THE MISSIONARY SHIP PITCAIRN
IN JANUARY of 1889 one of the saddest accidents that ever happened on
the island occurred. A young man twenty-four years of age went out one
day to search amongst the rocks for young sea birds. He was accompanied
by two of his younger brothers, who held a rope, while he descended to
a very dangerous place in the rocks. His brothers urged him in vain
not to go, but no amount of persuasion would avail, and he pursued his
purpose. He had taken a few birds and was about to try to get another
a few feet above him in a small hollow in the rock, when he lost his
footing and fell several hundred feet into the pitiless sea below.
Breathless with haste and pale with horror, the two other boys came
back to tell the awful story of what had taken place. The horror felt
by everyone was great, and the piercing cries of the mother and the
wife of the young man rent the air as they ran toward the scene of the
fearful accident. In as short a time as possible a boat was manned and
pulled by arms nerved to their utmost strength to the spot where the
young man’s body fell into the water. But nothing came of the search,
although it was kept up for days. All that was ever found was a hat
belonging to him, and which had floated a long distance from the place
where he fell.
Toward the middle of the same year an excitement of a different
character was experienced. When the _Cormorant_ visited the island
in 1887, which was the year of the Queen’s Jubilee, the captain and
officers inquired whether the little community had contributed anything
toward a celebration of the event. When the answer was given in the
negative, they said that the Queen would acknowledge a gift, however
small. Being thus encouraged, a box containing some specimens of the
people’s handiwork was put up as soon as possible, and sent to their
sovereign.
Her Majesty was graciously pleased to receive the humble token of
loyalty and love, and sent an acknowledgment, accompanied by a gift of
the coins struck on the occasion of her Jubilee, varying in value from
a sixpenny piece to four shilling pieces. These were to be distributed
among the women and girls, and Captain Nicolls, of the _Cormorant_,
on his second visit, had the pleasant duty of distributing the gift,
which the receivers were proud to get and keep in remembrance of their
beloved Queen. The ceremony over the _Cormorant_ left, but before the
return voyage was half accomplished, Captain Nicolls, at Rio Janeiro,
took the yellow fever and died. He was buried at sea.
A new decade was now entered upon, and in the opening month of 1890
the people celebrated, on the twenty-third day, the century of years
since the _Bounty_ arrived at the island. The same period of time which
among the nations of the earth had witnessed the amazing onward march
in progress and advanced civilization, saw but little change in this
little world situated by itself in the midst of the vast ocean. Yet the
people felt that God had led them all the way, and they met together
at the church to hold a service of praise with which to begin the day,
thanking God for past mercies and praying him to supply future grace.
Following is a hymn composed and sung on the occasion:—
Our Father, God, we come to raise
Our songs to thee in grateful praise;
We come to sing thy guiding hand,
By which supported still we stand.
To this fair land our fathers sought
To flee the doom their sins had brought,
In vain—nor peace nor rest was found,
For strife possessed th’ unhallowed ground.
Darkness around their path was spread;
Their crimes deserved a vengeance dread;
When, lo! a beam of hope was given
To guide their erring feet to heaven.
Thy holy word, a beacon light,
Had pierced the shades of sin’s dark night,
And poured a flood of radiance where
Had reigned the gloom of dull despair.
We own the depths of sin and shame,
Of guilt and crime from which we came;
Thy hand upheld us from despair,
Else we had sunk in darkness there.
We, their descendants, here to-day
Meet in thy house to praise and pray,
And ask thy blessing to attend
And guide us to life’s journey’s end.
Oh, that our lives henceforth may be
More consecrated, Lord, to thee!
Thy boundless favors to us shown
With gratitude we humbly own.
Thou know’st the depths from whence we sprung;
Inspire each heart, unloose each tongue,
That all our powers may join to bless
The Lord, our Strength and Righteousness.
In the early part of this year, 1890, the news came that the
much-talked-of missionary schooner had been built and would shortly
sail on its mission to the Pacific islands; but not until the 25th of
November of the same year did she arrive, making Pitcairn Island her
first stopping place. The missionaries, who were Elders Gates and Read
and their wives and Mr. and Mrs. Tay, were gladly welcomed. After a
short rest they began the work of organizing the church and Sabbath
school. The rite of baptism was performed, whereby all the adult
members of the community were received into the body of the church.
This solemn and impressive service was witnessed for the first time
by the people, who had hitherto seen and known only the sprinkling of
water on the faces of infants.
When the _Pitcairn_, for so the ship was named, left the island, three
of the islanders went away to engage in work in different places. On
her return, in July, 1892, two of her company were missing. Mr. Tay,
whose name was so closely associated with the ship, and also with the
island, had died at Suva, in Fiji, and the captain, Mr. Marsh, had
fallen a victim to the influenza, and died in Auckland, New Zealand.
