Christmas is traditionally a time for ghost stories, but I could write about these elusive beings with little or no prompting and I frequently do just this. Instead, I have two other tales to present for the enjoyment of visitors to this site, and while they also concern highly elusive beings, they are most certainly not spectres, but flesh and blood.
Earlier this year, I wrote a piece about North Sentinel Island, for reasons I explained in detail in the post. Not long afterwards, I heard from Captain Robert Fore, one of the helicopter pilots who helped to rescue the crew of the Primrose after it had run aground on a reef off North Sentinel in 1981. My initial reply somehow went astray, but I was delighted to hear from Bob again a few days ago.
He repeated his generous offer to send me previously unseen photographs taken by him during the rescue of the crew of the Primrose, the only condition being that I treated the subject matter with respect. I am of course happy to oblige, so it seems that this would be best achieved by reproducing Bob’s own words from another site that dealt with the matter, while publishing Bob’s own words once more will also allow me to intersperse them with the photographs in question.
To my mind, all this is fascinating enough, but Bob also supplied another story which I’ll publish – along with some photos – immediately after his account of the rescue of the crew of the Primrose, which begins here:
Mr. Mottram,
It was with no small amount of interest that I read the article (while surfing the internet) that you wrote on the 9th of February, 2006 concerning a helicopter rescue in the Andaman Islands located in the Bay of Bengal. You see, I was one of the helicopter pilots that flew the three trips to the M.V. Primrose to rescue the crew after it ran aground off the north shore of North Sentinel Island.
For the most part, [the] description of the incident was correct, thought there were several points that were in error, almost certainly because they were of no major import. One of the inconsistencies was that the helicopter which performed the rescue was in fact a civilian helicopter belonging to P.T. Airfast Services, Indonesia, which we worked for. We were supporting an Oil And Natural Gas Commission (ONGC- Indian Govt. Agency) contract, which provided off-shore helicopter support to an oil exploration rig (if memory serves, it was the Gettysburg) located off the northwest shore of Andaman Island. Robert Fore (myself) and Vic Wiersba) were the two pilots which flew the mission on August the 2nd, 1981.
We had a developed a friendship with Admiral Sawnhi, the Indian Naval District Commander, during our stay at Port Blair. We were approached by his office on the morning of the rescue with the information concerning a grounded ship with crew still aboard on North Sentinel Island. There had been a typhoon which forced the ship aground on the island in the preceding week. We were asked if we could provide rescue services for the crew, since the Indian Navy had no ships or helicopters in the immediate area, and it would take several days for them to arrive.
We agreed to attempt the rescue, but had little in the way of concrete information to work with in the preparations for the attempt. We did construct a rudimentary rope ladder in the event we would not be able to land the helicopter on the Primrose’s deck. Also, an Indian Naval aviator (fixed-wing) Lt. Gadhok, who was assigned to the Naval District Command, volunteered to accompany us. It was hoped he might provide valuable support for organizing the crew for rescue, once he was on-board the ship.
The aircraft was an S-58T Sikorsky, a modified twin-turbine design helicopter, which could hold a max of 16 passengers and 2 pilots. We flew to the site of the shipwreck, and saw that the vessel had been driven far up on the reef, more than a 1/4 mile, and that while there was still large 15 or 20 foot waves pounding the vessel, there was no chance that it would sink, or for that matter ever see service again.
The deck had several cranes spaced approximately 50 feet apart, with cargo hatches in between. It was felt that we would be able to land the helicopter with a couple feet of clearance on both sides of the rotor system to the sides of the helicopter.
We accomplished the first landing with 30 plus knot crosswinds, and touched down our wheels on the hatch covers. Due to loading, and weather conditions, it was decided to take off equal numbers of crewmen on each of 3 trips. I believe the total was 33 crew, and the mascot dog. We did not take any personal gear, because that would have meant extra trips, and under the poor weather conditions we did not have any desire to push our luck any more than was necessary for the saving of lives.
It was well known that the ship was aground on a very dangerous island, and that they had come under the threat of attack from the native tribe. Their first attempt to reach the Primrose had failed when the rudimentary boats they had tried to construct had foundered in the heavy surf. But the situation was becoming more dangerous because of gradually improving weather conditions.
This could allow the natives to get much closer to the ship. As it was, the natives had not even learned the art of placing feathers on the several foot long arrows they had, which only allowed a practical effective range of perhaps 30 or 40 meters. The ship was more like 100 meters from shore.
