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and the economic nature of arable agriculture is such as not to be attractive to smallholders. It is, therefore, difficult to envisage any change in the present system of land holding.

GOVERNMENT

EXECUTIVE COUNCIL

The Governor (President)
Government Secretary (ex-officio)
Treasurer (ex-officio)

The Chairman of the Council Committees

LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

The Governor (President)
Government Secretary (ex-officio)
Treasurer (ex-officio)

12 Elected Members

Clerk of Councils: H. G. Richards, MBE

CIVIL ESTABLISHMENT

Governor and Commander-in-Chief: Sir Dermod Murphy, CMG, OBE
Government Secretary: I. C. Rose, TD
Treasurer and Collector of Customs: W. Millard
Assistant Government Secretary: H. G. Richards, MBE
Agricultural and Forestry Officer: A. S. Leask
Auditor: A. O. Richards
Education Officer: Ralph Billing

Superintendent of Police and Gaol and Registrar, Supreme Court: (vacant)
Postmaster: O. N. Duncan

Senior Medical Officer: J. S. Noaks
Medical Officers: J. A. Currie; C. R. Grainger
Matron: Miss G. H. Sim, BEM
Superintendent of Works: W. Sorbie
Electrical Engineer: E. A. Camp
Social Welfare Officer: F. M. Ward

JUDICIARY

Chief Justice: W. E. Windham
Magistrate: E. J. Moss, CBE, MC

Justices of the Peace: D. H. Thorpe; J. R. Charlton, MBE; R. F. Broadway, MBE;

Mrs M. E. Williams, MBE

ASCENSION
(Wideawake Island)

The small island of Ascension lies in the South Atlantic (7° 56′ S., 14° 22′ W.) 700 miles north-west of St Helena. Its area is 34 square miles and the population at 31st December 1968 was 1,363, of whom 773 were St Helenians.* The island was discovered by the Portuguese on Ascension Day 1501. It was uninhabited until the arrival of Napoleon in St Helena in 1815, when a small British naval garrison was placed there. The island remained under the supervision of the British Admiralty until it was made a dependency of St Helena by Letters Patent in 1922 and came under the control of the Secretary of State for the Colonies. Ascension is a barren, rocky peak of purely volcanic origin, destitute of vegetation except for about ten acres around the top of the peak (2,870 feet), where Cable and Wireless Limited run a farm producing vegetables and fruit and permitting the maintenance of about 1,850 sheep, cattle and pigs. The island

*The majority of the remainder being expatriate personnel of Cable and Wireless Limited and the United States base. The population varies from time to time as it is largely determined by the employment offered by these two stations.

is famous for turtles, which land there from December to May to lay their eggs in the sand. It is also a breeding ground of the sooty tern, or wideawake, vast numbers of which settle on the island every eighth month to lay and hatch their eggs. Other wild-life on the island includes feral donkeys, goats and cats, rabbits and partridges. All wild-life except rabbits and cats is protected by law. Shark, barracuda, tuna, bonito and other fish are plentiful in the surrounding ocean. Cable and Wireless Limited own and operate an important cable station which connects the Dependency with St Helena, Sierra Leone, St Vincent, Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires, and through these places, over the Company's system, with all parts of the world.

In 1942 the Government of the United States of America, by arrangement with the British Government, established an air base which became of considerable importance during the period of hostilities. The United States Government has recently re-occupied Wideawake Airfield under an agreement with the British Government in connection with the extension of the Long Range Proving Ground for guided missiles centred in Florida.

A British Broadcasting Corporation relay station on the island was opened in 1966.

Administrator: Brigadier H. W. D. McDonald, DSO

TRISTAN DA CUNHA

Tristan da Cunha is a small island in the South Atlantic Ocean, lying about midway between South America and South Africa. It is volcanic in origin and nearly circular in shape, covering an area of 38 square miles and rising in a cone to 6,760 feet. The climate is typically oceanic and temperate. Rainfall averages 66 inches per annum.

Possession was taken of the island in 1816 during Napoleon's residence in St Helena, and a garrison was stationed there. When the garrison was withdrawn, three men, headed by Corporal William Glass, elected to remain and became the founders of the present settlement. Because of its position on a main sailing route the colony thrived until the 1880s, but with the replacement of sail by steam, the island ceased to occupy a position on a main shipping route and a period of decline set in. No regular shipping called and the islanders suffered at times from a shortage of food. Nevertheless, attempts to move the inhabitants to South Africa were unsuccessful. The islanders were engaged chiefly in fishing and agricultural pursuits.