Elder Gates and his wife remained on the island, while the _Pitcairn_
returned to California. Too much cannot be said of the good that their
stay accomplished. Although, physically, the gentleman was not strong,
he made every effort to elevate the minds of the people, who naturally
had, owing to their isolated situation, very narrow and limited views
of life. As soon as possible he started a class, which all the young
people attended, and, to further help them, organized a literary
society of over forty, in which every member took part, and which was
thoroughly enjoyed as long as it was kept up.
Four months after his coming he started a paper, giving it the name of
the _Monthly Pitcairnian_, to whose _written_ pages all were invited to
contribute. The paper had its own staff of reporters, six in number,
who almost invariably failed to send in any news; nevertheless, its
pages were always full. There was, first, the opening page, on which
generally appeared an original poem. This was followed by the editorial
page, which the editor, Elder Gates, contrived to fill with some lively
article. The rest of the paper consisted of five other departments,
devoted to Moral and Religious Topics, the Home Circle, News Items,
Pleasantries, and All Sorts.
On the 18th of February, 1893, the _Pitcairn_ came the second time
from San Francisco, bringing, in addition to the other passengers,
missionaries to be located on different islands. A teacher from
America, Miss Hattie Andre, just graduated from college, came to
organize and teach school on Pitcairn Island. After the necessary
delay incident on a fresh arrival, immediate steps were taken to have
the school fairly started. This was done in the early part of April,
and the young people, fully aware of their lack of education, were
not slow to avail themselves of the advantages offered them in having
for their instructor one so well qualified and fitted for the work.
Forty-two young persons, varying in age from fourteen to thirty-nine
years, had their names entered as students, one of these being a girl
from Mangareva, whose two younger brothers were placed among the other
children from the age of seven to thirteen years. These were twenty in
number, and were taught by one of the island women.
Mrs. Gates at the same time opened a kindergarten school for the
youngest children, and had a class of fourteen to begin with. In
addition to this she organized a mothers’ meeting, and had a class
twice a month, to instruct in the methods of giving treatment to the
sick, and also in cooking. Besides this she taught, or rather attempted
to teach, stenography to a few of the young people, some of whom soon
gave up the attempt to learn. Four diligently practiced, and were
meeting with a fair measure of success when the class was unavoidably
broken up.
The literary society and the classes taught by Elder Gates were merged
into the school, and the _Monthly Pitcairnian_ passed over into the
hands of the students, who were expected to keep its columns well
supplied, notwithstanding the lack of material to supply them with.
And now is drawing near a time unparalleled in the history of Pitcairn
Island—a time when she passed under a visitation so terrible while it
lasted, and so awful in its effects, that it was remarked that those
who survived it were not the same persons they were before it came.
But this is anticipating. On the 27th of April, 1893, the shipwrecked
crew of the _Bowdon_, lost on Oeno reef, came to Pitcairn Island.
The captain and a few others soon went away on an American ship for
England, while the rest waited for an opportunity to go back to San
Francisco. It is not necessary to give a detailed account of their
stay, but it brought no blessing to the island.
Several trips were made to and from the wreck by the islanders, and
even several of the women accompanied their husbands and brothers in
their last trip in open boats to Oeno. All returned in safety, no
accident having occurred either going or returning, as the weather
continued fine. This was in June, the month of vacation. The month
following H. M. S. _Hyacinth_ came, and during her short stay several
cases of sickness were attended by the doctor, who pronounced the
disease to be a form of _la grippe_. Some of the persons who were
suffering at that time had their lives despaired of, but all of them
eventually recovered.
That the awful fever that attacked the people was introduced with
the shipwrecked crew was evident. When the _Hyacinth_ left, a slight
attack of influenza spread among the people, aggravating the more
serious disease. Everything that was possible to be done under the
circumstances was accomplished, the missionaries exerting themselves
to the utmost to help the stricken people, who one by one rapidly fell
victims to the dread sickness. On the 26th of August the first death
occurred, opening the way for many others, and before the terrible work
of death was ended, twelve persons were taken away, the last death
occurring on the 19th of October. So urgent were the calls for help
from those who were helpless that there was scarcely time to weep for
the dead, and the few who passed unstricken through the fiery ordeal
were constant in their attendance, night and day, until nature itself
nearly gave up the struggle.
[Illustration: ROSA YOUNG’S CLASS.]
Some of the most valued workers and prominent members of the church and
Sabbath school, as well as two in civil office, fell, and four of the
most promising young people were taken away by death. Simon Young, the
loved and respected pastor of the church, who for twenty-nine years
had labored among the people, fell at his post. His daughter, Mrs. J.
R. McCoy, who was the first to die, and two sons, Edward and John
Young, the former leaving a widow and four children, all perished in
the plague. Ella McCoy, a girl of brightest promise, died a week after
her mother. By the deaths, the school lost five of its students, John
Young, Reuben Christian, Ella McCoy, and Martha and Clarice Christian.
