PITCAIRN'S ISLAND.

Lyttelton Times, Volume II, Issue 91, 2 October 1852, Page 6

PITCAIRN'S ISLAND.

[Continued from our last.]

Pitcairn's Island is about one mile and a half in length, and four and a half in circumference. Its true position, given incorrectly in some of the charts, is Latitude 25-04 S., Longitude 130-08 W. It rises abruptly out of the water; the highest ridge point, called the " look-out ridge by the Bounty-men, is 1008 feet above the level of the sea. It is iron bound, with the exception of one landing place, on the north side, near the east end, marked hy a grove of cocoanut trees, and a few boat houses, but not easy for a stranger to find. There are no shoals, or any dangers but such as can be seen ; an easterly current prevails, varying however with the time of tide. There is good anchorage about a quarter ot three-quarters of a mile from the shore, south of the N.W. end, in from 10 to 20 fathom, for about 7 months in the year, from the beginning of September to the end of March, during which time easterly winds—not the trades, which have been lost for the last fifteen years—are prevalent. High water, with a rise of eight feet, three hours after the rising of the moon.

The island itself is as picturesque as broken ground and luxuriant vegetation can make it; but running water is wanted—"The Dimpled Brook and Fountain Brim"—to give variety to the scene. Even for domestic uses the islanders are obliged to use rain water, which they bring down in Calabashes from holes sunk in the hill side. The tanks cut in the rock at the west end of the island are for the supply of shipping, and unavailable to the settlement.

The island is of volcanic formation ; scoria are scattered about, but not in such quantity as to interfere with cultivation. Coral, imbedded in basalt, has been found, but I was unable to procure a specimen. The soil is of a deep red, apparently decomposed lava, and very rich.

The Flora is limited, although there is considerable variety of ferns. Nearly all the plants convertible to the use of man have been brought here, either by the Aborigines, of whom more anon, or by the Bounty-men from Tahiti. The cocoa-nut, the banana, the plaintain, the pawpaw apple, the bread fruit, the orange and the lime, thrive well in sheltered situations. The candle nut was formerly used after its name, yields a tolerable paint oil, and is buried with plaintains, to ripen. them. The Kumera blooms, which it does not in New Zealand; yams, taro, and potatoes do well. For the latter a change of seed is needed. The sugarcane is not very strong, and is little grown, on account of the damage it receives from the indigenous rats, which are the great pest of the place. There is a rude sugar mill on the island, by which they press molasses for their own use ; but never more in one year than would render 500 or 600 weight of sugar. Tobacco grows luxuriantly, but whether it be that the climate is not suitable for curing, or that the process is not well understood by the islanders, they mostly purchase what they require from American whalers.

The only indigenous quadrupeds are the rat, and the lizard. There is one species of land bird, a kind of fly catcher ; of sea birds, two varieties of the skiff, and the man-of-war hawk. Fish, which used to abound upon the coast, a great resource to the Islanders, is now becoming scarce, or shy ; they say the latter, although it must be supposed that few of those which are taken return to their native element to tell tales of the 'frying-pan and kettle. The red snapper, and what is here called a cod, for which they fish in from 100 to 200 fathoms, are the most common. A large hair seal, supposed a.t first by the discoverer to be a ghost, was once captured on the west side of the island.

The domestic animals are goats, the females being suffered to run wild among the rocks, away from the plantations, while the greater number of the males are caught, and kept up until fit to kill: pigs, of which they cannot afford to breed many, on account of the quantity of food consumed by them—a consideration of importance where they are obliged to be fed on the produce of cultivated ground: four head of cattle; a few wether sheep; tame rabbits, of which they may in time to come regret the introduction ; dogs, apparently useless, and certainly very currish in appearance ; cats, which have run wild in the bush, and are forbidden by law to be destroyed, under penalty of fifty dollars, or of corporal punishment if"the offenders be under ten years of age, although they probably (ievour njore fowls than rats; muscovy

ducks, and fowls, a very indifferent breed, much too strong on the wing for the safety of the plaintains.

I should say that the greater portion of the available land in the island has been subjected to use, in one way or another, although in looking down from the peak a comparatively small proportion appears to be under actual cultivation. But it must be remembered that the cocoa tree groves, the fruit of which are considered as an article of prime necessity, cover much space, and that timber trees are carefully economised, being only cut when wanted for use. Were the inhabitants to clear, in the American sense of the word, they would soon be left without even a supply of firewood for cooking. A certain quantity of bush land is likewise required to shelter the cultivated land ; were the island to be denuded, it would become bleak, and comparatively barren. It must be remembered that the vegetable productions on which they chiefly depend are indigenous to a somewhat warmer climate. The climate is temperate, and very pleasant, the thermometer ranging from 58 to So "Far. ; nevertheless more than the average share of sickness prevails upon the island, in the form of dysentery, fever, and especially of influenza, which commits great ravages from time to time. I cannot bring myself to consider Pitcairn's island an unhealthy spot; although I have not been able to trace the prevalence of sickness up to any other cause than climate. It is possible, indeed, that the close consanguinity of the inhabitants—the breeding in and in, may have induced a certain delicacy of constitution, and that general similarity of temperament may dispose diseases to assume an epidemic form: for whatever creeps in, runs through the entire population. It is worthy of remark, that these attacks are mostly consequent upon the arrival of some vessel, without reference to the state of health on board. Some interesting observations on this curiou« subject, based on an extensive induction, will be found in Darwin's narrative of Captain Fitzroy's surveying expedition in the Beagle.

