Pitcairn's Island  Source  Whalesite

THE

NAUTICAL MAGAZINE

AND

NAVAL CHRONICLE.

JANUARY 1857.

      In the Nautical of April last is an account of a visit to that interesting little group of people, the Pitcairn Islanders, the object of which was one of great importance to their future welfare, and will form, with its results, an important epoch in their history. The anticipated period when their numbers would be so much increased as to render the island no longer capable of supplying their wants had arrived;

its narrow and circumscribed limits did not afford sufficient space for the increasing families, and inconvenience ensued which it was foreseen could only be remedied by some important measure. That measure was the removal of the whole community to another island, and the visit to which we have alluded was that of H.M.S. Juno, Commodore Freemantle, whose object was to offer the islanders the occupation of Norfolk Island in exchange for their beloved Pitcairn – hallowed to them as their home, the scene of their earliest recollections, endeared to them from their infancy, and beyond these the dark – shall we say dreadful – events connected with the history of their forefathers. The general feeling at the announcement of this provision for them by H.M. Government was one of regret. Some few indeed, it appeared, entertained hopes of staying, but the loss of the society of their friends when the time of departure arrived it was considered would overcome their reluctance to leave their native soil, and this appears by the number arrived to have been the case.

      The most favourable season was asked for to effect the removal, and all that was stipulated for by them was the same seclusion they had thus far enjoyed – the separation from the rest of the world unhappily so essential to prevent that contamination with vice from which these pure-minded and excellent Christians shrink with horror. In the land of their fathers their's were paths of virtue, pure and unmingled with vice in any form. All that they desired, since they must leave it, was to be shielded from that vice to which, from the approachable nature of the island they would not be secure; – all that they desired, in fact, was to be permitted to remain uncontaminated by the world. We have no doubt that the proper measures, both as respects the Government as well as themselves, will be taken to secure this, and that they will hereafter form a bright speck, reflecting the beams of Christian virtues, in an ocean which is studded with dark spots where mankind yet gropes about as a cannibal in the ignorance of heathenism and the most abject superstition.

      The intelligence of the removal of the Pitcairn people to Norfolk Island appears in the following extract from the Tasmanian Colonial Times of July 28th, besides having been reported to the Admiralty by Captain Denham, of the Herald. The account says: —

      The Morayshire, ship, has been employed in removing the Pitcairn islanders to their new abode, Norfolk Island. She left Sydney on the 23rd February, and touching at Norfolk Island, landed a quantity of bread, maize, beef, tea, sugar, and other stores, sufficient to maintain the islanders during the first twelve months after their arrival, and whilst they are getting in the crops for the next year's supply. Thence she proceeded to Pitcairn Island, where she arrived on the 22nd April, and, after considerable difficulty, succeeded in taking on board all the inhabitants, with their goods and chattels, in fact everything moveable, not forgetting the gun saved from the ever-memorable Bounty.^*

      The vessel left Pitcairn Island on the 3rd May, with 198 souls, viz., 96 males and 102 females, the greater proportion being children. In the first six days half the voyage was accomplished – twenty-nine being occupied in completing the other part, owing to the boisterous weather encountered, the passengers suffering much from sea-sickness. Norfolk Island was reached on the 7th June, and the people disembarked on the day after in excellent health, to which the endless exertion of the Rev. W. Nobbs, their Priest and Surgeon tended not a little. One birth occurred on the passage, a boy, who was christened, and named, after the Governor-General of New South Wales, "William Denison."

      The officers left in charge of Norfolk Island, and five prisoners, having embarked in the vessel, she left for this port (Hobart Town) on the 26th June, leaving the new arrivals well, happy, and quite pleased with their new home. Boisterous weather prevailed during the stay of the Morayshire at Norfolk Island, during which H.M.S. Herald, which was lying there, lost two anchors and a cable. The Juno was there also, having called in on her way down to the islands. The crews of both vessels rendered material assistance in putting the new inhabitants in the way of working, &c.

      About three weeks before the Pitcairn people arrived at Norfolk Island, the Southern Cross, with the Bishop of New Zealand, called in for the purpose of greeting them. There are about 2,000 sheep, 450 head of cattle, and 20 horses, left for the new comers, with every requisite for the cultivation of the soil and for their comfort. The gun which belonged to the Bounty will be shipped in the Herald and taken home.

      What possible interest this gun will excite in England is not apparent. Surely such a relic should ever remain to the descendants of the Bounty, rather than come here to be pointed at as the monument of tyranny and its dreadful consequences.

"The Pitcairn Islanders – Removal to Norfolk."
      The Nautical Magazine and Naval Chronicle: A Journal of Papers on Subjects Connected with Maritime Affairs.
Vol. 26 (Jan 1857).
pp.39-41

Pitcairn's Island  Source  Whalesite