PITCAIRN ISLAND.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 13605, 26 November 1907, Page 6

PITCAIRN ISLAND.

HOW LIFE IS SPENT.

"CONTENTED AND HAPPY LOT."

A visitor to Auckland at the present time is Miss R. A. K. Young, a native of Pitcairn Island, that lonely speck of land in the Pacific Ocean, where for over a hundred year? the descendants of the mutineers of the Bounty have lived a simple, pastoral life. "Tho world forgetting, by the world forgot." disturbed only in the even tenor of their way by the visits of rare sailing craft; in the earlier days of tho settlement, and of later years by the more frequent culling of steamers. Miss Young, who has the blocd of three of the original mutineers in her veins—Christian; Young, and Adams —is a cultured and intelligent lady, and she gave a picturesque account of the little settlement to a Herald representative last evening. '

The settlement when she left comprised about 160 50u15...120 adults and 40 children. Pitcairn Island is only about two miles and a-half in circumference, but it makes up'l'or its small area by its hills and valleys, which are nearly all under cultivation. The inhabitants depend on the cultivation of the hind for their livelihood, and the principal product is arrowroot. Trading vessels supply them with rice and flour, goats and chickens reared on the island provide them with the little meat they require, and for the rest of their food there are indigenous roots and fruits in abundance. Pigs once nourished exceedingly there, but these animals have long been banished for several reasons. Prohibitionists will learn with pleasure that strong drink and tobacco are unknown, on the island. About 300 ft above the level of the sea is the little village where the people reside. This consists of a schoolhouse, a church, and some 30 houses, irregularly scattered in tiers. The islanders are Seventh Day A'dventists, and the elder of the church celebrates the marriages and reads the burial service over the dead, A Liliputian Parliament is elected yearly by ballot, which makes laws for the little community ; law and order are represented by a magistrate, and in most respects the government is modelled on the British Constitution. Miss Young states that the islanders are contented and happy, and that very few of them wish to leave their island 'home. The statement that the men are lazy is entirely without foundation, she says. All the materials for .the houses have to bo hewn out of trees down in the valleys, and then dragged up to the top. . The men also work hard at cultivating the ground, and in addition every man is his own carpenter, blacksmith, and fisherman. The women employ themselves in housework, making braid,' hats, and baskets from the leaves of the pandamus and palms, and designing little ornaments for visitors to the island. The boys of the place are passionately fond of cricket, which they play nearly all the year round. The children of both sexes are as fond of kite-flying as the Chinese, and 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 which every child contributes an item to the programme. From October till April news of the outer world is brought, often by passing steamers. principally from San Francisco, and during the rest of the year communication, though more irregular, is still sufficiently frequent to meet the needs of the islanders.