NORFOLK ISLAND — "THE MADEIRA OF THE PACIFIC"

Chronicle (Levin), 12 April 1947, Page 3

NORFOLK ISLAND — "THE MADEIRA OF THE PACIFIC"

Early in 1943 a . small party known as N-Force left ' Auckland lo relieve tlie New Zealand garrison on Norfolk Island. Witl this force wt'nc six members- oi army inteliigvnce who were to work in secret on this small outpost, preparing maps and other , data as a prelude to landings in the Pacific by New Zealand and American forcec. With their work . completed at the end of about f our months, and while awaiting the arrival of an American troopship to bring them back to New Zealand, these men compiled a short history of the beautiful island of Norfolk — the Madeira of the Pacific. The following are a few extraets from this history which are being published for the first time. Although only 630 miles from Auckland, the average New Zealander knows very little " about Norfolk, and it was not until a few weeks ago when the Australian Government hinted that Norfolk was to be made into a. pleasure resort and a luxury hotel built on the island that many people realised its importance, both as a Pacific outpost during the war and as a possible market garden • for New Zealand. Under the control of the Australian Government, Norfolk lies in latitude 29.48 and longitude 167.59 east, and is -about 800 miles due east of Ballina, in New South Wales, which is the nearest point of the Australian pontinent. It is distant about 930 miles from Sydney, 980 miles from Suva and 450 from Noumea. Its foundations are volcanic and probably it has some remote geological connection with New Zealand. The flora is closely associated with that of the Dominion, and the avifauna i'ndicates the same connection rather than one with Australia, as those birds that belong to Australia genera are apparently immij grants, while those which occur on the island, in common with New Zealand, would be incapable of such distant migration. ,The island has an area of between 8000 and 9000 acres and there are woods of the famous Norfolk Island pine trees, which in i their native setting form some ! glorious scenery. The coastline comprises mostly cliffs with the exception of about a mile on the south side, where it is comparatively low lying. Here green meadows slope down to the golden beaches of the lagoon, which is . sheltered by a coral reef, and here1 lies Kingston, the second oldest ; British settlement in the Pacific,, only a few days younger than t Svdney Cove. i "The island was aiscovered by j Captain Cook in 1774,- and report- i ed to be fertile and uninhabited. j Accounts were ssnt to England of } its tall straight trees, and of the ] New Zealand flax wnich grew | ! abundantly. These attracted the : : attention of the authorities j : engaged in preparations for a con- j ! vict settlement in New South / Wales, so that when Captain 1

Phillip sailed in 1787 with the l first fieet he was rnstrucued, as • soon as circumstances would per-' l rnit, to send a small establishmt/ni to the island to secure iG for uie i Crown. Phillip lost no time in comply- ■ mg wich his instructions and on Feoruary 14, 1788, dispatched the armed tender "Suppiy" with a party of 23, includmg nine male and six female convicts, under che command of. Lieutenant P. G. 1 King. It was this gentleman who was reputedto have been the first to have described Norfolk as "The Madeira of the Pacific." indeed, so glowing were the accounts rurnished oy the first occupants that the British Government was almost inclined to regret that the penal settlement had not been rounded there instead of at Port Jackson. The population of the island, chiefly supplied by the stream of convict ships then employed in removing from British gaols those condemned under the transportation laws of the day, soon mounted to about 1000, at which figure it remained for the next 15 years. Considerable areas of land were cleared and planted, partly on oehalf of the public and partly on the individual account of , the convicts, whom it appears to have oeen desired to transform into settlements. Many of these had ,heir homes scattered widely over the island, and by diligent labour, aided by the most fruitful soil, it was not long before chey rendered themselves independent of suppiies from the pubuc store. The' troubles apparently insep-

arable from the convict stations of those days — dissatisfaction among the soldier guards and attempted revolts on the part of the convicts — gave much anxiety to the various commanding officers. But it was chiefly the need of all available soldiers and convicts to aid in the establishment of new stations in Tasmania that ied to orders being given in 1803 for the abandoning of the Norfolk station. These were only partly complied with, as difficulties occurred in attempting to transport the settlers, who, having tndured the burdens entailed by the creation out of the wilderness of homes for themselves, were naturally unwilling to face 'similar trials in repeating the process elsewhere. Divided counsel existed in English Government circles, but the orders of 18Q3. were emphatiqally affirmed in" 1806. It was not, however, until 1813 that the process of removal was completed and the last settlers left Norfolk and arrived in Tasmania, where the name "New Norfolk" served as a reminder of the earlier homes of its first white inhabitantk In the next instajment pf ; this history it is hoped to relate the" story of the second penal settlement of Norfolk— the Norfolk [sland immortalised by Marcus Clark in his book, "For the Term Df His Natural Life."