A FAMILY ON SUNDAY ISLAND

Press, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22195, 11 September 1937, Page 19

A FAMILY ON SUNDAY ISLAND

Voyage and Adventure in the Eighties (SPECIALLY WRITTEN FOR THE PRESS BY A. M. ROBSON.) A story of a struggle for existence on Sunday Island by a party of settlers who lived there for two years from October, 1889, is told in these articles. Beginning with a perilous voyage from' Napier to Auckland, on which the small schooner bearing the party.was tossed by high seas for days off East Cape, the narrative is eventful to the end. The courage and resourcefulness of the members of the party, both men and women, were well tested in the difficulties of daily life on the island. The settlement was begun with ambitious intentions to trade in tomatoes and potatoes; but no sooner had the settlers landed than they found that the promised trading vessel would not be provided. Some returned; but the author's family decided to remain. Means of preserving meat and other foodstuffs had to be discovered, and the meagre agricultural resources of the island exploited. Though the story is told with matter-of-fact simplicity, it loses nothing by the lack of stylistic fancies. It is a story that tells itself.

Maori pa (A Waerenga-a-kika). where we were very kindly received by the residents. Permission was given for some of the men to shoot goats for meat—no sheep were procurable just at that particular place although there were sheep stations some miles away. The natives had offered to supply quantiticv of eggs by the time the men returned with the goat's flesh. The schoolmaster and his wife, the only white people in the settlement, kindly entertained the women of the party at lunch. They also invited us to visit the school where the children, about 30 of them, entertained us with songs in English. The National Anthem was sung with the greatest enthusiasm and in perfect harmony. When we returned to the landing we were joined by the hunters and the persons sent to procure the fresh eggs —and how many eggs there were! Up to that time I had never seen sq many gathered together at one time. There were a large clothes-basket and several buckets, all full of eggs. I remember that the schoolmaster was very proud of a black Wyandotte hen which had laid 273 eggs with only a day off now and again, and had never thought of setting. Some members of the crew just sat down by the eggs and ate them raw. One man accounted for 12. Auckland at Last

As many people are at present interested in Sunday Island, a short account of the experiences of my family, which went there from New Zealand tome 48 years ago, may be of interest also. After the New Zealand Government annexed the Kermadec Islands Sn 1887—Sunday Island being the largest of these islands —it offered different areas to the public for lease. Some of the areas were taken up by a syndicate of Napier residents, Mr H. K. Howell and a Mr Ellisore being the organisers. They in their turn appealed to the public to take up shares jn the venture, and this was done by Mine members of my family, with fibers. The scheme was that any person, on payment of £SO, should be given a passage to the islands, a five-acre section on the bills and half an acre on the flat for residential purposes. The idea ires that the settlers should grow early potatoes and tomatoes for the Auckland market, as the residents did on | Norfolk Island. j

A vessel was to be procured, and Has to ply between Sunday Island and New Zealand every six months or as

We returned to the schooner safely with the provisions, which included some greens, and next day we set sail for Auckland. All went well until we reached theen-

trance to Auckland Harbour, which we found enveloped in a dense fog. We then had to go very cautiously till we were hailed by a passing steamer, commanded by Captain Hopkins, coming to port from the CoromandeL He assured our captain that we would be all right if we followed his vessel (which of course was going dead slow) until we could anchor inside North Head. We followed his advice and got in safely. The next morning we were visited by the port authorities and, all being in order, we berthed at the old Queen street wharf. Our arrival caused quite a stir, as the time taken by our voyage from Napier, 19 days, was unheard of. Our people, who had been anxiously looking for letters from Auckland, had begun to ask the Government to make inquiries about our little vessel.

