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tended by several persons with short clubs. This hostile appearance, followed by the blowing of the conch-shell, a sound which Cook observes he never knew to portend good, kept our glasses for a while riveted to the spot. To this chief, it is supposed, for it was impossible to distinguish amongst the crowd, Mr Peard made a handsome present, with which he was very well pleased, and no apprehension of hostilities was entertained. It happened, however, that the presents were expended, and this officer was returning to the boat for a fresh supply, when the natives, probably mistaking his intentions, became exceedingly clamor ous; and the confusion was farther inereased by a marine endeavouring to regain his cap, which had been snatched from his head. The natives took advantage of the confusion, and redoubled their endeavours to pilfer, which our party were at last obliged to repel by threats, and sometimes by force. At length, they became so audacious, that there was no longer any doubt of their intentions, or that a system of open plunder had commenced; which, with the appearance of clubs and sticks, and the departure of the women, induced Mr Peard, very judiciously, to order his party into the boats. This seemed to be the signal for an assault: the chief who had received the present threw a large stone, which struck Mr Peard forcibly upon the back, and was immediately followed by a shower of missiles which darkened the air. The natives in the water and about the boats, instantly withdrew to their comrades, who had run behind a bank out of the reach of the muskets, which former experience alone could have taught them to fear, for none had yet been fired by us.

"The stones, each of which weighed about a pound, fell incredibly thick, and with such precision, that several of the seamen were knocked down under the thwarts of the boat, and every person was more or less wounded, except the

female to whom Lieutenant Wainwright had given protection, who, as if aware of the skilfulness of her countrymen, sat unconcerned upon the gunwale, until one of the officers, with more consideration for her safety than she herself possessed, pushed her overboard, and she swam ashore. A blank cartridge was at first fired over the heads of the crowd; but forbearance, which, with savages, is generally mistaken for cowardice or inability, only augmented their fury. The showers of stones were, if possible, increased, until the personal safety of all rendered

it necessary to resort to severe measures. The chief, still urging the islanders on, very deservedly, and perhaps fortunately, fell a victim to the first shot that was fired in defence. Terrified by this example, the natives kept closer under their bulwark; and though they continued to throw stones, and occasioned considerable difficulty in extricating the boats, their attacks were not so effectual as before, nor sufficient to prevent the embarkation of the crew, all of whom were got on board.

"Several dangerous contusions were received in the affair; but, fortunately, no lives lost on our part; and it was the opinion of the officers commanding the party, that the treacherous chief was the only victim on that of the islanders, though some of the officers thought they observed another man fall. Considering the manner in which the party were surrounded, and the imminent risk to which they were exposed, it is extraordinary that so few of the natives suffered; and the greatest credit is due to the officers and crew of both boats, for their forbearance on the occasion."

As little or no hope remained of entering into any peaceful relations with the people of this place, the Blossom now pursued her course for Ducie's, and thence to Elizabeth Island, which last, though small and uninhabited, offers a curious example of one of the several modes of formation, by which islands have been, and probably are, continually produced in the Pacific. Volcanic appearances are distinct in so many doubt can exist of the agency of that of the principal groups, that no great number; but, if influencing at phenomenon in the creation of a either of these two exhibits, it must all the peculiar structure which be exerted in very different manner from that in which it commonly acts. but little difference from the usual In Ducie's Island, there seems to be coral formation, except that, at the north-eastern and south-western extremities, projecting masses thrown out with a less degree of inclination than presented by the ordinary sides of the island, and thus two immense natural breakwaters are formed, which intercept the action of the sea before it can reach the entrance of a little lagoon formed in the centre. "It is singular," Captain Beechey remarks," that

are

these two buttresses are opposed to the only two quarters whence their structure has to apprehend danger— that on the north-east, from the constant action of the trade wind; and that on the other extremity, from the long rolling swell from the southwest, so prevalent in these latitudes; and it is worthy of observation, that this barrier, which has the most powerful enemy to oppose, is carried out much farther, and with less abruptness, than the other."

Elizabeth Island has very peculiar and distinct characters; and though great doubt may exist whether volcanic agency had any share in its production, as Captain Beechey imagines, yet his description is so minute and clear, that it may lead to a true solution, even if his own be not the correct one.

