Revised Jun 12 2021
[Quite by accident I discovered that this page was missing not only from the site, but from my computer. Not quite sure how that happened, but I am in the process of rebuilding the page... And before I could do that, my computer died and I am still trying to recover the data.]
Having detailed the particulars of the mutiny in the Bounty, and the fate of the most notorious of the ringleaders, and having brought the history of Pitcairn Island down to the present period, I shall return to the party who had assembled on board the ship to greet us on our arrival.
The Blossom was so different, or, to use the expression of our visitors, "so rich," compared with the other ships they had seen,* that they were constantly afraid of giving offence or committing some injury, and would not even move without first asking permission. This diffidence gave us full occupation for some time, as our restless visitors, anxious to see every thing, seldom directed their attention long to any particular object, or remained in one position or place. Having no latches to their doors, they were ignorant of the manner of opening ours; and we were consequently attacked on all sides with "Please may I sit down or get up, or go out of the cabin?" or, "Please to open or shut the door." Their applications were, however, made with such good nature and simplicity that it was impossible not to feel the greatest pleasure in paying attention to them. They ver soon learnt the christian name of every officer in the ship, which they always used in conversation instead of the surname, and wherever a similarity to their own occurred, they attached themselves to that person as a matter of course.
* It was so long since the vist of the Briton and Tagus, that they hads forgotten their appearance.
It was many hours after they came on board before the ship could get near the island, during which time they so ingratiated themselves with us that we felt the greatest desire to visit their houses; and rather than pass another night at sea we put off in the boats, though at a considerable distance from the land, and accompanied them to the shore. We followed our guides past a rugged point surmounted by tall spiral rocks, known to the islanders as St. Paul's rocks, into a spacious iron-bound bay, where the Bounty found her last anchorage. In this bay, which is bounded by lofty cliffs almost inaccessible, it was proposed to land. Thickly branched evergreens skirt the base of these hills, and in summer afford a welcome retreat from the rays of an almost vertical sun. In the distance are seen several high pointed rocks which the pious highlanders have named after the most zealous of the Apostles, and ouside of them is a square basaltic islet. Formidable breakers fringe the coast, and seem to present an insurmountable barrier to all access.
We her brought our boats to an anchor, in consequence of the passage between the sunken rocks being much too intricate, and we trusted ourselves to the natives, who landed us, two at a time, in their whale-boat. The difficulty of landing was more than repaid by the friendly reception we met with on the beach from Hannah Young, a very interesting young woman, the daughter of Adams. In her eagerness to greet her father, she had outrun her female companions, for whose delay she thought it necesary in the first place to apologize, by saying they had all been over the hill in company with John Buffett, to look at the ship, and were not yet returned. It appeared that John Buffett, who was a sea-faring man, ascertained that the ship was a man-of-war, and without knowing exactly why, became so alarmed for the safety of Adams that he either could not or would not answer any of the interrogations which were put to him. This mysterious silence set all the party in tears, as they feared he had discovered something adverse to their patriarch. At length his obduracy yielded to their entreaties; but before he explained the cause of his conduct, the boats were seen to put off from the ship, and Hannah immediately hurried to the beach to kiss the old man's cheek, which she did with a fervency demonstrative of the warmest affection. Her apology for her companions was rendered unnecessary by their appearance on the steep and circuitous path down the mountain, who, as they arrived on the beach, successively welcomed us to their island, with a simplicity and sincerity which left no doubt of the truth of the professions.
They almost all wore the cloth of the island: their dress consisted of a petticoat, and a mantle loosely thrown over the shoulders, and reaching to the ancles. Their stature was rather above the common height; and their limbs, from being accustomed to work and climb the hills, had acquired unusual muscularity; but their features and manners were perfectly feminine. Their complexion, though fairer than that of the men, was of a dark gipsy hue, but its deep colour was less conspicuous, by being contrasted with dark glossy hair, which hung down over their shoulders in long waving tresses, nicely oiled: in front it was tastefully turned back from the forehead and temples, and was retained in that position by a chaplet of smallred or white aromatic blossoms, new gathered from the flower-tree (morinda citrifolia), or from the tobacco plant; their countenances were lively and good natured, their eyes dark and animated, and each possessed an enviable row of teeth. Such was the agreeable impression of their first appearance, which was heightened by the wish expressed simultaneously by the whole groupe, that we were come to stay several days with them. As the sun was going down, we signified our desire to get to the village and to pitch the observatory before dark, and this was no sooner made known, than every instrument and article found a carrier.