Little Willie Christian was the only one from the younger department
who died. The three others who succumbed to the dread malady were Elias
Christian, father of little Willie, Childers Young, and a two-year-old
baby, Emma Christian.
The present writing witnesses the visit of the _Pitcairn_ on her
second return trip to San Francisco. When she leaves, Elder Gates and
family will leave too, also three young persons from the island will
take passage on her for California, to attend school there. Miss Andre
remains with us until duty calls elsewhere. With the _Pitcairn_ came
letters of sympathy and cheer from friends in Australia, where the news
of his wife’s death met Mr. McCoy.
What further awaits this little island is still in the future. Nearly
two years ago, in October, 1892, when the _Champion_, man-of-war,
called, Captain Rooke presided at a meeting held to inquire into the
altered religious views of the people, and that something of the same
nature is yet in store for the community is what is strongly believed.
Since the advent of the _Pitcairn_ there have been more frequent
communications between the Norfolk Island people and their relatives
on Pitcairn Island, but the means of communication with the outside
world is far from satisfactory.
Several among the people of the island have taken short trips to Tahiti
and Mangareva, and have returned, and in 1891 two young men went to
California and Oregon, on a British bark, the _Earl Dunraven_, whose
captain, a friend of the islanders, brought a large gift of clothing
and many useful things from kind friends in the places he visited.
In writing this account of facts concerning Pitcairn Island it is felt
that it would be unjust not to mention everyone to whom the people are
indebted for favors unnumbered; but that is scarcely possible; only
we feel it beyond our power to express the debt we owe to so many,
and as the years come and go, and bring us to the grand close of all
earthly things, we can only pray that those who have watched over us in
supplying our wants may meet a rich reward. The unceasing efforts that
have been put forth by friends in the long past, and by those who have
risen to fill their places, to elevate and benefit the people, have not
all been in vain, and whatever of good has been accomplished, all under
God, is owing to those efforts.
No account of the history of either Pitcairn or Norfolk Island—the
latter in regard to the second “social experiment” carried out there,
viz., the occupation of that island by the descendants of the _Bounty_
mutineers—can be complete without a mention of two who figured
largely in the early history of the settlement of Pitcairn Island by
the mutineers and their descendants. These two were John Buffett and
the Rev. G. H. Nobbs, who, especially the latter, from the time of
their advent among the small community in 1823 and 1828 respectively,
continued to do all that lay in their power for the social benefit of
the people, even though some most serious mistakes were made.
Mr. Nobbs, who so closely identified himself with the people, and whose
constant effort was to promote their best interests, closed his long
and useful life in November, 1884, going down to his grave respected
and honored by all, and leaving behind him sons well qualified to
sustain his honored name.
John Buffett, also, who so nobly volunteered to shut himself off
from all the fascinations that the world may have contained for him,
and chose to cast in his lot with a community so insignificant and
so remote, that he might help John Adams in his declining days, in
the arduous duties and heavy responsibilities that the rearing of a
youthful colony necessitates, passed away in May, 1891, having nearly
completed a century of years. He also left numerous descendants behind
him; all his children, consisting of seven sons and one daughter,
survived him, children of whom he had no cause to be ashamed. His
companion, John Evans, who for the love that he bore him deserted his
ship, and hid himself away that he might remain with Buffett, died in
December of the same year, 1891, at a very advanced age, being tenderly
and lovingly cared for by his only surviving daughter and her children.
In this record of deaths may fitly be mentioned that of another who
performed no mean part in seeking to raise the social standing of the
people over whose children he was placed as their schoolmaster. Mr.
Thomas Rossiter, who for many years faithfully fulfilled the heavy
duties of teacher of a large school on Norfolk Island, duties for which
he was eminently qualified, after some time resigned his place to
others. His death occurred in 1893. The school is now conducted by Mr.
Alfred Nobbs, a son of the Rev. G. H. Nobbs, assisted by a few other
teachers.
A few more words concerning the great mortality attendant on the
epidemic that resulted so fatally among the inhabitants of Pitcairn
Island during the months of August, September, and October, 1893. With
the exception of three or four of the islanders, the entire community
suffered more or less from the terrible visitation. The missionaries
resident on the island at the time wholly escaped the pestilence, a
fact which was doubtless due to the beautiful regularity of habits that
they unfailingly practiced, and the remarkable and beneficent results
of which were so noticeable during the time of the fever. That the
irregular habits of the people both in eating and sleeping had much
to do in producing such fearful consequences there can be no doubt,
and this matter, which had before been plainly presented to the people
by the faithful missionaries, but which had not received the amount
of attention that its importance demanded, was after the fever more
strongly than ever urged upon the people, their own example serving,
more than the precepts they taught, to illustrate the truth of their
teachings. The result of all is that now the community that had for
so long neglected the plainest principles of the laws of health, are
beginning to realize that they cannot always ignore those laws with
impunity, nor disregard them without great injury to themselves—a
lesson that the saddest experience through which they have passed
served but to deepen and impress upon their minds, minds that had
hitherto been too indifferent and careless in regard to these things,
and too slow to comprehend the importance of them. Every step taken in
the right direction has, under God, been the result of the faithful
teachings of Elder Gates and his wife, who before they left had the
satisfaction of seeing a reformation in the dietary habits of the
people.
