THE KERMADEC ISLANDS.

Timaru Herald, Volume L, Issue 4842, 13 May 1890, Page 4

THE KERMADEC ISLANDS.

STORY OF A DISMAL FAILUBE. Most of those who have returned from the Kerjsaßec ! Islands Hivo '■ given to the Press accounls of their difficulties- on ' Sunday Island.. The /following, by one of the Napier emigrants; is t'Se clearest and most graphic 1 of found-interesting. 'Ifc is forturiatd that the party who went there was not more numerous. We anchored m Denham Bay on Friday, October 11th, 1889, about three miles out, and we were greatly disappointed with the outlook. The flat, which is about a mile and a half long, and not more that a quarter of a mile broad, looked like a narrow strip of land, and the cliffs (some places 1200 feet high), which rose up all around the flat, were like an immense wall, and when we subsequently came to climb them we found them as bad as they looked. There are only four places m tho flat where it is possible to get up. We landed on the Sunday following our arrival, and m the next week were employed m getting our goods ashore at tho south corner of the bay, the schooner Dunedin leaving on Saturday, October 19th. Wo soon found out that the flat m the bay was the only part of the two runs taken up by the Company that it was possible to cultivate. The undulating slopes we had been led to believe were on the island turned out to be nothing more than steep cliffs. The tops oi the ridges were rarely more than a chain wide, and m many places they were not half a chain. Even the gullies, or rather ravines, were m maoy places impassable. The soil on the tops of ridges was found to be m some places good, but if the bush were cleared the soil would alip away, it being on a pumice foundation, which is kept together by the roots of the pohutukawa. What soil there is on the flat is nowhere more than eight inches deep, and out of about 200 acres there are not more than ten acres fit for cultivation. The -rest is .sand. and pumice. We put m potatoes*, kumeras, 'maize, beans, yams, pumpkins, vegetable marrows, and melons. The s.s. Wainui called on December 22nd, bringing more settlers and their ' stores, ie, landing them m about two hours. We were glad to Bee fresh faces, and get letters, Christmas boxes. &o. We had a quiet Christmas, but the following Saturday had atbletio sports, which were very muoh enjoyed by everybody, the prizes which were competed for ths most keenly being three straw hats presented by the Miss Bells, and sundry Bticks of tobacco. The weather, which had been very good up to Christmas, began to get damp and miserable, and for three months it was a very rare occurrence to get fine weather for three days together. On one occasion over 3i inches of rain fell m one night. It is almost impossible to describe the ravages made by the caterpillars and the rate; Five or more distinct species of caterpillars came one after the other. The cropß, after recovering from the attacks of one sort, would be speedily devoured bj the next. Still, by constantly watching, and the help of a few fowls, the crops survived and showed signs of a good return. Soon after Christmas however, tho flat was simply overrun with hibernating rats, evidently hungry after their. long 'rest. They ate the unripe maize, Mr Carver being the only one to save a few ripe cobs for seed, he going round his patch all night long, night after night, with a pack rf dogs. The rats burrowed down to the kumeras, and what they did not eat they spoilt ; they ate beans ripe and unripe, they ate the yams, and scooped onr melons out, leaving us the sholL What few bananas we got had to be cut green and hung up on poles that were made ratproof by putting tin round them. The rate swarmed m our tents, and if the candle were left uncovered it was nowhere to be seen next morning. Two kinds of sea birds breed on the island, the wide-a wake (a gull), and the mutton bird (petrel). The wide-a-wakei breed ou the beach m thousands, and we fed on their eggs for about five weeks. We also cured a few young ones but they were not quite a Biicceess. Xbe mutton birds lay m the bush m ony sheltered place, and they are very time, allowing you to pick them up. We found the young of these good to eat. Besides what were eaten fresh, there were 12,000 of them cured and put m cases, and m logß hollowed out. These un-1 wild goats would have been our chief food for the winter, besides a few potatoes and pumpkins which the rats left us. The s.s. Hinemoa came just after we had finished " mutton-birding " as we called it. Ourstoreß had almost run out, and we all looked forward to a severe struggle m the winter, not expecting the Hinemoa to call till November. If she had not come we should have been half starved. Mr Bell was very kind to us during our stay on the island, helping us practically m maoy .ways. When we wero at Auckland on the way to the island he strongly persuaded ua not to go, and told us about everything that eventually came to pa's, but unfortunately for us we would not believe half. He was very hospitable to all of us, and when we went over to visit him, whioh was not soldoro, we were very well entertained. Mr Bell having been thero twelve years has, naturally enough, settled on the best and only available piece of good land. It is aleo on tbe east Bide of the island, and faces tbe north. Denbam Bay, facing as it does the south-west, and having aa almost perpendicular wall of cliff surrounding it, does not Bee tbe sun much before 11 o'clock m tbe middle of winter, and it loses it again snout 4 o'clock. liven before we left one could not see the sue till about ten o'clock m the morning. Three of the settlers, Messrs Taylor, Lord, and Baemuseen, after trying Denham Bay, carried all their provisions, tents, etc., into tbe Crater run, and cultivated a small piece of land there to grow something for . the winter. Though the caterpillars were very bad indeed, they managed by constant attention to get everything to grow well, and as they were almost free from rats, they looked forward to a good return, and getting through the winter all right. When the s.b. Hinemoa came it seemed too good to be true, but there she iw, and we lost no time m packing up and getting on board as fast as possible. By good luck the sea m the bay was calm, olbe we should have had to leave most of our things behind. Tho bay is very open, and there is very little protection from rough weather: Tremendous teas often come into the bay. For three weeks or a month before the i.s. Hinemoa came it was too rough to land. There were plenty of fish to be caught m calm weather, but m rough weather fishing is out of the question. The aiiocUtion broke their agreement with the settlers m almost every possible manner, but tbe settlers were powerless to do anything when on the island. Directly we landed thero the written agreements given to tho settlers by the association were so much waste paper, which they quickly found out. Though there was a small community, yet unfortunately things never ran smoothly for a single week. Perhaps the rats and caterpillars worked the mischief. The pamphlet written by Mr 8. Percy Smith on the Kermadoe islands is twothirds wrong, the whole pamphlet is misleading, and if it bad not been written and sold- by the Government thi» unfortunato expedition would never have been formed. [Homo of those who have returned intend to petition for compensation from the Government owing to the very misleading pamphlot published by the Government upon Sunday Island.]