employed in the manufacture of cloth.
pitcairn's island. 273
The innocence and simplicity of these interesting
young creatures are strongly exemplified in the fol-
lowing description. " By our bedside had already
been placed some ripe fruits ; and our hats were
crowned with chaplets of the fresh blossom of the nono
or flower-tree {Morinda citrifoUa), which the women
had gathered in the freshness of the morning dew.
On looking round the apartment, though it contained
several beds, we found no partition, curtain, or
screens ; they had not yet been considered neces-
sary. So far indeed from concealment being thought
of, when we were about to get up, the women,
anxious to show their attention, assembled to wish
us good morning, and to inquire in what way they
could best contribute to our comforts, and to present
us with some little gift which the produce of the
island afforded. Many persons would have felt
awkward at rising and dressing before so many
pretty black-eyed damsels, assembled in the centre
of a spacious room ; but by a little habit we overcame
this embarrassment, and found the benefit of theii
services in fetching water as we required it, and in
substituting clean linen for such as we pulled off."
Their cottages are spacious, and strongly built of
wood, in an oblong form, and thatched with the
leaves of the palm-tree bent round the stem of a
branch from the same, and laced horizontally to
rafters so placed as to give a proper pitch to the
roof. An upper story is appropriated to sleeping,
and has four beds, one in each angle of the room,
and large enough for three or four persons to sleep
on. The lower is the eating-room, having a broad
table with several stools placed round it. The lower
room communicates with the upper by a stout lad-
der in the centre. Immediately roujid the village
are small enclosures for fattening pigs, goats, and
poultry ; and beyond them are the cultivated grounds
producing the banana, plantam, melon, yam, taro,
Eweet potatoes, tee-tree, cloth-plant, with other useful
274 pitcairn's island.
roots, fruits, and a variety of shrubs. Every cot
tage has its out-house for making cloth, its baking
place, its pig-sty, and its poultry-house.
During the stay of the strangers on the island,
they dined sometimes with one person and some-
times with another, their meals being always the
same, and consisting of baked pig, yams, and tare
and sometimes sweet potatoes. Goats are nume-
rous on the island, but neither their flesh nor their
milk is rehshed by tlie natives. Yams constitute
their principal food, either boiled, baked, or mixed
with cocoanut, made into cakes, and eaten with mo-
lasses extracted from the tee-root. Taro-root is no
bad substitute for bread ; and bananas, plantains, and
appoi are wholesome and nutritive fruits. The com-
mon beverage is water, but they make tea from the
tee-plant, flavoured v^'ith ginger, and sweetened with
the juice of the sugar-cane. They but seldom kill
a pig, living mostly on fruit and vegetables. With
this simple diet, early rising, and taking a great deal
of exercise, they are subject to few diseases ; and
Captain Beechey says, " they are certainly a finer
and more athletic race than is usually found among
the families of mankind."
The young children are punctual in their attend-
ance at school, and are instructed by John Buffet in
reading, writing, and arithmetic ; to which are added
precepts of religion and morality, drawn chiefly from
the Bible and Prayer Book; than which, fortunately,
they possess no others, that might mystify and
perplex their understandings on religious subjects.
They seldom indulge in jokes or other kinds of
levity ; and Beechey says they are so accustomed to
take what is said in its literal meaning, that irony
was always considered a falsehood in spite of ex-
planation ; and that they could not see the propriety
of uttering Vviiat was not strictly true, for \any pur-
pose wliatever. The Sabbath is wholly devoted to
the church service, to prayer, readhig, and serious
pitcairn's island. 273
meditation ; no work of any kind is done on that
day, not even cooking, wliicli is prepared on the pre-
ceding- evening-.
"I attended," says Beechey, "their church on
this day, and found the service well conducted ; the
prayers were read by Adams, and the lessons by
Buffet, the service being- preceded by hymns. The
greatest devotion was apparent in every individual ;
and in the children there was a seriousness unknown
in the younger part of our communities at home.
