Condition of Pitcairn Islanders
p. 27 · Read in the full issue
Letter to the Editor IN the October issue of your interesting journal, an article appeared entitled, “Physical Decline of Pitcairn Island ers”, in which a statement was made by Mr. T. Cunningham: “The descendants of the ‘Bounty’ mutineer on Pitcairn Is land have declined physically to a mark ed degree. It is only a matter of time before they will be extinct, owing to the constant inbreeding”.
Possibly, you have noticed the cable gram that was published in the daily press, from London, in which a state ment was made by J. M. Neill in his annual administrative report to the ef fect that “Despite inter-marriage there are no signs whatever of physical or
mental degeneracy among the Pitcairn Is landers”.
From what we can learn from several persons who have visited Pitcairn Is land in recent times, it is quite con trary to fact to state that the Pitcairn Islanders have “declined physically to a marked degree”, and we would be glad therefore, if you would correct this in your next issue.
I am, etc.,
A. W. Anderson.
General Field Secretary, Seventh-day Adventist Conference.
Sydney, 3/11/’3B.
EDITORIAL NOTE: Mr. Neill’s state ment is published elsewhere in this issue.
Mr. D. B. Costello, well-known Fiji identity, arrived in Sydney in October by the “Aorangi”.