Scenic Cruising- Pitcairn Island
The youngest visitor from Pitcairn Island, Cushila.
January 24, 2014
Pitcairn Island, British Overseas Territory in the South Pacific Ocean
Pitcairn Island is a volcanic island with a very fascinating history and culture. Its population, which consists of a grand total of 47 residents, are all direct descendants of the Bounty mutineers, and their Polynesian consorts. It is only 2 square miles, or roughly 5 square km in size, with Adamstown as the working capital. It has few buildings, and the town is for the most part on top of the hill.
The mutineers of Captain Bligh, led by Fletcher Christian; settled on Pitcairn Island, believing that the Royal Navy would never find them. They set the now infamous HMS Bounty on fire around 1791, in an effort to hide their location. One reason for the mutiny, was believed to have been caused by their 5 month stay in Tahiti. The beautiful women on the island were glad to go to bed with the men. When Capt. Bligh ordered them to leave, the crew mutinied within three weeks of setting sail. Today we had a pre-planned meeting with 42 of the people from Pitcairn Island. They came out to our ship, in their long boats, laden with bundles of souvenir items for sale, their world-famous honey, and their sought after stamps. They also brought bananas, including a few banana trees for decoration in the dining room, and other tropical fruit like papayas and pineapples. In return, the ship brought supplies for them worth US$10,000 which they had ordered in advance. The items ranged from powdered milk, flour, tea, cookies, and similar staples. Each resident takes a lot of pride in their individual lineage.
Every member of the group that came on board, sold their own individually crafted items with their name carved on the back, in particular the wood carvings from Miro wood. Those carvings were in various shapes, such as sting rays, sharks, dolphins, whales, turtles, and even walking sticks with the model of the Bounty. They also sold Tapa clothes and painted Hattie leaves. Their most popular produce is the exceptionally high quality Pitcairn Honey. It is exported to New Zealand and the United Kingdom and said to be the favorite of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles.
“What generation are you?” asked a gentleman addressing one of the younger boy who came on board.
“I'm 8th generation. My name is Bradley Dean Christian. I have two younger sisters but they are sick so they are staying in the island with my mother,” replied the boy with his British accent. He went on to say that on a day, he can carve 25 pieces of the souvenir items he was selling.
I asked him if he would like some chocolates and his eyes lit up. So I run to the cabin and gave him some of our pillow chocolates. He was very thankful and then he went on to say that I should meet the lone Filipino American in the group.
“Her name is Shirley Young,” he said. “I'll take you to her table,” he said leading the way.
I met the gregarious Shirley Young who is married to David Young. She said she's the only Oriental person, (Filipino), on the Island and would like to recruit some of the crew for .........??????
“You haven't got any takers?” I jokingly asked.
“You've got to help me recruit, every time they hear that it will be another three months before they will see another ship, they always back out!” she explained, jesting again????.
We exchanged email addresses, hugged and kissed each other on the cheek and bid farewell and a promise to look for “recruits”. I also hugged Bradley and said I wish that we could see each other again in the future. For an instant, I saw a momentary sadness in his eyes, but he recovered quickly. In a second, he was himself again, a boy growing up isolated in a far away island. Perhaps, it is that isolation that made him seem detached from any of us. They left in their long boats laden with umpteen more items, and numerous more friends to write and e-mail them! If anybody wants to take part in a real “survivor story”, Pitcairn Island is the place to go!
For more information on how to get there you may contact Shirley and David Young at: bubushu@yahoo.com