In the course of the Litany, they prayed for their
sovereign and all the royal faniily, with much ap-
parent loyalty and sincerity. Some family prayers
whic'h were thought appropriate to their own particu-
lar case were added to the usual serv^ice ; and Adams,
fearful of leaving out any essential part, read in ad-
dition all those prayers which are intended only as
substitutes for others. A sermon followed, which
was very well delivered by Buffet ; and lest any part
of it should be forgotten, or escape attention, it was
read three times. The v.hole concluded with hymns,
which were first sung by the grown people, and
afterward by the children. The service thus per-
formed was very long ; but the neat and cleanly ap-
pearance of the congregation, the devotion that ani-
mated every countenance, and the innocence and
simplicity of the little children, prevented the at-
tendance from becoming wearisome. In about half
an hour afterward we again assembled to prayers,
and at sunset service was repeated; so that, with
their morning and evening prayers, they maybe said
to have church five times on a Sunday."
Perhaps it will be thought by some that they carry
their seriousness too far, and that the younger people
are not allowed a sufficient quantity of recreation.
The exercise and amusement of dancing, once so
much resorted to in most of the islands of the Pa-
p'fic, is here almost excluded. With grefitdifficnlty
tuid much entreaty, the visiters prevailed on three
276 pitcairn's island.
grown-up ladies to stand up to perform the Otaheitan
dance, which' they consented to with a reluctance
that showed it was done only to oblige them. It was
little more than a shuffling of the feet, sliding past
each other, and snapping their fingers. They did
not long continue this diversion, considering it as
too great a levity, and only the three before-men-
tioned ladies could be prevailed on to exhibit their
skill. They appeared to have little taste for music,
either instrumental or vocal. Adams, when on board
the Blossom for two or three days, made no difficult}''
of joining in the dance, and was remarkably cheer-
ful, but on no occasion neglected his usual devotions.
Captain Beechey has no doubt of the sincerity of
his piety. He slept in the same cabin, but would
never get into his cot until the captain was in bed and
supposed to be asleep, when, in a retired corner of
the cabin, he fell on his knees and performed his de-
votions ; and he was always up first in the morning
for the same purpose.
This good old man told Beechey one day that it
would add much to his happiness if he would read
the marriage ceremony to him and 4iis wife, as he
could not bear the idea of living with her without
its being done Avhen a proper opportunity should
off*er, as was now the case. Though Adams was
aged, and the old woman had been blind and bedrid-
den for several years, Beechey says he made such a
point of it, that it would have been cruel to refuse
him. They were accordingly, the following day,
duly united, and the event noted in a register by
John Buffet. The marriages that take place among
the young people are, however, performed by
Adams, who makes use of a ring for such occasions,
whidi has united every couple on the island since its
first settlement ; the regulated age under which no
man is allowed to marry is twenty, and that of the
women eighteen. The restrictions with regard to
relationship are the same as with us, and are strictly
PITCAIHN S ISLAND. 27"
put in force when parties are about to marry
Adams also officiates at christening-s.
Captain Beechey observes that these amiabk
people rigidly adhere to their word and promise
even in cases where the most scrupulous amonia
Europeans might think themselves justified in some
relaxation of them. Thus,' George Adams, in his
early days, had fallen in love with Polly Young, a
girl somewhat older than himself; but Polly, for
some reason or other, had incautiously declared she
never ivould give her hand to George Adams ; who,
however, still hoped she would one day relent, and
of course was unremitting in his endeavours to
please her ; nor was he mistaken ; his constancy and
his handsome form, which George took every oppor-
tunity of displaying before her, softened Polly's
heart, and she would willingly have given him her
hand. But the vow of her youth was not to be got
over, and the love-sick couple languished on from
day to day, victims to the folly of early resolutions.
This weighty case was referred to the British offi-
cers, who decided that it would be much better to
marry than to continue unhapp)^ in consequence of a
hasty resolution made before the judgment was ma-
tured, but Polly's scruples still remained, and those
who gave their decision left them unmarried. Cap-
tain Beechey, however, has recently received a let-
ter, stating that George Adams and Polly Young
had joined hands and were happy ; but the same let-
ter announced the death of John Adams, which took
place in March, 1829.
