they proceeded to Tahiti. Those who wished to remain there left the ship, and the others stood out to sea in search of some unfrequented and uninhabited spot of the ocean, that might afford them subsistence and concealment. Proceeding in an easterly direction, they reached Pitcairn's Island, and could scarcely have desired a place more suited to their purpose. Here they run the Bounty on shore, removed the pigs, goats, and fowls to the land, and, having taken every thing on shore that they supposed would be useful, set fire to the vessel. The party consisted of twenty-seven persons, viz. ten Englishmen, six Tahitians, and eleven women;* or, according to another account, of nine Englishmen, and twelve women. In a sheltered and elevated part of the island they erected their dwellings, deposited in the earth the seeds and young plants which, they had brought from Tahiti, and commenced the cultivation of the yam, and other roots, for their subsistence. New troubles awaited them. The wife of Christian, the leader of the mutineers, died; and he is said to have seized by force the wife of one of the Tahitians. Revenge or jealousy prompted the Tahitian to take the life of Christian, who was shot while at work in his garden, about two years after his arrival. The English and the Tahitians seemed bent on each other's destruction. Six Englishmen were killed, and Adams, now the only survivor of the crew, was wounded: every Tahitian man was put to death. The history of the mutineers is truly tragical.-The children of these unhappy men have been trained up with the most indefatigable care and attention to morals and religion by John Adams, who, with his interesting family around him, remained undiscovered and unvisited *Narrative of Briton's Voyage.

for nearly twenty years; when Captain Mayhew Folger, in the American ship Topaz, of Boston, touched at their island; and, after maintaining a friendly intercourse with them for two days, prosecuted his voyage. No further information respecting them transpired until 1814, when Captain Sir T. Staines, in his majesty's ship Briton, on his passage from the Marquesas to Valparizo, unexpectedly came in sight of the island. Canoes were soon perceived coming off from the shore; and it is not easy to conceive the astonishment of the commander and his officers, when those on board hailed them in the English language. The surprise of the young men in the canoe, who were the sons of the mutineers, when they came on board an English man-of-war, was scarcely less than that of their visitors. The frankness with which they replied to the interrogatories of the captain, evinced the unsophisticated manner in which they had been brought up; and their account of their belief in the most important doctrines, and practice of the great duties of religion, reflected the highest honour on their venerable instructor. When they sat down to breakfast, without any hypocritical or formal show of devotion, but with a simplicity and earnestness that alone astonished and reproved those around them, they knelt down, and implored "permission to partake in peace of what was set before them;" and at the close of their repast, "resuming the same attitude, offered a fervent prayer of thanksgiving for the indulgence they had received." The captains of the Briton and Tagus went on shore, and were met on the brow of the hill by Adams's daughter, who, after the first emotions of surprise had subsided, led them to the "beautiful little

The

village, formed on an oblong square, with trees of various kinds irregularly interspersed. houses," Sir T. Staines adds, were small, but regular, convenient, and of unequalled cleanliness." After a very affecting interview with John Adams, (who appeared about sixty years of age,) and with his rising community, who with tears and entreaties begged them not to take their father from them, the captains returned to their ships, and sent to these interesting people such useful articles as they could spare. There were forty-eight persons on the island at this time. This small island is fertile, though water is not abundant. As soon as their circumstances became known, a liberal supply of agricultural implements, and tools, were sent from Calcutta. Bibles and prayer-books were also forwarded by the Directors of the London Missionary Society, They were gladly received by Adams, and gratefully acknowledged.

Since that time the number of inhabitants has considerably increased, and, at the present time, amounts to about eighty, including the seamen who have left their vessels, married females of the island, and have taken up their residence on shore. Apprehensive of the inadequacy of the productions of the island to supply their wants, especially in fuel and water, they intimated, four or five years ago, their wish to be taken to another country; and it appeared probable that they might remove to the Society Islands, or some extensive and fertile, but uninhabited island in the Pacific: this desire has, however, ceased, and, since the death of Adams, they have expressed their wishes to remain. I have been near their island more than once, and regret that I had not an opportunity of visiting them. The captain of the ship in which I returned

to England had been on shore twice; and his accounts, with those of others whom I have met with in the Pacific, were such as could not fail to excite a deep concern for their welfare.

Two degrees farther from the equator, and rather more than twenty degrees nearer the American continent, an island is situated, which has attracted considerable notice from most of the navigators who have prosecuted their discoveries in the Pacific. It was discovered by Roggewein, on Easter day 1722, and called

EASTER ISLAND.

This is a small hilly island, bearing evident marks of volcanic origin, or of having been subject to the action of subterraneous fire. The hills are conical, and were by Kotzebue supposed to resemble those of Hawaii. Nothing can be more contradictory than the descriptions different voyagers have given of the appearance of this island. Some, as in Roggewein's account, and that of La Perouse, representing it as rich and fertile; others, as Forster, describing it as parched and desolate. The population, which La Perouse estimated at about two thousand, is supposed by Kotzebue to have increased; by others they are said to have decreased, and not to exceed 1,200. The inhabitants are evidently part of the race which has spread itself extensively over the isles of the Pacific, and they evince that propensity to licentiousness and theft which mark the larger communities.

The most remarkable objects in Easter Island are its monuments of stone-work and sculpture, which, though rude and imperfect, are superior to any found among the more numerous and civilized tribes inhabiting the South Sea Islands. These monuments consist in a number of terraces or plat

forms, built with stones, cut and fixed with great exactness and skill, forming, though destitute of cement, a strong durable pile. On these terraces are fixed colossal figures or busts. They appear to be monuments erected in memory of ancient kings or chiefs, as each bust or column had a distinct name. One of these, of which Forster took the dimensions, consisted of a single stone twenty feet high and five wide, and represented a human figure to the waist; on the crown of the head, a stone of cylindrical shape was placed erect: this stone was of a different colour from the rest of the figure, which appeared to be formed of a kind of cellular lava. In one place, seven of these statues or busts stood together:* one, which they saw lying on the ground, was twenty-seven feet long and nine in diameter. The largest, however, that La Perouse saw, was fourteen feet six inches high, and seven feet six inches in diameter. The inhabitants of many of the northern and eastern islands make stone representations of their deities, and of their departed ancestors, but none equal in size to those found in Easter Island. When Cook visited this island, the natives appeared to possess but few means of subsistence, and to inhabit very small and comfortless dwellings. A greater abundance appeared, when they were subsequently visited by the French navigator; their habitations appeared more comfortable, one of which was 310 feet long and ten feet wide.

Easter Island is situated in 27 deg. 8 sec. south lat., and 109 deg. 43 sec. west long. It is called by the inhabitants Waihu.

It has been already stated, that Magellan was the first European who sailed from the Atlantic to the * Forster's Voyage, vol. i. p. 586.