SEEING THE WORLD

Evening Post, Volume CXX, Issue 1, 1 July 1935, Page 8

SEEING THE WORLD

ISLANDER LEAVES HOME

A man of twenty-seven, born and bred in Tristan Da Cunha (the South Atlantic island, described as the world's loneliest spot) arrived in England re-1 cently to seek his fortune—and, a wife j (says a writer in the "Daily Mail"). He is Mr. Donald Glass, whose ancestor founded the permanent settlement on the island early last century, and he claims to be the first native of Tristan Da Cunha to come to England. He intends to see the world because he has tired of life on the island. I met him at Southampton in a smokeroom in the Canadian Pacific liner Empress of Australia, in which he has worked his passage as a deck-hand. His first words were:— < "I like the look of England. It is such a bright, sunny place and everyone seems to be so kind and pleasant." . He speaks hurriedly but distinctly with an accent which might be mistaken for that of a Frenchman. Mr. Glass is tall and deeply tanned and is handsome enough to be a film star. ■ ~ As we stepped ashore he drew out his passport and pointed proudly to the entry describing him as 'a Briton. "Everyone born on the island is British," he said. "They tell me that when you have another General Election I shall have a vote. Your women are charming and beautiful. So they are in Tristan, but there are so few of them from whom to choose a wife, for the total population is only 167. We have no shops on the island, and no money. There is no law. It doesn't seem necessary. I have never known a murder or other crime on the island. The only rows between us are among the children. "Another thing we are' proud of— everyone is healthy. It was not until I went to Cape Town that I heard of people suffering serious pains in the stomach. No, we have no illness. ''I am very keen on sport. In Tristan we play Rugby, cricket, and swim a lot. I think Tristan could turn out a pretty good Rugby side. The women play, a .kind pi baseball."