account cannot be given in any words so well as those of the Rev. W. H. Holman, their pastor, teacher, and medical friend, in Mr. Nobbs's absence.

The Virago had left Callao for Pitcairn on an errand of kindness. Some of her officers and crew had visited the island, and were about to sail, on their return, when Mr. Holman wrote:

"January 29, 1853.

"Captain Prevost had wished all goodby, and gone on board the Virago, to start for Tahiti, when there occurred one of the most awful accidents that have ever taken place on the island. The magistrate, Matthew McCoy, and two others, went to load an old gun that had been in the Bounty, to salute the Virago on her departure. It appears that the rammer he used was an old rafter, on the top of which was a nail. While in the act of ramming home the powder, the friction caused by the nail effected the explosion of the powder. Matthew was blown away, several yards from the gun, and his arm

knocked to pieces. The two others were severely wounded, together with an awful shock to all of them. I was at my house at the time, having just dined, and ran, down, thinking it was the Virago's gun fired, as a farewell. Of course I found out what it was; and, by the time I got them conveyed to the nearest house, the surgeons of the steamer arrived.

"After two or three hours, Matthew's arm was amputated, and the doctor said, if he recovered from the shock he would do very well; but I am sorry to say that, after lingering eight hours in great agony, though sensible, he died. He was not only one of the best men on the island, but, I am happy to say, one of the best prepared for death. The other two, though severely hurt, are going on favourably, and, I trust, will recover."

This mournful news had not reached Mr. Nobbs when he quitted Valparaiso; nor, in all probability, was he made acquainted with the sad intelligence until his arrival at Pitcairn. In this case, the event must have given a tinge of sorrow to a

meeting which was anticipated with so much joy. However, man proposeth but God disposeth: and of this the disciplined minds of the islanders are well aware.

Matthew McCoy was a grandson of William McCoy, the mutineer, and was about thirty-five years of age. He was married to Margaret Christian, a sister of Mrs. Nobbs, and had a large family.

CONCLUSION.

Our

READER! Our narrative is ended. story has been told. But do not, we entreat you, turn from it and throw this little book aside without extracting from it profitable thoughts. It is not for your amusement only that we have laid before you these thrilling facts, and we would not have you go from their perusal unbenefited. The butterfly flits from flower to flower, but it draws from them no honey. Not so the bee: within the fair blossom she finds sweet food for herself and others. So would we have you enter within this story of crime, of retribution, and of happiness, and gather from it things profitable to yourself and to your fellow-creatures. Suffer us to call your attention briefly to a few of the lessons suggested by the history of the mutineers of the Bounty and their descendants.

We may first notice the evils of an unchecked temper. How much misery and how much crime might have been saved, had the commander of the Bounty controlled his angry passions. "Be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry, for anger resteth in the bosom of fools," and "a fool's wrath is presently known," says the wise man: and so was it with Captain Bligh. "He that is slow to wrath is of great understanding;" but he was not slow to wrath, and his folly and sin in his anger bore bitter fruit both to himself and to others. There is every reason to believe that had he controlled his angry passions, and refrained from the irritating abuse of his officers and men, the voyage of the Bounty would have come to a happy end. Many seek to excuse themselves for outbursts of anger by saying that they are not hypocrites-that they say no worse of a man behind his back than they do to his face-that it is better to speak out your mind than to cherish a grudge, &c. But, be assured, God will not accept of these vain excuses. God commands us to be slow to wrath,