ON THE RIM OF THE ANTARCTIC.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 8832, 19 January 1907, Page 2

ON THE RIM OF THE ANTARCTIC.

FAR-OFF AND LONELY ■ ISLANDS. TBE STORY OF A BANISHED STVABT- (" Pall Mall Gatsette.") South and south-east from the New Zealand coast, where the Pacific and the Atlantic meet and begin to merge into the great Antarctic Ocean, are numerous islands of supreme interest, not only on aocount of their lonely situation and their unique geological and floral characteristics, but also by reason of the strange and thrilling histories attached to more than one of the number. Commencing with the Chathams, due east from Christchurch, and all lying between two and three hundred miles off the mainland, are — in order towards the south — Cornwallis, Bounty,- Antipodes, Snares, Auckland, and Campbell Islands. Tlie area of the Chathams is about a quarter of a million acres, and, though much of 'the interior is covered with primal forest, sheep-raising is carried on successfully by a small population of whites. To these islands, tradition states, the earlier inhabitants of New Zealand, the Morioris, were driven by the all-con-quering Maoris. For years this fine race has been rapidly dying out, and at the present time there is only one pure Moriori on the island. He is a young man, and recently married a half-caste Moriori. The Chatham natives resembled the Morioris physically, as well >s in their habits and customs, but differed from them in the tint of their skin and in the colour of their hair. The Morioris possessed lustrous, golden locks and a peculiarly rich, dark-red complexion. On Bounty Island the historic mutineers of the ship Bounty landed, and there lived for many years. Its geographical position*-— directly opposite Great Britain— supplies the name of the nest break in the waste of waters — the Antipodes. It is with the islands which lie diie ( south of New Zealand thkt the writer on this occasion is chiefly concerned. Separated from, the mainland T>y the narrow Foveaux Straits is the large and , picturesque Stewart Island, named after a Scotsman of whom something will be said later on in the present article. Less than a hundred miles south of Stewart Island is the first group, the Snares ; about one hundred and twenty miles distant are the Auckland©; and a hundred miles nearer the ice ia - CAMPBELL ISLAND. With Campbell Island is associated; the remarkable story of " Bonnie Prince Charlie's" granddaughter, who, it is said, having been banished alike from France and from Scotland, was left alone on thie dreary spot, lived on it for many years, and lies buried in one ot its little glens, with Scottish heather planted above her grave. Such was the story the writer heard a -^.months ago, before starting out to visit those lonely islands on board the steamer Hinemoa, the. property of the New Zealand Government. ■ . i «._„,« With the exception of the Chathams, none of the islands is inhabited ; though described as British, they ore no ananas land. But as they are not far das-bant from the route of sailing vessels bound from Australian ports to England—by way of Cape Horn— owing to the! mists and storms that have there a perpetual abiding-place, many ships have been wrecked and numerous valuable lives have been lost on their dismal and rock-bound coasts. Li the exciting times which followed the" discovery ot the Australian goldfields, .the General Grant, having on board some hundreds of returning diggers— each man with a consignment of virgin gold— nstruck on one of the Auckland group and went down with nearly all the passengers; and with every box of the metal which was to make- tbe owners independent and affluent. Sin6e then, among the more notable disasters, occurred the loss of the schooner Grafton, near- the same place. The officers and crew were saved, but before relief came they had spent twenty months 1 on the»oold, inhospitable, • mist-enshrouded land. Since those days the New Zealand^ Government has erected 1 provision depots on all tjie principal islands around 1 its coasts, and once or twice- a year a steamer is despatched to examine and replenish the stores and to mako search for castaways. / And ffcose trips have already proved to be VERITABLE VOYAG_S OF MERCY. The Snares group lies about one hundred and fifty miles south of the New Zealand town of Invercargill, and In*veroargill, readers may be reminded, is not only the farthest south town