This narrative stated two facts that established its general
authenticity--the name of Alexander Smith, who was one of the mutineers,
and the name of the maker of the chronometer, with which the _Bounty_
was actually supplied. Interesting as this discovery was considered to
be, it does not appear that any steps were taken in consequence of this
authenticated information, the government being at that time probably
too much engaged in the events of the war; nor was anything further
heard of this interesting little society, until the latter part of 1814,
when a letter was transmitted by Rear Admiral Hotham, then cruising off
the coast of America, from Mr. Folger himself, to the same effect as the
preceding extract from his log, but dated March, 1813.
In the first-mentioned year (1814) we had two frigates cruising in the
Pacific,--the _Briton_, commanded by Sir Thomas Staines, and the
_Tagus_, by Captain Pipon. The following letter from the former of these
officers was received at the Admiralty early in the year 1815.
_Briton, Valparaiso, 18th Oct., 1814._
'I have the honour to inform you that on my passage from the
Marquesas islands to this port, on the morning of the 17th
September, I fell in with an island where none is laid down in
the Admiralty or other charts, according to the several
chronometers of the _Briton_ and _Tagus_. I therefore hove to,
until daylight, and then closed to ascertain whether it was
inhabited, which I soon discovered it to be, and, to my great
astonishment, found that every individual on the island (forty
in number), spoke very good English. They proved to be the
descendants of the deluded crew of the _Bounty_, who, from
Otaheite, proceeded to the above-mentioned island, where the
ship was burnt.
'Christian appeared to have been the leader and sole cause of
the mutiny in that ship. A venerable old man, named John
Adams, is the only surviving Englishman of those who last
quitted Otaheite in her, and whose exemplary conduct, and
fatherly care of the whole of the little colony, could not but
command admiration. The pious manner in which all those born
on the island have been reared, the correct sense of religion
which has been instilled into their young minds by this old
man, has given him the pre-eminence over the whole of them, to
whom they look up as the father of one and the whole family.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account