We took the only pathway which leads from the landing-place to the village, and soon experienced the difficulties of the ascent, which the distant appearance of the ground led us to anticipate. To the natives, however, there appeared to be no obstacles: women as well as men bore their burthens over the most difficult parts without inconvenience; while we, obliged at times to have recourse to tufts of shrubs or grass for assistance, experienced serious delay, being also incommoded by the heat of the weather, and by swarms of house-flies which infest the island, and are said to have been imported there by H.M.S. Briton.
As soon as we had gained the first level, our party rested on some large stones that lay half buried in long grass on one side of a ravine, from which the blue sky was nearly concealed by the overlapping branches of palm-trees. Here, through the medium of our female guides, who, furnished with the spreading leaves of the tee-plant, drove away our troublesome persecutors, we obtained a respite from their attacks.
Having refreshed ourselves, we resumed our journey over a more easy path; and after crossing two valleys, shaded by cocoa-nut trees, we arrived at the village. It consisted of five houses, built upon a cleared piece of ground sloping to the sea, and commanding a distant view of the horizon, through a break in an extensive wood of palms. While the men assisted to pitch our tent, the women employed themselves in preparing our dinner, or more properly supper, as it was eight o'clock at night.
The manner of cooking in Pitcairn's Island is similar to that of Otaheite, which, as some of my readers may not recollect, I shall briefly describe. An oven is made in the ground, sufficiently large to contain a good-sized pig, and is lined throughout with stones nearly equal in size, which have been previously made as hot as possible. These are covered with some broad leaves, generally of the tee-plant, and on them is placed the meat. If it be a pig, its inside is lined with heated stones, as well as the oven; such vegetables as are to be cooked are then placed round the animal: the whole is carefully covered with leaves of the tee, and buried beneath a heap of earth, straw, or rushes and boughs, which, by a little use, becomes matted into one mass. In about an hour and a quarter the animal is sufficiently cooked, and is certainly more thoroughly done that it would be by a fire.
By the time the tent was up and the instruments secured, we were summoned to a meal cooked in this manner, than which a less sumptious fare would have satisfied appetites rendered keen by long abstinence and a tiresome journey. Our party divided themselves that they might not crowd one house in particular: Adams did not entertain; but at Christian's house I found a table spread with plates, knives, and forks; which in so remote a part of the world, was an unexpected sight. They were, it is true, far from uniform; but by one article being appropriated for another, we all found something to put our portion upon; and but few of the natives were obliged to substitute their fingers for articles which are indispensable to the comfort of a more polished life. The smoking pig, by a skilful dissection, was soon portioned to every guest, but no one ventured to put its excellent qualities to the test until a lengthened Amen, pronounced by all the party, had succeeded an emphatic grace delivered by the village parson. "Turn to," was then the signal for attack, and as it is convenient that all the party should finish their meal about the same time, in order that one grace might serve for all, each made the most of his time. In Pitcairn's Island it is not deemed proper to touch even a bit of bread without a grace before and after it, and a person is accused of inconsistency if he leaves off and begins again. So strict is their observance of this form, that we do not know of any instancce in which it has been forgotten. On one occasion I had engaged Adams in conversation, and he incautiously took the first mouthful without having said his grace; but before he had swallowed it, he recollected himself, and feeling as if he had committed a crime, immediately put away what he had in his mouth, and commenced his prayer.
Welcome cheer, hospitality, and good humour, were the characteristics of the feast; and never was their beneficial influence mor practically exemplified than on this occasion, by the demolition of nearly all that was placed before us. With the exception of some wine we had brought with us, water was the only beverage. This was placed in a large jug at one end of the board, and when necessary, was passed round the table—a ceremony at which, in Pitcairn's Island in particular, it is desirable to be the first partaker, as the gravy of the dish is invariably mingled with the contents of the pitcher: the natives, who prefer using their fingers to forks, being quite indifferent whether they hold the vessel by the handle or the spout. Three or four torches made with doodoe nuts (aleurites triloba), strung upon the fibres of a palm-leaf, were stuck in tin pots at the end of the table, and formed an excellent substitute for candles, except that they gave a considerable heat, and cracked, and fired, somewhat to the discomfiture of the person whose face was near them.
