PITCAIRN ISLAND.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 54, 27 November 1907, Page 3

PITCAIRN ISLAND.

DESCENDANTS OK THE BOUNTY

MUTINEEUS.

(DV TEMSOKAWI-SPKCUI. COItHESPONDENT.)

Auckland, November 20. Miss K A. K. Young, a .nntivo of Pitcairn Island, where for over a hundred years the descendants of the crow of the Bounty have lived a simple, pastoral life, is in Auckland Miss doling, who has the blood of three of the original mutineers in her veins-Chris-tian Young, illK i Adams-is a cultured and intelligent lady, al .d she gave a picturesque account of the little settlement to an interviewer. The settlement when she left comprised about 160 souls—l2o adults and JO children. ,Pitcairn Island is only about two miles and a half in circumference, but it makes up for its small area by its hills and valleys, winch are nearly all under cultivation. The inhabitants depend on tlm cultivation of the land for their livelihood, and the principal product is arrowroot Trading vessels supply them with rice and flour. Goats and chickens reared on the island piowde them with the little meat thev require, and for the rest of their food there arc indigenous roots and fruits in abundance, ligs once flourished exceedingly there, but tneso animals have long been "banished for several reasons Prohibitionists will learn uitli pleasure .that strong drink and tobacco are unknown.on the island. About 300 feet above the level of the sea is the little village where the people reside. This consists of a school-house, a church, and some thirty houses, irregularly scattered in tiers. The Islanders are Seventh Day Advoutists, and the older of the Church celebrates the marriages and roads the burial service over the <lcad A Lilipntian Parliament is elected yearly by ballot, which makes laws for the little community. . Law and order aro represented by a magistrate, and in moat respects tho Government is modelled on the British Constitution. Miss Young states that the islanders, are contented and happy, and that very lew of them wish to leave their island home. The statement that the men aro lazy is entirely without foundation, she says. All the materials for the houses have to bo hewn out of trees down in the vallevs, and! then dragged up to the top. The men also 'work hard at cultivating the ground, and, m addition, every man is his own carpenter, blacksmith, and fisherman the women employ themselves in housework, making braid hats and baskets from the loaves of tho paiidanius and palms, and designing little ornaments for visitors to tho island. The boys of tho place aro passionately fond of cricket,' which they play nearly all the year round. Tho children of both sexes are as fond of kite-flying as the Chinese, aiid are just as expert' at it. Occasionally social entertainments for the whole of the Islanders take place, and when the school breaks up an entertainment is given. to 1 which every child contributes an item to the programme. From .October till April news of tho outer world .is brought often by passing steamers, principally from San Fraiicisco, and, during tho rest of tho year, communication, though moro irregular, is still sufficiently frequent to meet the needs of the Islanders. \