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A magnificent example
of a pure atoll, Penrhyn lies 848 miles (1365 km) north-north-east of Rarotonga.
It is the most remote of the Cook Islands and the largest atoll in the
group of 15 islands. It sits atop the highest submarine volcano in the
Cooks, all of 15,917 feet (4876 m) above the ocean floor.
It comprises a ring of
coral 48 miles (77 km) around. Its superb lagoon covers 90 square miles
(233 sq km) of which 24 (62 sq km) is covered with pearlshell.
There are three passages into the lagoon. When
viewed by the shipwrecked trader, E.H. Lamont in 1853, the reefs between
the islands could, for the most part be forded, particularly at low water.
The inhabitants at that time did not generally think of Penrhyn as being
one island, rather it was several warring entities. Lamont reported the
islanders referring to the wider identity as "Te Pitaka"
which meant "the Circle". This was the largest collective land
mass they could conceive.
Penrhyn's original name was Tongareva, signifying
"Tonga floating in space". The present-day Maori name is
Mangarongaro which developed from the name of one of the divisions of the
large south-western islet.
However, the most commonly-used name is Penrhyn
after the "Lady Penrhyn" commanded by Captain William
Cropton Lever who landed on August 8 1788. Another European name was
Bennett Island.
The missionaries arrived in 1854. Penrhyn,
together with many other Pacific islands, suffered the ravages of Peruvian
slave raiders in the 19th century. In 1863 some 410 of the total
population of about 500 were removed by trickery, the Spanish Peruvian
perpetrators being abetted by four native missionary teachers who sold
these unfortunates for five dollars a head! In fact, three of them
accompanied the slaves to Peru as interpreters. The Peruvians knew the
island as the Island of the Four Evangelists. The shipwrecked Lamont was
one of the keenest observers of Pacific island life in the 19th century.
He wrote in detail of his year on Penrhyn in his classic "Wild Life
Among the Pacific islanders.
After voyaging to Tahiti and the southern Cook
Islands, where he made numerous acerbic observations about the activities
of the missionaries, his ship headed north and, after being caught in a
storm, was wrecked on Penrhyn's reef. He and a handful of survivors were
captured by the islanders and became embroiled in their internal wars.
Lamont obtained three wives during the course of his year on the atoll
before being rescued.
Today, Penrhyn is enjoying the fruits of its
booming black pearl industry.
Accommodation is available at Tarakore.
There are regular flights via Air
Rarotonga to Penrhyn each Saturday from Rarotonga
with a brief stop at Aitutaki. Flight
time is four hours. For more regional information on the islands of the Northern group,
go to:
For
more general information
on Cook Islands, go to: |
