sunk the remains in twenty-five fathoms water. event took place January 23d, 1790./ This It appears that the demeanor of Christian became more changed after his arrival at Pitcairn than even after the mutiny. He seemed uneasy, and would spend whole days in a cave situated on a high ridge of almost inaccessible rocks at the farthest extremity of the island. Here he placed a stock of water and provisions, and here possibly intended to make his retreat in the event of discovery, to await his pursuers, and to defend his life to the last. But it is more probable that he frequently retired to this secluded spot to indulge in sad and bitter reflections. As he looked across that wide expanse of ocean which the height of his position commanded, a sail appearing could be to him no welcome sight. In the wide world there was no being to whom he could give a friendly greeting, or of whom he could inquire for tidings of home and of distant friends. Like Cain, he was an outcast amid the great wilderness of water; but, while we pity his misfortunes, it is impossible either to forget or to excuse his acts. But changed, morose, and moody as he may have been, Alexander Smith (J. Adams) many years afterwards confirmed Morrison's account of Christian's conduct," that he never lost the respect of his companions," not even, it appears, in the seclusion of Pitcairn Island. For three years all went well with the fugitives, but that inherent propensity in the white man to treat colored people with oppression and cruelty manifested itself, and led eventually to deplorable consequences. An act of Williams's against all law of right and justice, in taking the wife of one of the Tahitians (his own wife having been killed by a fall from the cliffs), was the immediate cause of a plot to murder all the Englishmen. In vain did his companions remonstrate with him as to the injustice of his conduct; he threatened to leave the island if they interfered, and as he was the armorer and a skillful workman, they felt that his services were so indispensable that they could not afford to part with him. The plot, however, was discovered in time by the wives of the white men, who informed their husbands of it by means of a song, to which they added the words, "Why does black man sharpen axe ?" "To kill white man." This plot was soon succeeded by another, on which fatal occasion Christian was shot dead while cultivating his garden, and also four of the other Englishmen - the remaining four, including Smith and Young, narrowly escaping with their lives. Smith, indeed, was severely wounded in the neck, and as he rose up, was again felled to the ground by a club, but he succeeded in his endeavor to escape down the rocks to the sea. The Tahitian men, however, called to him that his life should be spared if he would return. He did so, and they kept their promise. Edward Young owed his preservation to the kindness of the women, who placed him in concealment until the fury of the Tahitian men should have subsided. Quintal and M'Koy had escaped to the mountains, and did not return until summoned by Smith and Young when peace had been apparently restored among all parties. The Englishmen, thus reduced in numbers, could henceforth feel little security of exemption from such murderous attacks, and, from motives of self-defense, came to the terrible determination of destroying all the Tahitian men. One of them was killed by the wife of Edward Young, who dealt the deadly blow with an axe, and, that the last survivor might not escape, she made a sign to her husband to fire at him, which he did with fatal precision. The other Tahitian women were so horror-stricken and grieved at the execution of this design, and at the various deeds of violence they had witnessed, that although they were treated with additional kindness by the surviving Englishmen, the greater number of them formed a plan to leave the island in one of the Bounty's boats. Fortunately for them the boat was leaky, and their intention thus frustrated. Their next wild project was to massacre the Englishmen, who discovered the plot, but did not take severe measures to punish these poor demented creatures. After this, for a brief period, the islanders seemed to be more settled, but again evil principles prevailed, and the consequences were violent and sanguinary. M'Koy and Quintal, the most ignorant and depraved of the party, fell into habits of intoxication. M'Koy, who in early life had been employed in a distillery in Scotland, made some experiments with the Ti-root (Dracana terminalis), by turning an iron kettle into a still, and unfortunately succeeded in extracting from the root an ardent spirit. From the time of this discovery, they were both in a continual state of inebriety. M'Koy threw himself from the rocks in a fit of delirium tremens, and was killed, while Quintal became a morose and even alarming companion to his two surviving countrymen. There were no limits to his exactions, and he was constantly threatening to take their lives should they not comply with his demands. He thus became so dangerous, that Smith and Young were compelled to destroy him to preserve their own lives; and thus terminated the last scene of this tragic drama at Pitcairn. These two men were now the sole survivors of the nine Englishmen (and of all the colored men) who, nine years previously, had sought concealment and safety in the island. Happily, their minds had not been irremediably seared by crime. They desired to change the tenor of their evil lives, and to turn to those paths of virtue which lead to tranquillity and peace. A Bible and Prayer-book, which Christian had constantly studied, but which had not been used since his death, were diligently sought for. The observance of daily morning and evening prayer was established, as well as a system of regular instruction for the children and young people, Smith zealously assisting Young, and improving his own slender acquirements by associating with a man of superior education. Edward Young, however, did not long survive this improved state of mind and feeling. An asthmatic complaint, with which he had been afflicted for several years, proved fatal to him at the age of thirty-six, and consequently, in the early part of the year 1800, Alexander Smith (John Adams) found himself the sole surviving man on the island; and the only guardian and teacher of a community of helpless women and young children.* "Where are they now, the infuriated band Whose outraged feelings urged them on to crime? What need I tell their hapless leader's fate (Slain by the hand of one he deemed his slave), Save to the rash, I would this fact relate Nor stone, nor marble, marks his unknown grave.”† but a brighter prospect was to dawn on the future condition of the island-one which would consign to the fading memories of the past the recollection of those dark deeds which had sullied the early annals of this little colony. *So desirous was Adams to act according to the ordinances of the Old Testament, as well as those prescribed by the New Testament, and by the Liturgy of the Church of England, that he at first taught the observance of all the Jewish fasts and festivals, but was afterwards persuaded to discontinue them, as unnecessary under the Christian dispensation. †The above lines on the death of Fletcher Christian and his followers are from the pen of a friend, and pastor of the Pitcairn colony, whose valuable services will be prominent in the future pages of this volume. CHAPTER II. Discovery of the Retreat of the Mutineers.-Visits of Captain Folger and others.-Arrival of John Buffett.-John Evans.-G. H. Nobbs.-Death of John Adams. TWENTY years had elapsed before the mystery which had hung over the fate of the Bounty and the mutineers became gradually revealed. The first gleam of light on this subject appeared in the log-book of Mayhew Folger, the master of an American ship, named the Topaz, and dated September, 1808.* The Topaz was short of water, and approaching a rocky island laid down in her chart as lat. 25° 4' south, long. 130° 25' west, the attention of the master was attracted by seeing smoke rising from it, besides other signs of habitation. The shore, on which a tremendous surf was breaking, appeared inaccessible, but a canoe was presently to be seen approaching from it, and soon, to the great astonishment of all on board, they were hailed by the occupants in good English, with offers of assistance if any of her people desired to land. The captain declined doing so, but one of the sailors, an Englishman, volunteered to go in the canoe, provided the ship stood in sufficiently near to the land, that he might swim back to her in case of being attacked. This adventure was followed by another strange discovery. The first person by whom he was accosted on land * Forwarded to the Admiralty by Sir Sydney Smith, on the authority of Lieutenant Fitzmaurice, then at Valparaiso. |