WORLD'S LONELIEST SPOT.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 53, 2 March 1907, Page 9

WORLD'S LONELIEST SPOT.

THE DESOLATE CROZETISLANDS. ISOLATED; BARREN, AND TEM-PEST-WRACKED. Straining their eyes to the sky-line, across fierce and angry, seas;. hoping against hope for the sight , of a succouring sail;. tortured by doubt as- to. the . fate of 'gallant comrades Who. set forth in t-%..frail craft .taui.seek. help .w perish? l&'ffi<yW^mffi^&YiSj&fit£' • mariners are at present on _one :of the lonely and rugged Chrbzet Islands, low down in the Indian Ocean, waiting, and hoping for release. . On : December Ja4t;_ loadei.ijnrithl blubber and sealskins,;the 127ton.Nor- :- wegian schooner -Ciptaiii Ree, rode at anchor off Possession Island. ■■" Suddenly, out of the east, -came a fierce blast, before the strength ;of •which anchors'were useless. The- little vessel: drifted, s and finally' struck. Upon a tremendous sea the c-rew^launched'a boat, and, getting clear of the doomed schooner* -were presently drawn, high and dry upon a beach. Early in January, the captain and two •of his crewput to sea in a 20ft boat. A thousand miles were covered; the brave fellows were, ) almost } perished, when they -were picked- up by the Dutch ship DeKiueyfer. Captain Ree and his comrades are now in Melbourne, and the relief- of those still on the island is to be accomplished. .The Crozet Islands, which were discovered by Captain, : Crozet, a French navigator, in the year 1772, are practically on the edge of the world. They are loneliness and desolation personified. Mariners shun the vicinity, fdr it is a dangerous- region. Rusting-on the shores are anchors and cables, relics'of long past disasters! The. place is left to the .undisputed ,possession of seals and sea fowl.. The islands have provided a temporary home for more than one shipwrecked crew, who in their • extremity have made for the desolate spot in their boats,, and. have lingered on:for longer or' shorter periods until rescued. Where are lonely specks on the , ocean? Glance -at-a map of the .world. Considerably south, and east. of Africa you will observe, several dots. Those are the Crozets. A, miriner would describe them as being situated in the" parallels of latitude between ; 46 and 47' degrees south, and longitude. between 46 and 50 decrees east. In Captain Cook's voyages the islands are stated to, be only four in,number; but there are .five. The weather in these latitudes being generally foggy, one of the islands mignt easily have been overlooked by that mariner. Of the three westernmost; the two smaller: islands lie about SO miles apart. The smallest is six miles" in circumference, and is, distant 12 miles from the largest. T3ie other is twice -the size, and is about 30 miles distant. The largest of these has a circumference of about 25 miles. The other islands am about 70 or 80 miles eastward,-and lie some dozen miles apart. . . . '. ■ To the leeward of the largest island is a reef of rocks about five or six miles out. On this island there are many hogs. They are very large, and exeefiingly numerous, and a creature which is of great value to unfortunates cast away there is the sea elephant. The sketch . given is a reproduction from a drawing, authenticated by a. - of a ship's company who spent nearly, two years on the island. The drawing gives an idea of the iron-bound chai'acter of the coast, and showsthe mode adopted for killing the useful,sea-elephant. The largest of the creatures are about .-25 ft; long, and 18ft round. The blubber, is frequently 7in thick,.; and they yield much oil. : Tke fleshy protuberance at the snoutj particuhxrly; in the males, has. theaappear.r r . ance of a proboscis, and it is to this, and .their great size, that the name seaelephant =is due. : - , .These animals, although, of enormoue size, offer scarce any resistance. Their tameness makes them easy prey. They are sluggish in tbejor mpyeinentßj »nd w,

