The Russian Occupation of the Yellow Island

This is an English-version reproduction of the original chart
drafted during Admiral Bellingshausen's circumnavigation
of the Yellow Island. The name came from the abundant
wildflowers frequently observed from the ship.

The Russians occupied our island until 1992.

Once the Czar announced the island's existence as a Russian colony, other nations, pirates and privateers soon began to test its defenses. The islanders proved their homegrown defense capabilities by setting fire to anchored ships while foreign raiding parties tried to overrun settlements. The Czar thwarted an extradition attempt by the British in 1825 by threatening to expose a certain delicate situation between the Russian and British royal families...

Eventually the world accepted the fact that Russia owned the island.

Czar Alexander wanted the island to pay its way and demanded quotas of wheat and wool, which Bellingshausen had reported were being produced by the settlers. The Czar's colonial commanders were pragmatic enough to realize that forced labor would likely bring on a native uprising, thus they agreed to a barter system whereby Russian finished goods would be traded for the island's produce. The Russian administrators, laborers and contractors who had contact with the islanders were usually intimidated by the women's' wild, intense gaze and their 'natural' clothing styles. These newcomers really didn't understand what the islanders were up to, nor did they want to, so they simply left them alone.

The abundant offshore whales and sea otters were not so lucky, as they were savagely hunted for their oil and fur. Beginning in 1830, Russian whaling operations were set up near Kronstadt, and Russian ships hunted down the region's whales, seals and otters until they were very near to extinction. This disturbed the islanders greatly as the otters were a sacred animal, and the stench of the offal dumped into Kronstadt Bay was nearly suffocating at times. By 1902 the entire area was fished out and the operations closed down, but you can still see the bleached bones littering the shoreline north of the Marketside district.

The southeastern forests were also a target for export. In the late 1880's Russian loggers cut down a considerable amount of local timber for export, especially in the more accessible areas east of Kronstadt. Fortunately, the Revolution interrupted this practice before the major mountain forests were cut. Some tree farms were developed in the 1920's, and New Islanders still practice the methods they learned from the Russian foresters.

After 1900 Czar Nicholas began to see the island as a strategic naval base, and in 1906 assigned Governor General Alexander Poloustrov the post of colonial commander. Poloustrov was given the task and a healthy budget to build roads, railways, hydroelectric plants, deep-water ports and other infrastructure to make it a useful outpost for the military, and as a possible resort for the Russian elite. Poloustrov hired Polish and Russian laborers to build these projects, which fortunately neared completion when the Revolution finally caught up with the island around 1920.

Next: The island disappears!

The Russians Arrive

The Russians claimed New Island in 1820.

Czar Alexander I had entered the race to colonize distant lands far later than the rest of Europe. In 1819 he sent Fabian von Bellingshausen on an expedition to circumnavigate Antarctica as well as to chart the last 'unknown' regions of the Southern Ocean. In April of 1820, Bellingshausen headed north from Antarctic waters to Java, to wait out the approaching southern winter. En route he encountered a "...land of a hilly nature with smokes and other signs of settlement."

A cautious man, Capt. B. decided to sail around the island first, creating New Island's first coastal chart along the way. He finally ventured a landing at Old Bay, on the island's southern shore and near where he first sighted the island. Waiting for him (his progress had been closely watched) was a large group of fair-skinned, English-speaking and rustically-clad locals.

And so many women!

By luck, a Russian deck officer spoke enough English to initiate a conversation, and what a conversation! The Russians were immediately impressed by the level of civilization these shipwrecked female convicts had accomplished! The also knew that to maintain any hope of holding on to this outpost from the grasp of the rest of Europe, they would need allies.

After two weeks of negotiations with settlement Elders, a unique agreement was reached: Russia would declare the island a sovereign Russian possession, thus keeping it out of the hands of other European powers. The islanders, in turn, would allow the Russians to use the island's natural harbors as port facilities, and they would also help defend the island for Russia. Beyond this, the islanders and their way of life would be left alone: no Russian police force, no missionaries, and no interference in islander affairs! Russian settlement would be confined to a surveyed area near the two port sites.

The Elders were very firm on this and Captain Bellingshausen signed to it.

Next: Russian occupation, and some rough times.

Japanese fishermen also discover New Island

In 1807, just as the Europeans were settling much of New Island's south-western coasts and valleys, a group of fishing families from Tsushima in Southern Japan landed on the north-eastern coast of the island.

