Three Years in Tristan da Cunha by K. M. Barrow

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[Illustration: 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 anticipated, and, the _Greyhound_
standing out after the cautious manner of her captain, we had some
distance to go. Mr. Keytel was out fishing and was to follow. We all kept
well till we got to the ship. 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 assent 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 shore, 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 quantity 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 quantity 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
quantite de ceux qui appartiennent a la religion mahometane, avec
l'indication du nombre des Sunites ou Chuetes 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 shells I care for, but the teeth of the animals
within. I have just one species from Tristan--a small land shell of an
interesting genus (Balea). One species is European, one Japanese, 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 shells 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
sturdy 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 class 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 passed over us; the effects on sea and land were
most beautiful, everything assuming 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.

_Friday, April 5_.--Yesterday we again got up early and were ready to
start for the Ponds, when Henry again sent down to say it was going to
rain.

We have two invalids to visit now. The one is Mrs. Henry Green who makes
no progress at all, and seems very miserable. I really think she ought to
be in bed, but she says their bedroom window does not open, and she feels
the heat of the room. The other is Charlotte Swain, who apparently has a
housemaid's knee. It is very painful and much swollen. I have painted it
with iodine, which has reduced the swelling.

A little time ago we happened to say to Tom Rogers how tiring we found
cooking in the sitting-room owing to the fire being on the hearth, which
entailed constant stooping. Two or three days afterwards he came to
measure the fire-place, and that afternoon he and Bob Green fixed two
large stones, raising the fire a good foot. But the men are not always so
ready to help. We wanted them to build on an extra room to our house, as
there is no larder and the kitchen is very small. Our bedroom and the
kitchen share the same window, and when the wind is contrary the smoke
pours into the bedroom. We thought the west-end wall might be taken down
and the room built without very great difficulty. All hands met to-day to
consider this, when most of the men refused to do anything, though some
were quite willing to help. The life here very much conduces to every man
looking out for himself. Graham tried to point out to them how important
it was they should build a church and house if they want a clergyman or
teacher to come here in the future; and that they could not expect Lucy
Green and Betty Cotton to always give up their houses; but they did not
seem inclined to do anything. If a clergyman or teacher came they would
like him to board with one of themselves--an impossible arrangement. They
do not understand the need of a larder, the greater part of them keeping
groceries in the bedroom, sometimes under the bed. We have to keep a large
barrel of flour, our bread and milk in the sitting-room.

_Saturday, April 6_.--The men appeared _en masse_ early this morning to
say they were ready to start upon the house. We thanked them, but under
the circumstances thought it best not to have the work done. They ought
really to build on to their own houses, for some are very short of
bedrooms, and the sitting-room has nearly always to be used as a bedroom
too. They can build if they like, for a few years ago on his marriage Bill
Rogers built a house which looks very well; getting timbers for the roof
is the great difficulty. We hear that Lavarello was very sorry he had
refused his help to build the room and that night paced up and down vexed
with himself for so doing.

_Sunday, April 7_.--This afternoon I started the Girls' Class half-an-hour
before service. As soon as I left the house all seven girls flew round the
corner to join me. For the last hour they had been waiting at Betty
Cotton's just opposite. They are very pleased at having a class. It makes
such a difference teaching children to whom almost everything in the Bible
is new. They listened so attentively. We have begun with Genesis and I do
hope to make the teaching practical. After service we went to the Henry
Greens', who live up the hill in a direct line from here. She is much the
same. Chris is at last beginning to walk, but cannot speak a word. I
believe they fear he is dumb. He understands very well what is said to
him. I never saw a child tumble about more in his attempts to walk, but he
does not seem to mind a bit and can walk backwards as easily as forwards.

_Tuesday, April 9_.--Repetto has been levelling the floor of our bedrooms
preparatory to putting down some green linoleum, which we got to save
labour, as it is so difficult to sweep and keep clean rough boards.
Sailor-like, he slung the beds to a beam of the ceiling, which avoided
taking them to pieces.

_Thursday, April 11_.--I have just finished a serge skirt; it has many
gores in it, and has turned out better than I expected, indeed, it looks
quite tailor-made.

We are having an incursion of rats, and traps are going off at all hours
of the day and night. Most of the rats caught are small and more like
mice. The other day my favourite chicken walked into the sitting-room and
got its head caught in a trap. It extricated itself, but was so stunned it
fell over and could not walk; it has since recovered.