within the British Empire, but is also nearer than any other large community to the Antarctic circle and the South Pole. The islands of the Snares are all small; the largest is about a mile long by about half a mile wide. This particular island may correctly be described ac a solid. mass of rock rising sheer from the depths of the ocean. The first night the Hinemoa spent in its proximity she lay under the shelter of a perpendicular cliff 400 ft high, and anchor was cast in sixty fathoms of water. ' Though their dimensions axe insignificant, the Snares, to the scientist, are the most absorbingly attractive of all the islands and groups which encircle the southern shores of New Zealand. In that part of the world many difficult problems present themselves for solution to the geologist and the botanist. For a time it was supposed that those numerous islands, now far out to sea, once formed part of New Zealand, and to prove the soundness of this theory it was pointed out that the rocks and plants on the islands were precisely the 6ame as the rocks and plants on the mainland. But unexpected perplexities arose when the Snares came to be carefully examined by competent authorities. For 'it was discovered that 'the rocks and ' the plants of this little group differed alto- . gefcher : from the roclss and r the plants on the other islands, as well as from these of the mainland. It is not easy, even in comparatively

calm weather, to effect a landing oil the Snares. On the occasion of _ •very visit paid by the Government ship d_r- ' ing three years, no one from the veisel had been able to Teach the shore, tso tempestuous was the sea. ■ But this time the waves were less turbulent, and the efforts of a party from the Hine* moa were, crowned with success. Through a narrow, cave-like opening ia the wall of rock the small boat passed!-. to reach, in rear of tl\e cliffs, a broad, deep, and placid lagoon. It was a nero scene that met the writer's eyes. Thick masses of seaweed floated on the sur* i face of the water; seals played around! | the boat ; penguins in thousands lined the rocks; a gigantic sea-lion sunned himself on the shore. Behind were beetling crags; in front a narrow, sandy beach and a strip of spongy, grassy -land. Most of the surface of the island ,is damp and peaty, and covered by the curious and rare Oleardj lyalli, THE " WALKING TREE" OP THB ' . ■■ . SNARES. These trees grow from/fifteen to twent*f feet high, and consist of a. short trunfi and many strong branches, each branch carrying a bunch of large and leathery ; leaves. The latter are dark green, -and glistening ; on their* upper 'surface, ...while the- underside is covered by a wool-like - growth, soft as satin and white as show. When stirred by the wind, these little forests of the Snares present a bewildering combination of flickering greens and whites. Th_ (Meara lyalli is found in ho part of the world save on the Snares. Why it haf reoeived the- name of ' ' walking -'tree-' * is not difficult to discover. In the softy wet soil, the ixjots are unable to main.** tain the iMck 'tyuhk and the heavy;, branches erect} and- the tree ' ■ falls -to the ground , where the branches take iroot $nd send up new> stems, whichi rapidly assume the proportions of trees* Under the luxuriant branches little vegetation ia visible. Everywhere the/ sea-lions' are flopping and slopping aimlessly. j tfiom thiß Shares the/ Hinemoa pro-*! ceeded to the Auckland group. , Thtf' .islands there are .five in number, the: largest, about thirty miles long-— fi-oral north to south — and about ten mile? wide. Four out of the five have features m-ach the same — rocky 1 coast-lineal indented vrith/ small bays, their inte-v riors successions of steep ridges clothed thickly "with rata forest. Down the gorges the winds blow with tremendous. force;; 1 The tree*-tdps are everywhere! shor_,> ; to an -abrupt evenness by the .violence' of the 'hurricanes. _ On the south-western sides of the islands are] grand and lofty cliffs, varying from a! thousand to fifteen hundred feet above j the sea. Enderby Island, the fifth, ishowever, low and flat. On it are welcome stretches of level grass lands-* patches of unfamiliar flowers, and sev**, erar quiet, sheltered and sandy bays.; At this island the Erebus lay for »ome time, and it figures prominently in the] botanical works cf Sir Joseph* Hooker-* J It was on one of the Auckland groupthat the Hinemoa demonstrated the wisdom and