"'Five months after my arrival, John Adams departed this life. After his decease, the superintendence of the spiritual affairs of the island, and the education of the children, devolved on me chiefly; and from that time to the present (with the exception of ten months, during which period I was banished from the island by brute force, and recalled by letters of penitential apology), I have been with them, and have lived to see the labor of my hands prosper; for there is not a person on the island, between the ages of six years and twenty-five, who has not received, or is not receiving, a tolerable education. "'There is one untoward but prominent object on the horizon of paternal affection, and which, though imperceptibly, yet rapidly approaches our increasing colony, and that is the imperious necessity of a separation; for so very limited are the available portions of the island, that some families who number ten or twelve persons, have not five acres of arable land to divide among them. "'Animal food is a luxury obtained with difficulty once or twice in the week; and though we have, by dint of very hard labor, been enabled to obtain cloth and other indispensable necessaries from whale-ships, in exchange for potatoes, yet this resource is beginning to fail us; not from scarcity of visitors, but from inability on our part to supply them. "'This is the exact state of affairs at present: how much it will be aggravated ten years from this, may be imagined, but cannot be fully realized even by ourselves. Whether the British Government will again interest itself in our behalf, is doubtful; if it does not, despite the most assiduous industry, a scanty allowance of potatoes and salt must be the result, and the "Tibuta" and "Maro," will be the unchanging food and raiment of the rising generation.'" GEORGE. "What a pity the coral insects have not been at work there, and enlarged these poor peoples' island; then they could have all remained together, and brought up their families. As it is, some _must_ migrate. Charles, you are very ingenious; cannot you contrive a plan for overcoming these difficulties." CHARLES. "Much as I should glory in benefiting mankind, I could not by any effort or sacrifice ameliorate the condition of these poor people, although I would willingly do anything in my power to testify my sorrow for their wretched destitution."