The Enchanted Island of Burotukula: A Sailor’s Dawn Encounter
Here is Oliver Slater’s account of what he witnessed. Slater was a beachcomber in Bua, during the sandalwood trade. He was sole survivor of the Argo shipwreck off Matuku in 1802. His journal noted the following: I awaken with a jolt to the gentle rocking of waves against my battered canoe. The first pale hues of dawn are unfurling across the horizon. Blinking salt out of my eyes, I lift my head – and catch my breath. Before me, where there was only endless ocean the night before, an island now rises out of the mist. Against the ember glow of sunrise, tall palms and strange trees silhouette black and gold. Tendrils of morning fog cling to a verdant mountainside at the island’s center, the peak crowned with a wreath of cloud. For a moment I wonder if I still dream: the scene is unreal in its beauty , as if etched from an artisan’s wood carving – every outline sharpened in the high contrast of dawn. The shoreline curves invitingly, a crescent of b...