Pitcairn Islands is a
country whose history reads like a thriller.
It consists of four volcanic islands out of which only Pitcairn is
inhabited. The total population is 42. That is, Pitcairn Islands is a country with
42 people: as big as an Indian joint family.
The people of Pitcairn are
the descendants of the Bounty
mutineers as well as the Tahitians who accompanied the mutineers.
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| ByRobert Dodd - National Maritime Museum |
The Bounty was a ship that was commissioned to collect and transport
breadfruit from Tahiti to the British colonies in the West Indies. During the five-month layover in Tahiti,
indiscipline crept into the marrow of the sailors. The idle mind is the devil’s workshop.
Back in the ship after a
long and frolicsome sojourn on the Polynesian island, the crew met with serious
disciplinary measures from Captain Lieutenant William Bigh. However, it was the captain who ended up
being punished. The crew rebelled
against him. There was a mutiny on the
ship led by Fletcher Christian. The
mutineers seized control of the ship.
They put Capt Bligh and 18 others in a launch and set them adrift in the
Pacific Ocean on 28 April 1789.
Capt Bligh was both
fortunate and skilful enough to save himself and his companions. One year after being cast into the ocean,
Bligh and his companions reached England in April 1790. Retaliatory action started. HMS Pandora
was despatched to apprehend the mutineers, 14 of whom were captured in
Tahiti. But Christian was intelligent
enough not to stay in Tahiti. He and
others who had settled down on the Pitcairn Island escaped the retaliation. It is their descendants who live on the
island today.
The country was recently
in the news because of its former Mayor who was sentenced for sexual abuse of
children. The Mayor faced 25
charges. Child abuse is very common on
the Island. One-third of the men on the
Island (that is, seven in number) are guilty of the crime. The Island has become so notorious that no
child can enter it without first getting an “entry clearance application”
sanctioned.
England is spending three
million pounds every year to attract new settlers on the Pitcairn. The climate is good. The British government is subsidising a lot
of things. And yet there are no takers
for the migratory offer.
It is not easy to reach
the island, of course. It takes a
36-hour voyage by a 12-berth boat which sails once in three months. The return ticket costs $5000 from Mangareva
in the French Polynesia.
For a detailed account of
the mutiny, Caroline Alexander's The Bounty: The True Story of the Mutiny on the Bounty (2004) is
ideal.
Here are some pictures
from Pitcairn Islands from the National
Geographic site.
 |
| The Island is just 3.6 km long |
PS. Written for
Indispire Edition 116: #DiscoverACountry
Very interesting info!
ReplyDeleteI came across this curious place by chance and thought it worth writing about.
DeleteHad never heard of this place! Very interesting, and curious as you said.
ReplyDeleteIf I could, I would visit the place which the UK is spending so much money on.
DeleteWhat an odd little place!
ReplyDeleteIndeed.
DeleteVery pretty pictures and nice information.
ReplyDeleteGlad you liked it.
DeleteInteresting information.....
ReplyDelete:)
DeleteCurious indeed! Now your blogs have started taking me places ;)
ReplyDeleteI think it is an ideal place for spending time in solitude, but I think life will become like that of Robinhood!
Curious indeed! Now your blogs have started taking me places ;)
ReplyDeleteI think it is an ideal place for spending time in solitude, but I think life will become like that of Robinhood!
Not an ideal place with those paedophiles around.
DeleteGlad you've chosen to go some places with me.