It is sincerely to be hoped that such removal will be no longer thought
of. No complaint was made, no apprehension of want expressed to Captain
Waldegrave, who left them contented and happy; and Captain Beechey,
since his return, has received a letter from John Buffet, who informs
him of a notification made by Nott the missionary at Otaheite, that the
king was willing to receive them, and that measures would be taken for
their removal; but, he adds, the people are so much attached to, and
satisfied with, their native island, as not to have a wish to leave it.
The breaking up of this happy, innocent, and simple-minded little
society, by some summary process, and consigning them to those sinks of
infamy on New Holland or Van Diemen's Land, or to mix them up with the
dram-drinkers, the psalmsingers, and the languid and lazy Otaheitans,
would, in either case, be a subject of deep regret to all who take an
interest in their welfare; and to themselves would be the inevitable
loss of all those amiable qualities which have obtained for them the
kind and generous sympathy of their countrymen at home. We have a person
who acts as consul at Otaheite, and it is to be hoped he will receive
instructions, on no account to sanction, but on the contrary to
interdict, any measure that maybe attempted on the part of the
missionaries for their removal;--perhaps, however, as money would be
required for such a purpose, they may be considered safe from that
quarter.
The time must come when they will emigrate on their own accord. When the
hive is full, they will send out their swarms. Captain Beechey tells us
that the reading of some books of voyages and travels, belonging to
Bligh and left in the _Bounty_, had created a desire in some of them to
leave it; but that family ties and an ardent affection for each other,
and for their native soil, had always interposed, on the few occasions
that offered, to prevent individuals going away singly. George Adams,
however, who had failed when the _Blossom_ was there to soften the heart
of Polly Young, and had no wife to detain him, was very anxious to
embark in that ship, that he might see something of the world beyond the
narrow limits of his own little island; and Beechey would have taken
him, had not his mother wept bitterly at the idea of parting from him,
and wished to impose terms touching his return to the island, that could
not be acceded to.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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