PITCAIRN'S ISLAND.—THE DESCENDANTS OF THE MUTINEERS OF THE BOUNTY. On board the Fanny, at Sea, Lat. 23° 4' S., and long. 126" 57' W. July 2nd, 1849.

New Zealander, Volume 5, Issue 381, 8 December 1849, Page 5

PITCAIRNS ISLAND.—THE DESCENDANTS OF THE MUTINEERS OF THE BOUNTY. On board the Fanny, at Sea, Lat. 23° 4' S., and long. 126" 57' W. July 2nd, 1849.

Between 8 and 9 o'clock on (he morning of Saturday, the 25th June, wo sighted Pitcuirn's Island. We had a fine fair wind, and great was our anxiety as to whether we should get a chance of landing on so celebrated a spot. Almost every one on board had read of the Mutiny of the Bounty, and were most desirous, if possible, to get a glimpse of the descendants of the mutineers. Fortune befriended us,— the wind fell light, and it was soon known that the Captain had de> termined to get communication with the ihore, and, if there was facility to re-fill the ship's empty water* casks, he would do so. At the first view of the Island it appeared rugged enough! and it was not until wo opened upon its northern side that we could make out any appearance of homes or cultivation. On getting near, the view was rather pretty ; we could see lnrge patches of cocoanut-trees which appeared ai if cultivated in squares, and we could also gee large patches of green cultivation. At we got within about a mile's distance we could see the inhabitants watching our movements, and about 2 o'clock a cockleshell of a canoe came off with two men. one of which, when near enough, asked with all possible politeness, " May we come aboard, if you please, Sir ?" A ready assent was given, and by two or three stretches of the paddlei (he canoe was alongside. It was, indeed a fragile affair, and won- | derful that men would trust themselves in it. On the men getting on board, they proved to be George Adams, son of the mutineer John Adams, and Quintal, grandson of one of the mutineer*. The canoe was without difficulty taken on board, for it was as light as cork. They brought with them a fevr oranges, which they would only give to the women passengers and children. After a short time, in which it was found that water could be easily procured , our two visirers returned to tho shoie, and immediately three whaleboats came off, well manned, to take us ashore. I was, as you may suppose, in the first boat, and landed at Bounty Bay, so called from its being the | place where the Bounty vrai burnt, after being stripped j of eveiything that was useful. There are only two landing places on the Island ; and although this is said to be the best, it is only a few yards wide of beach, j everywhere else that I could see being impracticable. There is no anchorage for a vessel, which must stand off and on. On landing we were received by tome ' young men, who cordially welcomed us ashore, and one of our boats' crew, after asking several of vi our name, and whether we were married or single, said that his name was Charles Christian (a grandson of Christian, the ringleader of the mutineeri), and that he would act as our guide, and shew us the Island. Wo ascended a very tteep, pnth on a natural platform of which we found a " Mr. Nobbs," the clergyman, schoolmaster, and doctor of the Island. Mr. Nobbs hai resided on the Island upwards of 20 years in the same capacity, and he married one. of the island-born women (of course a half-caste, by a Tahitian woman, brought by the mutineers in the Bounty), by whom he has a large family. With him were a number of young women of the Island, from whom we received a hearty welcome and shake of the hand : the personal appearance of these young women wai very prepoisessing — they were all exceedingly goodlooking, with an expreision of good temper and contentment in their faces, that was delightful. We were met by other parties during our ascent, in the same manner ; and the del'ght of the whole of the Island females was extreme at finding there were women passengers coming ashore. It appears they have never had but one white woman on «hore, an American. We soon got to their sweetpotatoe cultivations, which were in admirable order ; and then to their houses, which possessed interest to us, as portions of some of them were of timber from the Bounty : gla^s appeared unknown, the openings for the windows having sliding shutters ; and not a house was encumbered by " locks, bolts, or bars." Not knowing how long our stay might be, we pushed on to see all the " lions," and visited in due course the school-house and church, and churchyard, from whence we proceeded to Adams' house, built almost entirely by the 1 hands of old Adams, and in which we were shewn his portrait — his Bible, with his name in his own handwriting — and finally, the grave where the good oil man found his final resting-place. I mention the fact of seeing his Bible because it is the very Bible in which (according to the published histories) lie was reading, when visited by the officers of the first European vessel that touched there. We also saw an iron twelve-pounder, from the Bounty, recovered by diving, a few years Miice — and which, although it is sadly honeycombed, the Islanders sometimes use to answer a vessel's salute. From thence we went on until we surmounted the highest peak of the Island, ettiinated as being 1,020 feet above the level of the sea ; and it w<ts on this peak that the mutineers, on their first taking posseaiion, built a look-out for vessels in order, that should one heave in sight, they might conceal themselves. In fact the old houses cannot even at this time be seen from the sea. From this peak you are enabled to see all the cultiva ions and houses on the Island; and particularly able to see the view caused on the eastern side of the Dand by a land

