PACIFIC VOYAGE Willis Scouts Migration

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30288, 14 November 1963, Page 19

PACIFIC VOYAGE Willis Scouts Migration

(Special Correspondent APIA, November 13. Dressed in a cool khaki shirt and slacks • “ and relaxing in the lounge of Aggie Grey’s ’ - Hotel in Apia, the lone raft voyager, 70-year- > old William Willis, today told more about his *♦. epic trip from Callao to Samoa.

Still unsteady on his feet •‘•iter more than four months -.of constant pitching, Willis • nag not lost his appetite: his mea l ashore at lunch '.today was vegetable soup, .•* large helping of curry with f**n extra egg, beans, potatoes. ♦ oread and butter, jelly and "♦•peara followed soon after by .♦tea and cakes. '♦- Wfllii denied his trip was substantiate scientific .* theories regarding the migrathe Polynesians from -South America to the Pacific .•Islands. < "That is absolute nonsense,” he said. -• “No family could survive hell of such a trip, and to a whole people made the ".trip is ridiculous language Everything is against this > “They came through Asia.” • He said that his purposes "Were medicinal and to gather T material for writing. ~ Inspiration To Aged ,• “Nowadays it is too com--monly thought that people are useless after the age of 60 or 65 when they are pensioned off.” said Willis. “I was determined to show the world that I, a 70-year-old, could do what men years younger than myself would • never dream of doing or be ’able to do, and I have done ft. “In my younger days I could bend a bar of iron, and although I do not still have this strength I still have the same speed and power of thought and reflex. My judgment is improved with age and experience. "That I have made this trip, where the least mistake could have been fatal, where there was never any second chance, will be of interest and inspiration to old people all over the world.” he said. Willis made a similar trip from South America to Pago nine years ago, and now intends to make another trip when he is 80. “My wife says that if I do she will leave me.” he said.

Personal Philosophy The greatest danger on the trip was loneliness leading to insanity and suicide. Willis attributed his survival to his philosophy of "life arrived at after years of study, “but this is not the sort of thing the ordinary person is interested in.” He said: “Prayer is not enough; you must have a philosophy to carry you through.” He spent days over the stem trying to fix the rudders smashed by the heavy seas. - “Sometimes the seas were breaking 10 and 20 feet above me. Sometimes it was too rough to work and I just drifted helpless before the sea and wind,” he said. No Time To Read Whenever he got the chance he brewed a hot cup of tea, made notes on highlights of the voyage, and snatched what sleep he could on the pitching deck. He carried no books apart from a navigational manual and would have had no time to read, he said. Most of the time the deck of the raft was awash with his two cats never failing to scramble to safety. Willis attributes his remarkable physical fitness and

well-being to his philosophy and diet

He is slightly built, sft Bin tall, about lOst 101 b, with a large, greyish beard and long, brownish grey hair. He has a pleasant, cheerful personality, is approachable, and is a ready, rational, and interesting talker. He is burnt brown by the sun and wind and has sparkling, intelligent eyes. He is no crank, knows the worth of public interest in his voyage, and has sought the best legal advice in securing contacts for his writings, interviews, and speeches, but commercialism is secondary to his own interest in what he is doing.