Suwarrow

see also: Etymology of Suwarrow

Suwarrow is a Atoll islands Cook located at 950 kilometers in the North of Rarotonga and 385 kilometers in the south of Manihiki. Its surface is of 0,4km ², its lagoon having a total diameter of 15,3 kilometers Is in West for 12,8 kilometers of North in the South.

There does not exist for Suwarrow of Polynesian tradition. The island was discovered in October 1813 by the Captain Mikhail Lazarev, ordering Russian ship Suvorov which sailed of Kronstadt in direction of the Alaska, then Russian territory. He baptized the atoll of the name of his ship, name which the New Zealand authorities under the orthography took again later, Suwarrow.

In 1848, an American whaler the " Gem" failed itself on the reefs of the island. The captain and his crew had to give up the ship and to join in the launch the Samoa before returning to Tahiti. It is of Tahiti that the " Caroline Hort" belonging to the company whale-boat of the Brothers Hort left for Suwarrow in order to recover the oil remained in the holds of the failed ship. At the time of this passage, the Supercargo of forwarding, certain Lavington Evans unearthed a trunk containing 15000 dollars in gold coins. A few years later in 1876, a New Zealander of the name of Henry Mair stated in his turn to have discovered there in a nest of tortoise, silver coins so that the atoll acquired soon the reputation to be a " island with the trésor". The legend wants remainder that Robert Louis Stevenson took as a starting point the anecdote to write its famous Romance published the following year.

In 1860, an English of the name of Tom Charlton and six islanders of Rakahanga as of the women of Tuamotu settled on the island. During their stay, the ship the " Dart" there also made stopover. Its captain Samuel S. Sustenance, unloaded there about thirty Penrhyn and an European, Jospeh Bird, in order to collect mother-of-pearl pearls there. A few weeks later the " Tickler" from the Captain Thomas F. Martin passed in his turn to Suwarrow leaving a certain Jules Tirel there. Very quickly of the disorders burst with Penrhyn which killed three Europeans to know, Charlton, Bird and Tirel.

The ship following to visit the atoll was that of Captain H.B. Sterndale in 1867 in the name of Pacific Trading Co so still collecting mother-of-pearl pearls there there. It went back there in 1874 this time for the New Zealand firm Henderson and MacFarlane. At the time of this second stay, he discovered on one of the Motu coral low walls, skeletons, a Spanish mousquet, which lets suppose that Suwarrow was visited by Spanish galleons undoubtedly as of XVIè century. The island was annexed in the name of the British Admiralty on April 22nd, 1889, at the time of the passage of the HMS Rapid of the Captain W. McF. Castle. Nevertheless in October 1900, Suwarrow was included with the remainder of the Protectorate of the Cook islands then annexed the following year in New Zealand. The population rose at the time with 30 people. The colonial authorities rented the atoll with various companies, that of the Brothers Rising in 1903 then with a.B. Donald Ltd in 1923 before this one little by little is deserted from its inhabitants and is given up with itself. In October 1952, a New Zealander of the name of Tom Neale, kind of voluntary Robinson Crusoé, decided to live there as a hermit. It made there in all three stays, of October 1952 in June 1954, then of April 1960 in December 1963, before going back there from 1969 until little before its death which has occurred on November 27th, 1977 to Rarotonga. Of its first two stays, it published an autobiographical account published in 1966 and entitled " Year Island to Oneself " (" An island for soi")

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