A previous attempt to reach the crew of the Primrose was attempted by a Indian Navy (Cutter) which had no helicopter. The ship’s doctor and a crewman had attempted to reach the ship from just beyond the drop-off offshore, but the inflatable nearly foundered, and they were lucky to get back to their vessel. I assume they were the ones that called for assistance once they realized they could not do anything. When we made our approach for the first landing with heavy cross-winds, it was very difficult to determine clearance on the rotor blades from the derricks.
After the first landing we found we had about 2 feet of clearance on each side of the aircraft. On the subsequent approaches, Lt. Gadhok provided ground assistance for clearance of our rotors from the obstructions. The rope ladder idea was discarded as unnecessary, even though the weather conditions were not ideal.
The thought of hovering for extended periods above deck, with people climbing a rope ladder, did not appeal to us. We did not at any time during the morning see any island natives. They were almost certainly there observing, but whether from fear of the helicopter, or whatever other reason, they did not make themselves known to us. After the third trip, all aboard were rescued, and our part in the mission was concluded. A couple days later, a Indian Navy cruiser, with a Alouette helicopter arrived, and the helicopter evacuated the personal effects of the crew, I believe by using a rescue hoist.
I just thought you might find the account of interest, since you had been intrigued enough to write about this event. I do have some photographs of the ship run aground taken from the air, and during our approach to the ship, as well as some taken on-deck after our first landing. But the photos are in storage in my household goods in the Philippines, and it will not be until later next year before I could get access to them.
Sincerely yours,
Bob Fore
I was fascinated to see these photographs, because while I’d read as much as I could about North Sentinel Island and its people, the photographs brought the story of the rescue of the crew of the Primrose to vivid life. We can now see these fortunate mariners for ourselves, while we can also see Bob Fore, one of the men who rescued them from what would certainly have been a violent death, had the North Sentinelese reached them first.
The photographs also bring the weather conditions to life, while we can now see, from an elevated angle, just how close to shore the Primrose ran aground. We can also see for ourselves just how perilous this rescue was for the helicopter crew, and while I’m not an aviator myself, I think Bob is being extremely modest in the way he describes the conditions that faced him in landing on such a restricted space under such conditions.
I’ve seen photographs and even video of North Sentinel, but some of Bob’s photographs give a perfect sense of the scale of island, as we can judge from the size of the trees on the shore, the convoluted coastline disappearing out of shot, the waves, the cargo ship, the stranded and frightened crew, and the elevated parts of the island covered with dense forest.
Other than this, I’ve been in more than my fair share of threatening situations over the years. I’ve had encounters with violent men in Britain, Europe, Scandinavia and Russia, I’ve been bitten by a number of venomous creatures and I’ve been attacked by cattle, horses, dogs and others creatures. I’ve found myself in numerous physical circumstances that made my heart pound, on water, in motor vehicles, in mist, snow, ice and darkness, and in places like the voids of Silbury Hill. I’ve also chosen to visit some truly forbidding locations in Britain and Europe that were notorious for their grim atmosphere, but none of these compares to the story that Bob has to tell of his encounter with the brooding menace of North Sentinel.
To my mind, it’s a modern version of Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, even if what happened with the Primrose just 30 years ago took place over the course of hours and days, rather than months. It seems to me that, had the weather been more clement on August 2nd 1981, then Bob’s fascinating account might have been very different.
We do not know why the North Sentinelese behave as they do towards outsiders. They might be the ultimate xenophobes, fearing any and all strangers, or they may just be incredibly hostile by nature. Their gods might urge them towards such actions, while I suppose it’s not completely unthinkable that they might believe they’re doing interlopers a favour by killing them. Whatever the explanation might be, we know next to nothing about these people, other than they have always sought to kill intruders into their island domain, which is the main reason they retain their isolation. Bob Fore has ventured closer to one of this planet’s truly great mysteries than any of us will ever do, so I’m enormously grateful to him for sharing not only his recollections, but also his photographs of this day, when he and others found themselves so close to what is in so many ways a Heart of Darkness.
