PITCAIRN ISLAND.

Auckland Star, Volume LIII, Issue 82, 6 April 1922, Page 3

PITCAIRN ISLAND.

THE PLACE AITD ITS INHABITANTS. ABUNDANCE OF VEGETATION. A collection of photos of the Ulan of Pitoairn and the small fcand 01 islanders who inhabit it has been secured by an officer on the steamer City of Winchester, and these pictures give a remarkably vivid impression o£ the appearance of the island and. the customs and dres s of the inhabitants. The Piteairn Islanders, now about 170 in number, are descended mainly from the mutineers of the Bounty, and thoir Tahitian wives are a healthy, virtuous, cheerful and hospitable people, proud of their English blood. There is no anchorage except on a bank in the west, and even the best of the landing places —Bounty Bay on the north coast —is dangerous from the violence of the surf and the existence of a strong undertow. The longer axis of the island, running about three miles from east to west, is formed by a range of steep hills, attaining in Outlook Ridge a height of just over 1000 feet. On a plateau about 400 feet above the sea lies the village of Adamstown with its fields and gardens. The climate is variable and rainy, and snow sometime- falls on the mountain, but as there are no springs or streamlets drinking water is apt to become scarce in a dry season. Vegetation i s luxuriant, though theTe are ridges too precipitous for plants to grow, and in the sheltered parts tropical fruit- of all kinds grow in abun-dam-e. Neither the bread fruit nor the eocoanut introduced by the settlers have been fully successful; but the sweet potato, which forms the staple product of the island, is a heavy cropper. Whit? houses built after the American style can be seen from the sea, among the trees. Steamers pass frequently, and if it UJdaj- time they heave to for an hour or so off the shore, and the islanders, who have seen them approaching, are there in their four boats, each person with two baskets, carrying fruit and small articles such a = large shells painted with flowers, to exchange for clothes and goods from the outside world.