Pitcairn's Island  Notes  Source  Whalesite

Leave Valparaiso. — Narrowly Escape Shipwreck. — Pitcairn's Island, — Mistakes relative to Oneo Island. — Reach Tahiti. — French Proceedings. — Dethronement of Pomare. — Revisit Borabora. — Go to Maupiti for King Tapoa. — Shyness of Natives. — Explanation. — A Hurricane. — Sentiments of the Natives as regards the French. — A Letter from Queen Pomare's Husband to Tapoa and his Family. — Preservation of a Boat's Crew. — Huaru. — Effects of the Hurricane at Raiatea. — Return to Tahiti. — Departure of the Dublin Frigate. — Mr. Pritchard not recognised as British Consul. — A threatened rising of the Natives, induces the Queen to write a Letter to her People. — Conduct of Two aged Chiefs. — Pomare seeks Refuge on board the Ketch of War Basilisk. — The Queen prohibited from returning to the Shore. — Again get under weigh for Valparaiso. — Island of Tituroa.. — Off Ana, — New Laws introduced there. — A Native Trial. — Discover a Lagoon Island, which proves to be the veritable

Hereheretue. — An Episode respecting it. — That blessed Rapa once more. — Extravagant Notions on the Value of Pearls. — Three Natives join the Vessel to go to the Main. — Ludicrous Transition of Feeling.

      I was too much occupied with business matters to find time for pleasure excursions this trip to Valparaiso, and on October 18th, being again ready for sea, we made a start; but just as we had got clear of the shipping, and I had " gone below," to change my dress, a flaw of wind from the abrupt headlands caught the mainsail aback, when they were in the act of jibbing, which carried away the mainboorn : this compelled us to bring to, and we were obliged to order a new boom, which I did on the instant; and by the afternoon of October 20th) order being restored, we got underweigh with a strong southerly breeze, and stood on our course for Tahiti.

      On getting into the latitude of 24° 30 S., which we did October 25th, we met with our old enemy, the inflexible east wind, now converted into our best friend, which carried us nearly due west to within six or seven degrees of longitude from Pitcairn's island. Baffling winds and heavy rains then thwarted us for three days, so that we had no opportunity of procuring observations during that period; but by

the course steered, we conjectured we were well to the southward, and considerably to the eastward, of two small islands, laid down on the chart as being east-north-east from Pitcairn's Island.

      November 15th. — In the middle night watch, between three and four A.M., on the captain's sending a man up to furl the royal, he shouted out "Land ahead!" The ship was instantly put about, and only in time to save us from running on to a dangerously low coral island. The weather was dark and hazy, we could see no distance from the deck, and the first land we contemplated seeing was Pitcairn's Island, which is high and bold. A curious circumstance is connected with our escape from this low island. About an hour previous to the royal's being furled, the captain ordered it to be clued up, and sent a man aloft to furl it; but changing his mind, called him down again, as he was ascending the topmast rigging: if this had not been the case, from the security in which we were reposing, in all probability we should have been lost, as the island was barely perceptible at the time it was observed, and an hour earlier it would have been utterly undistinguishable. At daylight we had a proper view of it, and congratulated ourselves on our fortunate escape. It presented the appearance of a low level ridge of dead coral, covered with a dense dwarf scrub, differing little in colour from that of the ocean. We conjectured it to be Elizabeth Island; and as the wind would not allow us to lay much better than west for the next few hours, we ought to have seen Henderson's Island, laid down in the same parallel of lati-

tude; but not having done so, we assumed them to be one and the same island, seen by different navigators, and the position given according to the respective times shown by their chronometers; and our surmise subsequently proved correct.

      Just before sundown, Pitcairn's Island was seen in the distance, and at dawn on November 16th, we were abreast of the settlement formed by the descendants of the mutineers of the Bounty. Three canoes put off to us, bearing six of the islanders; the canoes were each dubbed out of a single piece of wood, and were so small and fragile, that I could not but admire the temerity of those who would venture to sea in them. To show how light and small they were, on a rope being made fast to them, " one hand " easily hoisted them inboard; they were more like children's toys than things for men to venture life in. The island shoots perpendicularly from the water, and rises to the height of 1000 feet, or rather more on the loftiest ridges. The weather being favourable, I had a boat lowered and went ashore, at the landing place opposite the village on the north side of the island. We had no difficulty in landing, but in boisterous weather it would be impracticable. On the north-west side there is anchorage on a sandy bottom; and as the wind throughout the year prevails nearly always from the eastward, a vessel might let go her anchor in safety, as the residents tell us the wind is never known to shift so suddenly as not to give timely warning for recovering the anchor, and placing the ship out of danger.

