the original material, but its sail was made of "canvas" and it could only carry 7 people. In Dec. 1973 she ran on to the Buariki reef in Northern Tarawa.

Source: Gilbert & Ellice Is.P.O
Gilbert and Ellice Islands 1974 4c sg 232, scott?