WORLD’S QUEEREST ISLAND.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 15 November 1924, Page 10

WORLD’S QUEEREST ISLAND.

SABA .HAS THE PALM. 9*- a ll the. queer islands in the world, surely Saba must be. awarded the paljii.. It is. only a small island, having an area of, five square miles, aiid: its peculiar. shape has . given 'it 'its 4ss® °t “Napoleon’s Cocked' Hat. It is in the Dutch West: In-‘ d l®?> in the Leeward , Group, 40; miles iiohth-west of, St. Kitts, and is merely a , volcano which rises out ' of the sea to ’a height of ioOOft., only the peakhemg .above water, says the Blue Peter. The sides are almost sheer, and, as there is ’ generally a heavy surf breaking all found it, it is an exttiemely difficult and dangerous place on; which to land. It has no harbour or anything resembling a harbour; it has no beach, and no landing-place or safe'anchor-, age. It has ' no roads, no springs •no timber glows oil the' island' and no hoh is to -be'-found;. It 'is so• rockV aiid; 1 l that the only.means of commit-; location between house and house.Vare footpaths. Yet this .apparently inhospitable spot supports a population 1 -of about 2000. For water the inhabitants depend on rain, which they catch in tanks The island is Dutch;; and unlike all the other West Indian Islands, the inhabitants are. white. Most of the population is 'Dhtch. Yet the inhabitants speak English.. ■ ' The only town on Saha is at tlie top Q‘- the mountain; so they must needs. oaJl. it Bottom. The, town has hardly an ideal site, for it, is inside the crater; it. is just ' like Jiving in the. bottom or a teacup. The citizens have to climb up the sides to see the. sea, and if they wish to descend to the waters edge they must take a path about as steep as the fioof of a house; and then climb down the “Ladder ” a sort of stairway bn the side' of the cuff, with steps cut out of' the rock; Most people would rather die than attempt that “Ladder;"’ The mere sight of it makes the average man dizzy'; vet, everything, stores, provisions; etc., has to be taken tin that wav. There is no pither way." The town ifcsfcdf r is' merely a jumble of, small houses'set down where possible. • The principal industry of this community, which has. no wood and no iron, is, of all things, shipbuilding! they are good, shipbuilders, too. Their boats and small craft are famous throughout the Windward Islands. Their, boats anti fishing smacks. are actually built inside the crater, hauled, up the edge, and thep lowered into the sea. As_ a final inconsistency; Saba, though it has no harbour, niimberk a harbourmaster among its high officials. ’ '