Notwithstanding these deficiencies, we made a very comfortable and hearty supper, heard many little anecdotes of the place, and derived much amusement from the singularity of the inquiries of our hosts. One regret only intruded itself upon the general conviviality, which we did not fail to mention, namely, that there was so wide a distinction between the sexes. This was the remains of a custom very common among the South Sea Islands, which in some places is carried to such an extent, that it imposes death upon the woman who shall eat in the presence of her husband; and though the distinction between man and wife is not here carried to that extent, it is till sufficiently observed to exclude all the women from table, if there happens to ber a deficiency of seats. In Pitcairn's Island, they have settled ideas of right and wrong, to which they obstinately adhere; and, fortunately, they have imbibed them generally from the best source.
In the instance in question, they have, however, certainly erred; but ot this they could not be persuaded, nor did they, I believe, thank us for our interference. Their argument was, that man was made first, and ought, consequently, on all occasions, to be served first—a conclusion which deprived us of the company of the women at table, during the whole of our stay at the island. Far from considering themselves neglected, they very good-naturedly chatted with us behind our seats, and flapped away the flies, and by a gentle tap, accidentally or playfully delivered, reminded us occasionally of the honour that was done us. The conclusion of our meal was the signal for the women and children to prepare their own, to whom we resigned our seats, and strolled out to enjoy the freshness of the night. It was late by the time the women had finished, and we were not sorry when we were shown to the beds prepared for us. The mattress was composed of palm-trees, covered with native cloth; the sheets were of the same material; and we knew by the crackling of them, that they were quite new from the loom or beater. The whole arrangement was extremely comfortable, and highly inviting to repose, which the freshness of the apartment, rendered cool by a free circulation of air through its sides, enabled us to enjoy without any annoyance from heat or insects. One interruption only disturbed our first sleep; it was the pleasing melody of the evening hymn, which, after the lights were put out, was chaunted by the whole family in the middle of the room. In the morning also we were awoke by their morning hymn and family devotion. As we were much tired, and the sun's rays had not yet found their way through the broad opening of the apartment, we composed ourselves to rest again; and on awaking found that all the natives were gone to their several occupations,—the men to offer what assistance they could to our boats in landing, carrying burthens for the seamen, or to gather what fruits were in season. Some of the women had taken our linen to wash; those whose turn it was to cook for the day were preparing the oven, the pig, and the yams; and we could hear, by the distant reiterated strokes of the beater,* that others were engaged in the manufacture of cloth. By our bedside had already been placed some ripe fruits; and our hats were crowned with chaplets of the fresh blossom of the nono, or flower-tree (morinda citrifolia), which the women had gathered in the freshness of the morning dew. On looking round the apartment, though it contained several beds, we found no partition, cutain, or screens; they had not yet been considered necessary. So far, indeed, from concealment being thought of when we were about to get up, the somen, anxious to show their attention, assembled to wish us a good morning, and to inquire in what way they could best contribute to our comforts, and to present us with some little gift, which the produce of the island afforded. Many persons would have felt awkward at rising and dressing before so many pretty black-eyed damsels assembled in the centre of a spacious room; but by a little habit we overcame this embarrassment; and found the benefit of their services in fetching water as we required it, and substituting clean linen for such as we pulled off.
* This is an instrument used for the manufacture of their cloth.
It must be remembered, that with these people, as with the other islanders of the South Seas, the custom has generally been to go naked, the maro with the men excepted, and with the women the petticoat, or kilt, with a loose covering over the bust, which, indeed, in Pitcairn's Island, they are always careful to conceal; consequenly, an exposur to that extent carried with it no feeling of indelicacy; or, I may safely add, that the Pitcairn Islanders would have been the last person to incur the charge.
