The Ashburton Guardian. Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. WEDNESDAY, APRIL 24, 1888. AN ISLAND COMMUNITY.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1824, 25 April 1888, Page 2

The Ashburton Guardian. Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. WEDNESDAY, APRIL 24, 1888. AN ISLAND COMMUNITY.

The famous story of Daniel Defoe, known to all the world as " the history of JRobinson Crusoe," will probably be one of the classics of boyhood for many generations to come, and will still continue to effect as it has effected m the past not a little for the cause of [ colonisation by inspiring a longing for ■ adventure m distant parts of the earth. It even has a fascination for grown men, who are after all but children on a larger scale, and is one of the best examples m literature of how much can be made by a clever pen out of a very small amount of material m the way of fact, for Alexander Selkirk, who was the model for Defoe's famous hero, was a much more prosaic individual than the fictional and picturesque Crusoe. Yet there was an Alexander Selkirk and he is not the only example, perhaps by many, of men who have lived out their lives as castaways on far away, perhaps m some cases even yet undiscovered islands. Indeed, there is doubtless the material for many a romance hidden away m island solitudes, and every now and then we get a glimpse of incidents which would form the basis of more famous stories of the Crusoe type, fcuch an one has just been recorded m connection with Palmerston Island, which has hitherto been supposed to be uninhabited, but which proves to be the home of a very interesting community. This is the story of the discovery as told by telegraph : — " The barque Queen's Island, which has arrived at Newcastle from San Francisco, reports that when passing Palmerston Island m lat, 18deg. 50min t-'outh, longitude lG4deg 13rnin West, a boat containing eight persons put off to the vessel. The chief of the island, William Marston, stated that he ran away from the British barque Rifleman m Tahiti twenty- five years ago. After spending two or three years "on Palmerston Island, he undertook to plant it with cocoanuts, and has resided there ever since. 'ihere were thirtythree persons on the island. Marston had married a half caste Kanaka woman, i and was the father of eleven sons and four daughters. All the islanders speak English fluently, and the family appear to live on the happiest of terms, Captain Eeid supplied tho islanders with a variety of articles and provisions, and received cocoanuts m return. Marston stated that he did a good trade m copra with small vessels." Here is an interesting and altogether unexpected discovery, and one which goes to prove the old adage that truth is stranger than fiction.