Part II
In addition to Bob’s photos and memories of North Sentinel, he was also good enough to send me the following account of his time as a pilot in Indonesia, which I’m reproducing below:
Magic Mountain
I was working for a company called P.T. Airfast Services, Indonesia. It was a Indonesian/Australian Aviation Company based in Jakarta, and our primary home base was located at Seletar Airbase in Singapore. Primarily, Airfast provided aerial support, both airplane and helicopter for the oil exploration industry throughout Indonesia, but when I was initially hired to fly on an Indian Government contract with the Oil And Natural Gas Commission (ONGC) in the Andaman Islands.
I was based out of Port Blair, and was fortunate enough to have a part in the Air/Sea rescue of the crew of the Primrose which ran aground on 2 August, 1981 on the Northwest shore of North Sentinel Island in the Andaman Islands, Bay of Bengal. The island was inhabited by one of the most mysterious, violent and least known tribal groups left on the planet. The account of that episode is available on the internet, so I will concentrate instead on an account of my experience after leaving the Andaman Islands at the end of the ONGC contract in India.
After leaving India, I was reassigned to a number of locations working for P.T. Airfast throughout Indonesia. We were flying the Sikorsky S-58T helicopter, with twin-turbine engines, and capable of carry up to 16 passengers and substantial loads of up to 4,000 lbs. either internally or by sling-load. (I am including a few photos for your use from that time period). I was one of only 4 instrument rated helicopter pilots in all of Indonesia at the time, and we all worked for the same company. Our primary responsibility was supporting oil exploration by the major oil companies, so inevitably, it took us to many very remote jungle locations in Indonesia, including Sumatra, Sulawesi, Irian Jaya and Borneo.
While in Borneo, we were based out of Balikpapan on the East coast of the island. We flew personnel and equipment to an oil exploration rig located some 120 miles west of Balikpapan. The rig site and the staging area on a river which allowed barges to be brought up-river to the closest location to the rig site with the majority of heavier supplies. It was then sling loaded to the rig site by helicopter. The majority of the inner island of Borneo is covered in extremely dense jungle. Trees run around 200 feet high with triple-canopies, and there are no virtually no villages except along rivers which allow a marine highway system for natives. The staging area for our rig-site was the last civilization, before you continued into the interior. It was said that numbers of explorers had passed by, headed into the unexplored areas, not to be seen again.
In our helicopters, we had Omega navigation equipment, a kind of rudimentary electronic locating system, the predecessor of more modern LORAN or GPS systems of today. The accuracy of the Omega system was limited to perhaps 1/2 mile, poor compared to today’s GPS, but still good enough to get you into the ballpark area you were looking for, anywhere on the planet.
When we would takeoff heading west towards our staging area, we first encountered a mountain range running North and South. The 4,000 to 5,000 foot tall mountains had a 2 mile wide pass which we used to get past the range and out onto the more flat area of the inner island. The trees as stated before were in the area of 200 feet tall and for the next couple hundred miles would have virtually no openings or clearings. On our aviation maps, there was just a huge white area, accompanied by the notation that the central part of the island had never been explored, and the highest believed elevation.
We pilots had noticed that there was a hill about 400 feet tall located at a certain point along our route of flight. We could easily locate the location with our mileage reading on the Omega system, so there was no chance of being in the wrong location each time. The interesting thing for us was that the hill, which was almost totally covered in the same tree cover, had a limestone cliff which had been exposed after the limestone side of the hill had sheared away.
What was rather disconcerting to us was that even though we flew virtually every day past this location, often more than once, the hill would be there with its white cliff exposed for us to easily see, yet on the next flight, it had disappeared totally, and despite looking for it specifically, it was as if the entire hill had disappeared.
Now, we pilots are not a particularly superstitious lot, and we knew that the phenomenon was nothing more than an optical illusion caused by the light, and the fact that the tree-covered hill simply was blending in with the trees surrounding the hill to make it virtually invisible form our aerial vantage point. If we had descended below the level of the hill top, we would have seen it immediately.
So naturally, we began to refer (tongue in cheek) to the location as “Magic Mountain”. It was a matter of mild curiosity to us for some time, before I was able on one of the flights, when I was not under a time restraint, to go down and circle the hill for a better investigation. I did not really expect to find anything of significance, and at first that seemed to be the case. But after circling on my second pass, I noticed a small stream that seemed to be coming out of the base of the mountain. That is not an uncommon thing to find in nature, but what I saw in the clearing next to the stream caused me to take a even closer look. Next to where the stream came out of the wall of the hill, there were what appeared to be man-made rudimentary steps carved up into the side of the hill.
