LIFE ON ANTIPODES ISLAND.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 202, 20 May 1908, Page 8

LIFE ON ANTIPODES ISLAND.

THE FOOD SUPPLY. •*. CAPTAIN BOLLONS SAYS THERE MUST BE SOME MISTAKE. [BT TELEGKAHI.— HtESS ASSOCIATION.] Dunsdin, May 19. In connection with the statements niado concerning the life of the crow of the President Felix Fauro. during their enforced residence 011 Antipodes Island, Capt. Bollons, of tho Hinemoa, who has visited tho Island frequently during tho past twenty-five years, .informed a "Times" reporter that the depot was provided with tinned bread, Ineat, a medicine chest, tomahawk, dripping, matches (ordinary boxos of wax vestas in a secure box), fish hooks end fishing lines, a bucket, and a boiler. So far as hc\ could romomber, there was • no gun or ammunition, but he believed a spado had been under the shelter hut. Tho latter was quite close to a never-failing supply of splendid water, with a pool largo enough to bathe in. if there were no penguins after tho first few days,, there wero tens of thousands of young albatrosses, which would be quito fat and fully as palataHo as young mutton birds, and theso could bo found almost nnj'whoro on; their nests.. To vary tho diet, mutton eggs_ and young could bo obtained ■' irom countless burrows almost anyivhero on the Island. For vegetable the root of tho broad-leaved nralia is said to be excellent, whilst tho leaves form a good substitute for spinach.. -Tho idea of men running a risk of scurvy was ridiculed by Capt. Bollons, and in support of his contention he referred to the wreck of tho Spirit of the Dawn on. tho Island on September 4, 1893. Tho crew of this vessel had no bread, 110 matches, no fire, no house. They lived in a- cavo, slept on grass beds, and subsisted almost solely upon fresh penguins and eggs, all of which they ate raw, and when rescued were 111 tho best of health and quito fat. The only sign'of illness was that of a Rangoon coolie boy, .who had. had his toes frostbitten. Thero was absolutely no sign of scurvy. "Speaking from my own knowledge of the Island, its resources, and tho depot supply, said tho captain, " I cannot understand some of tho statements which liavo appeared in the papers, and I think there must be some mistake somewhere."