Here's their story, as handed down the generations:

Facing persecution for their Buddhist faith from the ruling Tokogawa clan, 19 families from the fishing town of Tsushima secretly built a huge raft, in sections, then lashed it together one moonlit night and set sail for a new home. About 109 men, women and children fled their native homeland in 1804 and wandered for three years among the islands of the

East China Sea
South China Sea
Celebes Sea
Banda Sea
and the Timor Sea

Until they hit Australia. They patiently hugged the inhospitable Australian coast and at Cape Inscription, finally decided to follow a "mysterious and delightful light" that led them west to New Island. Here they found their new Eden: a dramatic coastline with good rainfall, not too hot, lots of fish, and nooooobody there to give them grief.

They founded the town of Sata, and later a few outlying villages where they could harness streams for rice-paddy irrigation, and also fish. Along with rice and other native seeds, they brought timber bamboo along with them, which they allowed to grow wild on the hillsides.

They were completely isolated until 1819 when a group of young women (teenagers mostly) from Elsinore, a new farming tribe to the south, discovered them. After a wary period of shyness, the girls were treated well and soon learned about the delicious local seafood and rice dishes, the furo bath and the marvels of Japanese crafts and architecture--"all so different and all so delightful", the girls reported! Thus relations and trading were established. Japanese fishing and construction techniques were soon known over much of the island, and Buddhist practices, such as zen meditation, became popular--long before they were known in the West!

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For 21 years, English-Irish convict women, ships' crew and guards; a band of settlers (for a while under the dubious Mr. Denby); and a few Japanese families enjoyed the freedom to create their own lifestyles and their own civilization, something completely unknown at this time. The women, inspired by stories about the "Old Religion" of 5,000 years ago, and other pagan and animist traditions, branched off into many tribes to farm and do things their own way.

But eventually one of the Great Powers would claim the island...and by luck it was Czarist Russia. If the British had claimed it, the convicts would have been shipped off to Australia, among other disruptions! If it were the Spanish, French, Portuguese or the Dutch, all with ships crossing the Indian Ocean more and more frequently, who knows how the island would have fared, but the delicate social experiments would likely have been crushed.

Next time: The Russians

How New Island Was Settled

Map of Settlement (click the map to read it better)

Settlement spread quickly from the shipwreck sites near Beastey, Palmer
and Old Bay. By the time the Russians claimed New Island in 1820,
English-Irish and then Japanese settlers
(a whole other story!) had established several coastal communities
and a few farm towns inland, as well as many isolated outposts.

Women virtually ruled New Island mostly because of their sheer numbers in proportion to the men (about 4 to 1) and because they seemed more adaptable to the turn of events that led them here. Perhaps it was a stronger instinct to survive coupled with a dare-it-all attitude that got them into trouble in the first place! They became excellent leaders as well as capable diplomats, and were far more willing to experiment with living arrangements to insure their survival.

Some of the young sailors and guards went along with womens' community-life ideas that were truly radical for the time. The older sailors and most of the military/guard held out and settled into bachelor-villages of their own, hoping to continue some vestige of their previous lives at home. It turned out that a lot of women frequented the taverns these guys had established!

The men who joined the women in the new communities, especially those in the emerging tribes, had quite a great time of it, as their services were much in demand. It wasn't long before there were lots of kids being raised by entire villages!

Supplies salvaged from the wrecks greatly helped the new communities. Sheep, goats, cattle, pigs and chickens had survived the shipwrecks and varieties of grains and vegetables (from English seed stock) were soon thriving in small fields. Tools and a library of how-to books from the Swallowtail were most beneficial!

Next: Japanese settlers, and then the Russians

An Otter Preaches Forgiveness

Womby resident Kate Rice drew her impression of the Otter
that appeared in Womby Wood in 1811.

How can an otter talk much less preach forgiveness?

Apparently in 1811 some people in a funeral procession through a eucalyptus grove near Womby "experienced" a common brown sea otter standing by an "illuminated, iridescent" tree. This otter smiled and spoke directly to these individuals, about how all will be well, and please forgive all your real tormentors, your perceived tormentors, and yourself--

The local brown otters were considered sacred after this event, and people still watch them play and feed near the rocky bluffs, hoping one might speak again. These otters never leave the shoreline, much less lean against trees and preach! However, it could have happened...

Reinventing Civilization

This is spring on New Island, an inspiring
time of year for a new civilization!

Within a few months, most of the convicts from the Lady Marie (and later the Closter) saw this place as a possible new Eden. They found that this island was not only uninhabited but also quite livable -- with adequate fresh water, timber for shelter and an agreeable climate.