_Monday, April 15_.--As there are holes in the roof it had been arranged
that the back side of the house should be re-thatched, and the men,
fourteen in all, came to-day to do it. We got up soon after five to be
ready for them, and had time to go down for a bathe. They began by cutting
the tussock in the garden. While they were doing that we partly emptied
the loft. By the time we came back from school they were in full swing.
After taking off the old thatch they swept the loft, and a nice time we
had of it below. As soon as possible Ellen buckled to to sweep. When their
work was done they had tea with biscuits and rock cakes. Nine hundred
bundles of tussock were used to thatch the one side of the house. The men
fasten the thatch to the rafters with tarred string using a large iron
needle. Three men work together, one in the loft, one on the roof, and a
third tossing up bundles. We had sent to the Cape for lead to put along
the ridge in the place of turf, and this they have put on. We hope now the
roof will be rain and dust-proof, and the walls less damp.

Poor Mrs. H. Green is still feeling very miserable; she manages to get
about and that is all. Her eldest daughter, Ethel, who is just sixteen, is
getting on so well at school. She is by far the best reader, reading quite
fluently, and writes very well. She is very staid, and we think she might
possibly act as school-mistress in the future. Her brother Alfred, two
years older, has perseveringly stuck to his reading. He can hardly master
even short words. Still, he is getting on, especially in writing and
arithmetic. He is a very clean, neat and orderly lad, and has greatly
brightened in appearance since he began coming to school. The elder girls
will not do as well as the younger, who will soon outpace them. The former
have lately been learning to write letters. Up till now two or three women
and Repetto have written for the whole colony.

[Illustration: A GROUP OF ALL THE MEN]

_Saturday, April 20_.--We have been thinking with much satisfaction that
our letters taken by the _Grey-hound_ will probably be received in England
to-day. Since she left a ship has not so much as been seen.

This has been an afternoon of knocks at the door. First, Repetto's, who
came to replace the tin round the pipe on the roof, but it beginning to
rain he helped instead to put together a churn. We have started making
butter. Our next visitor was little Willie Repetto, who came for thyme and
parsley. Next came Rebekah to borrow the boot-brushes and blacking for her
brother, a weekly request; then Ned Green for matches for his grandmother.
He was followed by Sophy who wanted medicine for her mother, and she by
Arthur Rogers for leeks for his mother's soup. Lastly, came Rebekah again
with Mabel for nails for nailing birds' skins on their house wall to dry
them. This morning there was a request for baking-powder, and Harry Swain
brought a pair of horns for a birthday offering. Many days are like this,
and our house often resembles a shop.

It was Mary Repetto's birthday this week. I made her a pretty light-blue
pinafore. She was very pleased with it, and her mother so much so, that
Mary was sent with a live fowl as a return offering, but we did not accept
it, as we want them to learn we do not wish to be repaid for presents.

_Sunday, April 21_.--We have been having good attendances in church
lately. The men are again attending well, and two new-comers have started.
On Sunday evenings, there being no service, we read aloud. Graham begins,
and just now is reading _Religions of the World_. Then I read; my present
book is called _Holiness of Life_. I have just been preparing a lesson for
the women. I find Ryle's _Expositions of the Gospels_ a great help, they
are so simple and practical.

CHAPTER XX

_Wednesday, April 24_.--We have at last made the expedition to the Ponds.
On Monday evening Henry Green sent down word that he was starting early
next morning. So on Tuesday we rose at five, and two hours later Graham
and I set off ahead. We were glad to get a start so as to ensure a rest
before the others came up. We went over the common and down to and along
Big Beach. After walking over a sandy stretch there, we climbed up the
side of the mountain on to a narrow path and there awaited them. Will
Swain came hurrying up looking very hot, he thought we had got down too
low. Soon there joined us Henry Green, who was the guide, Rebekah, Ethel,
and Lily and Ruth Swain. We then followed the narrow and ascending path
across Plantation Gulch, where on the left was a yawning precipice.