The question has been frequently asked whether the people degenerate
physically in consequence of too close relationship in marriage. To
this the answer must be given in the negative, unless, as someone has
observed, the loss of the front teeth, which is quite general, be a
sign of degeneracy. But, in the writer’s opinion, that is the result of
not paying a more strict attention to the care and cleanliness of the
teeth, and no doubt also to the fact that the food usually eaten is not
of the kind to strengthen and preserve them.
The civil government of the island differs somewhat to what has been
the custom for years. When the _Champion_, man-of-war, visited the
island in October, 1892, Captain Rooke presided at a meeting convened
to consider some questions, civil and religious, acting as regards the
former agreeably to the opinion of the British Consul at Tahiti, with
whom he had consulted when on the eve of leaving Tahiti for Pitcairn
Island.
The outcome of the meeting was as follows: 1. It was moved and carried
that seven members of parliament be elected. 2. Those seven, having
been elected by general vote, will next proceed to elect from their own
numbers the next magistrate to hold office yearly. 3. It was suggested
that not less than five of the seven meet to form a quorum to consider
any business—all seven if the question be very grave.
Some other points were brought forward and discussed at some length,
but it is sufficient for the purpose to mention only these. The
resolutions proposed were soon acted upon, and the plan was found to
work well. The women as well as the men have a vote.
As regards the present social standing of the people a few words might
be said. Many who have visited the island have gone away with the
impression that the favored inhabitants breathe a purer air than other
people, and an atmosphere wholly untainted by sin; but it is difficult
to conceive how such an idea can for a moment be entertained concerning
any place upon earth which is inhabited by any of Adam’s fallen race.
Human nature is human nature the world over, and fallen at that, so
that it is certainly a mistake to think that, because so remote from
the rest of the world, no vice or sin of any kind mars the character or
degrades the reputation of those who dwell so secluded from the world.
But Satan found an entrance into the Eden home of our first parents
ere yet they had known of the existence of sin, and who inheriting
their tainted nature dare hope to escape his snares? Further, how was
it possible that a people sprung from such a debased stock as settled
the island over a century ago, and in whom runs the blood of those who
stopped short at no crime, could be pure and stainless in character?
A beautiful simplicity no doubt characterized the lives of the little
community that grew up under the fostering care of John Adams, and,
indeed, all through a century’s period much of that simplicity still
remains, but it is a mistake to cherish the idea that sin does not
have a kingdom on the little island; and while it is cause of deep and
humble thankfulness to God that He has, by His mercy and through the
instrumentality of a multitude of Christian friends, kept the people
from sinking into the lowest state of degradation and sin, it is also a
fact to be deplored that there are among the people strong tendencies
in a wrong direction, tendencies that God’s grace alone can keep in
check.
The visits of the missionary ship _Pitcairn_ from the island of that
name to Norfolk Island are hailed with unfeigned pleasure, as it is by
that means that the two communities so closely related by blood have
any certain communication with each other. These visits are the means
by which the younger portion of the two communities have their interest
in each other awakened. The dear ties that bound so closely the hearts
of the older members, though sundered by distance, were never lost
sight of, but it was scarcely to be expected that younger members,
growing up without any knowledge of one another, should preserve
undiminished the same feelings of kindred affection that their fathers
and mothers possessed, and so it is matter for thankfulness that the
old ties are being revived and strengthened.
[Illustration]
APPENDIX TO FOURTH EDITION.
The interest manifested in that far-away mite in the Pacific—Pitcairn
Island—and the avidity with which the first two editions of this book
were sought for, has led the publishers to issue this improved edition.
Since the publication of the book many articles in regard to Pitcairn
have appeared in the newspapers in all parts of this country.
The New York _World_ sent a letter of inquiry to Miss Young, the author
of this book, in October, 1893, and her answer appeared in that paper
under date of January 13, 1895.
The letter is of such general interest and conveys such recent news
from Pitcairn, that it is thought best to publish it herewith.
We also append an article published in _Harper’s Weekly_ of December 8,
1894, describing a visit made by Captain Cornelius A. Davis to Pitcairn
in March, 1894. The article is of particular interest because it comes
from a disinterested observer.
PUBLISHERS.
MISS YOUNG’S LETTER TO THE “SUNDAY WORLD.”
