LITTLE BARRIER

Evening Star, Issue 18335, 24 July 1923, Page 1

LITTLE BARRIER

EARLIER TRAGEDY RECALLED. The. recent tragedy on the Little Barrier, in which a man, assumed to have been a poacher, was found dead at the foot of a cliff, recalls that this inaccessible spot was (he scene of a sad bereavement in .September, 1910. The Auckland ‘Herald’ thus recalls (ho story:— On the 21st of that month, Mr Robert Jfuntcr-Blair, who was then ,ciirator of the bird sanctuary, became very ill. Despite all that his wife could do for him he'expired on the morning of .September 22. Mrs Hunter-Blair watched over the body for two days, in the hope that somebody would call at the island, of which she was then the solo occupier. The two days passed, however, without any sign of callers, and on the third day .Mrs HnnlerBlair made the necessary preparations for the performance of the last sad office for the (lead.

The widow collected some planks and boards, and made a coffin out of thorn. She then dug a grave near the house. On the fourth day after her hnshund’s decease she committed his remains to this Inst re-ling place, the burial service being read by her as the solitary mourner by the graveside. Mrs Hnnter-Blair, who was naturally very much affected by the severe trial to which she had been subjected, remained at- the lonely island habitation, with no company save the birds, until the evening of the sixth day, when the arrival of the Government steamer Hinemoa, in charge of Captain Holloas, brought her the solace of human sympathy and assistance. She was then brought to Auckland by the vessel.

Mr Hnnter-Blair was the third son of the late Sir Edward Hnnter-Blair, baronet, of Ayrshire, Scotland. Ho had been in New Zealand for some years, and prior to going to the Little Barrier had been for several years in the service of the New Zealand Tourist Department. He had suffered from chest trouble and heart disease for two years before his death. His wife and ho were the w .ily inhabitants of tho island, A boat used to call once a month to take stores and mails, and tho Hinemoa also used to call periodically.