NEWS FROM TRISTRAN.

Waikato Times, Volume 100, Issue 16813, 3 June 1926, Page 13

NEWS FROM TRISTRAN.

BRITAIN'S LONELIEST POSSESSION

To this busy world of rapid trans- | port and great industrial undertakings i comes news from "BriUun's loneliest | possession," the island of Tristan da K Cunha, set far out in the South Allan- B tic, 2000 miles from anywhere and K out of the track from steamers. j | The Rev. 11. Marlyn Rogers, who | was for some years missionary, school S teacher, and doctor on the island, 5 sends to the London Daily Mail from g his homo at Lcightou Buzzard a loiter * he has received from Mr R. F. Glass, i brought from the island with other | mails by a steamer which called there § witli stores at the end of January | | last - , . , • ill Mr Glass, in his letter, which is dat- j | cd January 1, says: \ | Our potato crops have been a com- j a pictc failure, and if we do not get any & stores sent down to us the Government $ will have to remove the people from , | the island, for now the population lias | | increased to 140. | | As Mr Rogers points out, the fears | | of the islanders have been relieved by | the arrival of the steamer—the Dis- | covery with needed supplies. % I Scout's Adventure. | Mr Glass goes on to describe the A following adventure of Donald Glass, : | aged 17, patrol leader of the island I H branch of the Roy Scouts: — ! | (in November 2-1, 102 D, Donald went | a for a walk to Elephant Hay, about 7 j 3 miles from the solllement. lie en- I 4 countered on I he beach a sea elephant : -j about 15ft long. Armed with a small j ;•] knife, Donald attacked it, and after a j J quarter of an hour's effort, during S which the elephant tried to reach the vj sea, Donald gave it a final stab under S the flipper, which killed it. This is a Lhc First sea-elephant killed here by ■/ a boy of Donald's age. The sea-ele- jc phanls arc very useful on account of : :jj lhc oil obtained from them, which wc j • use in our lamps. • ]\ Mr Rogers learns aTso that the new Rj church built when lie was on the. islam; A has been damaged by bad weather, || but the islanders have no materials ; w wilii which to repair it. There has BJ heen one death—a woman of 83 —■ and | U six births on the Island. i &f