Pitcairners Watched for

Plane That Did Not Come

|l/ps. MYRTLE L. WARD of the Seventh Bay Adventist Mission on Pitcairn Island, writing to the ABC Weekly, in early June, describes the disap pointment Pitcairners felt when Captain ® G. Taylor and his crew on Frigate Bird I did not pass over the island as cheduled. It appears that a change of vind altered the survey party’s plans and hat the plane passed at night about 70 niles north of Pitcairn. Mrs Ward vrites: — RADIO Australia is a great link with home, and we are thrilled to listen to the news and other programmes.

Partly because we are Australians anc} >artly because it came so close to us on fltcairn Island, of unusual interest was he news of Captain Taylor’s flight in the frigate Bird 11.

It was thrilling to know he was flying ver the vast expanses of the Pacific in ur own neighbourhood, but when, on larch 30, we heard that he would “in pect Pitcairn Island from the air on his eturn flight,” our interest was greatly icreased.

Our radio told how he would “carry a pecial parachute with which to drop some lail which would be the first air mail ver to be received on Pitcairn Island”!

Iverybody wanted to see that parachute nd find the mail that would be dropped!

Vhen we heard that the captain had left buth America it seemed time ,to be matching for him. Then came some delay t Easter Island.

We watched Wednesday, some of the eople selecting clear, grassy places up on ae ridge from which to look out over the astern sea. Nothing happened Wednes ay, so we watched again Thursday. At .45 Friday came the word, “Captain 'aylor took off from Easter Island this lorning and is due in Mangaroa to ight.”

Now, there was a big conundrum. Had aptain Taylor left Thursday morning

and passed up by, or had he left before daylight Friday and would he be passing over during the day?

Then at 7.00 a.m. here, which is 1.30 on Saturday morning in Melbourne, came the same statement: Captain Taylor had left “this morning” from Easter Island. So we were rather tangled. Some were for watching still, and others said he had al ready passed. In the end, most of us kept one eye on the sky while going about our various duties. A few again took their woodwork up on the ridge, erected a tent fly for shelter from the sun, and, while a huge Union Jack floated from a pole at the end of the ridge, continued to look for the huge “Bird.” But it never came.

It was a great disappointment to all the people.

Our weather all the week had been so beautiful that we thought he might be tempted to land when he did come. So we prepared a small souvenir to celebrate and commemorate the occasion. If Captain Taylor had landed we’d give him the tiny souvenir. Seeing that he didn’t

come, we are planning to send it to him just the same.

It will commemorate the event that never occurred!