"We found that the island differed essentially from all the others in its vicinity, and belonged to a peculiar formation, very few instances of which are in existence. Wateo, and Savage Islands, discovered by Captain Cook, are of this number, and, perhaps, also Malden Island, visited by The island Lord Byron in the Blonde.

is five miles in length, and one in breadth, and has a flat surface nearly eighty feet above the sea. On all sides, except the north, it is bounded by perpendicular cliffs about fifty feet high, composed entirely of dead coral, more or less porous, honeycombed at the surface, and hardening into a compact, calcareous substance within, possessing fracture of secondary limestone, and has a species of millepore inThese cliffs are terspersed through it.

considerably undermined by the action of the waves, and some of them appear on the eve of precipitating their superincumbent weight into the sea; those which are less injured in this way, present no alternate ridges, or indication of the different

levels which the sea might have occupied at different periods; but a smooth surface, as if the island, which there is every probability has been raised by volcanic agency, had been forced up by one great subterraneous convulsion. The dead coral, of which the higher part of the island consists, is nearly circumscribed by ledges of living coral, which project beyond each other at different depths; on the northern side of the island, the first of these had an easy slope from the beach, to a distance of about fifty yards, when it terminated abruptly about three fathoms under the water. The next ledge had a greater descent, and extended to two hundred

yards from the beach, with twenty-five
fathoms water over it, and there ended
as abruptly as the former; a short dis-
tance beyond which, no bottom could be
gained with two hundred fathoms of line.
Numerous echini live upon these ledges;
and a variety of richly coloured fish play
over their surface, while some cray-fish
The sea
inhabit the deeper sinuosities.
rolls in successive breakers over these
ledges of coral, and renders landing upon
them extremely difficult. It may, how-
ever, be effected by anchoring the boat,
and veering her close into the surf, and
then, watching the opportunity, by jump-
ing upon the ledge, and hastening to the
shore before the succeeding roller ap-
proaches. In doing this, great caution
must be observed, as the reef is full of
holes and caverns, and the rugged way is
strewed with sea-eggs, which inflict very
painful wounds; and if a person fall into
one of these hollows, his life will be great-
ly endangered by the points of coral catch-
ing his clothes, and detaining him under
water. The beach, which appears at a
distance to be composed of a beautiful
white sand, is wholly made up of small
broken portions of the different species
and varieties of coral, intermixed with
shells of testaceous and crustaceous ani-
mals."

It is this minute and comprehen-
sive detail—this dwelling upon each
particular without confusing the
whole, which gives to description
the stamp and impress of reality,
which enables science to know and
judge without the tangible presence
of the object, and presents to the
casual reader a clear and complete
picture, which no vague and general
terms could convey. This was one of
the great points in that wonderful re-
formation which the Author of Wa
verley worked in the world of novel-
writers. Instead of loose descrip-
tions, uncertain figures, and a misty
atmosphere of indefinite verbiage,
which enveloped every character of
the former school, he substituted a
clear and definite form, in which
each feature and line had been
marked and traced by a master's hand
and eye, and over which the pictu-
resque spirit of a poetical mind spread
the magic sunshine of his own vivid
and wonderful imagination. Others
followed with infinitely less power,
and less originality, but still an im-
mense improvement was produced.
Every man who knows any thing
intimately, will have the means of

describing it minutely; and though, in general reasoning, or even in the sallies of wit and imagination, it is necessary to possess the great talent of casting away the insignificant and the worthless, yet it is the small fine shades, these minute details, which give identity to description, and call up every particular scene in all its individuality before the mind's eye. Captain Beechey thus gives as true and distinct pictures of what he saw, as if he represented them by paint ing to the material organ of vision. Nor is this confined to the scenery alone; the actions and habits of the people with whom he is brought in contact are all treated in the same graphic way, and we as much see Adams, the mutineer of the Bounty, his patriarchal customs, his interesting race, and his beautiful island, as if we had once been there ourselves, and memory called up all that we then had seen. The history of that famous mutiny has been already told by Captain Heywood, and ornamented in the poetry of Byron; but the account given of it by Adams himself to Captain Beechey, will still be read with infinite pleasure, as well as the farther story of the nascent nation on Pitcairn Island, and of the strange, but beautiful change from a community of violent and criminal Europeans, and wild licentious savages, to a religious, sober, orderly race, amongst whom violence is unknown, and the lightest promise inviolable-perhaps the grandest and most splendid instance on record of the true influence of that bright religion which interested knaves have sometimes corrupted, and proud fools have pretended to despise.

As a whole, this account of the mutineers of the Bounty would be too long for insertion here, and to mutilate it would be injustice to the author and to the public. The present state of the island and its inhabitants, however, is more within the limits of a justifiable extract, and is full of pleasant feelings and anticipations-But first, the appearance of old Adams himself.