slip, about a twelvemonth since After sating our curiosity as well as time would admit, we returned to the bouse inhabited by Christian's family and Quintal (one of the two who first came off to the vessel, and who is married to Chi istian't mother) to dinner, the table for wh'ch was comfortably spread in European Aishion, and partook heartily of the good cheer— being fowl, breadfruit, plantain, yam, and native bread (n mixtuie of banana and sweet potatoe, baked in a native oven, in plantain-leaves), and tea, from native shrubs, sweetened with molasses pressed from Island-ground sugatcane. At this meal we saw one trace of baibtirism—'that the women did not take thuir meals wiih the men. Here we received the pleasant news that; we need not go on board till the next day. After it got dark we heard a fiddle playing, towards which we proceeded, and in one of the houses fell in with such of our women | passengers as had got ashore. They had been taken full possession of by the native girls, who appeared quite unable to express their joy at having European women amongst them — singing and dancing was the order of the night ; and here occurred barbarism the second, the native women not being allowed to dance. However, we got a violin and flute in full operationplenty of (lancing and singing; two of our New Zealanders sung their native songs, to the great amuse - ment of the Islanders, and we kept it up until halfpast eleven, when the Island girls sung us some beautifut hymns, in a very pleasing manner, nnd somewhere about twelve we got to bed. The kind people made us take their own beds, and in sheets of native manufactuied " tappu," finer than any I had before seen, wo were soon asleep. Numerous as were the passengers ashore there was no difficulty in getting I sleeping quaiters — the difficulty was to refuse invitations. The following morning — which we will also call Saturday, 30th June, as we took this opportunity of correcting our time—] heard the young Islnnders, long before daylight, engaged in an amicable dispute as to who should go off to the vessel to bring the remainder of the passengers ashore ; and shortly after the whole party were safely brought. The walk through the groves of cocoa nuts, &c. &c., was delightful, but the day unfortunately being showery we could not wander far, so renewed the festivities of the previous evening, singing and dancing, until we received the disagreeable orders to proceed on board, which we had to do as speedily as possible, evidently as much to the regret of the Islanders as our own. We could not prevail upon them to nccept any payment for our food, &c. ; on the contrary, they forced little presents of tappa sheets, &c, upon us, and decorated onr heads with flowers — for all of which, of course, we sent amp'e compensation from the vessel, in shape of clothing, books, biscuits, &c, &c. Our little private party of four was presented with, I believe, the last piece of the wreck of the Bounty that could be procured. There is nothing now but a little copper to be procured — excepting, of course, such remains of the timber as are portion of the houses. The water being all on board, we again headed seaward ; and exchanging hearty cheen with the Islanders, quitted the Island where we had spent one of the pleasantest twenty -four hours I ever spent in my life. Pitcaim's Island is in 25 ° 4* S. latitude and 130 ° W. longitude, and is only about 4£ miles in circumference. It is seldom visited by ahips, on account of there being no anchorage , the water, however, is very bold, and there being no shoals or sunken rocks, vessels can stand cloie in safely. It wai three months since they had been visited previous to us. The best landing place is on the north tide, where the village is 'situated. Vessels might approach close on any other side without being seen by the inhabitants, except by chance. — There is abundant depth of water for vesiels of the largest size, to within 100 yards of the rockt. There is scarcely any ebb or How of tide. The inhabitants express much anxiety for the visiti of men-of-war, and are exceedingly proud of being considered English men and women, and leldom miss an opportunity of declaring themselves to be so. They are deeply attached to ttitir native soil, although a few years since they all left the Island, through scarcity of water, and proceeded to Tahiti, from whence, however, they soon returned and hare now constructed reservoirs sufficient to amply supply themselves, and for a moderate supply to shipping. They are exceedingly desirous of information, and appear tolerably well informed upon the leading political events of England and France, and received with avidity all the information we could furnish them with regard to the French Revolution. They eagerly also desired to acquire the botanical names of their trees and shiubs. The men have to do all work of tailoring, shoemaking, Bn-. t even, I believe, to the , making the garment;, for the women, who dress pretty much after the fashion of the New Zealand women who live in the town. The woman's work is to prepare and cook the food, which is principally done with heated stones, as the New Zealand natives do. Somoof the young men have learnt to make work boxes, &c, of the native woods, which are exceedingly neat and well made. Family worship is rigorously attended to night and morning ; and dv.ing our stay we never heaid anything approaching an improper or hasty expression. Their intellect appears of a high onler, es. pecially that of John Adims (grandson of the mutineei), who is a poet ; two veiy hastily writ en specimens of his power 1 subjoin, but he has a long poem on hand, a history of the Island, which is said by those who have seen a poition of it to be very good. They have plenty of books, and were anxious tor new works. The original division of the Island was in nine parts, —now, however, subdivided into twenty-two. Some small disputes, however, occisionally arise as t>> boundaries, but these, as well as any other matters of dispute, are soon settled. For this purpose they elect a dignilaiy termed a Chief Magistrate, who holds his office for a year. The election takes place on New Year's Day, and mm and women have all equally a vote. Wiih him, also, are appointed two Councillors. Should these thiee not be able to decide, they form a Jury; and then, s.iouM the mater not be latiafactorily settled, it stands over until the arrival of a British man- of- wa r , and there is no appeal against the Captain's decision.

