BACKGROUND
The Island
Norfolk Island is a small island in the South Pacific Ocean approx-
imately 3450 ha in extent. It is situated at a latitude of 29?s just
over 1600 km northeast of Sydney, Australia and 1000 km from Auckland,
New Zealand - see fig. l. It is volcanic in origin and is bounded by
precipitous cliffs except for a small section of coastline on the south.
The highest points are twin peaks which rise to a little over 300 m above
mean sea level but the general elevation of the island is approximately
100 m. The climate is subtropical and equable with temperatures varying
from 7 to 27 C. The rainfall which averages about 1320 mm is well dis-
tributed throughout the year though some summer droughts are experienced.
The soils are fertile deriving from the basalt and tuff parent material to
form mostly red Kraznozems. They are ideal for forest growth but under
intensive agriculture some nutrient deficiencies have become evident.
The Island was uninhabited when discovered by Captain James Cook R.N.
in 1774. Cook (1777) described the vegetation where he landed in the
following terms:
'We observed many trees and plants common at New Zealand, and in
particular the flax plant, which grows rather more luxuriant here
than in any part of the country; but the chief produce is a sort of
spruce pine, which grows in great abundance, and to a large size,
many trees being as thick as two men could fathom, and exceedingly
straight and tall. This pine is of the sort between that which grows
in New Zealand and that which is in Caledonia, the foliage differing
somewhat from both; and the wood not so heavy as the former, and not
so light and close grained as the latter. It is a good deal like the
Quebec pine. For about two hundred yards from the shore the ground
is covered so thick with shrubs and plants as hardly to be penetrated
inland. The woods were perfectly clear from underwood and the soil
seemed rich and deep.'
The Island was settled in 1788 by a party from the colony of New
South Wales (mainland Australia) led by Lieutenant Philip Gidley King
R.N. His accounts and many that followed mentioned the difficulty in
penetrating the forest, describing it as a very dense formation with
complete canopy excluding the light, very little growth on the forest
floor and the towering emergent pines being in great abundance (Hoare
1969).
The settlement was abandoned in 1814 having served mainly as a convict
prison. By that time approximately one quarter of the Island had been
cleared to make way for the agricultural pursuits followed by the settlers.
Another convict settlement was established in 1825 and during the fol-
lowing 29 years further clearing was carried out both to provide more land
for agriculture and to exploit the pine and other timbers. Significant
quantities of timber were exported to Sydney and England during this time.
Lane-Poole (1926) records that at one time or another during the
convict settlements the whole of the Island apart from the two mountains
and the land to their north as far as the coast must have been cleared and