Since there was no known village or native camp anywhere within probably at least 30 miles through impenetrable jungle, I could only speculate that it must be someone indigenous to the location that had accomplished the feat. I was aware that it could have been a possible natural phenomenon, except for the fact that also visible in the clearing was what appeared to be an upright rectangular (2 feet by 3 feet approx.) frame made of tree branches, and braced in the upright position. It took me perhaps 30 seconds, before I realized that it was most likely a frame used to stretch animal hides while they cured. There was no doubt that this was a man made device, and the fact that it was still standing upright, and not fallen over, indicated rather recent use.
I have chosen to mention this for the first time in a public forum, but I am keeping the details of the exact location to myself. On the off chance that there is a indigenous group that has no previous outside world contact in this area, I would not like to bear any responsibility for exposing them to something such as contact with a world that could lead to causing them harm, or their destruction.
Again, I am not certain if this account will be of interest to you, but I have detailed as best I can. There are no photos of this location, and any speculation generated by this experience will be nothing more than just that, speculation.
Postscript
Bob Fore may not be a superstitious man, but it’s a failing I would readily admit to, because I often wonder about the unseen forces that shape our destinies. Whichever way you look at it, my study of Stonehenge and of the people that built it led me in turn to write about the enigmatic people of North Sentinel, a place that’s arguably the most mysterious island on Earth. Now, as a direct result, we have all been rewarded by being able to see pictures of the rescue of the crew of the Primrose in 1981, while we also have a fascinating account of perhaps another uncontacted tribe, put into the public domain for the first time ever, along with details of a “Magic Mountain”.
As Bob made clear, this was doubtless due to an optical illusion, but this is no less intriguing, while I’d say it’s also entirely relevant to those of us with an interest in the many tantalising details of Stonehenge and its landscape. I could of course continue writing for hours to come, but I’ll conclude by thanking Bob once more – not only from myself – but on behalf of every visitor to Eternal Idol who will doubtless be enthralled by what this observant and generous-spirited man has had to tell us and show us all.
Update, February 1st 2013: Over the last few days, this post has had a huge amount of visitors, presumably on account of a link to it being posted elsewhere.
If you wish to read more about North Sentinel Island and the rescue mission carried out there in 1981 by Captain Robert Fore, the first post I wrote and published that mentioned this strange island was called North Sentinel – The Undiscovered Country, almost exactly three years ago.
This was followed in late December of the same year with the post you’ve just read, then I published another in late September 2011 entitled North Sentinel – World Exclusive Interview with Captain Robert Fore.
Both the aforementioned posts, to which I’ve provided links, contain other links and other information about North Sentinel Island, for the benefit of those of you who are interested in reading further.
Late last year, I was honoured to receive a visit from Captain Robert Fore when he travelled to Britain, and I spent a highly enjoyable two days discussing the island with him. He and I stay in regular touch, while our shared fascination with this strangest of island realms remains undiminished. We continue to look into the matter to the best of our shared abilities and it is virtually certain that we will one day present more information of various kinds on North Sentinel Island and its enigmatic inhabitants. More than that I cannot say for now, but the day will hopefully come when we’re able to make more known, while we’re naturally hoping that it will be sooner rather than later.
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{ 23 comments… read them below or add one }
Thank you, both Bob Fore and Dennis, for this update on a fascinating place, and for providing details of what may be another hidden place. I love the thought that there may still be such places.
Dennis, thank you for your kind words, and respectful treatment of the items I have submitted. You made a wonderful job of it, and I certainly appreciate your website. You suggested that I may not be a superstitious man, and that is a true enough statement, but I must qualify that by also stating that I have been fortunate enough to have experienced many defining moments in my life, and I have come to the realization that more often than not, reality is even more strange than fiction.
There is enough amazement in the world for everyone with the courage and tenacity to seek it out. You do not necessarily have to go to the ends of the earth to find such wonders. Sometimes the most extraordinary things were there, next to us all of the time, had we just taken the time to really look.
I wish you and all of your readers a very wonderful and fulfilling holiday season.
Bob Fore
Dennis, after rereading your comments on the fact that so little fact is known about the North Sentenelese, I have to agree with your conclusions. But, I think that when you combine my written experience along with some other accounts of the previous attempts at contact with outsiders, that it is possible to deduce with some degree of accuracy more than at first is apparent.