Many meetings were held that seemed to go on forever. Captain Hayes realized that none of the guards, crew nor he could "command" 700 pissed-off women--women who had largely been abused or otherwise caught up in a harsh legal system designed by and for the men of England! Hayes intuitively felt that Cecelia could be a leader, and declared that she be in charge.

In the weeks following the first shipwreck, spring had arrived, and the wildflowers, green grass, and warming weather enlivened some spirits, but there was a much resentment between nearly all the women toward their erstwhile keepers. And the the guards and sailors began to seethe against Capt. Hayes, Cecelia and a few of the other "enlightened ones". Several of the older women had brought memories and skills of ancient Gaelic and Celtic spiritual traditions, healing methods, and ways of living together that far preceded the Judeo-Christian England of that time. During the long voyage, Cecelia encouraged these gals to share their 'secret' stories of work and play common in Europe 5,000 years ago! When Cecelia asked these women to address a general meeting of all the women, the 'healers' were jeered by the world-weary streetwise crowd: Renounce Christianity? Bring back witchcraft? And when the men heard of these ideas, The captain had all he could do to keep order!

But then there was a shift--it came slowly as the wheels began to turn in many minds.

Next: the Old Way and the Otter

The "Old People"

The convicts quickly discovered ruins like these,
and believed the island was occupied.

Almost immediately, the new arrivals noticed stone structures on the bluffs overlooking Beastey Bay, and were certain that local inhabitants would swoop down on them, Like a cloud of locusts! Capt. Hayes mustered the guards to explore the surrounding hills and report back any sightings of 'indigents'. To everyone's relief the exploring party came back unharmed, and reported that all the buildings were long abandoned, and there was no sign of any recent human habitation!

More thorough digging in later years has revealed that the hilltop ruins were built by a prosperous and intelligent population. The oldest signs of habitation, found in some caves on the island's eastern coast, date back to 41,500 years BCE, according to carbon dating techniques. Known locally as the "Old People", this pre-European civilization left impressive stonework buildings, harbors, roads, fortress walls, and several curious platforms at the ocean's edge before disappearing about 800 years ago!

They also left a lot of mysteries, which the Antiquities Institute at Putney University has dedicated itself to unravel. Who were the Old People? What happened to them? Was it drought?, disease, war, or all of the above?

Next: Reinventing Civilization

The Storms that Changed History

Storm waves like these frequently pound New Island's
southwest coast, the site of several shipwrecks.

In the south Indian Ocean, the 'Roaring Forties' won the name by the ferocity of the frequent storms that sweep this region at roughly 40 degrees south latitude. Anyone sailing eastward in these latitudes made good time but there was a risk!

It was by chance on August 6, 1799 that the Lady Marie and the Swallowtail ran into such a storm. August is late winter in the Antipodes, and it is one of the worst months for storms. This one blew both ships northeast onto the broad beaches near Beastey Bay on New Island's southwest coast. It seems that sailcloth from a snapped mast on the Lady Marie fouled her rudder, and the ship could not steer. Swallowtail was forced to follow her lights and both ships were eventually caught up in huge surf and driven aground.

As the tide lowered and the wind let up, the convicts, crew and guards all found themselves on an entirely new land, not located on any of the captain's charts! The ships were both badly damaged and hopelessly stuck in the sand but still intact. The Swallowtail was by luck a Colony Supply Vessel loaded with tools, building materials, seeds, foodstuffs, cloth, and a library of books from how-to manuals to classic literature.

As soon as the tide receded, Captain Hayes ordered everyone to abandon both ships and remove everything salvageable before the next tide came in. Once everything was on the beach, the entire group fell into an exhausted sleep behind the dunes. And a good thing: both ships were reduced to splinters after another night of pounding by the waves.

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Almost four years later, in July 1803, the convict ship Closter ran aground in thick fog and heavy surf not far from present-day Palmer, about 18 miles from the 1799 wrecks. Again, quite by chance, the Closter carried 377 female convicts along with guards, crew and supplies. Due to mishandling of lifeboats, the captain and 21 of the crew were lost. It seems they were in such a hurry to abandon ship, they were dashed upon the rocks in the few lifeboats that were available. The rest were forced to wait out the tide, which dropped low enough so that most of the women were able to wade ashore. 13 were lost.

A hunting party from the Lady Marie had set up a camp in the nearby dunes and heard the shouting. They managed to rescue the survivors and, over some days, escort them back to the now established settlement of Beasty.