We assembled at breakfast about noon, the usual eating hour of the natives, though they do not confine themselves to that period exactly, but take their meal whenever it is sufficiently cooked; and afterwards availed ourselves of their proffered services to show us the island, and under their guidance first inspected the village, and what lay in its immediate vicinity. In an adjoining house we found two young girls seated upon the ground, employed in the laborious exercise of beating our the bark of the cloth-tree, which they intended to present to us, on our departure, as a keepsake. The hamlet consisted of five cottages, built more substantially than neatly, upon a cleared patch of ground, sloping to the northward, from the high land of the interior to the cliffs which overhang the sea, of which the houses command a distant view in a northern direction. In the N. E. quarter, the horizon may also be sewen peeping between the stems of the lofty palms, whose graceful branches nod like ostrich plumes to the refreshing trade-wind. To the northward, and northwestward, thicker groves of palm-trees rise in an impenetrable wood, from two ravines which traverse the hills in various directions to their summit. Above the one, to the westward, a lofty mountain rears its head, and towards the sea terminates in a fearful precipice filled with caverns, in which the different sea-fowl find an undisturbed retreat, Immediately round the village are the small enclosures for fattening pigs, goats, and poultry; and beyond them, the cultivated grounds producing the banana, plantain, melon, yam, taro, sweet potatoes, appai, tee, and cloth plant, with other useful roots fruits, and shrubs, which extend far up the mountain and to the southward; but in this particular direction they are excluded from the view by an immense banyan tree, two hundred paces in circumference, whose foilage and branches form of themselves a canopy impervious to the ray of the sun. Every cottage has its out-house for making cloth, its baking-place, its sty, and its poultry-house.
Within the enclosure of palm-trees is the cemetery where the few person who had died on the island, together with those who met with violent deaths, are deposited. Besides the houses above-mentioned, there are three or four others built upon the plantations beyond the palm groves. One of these, situated higher up the hill than the village, belonged to Adams, who had retired from the bustle of the hamlet to a more quiet and sequestered spot, to enjoy the advantages of an elevated situation, so desirable in warm countries; and in addition to these again there are four other cottages to the eastward which belong to the Youngs and Quintals.
All these cottages are strongly built of wood in an oblong form, ant thatched with the leaves of the palm-tree bent round the stem of the same branch, and laced horizontally to rafters, so placed as to give a proper pitch to the roof. The greater part have an upper story, which is appropriated to sleeping, and contain four beds built in the angles of the room, each sufficiently large for three or four persons to lie on. They are made of wood of the cloth-tree, and are raised eighteen inches above the floor; a mattress of palm-leaves is laid upon the planks, and above it three sheets of the cloth-plant, which form an excellent substitute for linen. The lower room generally contains one or more beds, but is always used as their eating-room, and has a broad table in one part, with several stools placed round it. The floor is elevated above a foot from the ground, and, as well as the sides of the house, is made of stout plank, and not of bamboo, as stated by Captain Folger; indeed they have not a piece of bamboo on the island; nor have they any mats. The floor is a fixture, but the sideboards are let into a groove in the supporters, and can be removed at pleasure, according to the state of the weather, and the whole side may, if required, be laid open. The lower room communicates with the upper by a stout ladder in the centre, and leads up through a trap-door into the bedroom.
From the village several pathways (for roads there are none) diverge, and generally lead into the valleys, which afford a less difficult ascent to the upper part of the island than the natural slope of the hills; still they are very rugged and steep, and in the rainy season so slippery that it is almost impossible for any person, excepting the natives, to traverse them with safety. We selected one which led over the mountain to the landing-place, on the opposite side of the island, and visited the several plantations upon the higher grounds, which extend towards the mountain with a gentle slope. Here the mutineers originally built their summer-houses, for the purpose of enjoying the breeze and overlooking the yam grounds, which are more productive than those lower down. Near these plantations are the remains of some ancient morais; and a spot is pointed out as the place where Christian was first buried. By a circuitous and, to us, difficult path, we reached the ridge of the mountain, the height o which is 1109 feet above the sea; this is the highest part of the islan. The ridge extends in a north and south direction, and unites two small peaks: it is so narrow as to be in many parts scarcely three feet wide, and forms a dangerous pass between two fearful precipices. The natives were so accustomed to climb these crags that they unconcernedly skipped from point to point like the hunters of chamois; and young Christian actually jumped upon the very peak of a cliff, which was so small as to be scarcely sufficient for his feet to rest upon, and from which any other person would have shuddered even to look doown upon the beach, lying many hundred feet at its base. At the northerrn extremity of this ridge is a cave of some interest, as being the intended retreat of Christian, in the event of a landing being effected by any ship sent in pursuit of him, and where he resolved to sell his life as dearly as he could. In this recess he always kept a store of provisions, and near it erected a small hut, well concealed by trees, which served the purpose of a watchhouse. So difficult was the approach to this cave, that even if the party were successful in crossing the ridge, as long as his ammunition lasted, he might have bid defiance to any force. An unfrequented and dangerous path leads fromm this place to a peak which commands a view of the western and southern coasts: at this height, on a clear day, a perfect map of the bottom is exhibited by the different coloured waters. On all points the island is terminated by cliffs, or rocky projections, off which lie scattered numerous fragments of rock, rising like so many black pnnnacles amid the surf, which on all sides rolls in upon the shore.
