NORFOLK ISLAND.

Otago Witness, Issue 3783, 14 September 1926, Page 27

NORFOLK ISLAND.

A HOLIDAY THAT IS DIFFERENT. GRIM TALES OF CONVICT DAYS. An Otago man who has just returned from a visit to Norfolk Island on the Government steamer Hinemoa speaks in glowing terms of that beautiful and fascinating little spot. The trip occupied nine days from Auckland—three days going, three days at Norfolk, and three days returning. About 35 passengers went on the Hinemoa’s last voyage. The cabins were given over to the ladies, and the men were accommodated in bunks in the holds. Visitors to Norfolk are all charmed with the beauty of the island, with its mild subtropical climate, with the primitive simplicity of the life of its 800 inhabitants, and with the great abundance of its delicious fruits. The Norfolk Islanders are a mixture of many races, living a life apart, content with the simple resources of their own island, and while they are abundantly hospitable to any visitors and share no pains to make their stay pleasant, they do not look with any favour on new arrivals who come among them with the intention of taking np land and settling permanently. They instinctively realise that the influx of new blood spells the passing away of their old simple customs and habits of life. Such fruits as oranges, lemons, bananas, loquats, and guavas grow in great abundance all over the island, and may be had in endless quantity for the taking. People accustomed only to such oranges as are put on the market in New Zealand find the Norfolk oranges most delicious, and for some of the visitors it was quite an easy matter to consume as many as 40 or 50 in a day. The Government of the island is financed by a poll tax of £7 a year on male adults, and any who are nnable or unwilling to pay this can as an alternative do a fortnight’s work on the roads, of which there are altogether 42 miles on the island. The historic interest of Norfolk Island is chiefly concerned with the days of the convict settlement there, and many are the thrilling and terrible tales told of desperate deeds by deperate men. The eloquent relics of the cells and their brutal devices of torture make one shudder to think that, under the British flag, such methods were once accepted as fitting treatment for those who had been transported possibly for some trifling offence for which a fine of a few shillings would now be considered sufficient. The dark cell for solitary confinement gave the victim little room for movement. Its walls are four feet thick, so that no sound could penetrate, and ventilation came through a pipe so twisted that no ray of light could enter. One convict hero of those days escaped and lived for seven years in a hollow tree in the dense bush of the island, supporting himself on the fruits found all through the bush. A spot is shown where 15 convicts once secured their hated warder, killed him, wrapped the body in a skin, and dropped it into a river. It was a week before the body was recovered. Then the 15 convicts were made to dig their own graves before they were strung up to trees above them. On a neighbouring island, three miles distant, Norfolk Islanders point out a cliff once reached by a man who escaped and swam from Norfolk. When his captors were upon him he wrapped his coat round his head and leaped to his death rather than face what recapture meant. There is a plant on the island that gives off a yellow powder which quickly affects the eyes, and it is related that sonjetimes prisoners blinded themselves with this dust so that they might thereby lessen their toils and sufferings. Such are some of the stories in which the island abounds, but the real official records of those days will never now see the light. Not a few of the prisoners eventually were released, and made good as useful members of society, and, it is said, that at their instance, and that of their descendants, the records that might tarnish their name were destroyed by Act of Parliament. Perhaps it is better so, but it is to be hoped, nevertheless, that many of these epic stories of human wrong and suffering and endurance shall be accurately preserved with or without names attached, if only to show that the world and our Empire have definitely moved forward in their ideas of the treatment of wrongdoers. Can a market for this abundant and delightful Norfolk Island fruit be found in New Zealand? Apparently not under present conditions. This time the Hinemoa brought back practically none. The Norfolk Islanders were too badly bitten when they attempted before to send fruit to Auckland. One man got 6s for a shipment, and the return to another did not cover the cost of freight It seems that the islanders will have to establish a shop of their own at this end before New Zealanders can hope to enjoy their luscious fruits. In the meantime, it is all being sent to Australia, which is further distant, but which sends agents there regularly to buy up the fruit at the doors. To-day the great charm of Norfolk Island is its remoteness and the untouched simplicity of its community life. This Otago visitor fears that the moment the spot becomes a popular tourist resort that charm must inevitably fade. Big hotels will be run up—at present all liquor there is under strist medioal supervision—and the whole island will be organised on a commercial basis to catch the vagrant fancy of the visitor. In the meantime, Norfolk Island continues to offer one of the most attractive and charming holidays that one could imagine, one entirely removed from the everyday experiences to which we in ihis country are accustomed.