Mutiny of the Bounty and story of Pitcairn Island, 1790-1894

by Rosalind Amelia Young

In July, 1872, John Buffett returned to Norfolk Island on the whale ship Sea Ranger, accompanied by one of his grandsons and another young man. They were received by their relatives and friends on Norfolk Island with every demonstration of joy, their unexpected arrival causing intense excitement. Every attention was shown them, and feast and dance were gotten up in behalf of their visitors. On receiving an invitation to visit the pretty chapel and grounds of the Melanesian Mission, they went, and were impressed with the order and neatness that prevailed everywhere. The orderly behavior of the students, and the exactness which characterized the arrangements of the whole establishment, under the able management of Mr. R. H. Codrington, who was during that time at the head of the mission, called forth their highest admiration, and repeated visits only served to strengthen the impressions at first received that a noble work was being done at the mission.

The bishop of Auckland, New Zealand, was at the same time on a visit to Norfolk Island, and during his stay confirmed some of the young people, of which act he makes mention in his “Notes of a Visit to Norfolk Island,” as follows:—

“November 16, Saturday. I had a class of young people from the settlement (i. e., the home of the quondam Pitcairners) who were to be confirmed on the following day.... My class was held in St. Barnabas Chapel. Afterwards I received a visit from two young men, James Russell McCoy and Benjamin Stanley Young (brother of Fisher Young, killed at Santa Cruz in 1864), who had recently come by a whaling vessel from Pitcairn’s Island. They wished to be admitted to confirmation, and I was very glad that they should be, after having some conversation with them upon the subject.”

Besides the confirmation service, Bishop Cowie ordained three deacons from among the Melanesians. This ceremony was witnessed by the two young men with much interest. The service was performed in the church of the Norfolk islanders, a building which had been completed by them a short time before, and of which they were justly proud, the whole being designed and finished by themselves. It had been dedicated under the name of All Saints. Bishop Cowie’s “Notes” thus make mention of the ordination service:—

“The ordination was held at eleven o’clock, morning prayer having been said for the Norfolk islanders at an earlier hour by Mr. Nobbs, the chaplain of the settlement. It was at first intended to hold the ordination at St. Barnabas, but as in that case the Norfolk islanders could not have been present at the service, owing to the smallness of the mission chapel, it was thought better that the Melanesians should go down to the settlement (three miles distant), the new church there, All Saints, being large enough to hold all the church-going population of the island.... The venerable pastor of the quondam Pitcairn islanders, the Rev. G. H. Nobbs, assisted me at the ministration of the holy communion, ... the communicants numbering over a hundred. Whilst the clergy were communicating, Heber’s beautiful hymn, ‘Bread of the world in mercy broken,’ was softly and sweetly sung by the congregation....

“In the afternoon at three o’clock I held a confirmation at All Saints for the Norfolk islanders.... The preface to the confirmation service was read by the Rev. G. H. Nobbs, whose granddaughter, Catherine Nobbs, played the harmonium accompaniment at both the services. Twenty young people were confirmed (including the two lately arrived from Pitcairn’s Island), nearly all being descendants of the Bounty mutineers. The hymns were particularly well sung by nearly the whole congregation, one of them to the tune Cambridge New, said to have been a great favorite with Bishop Patteson. A son and a daughter of John Adams, of the Bounty, viz., George Adams and Rachel Evans, both over seventy years of age, were at the service, and I went to see Arthur Quintall, now quite imbecile, the son of another of the mutineers.”

The three aged persons above mentioned were the only survivors on Norfolk Island of the children of the mutineers, for death had taken away many of the people in the space of nine years. In 1868 a malignant fever swept like a blasting wind over the island, and many of the people died, so that the two young visitors missed the faces of many a dear relative and friend whom they still remembered well. Several other changes had taken place on the island. The people had in many instances removed to their own allotments of land, and were now living widely separated from one another.

The visit, of nearly three months’ duration, was rendered as delightful and pleasing as possible, and they left their kind friends with feelings of hope as well as of sorrow, for the young men had expectations of returning again to live on the island before many years had passed. On leaving, letters from the people on Norfolk Island were given them to take home. These letters contained strong advice and earnest entreaties to their friends on Pitcairn Island to return to them and live together in one community as before. Every argument that could be brought to bear on the subject was used to induce the Pitcairners to return to Norfolk Island. When the letters were, on their arrival, read to the people, and the question thoroughly discussed, the majority favored the proposal. That all obstacles should be removed, their friends had generously offered to charter and fit out a vessel at their own expense for the purpose of conveying them back to Norfolk Island, promising also that if they should return their former grants of land would be restored to them. The condition was that all should return, as otherwise they could scarcely be expected to put themselves to such an expense. Naturally, most of the younger members of the community were eager to return, and some among the older ones were not unwilling. But a few of the families were determined to remain where they were, and there the matter ended.

One argument given in favor of their return was the change that Pitcairn Island had undergone in the space of a very few years. Extreme scarcity of water was a source of much discomfort and anxiety to the inhabitants, and the soil, that had formerly been so productive, seemed now to have lost its remarkable fertility. The yam crop, which hitherto had yielded so well, and had been one of the principal food supplies, now failed almost entirely. Nor did the sweet potato escape the general plague, for a very troublesome blight would attack the young plantation, completely preventing its growth, and when the tubers became matured, they were often infested by a destructive worm, that worked untold mischief among them.

The breadfruit, too, yielded to the general decline, and splendid trees that once bent beneath their wealth of fruit, began to decay, and failed gradually to produce fruit, until they ceased almost entirely. Other fruit trees were more fortunate and did not suffer as much as the food-producing plants. Around the entire island, along the edge, or precipice, where once had flourished a thick growth of stunted, hardy trees, could now be seen bare, barren soil, free to be washed away by heavy rains. During this period, when the island was undergoing such a change, it was subject to frequent seasons of drought. The water supply daily diminished, and the springs that in former years had been ceaselessly flowing now dried up, with but two exceptions. Such was the condition of Pitcairn Island when the request from Norfolk Island that the community might remove thither was sent. But the conditional proposition was not accepted, and it was never again renewed.