PITCAIRN ISLAND.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 5, Issue 219, 20 October 1916, Page 4 (Supplement)

PITCAIRN ISLAND.

WHERE EVERYONE IS HAPPf. In a little cove of Southampton Water, almost tropical under the hot sun. 1 talked with Jite Piteairn Islanders, who last week h;id been received by the King and Queen at Buckingham la la ce (says a correspondent of the " Daily Chronicle".) They have come from one of the furthest outposts of the Empire—so remote that 'it had scarcely heard of the war unt/I tli; yacht Man a, with Mr. and Mrs. Seoresl>\ Routledge on board, anchored off this lonely spot in the South Pacitij about a year ano. The Mana, bearing the honourab'e scars of a long and advenurous voyage, lay just off the shore.. EdwiV Young, the junior of the two Piteairn youths who had made the voyage t( England with the Routledges, waxed enthusiastic about her sailing qualit:es. A wonderful boat, one gathered, on which they had lived happily during the last eleven months. She is aohg mto dock to be refitted very soon, an I when that is accomplished the Youngs will depart, by whatever route comes handy, for ther native island. For they are apparently home-sick.

LITHE ACTIVE FELLOWS. It is not surprising. They are lithe, activo young fellows —Charles, ttr.elder, over six feet in height, Edw ii not very much shorter —but one fancies that they have had almost enough of tho strenuous lite, and long for tie quiet, dreamy existence of the Southern Seas. They are intelligent young men, speaking colloquial English with what may he described as a slightly Transatlantic accent, but otherwise undeliled. They reflect great credit on tlio educational system of Pit-cairn, but probably more upon the tuition tlnv have rece'ved on board the Mana. " Yes, I suppose we are all related on the island," said Edwin. "The only people who have come to it in my time from outside were an America.! and his son. They were part of -i shipwrecked crew, who alter a timo were nil taken off. Hut tins man, who belonged to San Franscisco, when he got home found that his wife was dead, -.o he came back wtn liis son, and Jut-; lived there ever since.

WE HAVE ALL WE WAXT." '■S'irhj of us go ,away from timo <o I: me on ships, but ■we nearly always etmil, l'ur the isiaud is pleasant to live in, and there are no troubles, no lighting. Wo have all we want there ana are happy."' "We are groat-great-grandsons M dshipman \oung, of the Bounty,'' they told me. There is no record oi a Midshipman Young >:n the history i f the mutiny on the Bounty, though it is possible he was one of the party wnv accompanied Fletcher Christian, L-I.e loader of the mutiny, when, in 1790, he took possession of Piteairn Island, and burned the Bounty. But all the inh.ibtants of the island, are, 11 course, of mixed race, for the wires > I the mutineers wore Polynesian women trom Tahiti. When the Youngs lert the population of the island numbered CO, divided into 30 families. That i> apparently as many as the area of two .square m'les can comfortably support, for life is very primitive, and whit farming >s carried on cannot be described as intensive.

HIGHLY TREASI'RED CATS. There are, no cattle or sheep. The fauna of Pitca ru consists of goats fowls, cats, and rats. In order that the last-named may not multiply too greatly, the killing of a cat on the island is .something equivalent to high treason. The truth seems to be that, given ■> sufficiency of yams, melons, oranges, bananas .and pineapples, with what fish they can catch, and an ocacsional goat or chicken, the s'mple wants of tlio islanders arc satisfied. They do not yearn for the trimmings of civilisation, beyond a little clothing, kerosene oil. soap, and candles, and even returning voyagers from distant clime? br,'ng no leaven of luxury with them.

• SURPRISES IX STOKE/' J] AJ OR BAWD'S HINT ON TH E Ul EST lON 01' REPRISALS. ijor Baird, replying tor the Gov ermneiii to ;i debate on air polity iu the House of Commons, pointed out that we had just dropped seven tons of bombs on the German lines, and we ought to allow the responsible officers to decide where they should use the explosives. Jf the choice lay hetweci: dropping explosives on soldiers, muniton factories, and artillery in the field. 011 the one hand, and on peaceful towns where there were women and children on the other hand, he would plank hifaith on the former. But there might be some surprising things in store for Germany, which it would be unwise to announce beforehand.

HIS TAKING WAYS Not lung ago the editor of an English paper ordered a story of a certain length, but when the story arrivid Indiscovered that tl»' author had written several hundred words too many. The paper was already late in go : ;n, lo press, so there was no alternative—tile story must be condensed to fit tiio allotted spate. Therefore the lest fc'v p'iragra])hs were cut down to a single sentence. It read tltiis: — "The earl took a Scotch whisky. Irs hat, his departure, no notice of his pursuers, a revolver out of his hiopocket, and, finally, his life."'