"The interest which was excited by the announcement of Pitcairn Island from the mast-head, brought every person upon deck, and produced a train of reflections that momentarily increased our anxiety to

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communicate with its inhabitants-to see and partake of the pleasures of their little

domestic circle-and to learn from them

the particulars of every transaction connected with the fate of the Bounty; but, in consequence of the approach of night, this gratification was deferred until the next morning, when, as we were steering for the side of the island, on which Captain Carteret has marked soundings, in the hope of being able to anchor the ship, we had the pleasure to see a boat, under complete equipment of this boat raised a sail, hastening towards us. At first, the islanders; for we expected to see only a doubt as to its being the property of the well-provided canoe in their possession, and we therefore concluded that the boat must belong to some whale-ship on the ably undeceived by the singular appearopposite side; but we were soon agreeance of her crew, which consisted of old Adams and all the young men of the island. Before they ventured to take hold of the ship, they enquired if they might come on board; and upon permission being granted, they sprang up the sides, and shook every officer by the hand with undisguised feelings of gratification.

"The activity of the young men outstripped that of old Adams, who was consequently almost the last to greet us. He was in his sixty-fifth year, and was unusually strong and active for his age, notwithstanding the inconvenience of considerable corpulency. He was dressed in a sailor's shirt and trowsers, and a lowin his hand, until desired to put it on. He crowned hat, which he instinctively held still retained his sailor's gait, doffing his hat, and smoothing down his bald foreofficers. head whenever he was addressed by the

"It was the first time he had been on his mind naturally reverted to scenes that board a ship of war since the mutiny, and could not fail to produce a temporary embarrassment, heightened, perhaps, by the familiarity with which he found himself addressed by persons of a class with those whom he had been accustomed to obey. part of his thoughts; he had received too Apprehension for his safety formed no many demonstrations of the good feeling that existed towards him, both on the part of the British Government and of individuals, to entertain any alarm on that head: and as every person endeavoured to set his mind at rest, he very soon made himself at home.

"The young men, ten in number, were tall, robust, and healthy, with good-natured countenances, which would any where have procured them a friendly reception;

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and with a simplicity of manner, and a fear of doing wrong, which at once prevented the possibility of giving offence. Unacquainted with the world, they asked a number of questions which would have applied better to persons with whom they had been intimate, and who had left them but a short time before, than to perfect strangers and enquired after ships and people we had never heard of. Their dress, made up of the presents which had been given them by the masters and seamen of merchant ships, was a perfect caricature. Some had on long black coats, without any other article of dress, except trowsers, some shirts without coats, and others waistcoats without either; none had shoes or stockings, and only two possessed hats, neither of which seemed likely to hang long together."

After landing the observatory, and partaking the hospitality of the islanders, the English party were shewn to the beds prepared for them, consisting of mattrasses of palmleaves, covered with native cloth, and sheets of the same material. The evening hymn, sung by the islanders, after the lights were extinguished, pleasingly disturbed the first sleep of their guests, and the morning hymn broke their early dreams; but the evening and the night passed away otherwise in calm repose; and, the next day, Captain Beechey proceeded to examine the island more minutely.

"We assembled at breakfast about noon, the usual eating hour of the natives, though they do not confine themselves to that period exactly, but take their meal whenever it is sufficiently cooked; and afterwards availed ourselves of their proffered services to shew us the island, and under their guidance, first inspected the village, and what lay in its immediate vicinity. In an adjoining house, we found two young girls seated upon the ground, employed in the laborious exercise of beating out the bark of the cloth-tree, which they intended to present to us, on our departure, as a keepsake. The hamlet consisted of five cottages, built more substantially than neatly upon a cleared patch of ground, sloping to the northward, from the high land of the interior, to the cliffs which overhang the sea, of which the houses command a distant view in a northern direction. In the NE. quarter, the horizon may also be seen peeping between the stems of the lofty palms, whose graceful branches nod like ostrich plumes to the refreshing trade-wind. To the north

ward, and north-westward, thicker groves of palm-trees rise in an impenetrable wood, from two ravines which traverse the hills in various directions to their summit. Above the one, to the westward, a lofty mountain rears its head, and towards the sea terminates in a fearful precipice filled with caverns, in which the different seafowl find an undisturbed retreat. Immediately round the village are the small enclosures for fattening pigs, goats, and poultry; and beyond them, the cultivated grounds producing the banana, plantain, melon, yam, taro, sweet potatoes, appai, tee, and cloth plant, with other useful roots, fruits, and shrubs, which extend far up the mountain, and to the southward; but in this particular direction they are excluded from the view, by an immense banyan tree, two hundred paces in circumference, whose foliage and branches form of themselves a canopy impervious to the rays of the sun. Every cottage has its outhouse for making cloth, its baking place, its sty, and its poultry.house.

"Within the enclosure of palm-trees is the cemetery where the few persons who had died on the island, together with those who met with violent deaths, are deposited. Besides the houses above mentioned, there are three or four others built upon the plantations beyond the palm-groves. One of these, situated higher up the hill than the village, belongs to Adams, who has retired from the bustle of the hamlet

to a more quiet and sequestered spot, where he enjoys the advantages of an elevated situation, so desirable in warm coun tries; and there are four other cottages to the eastward, which belong to the Youngs and Quintals.