The United Society for the Propagation of the Gospel has maintained a missionary teacher on the island since 1922; a number of missionaries had also served on the island prior to this. In 1932 the missionary was officially recognised as Honorary Commissioner and Magistrate.

By Letters Patent dated 12 January 1938 Tristan da Cunha and the neighbouring unsettled islands of Nightingale, Inaccessible and Gough were made dependencies of St Helena, though as a matter of practical convenience the administration of the group continued to be directly supervised by the Colonial office.

In 1942 a meteorological and wireless station was built on the island by a detachment of the South African Defence Force and was manned by the Royal Navy for the remainder of the war. The coming of the Navy re-introduced the islanders to the outside world, for it was a naval chaplain who recognised the

possibilities of a crawfish industry on Tristan da Cunha. In 1948 a Cape Town based fishing company was granted a concession to fish the Tristan da Cunha waters. Many of the islanders found employment with the fishing company. In 1950 the office of Administrator was created. The Administrator is also the magistrate.

On 10th October 1961 a volcanic cone erupted close to the settlement of Edinburgh and it was necessary to evacuate the island. The majority of the Islanders returned to Tristan da Cunha in 1963. The Administration has been fully re-established and the Island Council re-formed. The population at the end of 1968 was 271, which included 253 islanders.

The island is isolated and communications are restricted to a few calls a year by vessels from Cape Town and an occasional call by a passing ship. There is, however, a wireless station on the island which is in daily contact with Cape Town. A local broadcasting service was introduced in August 1966. A radiotelephone service was established in 1969.

The island community depend upon fishing for their livelihood. The Company holding the fishing concession has built a new fish-freezing factory and the shore-based fishing industry is being developed following the construction of a harbour funded from an £80,000 grant from the British Government. The industry employs almost all of the working population.

The 1969-70 budget is expected to show a small deficit which will be met from reserves. Colonial Development and Welfare assistance will provide funds for a new hospital and a new school.

Administrator: J. I. H. Fleming

READING LIST

ST HELENA, ASCENSION AND TRISTAN DA CUNHA ANONYMOUS. A Description of the Island of St Helena. London, P. Phillips, 1805.

AUBRY, Octave. St Helena. London, Galloncz, 1937.

BARNES, CAPTAIN JOHN, RN. A Tour through St Helena. London, J. M. Richardson, 1817.

BLAKESTON, OSWELL, Isle of St Helena. London, Sidgwick and Jackson, 1957.

BROOK, T. H. A History of the Island of St Helena. 2nd edition. Publishers to the East India Company, 1824.

DARWIN, CHARLES. The Voyage of a Naturalist Round the World in H.M.S. Beagle. London, Routledge, 1905.

GOSSE, PHILIP. St Helena, 1502-1938. London, Cassell, 1938.

HUGHES, CLEDWYN. Report of an enquiry into conditions on the Island of
St Helena. . . (and) observations by the St Helena Government on Mr
Hughes' report. 1958. 2 parts.

KORNGOLD, RALPH. The Last Years of Napoleon: his captivity on St
Helena. London, Gollancz, 1960.

MARTINEAU, Gilbert. Napoleon's St Helena. London, John Murray, 1968. STONEHOUSE, BERNARD. Wideawake Island: the story of the British Ornithologists Union Centenary Expedition to Ascension. London, Hutchinson, 1960.

THOMPSON, J. A. K. Report on a visit to Ascension Island. St Helena Government Printer, 1947.

TRISTAN DA CUNHA

BOOY, D. M. Rock of Exile: a narrative of Tristan da Cunha. London,
Dent, 1957.

CHRISTOPHERSON, ERLING and others. Tristan da Cunha (translated by
R. L. Benham). London, Cassell, 1940.

CHRISTOPHERSON, ERLING (editor). Results of the Norwegian Scientific
Expedition to Tristan da Cunha, 1937-1938. 16 parts. Oslo, Oslo Univer-
sity Press, 1940-62..

GANE, DOUGLAS M. Tristan da Cunha. London, Allen and Unwin, 1932.

SEYCHELLES

HE Seychelles archipelago consists of a scattered group of 40 granitic and

T

45 coralline islands in the Western Indian Ocean. The islands take their name from the Vicomte Moreau de Séchelles, Controller General of Finance in the reign of Louis XV. The group also includes numerous rocks and small cays. Its land area is approximately 89 square miles.

The largest of the islands is Mahé, named after a former French Governor of Mauritius, which has an area of about 55 square miles and is approximately 17 miles long from north to south. Mahé lies 940 miles due east of Mombasa, 1,750 miles south-west of Bombay, and rather more than 600 miles north of Madagascar. Victoria, the capital of Seychelles and the only port of the archipelago, is on Mahé. It is the only town in Seychelles of any size and has a population of about 12,000.

