The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1878-06-21

Sir Wyville Thompson describes visit be
m ,de 10 this interesting colony. 1t con-
sisted at that time October, 1S73,l of
eighty y-four persons, in fifteen families, the
females being slightly in the majority.
He speaks of the young men as tine-looking
and sturdy, somewhat of the English type,
but most of them with a dash of dark
blood. Green was still the governor, and
they looked up TO him with respect and
confidence. They possess from 800 to 600
head of cattle, an equal number of sheep
aud pigs, and poultry in large abundance.
From eight to dozen American ships Wis
it them yearly, aud from them they obtain
what they want. by the process of barter.
They live in cottages of two or three
rooms, built of dark brown tufaceous
stone, which they blast from the rocks
above, and shape with great accuracy with
axes. Many OF the blocks are upward of
ton in weight, AMI there is no lime on
the island, they have to be fitted into each
other on the ByclopeRn plan. But with all
! their precautions, the winds are so violent
that sometimes even these massive dwell.
ings are blown down. The furniture of
the rooms is Scanty, owing to the difficulty
of procuring wood, but passing ships furn-
Ish them warm fabrics enough to supply
bedding, aud to enable the women to dress
III d comfortable and Seemty style. Low
stone walls PARTITION the land round the
cottages into small enclosures which are
cultivated as gardens, and here all the or
dinary European vegetables thrive fairly
/ The goods OF the colonists are in no sense
J in common. Each has his own property
! in land and in stock. A newcomer re-
! ceives grant of a certain extent of land,
aud he gets some grazing rights, and the
rest of the settlers help him in fencing his
patch and in working it and preparing it
for first crop. Then they contribute the
necessary cattle, sheep, potato seed, ETC.,
to start him. This assistance is repaid
/ either in kind, in labor, or in money
! When difficulties occur they are referred
| to Green, or are settled by the general
| consent. The old argument of the fist is
still occasionally resorted to. Sir w.
! Thompson suggests, that ''ths system is
probably another source of the apparently
exceptional morality of the place /; in so
small community where all are SO eCtire-
ly independent, no misconduct affecting
the interest of others can be tolerated OF
easily concealed. and as there is no special
machinery for the detection and punish
ment of Offences, the final remedy lies in
the men themselves who are most of them
yonng and stalwart, aud well able to keep
uuruliness in Check
Mr.. Thompson tells, in connection with
the history of this colony, the interesting
s;ory of two Germans, the brothers Erede
rick aud Gustav Stoltenhoff. After the
J war of 1870, Gustav shipped in an Englisl
ship for Rangoon. When seven hundred
miles from Tristan tho ship caught fir,
and exploded. Gustav was on a boat tha
reached Tristan. He remained there fo
eighteen days, and was so much pleased
with his treatment that on bis return Il
Germany he induced his brother 10 go bacl
with bin to his ''homc by the soundin,
; sea-" On their way out, however, by ad
l vice of The captain of the ship in whc
they had taken passage, they decided t
D go TO Inaccessible Island. There they ar
{, landed on tue 9th Of November, 1871.
quarter of an hour afterward the whale
departed, and they were left alone, th
only inhabitants of one of the uost remot