In Adam Goodheart’s detailed article “The Last Island of the Savages”, (The American Scholar – Autumn 2000), he made mention of the fact that the crew of the Primrose shipwrecked in August 1981, after coming under attack, notified their home-base by radio, that they were in danger from a group of savages estimated at least of 50 men. While this is not in any way a definitive method of determining the total population of the island, good deductive reasoning may lead to some reasonable assumptions.
In this case, the fact that they had at least 50 men of an adult age to be consider warriors, might lead me to make an estimation of at least 300 or perhaps more inhabitants of the island. I arrive at this by deducing that almost certainly there would be roughly similar numbers of women of a comparable age range. That would bring estimates of the population to over 100 to perhaps 150. Add to this, a modest number of warrior age men that probably remained with the rest of the community to provide protection, I would not be surprised at all to see the upper number of 150, or perhaps even higher.
Next it must be assumed that there were a number of children in the population of all ages up to the age of warriorhood (sorry I probably just made up a word). Considering there is probably no method of birth control, and for that matter that it might be considered a sacred duty by the women in their culture to bear as many children as they can. Then, factor in the probable high mortality rate of children from the age of birth until their teens, without the benefits of modern medicines and medical equipment. I would not be surprised to find they would probably have quite a few children (perhaps even 100 plus) in the community. Mortality might reduce the total numbers that would reach adulthood.
Another factor in determining the population would be that there would also be an older population (do not forget in many harsh cultures old age might be in their 40′s). It would most likely be a much lower number than the number of children, so perhaps 25 to 40 men and women of advanced age might be a good guess. So an overall number of at least 300 natives might inhabit the island. Again, this is pure speculation on my part.
Accounts from the ship’s log of the East India Company’s hydrographic survey vessel the Diligent from 1771 indicated the sighting of a “multitude of lights” upon the shore. The ship did not attempt contact at that time, but this information does prove the state of the culture 240 years ago proved a mastery of fire. This could also indicate that food would be cooked.
In 1867, the Indian merchantman “Nineveh wrecked on the reef of North Sentinel, and the survivors were lucky to escape with their lives after being attacked by the natives”. This documented the earlier periods when the natives displayed hostile intent against outsiders. In fact, as reported in Mr. Goodheart’s paper, as early as the year 1296, Marco Polo described a hostile populace of Andamanese, though the report was most likely hearsay. But this seems to indicate that the levels of violence exhibited by the natives, is not a recent phenomenon, but has a long history in their culture.
The attempts by a film crew in 1974 to leave gifts for the natives resulted in a shower of arrows. The natives then proceeded to spear a live pig that was staked there, as well as a doll, and then bury them. The natives did however keep items such as cookware and coconuts from the offerings. Again, while not factual, it can be put forward that the natives might consider their island home to be a form of Eden, or perhaps even heaven. Anything that comes from the outside might be considered as evil or unclean (the buried pig and the human form doll), might be considered unacceptable by the natives. The pig probably is indigenous to the island already, so an imported pig might be considered by the natives as either unclean or unworthy. The doll that was buried might indicate a fear of outsiders being evil or contaminating their little slice of heaven, or perhaps idolatry.
And one last observation if I may. I have spent quite a bit of time in my career around very remote locations in different parts of the world, and I have come to the realization that one person’s idea of paradise or Utopia may not translate very well to someone else. The North Sentinelese most assuredly may feel their island world is just that, a paradise of their making, and unique only to them, but I can guarantee that their lives are very hard indeed, and certainly would leave more modern men with the impression of stark minimalism when observing such a culture.
These observations on my part are merely considerations, and I hope your readers will find the subject interesting enough to draw their own conclusions.
Sincerely,
Bob Fore
Bob,
I’m very pleased indeed that you thought I’d treated the subject matter in a respectful fashion, but that’s what we try to do here – treat each other and the various subjects with respect, although there is most certainly a place for humour and for animated disagreements on just about everything.
I don’t expect you to have trawled through this site, but while I was interested by everything you had to say in and of itself, there were two other aspects that caught my eye. I’m sure someone else will provide details and links, but British folklore possesses many tales of structures that became invisible from one day to the next, and I’m particularly thinking of the domains of the fairies, entrances to Otherworlds and so forth. Most people assume that this temporary invisibility is due to a ‘romantic flourish’ on the part of the story-tellers, but when I learn of professional pilots having difficulties – for whatever reason – in locating an entire mountain in daylight, then I’m naturally very interested indeed.
