Forgotten Isles of the South

Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 60, 12 March 1938, Page 6 (Supplement)

Forgotten Isles of the South

PORSAKEN islands, formerly * regarded as useless, threaten to-day to become bones of contention among the nations seeking to develop their air line routes across the Pacific Ocean. Dotted over the vast expanse of water that lies between the most southern point of New Zealand and the region brought into prominence by the Byrd Expedition and tin* Norwegian whalers, the distance from Little America being about 2000 miles, there are numerous islands beaten by lonely billows and, at times, lashed by Ini ions gales. They harbour no life, save that of animal and bird. A permanent habitation on these solitary islands is unthinkable. After a couple of years or less the modern Robinson f'rusoes are glad to get back to human society. Yet the life lias its compi nsal inns. Xo postman arrives to deliver a "I hereby demand" notice from the ( ommissioner of Taxes or the curt notices from other br»v (io\ernrmou or municipal organs reminding of certain old iga t ions.

They Have Had Their Day In tho days of the windjammers manv a flno craft came to an inglorious anil lonely end on the inhospitable shores •.ml against the. frowning cliffs of the islands of the sub-Antarctic. Tales of adventnres and romance, too, could be related of the wild days a century ago when whalers from Australia, New Zealand and America hunted the leviathans of tho deep with primitive appliances. This industry, as well as seal-hunting, continued in full blast till about half a century ago. It lias been revived within tlie last few years by elaboratelyequipped expeditions with modern appliances to deal more scientifically with the work. Sub-Antarctic islands are rarely vmhted. I'll the Norwegians commenced whaling operations (about a dozen years ago) they were regarded as No-Men's Lands. Further attention was directed to them by the Byrd expedition traversing these lonely seas on the way to the pack-ice. Practically the only visits paid to them wore by the New Zealand Government steamers twice a year in order to discover if there were any shipwrecked people marooned on them, or to lay food depots for the use of any who might be shipwrecked there.

Perhaps the most interesting group is the Auckland Islands, which comprise one main island and several small ones, all intersected by narrow channels. In the days of the clipper ships, wool-laden vessels sailed from Australian ports round the south of New Zealand; thence down by way of Cape Horn, and across tho Atlantic to England. The flrat is hind* encountered after the ships left Australia were the Aucklands, which are about ISO miles south of New Zealand.

A* an indication that they took heavy I ''H "f shipping :n those days, it may be mentioned that in 1859, when HfIU.S. Challenger visited the islands four wrecks were found there. At certain seasons of the year the Aucklanda present a very sight. There the rata tree luxuriates i.. all its Jnagnificance. It is of a richer hue than the New Zealand variety, in many cases being blood-red. Its accompanying green foliage makes the sight well worth seeing. Rare birds haunt the rocky fastnesses. The mighty wandering albatross

beats its immense wings over the islands. The sooty albatross and the flightless duck abounding there are no. less interesting. Sea lions are plentiful. Though the face of Nature is more familiar to them than that of man, the immense animals (some weighing two tons) show no hostility to the wayfarers who occasionally visit their domain. A curious trait of the sea lion is that ashore they aro on terms of friendship with the penguins, but a meeting of the two in the water is fraught with danger to the penguins, if they are not quick enough to get out of the way. So plentiful are the sea lions that the only paths through the islands are those made by them. The sea monsters are so good tempered that there is little to fear from those met on the traik. They do not seem to realise their strength f«r aggressive action against prying man. Despite the furious gales that assail the rock bound islands, the Auckland:are a •botanist's paradise. Away back in 1 > lu Sir Joseph Hooker, the eminent botanist, spent some time on the islands when lie was a member of the Ross l'xpedition that visited the far southern islands. Anent this visit nearly a centjiry auo, in 1!)'27 Dr. G. Einar du Rietz, 1 rotes-,>r of Zoology at the Royal I niversity of t'psala. Sweden, spent some time on the islands in the interest >'f Ins bra tub of science. He discovered that Sir d.veph Hooker had confused certain botanical specimens there with those in New Zealand of a similar character. 1 he Swedish scientist gave