This uncharted island now had a population of over 900, by far the majority of which were women!

Next: Reinventing civilization

Cecelia O'Hassett and Captain Hayes

The Lady Marie was a similar to
the convict ship Neptune, above.

Aboard the Lady Marie somewhere in the south Indian Ocean, a week out of Capetown...

A young woman named Cecelia O'Hassett was hauled in front of the ship's captain to explain a fight that had broken out during the daily deck outing. It seems Cecelia had intervened in an argument and wound up attacking a guard. "I's only tryin' to get 'um to get along, but young Frieda hit me, so I hadda teach 'er, and then this bloke (nodding to the guard) came onto me..."

Hayes had seen this O'Hassett woman before and was impressed by her charisma (and ferocity) among the prisoners. He needed someone like her to help keep order among the women, and to act as a go-between with the guards. The guards, all men, were as indifferent as they were clueless to the needs or their female charges; and so morale, fighting and sickness were becoming a real problem. When Cecelia was brought before him, Hayes dismissed the guard, and offered a meeting over tea, which surprised Cecelia, who thought she was in for a flogging!
Captain Edgarford Hayes, a single man, was a conscientious student of the Enlightenment and on the younger side of 40. As the master of the Lady Marie, he was determined to deliver as many of his cargo of convicts to Australia in reasonably good health, as was possible. He had heard of the sickness, brutality and high death-rates aboard other such ships such as the Neptune.
Cecelia, it turned out, was raised in an educated household, but became a troublemaker in her early teens, and was sent to a workhouse by her stepfather. (Her father had died when she was nine.) Cecelia soon saw the inequities of British society in the Eighteenth century, and was upset by the harsh treatment of peasant families and women. In fact, she had earned her seven-year sentence in 1798 by, among other offenses, marching naked through a Ladies' High Tea on the lawn of an estate outside Liverpool. The local court recorded that she was protesting "the Hideous Practice of allowing Women to own Nothing at All!"

Captain Hayes promoted Cecelia to "prisoner liaison" and gave her freedom of the ship. After a while the women trusted her, or at least respected her, but some held that she was a turncoat. She was eventually able to win at least a nod of praise from the guards since she was making their jobs much easier.

After a few more "tea meetings" and then long dinners every Tuesday night, it became apparent, but never openly admitted, that the captain and Cecelia were more than associates...

Discovery by Convicts

Conditions aboard a typical convict ship on its way to Australia.
Picture courtesy of Dulwich Hill Public School.

Many of us know about the convict ships that sailed from England to Australia beginning in the late 1700s to well into the 19th century.

Around 1780 the English came up with the expeditious idea to not only save money housing those convicted of petty crimes in expensive prisons, but to use their (free) labor to tame the Australian wilderness and develop the newly discovered continent for settlement! For decades, these "Undesirables", as they were known, were shipped by the hundreds under miserable conditions to ports in Australia and Tasmania, by the now well-known "Roaring Forties" trade route across the southern Indian Ocean. Most of the convicts were men, but about one in three of these ships carried women.

In 1799, The convict ship Lady Marie left Liverpool, England carrying 380 female prisoners on its manifest (no males), a crew of 42 as well as 82 soldiers-as-guards (all male). The supply ship Swallowtail carried a crew of 31 and enough supplies to begin a small settlement.

Next: Cecelia O'Hassett and Capt. Hayes

Historical note 2, The Great Europan Explorers all Missed It!

We'll learn later that a Russian explorer named Bellingshausen finally did discover the island.

Though quite large, New Island managed to remain undiscovered until the 19th Century. The Portuguese were the first Europeans to sail into the Indian Ocean in the late 15th Century, followed by the Dutch who eventually discovered parts of Australia and Tasmania. They soon learned that once they rounded Africa's Cape of Good Hope, they could make good time by using the dependable Roaring Forties trade winds, which normally kept them far to the south of the island.

Soon, naval and merchant ships from Spain, France, Germany and Britain, as well as a few pirates, learned to use this well-known sea lane. For 190 years these ships passed within 200 miles of the island's southern coast, and not a one charted or laid claim to New Island.

But one came close: In 1791, George Vancouver (or some of his crew) may have sighted the 3500-foot-tall ramparts of North Cape as their ship was hauling east toward the Pacific Ocean. A mate's diary claims Vancouver had penciled in the notation "mountainous island" on his chart, but the chart has since been lost.

Next History Note: Discovery by Convicts