The island was formerly inhabited, though seemingly long prior to it's occupation by the Bounty men. Morai stones are found upon it not unfrequently displaced by the roots of trees; one indeed was discovered' in the air, firmly wedged among the branches : spear-heads and adzes of whin stone, much remesbling tnose in use among the New Zealanders, and stone balls about two pounds in weight, are continually turned up by the hoe ; stone images, supposed to have been objects of worship, and long since broken to pieces by the islanders as ido° latrous relics, the spots where they were carved being still marked by heaps of chips; human bones, hut in the last stage of decay—in one instance a perfect skeleton, the skull reposing on the shell of a pearl oyster, (a species no° belonging to the island), which is a funeral custom still practised on the Gambier Islands, and nearly all the Pumutu, or Low Islands. The peopling of this, and other out of the way islands, may be accounted for by a custom of which I have not seen mention made in print, still prevalent in the Gambier and oilier Low islands; the turning a vanquished party adrift upon a raft, the wind blowing off the land, to fetch where they might. Of this Mr. Nobbs mentioned two instances, one of which may be said to have come under his personal observation. In the year 1836, he accompanied Messrs. Ebriel and Cornish, masters of the Olivia and Olive branch to Crescent island, lying about 40 miles S. E. of the Gambiers, bound on a pearl shelling adventure. There, to their great surprise, they found about forty inhabitants, speaking the same language as the Gambier people, but of whose existence the natives of the latter islands were entirely unaware. They were informed that the original colonists, none of whom were now alive, had been rafted away by a conquering party, and after drifting for several clays, had been cast on the place where their descendants were now found. Mr.Ebrieltook a few of them back with him, and presented them to the Gambier islanders, who immediately called a general meeting, at which it was ascertained that the account given by the new-comers of themselves Avas quite correct. On the following day they hired the OJivia's launch, giving in payment four tons of Too (bread-fruit buried and left to ferment) for the use of Ebriel's divers; sailed for Crescent island, and in a few days returned, bringing with them the whole body of inhabitants. A great feast was held to celebrate their return,

at which some of the Crescents,came over-sud-denly to the full, and died of repletion. In the other instance mentioned by Mr. Nobbs, the vanquished party reached the island of Eapa, or Opara, about 700 miles S.S.E. of Tahiti. The last of the survivors died about six years ago.

The traditions about the Bounty are already assuming a legendary, or even mythic character. Old John Adams' journal is lost, carried away by the master of a Boston whaler, and although a few stray anecdotes remain, nothing like a connected account is now to be recovered. The island version, however, so far as it goes, is widely different from that put forth by Capt. Bligh. His assertion, that connexions formed with Tahitian women by his crew were the prime cause of the mutiny, is distinctly denied, the outbreak being attributed entirely to his own arrogant and overbearing behaviour. I heard many instances of it, but a single one will suffice. Some fruit, which had been sent on board for the Captain's cabin, had.bee.ii carelessly left for the night upon the quarter deck, from which it disappeared. Capt. Bligh rated Christian severely about the matter, finishing off with the following expression : " I suppose you have eaten it yourself, you hungry hound." Ex uno disce omnia. So much, for bringing in an officer from before the mast.

The crew rose in the Bounty, April 28,1789. After putting Captain Bligh into the boat, they steered for Tubuai, (an island 500 miles south of Tahiti), where they anchored May 25. There they intended to form a settlement, but in consequence of dissentions among themselves, abandoned it and proceeded to Tahiti. Thence they returned to Tubuai, and for similar reasons again proceeded a second time to Tahiti. There Christian put on shore 16, and with 8 others, took the ship away, keeping his own council as to the place of destination. They had all of course provided themselves with a wife apiece, and had likewise taken with them nine other Tahilians, six of them men, and three women, as servants. Carteret's description of Pitcairn's Island happening to be on board, led him to select that spot for his place of refuge, as one unlikely to be visited by a Queen's ship. The names of the nine Europeans who landed there are : —Fletcher Christian, acting lieutenant; Edward Young, midshipman ; -t- Brown, gardener ; John Mills, gunner's mate ; William. McCoy, Isaac.Mkrtin, John Williams, Matthew Quintal, John Adams alias Alexander Smith,, able seamen.

The Bounty was burned off the landing place, January 23, 1790. The after-history of the mutineers is a sad tale. Secure from retribution, as they now believed themselves to be, they were still followed by avenging Nemesis, which never slacked from her pursuit, until she had exacted full measure of atonement for the disloyal deed. As usual, they were themselves made the instruments of their own punishment. Freed from all control, but cut off by their very situation, from so many of the chances of wickedness which civilized life presents, their passions broke loose through the only channels that were left open to them—• broils among themselves, and ill usage of their native dependants, paving the way for the catastrophe that followed hard upon. The following account was taken down verbatim, even to the grammatical errors, from the recital of Arthur Quintal, the elder; who, with George Adams and five women, is the sole survivor of the first generation of half-castes. (To be continued.)