[Illustration: THE PATH OF PLANTATION GULCH]

Several halts were called, during which we picked and ate berries. It was
a long and stiff climb. Towards the top the grass got longer and we had
often to clamber under the branches of trees, of which there were scarcely
any lower down. When we reached the top the path led up a stony gulch,
from which there was a beautiful view up a valley. Then we had to climb
and pass along the steep side of a hill. After this we were on flatter
ground. It was very misty and the scenery reminded me much of the moors of
Scotland. We saw many young mollyhawks sitting near their nests and
showing white in the undergrowth. We now walked over more level ground,
along what Henry called a road but I should hardly call a trail. Then
again over very uneven ground and through high ferns. By eleven we were at
First Lagoon Gulch, which resembled the dry bed of a wide and deep river.
There we had a light lunch. In about twenty minutes we started again. Our
course lay up a steep hill and over much the same sort of ground as
before. At noon we were above the ponds. It now came on to rain hard. We
tried to shelter under the edge of the cliff overhanging them, but by the
time the rain ceased the girls were wet through. There was a thick mist
and we could not even see the ponds, of which there are three, and which
lay far below. After some deliberation we decided not to descend to them,
and turned our steps homeward. We returned at a good rate, the girls
flying in front of us. Will Swain took his own way back. With a thick mist
hanging all round it would have been impossible to find the way without a
guide. At intervals we stopped to wring the wet out of our skirts. I was
thankful when we got to the gulch where we had to descend; though the wind
was there blowing gales. We got down the first part of the mountain very
quickly, but only by frequently sitting down on the long wet grass to slip
down steep pitches. When we got to Plantation Gulch we found a fire and
tea awaiting us--the work of Will Swain and the girls. Now we knew why
they had hurried on. It was excellent and most refreshing. We were home by
three. The next day Rebekah came to wash our muddy clothes. She had made
dreadful rents in her skirt, and as she has no idea of mending beyond
patching I have darned them for her.

We found Henry Green a most kind and considerate guide. He constantly made
short detours in search of the easiest path and often broke off branches
to clear the way. I hear he told the men afterwards that he had not
thought the "Missus" would have been able to walk so well. I asked him as
we went up the hill which was the worst day he had ever been out in on the
sea. He said, "The day the _Surrey_ was here, and we were landing the
luggage. The wind tore the sail of our boat and so we had not the same
control of her."

_Saturday, April 27_.--Last night was so cold it kept us all wakeful. Soon
after four we were disturbed by a rat, and I thought it a good opportunity
to get up and make up the dough. Ellen lit the paraffin stove and warmed
the milk and I made the bread and then retired to bed again.

_Wednesday, May 8_.--While I write Graham and Henry Green are engrossed in
a game of Tiddley Winks. Henry's wife came yesterday to stay with us, as
we thought a change might do her good. Her rheumatism is better, but she
is still feeling ill and depressed. She slept in Ellen's room and Ellen on
the sofa. This evening she made up her mind to go home, but says she will
come again tomorrow. Henry brought a bundle of wood and is sending milk
twice a day because she is here.

_Friday, May 10_.--We do not go out much for walks; they are rather
pointless without an object. But when it is dusk we often go to the top of
the cliffs for a breath of fresh air.

_Sunday, May 12_.--Sophy Rogers said to me as we were going up to the
class, "We shall miss it when you are gone." I felt encouraged.

_Tuesday, May 14_.--Mrs. H. Green did not come back to sleep, but spends
the day here now. She told them at home if she stayed the night here she
felt as if she should go out of her mind. She has her meals with us and
Graham cracks jokes to make her laugh.

Just as we had finished dinner to-day there was a hasty knock at the door
and Bob Green rushed in. We thought he was going to cry "Sail, ho," but it
was to say there was a sea-elephant on the Flat Rocks. These are about
four miles away to the east of the Hardies. We at once started off, Mrs.
Green coming with us as far as her sister's. A number of women and
children were on the way; the men had already gone armed with their guns.
At the potato patches we had to descend the cliff and go for some way
along the shore. The men awaited us at a point where the sea was breaking
on to the cliff and helped us over. We had to watch our opportunity and
make a run for it. We were now in sight of the sea-elephant, which looked
like a black log lying on the beach. It was a young one and measured about
twelve feet in length. When discovered it was asleep. The coast is very
picturesque just there, high rocks standing out in the sea. We all trooped
home together and got back in the early evening.

_Wednesday, May 15_.--The men were all out today cutting up the
sea-elephant, which when boiled down makes excellent oil for burning.

A ship was seen off the settlement, but it was too late to let the men
know in time for them to get back and go out to it. It came well in and we
regretted it was not taking our letters.

_Thursday, May 16_.--A four-masted ship was descried towards dusk.

_Friday, May 17_.--This morning Repetto came to the school window and
asked me to go and see his wife who had been taken ill in the night with a
bad heart attack, and for about two hours had been unable to speak. I
found her in much the same condition. After taking a little brandy she
felt better, and improved as the day wore on.

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