Three Years in Tristan da Cunha Part 11

_Later_, 10 p.m.--We have just opened a package which we thought contained papers, and to our delight have found letters and cards innumerable.

_Monday, March ll_.--The men are bringing in the last load from the schooner. Latterly the weather has been very favourable.

Mr. Keytel has had a splendid opportunity of getting to know the people, their needs, and the possibilities of the island. He thinks there may be an opening not only for sheep-breeding and for the drying of fish, of which there are great quant.i.ties, but also for sealing; and talks of coming next December and spending a whole year here with the object of starting the industries. It looks, therefore, as if a future were opening at last for Tristan.

Mr. and Mrs. Beverley of Cape Town have been so kind. They packed a large case full of things, such as children's clothes, remnants of material, puzzles and toys, including a grand doll's house. A case has also been received from the congregation of Holy Trinity Church, many members of which have very kindly written.

_Tuesday, March_ 12.--Still busy writing. In addition to my own I have many letters to write for the islanders to friends in England and elsewhere who have sent them parcels.

Last evening I went to the cemetery to try to make a sketch of Mr. Macan's grave for his grandmother. This is the young man who came in the _Pandora_ in 1904 and was drowned, as it is thought, in trying to swim round a bluff to the west of Burntwood. His body was found the next morning on the beach, but whether he had fallen off the cliff or had been drowned in swimming round is uncertain.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE CRATER LAKE]

[Ill.u.s.tration: ON THE SUMMIT OF THE PEAK]

Graham has at last had his heart's desire, namely, to ascend the Peak. He and Mr. Keytel with five of the islanders started off early this morning.

At seven we could see them on the sky-line of the mountain above the settlement. They got back about six this evening. I am thankful I did not go, for they say it was a tremendous climb, and the last part, over a lava-covered surface, the hardest bit of all. I give a description of the expedition in his own words--

"Mr. Keytel and I had as guides or companions old Sam Swain, Andrew Swain, Tom Rogers, Repetto and young Sam Swain. We started at 5.30 a.m. and in an hour and a half were 2,000 feet up, on the top of what the islanders call the base of the mountain. With the exception of a mile and a half at the end the climbing was now done, and the rest of the way little more than walking up-hill. The first mile from the edge of the base was fairly flat, but over spongy ground thickly studded with stout ferns which came up above our knees. Then we got on to a gra.s.sy slope, and from that descended into a gulch, up which we went for about a mile. Getting out of this we next trudged over gra.s.sy slopes on which were growing fine specimens of the crowberry. This kind of ground lasted to within a mile and a half of the summit, but the gra.s.s became scarcer, and was in patches only. Then all vegetation ceased, I did not notice even moss, and the ascent became much steeper, about as steep as from St. Ann's Well to the top of the Worcesters.h.i.+re Beacon. But the going was much harder because the ground offered no sure foothold, consisting as it did of loose burnt stones and earth which let you down one step for every two taken. Our Cape visitor in the gulch had felt that he could not lift his foot for another step; he kept on, however, right to the top, and I began to feel the same. Although in no sense done up, I found this last bit harder work than all the rest of the way put together. The men felt it too. The end, though, came at last, and we proudly stood on the rim of the crater. It was soon evident to us, however, that we were not on the highest point. That was on the part of the rim opposite to us, and in between was the bottom of the crater. Lying in this bottom was a small lake, perhaps eighty yards by sixty. We made our way down to it and half-way round it, and then sat down to lunch. We found the crater water quite drinkable. After lunch I had a swim in the lake, whereupon Mr. Keytel promptly brought his camera into action. He took many other photographs. Then we set our eyes upon that highest bit of rim and doggedly making for it were soon shouting and waving our caps on the top. It was now twenty minutes past one. At a quarter to three we began to return, and were home by twenty-five minutes past six. The day for the climb and the view was a perfect one."

To-morrow the schooner leaves and with it goes our touch with the outside world. With what it has left behind we shall have enough to occupy us for many a day. We have become quite fond of the little brown puppy, which we have named Jock. It is very teachable, and is immensely interested in the cattle that pa.s.s, barking with great energy at them.

_Wednesday, March_ 13.--Mr. Keytel intended leaving to-day but the _Greyhound_ has not made its appearance; it is thought it is becalmed. All the better for our letters. This morning Mr. Keytel photographed a group of all the islanders, then the women only, and afterwards the men. The photographs were taken on the common just outside our house.