the humanity of the NewZealand Government in planting food depots on these forlorn and dangerous islands,, and in having them frequently,, and regularly visited by one of its owi|> vessels. On the voyage to whioh thii article specially refers, twenty-two -meni' were rescued ninety days after they had suffered shipwreck. A Frenca ship, the Anjou, with a cargo of Australian wheat, and bound /far- Falmouth, in/ a fierce gale, amidst blinding sleet, without a moment's -warning, struck against ; a perpendicular rock, whose summit could not be.seen. - She went down almost immediately.: The officers and crew had -just time to escape in two boats. Twenty-four hourwere spent in battling -at the base of - the terrible cliffs before the men succeeded in reaching j a place of safety. On the day following their arrival at the islands they. fortunately discovered the food depot, and "on its isuppli-a^ augmented by soup made of penguin! flesh, they existed until liberated bjj the Hinemoa. — 7 ALL THE CASTAWAYS WERE IN * GOOD HEALTH, but they had wearied much for the ship they knew would come some day. Their home was not without a charml of a certain kind. They slept within, and spent most of the time near, the depot, which stands beside an expanse of about three hundred acres covered with ferns and flowering plants. When the Government steamer was there the brief summer season was almost over, but there was yet to be witnessed what may best be described as a subdued floral display. Bright ooloure' are not \ common to the far south. The Auck* f lands are a resort of the albatross. At many places the shores were white withl those stately and strikingly handsome, birds. Campbell Island was the outward limit of the Hinemoa's voyage. It ie about thirty miles ih circumference f its interior is broken and mountainOuai The vegetation is confined to a hard, short grass and a rough, dark-wooded scrub. But science was neglected, and seych. made for signs that might con-* firm, or throw light on, the story thatt many years ago the granddaughter o4 Prince Charles Edward Stuart lived, died, and was buried on Campbell Island. 7 Sir James/Roes, in bis acoount of >the\Antarctic E^>edition of 1840, ab» lud-d to the mysterious lady frequently seen by the whalers who in the early] days went yearly to- those regions from Australia and from New Zealand. The woman's mother, it is said, was ilea Walkinshaw, whom the Prince met at Holyrood during his brief, meteoric stay) in the Scottish capital. She followed Charles to France, and at his death left a. -daughter, whom. the remnant of the Jacobites looked upon with profound suspioion. .They, for some reason, be* lieved that she acted as a spy on thei*-> movements .: on behalf of the British/ Government. In order to be free from; her presence, a plot was entered into for carrying the young woman out of the country. Carrick, in his book,) " New Zealand Lone Lands." states that the seaman Stewart, after whom Stewart Island is named, was the agent to remove the 1 Prince's relative out of tbe way of -the, - Jacobites. Stewart sailed in a whaler from Dundee, ahd oili that occasion kidnapped the woman and conveyed her in his vessel to Stewart Island. From Stewart Island he removed her to Campbell Island, .: built her a rough sod hut, and there left h_r alone with the rocks, the sea, and the wild ocean birds.- Whalers whose shipe approached the island" often • declared they had seen on the rocks k female) figure arrayed in Royal Stuart tartan, wearing a Glengarry bonnet, and in iti a sprig of heather! The party from the Hinemoa soon! discovered, over the first ridj2*e of hill* from the shore, and amid thick scrub r THE REMAINS OFTHE HUMBLE DWELLING. The sodden, mouldering walls are there* to-day, and the blackened stones wiuctt had once formed a rough, open fireplace. From the hut a narrow footpath still leads to the sea? clearly outlined, for embedded on its surface, im a rude mosaic, are thousands of waterworn flint stones and of shining crystaj pebbles. Assuredly this was the wot^ of woman's hands!/ Near the ruins t_a visitors came upon . a space clear ol scrub, in the centre a mound, the mound covered with a mass of Scottish" heather. Was this the grave of the lonely dweller on (Sampbell Island— -the grave of Bonnie Prince Charlie's granddaughter? It" was real Highland heather, a mass of purple blooms, wet with Antarctic rains/but fair as though, growing on the braes of Bea Lomond.