Revised Jun 19 2021
Jan. 1st. Arthur Quintal, jun., elected magistrate. William M’Coy and Thomas Buffett, councilors.
“ 19th. During the last week we have been employed in fishing up two of the Bounty's large guns. For fifty-five years they have been deposited at the bottom of the sea, on a bed of coral, guiltless of blood, during the time so many thousands of mankind became (in Europe) food for cannon. But on Saturday last one of these guns resumed its natural vocation—at least the innoxious portion of it—to wit, belching forth fire and smoke, and causing the island to reverberate with its bellowing; the other gun is condemned to silence, having been spiked by some one in the Bounty.
Feb. 15th. Ephraim Christian born.
March 13th. The fever has made its appearance amongst us; three of us have been attacked. It is of a bilious type.
“ 15th. The sick are better. No fresh cases.
" 19th. Eight fresh cases this day. Violent pain in the head, burning heat, and cramp in the arms and thighs, are what the afflicted complain of chiefly; to which is added, in some cases, a dull pain in the back.
“ 21st. Fourteen more are on the list, and several others complaining. The teacher, who is also doctor, is continually on the run. Vomits and jalap are the order of the day. There is not a house but what there are one or more sick in.
“ 22nd. The numbers of the sick are greatly on the increase. Those first attacked are getting better, but more than thirty are on the list. The teacher is also sick, and it is with great difficulty he can get from house to house.
“ 23rd. Some of those first attacked have had a relapse; others seem quite well in health, but complain of great weariness. Seven fresh cases this day. The vomits in the medicine chest nearly expended; more than sixty have been administered.
“ 24th. There is a ship in sight. A canoe has gone on board to ask for emetics. The canoe has returned with twelve doses of tartar emetic. The ship appearing was a providential circumstance. I will now say a few words about the salubrity of the island It is generally supposed to be a healthy spot; indeed appearances seem to indicate such a conclusion; but the reverse is found, from experience, to be a fact. Asthma, rheumatism, consumption, scrofula, and, last but not least, influenza, under various modifications, are prevalent. Five times, within the last four years, has the fever been rife amongst us, though it has not been so severe lately. This, I think, may be accounted for by the teacher (doctor) becoming more acquainted with the nature of the disease (thanks to Dr. Gunn, and also with the appropriate remedies. When the influenza appeared among us at first, it did not spread so rapidly as it has done at its subsequent reappearance, but the cough was more violent than it has been since. This I attribute to the teacher’s not giving them emetics as soon as the disease attacked them. Since then, emetics have been immediately given on the disease appearing, which prevents any considerable degree of cough. But there is one particular in the recent fever that differs from the previous one; viz., in the total absence of the cold fit at the commencement. I have seen some of the patients, when first attacked, tremble as violently, and apparently from the same causes, as ever I saw any one who had a fit of the ague. In the last sickness it was not thus: one person complained of cold, and he was only slightly affected. The first man attacked was a man of full habit of body, plethoric, and subject to fits. He had attended Divine service in the morning—it being the Sabbath. After evening service, I found him under the influence of raging fever; his eyes seemed ready to start from their sockets, and the heat of his skin caused a disagreeable sensation to those who touched him. He complained of violent pains in his head, back, and thighs, and said he felt as if living things were creeping between his flesh and skin. Fearing it might bring on one of the fits to which he was subject, the teacher bled him, and gave him a soporific, which had a good effect. The next day a dose of calomel and jalap was given, and two days after he was well, but very weak. I do not think the fever was infectious; but though, in the space of six days, not less than sixty out of one hundred and twenty-two were attacked, yet I attribute it solely to the peculiar state of the atmosphere. Whenever we have been visited by this epidemic, the circumstances, as respect the weather, have been invariably the same. A long drought, succeeded by two or three weeks of rain, and the wind setting in from the north-west—in fact, a north-west wind is always the forerunner of rheumatism, catarrh, and slight febrile affections. Bleeding is not to be recommended; vomits are the sovereign remedy, for certainly no community of persons secrete a greater quantity of bile than the inhabitants of this island.
" 31st. There is now but one person sick, and she is recovering. A few have a slight cough, which is wearing away. And now it behoves us to offer up our grateful thanksgiving to Almighty God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, to whom be glory, now and for ever, Amen.