PITCAIRN ISLAND, in the South Pacific,}
August 18, 1894.}
_To the Sunday World_—
It is probable that, such a long time having elapsed before you
received any reply to your letter, you have taken it for granted that
it never reached its destination. The facts in the case are that it
arrived here on the 3d of February last, having been sent on from San
Francisco, thence to Tahiti, and from that place to Wellington, New
Zealand, to the brigantine _Pitcairn_, our missionary ship, which
brought it here on the above-named date.
It should have been replied to in February, and the answer sent you
_via_ _Pitcairn_, bound to San Francisco, which place she reached
somewhere near the end of March, but having had some considerable
writing then on hand which it was absolutely necessary that I should
finish, I was obliged to let some of my letters go unanswered,
yours among the rest, and then, in the unavoidable hurry and bustle
consequent upon leave taking, it was forgotten until a day or two ago.
Please pardon my carelessness, which has been quite unintentional, as I
am one who does not believe in ignoring the correspondence of anyone,
and would think myself guilty of rudeness not to send a reply to anyone
who should show enough interest in us and our island’s history as to
request any information that it is in my power to give.
I will with pleasure answer your questions, for the readers of the
great _Sunday World_, and trust they may prove satisfactory to you,
but, first, a fact or two concerning myself may prove of interest.
I am Young (one of the descendants of the original settlers), but young
no longer in years, having completed my forty-first year five days ago,
on the 13th inst. At the date when your letter was written, October
26, I had just passed the crisis of a fever typhus that had taken as
victims twelve of our number, my honored and beloved father among the
number, and, in addition to him, two brothers, a sister, and a niece.
In regard to the wish expressed in one or more of my published letters
that you mentioned, _i. e._, that of paying a visit sometime to the
outside world, or, rather, to some portion of it, that wish remains
still ungratified. My mother’s father was an Englishman, who, at the
age of twenty-six, decided to cast in his lot with the little handful
of children of the mutineers who were in 1823 ruled over in a sort of
patriarchal manner by the sole survivor of the mutineers, John Adams.
He, Adams himself, unlettered and unlearned, had, after all the rest
of his companions died, most of them having been murdered, wakened up
to a sense of the great responsibility that rested upon him, with the
growing young community on his hands, and when, in 1823, a whale ship,
the _Cynes_, happened to call in here, he expressed the earnest wish
that someone would feel sympathy enough for him and the worse than
orphaned children he was striving to lead, according to the best light
he had, upward to God and good, to remain and assist him.
My grandfather, John Buffett, remained, and ever since I can remember
his talking about his early boyhood home in Bristol, England, it
has been my wish one day to go there. That dear hope is abandoned.
I had a sister who married, and took her two little boys away to
Cardigan, Wales, to her husband’s home, and she passed very near our
grandfather’s early home, but that was all.
Since she went away to Wales, over eight years ago, it has been the
earnestly expressed wish of my heart to pay them a visit, but my sister
died in April, 1887, having been there only eleven months, and my
earnest, longing wish to see my dear little nephews again will never be
realized.
I have had frequent invitations from many dear, valued friends to visit
America, but can see no open way yet. I had my trunk packed ready to
go to California last year, but unforeseen circumstances prevented it.
Five of our people from this island went, but I was not one, although
I deeply grieved over it. All those who went have returned, with the
exception of a young man now at school at Healdsburg, and a charming
little girl adopted for a time by a minister and his wife, who have
been living here, a Mr. and Mrs. Gates. I shall now take up and answer,
in regular order, the points in your letter about which you request
information. First, school work.
How I happened to become connected with that work was in this way—I
shall have to go back many years to begin at the start: In the years
1857-1858 two families, not being altogether satisfied with the change
of living on Norfolk Island, left that place and returned here, to
their old home. Those families consisted of fifteen or sixteen persons,
Moses Young and family, and Mayhew Young and family, which were mostly
children by the wife’s former husband, a McCoy. It may interest you to
know that Mayhew was so named for Captain Mayhew Folger, the American
captain who discovered, away back in 1808, that this island was
inhabited by the children of the mutineers.
Well, to be brief, my own father, Simon Young (I cannot begin to tell
you how good he was), feeling that the children of the two families
that first returned needed someone to look after their educational and
spiritual affairs, determined that he would make the effort to return
also and do what he could for them. His own educational advantages
had been very limited, but he had made the very best use he could of
them, and had taught the children, while on Norfolk Island, the art, at
least, of reading, writing, and the four principal rules in arithmetic.
So, in December, 1863, our family and a few others besides left Norfolk
Island to come back here, arriving in the early part of February, 1864.
We left a good school and teacher behind, and I have never ceased to
regret that it was never my privilege to have gone through some regular
course of study, to better enable me to accomplish what has since been
my life work, for I was only ten when my return here was made.
As soon as possible father took up the work of teaching the few
children and young people as best he was able, and, at about fourteen
years of age, I began to help him by putting the youngest through
the alphabet and first reading lessons. I have had no educational
privileges, and only do the best I can, with what success will be known
in the great hereafter.