consequently, easily killed. The-mode of, despatching them is shown in the picture." A blow is administered on the: nose with, rthe>flatside of ; a lance.. The creatures then T-ear on their fore flippers; and, pre-- _ senting thus the parts most, easily pcnetrjated, the lance may be used with good effect. more back-; . wards; withoutr changing the ,upright:po3itioju '- . -:} -:;.- '■ . # • ..'•'.' ; ■- :: Great numbers .of birds, visjit these is--ilands; ■ These in addition to the - ottepa the ~*- Macarbonys, and: Rock JSoppeirs. Other birds are king birds, petrels,\hawks, <■ «nd-divers.' There are numeroiis bog holes on .the - island, ;and; these make rather dangerous.- ,- Some/ of these, holes are ten. qr a dozen feet across,.eight or. ten feet deep, and are; filled -with soft, slimy mud. TKesoilof 'the island is of a \ character which would require great la- / ■ bpur to: bring it into cultivation- There; is a plant which ?: in appearance,rreseinbles •' "a - cabbage,-but it is .very bitter;;and the' -.-•/, only ■ way in wbicji it; can: be - rendered: at * ■'-. all palatable.is by boiling it -.for. several. : hours. 4 Fish■;.;are plentiful, and "easily; -; ■caught.■with, primitive' appliances. i-tThus, •. :>v • while there is no great variety of-;food-'to;,' >. be obtained at this lonely place, there is; sufficiency to sustain life. I .; Some" Americans found themselves :: stranded. on the, island, as far back' as 1805. The fact was ascertained by thecrew of/the Princess of < Wales.::(cutter), 75 tons, who were cast away ;ifiere- da' March, 1820,-and who, stay . on the island, dug up a quantity- 1 of■ 'tiin-'.'.-* - ber, old iron, nails, etc.,. from "the remains of a hut. The date was ascertained by the tallies, of seal-skins, seals at that' time, being very, plentiful.- J Therei were also found traces of ,kuts which had' I been built on another island. At the time: that the Princessof Wales men were'east away there was neither tree nor'shrub on the island, which from the sea sented a perpendicular; cliff, witinumer^' , "but rocks protruding into the" water. , About seventeen years ago a British man-o'-war, in search of a sMpwrecked. crew, .visited the Crr>zete, and left provisions oa two of the islands. Tie crew of the Catherine, found that the hut erected had been demolished by ; the winds, and that much, of the food left had been de- ! stroyed. There is, hbwever> plenty of fresh water on the island. A notice to mariners,-dated the first of the present year, gives informatioi which, was not borne out by the experience of Captain See and his men. It may be that the shipwrecked crew have failed "to find theplace where the provisions were stored or some other castaways' may' have availed themselves of the stores. The nrocla maiion reads:— t " / depots for the benefit of shipwrecked persons are established at .Hog P lsland, in a hu?W' the landing-place on the eastern side In ' 1887 the French vessel La Meurthe left at' this depot one ton of preserved beef half biscuits, three-quarter hundredweight sardines in oU, 20 blankets, 15 pair shoes, and 15 pairs cloth trousers, all 'carefully pickedin boxes J, also two spears; two hatchets, and cooking utensils - ".Possession Maud.—The depot consista l oflmts, about 100 : yaxds frbn? 4e^2? V in the south-east corner ofAmerieaii JW » (where ,the . Catherine was which is the east} s ide of the' island" and aboutseven miles from the, north-east point. H-M.S.' Comus in , 1880, left here sufficient S people f0r.50 days; also jerseys, tx oUS ers- : stockings,and shoes. The provisions -were mtact>yhen the island was vidted'bV the IVench yeasel La Meuxthe. in 1887 " Meanwhile, on that lonely specfa ii ; ocean, exposed to the fuxy' of the d≤' ceaseless gales, and to tte cold, sufiSS on such.fare,as.can>be secured by Mim? r tiye means of capture, the slu P^iec S •■ manners cUng teiife an d hopefw?fw ; relief which seems; to «r anu- But the jo^^ ' their captein, those who accSg^ [) ha ™B "*4 toppfly, the casSayt will aoon be .■Mβ* Ix<moi*u i ---■■. '• ■ v : . . .■■:.. - _ . ■ ■