Revised Jun 12 2021
His Majesty's Sloop Challenger, at Sea, 30th May, 1833.
(From Captain Fremantle, R.N.)
At Otaheite, I understood that all the Pitcairn islanders had returned to their island, having been assisted by the missionaries and Europeans on the island to freight* an American vessel to convey them, they being very discontented and unhappy, and a sickness having become prevalent amongst them, which had carried off twelve of their number.
* It may be remarked, by the way, that many of the copper bolts of the Bounty, which had been brought to Otaheite from Pitcairn's Island by the islanders, were taken by the master of the vessel as part payment for their freight, I believe to the amount of two hundred dollars.
Having, therefore, as far as lay in my power, settled all the complaints which came before me, and tried to impress upon the authorities of Otaheite the necessity of preventing the recurrence of the piracies which have recently taken place among the islands to windward, I proceeded to Pitcairn's Island, off which I arrived after a passage of twelve days. The ship was immediately visited by most of the men of the island, who came out in their canoes to invite the officers on shore; they were all well-dressed, and in every respect had the appearance of Englishmen. I was sorry, however, to find that they were not improved by their visit to Otaheite, but on the contrary, as I had reason to think, were much altered for the worse, having, since their return, indulged in intemperance to a great degree, distilling a spirit from the tee root, which grows in great quantities on the island. I interrogated the most intelligent of the men respecting their return to the island, and they unanimously agreed that they had never been happy or contented since they quitted it, and that nothing would have induced them to do so, excepting the fear of displeasing the British government, which they thought they might have done, had they not profited by the means offered to remove themselves. Now, however, being re-established there, they would ever remain; they had nothing to complain of respecting their treatment at Otaheite, but disliked the characters of the people, and were alarmed at the sickness which prevailed among themselves, and which altogether carried off seventeen, five having died since their return. I found on the island a Mr. Joshua Hill, a gentleman nearly seventy years of age, who appears to have come from England expressly to establish himself amongst these people as a kind of pastor and monitor. He had not been on the island more than two or three months, and was offiiating as schoolmaster, having quite succeeded in supplanting the Englishman who had acted previously in that situation. He informed me that on his arrival he had found the island in the greatest state of irregularity. He landed on a Sunday, but found most of the islanders intoxicated, and the Englishman "Nobbs," who acted as their pastor, in such a state, from the effects of drunkenness, as to be incapable of performing his duties; he had consequently taken them upon himself, wishing to render as much service as possible to the islanders. And though it appeared to me at first so extraordinary a circumstance, that a gentleman of Mr. Hill's age, and apparent respectability, should come from England for the express purpose of residing on Pitcairn's Island, that I thought he must be some adventurer, more likely to do harm than good in the cause he had undertaken, yet, from the papers which he showed me, and which proved that he had been in communication with the Admiralty, the Colonial Office, Captain Beechey, and many respectable gentlemen, offering his services in the first instance to remove the people from the island when it was first proposed, I was induced to think he must be interested about them. And as he had succeeded in restoring them to some kind of order, by putting a stop to the intemperance which existed, had broken up all their stills, and had formed them into a "Temperance Society," I gave him all the assistance in my power to support him in this situation; the other Englishman, who had clearly proved himself by his conduct to be unfit for it, I recommended to quit the island, which he promised to do.
The number of people in the island at present is seventy-nine, and there appears to be an abundance of vegetables of every description. They are not themselves either under any alarm respecting a want of water, saying, that as their numbers increase they must dig more reservoirs and wells. With respect to food, I am satisfied the island is capable of supporting nearly a thousand persons; the soil is particularly good, and most part of it being yet uncultivated, there is little fear of scarcity. On their return from Otaheite they found the island overrun with wild hogs, by which their plantations were destroyed, and they had only just succeeded in hunting these down; but even in their present state they were able to supply the Challenger with a large quantity of yams, potatoes, sweet potatoes, plantains, fowls, with a few pigs; and nothing could exceed the kindness of the people in offering everything they had which they thought would be acceptable.
It is impossible for any person to visit this island without being pleased with a people generally so amiable, though springing from so guilty a stock, and brought up in so extraordinary a manner. And although I have no hesitation in saying, that they have lost much of that simplicity of character which has been observed in them by former visiters, they are still a well-disposed, well-behaved, kind, hospitable people, and, if well-advised and instructed, would be led to anthing; but I fear, if much left to themselves, and visited by many ships, which now is not an uncommon occurence, that they will lose what simplicity they have left, and will partake of the character of their neighbours the Otaheitans. I found even now that it was a most difficult matter to obtain the truth on any point which told at all to their prejudice; and it was only by cross-questioning them that I could arrive at it. The present generation of children is the finest I ever saw; and out of the whole number, seventy-nine, there are fifty-three under twenty years of age, who appears to have been well-instructed, many of them being capable of reading, and nearly on a par with children of the same age in England, It certainly is desirable that this system of instruction should be kept up, and that a clergyman should be sent to them, who would e most acceptable. The Englishmen who have been on the island have on the contrary done much harm, particularly Buffett, who, although a married man, has seduced one of the young girls, by whom he has two children.
I enclose a list of the articles of which these people are most in want; and fromth kindness that has hitherto been shown them by his Majesty's government, it may be hoped that they may be induced to supply them. Some of these articles they require very much. The Challenger took some few things from Sydney for them, but the allowance was so scanty that very little benefit will be felt from it. I remained off the island two days, the ship being under way the whole time, there being no anchorage, and the landing partcularly hazardous, so that it is very rarely that a ship's boat ought to attempt it: the natives themselves, however, are very clever with their canoes, and will land in almost any weather. Having given them all the assistance and advice in my power, and aranged their little disputes to the best of my ability, I left this little colony, much preposessed in their favour by every thing I had seen; and sincerly trusting that they may continue to live in that state of innocence and contentment which they enoyed previous to their departure from Otaheite,—which it is to be hoped, that they may, if they do not return to the use of that spirit which they have so well learned the art of distilling. I obtained a specimen of it; it is ot unlike whisky, and very good.