In February, 1893, Miss Hattie Andre, a young lady just graduated from
a college in Michigan, arrived here to take charge of the school. My
loved and honored father, sixty-nine years of age, then retired from
the work, leaving it in the hands of Miss Andre and myself. She has
a membership of about thirty-four of the young people, and I teach
twenty-one of the youngest children, from the age of seven to fourteen,
two of mine being Dano-Spanish boys from Mangareva, one of the Gambier
Islands. Their sister attends Miss Andre’s school.
You inquire about our religious belief. When John Adams took up the
work of trying to rear in righteousness the rising young community,
his sole aids to education were a Bible and Book of Common Prayer,
saved from the _Bounty_. With these extremely limited means he taught,
quite successfully, the young folks to read, and, instituting some sort
of religious services, he very naturally had the liturgy of the Church
of England to pattern after.
This is what we had followed until October, 1886, when we, as a body,
and after ten years’ searching “whether those things were so,” and
battling against most unfounded and unreasonable prejudices, joined
ourselves to that church known as the Seventh-day Adventists—seventh
day because we believe in and preach the letter of the fourth
commandment of the decalogue, and Adventists because we believe in
the soon coming of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ in the clouds of
heaven to take his true followers to himself.
In our view of the case this is the explanation of so much that the
world at large is at present undergoing, and which seems so mysterious
to those who do not make the prophecies of God’s word their study.
You very rightfully judged that we are kept pretty well posted by means
of newspapers and friends, who now and then touch in here on their
way to different ports, in regard to what the world is doing, but
we have no regular means of correspondence. Our friends abroad take
advantage of the occasional trips of our little missionary ship to send
us letters and anything else, as she always comes direct to us after
leaving California. She arrived on the 17th ult., and proposes to make
a quick return to America (if she is not sold, as has been arranged),
where she will be about the end of the present year.
Several of our people have made visits to some of the neighboring
islands and some have gone to England and back, but I do not think the
words “dissatisfied with our lot” can be properly applied to anyone
here. In regard to myself personally, I am so in love with the free,
natural life I enjoy here that I would not willingly exchange it for
any other, much as I would enjoy a visit to your shores and to see in
reality the life of the world of which I have read so largely—life in
all its phases, from the high-toned “society” life to the very lowest.
So that I do not feel that “surprised” would correctly describe my
impressions.
Yes, marriage is—shall I say it?—committed among our people, the
different family names numbering seven. Young, McCoy, and Christian
are of the original families, and those who have come in later on are
Buffett, Warren, Butler, and Coffin, the last three being Americans,
and only the very last, Coffin, still lives. I think away back in the
long past there were some curious “love stories” which would prove
quite interesting reading, and within my own knowledge there are
several that would make a good foundation for very entertaining stories
should someone be found to weave them.
From the time of John Adams until the last marriage ceremony took place
here—that was in 1889 (I seem to see you smile at the long space that
intervenes)—the form used has been that of the Church of England. In
the eighties the young people seemed to think that the chief end of man
and woman, or rather of boy and girl, was marriage; and scarcely had
they arrived at man’s and woman’s estate, certainly not to the estate
of wisdom and prudence, when marriage was contracted. At present, and
it gladdens my heart to see it, more efforts are made at getting some
education than in getting married, and we have quite a company of young
men and women who think more of getting what they can out of their
schoolbooks than of being bound for life to one another.
I am not exactly posted as to the number of inhabitants here at
present, but think that after the fourteen deaths that took place last
year the population is about 136 only, the largest part being children
under the age of sixteen.
It is quite universally accepted among people of the world outside our
own little speck of earth that coined money is an almost unheard-of,
unknown, and, of course, unused article among us, but such are not the
real facts in the case. Our circumstances make it possible to exist, as
far as the necessities of life are concerned, without the use of money,
_i. e._, as far as food, fuel, water, and our houses are concerned, but
for clothing we depend upon the product of our island, which we sell,
when the opportunity offers, to a trader who calls here and brings
us our supplies in that line. In addition to this, many friends have
contributed from time to time very largely to our comfort in gifts of
clothing and other things that we cannot procure here.
Our “standard of value” is the American dollar and the English pounds,
shillings, and pence, on which no discount is made here, as we are
English subjects. It would amuse you to see how many and various are
the coins that pass through our hands, and whose value often puzzles
us. As we are not in a position to obtain (except on occasions when we
are visited by a British ship of war) more than a few cents at a time,
in exchange for fruit and curios, we do not, as do Sabbath schools
abroad, contribute every week, but the dimes, quarters, shillings and
pence that may be obtained from passing ships are carefully hoarded for
the quarterly donation.
