Revised Jun 19 2021
The late Lieut. James Lowry's Visit to Pitcairn’s Island, 1839, in H. M. S. Sparrowhawk.
“You may recollect that Pitcairn’s Island was the one that Christian ran the Bounty on, after the mutiny, and then destroyed her; and that nothing was heard of them till 1814, when Sir T. Staines visited it by chance in theBritain, and his surprise was, as you may suppose, great, when be found it inhabited by people speaking English, and still greater, when he found from whence the stock sprung. At the time of his visit there were forty-five on the island, mostly children. There remained then but one of the mutineers alive, by the name of Adams (alias Smith), and from his exemplary manner in bringing his little flock up so religiously, he was not removed; the rest (with the exception of Young, the midshipman, who died on the island, and one who committed suicide) had been murdered by the men that they brought from Otaheite, who themselves were murdered by the women, to revenge the loss of the English, to whom they were very much attached. At the time of our visit, they had increased to 102 (51 males and 51 females), a great part of them children, and as fine a race as ever I saw. Some of the girls and young women were very pretty, and would be considered beauties in Old England, and all were good-looking. There was but one ever born on the island with any defect in his person, and that was only in his eye.
“The island is a beautiful little spot, and I doubt if there is any in the world of the size to equal it in scenery or fertility. It is not quite one square mile in extent, and was supposed capable of maintaining 1000 inhabitants. When first taken possession of, it was divided into seven equal parts, the number of English at that time on the island It has since been subdivided, as the families have increased; still, there is plenty, and for some generations to come, as but a small part is cultivated, and a great part of the produce they supply to whalers, in exchange for cloths or any necessary articles they want—money there being of no value. They have plenty of fowls, pigs, and goats, as well as fruits and vegetables, and their yams are the finest I ever saw; we got a plentiful supply from them in exchange for articles that we took them. It is a good thing for them that there is no anchorage, as they stand less chance of being corrupted by communication with the crews of the whale ships—the only ones that ever touch there, except the yearly man-of-war.
“We remained four days longer than any ship of war ever stayed before, and much pleased we were with them. You could not, in fact, be otherwise, as I doubt if, in the same number, you would find so few exceptions to good moral behaviour. They all came down to receive us on landing, and conducted us to their houses—all anxious for us to go with them; and they had provided their best. There were six or seven in the first party, so we were divided pretty well all over the island Before all meals they offer up thanks, and they nearly put us to the blush—if a blush was to be found amongst us—when they first dined on board, as some did daily, by asking us, after waiting some time, if we never said grace; and on our replying but seldom, they asked permission to do so before they would begin.
“There is not such another happy little community in the world. On their first rising, they assemble and sing the Morning Hymn; and, before retiring, they again assemble and sing the Evening Hymn. A few trifling quarrels they had, which the captain settled to their satisfaction. They have also made a small code of laws, and one of their punishments is flogging with a cat-o’-nine tails for theft; only once had they occasion to use it. There are but two staying on the island that were not born there, and they are Englishmen, and they now will not admit any more. These two have resided there a long time, and have families. One of them acts as schoolmaster and parson; in return, the rest of the males cultivate his land We all visited the school, and were much pleased with their progress; the seniors could write and read, and understand arithmetic. All now on the island can read, which they could not do formerly for want of books, as they had for many years but one Bible amongst them.
“I was not on shore on Sunday; but, from the accounts of those that were, it must have been a very gratifying sight. All attend; no manner of work is done, not even meals cooked, that being provided on Saturdays. They did not forget, in their prayers, our little Queen, and all people in England The service was of the Church of England Their marriages take place early—generally the girls at fourteen or fifteen, and the men under twenty. One of the girls at the school, who was only fifteen, had been married for upwards of twelve months, and has one child. There has been only one old maid on the island, and she is now nearly fifty, and is as cross and crabbed as any old maid need be; she rails against the early marriages most heartily.
“Their manner of living is so simple, that they have few diseases, and deaths rarely visit them except from old age. There are thirteen families, who live in comfortable houses, constructed of wood. One end is partitioned off for the bedroom of the father and mother of the flock, with bed places along one side of the wall, facing the door of the other apartment. They are not very clean in their houses, but that could be easily remedied if they had any lady to put them in the way of cleanly habits. They have neither fleas, bugs, lice, or any poisonous reptile whatever on the island
“The admiral and his wife sent them a present of carpenters’ tools, needles, thread, and some cottons for gowns, and there were some books sent from England; and I am sure, if it was known in Old England what an interesting little community they are, their wants would be well supplied by every opportunity.
“The women and girls dress in a loose sort of dressing-gown, not confined at the waist, and coming up close to the neck. Neither sex wear shoes, although the females have pretty little feet of their own; and the present generation have good hair. The first families were curly, but it has gradually become the same as Europeans’.
“When they have no visitors, they have meat but twice a-week, plenty of vegetables at all times, and they only drink water and cocoa-nut milk. They have plenty of goats; but never milk them, letting them run wild to breed. Some years ago, they managed to distil a spirit which made them all drunk; when, after a short time, they felt it hurt the constitution, they made a law that no more should be made, since which time drunkenness has not been known on the island. “They have no springs, but have plenty of water from the rain, having now several reservoirs. About eight or nine years ago, they were greatly in want of it, partly by cleaning them, as they would not hold water for two or three years after, they having removed the sluice, &c., that kept it in. They then applied to Government for a vessel to remove them, when they sent the Comet to take them to Otaheite. After a stay there for a short time, they were so disgusted with their lewd manner of living, that they got the consul to send them back again; and it has done them this good, that they will not again be anxious to leave their happy little spot; and they themselves seem quite aware that they are far better off and happier than the generality of mankind.
"The island was inhabited at some former period, as stone adzes, idols, and several other things that savages are in the habit of using, have been found there. Little is now left of the Bounty, as every one that touches there tries to get a part of her. I got a small piece of wood, which I have made into a box, and a part of her keel. Little more have I to say of this interesting spot. On our leaving, all followed us to the beach to see us off, with many kind wishes for our health, and a happy return to our friends in England Such was our parting from, I think, the most interesting little spot in the world.”