_Thursday, March_ 14.--Such a large s.h.i.+p is pa.s.sing and the men, I think, would go out to it were they not waiting to go out to the schooner, which is now in front of the settlement.

[Ill.u.s.tration: COMPLETE GROUP OF THE ISLANDERS]

_Tuesday, March_ 19.--The _Greyhound_ after all did not leave last week; the sea was too rough for the boats to go out. It did not get off till yesterday, due partly to the caution of the captain who would keep away from land and partly to the weather. We two sent off about one hundred and twenty letters. The captain wanted to see Graham to show him how to read a barometer sent by the Cape Meteorological Commission. I thought I would go too and take Ellen. We had no sooner put out to sea than we realized it was going to be much rougher than we antic.i.p.ated, and, the _Greyhound_ standing out after the cautious manner of her captain, we had some distance to go. Mr. Keytel was out fis.h.i.+ng and was to follow. We all kept well till we got to the s.h.i.+p. Clambering up the rope ladder we were soon on board and being greeted by such a kind old captain. He was seventy-four years old with snow-white hair and had only one eye. Graham soon sank into a chair and was quite past reading barometers or anything else. He could just a.s.sent to remarks made to him by the captain and that was all. Ellen was in no better plight and sat on a bench near me, and I cannot say I felt cheerful, for the schooner, which was empty and had not much ballast, was rolling considerably. I carried on various conversations and strained my eyes to see if Mr. Keytel's boat was coming. It was a long wait, and when at last he did get on board he had gifts to bestow upon the men before we could get off. How thankful we were when that moment came; even then there were many adieux to be said. I was thankful to see that Graham and Ellen were capable of descending the ladder. The wind was rising and the sea sweeping in from the west. But I felt complete confidence in the men, they are such good seamen and so thoroughly understand their boats and what they are capable of. The two boats began to race, and we simply flew through the water. It was splendid. We soon gained the sh.o.r.e, and it was with no little satisfaction we saw ourselves at home. Then we retired to our beds, Graham not to appear again until next day, for he had a racking headache. After lunch Ellen and I tried to tidy the sitting-room, which was strewn with packages.

To-day has been entirely taken up with the distribution of goods amongst the people. The boxes had first to be sorted out; one had no name on, and one of the crockery cases could not at first be found, having been addressed differently to the other Government cases. These crockery cases took some time to unpack. The contents made a grand show laid out in Bob Green's house. They were--

1 dozen brown earthenware teapots.

5 dozen plates.

5 dozen soup-plates.

Vegetable dishes.

6 dozen cups and saucers.

1 dozen flowered bowls and covers.

2 dozen tumblers.

5 dozen egg-cups.

8 saucepans.

Pails and other useful things; it is a most useful gift.

I must now describe the people's way of dividing these goods, which is their usual method of distribution. When an equal number of each set had been given round to every family, and there were some over but not enough to go round again, they put these with those things of which there were not enough to go round, such as the teapots, saucepans and pails. Then they arranged these in seventeen lots on the floor, taking care to make each lot, as far as was possible, of the same value. The number seventeen was chosen because there are seventeen families. One man now turned his back, generally looking out at the door; another standing over the things pointed with his finger to one of the lots and said "That." The man whose back was turned called out in answer the name of the woman of a family, till each family had had a turn. The people stood or sat round. They have apparently worked this method out for themselves and find it creates less feeling than any other. This took all the morning.

The afternoon was devoted to the division of material and clothing at the Repettos' house. There was a goodly supply. A lady at Eastbourne who for many years has taken a deep interest in the islanders, had sent enough grey woollen material for all the women to have a jacket. Others sent two large bales of brown calico, a good quant.i.ty of red and grey flannel, and enough strong blue serge and brown tweed for every man to have a pair of trousers. There was also sent a great quant.i.ty of clothes. This "sharing out" went on till dusk. Finally a large box of sweets, the gift of Mr.

Keytel, was distributed among the children. When we got home we began to unpack our own parcels. There are some large packages of papers which take a long time to sort and divide.

After our unwonted doings we are all feeling rather tired and not capable of doing much, but still we have begun school, as the children had a holiday all the time the schooner was here.

This afternoon I went up with some medicine for Mrs. Henry Green, who has caught a bad chill. As she seems very short of warm clothing I have given her a jacket and skirt of those sent me.

CHAPTER XIX

_Wednesday, March_ 27.--The Cape Meteorological Commission has sent Graham the following instruments with a request that he would take regular observations--

An aneroid barometer.

