ISLAND HERMITS

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19132, 29 September 1936, Page 12

ISLAND HERMITS

LIFE OF SOLITUDE every day a holiday AN ABUNDANCE OF FOOD "Away from the blare o£ wireless, noisy motor-ears and threats war, two men, former residents of Auckland, are living contented on a lonely island 642 miles to the north-east of the Dominion. Their only address is Sunday, Island, one of tiie Kennadee Group. Mr. Alfred Bacon had tasted island solitude before. He spent some years m Auckland longing to return and he is now accompanied by Mr. B. Robertson. Few troubles concern these modern Robinsons Crusoe, according to the den of the Australian ketch Yvonne, which recently 'visited the island. Ihe calendai is considered a barbaric relic of the past. Tire days are recorded, more or less mechanically, and largely lor tinpurpose of separating the Christmas holidays from the vacation which com prises the remainder of the year, -the 40-liour week is contemptuously ignored. RISING WITH THE DAWN One of the crew of the Yvonne was a guest of the two hermits and hvc< with them in their homely mansion, i lie roof of the liut, several pieces of corrugated iron, the short trousers worn bv Mr. ltobiusou and his companion ss novc one-piece garment made from a bathing suit: and. a shirt, are the few remaining signs of civilisation which greet the eye of a casual visitor. Like- all true worshippers of nature the two hermit.--enjov the hours of daylight to the fu 1 Thev go to lied with the setting of fluStar and rise with the dawn, except on Sundays. , Mr. Robinson, either through his het ter eyesight or inferior cooking, ns is one of the few controversies which concern the two, is the appointed lookout. His duty early in the morning, during the cooking of breakfast is to go to the top of a hill near by and scan the horizon for a .sail. Ihe only other debatable point, before the arrivaof the Yvonne, was the question <> whose sole garment should be discarded and ‘Used as a signal of welcome shou < a boat be approaching. Tlie presentation of a flag and the erection of a mast on the hill lias solved the question. GOAT’S MEAT A MAINSTAY Apart from a herd of about 4000 wild goats the only other animal on Sunday Island is Taipo, a dog. With the assistance of Taipo, who, faithful to the origin of his Maori name, is very ferocious, and a gun. also considered to be of Maori origin, a goat is frequently killed. The islanders’ menu card some times commences with roast goat and continues with a senes of Frencn terms with the invariable prefix o goat.” Roast goat, boiled goat, B ed goat, and baked goat won d yvoUM } be the correct analysis of the meal. Variation, however, is the keynote o the diet. Luscious fruit is always in abundance. Fish, mostly groper an kingflsh of exceptional size, is ‘-jugl from the coast. Vegetables of all l '"‘ l ' 1 grow wild. Meal is made from gioi ««J corn sweetened with the juice from the taro root, while coffee is provided by bean which also thrives in the neb soil. ‘..NATURAL MEDICINE CIIES’I' A" refining lenrinine influence is om. of the few acquisitions, which the island ers have, to date, been without. If either is ailing he is immediately dosed wiU large quantities of sulphur obtained from near the natural thermal bath which bubbles merrily on tne beack The cures wrought by this sulphur on the goats, the dog and the men a v astounding. The .two men scort fed >< offer of any preserved or tinned - foodsThe island fare was much to .he Inferred. Even. the crew of the txoum agreed with this part of the islAndtis philosophy-