it as his opinion that what has become an established belief regarding certain plants as a resu 1 ;, sf Hookers researches will have to be levised and the plants renamed. Next in importance to the Auckland Islands are the Campbell Islands. This group lies about 300 miles soutli of New Zealand. S«ne years ago a syndicate sent down a party of men with a consignment of sheep. After a couple of years' isolation the men were glad to return to New Zealand. The subsequent slump led to the abandoment of the sheep to their fate. What must be the loneliest grave in the world is shown to the rare visitors who chance to sail in these remote waters. About a hundred years ago this woman was taken from Scotland in a whaler and placed on the uninhabited Right: This fying penguin is really a queen. That outlhrusl chest, prideful of the brood of two, gives her an amazing legal dignity. Belorv: This is not the penguins' hour of prayer. Nor is it even penguinal curiosity. It is the action of a colony of penguins in hatching their eggs in the open and all together.

islands, with a woman attendant. Some cold and calculated barbarity must lie behind the motive for the action. She died and was buried there.

For a century nothing satisfactory has been ascertained regarding the strange case. As is usual in such cases, conjecture has been busy. One popular belief is that the lady marooned on the Campbell Islands was a member of the Royal House of Stuart, and was banished for some dynastic reason. Historical research, however, discounts this theory, but the belief persists among those interested in the mystery. Her grave is seen to-day covered with Scotch heather—a little bit of Auld Sectia in strange surroundings. The woman's hut in ruins remains with a shell-paved path running down to the seashore—the last vestiges of a mystery to puzzle mankind.

The royal albatross is very tame and will permit man to approach its nest (built like a mound) and touch the egg on which it is sitting. The wandering albatross and other interesting birds are plentiful. The introduction of pigs, it is feared, will result in the extinction of the islands' fauna. A French scientific expedition went to this lonely outpost in 1878 to observe the transit of Venus, which was seen at its best there. The stone and concrete foundations on which the scientific instruments were erected remain undisturbed at what is known as Venus Cove. The Snares, a group of islands difficult to land on, hare something to distinguish tliem from the innumerable other islands scattered over the angry seas fringing the Antarctic continent. Peculiar to the Snares is the fern-bird, which differs from the species found in New Zealand. It and the robins on the islands are quite tame. Dr. Du Reitz said that the plant life on the Snares was similar to that on the islands in the North Atlantic, lying off the coast of Norway. The penguins, and other birds, tbo, according to the doctor, are similar to the birds in the North Atlantic, and are doing the same, harmful work:,killing off plant life.

Another group, the Bounty Islands, in winter time are assailed by angry seas, which sweep right over the islands. Vegetation is, therefore, non-existent. Penguins abound on these islands. In fact the humorous birds are so thick that tliey literally carpet the ground. One has actually to make tracks through thein in order to make walking possible. This leads to voluble protests and much head-wagging of sage old penguins at the intruders' temerity in trespassing on their preserves. Penguin oil and guano create an overpowering smell, and the whistling from the myriads of birds is most eerie. The Penguins' Constitutional

At the landing places along the shore are seen two streams of penguins 011 the move all day long; the shore party going down to the sea from the rookeries, all dirty; and the clean penguins marching up like a well-drilled battalion in dress uniform, to the rookeries. It is curious to see the stream of clean penguins avoiding their soiled friends of the opposing regiment, "just out of the line." Laughable, too, is it to see and hear the vehement arguments between the "cleans" and the "dirties."

When the penguins are coming in from the sea to the land they dive when about ten feet away from the shore and come shooting up from the depths like rockets. The reason apparently is that by this means they get sufficient momentum to carry them to the high ground. The Antipodes islands have points in common with other sub-Antarctio islands, Crested and red-eyed penguins clutter the place. So numerous are they that the birds occupy nearly every inch of rock and earth. Two different kinds of parakeets inhabit the Ant ipodes—one is green with a red head; the other is of smaller colour, but with a yellow breast. Curious to relate these birds live' in burrows. There are many other islands fringing the great continent of ice that are iarelv visited—some of them never. With the possibility of the Antarctic Continent some dny demanding an air route—the development of the whaling industry is one factor that might make it desirable —these islands are likely to emerge from their seclusion.