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tristandacunha

Behold, Tristan da Cunha, the Nipple of the Seven Seas. It’s not really called that, but just look at it. The capital — well, the only settlement, really — is called Edinburgh of the Seven Seas, though. It is the world’s remotest inhabited island, smack in the middle of the Atlantic, somewhere between Africa and South America.

The record high temperature is 75.9°, the record low temperature is 40.3° and it rains 250-plus days a year. It is a British Overseas Territory, natch.

The islands have a population of 301. The main settlement is Edinburgh of the Seven Seas (known locally as “The Settlement”). The only religion is Christianity, with denominations of Anglican and Roman Catholic. The current population is thought to have descended from 15 ancestors, eight males and seven females, who arrived on the island at various times between 1816 and 1908. The male founders originated from Scotland, England, The Netherlands, the United States and Italy, belonging to 3 Y-haplogroups: I (M170), R-SRY10831.2 and R (M207) (xSRY10831.2)[39] and share just eight surnames: Glass, Green, Hagan, Lavarello, Patterson, Repetto, Rogers, and Swain. There are 80 families on the island. Tristan da Cunha’s isolation has led to an unusual, patois-like dialect of English described by the writer Simon Winchester as “a sonorous amalgam of Home Counties lockjaw and nineteenth century idiom, Afrikaans slang and Italian.”

I mention this because a) it’s an interesting place, duh and b) THERE’S A JOB OPENING. Local government is searching for an agricultural advisor. Looks like a terrific place to ride out the apocalypse. Plus, a place that inbred is bound to be full of…certain…opportunities.

Man, if I were thirty years younger. And male. And knew jack shit about agriculture…

Have a good weekend, y’all. Tomorrow comes DEAD POOL ROUND 80. Be here, 6pm WBT, or pick through other people’s leftovers.


Comments


Comment from Steve Skubinna
Time: January 21, 2016, 11:03 pm

Way way back I read Brian Callison’s first novel, A Flock of Ships, that began and ended up on the South Atlantic island of “Quintanilha de Almeida.” I was intrigued and after minimal research concluded that Callison had Tristan Da Cunha in mind.

Ever since that island has always lurked in the back corners of my mind, along with a few other choice desolate rocks such as Navassa Island and Johnston Atoll.


Comment from Ric Fan
Time: January 21, 2016, 11:17 pm

That’s a volcano.


Comment from Some Vegetable
Time: January 22, 2016, 12:14 am

Oh my. They sell hand made sweaters made from hand-carded wool from the sheep on the island.
http://www.tristandc.com/hand37degreessouth.php
I have a weakness for big bulky rough wool sweaters.

Oh and Weasel – I was thinking: don’t you know a male British Citizen who is an avid gardner…and even know him very very well? Well enough to put a lot of pressure on him influence his decisions?

Just a thought…. 😉


Comment from bad cat robot
Time: January 22, 2016, 1:26 am

Wait, isn’t that the island where castaways from a balloon find Captain Nemo and the Nautilus just before the volcano blows up? Sure looks like it…


Comment from AliceH
Time: January 22, 2016, 2:20 am

But wait! They also seek an Educational Advisor! Position to provide leadership for 5 teachers educating 22 kids etc etc. Lots of jargon-y acronyms re accreditation or experience… but this bit was my favorite: “The individual will need excellent interpersonal skills and strong resilience.”

2year minimum contract. That may be where the resilience comes in.


Comment from Ric Fan
Time: January 22, 2016, 6:10 am

How many doctors do they have on that island? And how good is their air ambulance? And if they med evacuate you, do you end up in a hospital in west Africa???

Never mind. It’s only 1500 miles from Capetown.


Comment from mojo
Time: January 22, 2016, 1:49 pm

Why I like Treacher:
“Personally, I’m fed up with this deeply unpleasant, utterly phony, power-craving harridan lying to me for the past quarter of a century. But some people actually seem to like it.”


Comment from Tokuno
Time: February 15, 2021, 7:17 pm

@SteveSkubinna: re-reading the fabulous Flock of Ships (first read it decades ago). Thanks for the redirect to Tristan Da Cunha. It had been a couple house moves and four kids since that first read, and it took me a long time to recall the title and procure a copy for the kids to read. They enjoyed it, too, and has piqued my interest in locating others of Callison’s titles.

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