PITCAIRN AND PANAMA.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19001, 25 October 1923, Page 5

PITCAIRN AND PANAMA.

TWO PICTURESQUE PLACES. SOME EPISODES OF THEIR HISTORY. ' Specially Written for the Otago Daily Times. By A. J. Hakrop. M.A. As these lines are written, half-way between Wellington and Panama, Pitcairn Island lies on the left and Easter Island on the right. Both these islands have considerable interest for Now Zealanders, Pitcairn owing to its romantic history, and Easter Island by virtue of the researches of Professor J. Macmillan Brown. The story of Pitcairn has been told dozens of times, but the very fact is but _an indication of the general interest in the romantic history of this remote, volcanic islet. The shistory of Pitcairn may bo said to begin in 1789. a year which saw so many events of startling import in Europe and the commencement of that conflagration in i'rance. which was to consume the greater part of the Continent before its fury was spent. In 1789 the English warship Bounty was on a mission to convey foodstuffs from Tahiti to the West Indies. A mutiny took place off Tofua, and Captain Bligh. with some of his men, was sot adrift in an open boat. In 48 days the little party traversed 3600 miles, landing safely at Kupang in the Dutch East Indies. Their voyage is worthy to rank in the history of the sea with the similar wonderful "feat of the crows of the Trevessa’s two boats, which recently excited the admiration of the world. The mutineers, under Fletcher Christian, travelled to Tahiti in the Bounty, and most of them remained there. Nine men. however, sailed in the ship to the uninhabited island of Pitcairn. They each had native wives, and in addition there were six native men on board, three of whom were accompanied by their wives. They removed everything useful from the Bounty and then burned the vessel. Confinement within the narrow bounds of the island, the area of which is only two sejuare miles, produced friction between the white men and the natives. Five of the nine mutineers were killed, but later on the four survivors had an ample revenge, killing all the native men. In this deed of violence, dictated no doubt by the law of necessity, they were assisted by the native women. Within the next 10 years three of thg four mutineers died, and Adams, the last of the reckless band, turned to the comforts arid solac© of religion. It must have been a remarkable spectacle indeed to see the man who had figured in so many deeds of blood teaching the principles of the Christian faith to the children by means of a Bible and a prayer book, which had fortunately been saved from the Bounty. During all this time the fate of the little expedition which, had left Tahiti was unknown to the world. In 1808, howcvoi, a passing vessel discovered that the island was inhabited. Thirty years later the British Empire was enlarged in area by the annexation of Pitcairn, while British history was made the richer by a story of vivid human interest—-a worthy theme for the historical novelist.

The British Government evidently bore no malice against the islanders owing to their origin, for they were given Norfolk Island and conveyed there in 1856, when Pitcairn had grown too small for thenneeds. The call of their homeland was, however, too strong for many of the islanders, and they returned to Pitcairn. Their descendants now number about 16&. One of Uio_ interesting subsidiary results of the opening of the Panama Canal was the fact that Pitcairn became within a short distance of a great trade route. Now occasionally the trans-Pacific liners stop for a few hours off Pitcairn and the inhabitants receive intelligence of the doings of the _ outer world. A strange bizarre story, is that of the dwellers upon this isolated rook, set like a lonely sentinel in the midst of the blue waters of the Pacific.

And now we are speeding on to Panama—a name as romantic as that of Pitcairn, but in what a different way I Panama, has been associated for centuries in song and story with gold and jewels; Dons of Spain,, and buccaneers of all nations. The stirring days of the Spanish Main, when a man might be a pirate one yea* and governor of a colony the next—these days invest Panama with an interest that would compel our attention even if in. modern times the opening of the canai had not given that territory another claim to fame.

Exceedingly practical in its aim as the canal is, oven its story cannot escape the tinge of romance ever associated with dis appointed hopes and gallantly unsuccessful attempts. Ferdinand de Lesscps, famous as (he creator of the Suez Canal, commenced tho Panama scheme in 1880. /For twenty-one years the French company made vast sacrifices of labour and capital in tho endeavour to bring the work to completion. Men died by scores owing to the deadly activity of the disease-bearing mosouito. The work accomplished bv the French army of labour was also periodically nullified by the floods of the Ch-agres River. Reluctantly, in 1901, the dream of a Panama Cana] was abandoned by the French Company. The American project was commenced in 1904, and the promoters profited wisely bv the experiences of their predecessors. The danger from floods of the Chagres River was solved by the construction of the Gatun Dam. which helped to enclose an artificial lake and completely •drowned the river. .Tust as successful, and even more remarkable, was tho American method of coping with the danger of malaria. Stagnant water and its deadly accompaniment were eliminated and at the present tim" the Panama Canal area is one of the healthiest tropical districts in the world. The canal was opened for traffic on August 15. 191 A From ocean to ocean it is about SO miles in length. A glimpse of an older civilisation and an experience of one of the' most wonderful achievements of modem engineering—these two incentives to interest arc making look forward eagerly to our arrival at the .£anal zone. Tho ancient citv of Panama and the modern town of Colon will illustrate the remarkable divergence in the histories of tho two worlds contained in one.