kosmo - See all 471 of my articles
Leave the First Comment

On April 28, 1787, Fletcher Christian led the crew of the HMS Bounty in a mutiny against Captain William Bligh. Bligh and those loyal to him were set adrift on a small boat. Bligh was eventually able to report the mutiny to British authorities.

In an effort to evade the British navy, Christian and eight other crew members, along with some Tahitians who had been kidnapped, settled on the remote Pitcairn Island. After landing on Pitcairn Island, the Bounty was intentionally burned, marooning everyone on this remote island.

Incredibly, Pitcairn Island is still populated by the descendants of the mutineers. The population swelled from twenty seven people who originally landed on the island until the population threatened to outgrow the island in the 1850s (Pitcairn Island is just 1.75 square miles in size). In fact, the entire population moved to relatively close Norfolk Island (only a five week trip by boat). Within a few years, many of these people moved back to Pitcairn Island, and the population grew once again, peaking at 233 in 1937. Today, the population hovers around fifty, as many residents have chosen to emigrate off the island.

Pitcairn Island is as inaccessible as a place can be in this current age. It is in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and does not have an airstrip or a harbor that is suitable for ships. Anything that needs to be transferred is transferred via a longboat, which travels from the island to a nearby ship. Visitors from smaller boats visit the island occasionally, as well.

Pitcairn exports honey and handcrafted items. A rather significant segment of the island’s revenue comes from the sale of postage stamps to collectors as well as domain registrations under the .pn top level domain. People can also subscribe to the local newspaper, either online or in print. The printed edition can take a while to arrive. Interestingly, all of the homes on the island have internet access (a single satellite connection that is networked to all the houses).

The stories from Pitcairn are not all happy, of course. There are reports that sexual promiscuity is common and that men engage is sex with very young girls – and that these things have been occurring for a very long period of time. In 2004, seven men from Pitcairn were put on trial for rape and other charges. Six of the men were found guilty. Five of them have subsequently been released to home detention.

So the next time you’re thinking of a trip to a remote location, swing by Pitcairn Island and tell them I sent you!  If you’re trying to get away from the rat race, there are very few options that are better.

Wikipedia was a source for this article.

Kosmo is the founder of The Soap Boxers and writes on a variety of topics, including the Fiction Friday original short stories. You can purchase some of Kosmo's work at the company store. Like Kosmo's writing? You can leave a tip.

Like this site? Subscribe via RSS, Subscribe via Email, or Follow us on Twitter.

You might also like these other articles from The Soap Boxers (auto generated)

• What is the Cost of Discrimination? No, we're not going to talk about the impact of discrimination on victims.  Nor or we going to talk about...
• What Is Memorial Day? What is Memorial Day?  Is it a day of sales events?  Is it the official start of summer?  Is it...
• State of the Union and Bad Nuts Welcome to the second edition of my rant that appears here once a month on The Soap Boxers. My first...

Related articles from other sites (auto generated, not affiliated with The Soap Boxers)

• Tommy Bahama Men's Santa Cruz Fashion Boat Shoe Fit: True to Size Product DescriptionThis classic Tommy Bahama 2-eye woven boat shoe features a functional lacing system. Features a...
• Sperry Top-Sider Men's Mako 2 Eye Boat Shoe MAKO BY SPERRYGenuine Handsewn Tru-Moc Construction for Durable ComfortStain and Water Resistant Leather for Durable and Lasting Wear360? Lacing System...
• Money Saving Monday: Air Travel I set out to write a post about how to get the best deal on air travel. My list consisted...

•  
•  
•  
•  
•  

Comments

Leave a Reply

Set up a customized icon to appear next to your comments!

Is your comment not appearing? Don't worry - I'm not censoring you. Your comment just got caught in my spam filter. It will be viewable shortly (almost always within 24 hours, and much more quickly 90% of the time).

Name

Email Address

Website

Comments

Notify me of followup comments via e-mail

---

Writers for The Soap Boxers are freelance writers who work as independent contractors. Opinions expressed by the writers may not necessarily reflect the opinion of management.

Copyright for all content belongs to the writer identified in the byline. Copyright for any content not associated with a particular writer belongs to Kosmo. Copyright for comments belongs to the writer of the comment.

Content from The Soap Boxers cannot be reused in any manner other than what is allowed under the fair use doctrine of US copyright law or the applicable copyright laws of your country.

© 2008-2010. All rights reserved.

Please email Kosmo at Kosmo@ObservingCasually.com with any questions you may have.

The Soap Boxers is a division of Hyrax Publications

The Soap Boxers is hosted by Dreamhost. Sign up by clicking on the ad below and get your first year's service for just $36 - $3 per month!