The population of the Island is now U9,and tha division of the sexo« as equal as can be. Mr. Nobbs keeps a journal of all thu events— birth*, marriagea, &c. ; but it contains little of import. The whole of the inhabitants have been born on the Island, with tho exception of Mr. Nobbs and a man named Evans, who has ulso been there a number of years and ha* a large family. Amongst the rcuidents is one old Tahitian woman named Rebecca, who if) the only survivor of those who arrived in the Bounty. She is said to he 90 years old. It not being the season, there was not bo much fruit as I expected. There was plenty of green cocoanut», but not a very good lupply of oranges, lemons, limes, banan-jg, or pluntnins, and a very few pine-apples ; but those were good. The sugar-cane was of very fina growth, and abounding m saccharine. The only vegetables «Tere potatoes, not very pood. Sweet potatoes and y mis, exceedingly fine. No trace of any other vegetable was visible. From what could be learnt, the inhabitants appear to be lons lived, but subject to influenza, and a few complaints easy to be accounted for by the dense jungle which is allowed in all directions, and through which it is impossible for the sun to penetrate. Very large quantities of vegetable matter are also allowed to lie and decompose ; the only spots kept perfectly clear appeared to be the potatoe and sweet potatoe patchei. I saw no trees worthy of notice, save a few specimens of the banyan tree, but none of them were of very great size. The principal food is vegetable ; and while, with a few exceptions, the men were of spare habit, it ap • peared to have a direct contrary effect upon the women, some of them being beyond en ban point. Pish, which used to be abundant, has for some reasom appeared to desert the Island for the last year or two. Goats, pigs, aud poultry did not appe«r to be veiy plentiful. The arrival of a vessel being observed as a holiday, everything of course had on its holiday appearance, ami every person, appeared scrupulously clean and neafThtir whole conversation was characterised by simplicity and modesty, and from all that could be ieea and heard they appeared to be as moral and pure a community a* can possibly be conceived. It has now become a matter of fact that the liland w.is inhabited previous to the mutineers' arriving there. The proofs are stone axes which have been discovered. Idols, carved in stone, and about ten feet high, and human skeletons. The axes resemble those used by the New Zcalander, but there is no trace to be found as to the race of people or the manner in which they became extinct. Traces of their sweet potatoe cultivation have distinctly been marked out; and there are some inscriptions carved in a cavern situated in the face of a cliff, but I could not procure any copy of it.

An enclosute in the communication before us contains the following extracts. Some of our European readers may smile at the notion of Pitcuirri's Island 'poetry, but we venture to say that — setting aside altogether the peculiar interest of their source — the following verses have literary merit which entitles them to notice.