PACIFIC ISLANDS

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 184, 21 August 1937, Page 5

PACIFIC ISLANDS

— Preaa ABaociatipn,

Britain Confirms Her Sovereignty NOTICE BOARDS ERECTED

By Telograph'

AULKLAIND, THlS Day. The new cruiser Leander, on its wtay from England to Auckland, re-affimed the annexation by Britain of threp uninhabited islets neax' Pitcairn islancla nd confirmed Britain 's eiaim to their ownership. In each case the ship's carpenter prepared a goodsized noticeboard on which a signwriter painted the assertion: "This ialand belongs to His Majesty King George VI. It was visiL ed by H.M.S. Leander on — - 1937. (Signed) J. W. Itivett-Cnrnac, Captain R.N." The notices were firmly planted and fiags hoisted on 20ft, poles by landing partieg from the Leander, One call was at Henderson Islahd, northTeast pf Pitcairn, a rocky island %\ miles wida whictf was often vipited by Pitcairn Islanders searphing for wood tq use for fuel and fences. Although uninhabited it showcd traces of prfivious pccupation. Other islands yisited were the coral atolls known pn pld atlasses and admiralty charts as Ducie and Oeno, north of Pitcairn. Both have wide fringos of coral reef with wide inner lagoons of cairn water. Only a few sparge cocoanut palms grow on tbe low land and in the core of the atolls. There were signs of callers, which may hpve indicated the ubiquitous Japanese in quest of pearls, troclxus shel, sponges, or beche-de-mer, but there were no signs of anypne living on the islapds, Possibly these smootk lagoons may in the near future'be havens for §eaplanes wifiging across the Pacific.