A Fortin mercurial barometer.

Dry and wet bulb hygrometers.

A maximum thermometer.

A minimum thermometer.

A five-inch rain gauge.

The hygrometers and thermometers are to be kept in a Stevenson's screen.

Whether he will be able to take the readings as often as is suggested is doubtful, but it will be interesting work.

Some rather amusing letters have been received. One from a high Turkish official runs thus--

"_Constantinople_,

"21 _Septembre_, 1906.

"MONSIEUR LE GOUVERNEUR,

"Je me permets de vous prier d'avoir l'extreme obligeance de m'indiquer le nombre total des habitants de Tristan da Cunha avec Dependances et la quant.i.te de ceux qui appartiennent a la religion mahometane, avec l'indication du nombre des Sunites ou Chutes et de leur nationalite respective.

"Dans l'attente de votre reponse je vous prie, Monsieur le Gouverneur, de vouloir bien agreer mes salutations distinguees et mes remerciments anticipees."

There is a very interesting letter from the Dixie professor of Ecclesiastical History, Cambridge, who asks Graham to collect for him whelks, limpets, periwinkles, snails, cowries, etc. Here is an extract from it--

"It is not, however, the sh.e.l.ls I care for, but the teeth of the animals within. I have just one species from Tristan--a small land sh.e.l.l of an interesting genus (Balea). One species is European, one j.a.panese, the third Tristan. Its nearest ally is an enormous Eurasian genus (Clausilia) of seven hundred species which hardly gets into Africa and does not cross Behring Strait, though there are thirty more in Peru and one in Porto Rico. So you see how strangely isolated your Tristan species is. Its nearest cousins are in Tunis and Abyssinia. I fancy the land sh.e.l.ls of Tristan will _not_ have a Magellanic character like the one Kerguelen species. Anyhow they are sure to be intensely interesting."

_Good Friday_.--We have had a beautiful day, just like a spring day at home. We had service at 10.30 which lasted a little over an hour. About fifty-eight were present. The men are not attending so well now. The two new arrivals do not come to church, and I think it induces the others to stay away. We had service again at three o'clock, after which Graham and I went to inquire after Mrs. H. Green, who has been ailing with rheumatism. It is an old complaint, and due, it is thought, to exposure on the mountain years ago. She went up with a party on to the Base; a fog came on, and she became separated from her companions and wandered hopelessly about with her dog. The fog was followed by a heavy thunderstorm with vivid lightning, and she was drenched through. Barefoot and wet to the bone she lay all night in the ferns with the dog at her side. Next morning her hands were so swollen with the cold she had no use in them until the sun came out and warmed them. Her only food was birds'

eggs which she occasionally sucked. She was not found till the next afternoon, though a search party had been out twice to look for her. She was in bed for a week, and ever since has been subject every few years to prolonged rheumatic attacks accompanied by great depression which often lasts for months. She is a nice-minded woman, very quiet, and grateful for anything done for her. In this she is unlike many who accept everything as a matter of course.

The three Repetto girls and Sophy have been weeding the garden, which has been rather neglected lately. We have planted some trees in it grown from Eucalyptus seed collected on Table Mountain. I planted it here in pots which I kept in the dark, and it came up well. About a hundred and sixty st.u.r.dy little trees are the result. In years to come they may be useful for firewood. In a book on forestry left here by Mr. Tooke, they are said to be very useful trees to grow for this purpose, as they bear lopping well.

_Easter Sunday_.--At the Holy Communion to-day there were twenty present; some coming for the first time, and one or two men coming who had not communicated since Mr. Dodgson's time. All who had been prepared for Confirmation were invited except the boys and girls.

I am thinking of starting a Bible cla.s.s for girls on Sundays. I feel I do so little for them. We see most of those girls whose ages range from nine to thirteen.

A thunderstorm has just pa.s.sed over us; the effects on sea and land were most beautiful, everything a.s.suming such a vivid colouring as one only occasionally sees.

_Wednesday, April 3_.--We got up early this morning, as Graham was going to the Ponds, but Henry Green sent down to say it would be better to put off going until to-morrow, as it looked like rain. One or two of the girls are going, so I have decided to go too. I believe it is a stiffish climb.

We spent the afternoon among the cases trying to find one containing material. Then we unpacked a kettle, which we badly need; we have had lately to boil our water in a saucepan.