      One of the highest points on the island is called " Look-out Ridge, " and its altitude was ascertained by Captain Beechy, of H. M. S. Blossom, to be 1000 feet above the level of the sea. It derived the name from its being used as a " look-out " station by the mutineers, and where they erected a hut for the party on watch, who was to give instant notice of the appearance of any sail. Such was their dread of being detected. In the early stage of their residence two vessels touched at the island, and after having landed a boat's crew upon it, passed on their way without entertaining a suspicion that it was inhabited. A sailor's jack-knife was subsequently picked up at the foot of a cocoa-nut tree a speaking memento of the just grounds the fugitives had for alarm. From this ridge, which I ascended, we had an entire bird's-eye view of the island; and the circumference of its area, on the summit, was considered to be about four miles. Every available patch is under cultivation; the soil is rich and fertile, and seen from our elevated position, it bore the appearance of one large garden. Five only of the mutineers have transmitted their names to their posterity, viz. Christian, Young, Quintall, M'Coy, and Adams. There are at present 116 of their descendants, and nearly an equal number of each sex, including the offspring of three Englishmen, who have been residing on the island from sixteen to twenty years, and who formed matrimonial connections there. The Tahitian dialect is nearly, if not entirely forgotten, there being but one or two who pretend to know any thing about it. The present generation speak

much better English than the common run of ordinarily educated people in England. Their phraseology is peculiarly scriptural, probably from the Bible being the principal work from which they were instructed in the written language; their pronunciation is more deliberate than ours, and there is something peculiar in the intonation of their voices. They are several shades lighter in colour than the Tahitians, and bear generally a closer resemblance to their male progenitors. Some of the young women are of exceedingly interesting appearance, finely and firmly formed; and with their short upper tunics and bare arms, and from the mode in which they dress their hair, they strongly reminded me of the classic figures of the ancients. Both sexes go with bare legs and feet, and they equally participate in the labour of cultivating the earth.

      I entertained the idea that all on the island looked upon one another as the children of one family, and shared property in common. This used to be the case formerly, I was told; but since the visits of ships have become more frequent, and the population has increased so largely, every one labours for himself to secure the necessaries which his own immediate family may require. To prevent disputes, the arable part of the island was divided into sections, and equitably allotted upon agrarian principles. Now each family is guided, in its cultivation, by its wants; and according to their industry, so are they enabled to supply themselves with articles of European manufacture, by bartering surplus produce to whale ships and others touching at the island

for refreshments. Yams and sweet potatoes are the principle articles they have for barter, which they dispose of at the rate of two dollars per barrel, receiving payment either in cash or goods. They can all read and write; and a Mr. Nobbs, one of the beforeinentioned Englishmen, who settled amongst them many years ago, officiates as missionary teacher and schoolmaster; and as such, is exempt from the labour of the field. He married a descendant of Christian's, and represents himself as having formerly served as a lieutenant under Lord Cochrane, who did the Chilian state some service. He has seven or eight children; and I found him intelligent and communicative, and from him I derived most of the particulars I learnt respecting the island. He took me to visit Adams's grave, who died fifteen or sixteen years ago; the last survivor of the mutineers, and the only one of them besides Young who died a natural death. The latter died from an asthmatical complaint some years previously; the rest either fell by their own hands, or in mutual conflict, or were treacherously murdered. The present generation know but little of bygone events, as in all probability their fathers did not wish a knowledge of them to be preserved, and the women abducted from Tahiti could not explain them. From what few particulars have reached the present day, it would appear that remorse, despair, and recrimination, led to scenes of bloodshed; and not one of the mutineers, in his own person, had to rejoice in the success of his violation of his country's laws. One

of the Tahltian women is still in existence; but she was in a distant part of the island and I did not see her. Their houses, of which, from the scarcity of material, there are only five or six on the island, are built principally from the wreck of the Bounty, and stand with their gable ends due east and west; their interiors being fitted up something like a ship's 'tween-decks, with bunks, or fixed sleeping-berths, running round the sides of the room.