We have a Sabbath school of 125 members, varying in age from two years
to seventy-two; and happy the child, as well as the grown-up, who has
an offering as large as a quarter to donate at the beginning of every
quarter. We are glad at the thought of our little “mite” contributed
towards the missionary ship _Pitcairn_, the first one to be built and
used in the interests of the Seventh-day Adventists, and that our
Sabbath school is self-supporting.
Our amusements consist, I may say, in a change of occupations. A
peculiar way in which to amuse one’s self, you will think, but really
our time is too fully occupied in so many different ways to have time
or inclination even for amusements that are amusements merely. If the
boys can have enough powder for their guns to boom away at their own
sweet will, they ask for no greater pleasure, and one unwearying source
of enjoyment for the young people here is to gather around an organ and
spend the time in singing to the accompaniment of the instrument.
You ask if a photographer has ever come to our shores. Yes, many
of them, and many views have been taken, not only of the varied
scenery, but of the people, mostly in groups. Last March an American
shipmaster, Captain Davis, was here and spent most of his time taking
pictures. Among others, he took that of Miss Andre and her school, and
of me and my bare-footed little boys and girls.
The gentleman and lady mentioned above, Mr. and Mrs. Gates, had been
living with us for eighteen months, and last February, when they were
leaving, I gave Mr. Gates a manuscript copy of a little work I had been
writing, the facts connected with this island’s history from the time
it was inhabited by the _Bounty’s_ mutineers up to date. I did not
confine myself to solid work, but only wrote at long intervals, so that
what should have been finished within a short time was dragged out to a
length of six years. Possibly some of the photographic views taken here
will be used to illustrate the little work. It should be going through
the press now, if not already gone, and will be brought out in book
form—only a very simple, modest affair—at the Pacific Press, Oakland,
Cal., where you may obtain a copy if you have enough interest in it to
order one.
I have already written longer then I should have done, and fear my long
letter will prove a tax to your patience, but your questions have been
answered at some length, so I trust you will excuse my trespassing on
your valuable time to read all this product of my pen.
I shall be pleased to have you write when you are so inclined, and also
to learn when you get this letter.
Yours very cordially,
ROSALIND A. YOUNG.
A VISIT TO PITCAIRN ISLAND.
When Captain Cornelius A. Davis, of the five-masted schooner _Governor
Ames_—the only schooner of her class in the world, as well as the
largest fore-and-aft vessel in existence—dropped anchor off Pitcairn
Island, four thousand miles south of San Francisco, a few months ago,
he was surprised to find himself greeted by name by a delegation of
islanders who came on board. The inhabitants of the historic little
island are accustomed to keep a sharp lookout for all passing vessels,
and as soon as one is sighted in the offing, a boat pushes out to her,
carrying friendly greetings and the offer of any assistance that may
be needed. From each captain news of the ship he has left behind in
the last port is obtained, together with the probable date of their
sailing; so that in a majority of instances when a vessel reaches
Pitcairn she is recognized immediately, and the skipper discovers that
he does not need any introduction to his new-found island friends—for
such they very soon prove themselves to be. He is invited to land and
partake of the best the island affords, and the impression he carries
away with him is uniformally a pleasant one. Captain Davis says that he
would have been glad to stay at the island two or three days if there
had been any good excuse for doing so, but after he had secured some
fresh fruit for the crew, he felt compelled to resume his voyage. Puget
Sound had been left behind thirty-five days earlier, and Liverpool was
still one hundred and twenty-nine days away.
* * * * *
There is no more picturesque incident, perhaps, in the annals of
marine venture than the mutiny on board the British ship _Bounty_,
in 1789, and the subsequent landing of several of the mutineers on
Pitcairn Island, a speck of land which had been discovered some years
before by Carteret, and named for the midshipman who first descried
it from the masthead. These mutineers, fearing punishment, resolved
to hide themselves from the world, and accordingly sought out this
lonely spot, and, together with a number of Polynesian men and women,
founded a new community far from the ordinary track of commerce. At
first, according to the scant historical accounts which have come down
to us, there was riot and reveling on the island, but gradually the
rougher element in the population disappeared, and when the American
vessel _Topaz_ rediscovered the little settlement in 1808, it seems
to have been orderly and prosperous. For more than half a generation
the whereabouts of the mutineers of the _Bounty_ had been a mystery,
and their rediscovery at this time aroused a good deal of interest,
especially in England. It was as if the sea had given up its dead.
Everything pertaining to the little strip of land in the far Pacific
was hailed with interest, and in the eighty-six years since then many
books and papers descriptive of it and its people have been written.
In a few weeks another volume is to be published in California by the
Seventh-day Adventists, who have recently succeeded in converting the
islanders to their faith. Formerly they were associated with the Church
of England.