The demise of this old patriarch is the most
serious loss that could have befallen this infant col-
ony. The perfect harmony and contentment in
which they appear to live together, the innocence
and simplicity of their manners, their conjugal and
parental affection, their moral, religious, and virtuous
coufluct, and their exemption from any serious vice,
are all to be ascribed to the exemplary conduct and
278 » pitcatrn's island.
instructions of old John. Adams ; and it is gratifying
to know, that five years after the visit of the Blos-
som, and one year subsequent to Adams's death, the
little colony continued to enjoy the same uninter-
rupted state of harmony and contentment as before.
In consequence of a representation made by Cap-
tain Beechey when there of the distressed state of
this little society with regard to the want of certain
necessary articles, his majesty's government sent
out to Valparaiso, to be conveyed from thence for
their use, a proportion for sixty persons, of the fol-
lowing articles : sailors' blue jackets and trousers,
flannel waistcoats, pairs of stockings and shoes,
women's dresses, spades, mattocks, shovels, pick-
axes, trowels, rakes ; all of which were taken in his
majesty's ship Seringapatam, commanded by Cap-
tain the Honourable William Waldegrave, v/ho ar-
rived there in March, 1830.
The ship had scarcely anchored Avhen George
Young was alongside in his canoe, which he guided
by a paddle ; and soon after Thursday October Chris-
tian, in a jolly-boat, with several others, who, having
come on board, were invited to breakfast, and one
of them said grace as usual both before and after it.
The captain, the chaplain, and some other officers
accompanied these natives on shore, and having
reached the summit of the first level or plain, which
is surrounded by a grove or screen of cocoanut-
trees, they found the wives and mothers assembled
to receive them. " I have brought you a clergy-
man," says the captain. — " God bless you," issued
from every mouth ; " but is he come to stay with us V
— " No." — " You bad man, why not ?" — " I cannot
spare him, he is the chaplain of my ship ; but I have
brought you clothes and other articles, which King
George has sent you." — " But," says Kitty Quhitai,
" we want food for our souls."
" Our reception," says Captain Waldegrave, " was
most cordial, particularly that of Mr. Watson, the
pitcairn's island. 279
chaplain; and the meeting of the wives and hus-
bands most affecting, exchanging expressions^ of
joy that could not have been exceeded had they just
returned from a long absence. The men sprang up
to the trees, throwing down cocoanuts, the husks
of which were torn off by others w-ith their teeth,
and offering us the milk. As soon as we had rested
ourselves, they took us to their cottages, w^here we
dined and slept."
Captain Waldegrave says it was highly gratify
ing to observe their native simplicity of manners,
apparently without guile ; their hospitality was un-
bounded, their cottages being open to all, and all
were welcome to such food as they possessed ; pigs
and fowls were immediately killed and dressed, and
when the guests were seated, one of the islanders,
m the attitude of prayer, and his eyes raised towards
heaven, repeated a simple grace for the present food
they were about to partake of, beseeching, at the
same time, spiritual nourishment; at the end of which
each responded Amen. On the arrival of any one
during the repast, they all paused until the new
guest had said grace.
At night they all assembled in one of the cottages
to hear the afternoon church service performed by-
Mr. Watson, and Captain Waldegrave describes it
as a most striking scene. The place chosen was
the bedroom of one of the double cottages, or one
with an upper story. The ascent was by a broad
ladder from the lower room through a trap-door.
The clergyman took his station between tv/o beds,
with a lamp burning close behind him. In the bed on
his right were three infants soimd asleep ; at the foot
of that on his left v/ere three men sitting. On each
side and in front were the men, some w^earing only
the simple mara, displaying their gigantic figures ;
others in jackets and trousers, their necks and feet
b'dve ; behind stood the women, in their modest
home-made cloth dresses, which entirely covered
28t pitcairn's island.
the form, leaving only the head and feet bare. The
girls wore, in addition, a sheet knotted in the man-
ner of a Roman senator's toga, thrown over the right
shoulder and under the left arm. When tl.e general
confession commenced, they all knelt down facing
jthe clergyman, with their hands raised to the breast
in the attitude of prayer, slowly and distinctly re-
jpeating the confession after the clergyman. They
prayed for the King of England, whom they consider
as their sovereign. A sermon followed, from a text
which Captain Waldegrave thinks was most happily
chosen : " Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's
good pleasure to give you tlie kingdom." At the
conclusion of the service they requested permission
to sing their parting hymn, when the whole congre-
gation, in good time, sang " Depart in peace."