The granitic islands, which are all of great scenic beauty, rise fairly steeply from the sea and Mahé has a long central ridge which at its highest point, Morne Seychellois, reaches 3,000 feet. Praslin, second largest island in the group, is 27 miles from Mahé and the other granitic islands are within a radius of 35 miles. The coral islands are reefs in different stages of formation, rising only a few feet above sea level.

For islands so close to the Equator, the climate is surprisingly pleasant. Maximum shade temperature at sea level averages 29°C (85°F) but during the coolest months, the temperature may drop to 24°C (75°F). At higher levels temperatures are rather lower and the air fresher. There are two seasons, hot from December to May, and cooler from June to November while the south-east monsoon is blowing. Rainfall varies over the group; the greater part falls in the hot months during the north-west monsoon and the climate then tends to be humid and somewhat enervating. The mean annual rainfall in Victoria taken over the past 67 years is 93 inches and the mean average temperature 25°C (76°F). All the granitic group lie outside the cyclone belt. High winds and thunderstorms are rare.

The total population of Seychelles on 30th June 1968 was estimated at 49,981. In 1968 there were 1,738 births and 538 deaths. The official language is English and state education at primary and secondary levels is in English. The family language is Creole, a patois of French. In all there are 34 primary schools with an enrolment figure for 1968 of 8,531 of whom 4,345 were boys and 4,186 were girls. In addition there are 23 pre-primary infant and organised kindergarten

schools. There are 11 junior secondary and two secondary grammar schools. with a total enrolement of 919 boys and 1,027 girls. There four technical and vocational training centres whose enrolment in 1968 was 264 trainees (190 girls and 74 boys), and one teacher training college.

The Seychellois are almost all Roman Catholics (more than 90 per cent of the population); there are small minorities adhering to the Anglican and other sects.

Seychelles has very few of the diseases usually associated with tropical climates. There are no anopheline mosquitoes and consequently no malaria. No cases of yellow fever or dengue have ever been reported although there are aedes mosquitoes on most of the islands. Tuberculosis continues to be one of the major health problems of the islands and concentrated effort in both preventive and curative fields is maintained, with emphasis on the preventive side. It is believed that at last there is decline in the incidence of this disease.

The Public Health Service is organised under the Medical Officer of Health and the staff consists of one Chief Health Inspector and seven Health Inspectors. A senior Public Health Sister was appointed at the beginning of 1965 and has thirteen Public Health Nurses in her charge.

The main islands are reasonably well provided with hospitals and clinics. Mahé has the main hospital (135 beds) and the Bishop Maradan Sanatorium (82 beds) at Victoria, a small hospital (17 beds) at Anse Royale in the south of the island, and two clinics situated on the west coast. Praslin has a cottage hospital (28 beds) and two clinics; while at La Digue there is a small hospital with 6 beds.

The main diet in the islands is rice, fish and lentils. Meat is eaten occasionally and vegetables are usually available.

The Port of Victoria has about one square mile of deep water roadstead for ships of all sizes and an inner harbour of about half that area for small craft. The whole harbour area is protected by a chain of small islands and the number of ocean-going ships which can be accommodated at any one time is four. The number of vessels entered and cleared from Victoria in 1968 was 308. Tonnage handled in 1968 was 16,492 loaded and 43,766 unloaded. There is at present no airport in Seychelles but an international airport is to be constructed although it is not expected to be operational until early 1971. Mahé has an extensive road system of which 55 miles are now surfaced. On the island of Praslin the trans-island road from Grand'Anse to Baie Ste Anne is also surfaced.

Radio Seychelles, a Government-owned and equipped broadcasting station, opened in July 1965 and broadcasts in the medium wave band (225-4 metres. 1,331 Kilocycles) for four and a half hours daily.

The Seychelles fishing industry is for the most part undeveloped, the local fishermen relying solely on traditional methods and equipment for their livelihood. Fish being a staple food of the islanders, virtually the entire catch goes for local consumption, although a few tons of salted fish are exported every year, mostly to Tanzania.

Recently local fishermen have received help in various ways—including the acquisition of deep-freezers for keeping bait-from grants provided by the United Kingdom Committee of the Freedom From Hunger Campaign. The Seychelles Government has adopted a project originally sponsored by the Union Chrétienne Seychelloise with probable financial assistance from Oxfam to provide a cold store for freezing and keeping fish during periods of glut,

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