April 16th. For several days past the weather has been cloudy, with occasional showers. Wind S.S.W.; it began to rain in good earnest. As the day declined, the wind increased. At sunset it blew a gale; all hands employed in securing the roofs of their houses, and making all snug before dark. A dirty night was anticipated, and our fears were realized. At ten o’clock the wind shifted four or five points to the westward, and the sheet lightning began to break the monotony of the lucid atmosphere. By midnight a perfect typhoon raged above and around us; the whole concave of the heavens was in a continued blaze, and the roar of the thunder, though not so very loud, with the exception of one burst, was incessant. From the position of the wind, which veered and hau1ed four or five points, the houses were a good deal sheltered from its violence, or they would most assuredly have been prostrated; therefore, the most of us, who passed a sleepless night, were, in mercy, permitted to remain quiet in our houses. Very frequently, through the night, loud crashes were heard, which we supposed were the trees in the higher parts of the island yielding to the fury of the storm. The noise did not proceed from the falling and crashing of trees, but from a cause of which we were at that time happily ignorant. At daylight a man, much alarmed, came to my house, saying a part of the island had given way, and was falling into the sea. From the door of my house I observed an imperfect view of the spot from which a portion of earth had been detached, and felt certain that it was an avalanche, occasioned by the wind acting upon the trees, and the torrents of rain which fell detaching the earth from the part above it. So great was the consternation and amazement of the natives, that, although they had seen the spot from which the earth had slipped every day of their lives, yet they could not so far collect their ideas as to remember the original appearance of the place, whose property it had been, nor the locality near it. As to the cause of the disruption various opinions prevailed. Some said it was occasioned by a water-spout; others, that a thunder bolt had fallen there; and a third party were anxiously inquiring if it were not probable the sea had perforated a hole from the underside, and washed it away. That they had considerable occasion for alarm cannot be disputed; and what may easily be referred to natural causes, and those not recondite either, would, to persons so inexperienced as our community, appear both mysterious and awful. I will endeavour to describe, in a few words, what presented itself to our view at daylight. Going out of our doors at daylight, we saw that a considerable portion of earth had been detached from the side of the hill, but to what extent we could not then ascertain. The place in question was situated at the head of a ravine, which debouched into the sea; the rain, mixing with the falling earth, which was of a clayish nature, brought it to the consistency of thick mud, but sufficiently liquidated to glide very slowly down the inclined plane of the valley. Nothing that came in contact with it could resist its force; the large trees at the head of the ravine, and immense pieces of rock, were borne slowly but unresistingly along, and about three hundred cocoa-nut trees were torn up by the roots, and carried into the sea. So tenacious was the heterogeneous stream, that some, being displaced from their original situation, remained in an upright position for some time, and when they fell, it was many yards from the spot from which they had come to maturity. A considerable portion of this aquatic lava (for indeed its appearance had a distant resemblance to the molten streams of an active volcano) had reached the sea before daylight, and when some of our people ventured to the edge of the precipice, they found, to their dismay, the boat-houses and boats left there had disappeared. Two families, whose houses were adjacent to the ravine, removed their house hold goods, fearing the foundation of their dwellings might become undermined, and bury them underneath; but, in a few hours, the stream ceased to flow, and confidence was in a measure restored. We had now time to turn our attention to other parts of the island At Bounty Bay a great quantity of earth had been washed away; a yam ground, containing 1000 yams, totally disappeared; several fishing-boats destroyed; the Bounty's guns washed to the edge of the surf; and large pieces of rock so encumbered the harbour, that if a ship should come, it is doubtful whether a passage could be found for her boat to pass through. In the interior, all the plantain patches were levelled, and about 4000 plantain trees destroyed—one half in full bearing, and the other half designed for the year 1846, so that this very valuable article of food we shall be without for a long time. The fact is, that from this date until August, we shall be pinched for food. But God tempers the wind to the shorn lamb; and we humbly trust that the late monitions of providence, viz., drought, sickness, and storm, which severally have been inflicted upon us this year, may be sanctified to us, and be the means of bringing us one and all into a close communion with our God. May we remember the rod, and he who appointed it! may we flee to the cross of Christ for safety and succour in every time of need, always bearing in mind our Heavenly Father doth not willingly afflict the children of men!
May 13th. Jemima Sarah Nobbs born.
June 26th. Nathan Christian born.
Sept. 4th. James R. M’Coy born.
Oct. 12th. John Buffett and Betsy Young married. Henry Christian born.
Nov. 28th. Gilbert W. F. Adams born.
Births this year, 7; deaths, 0; marriages, 2. Number of inhabitants: males, 65; females, 62. At present the island is in a healthy state. Twenty-two American, two French, and one Dutch vessel, have visited us this year. We are most anxious to see a ship. A rumour of war reached us two months ago, and we want to ascertain the truth of it. Hoping it may be an unfounded report, we humbly beseech the Almighty to watch over our fatherland; and whether enjoying peace or engaged in war, may it never succumb to insult nor advocate oppression! 51 children attend the school. The people are busily employed preparing timber for enlarging our church.