Captain Waldegrave, like all former visiters, bears
testimony to the kind disposition and active benevo-
lence of these simple islanders. The children, he
says, are fond and obedient, the parents affectionate
and kind towards their children. None of the party
ever heard a harsh word made use of by one towards
another. They never slander or speak ill of one
another. If any question was asked as to the
character or conduct of a particular individual, the
answer would probably be something of this kind,
" If it could do any good, I would answer you ; but
as it cannot, it would be wrong to tell tales ;" or if
the question applied to one who had committed a
fault tliey would say, " It would be wrong to tell my
neighbour's shame." The kind and benevolent feel-
ing of these amiable people is extended to the sur-
viving widows of the Otaheite men who were slain
on the island, and who would be left in a helpless
and destitute state, were it not for the humane
consideration of the younger part of the society, by
whom they are supported and regarded with every
mark of attention.
The women are clothed in white cloth made from
pitcairn's island. 281
the paper mulberry, the dress extending- irom the
shoulders to the feet, in double folds, and so loose
as entirely to conceal the shape of the person. The
mothers, while nursing, carry the infant within iheir
dress; as the child advances in growth it sits across
tlie hip of the parent with its little hands clinging- to
the shoulder, while the mother's arm passing round
it keeps it in safety. The men and boys, except on
Sunday, Avhen they appear in English dresses, gene-
rally wear only the mara, or Vv-aist-cloth, which, pass-
ing over the hips and between the legs, is knotted he-
hmd ; the climate is in fact too hot for cumbersome
clothing-. The women, when working, use only a
petticoat, with a jacket.
The men are stated to be from five feet eight
inches to six feet high, of great muscular strength
and excellent figures. " We did not see," says Cap-
tain Waldegrave, " one cripple or defective person,
except one boy, wliom, in the most good-humoured
way, and laughing heartily, they brought to me,
observing, ' You ought to be brothers, you have
each lost the right eye.' I acknowledged the con-
nexion, and no doubt for the future he will-be called
the Captain."
Captain Beechey has given a more detailed ac-
count of the physical qualities of the Pitcairn
islanders. He says they are tall, robust, and healthy ;
their average height five feet ten inches ; the tallest
man measured six feet and one qudrter of an inch,
and the shortest of the adults five feet nine inches
and one-eighth ; their hmbs well proportioned, round,
•and straight ; their feet turning a little iiiwards.
A boy of eight years measured four feet and one
inch ; another of nine years four feet three inches.
Their simple food and early habits of exercise give
them a muscular power and activity not often sur-
passed. It i» ijcorded on the island that George
Young and Edward Quintal have each carried at
one time a kedge anchor, two sledge hammers, and
282 pitcairn's island.
an armourer's anvil, weighing together upwards of
six hundred pounds ; and that Quintal once carried
a boat twenty-eight feet in length. In the water
they are almost as much at home as on land, and
can remain almost a whole day in the sea. They
frequently swim round their little island, the circuit
of whicli is at the least seven miles ; and the women
are nearly as expert swimmers as the men.
The female descendants of the Otaheite women
are almost as muscular as the males, and taller than
the generality of the sex. Polly Young, who is not
the tallest on the island, measured five feet nine
inches and a half. The features of both men and
women are regular and well formed ; eyes bright
and generally hazel, though in a few instances blue ;
the eyebrows thin and rarely meeting ; the nose a
little flattened, and being rather extended at the
nostrils, partakes of the Otaheitan character, as do
the lips, which are broad and strongly sulcated ;
their ears moderately large, and the lobes are in-
variably united with the cheek ; they are generally
perforated when young, for the reception of flowers,
a very common custom among the natives of the
South Sea islands ; hair black, sometimes curling,
sometimes straight ; teeth regular and white. On
the whole they are a well-looking people.
Captain Beechey says, the women have all learned
the art of midwifery ; that parturition generally
takes place during the night-time ; that the duration
of labour is seldom longer than five hours, and has
not yet in any case proved fatal ; but there.is no in-
stance of tv/ins, nor of a single miscarriage, except
from accident. Infants are generally bathed three
times a day in cold water, and are sometimes not
weaned for three or four years ; but when that does
take place, they are fed upon * popoe," made of ripe
plantains and boiled taro-root rubbed into a paste.