I’m also intrigued by the sheer hostility of the North Sentinelese and by the notion that they view their domain as some kind of Paradise, while I’m very grateful to you for providing more thoughts on this matter. I’ve written at great length about the Silures tribe of what is now South Wales on this site, and also in my book, because their ferocity seems to match that of the North Sentinelese in some ways.
The Silures resisted the military might of the Roman invaders for almost 40 years, which is remarkable in itself. However, these people did not even make pottery, as far as I’m aware, while most observers seem to think that they were hunter-gatherers in an era when their British fellows had achieved great sophistication in metal working, textiles, building chariots and so forth.
As far as relations with the ‘outside world’ were concerned, one Roman historian famously remarked of the Silures that “neither terror nor mercy had the least effect upon them”, which seems to be pretty much the case with the North Sentinelese as well. The Silures weren’t remotely phased by Roman legions descending upon them, while the North Sentinelese seem to have an equally dismissive view towards helicopters.
I’m convinced that there is or was something in the realm of the Silures that they and others regarded as precious beyond description, but I don’t know what this ‘thing’ was. It may have been guardianship of the setting sun, it might have been a sacred hill, a specific war god, or it may have been some kind of artefact. I don’t know, but I do know that the Romans eventually had to come to some kind of agreement with the Silures, although I’m still investigating the details.
Whatever the truth of it all may be, it’s all food for thought and it’s fascinating stuff, so once again, I’m extremely grateful to you for taking the time and the trouble to write in, and to allow everyone else to see your pictures and hear your detailed stories.
Dennis Price’s piece on North Sentinel Island reminds me of my parents, the last whites living at Nathenje in the late 60′s and early 70′s. It was a small town on the main tar road south of Lilongwe in Malawi. It had a dozen or so whites in colonial times, and still had rows of Indian shops, a Moslem girls boarding school, an ox cart factory, Maxims shirt factory, mission schools and a police station.
My blond haired mother drew crowds of staring children out in the villages. She might even be the first white woman to visit. But even so, Nathenje was not the back of beyond. It stood amid a region of small villages and peasant farmers, all served by dirt roads and UTM buses. There were plenty of radio aerials in the trees, and bars with paraffin fridges where my Father drank with village elders and listened to South African or Congolese rock.
My Father ran a large government owned tobacco grading factory and produce buying depot. Part of his duties were to inspect the growing crops to estimate the coming harvest and how many men to take on or trucks should be hired, etc.
But every year tobacco came from an unknown source. He eventually tracked it to a village that no white man had ever seen. And no government employee or Congress party official or young pioneer or league of Malawi women activist had ever been to, either. It was only 3 miles from his house and half a mile north of the dirt road bus route to Bunda College. But it was virtually unknown to the outside world. Of course, the villagers would catch the bus to town. But they were never visited by the authorities.
Alas, my Father’s great welcome there was the cause of change. Soon they had tax collectors and party card sellers like everywhere else.
I once lived in Berwick St James, 5 miles from Stonehenge, populated by retired military and Londoners. But my next door neighbour was an ex farm labourer who had never been further than 10 miles to Salisbury. Even in World War 2, he was farming, a reserved occupation, and went nowhere.
Then a lady I knew explained that her daughter was engaged to a boy from 15 miles away in Andover and she was going to visit his parents. I thought she was joking when she said how worried she was, and what was it like across the border in Hampshire? What were the Police like there? It seemed she had never been further than Salisbury or Amesbury in her life. In Tisbury, I met a man who had ventured a few miles north for the first time in decades. He was not just surprised by traffic on the A303, he didn’t even know it was a dual carriageway. The idea of commuting to London left him bemused.
I only met these folk because I owned the Post Office or worked in a garage. We wouldn’t normally meet those who never leave home. So there could be thousands of them in towns and villages.
Here. Not just on North Sentinel Island
Thank you very much indeed for this, Edwin, while I could add a few observations of my own about these matters, something I might do later when I’ve trawled my memory. In the meantime, the kind of rural seclusion to which you refer was also addressed in the novel “The Siege of Trencher’s Farm”, which was later turned into the film “Straw Dogs”.
On the same subject, I read a detailed book entitled “Earth to Earth” that dealt with rural seclusion in Devon, so anyone who’s interested can follow this link, which provides some admirable detail, further links and caveats.
