A Couple Of Visitors

Suwarrow’s Hermit Gets A Couple Of Visitors

From a Rarotonga Correspondent New Zealander Tom Neale, who has lived alone on Suwarrow atoll in the Northern Cooks since November, 1960, had one of his rare visits from the outside world in October when Mr. and Mrs. Danny Weil arrived at the atoll from Raro tonga in their yacht Yasme 111.

T'HE Weils, who are on a voyage J- round the world, brought Tom some welcome supplies. They found him in perfect health, although at 50-odd he is beginning to feel he is getting too old for the hermit’s life, Tom is now doing his second spell in solitude on Surarrow. His first stay was from October, 1953, to fune, 1954, but for part of that time i party of shell divers was also itationed there.

He went there aeain as Governnent overseer with another team of livers for two months in 1956; and >e began his present period of resilence in April, 1960, when he Sty severaf'days'” 8 t6am ‘° lion oy several days.

The divers left on November 6, 960, and Tom has seen few human aces since then. His first visitors /ere the crew of a US Navy heliopter, who dropped in on Decern-

ber 10, 1960, and caught him in his “Suwarrow clothes”—his birthday suit.

The crew of the helicopter, which came from the USS Glacier, an ice breaker bound for the Antarctic, put T om * n wor l ( l’s headlines when they re P° r t e d having found him wandering stark naked on “Stravenof Island”, 600 miles east of Samoa. f° u . r months later, this unsought publicity brought Tom a visit from an English journalist, Noel Barber, phot ° grap J lers > £ h ° a " d pl ? tu , res ey a „ y :? ,L, t,- t Rarot0 ”® a took ".ores months ago? SQ thfi Weils are only the fourth lot of people to interrupt his solitude in 23 months, The Weils’ visit enabled Tom to speak by radio with Rarotonga for the first time. Danny Weil, who is

an amateur radio enthusiast, has three transmitters and five receivers aboard Yasme 111, and soon after his arrival at Suwarrow he set up a radio station, ZKIBY, on Anchorage Islet, where Tom lives.

ZKIBY broadcast from the atoll each afternoon, mostly in morse on 20 metres. On the night of October 17, the Cook Islands News, the roneoed daily news-sheet issued by the Social Development Department in Rarotonga, showed its journalistic enterprise by interviewing Tom on

Zkiby.

In an excellent report of the interview published next day, the news-sheet said that Tom intended to leave Suwarrow for good next year if shell diving operations were carried out then.

Tom said he could not possibly come off in a ship that just called there for a few days as it would take several weeks to pack his belongings!

The most exciting pieces of news that Tom had to report were that: • He had a bad accident last year which nearly cost him his life. • He had picked up a bottle on the beach on May 29 this year con taining a piece of paper with the address of an American couple from Los Angeles. The couple had thrown the bottle overboard from the Mariposa en route to New Zealand. • He had picked up more than 40 Japanese glass fishing floats on the beach.

Regarding his accident, Tom said he was out on the lagoon one day when a squall came up which over turned his sailing boat and toppled him into the sea where the water was 100 ft deep.

He was badly hurt, but with the aid of a glass float and with much effort he eventually got the boat upright, although full of water. He bailed frantically with his hands, and

Hermit Tom Neale generally wears his “Suwarrow clothes" when he goes out fish ing. The photograph was taken by James S. Rockefeller, Jr., who spent some time with Tom several years ago and wrote about him in his book "Man on His Island".

Suwarrow Island

'as just beginning to give up hope 'hen the wind eased and the sea ropped.

He lay exhausted for a while, nd then made a slow trip back to le beach—having been in the water ■om early morning until midday.

Tom said the pearl shell in the goon was maturing well, and he redicted a good season for divers if team should go to Suwarrow next ;ar.

He said the atoll (which is a bird nctuary) was now swarming with rds, and estimated that at least >O,OOO tern were nesting there, and at there were about 10,000 frigate rds.

Turtles (which are also protected) -re increasing in numbers. On the her hand, the rat population had creased amazingly, thanks to his ts.

As for pigs, Tom said he had now ped them out entirely—a fact lich pleased him very much, as ey had caused much havoc in his dl-cared-for gardens.

Tom told the Cook Islands News at the only time he felt lonely was r four or five days after the parture of a ship. After that, he >uld settle down to the existence he sferred —communing with Nature.

Tom said he rose early each day d his first job was to light a fire. ‘ then went to his “House of sditation”, after which he washed d prepared himself some coffee.

Egg Production Record His next job was to feed his vis. He said he had quite a flock these, which he kept behind wire i only let them out at 3 p.m. each Y- (In September, they had pro led him with a record of 284 eggs).

Aiter a leisurely breakfast, Tom d he gathered firewood and uto )conut apple), of which he ate a at deal.

Fhen there was the ritual of ndering down to the beach to see any ships were in sight, followed inspections of his fowls and dens. Also on his programme s the job of visiting the nearby tus to see how the trees he had nted were faring. fom said he had planted trees of ious types on most of the islets, e type, the anu, was thriving, and re was about half an acre of lanu. lowever, he had had a lot of jble with coconut trees because the onut crabs stripped the trees of their young leaves and never gave m a chance to develop. Termites

were also a pest in about 10 to 15 per cent, of the trees.

Tom said he was very grateful to Mr. Jack Best, of Rarotonga, for sending him food, seeds and reading material in Yasme HI. He added that he would like some new posts for his buildings as the old ones were rotten.

According to the Cook Islands News, the Weils intended to stay at the atoll until about October 26, when they would leave for Apia with some mail from Suwarrow’s celebrated recluse, including a report on the atoll for the Cook Islands Resident Commissioner, Mr. A. O. Dare.