Tristan Da Cunha

TRISTAN DA CUNHA, the general name for a group of three small volcanic islands belonging to Great Britain, situated in the south Atlantic, the summit of the largest being in 37° 5' 50" S., 12° 16' 4o" W. They are midway between Cape Colony and South America. The islands rise from the submarine elevation which runs down the middle of the Atlantic. The depth between the islands is in some places over r,000 fathoms.

Tristan, the largest and northernmost island, has an area of 16 sq.m., is nearly circular in form, about 7 m. in diameter, and has a volcanic cone (7,640 ft.), usually capped with snow, in the centre. Precipitous cliffs, r,000 to 2,000 ft., rise from the ocean on all sides, except the north-west, where there is an irregular plateau of about 12 sq.m., roo ft. above the sea. A stream crosses the northern end of the plateau, falling over the cliff edge in a fine cascade. The crater of the central cone contains a fresh water lake about r5o yd. in diameter. This and other crater lakes are said never to be frozen over.

Inaccessible island, the westernmost of the group, is about 20 m. from Tristan. It is quadrilateral in form, the sides being about 2 m. long, with cliffs about i,000 ft., its highest point (1,84o) is on the west. At the base of the cliffs in some places are narrow fringes of beach.

Nightingale island, the smallest and most southern of the group, is ro m. from Inaccessible island. Its area is not more than i sq.

m. Its coasts are surrounded by low cliffs, from which there is a gentle slope up to two peaks (r,roo ft. and 96o ft. high). There are two small islets—Stoltenkoff (325 ft.) and Middle (15o ft.) —and several rocks adjacent to the coast.

The rocks of Tristan da Cunha are basalt, porphyritic basalt, dolerite, augite-andesite, palagonite, volcanic tuff and ashes. A block of gneiss in the crater indicates a continental foundation of the island. The caves in Nightingale island indicate that it has been elevated several feet. On almost all sides the islands are surrounded by a broad belt of kelp, the gigantic southern seaweed (Macrocystis pyrifera), through which a boat may approach the rocky shores even in stormy weather. There is no good anchorage in rough weather.

The prevailing winds are westerly. December to March is the fine season. The climate is mild and on the whole healthy, the temperature averaging 68° Fahr. in summer, 55° in winter—some times falling to Rain is frequent ; hail and snow fall occa sionally on the lower grounds. The sky is usually cloudy. The islands have a cold and barren appearance. The tide rises and falls about 4 ft.

History.

The islands were discovered in 1506 by the Portu guese admiral Tristao da Cunha. Thereafter the islands (which were uninhabited) were occasionally visited by outward bound ships to the Indies. Attempts to form settlements were made by the Dutch in 1656, and by the English East India company a few years later, but the first permanent inhabitant was one Thomas Currie, who landed on the island in 181o. At this time American whalers frequented the neighbouring waters and, in the same year, an American named Lambert and a man named Williams made Tristan their home, but they were drowned while out fishing in May 1812. Currie was joined by two other men and they busied

themselves in growing vegetables, wheat and oats, and in breeding pigs. Owing to the fact that the islands were used as a base for American cruisers raiding British merchant ships, the islands were formally annexed to Britain as dependencies of Cape Colony on Aug. 14, 1816. A temporary garrison was placed on Tristan, and when it left, William Glass, his wife and two children and two masons were left behind, and shipwrecked mariners, coloured women from Cape Colony, and British, Dutch, Italian and Asiatic settlers have since made their home there. The settlers grew wheat (since made impossible owing to the ravages of rats) raised cattle, sheep and pigs, grew apples and peaches, and engaged in seal fishing. They had of necessity to make their settlement on the plain on the north-west of Tristan; here a number of substantial stone cottages and a church were built. It is named Edinburgh in memory of a visit in 1867 by the duke of Edinburgh. In Octo ber 1873 the islands were carefully surveyed by the "Challenger." The visits of whalers were considerably reduced during the Ameri can Civil War, to the loss of the inhabitants of Tristan. In 1880, the population was 109, in 1885 15 men were drowned in a lifeboat disaster, in 1897, the population was 64, in 1909, 95 and in 1925, 13o. They manage their own affairs without any written laws. Frequent attempts have been made to induce some or all of the population to leave and land has been offered to them in South Africa, but has not been accepted. Their life is a hard one, their chief food is the potato and fuel is very scarce. The inhabitants are described as moral, without intoxicating liquors, religious, hospitable to strangers, well mannered and industrious, healthy and long lived. They are daring sailors, and in small canvas boats of their own building voyage to Nightingale and Inaccessible islands. They knit garments from the wool of their sheep; are good carpenters and make serviceable carts. Guano occurs on Nightingale, Inaccessible and Gough islands, but does not appear to be worked.

Gough Island.

Gough island or Diego Alvarez lies in 4o° 20' S., 44' W., and is 25o m. S.S.E. of Tristan da Cunha. It is of volcanic origin, is rugged and mountainous, the highest peak rising to 4,380 ft. The island is about 8 m, long by 4 m. broad. Pre cipitous cliffs, from 200 to i,000 ft. high, characterize the coast. They are divided by picturesque valleys. Streams fall over the cliffs into the sea in fine cascades. There are vast numbers of penguins and valuable guano deposits. It is also the home of numerous seals. Originally called Diego Alvarez, it derives its other name from a Captain Gough who visited it in 1731. It has been claimed as a British possession since the annexation of Tristan da Cunha. In 1904 Gough island was visited by the Ant arctic exploring ship "Scotia" of the Bruce expedition, which dis covered a rich marine fauna, two new buntings and three new species of plants. It has no permanent population.