All of which makes me wonder about the isolation of communities in the Neolithic, because we’re all aware of the way in which the Amesbury Archer came from as far afield as continental Europe to visit Stonehenge. It’s clear that many pilgrims frequented the monument over the course of millennia, but if we can demonstrably have rural seclusion and isolation in the 20th century, it naturally makes me wonder about the world our ancestors inhabited and the way they perceived isolation and the coming of strangers to their individual realms.
Edwin mentioned a man who, during WW2, was farming and went nowhere. It immediately brought to mind my husband’s family. They had a farm, but his parents also were professionals in off-the-farm jobs. They weren’t dependent on the farm for everything, but their animals were certainly dependent on them for everything–thus, they never went anywhere that would require them to be away overnight. My thought is that, during the Neolithic, I can see people staying put for just that reason if they had animals that didn’t/couldn’t travel with them. Otherwise, it seems that there was a lot of moving around from place to place. Perhaps they weren’t tied to any one location if they weren’t settled livestock farmers?
Had it not been for Edwin writing in and jogging my memory about “Earth to Earth”, I would never have come across the fantastic story of the “North Devon Savages” in the link I supplied. For anyone not familiar with this colourful story from 1874, I thoroughly recommend reading it.
Just read “North Devon Savages”. In almost every way, the Cheritons very much seem to resemble the stereotypical inbred Appalachian “hillbillies” of the U.S.
I just finished re-watching the first episode of Francis Pryor’s “Britain BC”. A lot was included that I’d forgotten about, but it included substantial evidence of regular commerce between Britain and the Continent back in the Bronze Age and probably earlier. Despite being an island, in some ways it seems that Britain was quite “Open for Business” with the rest of the known world back then.
It also had a lot to say about Neolithic farming techniques that were unique to Britain, which I thought was very interesting.
An utterly fascinating subject, dealt with in such a respectful and appropriate manner by Mr Price and Capt. Fore. The writing of this article has really brought the subject to life and leaves me with a feeling of ‘more please’!
I ended up here after a bit of looking around. My curiosity was piqued because I noticed an unusual shape and color on the north shore of North Sentinel Island while I was perusing Google Maps. For anyone interested, the broken remains of what I assume must be the Primrose are clearly visible in the satellite view of the island.
Here’s an interesting BBC link to a story about an uncontacted tribe in South America, with a further link to a site dedicated to these matters.
Hands down the most interesting and absorbing story I have read in a long time. I got to this site through Listverse, and have enjoyed my visit!
Thank you very much for your kind words, Shawn, and for taking the time and the trouble to write in. It’s early days yet, so I don’t want to tempt Fate, but Captain Robert Fore and myself intend to present a great deal more on North Sentinel Island if all goes well. It’s a work in progress, so I’ll post up any developments as and when I can; thank you again.
I am curious as to what cargo the Primrose was carrying and left behind. Not for treasure hunting purposes. I’ve read that the Sentinalese have fashioned weapons and tools from metal found on shipwrecks. What other things might they have found aboard the Primrose as they have most certainly scavenged its remains by now. Thanks for the fascinating story!
From memory, Dave, I think the cargo was either fertiliser or else animal feed, but it’s all there in the links to the various essays and accounts. Likewise, two brothers methodically salvaged the Primrose and again, you can find their accounts somewhere in the posts I’ve written, if you follow the links. I’m not sure the Sentinelese got anything at all from the Primrose, apart from the awesome sight of seeing Captain Robert Fore’s helicopter from out of the skies, but it’s thought that they’ve learned to cold forge steel for their arrow and spear heads from the flotsam and jetsam that washes up on the shores of their strange domain.
Otherwise, I’m very glad you liked the story, while thus far, you’re the only one to leave a comment out of the thousand or so people who’ve visited this post in the last 24 hours, so thank you very much for this.
Thank you for this interesting look at the island. I find the information (or shall I say lack of information in the world) in regards to the island and it’s inhabitants quite intriguing. I’m so very curious as to what their culture is like, their knowledge of their world and what they know of the outside world. There’s so much to learn and study from these people that it’s like a small window of the distant past to glance at in real-time. However, even with these curiosities one must tread so carefully to be invisible to even look through that window. Unfortunately this society will likely be horribly disturbed and ruined forever. When news picks up in the world of something that it’s unfamiliar with it becomes extremely exploited, commercialized, stamped and patented. Give it time and we will see “I survived the island” shirts or something to that effect. I sure hope we don’t and yet still find a way to learn and view more. Again, thanks for the story and images!