      They have a church, Mr. Nobbs being minister; and Sunday is particularly venerated by them. To settle disputes, or any differences that may arise, they annually elect a magistrate, who, upon any disturbance, convenes the heads of families to hear the arguments of the disputants, and is guided by the majority of voices in forming his decision, which is final. They have now got ducks, fowls, pigs, and goats upon the island; but as they have only been introduced of late, by ships touching there, they are not in abundance at present. Independent of the yam and sweet potato, they have the Irish potato, cabbage, onion, and other vegetables; and bananas, plantains, pine-apples, melons, cocoa-nuts, and other tropical fruits; but the islanders begin to complain that population increases too rapidly for the size of the island. They were all carried to Tahiti some few years ago, where they received a friendly welcome, and land was assigned them for their support; but after a short residence, they chartered a vessel to reconvey them to Pitcairn's Island; for, although they liked Tahiti well enough, they were

disgusted at the sensual abandonment of the people, and the lax tone of morality that generally prevailed.

      I was informed by Buffitt, another of the Englishmen married on Pitcairn's Island, and who has been living there for the last twenty years, that north-west by north by compass, and distant seventy-two miles from Pitcairn's Island, there is a dangerous sandy reef, about a mile in circumference, known as Oneo Island. No less than three different positions are assigned to it on our chart, under three different names. The error arose from Captain Bond of the Martha having seen it, and, unconscious that it had been previously discovered, having called it Martha Island; and, I suppose to make assurance double sure, the recipient of the information, on his own responsibility, interpolated another island, and christened it Bond's Island. Some of the Pitcairn Islanders visited it in company with Buffitt; and the latter, who has been a sailor, and second mate on board a merchantman, assures me that there is but the one reef, and that it is nearly a wash, and unworthy of the name of an island.* In like manner, some of the Pitcairn Islanders, aware of the near vicinity of Elizabeth Island, and fearing lest at some future period they should be compelled to seek other land for the support of their increasing numbers, induced a whaling vessel to convey them to it, that they might examine its capabilities. To use their'own expression, "It is useless, being entirely covered with broken coral." Two of them were

engaged in the survey from sunrise till sunset, and came away quite satisfied of its barren untenantable nature; they also confirmed the notion I had already formed, that there was but the one island. Captain Henderson made it shortly after it had been seen by the captain of the Elizabeth, and inserting it in his chart, agreeably to the time shown by his watch, bestowed upon it his own patronym; hence the mistake. And doubtless, from a similar cause, many islands have found existence on the charts that have no existence in reality, particularly in the whaling tracks of the Pacific; the captains of American whalers generally trusting more to "look-outs" than to their accurate knowledge of navigation, a handful of miles, more or less, being of no particular moment to them. Evidences of the existence of an earlier and more primitive race of beings on Pitcairn's Island are frequently turning up, independent of the rude monuments which yet remain in the morais or burial-places. Skeletons are sometimes dug up by the present occupiers of the soil, and rude implements of labour, such as stone axes, spear- heads, &c. Judging from the bones, the former race of inhabitants must have been a large-sized people; but as no human being was found alive on the arrival of the mutineers, nothing but conjecture is left to determine their history.

      November 18th. Passed Gambier's Islands; and having corrected our chronometer by Pitcairn's Island, we found it to correspond exactly with the position asigned to them by Captain Beechy, who also surveyed Pitcairn's Island.

Nineteenth century librarians attributed Rovings to Edward Lucatt. Edward Lucett is the preferred attribution now.

"Nov. 15th [1843]            Schooner Sagaz from Valparaiso sailed 20th October. Reports the death of Captain Ebriel and the burning of his vessel at the "Isle of Pines" with the distruction of all hands, by the Natives. The Cause of this Act had not transpired — Robert Griggs. Master Sagaz. Edward Lucett, Supercargo."

      A supercargo is a representative of the ship's owner on board a merchant ship, responsible for overseeing the cargo and its sale.

In the first volume of Lucett's Rovings in the Pacific the author expresses with some vigor his dislike for Herman Melville — naming him as the person most responsible for an assault on his person while being held in a Tahiti jail. Jessica Ewing, and other Melville scholars, have been interested in determining whether Lucett's account is in fact what happened in the fall of 1841. See Ewing's "Melville in Tahiti: A GIS Approach."

Lucett's comments on Melville, written at the time Melville was preparing Moby Dick for publication, follow:

Edward Lucett.
      Rovings in the Pacific from 1837 to 1849; with a glance at California / By A Merchant.
Vol. II
London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, 1851.
pp.1-10

Pitcairn's Island  Notes  Source  Whalesite