"All these cottages are strongly built of wood, in an oblong form, and thatched with the leaves of the palm-tree, bent round the stem of the same branch, and laced horizontally to rafters, so placed as to give a proper pitch to the roof. The greater part have an upper story, which is appropriated to sleeping, and contains four beds built in the angles of the room, each sufficiently large for three or four persons to lie on. They are made of wood of the cloth-tree, and are raised eighteen inches above the floor; a mattress of palmleaves is laid upon the planks, and above it three sheets of the cloth-plant, which form an excellent substitute for linen. The lower room generally contains one or more beds, but it is always used as their eating-room, and has a broad table in one part, with several stools placed round it. The floor is elevated about a foot from the ground, and, as well as the sides of the house, is made of stout plank,

and not of bamboo or stone, as stated by Captain Folger; indeed they have not a piece of bamboo on the island; nor have they any mats. The floor is a fixture, but the side-boards are let into a groove in the supporters, and can be removed at pleasure, according to the state of the weather, and the whole side may, if required, be laid open. The lower room communicates with the upper by a stout ladder in the centre, and leads up through a trapdoor into the bedroom."

And again,

“During the period we remained upon the island, we were entertained at the board of the natives, sometimes dining with one person, and sometimes with another their meals, as I have before stated, were not confined to hours, and always consisted of baked pig, yams, and taro, and more rarely of sweet potatoes.

:

"The productions of the island being very limited, and intercourse with the rest of the world much restricted, it may be readily supposed their meals cannot be greatly varied. However, they do their best with what they have, and cook it in different ways, the pig excepted, which is always baked. There are several goats upon the island, but they dislike their flesh, as well as their milk. Yams constitute their principal food; these are broiled, baked, or made into pillihey (cakes), by being mixed with cocoa-nuts, or bruised and formed into a soup. Bananas are mashed and made into pancakes, or, like the yam, united with the milk of the cocoa-nut, into pillihey, and eaten with molasses, extracted from the tee-root. The taro-root, by being rubbed, makes a very good substitute for bread, as well as the bananas, plantains, and appai. Their common beverage is pure water, but they made for us a tea, extracted from the teeplant, flavoured with ginger, and sweetened with the juice of the sugar-cane. When alone, this beverage and fowl soup are used only for such as are ill. They seldom kill a pig, but live mostly upon fruit and vegetables. The duty of saying grace was performed by John Buffet, a recent settler among them, and their clergyman; but if he was not present, it fell upon the eldest of the company. They have all a great dislike to spirits, in consequence of M'Coy having killed himself by too free an indulgence in them; but wine in moderation is never refused. With this simple diet, and being in the daily habit of rising early, and taking a great deal of exercise in the cultivation of their grounds, it was not surprising that we found them so athletic and free from com. plaints. When illness does occur, their

remedies are as simple as their manner of living, and are limited to salt water, hot ginger tea, or abstinence, according to the nature of the complaint. They have no medicines, nor do they appear to require any, as these remedies have hitherto been found sufficient.

"After their noontide meal, if their grounds do not require their attention, and the weather be fine, they go a little way out to sea in their canoes, and catch fish, of which they have several kinds, large, and sometimes in abundance; but it seldom happens that they have this time to spare; for the cultivation of the ground, repairing their boats, houses, and making fishing lines, with other employments, generally occupy the whole of each day. At sunset they assemble at prayers as before, first offering their ori son and thanksgiving, and then chanting meal, and at an early hour, having again hymns. After this follows their evening ing hymn, they retire to rest; but before said their prayers, and chanted the eventhey sleep, each person again offers up a short prayer upon his bed.

"Such is the distribution of time among the grown people; the younger part attend at school at regular hours, and are instructed in reading, writing, and arithmetic. They have very fortuin John Buffet, who belonged to a ship nately found an able and willing master which visited the island, and was so infatuated with their behaviour, being himself naturally of a devout and serious turni of mind, that he resolved to remain among them; and, in addition to the instruction of the children, has taken upon himself the duty of clergyman, and is the oracle of the community. During the whole time I was with them, I never heard them indulge in a joke, or other levity, and the practice of it is apt to give offence: they are so accustomed to take what is said in its literal meaning, that irony was always considered a falsehood, in spite of explanation. They could not see the propriety of uttering what was not strictly true, for any purpose whatever."

Some just and kindly observations of Captain Beechey's, and the pleasing information of his Majesty's government having taken measures for the welfare and benefit of this little colony, may well be added.

"We soon found, through our intercourse with these excellent people, that they had no wants excepting such as had been created by an intercourse with vessels. Nature has been extremely bountiful to them; and necessity has

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