The community to-day is a model one in many respects. Since the time
of the hardy mutineers a great change has taken place, and it is said
that nobody on the island ever indulges in intoxicants, tobacco, or
profanity. A rude church and schoolhouse—the structure shown in two
of the illustrations accompanying this article—has been erected, and
one of the descendants of the early settlers preaches regularly to all
the members of the settlement, for church going is regarded as a matter
of course on Pitcairn; and, moreover, there are not very many other
divertisements. When it is remembered that there are only about one
hundred and thirty people on the entire island, and that the island is
scarcely three miles in length, it is easy to understand the lack of
excitement which sometimes characterizes life there. And yet a spirit
of intense loyalty pervades the community. Nobody has any desire to
remove permanently to any other place, and those who visit the United
States and Great Britain do so merely to prepare themselves for more
useful labor at home. The other day young Henry Christian, a descendant
of the leader of the mutiny on board the _Bounty_, arrived in San
Francisco, whither he had come for the purpose of pursuing a course of
study at an American school, but there can be no doubt that he will
return in due time to Pitcairn. With him came also the president of
the island, James R. McCoy; for the islanders elect an officer with
this title, although they are under the nominal rule of England. Queen
Victoria sent them two lifeboats some years ago, and these are used
constantly in boarding the vessels that anchor off shore. A British
flag, too, flies from one of the peaks of the island, the flagstaff
being planted in the muzzle of one of the old cannon with which the
_Bounty_ was equipped.
Captain Davis is an expert amateur photographer, and he succeeded,
during his few hours’ stay on the island, in getting some admirable
views of the people and their surroundings. One of these views [see
page 231] shows most of the adult inhabitants grouped around Miss
Andre, a young woman from Ohio, who assists the native minister in
his religious work, and instructs the men and women of the community
in the ordinary branches of education. Captain Davis listened to a
well-recited lesson in geography the day he was there, and he says that
these grown-up students seemed intelligent and eager to learn. Their
faces are strong and impressive, and while there is a considerable
trace of “Kanaka” blood in most of the countenances, others are
thoroughly Caucasian. The mixture of totally dissimilar races has
in this instance, at least, resulted in a sturdy, resourceful, and
self-reliant stock.
The primary school is taught by Miss Rosa Young, a native of Pitcairn,
and the author of the book descriptive of the island which is about
to be published. She is the island editor as well as schoolteacher,
writing a chronicle of the community from time to time, which passes
from one to another of the people. There is no printing press on the
island, and this is the only contemporary record of its doings enjoyed
by the settlement. But then, with only one hundred and thirty people
to keep track of, doubtless everybody who is so inclined contrives to
be pretty well posted. On two different occasions Pitcairn has been
deserted by its inhabitants, for one reason or another, and the present
inhabitants are descended mostly from two families who returned to the
island as late as 1858. In 1830 the eighty-seven people then resident
there removed to Tahiti through fear of drought, and, though the moral
laxity of the latter place so disturbed them that they went back to
Pitcairn the next year, in 1856 they undertook a second pilgrimage,
this time to Norfolk Island, where many of them or their descendants
live to-day. William and Moses Young, together with their families,
however, appear to have pined for Pitcairn, and accordingly journeyed
back there again.
The landing place shown in one of the pictures [see page 27] on
another page is at Bounty Bay, where the original settlers of the
island destroyed their vessel more than a hundred years ago, and where,
as the illustration shows, many of the inhabitants gathered to bid
Captain Davis good-by. Up from this spot runs a path to the settlement
itself, which is three or four hundred feet above the level of the sea.
The main street is bordered with palm trees, and the thatched cottages
on either side give evidence of thrift and prosperity. There are no
cows or oxen on the island, but goats are plentiful, and as the land
is steep and rocky in places, these sure-footed animals are doubtless
better adapted to the needs of the people. Oranges grow in abundance,
and so do sweet potatoes, yams, bananas, and pineapples. Captain Davis
says that the dinner provided in his honor at the house of the Advent
missionary was bountiful and excellent.
In these days of hurry and bustle it is refreshing to catch a glimpse
of an Arcadian community like this, whose little world is far removed
from all our modern tendencies in civilization. There are no telephones
or telegraphs on Pitcairn Island; no oceanic cable brings from the
distant mainland the tidings of war or catastrophe on the other side
of the globe. Scarcely any of the inhabitants ever saw a railway train
or an electric light, and probably not even one of them has ever been
inside of a theater. The papers and magazines that they read are weeks
old by the time they reach Pitcairn, and much that they contain must
be as unintelligible as Greek to the islanders. What do they know
of college football games? or how much can they comprehend of the
excitement of a presidential election? They are a people apart, and
their horizon is bounded by limitless sea and sky.—_Henry Robinson
Palmer, in Harper’s Weekly, December 8, 1894._
Transcriber’s Notes
Page 21—changed toobouai to =toobonai=
Page 104—changed folows to =follows=
Page 132—changed Christain to =Christian=
Page 261—changed postion to =position=
Page 266—changed Pitcain to =Pitcairn=