By Bob Van Leer

  (PITCAIRN ISLAND, Feb. 23, 2003) - This is the island made famous by Fletcher Christian, leader of the mutiny on the Bounty in 1789. Christian wrested control of the British navy ship, Bounty, and set Capt. Wm. Bligh and 18 seamen who supported him adrift in an open boat with a week's provisions. Bligh, after an epic sail of more than 3000 miles, made it to safety.

  Christian knew the British navy would be searching for the mutineers. He first returned the Bounty to Tahiti, sailed around the Pacific looking for a home and returned to Tahiti once more. There 16 sailors decided to stay in Tahiti and Christian left Tahiti on the Bounty with eight other mutineers, six Polynesian men and nine Polynesian women.

  Christian landed on Pitcairn Island, a little known speck in the Pacific, and burned the Bounty so any passing ship would think the island uninhabited. This strategy worked and the group was not discovered until 1808 by a whaling ship and a British warship did not arrive until 5-6 years later.

  By that time there was only one mutineer, John Adams, and no Polynesian men alive. Most of the men were murdered, by each other and by the women. The island population increased over the years to 194 and a decision was made to move them in 1856 to Norfolk Island, an uninhabited former prison colony nearer New Zealand.

  Not everyone was happy with the move and 16 returned to Pitcairn in 1858, forming the nucleus of today's inhabitants. Only 44 persons live on the island now. Information we were given is the population is both aging and declining. Living on Pitcairn today is an exercise in isolation. Electricity is on six hours per day. Even satellite television doesn't reach the island. There is no airport and no air service. Occasional ships call, such as ours. A supply ship calls about every three months.

  The island of Mangareva in the Gambier group, part of French Polynesia, can be reached by air. From there, Pitcairn can be reached by a two and a half to three day ride on a chartered catamaran. Others hitch rides. Our ship brought two British diplomats and a researcher from Easter Island to Pitcairn.

  One diplomat, Matthew Forbes, is the deputy governor of Pitcairn based in New Zealand. Imagine a diplomat of this rank having to hitch a ride. The other diplomat was Jenny Lock, who is to spend a year on the island as the personal representative of the governor. The three persons we left on the island increased the population by nearly 7%. (Forbes is to leave in a week.)

  The island is only two miles long by a mile wide and totals 1120 acres, according to Lecturer Frank Buckingham. This is a volcanic island and only 8% of the island is flat. The capital is Adamstown, a loose collection of dwellings. ATVs are the principal form of transportation on the island.

  The island has intriguing place names such as "John Catch A Cow", "Stone People Fight For", "Where Warren Fall" and a cliff named simply "Oh Dear". Pitcairn, and three associated uninhabited islands, is the last British dependency in the Pacific.

  There is a British governor general located in New Zealand, 3200 miles away. An island council headed by Steve Christian, a descendent of Fletcher, has considerable autonomy, according to Forbes. Forbes said there is one nurse and one teacher on the island. He said the islanders spend a lot of time on handicrafts which they sell to passing tourists such as us.

  He said part of Lock's job is to analyze the declining population. He said there is no wish to depopulate the island and said it doesn't cost much to maintain. He thinks the island will have to look to some form of tourism to survive and said there has been interest expressed by developers.

  Children now go to school at the age of 15 in New Zealand and most don't come back. But there is trouble in this tiny Pacific island. Allegations of rape and sexual abuse have been made against a number of the men on the island (and some Pitcairners now living elsewhere). Forbes would only confirm that allegations have been made, but no charges have yet been filed.

  He did say that the New Zealand parliament passed a law in December that would allow a British court to sit in New Zealand and hear the charges if a trial is held. A teleconferencing system has been set up between Pitcairn and New Zealand so witnesses can testify and proceedings can be followed without moving everyone to New Zealand.

  Before the teleconferencing arrangement, Mayor Christian said the community could not survive a trial in New Zealand, nearly 3200 miles away. He is quoted as saying, "We can't just leave. The people here want to be witnesses at any trial".

  Our ship, the Amsterdam, arrived off Pitcairn shortly before 9:00 a.m. There was a heavy sea but the Pitcairners brought their longboat out of their boathouse and came alongside the ship in the lee of the wind. More than 30 of the islanders came aboard to set up tables to sell their handicrafts.

  There were no plans to take ship's passengers to the island. The 452 passengers would overwhelm the island's facilities. While the islanders sold their wares the ship sailed around the island.

  Our stay was cut short by two hours when Capt. Van Zaane announced a crew member needed immediate medical attention (for a ruptured appendix) that could not be provided in the ship's clinic. So we set sale for Tahiti, two days' sail away.