NEWS OF THE PITCAIRN ISLANDERS.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 5, Issue 199, 11 August 1916, Page 3 (Supplement)

NEWS OF THE PITCAIRN ISLANDERS.

WOMAN'S VISIT TO THE PACIFIC OUTPOST. From Mrs. Seoresby Rotft'edge, who has reached England after a three years' cruise In the Pacific on board tho little schooner Mana, Reuters Agency has received some details oi a visit paid to the remote Pitc-airn Island, whose inhabitants are the descendants of the mutineers of the Bounty \\*ho colonised the island in 1790. The place is too remote to be visited by the small trading vessels which piy among the neighbouring groups, and it is only at extremely rare intervals that a warship is detached to call at this loyal litt;o outpost of me Empire. On t'iic Mana being sighted a bell was rung, and a boat was filled with sturdy men, European in appearance, hut of a .-allow white complexion, who rowed "out, and jn good English invited Mr. and Mrs. lloutledge to land. They were told that the next day wotild be the Sabbath —which was surmising, as the day was then Friday. The visitors landed in a small cov\ reai'iied through drenching surf, the boat assuming an almost perpendicular position. On c'ambering up a <'cep path cut out of the rock, the strangers were greeted by a group in white Sunday attire. Service ra held in accordance with the tenets of the Seventh Day Adventists, and during the sermon the preacher predicted that the present war was only t'he beginning of the trouble in store. Tobacco, alcohol, and pork are forbidden, and the use of tea and coffee i■? discouraged. The wholu atmosphere 'J the island was as if a Pacific island were suddenly transported to Puritan England or bygone Scotland. Unstinted hospitality was given to the visitors, and the whole male population worked gratuitously on excavating prehistoric sites lor two whole days Men's of an attractive, but primitive kind were given in the lill',<■ wooden lions.'s of the islanders. .Mrs. Routledge s-u- that the standard of life on Pitea.Tii is distinctly higher than that of an English village. The island is administered by a "Lower Houv," comprising a chairman and two members, but subordinate to ~ie Council," consisting of the chief magistrate, with two assessors and a secretary. \V!ien the Mann left Pitcairn she brought awav two islanders, who are new on a visit to England.