We descended by a less abrupt slope than that by which we advanced, and took our way through yam grounds to a ravine which brought us to the village. The path leading down this ravine is, in many places, so precipitious, that we were constantly in danger of slipping and rolling into the depths below, which the assistance of the natives alone prevented.
While we were thus borrowing help from others, and grasping every tuft of grass and bough that offered its friendly support, we were overtaken by a groupe of chubby little children, trudging unconcernedly on, munching a water melon, and balancing on their heads calabashes of water, which they had brought from the opposite side of the island. They smiled at our helplessness as they passed, and we felt their innocent reproof; but we were still unpractised in such feats, while they, from being trained to them, had acquired a footing and a firmness which habit alone can produce.
It was dark when we reached the houses, but we found by a whoop which echoed through the woods, that we were not the last from home. This whoop, peculiar to the place, is so shrill, that it may be heard half over the island, and the ear of the natives is so ick, that they will catch it when we could distinguish nothing of the kind. By the tone in which it is delivered, they also know the wants of the person, and who it is. These shrill sounds, which we had just heard, informed us, and those who were at the village, that a party had lost their way in the woods. A blazing beacon was immediately made, which, together with a few more whoops to direct the party, so brought the absentees home. Their perfection in these signals will be manifest from the following anecdote: I was one day crossing the mountain which intersects the island, with Christian; wwe had not long parted with their whale-boat on the western side of the island, and were descending a ravine amidst a thicket of trees, when he turned round and said, "The whale-boat is come round to Bounty Bay at which I was not a little surprised, as I had heard nothing, and we could not see through the wood; but he heard the signal; and when we got down it proved to be the case.
In this little retreat there is not much variety, and the description of one day's occupation serves equally for its successor. The dance is a recreation very rarely indulged in; but as we particularly requested it, they would not refuse to gratify us. A large room in Quintal's house was prepared for the occasion, and the company were ranged on one side of the apartment, glowing beneath a blazing string of doodoe nuts; the musicians were on the other, under the direction of Arthur Quintal. He was seated upon the ground, as head musician, and had before him a large gourd, and a piece of musical wood (poron), which he balanced nicely upon his toes, that there might be the less interruption to its vibrations. He struck the instrument alternately with two sticks, and was accompanied by Dolly, who performed very skilfully with both hands upon a gourd, which had a longitudinal hole cut in one end of it; rapidly beating the orifice with the palms of her hands, and releasing it again with uncommon dexterity, so as to produce a tattoo, but in perfect time with the other instrument. A third performed upon the Bounty's old copper fish-kettle, which formed a sort of bass. To this exhilarating music, three grown-up females stood up to dance, but with a reluctance which showed it was done only to oblige us, as they consider such performances an inroad upon their usual innocent pastimes. The figure consisted of such parts of the Otaheitan dance as were thought most decorous, and was little more than a shuffling of the feet, sliding past each other, and snapping their fingers; but even this produced, at times, considerable laughter from the female spectators, perhaps from some association of ridiculous ideas, which we as strangers, did not feel; and no doubt had our opinion of the performance been consulted, it would have essentially differed from theirs. They did not long continue these diversions, from an idean that it was too great a levity to be continued long; and only the three before-mentioned ladies could be prevailed upon to exhibit their skill.