Arranged; between times she was to be engaged in cargo carrying on the coast of New Zealand. Among other encouragements to the public, a doctor ■*»B to accompany the expedition. Knowledge that the island had been Inhabited for some years, and that it fcud a wonderful climate, and the offer , of transport, were enough to make the aembers of my family decide to leave - Raw Zealand and sink or swim in the i venture. So in September, 1889, the "'' Jriter (a bride of three weeks), her , JUHband, mother and father, three | mothers and two sisters, with Mr and ',; M*» Howell, and five other intending "ettiers, loft Napier in the schooner Duaedin (90 tons) for Auckland. AuckI «nd was to be our final port of call, ■wt there we were to get stores, seeds, *to.i to meet our requirements on the ' Wand for six months. Rough Days at Sea [ "This schooner had been engaged' in I 2*lo ■ trade up and down the coast ■ , SLr ew Zea land. She was brought , *E°n» Auckland to Napier, and there J *s* was taken charge of by a man «r!\ a de eP-sea captain's certificate, a s*r?wl certificate not being sufficient JjJJake the little vessel so far away ""» land. By the time she had left JJJJ shelter of the Napier breakwater ™>en being constructed), it was late 'turf l ? ooll ' and tne captain put straight °w: to sea—he was scared of the coast , -.wit was quite unfamiliar to him. Once we met a nead wind and by Sfftfall we were well south of Cape *«wappers! Ai morning came we were still J™** 1 where we had started from. The Z*™* winds lasted for days and we very slow progress, being so far s5«J£ sea that we could not take J«vantag e of the shore winds. We had ssfn» grin of seeing through glasses vessels (recognised by the mate yjjJJJnad brought the schooner from „ *»«c«and) going ahead and passing "■J* <tf sight so one or two nights the wind was T strong and the sea was so rough ««« we were all battened down in tio». Very Bnia H cabins, and the sensamZ. y* a on e of fear and anxiety, nowever, all went well, and nothing "Jjjous happened. «Wh head winds prevailed and we th!2L ei ß nt days struggling against £W* to get round East Cape. How we S 3? 1 ! to hat e that headland. Every ?S<™« th«i cry was, "Where are we?" SJ« It was always the same answer— J*"* behind East Cape." At last we g*«wed East Cape and ran into Hick's 2jy w> try to secure fresh food from JFraWtte, Maori or pakeha, for by this iSFOjor stock of fresh meat and veget«oJe» was almost exhausted. The run ?°»a Napier to Auckland should have g**a five or six davs, which was the •Srtrf by the Dunedin on P revi " Goats Shot for Meat

All the passengers and the crew were very relieved to re/ich port. Most of them were visiting Auckland for the first time, and to them the occasion was very exciting. Any time that could be spared from shopping and getting together the necessary equipment for a sub-tropical island was spent in sight-seeing in and round the city. The spring annuals were blossoming everywhere, .with camellias and other spring-flowering shrubs. We all had to spend at least one evening at "Fullers'," which was then producing a very fine vaudeville show. (To be continued.)

A Friend of Kings When the King arrived at Deeside on a recent visit one old friend will not greet him. The funeral service of Arthur Grant, for many years head stalker to King Edward VII and King George V was held a few days earlier in Crathie Church. Up to his death, at the age of 82, Grant remained a great Scottish character. Even blunter in his speech than Queen Victoria s John Brown, he was never known to say "Your Majesty" or even ,Sir to V*s first call when he arrived on the estate was always on Arthur Grant. On one such occasion the King walked up to the door of the stalker's house, and, getting no answer to his knock, proceeded through to the yard at the back. Here he found Grant with an armful of firewood. Oh, its vou is it, that is rakmft abqpt! said Grant. /'Step in and I'll be wi* ye in a ""whenever the King took his sons to see the stalker. Grant would say: "Come in, come in, man, and we II nae a St dram afore the talk." He would then hand the King a glass of whisky. When the King's thirst was quenched the host refilled the glass and handed it to the nearest Prince, and so on until all had partaken and conversation could begin. * * * Earl Baldwin at Home On the eve of his seventieth birthday, recently, Earl Baldwin, or Mr Stanley Baldwin as he is still known to the villagers of Astley, Worcestershire, won his eighteenth gold medal for his exhibition of hot-house fruits and plants at the local flower show. He walked with the aid stick to receive his prize from his daughter-in-law, the Hon. Mrs Windham Baldwin. '1 have got a bit lame," he explained, "and can hardly stand on one leg because of rheumatism, a complaint you know well in the Severn Valley. But not having had any illness for 70 years, I am probably making a bit more fuss about it than most people."

J*e leaders of the expedition, with 3Jte other members and some of the MP, landed in the ship's boat at the