Mr. Collie, the surgeon of the Blossom, remarks
that nothing is more extraordinary in the history
pitcairn's island. 283
of the island than the uniform good health of the
children ; the teething is easily got over, they have
no bowel complaints, and are exempt from those con-
tagious diseases which affect children in large com-
munities. He offered to vaccinate the children as
well as all the grown persons ; but they deemed the
risk of infection of small-pox to be too small to
render that operation necessary.
As a proof how very much simple diet and con-
stant exercise tend to the healthful state of the body,
the skin of these people, though in such robust
health, compared with that of the Europeans, always
felt cold, and their pulses ahvays considerably lower.
The doctor examined several of them ; in the fore-
noon he foiKid George YoungV only sixty; three
others, in the afternoon, after cimner, were sixty-
eight, seventy-two, and seventy-six, while those of
the officers who stood the heat of the chmate best
were above eighty.
It is impossible not to feel a deep interest in the
welfare of this little society, and at the same time
an apprehension that something may happen to dis-
turb that harmony and dest*-oy that simplicity of
manners which have hitherto characterized it. It
is to be feared, indeed, that the seeds of discord are
already sown. It appears from Captain Walde-
grave's statement, that no less than three English-
men have found their way into this happy society.
One of them, John Buffet, mentioned by Beechey,
is a harmless man, and, as it has been stated, of
great use to the islanders in his capacity of clergy-
man and schoolmaster ; he is also a clever and use-
ful mechanic, as a shipwright and joiner, and is
much beloved by the community. Two others have
since been left on the island, one of them, by name
John Evans, son of a coachmaker in the employ.
of Long of 8t. Martin's Lane, who has married a
daughter of John Adams, through whom he possesses
and cultivates a certain portion of land ; the third is
•^84 pitcairn's island.
Georg-e Hunn Nobbs, who calls himself registrar,
schoolmaster, &c., thus infringing on the privi-
leges of John Buffet; and being a person of supe-
rior talents, and of exceeding great impudence,
has deprived Buffet of a great number of his schol-
ars ; and hence a sufficient cause exists of division
and dissension among the members of the little so-
ciety, which were never known before. Buffet and
Evans support themselves by their industry, but this
Nobbs not only claims exemption from labour in
virtue of his office, but also as being entitled to a
maintenance at the expense of the community. He
has married a daughter of Charles, and granddaughter
to the late Fletcher Christian, whose descendants,
as captain of the gang, might be induced to claim
superiority, and which, probably, might be allowed
by general consent, had they but possessed a mode-
rate share of talent; but it is stated that Thursday
October and Charles Christian, the sons of the chief
mutineer, are ignorant, uneducated men. The only
chance for the continuance of peace is the general
dislike in which this Nobbs is held, and the gradual
intellectual improvement of the rising generation.
It seems that Adams on his death-bed called all
the heads of families together, and urged them to
appoint a chief; — this, however, they have not done,
which makes it the more to be appiehended that
Nobbs, by his superior talent or cunning, will force
himself upon them into that situation. Captain
Waldegi-ave thinks, however, that Edward Quintal,
who possesses the best understanding of any on the
island, will in time arrive at that honour ; his only
book is the Bible, but it is quite astonishing, he ob-
ser^ es, what a fund of knowledge he has derived
from it. His wife, too, is stated to be a woman of
excellent understanding; and their eldest boy, Wil-
liam, has been so carefully educated, that he excels
jfreatly all the others. The descendants of Young
pitcairn's island. 285
are also said to be persons generally of promising
abilities.
How the patriarch Adams contrived to instil into
the minds of these people the true principles of re-
ligion and morahty is quite surprising. He was able
to read, but only learned to write in his latter days :
and having accomphshed this point, he made a
scheme of Jaws by which he succeeded to govern
his little community in the way we have seen. The
celebration of marriage and baptism were strictly
observed according to the rites of the Church of
England, but he never ventured on confirmation and
the sacrament of the Lord's Supper. He taught the
children the church catechism, the ten command-
ments, the Lord's Prayer, and the creed, and he
satisfied himself that in these were comprised all t-lre