The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1885-10-16
TRISTAN p.AcuNHA.
4 Tiny Oasis In Boandlen Wndsrness -
Water.

- O03hb n = nV00OAS1Y -
Water.
Probably the remotest and loneliest
spot on earth is the little island of Iris
tan d'Acunha. This speck of an island.
which is only seven miles long and six
wide. lies almost midway between Afri.
ca and South America, and . thousand
miles south of the equator.
When Napoleon was imprisoned on,
St. Helena. it was thought that the
loneliest place in the world had been as
signed to him as . prison. But St Hell
ena is fourteen hundred miles nearer .
continent than is Tristan d'Acunha.
Many hundreds of miles of ocean lie be-
tween it and the smallest island nearest
to il. Tristan, in short. is tiny oasis
in boundless wilderness of water, 60
from it in which direction you will.
1t is a rocky and cliff-girt little isle.
with solitary mountain q thousand
feet high rearing itself from the midst.
Weeks, and sometimes even months
elapse, without so much as the film of q
ships sail being espied in the distance
from its shores.
Yet on the lonely speck of rock and
earth, there lives q bright, cheerful,
thrifty Christian community which is.
seemingly. quite happy in its isolation
from all the rest Of the world. There
are about . hundred inhabitants, all
Englishman and Englishwomen. The
oldest inhabitant is man of seventy
eight, who was wrecked on the island
fifty years ago, and has ever since dwelt
there. and has become the patriarch Of
the little company.
An English captain. returning from q
long voyage in the course of which he
anchored at Tristan. has recently given
a very interesting account of the com-
muuity. Those who compose it are
one and all farmers, cattle-raisers. and
shepherds. In the valley of the island
are fertile fields. where potatoes are
grown. On the slopes were grazing some
seven hundred head of cattle and As
many sheep. The food of the people
consist for the most part of beef, NUT
ton, fowls, potatoes and fish.
As to the dwellings. they are describ-
ed as being kept very clean and tidy. as
we might expect from English people.
and the people themselves are healthy,
robust and lopg-lived. They have some
whaling-boats, and are very adventur-
GUS in their sea-roaming after whales.
They sometimes row as far as twenty
miles out to intercept a passing ship.
1t is often the case that that region is
assailed by mighty tempests of wind,
while the island is subject at times to
what are called the ''rollers" huge
masses of high-raised water which fair
" inundate the lofty shores.
Tristan used formerly to produce many
fruits and vegetables which can no lon
ger be grown there. The reason Of this
is that the island is overrun by rats.
which escaped from a ship that anchor
ed there, and which the people have
never been able to exterminate.
The people have preserved the Gus
toms of their English native land. In
the center of the settlement stands the
little English church. to which all tie
inhabitants repair on Sunday mornings.
Thus the church-bells of England and
the prayer and praise of the home
churches find faint echo across the
leagues of ocean which stretch between
the motherland and the lonely rock oi
the Southern seas.
The people of Tristan, solitary as their
island is. steadfastly refuse to leave it.
They look upon it as their home; to some
it is their native land. The ships which
now and then touch upon its shores in
vain offer to bring them back to the
haunts of civilization. They have grown
to love their loneliness, AID to be con
tent with q lot which is strange aud pa
thetic indeed. Youths Companion.