Jason, thank you very much for your kind words and for taking the trouble to write in. Firstly, if you look at the end of the post, you’ll see that I’ve just updated it, so this might be of interest to you.
Otherwise, I spoken to a great many people over the last couple of years about North Sentinel Island and without a solitary exception, everyone has been mesmerised by the place. As I’ve just written in the update to this post, I stay in regular touch with Captain Robert Fore and we always end up discussing the island and its inhabitants, as we’re both equally curious about all the many, many things we don’t know.
I could honestly write for hours about this subject, just asking questions aloud and speculating, while I understand from a recent contributor that he’s planning a novel dealing with the island. One of these days, hopefully soon, Captain Robert Fore and I will have a lot more to say about the place as it has to be one of the single most fascinating locations on our planet.
I came across a feature in SMH this morning titled “Places you will never visit” and it was North Sentinel Island that caught my attention. This was the first time I was hearing of it. Wikipedia told me that ship Primrose had run aground here back in 1981. My curiosity was now piqued. A bit of googling brought me to this great account of the crew rescue operation. It’s a fascinating story. I thought I’d share the following observations with you, Captain Robert Fore and the others interested:
I checked out the location of the island on Google Maps. The first thing to strike me was the shape of the island – it’s not quite the same as you have up here in the picture. That is probably because the image here is, I believe, the one from Wikipedia dated 2003. I suspect the 2004 Tsunami to be responsible for the morphing. Or maybe it’s just that the picture isn’t scaled properly.
Anyway, far more interesting is the fact that I spotted the wreckage of ship Primrose on Google Maps around the North-West corner of the Island. Do Check it out.
You may find it worthwhile to take a couple of snapshots and append them to the article.
How does no one mention the history of what has been done to these “hostile” savages by outsiders?? People here repeatedly discuss their “hostile” nature as inexplicable which is downright ignorant, but I suppose typical of most people. Although we know little about their way of life, we have plenty of historical documentation that explains why they act so “ferociously” toward outsiders. Friggin google it and educate yourselves. Just knowing that in the 1800s a bunch of privileged white aholes kidnapped an elderly couple and a bunch of children from the island is enough to explain their reluctance to allow outsiders to invade. And the elderly couple died in captivity, most likely due to their lack of immunity to common diseases in “civilization.” And also, they have been quite civil toward an Indian anthropologist who has been visiting the island for decades. Educate yourselves.
JB, I would like to congratulate you on having achieved the distinction of being more ill-informed, more stupid and more patently full of shit than any other previous contributor to this site since it was started. When I think of some of the utter deadbeats that have paraded their inane views here over the years, I assure you that yours is a truly staggering achievement, so wear that badge with pride.
It’s good day,that I have waited for a long times, I got two photograph in my photo album of “salvage” in my website and also in my facebook.
I was employed on board MT.MISSISIPPI, a salvage Tug, as a chief officer, with a Dutch Master and Thais + Phillipino crew, owned by Smit International BV, from my log-book shown that on 3rd of August 1981, while on stationed at Ao Tub-lamu, Phang-nga province Thailand, at midnight, we heard the signal SOS from mv.Primrose aground at North Sentinel Island and get ready to sail. I myself took the helm as per Dutch’s rule bound to N.Sentinel Island, after 410 N.miles, on early morning of 5th August 1981, and found mv.Primrose was in the lagoon, and we could not send the line because it was the reef. You can see the photograph, while communicated by VHF, the ship requested to run from the ship as soon as possible because the inhabitants was building the boat by log-wood and fired the stone by wooden gun to the ship, and they are ugly and hungry to fight, and of course we cannot do any things too much because cannot go by rubber-boat, until an Indian warship was seen in the pictures, came to the ground for assistant and the naval officers told us that they will use the helicopter to pick up those crew. Mississippi was standby there until 21st August 1981,and returned to our base at Penang, Malaysia. I learned later that, later after Cyclone season our Smit Salvage had work for take her out,and Primrose been scrapped not too long times ago.
This is also one of my favourite time of my sea-life. Any questions if may be, you can see me in FB,or by e-mails. Thank you, Capt.Robert. very much for open this places for all concerned..
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