Outposts by Simon Winchester

Published in 1985 and updated in 2004, this fascinating book describes a series of visits by Simon Winchester to the last remnants of the British Empire.

These throwbacks to another era are mostly small, remote, mid-oceanic islands. All have checkered histories. The island of Diego Garcia, in the Indian Ocean, is nominally part of the British Indian Territory. Thought by some to be the site of the sunken continent of Lemuria, this islet in the Chagos Archipelago is militarized and well-guarded by the US. Here the journalist author is not allowed to set foot.

With the help of an intrepid Australian yachtswoman, he does manage to make the perilous journey to the mid-Atlantic coral scrap that is Tristan da Cunha, and even to get ashore there.

He also visits the infamous Pitcairn, the largest of a remote Pacific island group that sheltered the Bounty's mutineers. Their descendants, some with the surname Christian, still live on the island.

Another port of call is St. Helena, the South Atlantic island where Napoleon lived out his exile. Observing the local life, he notes that the many happy children born out of wedlock are inclusively called "spares." It also seems the islanders have a strong penchant for bestowing nicknames that refer to past events or escapades. But the author does not learn why a certain policeman is called Pink Balls, and comments that this is "better known to his wife."

The islanders enjoy sharing stories, and the author hears tales of large turtles that live hundreds of years. According to legend, one that died when it came ashore not only provided enough meat for three days' worth of soup for an army group; its shell was large enough to act as a roof for a small cottage a local man was building at the time. He's also told of an amazing feat that used to be performed regularly. School boys carried lunchtime bowls of hot soup down the 699-step Jacob's Ladder on their laps, while they slid down the steep ascent, heads on one rail and feet on the other.

As with all of Winchester's stories, this is a delightful read. He speaks about his travels in terms of geography and weather, and also of obscure and idiosyncratic history. Strange vagaries of the past are laid out for present examination, casting oblique light on the way we are now.