Captain Waldegrave's assumption, that this island is sufficiently large for the maintenance of one thousand souls, is grounded on incorrect data; it does not follow, that because one-twelfth of the island will maintain eighty persons, the whole must support nine hundred and sixty persons. The island is not more than four square miles, or two thousand five hundred and sixty acres; and as a ridge of rocky hills runs from north to south, having two peaks exceeding one thousand feet in height, it is more than probable that not one half of it is capable of cultivation. It would seem, indeed, from several ancient morais being discovered among these hills; some stone axes or hatchets of compact basaltic lava, very hard and capable of a fine polish; four stone images, about six feet high, placed on a platform, not unlike those on Easter Island, one of which has been preserved, and is the rude representation of the human figure to the hips, hewn out of a piece of red lava:—these remains would seem to indicate a former population, that had found it expedient to abandon the island from its insufficiency to support it. Captain Beechey observes, that 'from these images and the large piles of stones, on heights to which they must have been dragged with great labour, it may be concluded that the island was inhabited for a considerable time; and from bones being found, always buried under these piles, and never upon the surface, we may presume that those who survived, quitted the island in their canoes to seek an asylum elsewhere.'
It appears from Beechey, that Adams had contemplated the prospect of an increasing population with the limited means of supporting it, and requested that he would communicate with the British Government upon the subject, which he says he did, and that, through the interference of the Admiralty and Colonial Office, means have been taken for removing them to any place they may choose for themselves. It is to be hoped, however, that no such interference will take place; for half a century, at least, there is no danger of any want of food. The attempt, however, was made through the means of a Mr. Nott, a missionary of Otaheite, who, being on a visit to this country, was authorized, on his return, to make arrangements for their removal to Otaheite, if they wished it, and if Pomarre, the king of the island, should not object to receive them; and he carried a letter to this chief from Lord Bathurst, acquainting him with the intention of the British Government, and expressing the hope that he would be induced to receive under his protection a people whose moral and religious character had created so lively an interest in their favour; but it fortunately happened that this missionary passed the island without stopping. A Mr. Joshua Hill subsequently proposed their removal to New South Wales, but his vessel was considered too small for the purpose.
Two years after this, as difficulties had occurred to prevent the above-mentioned intentions from being carried into effect, Sir George Murray deemed it desirable that no time should be lost in affording such assistance to these islanders as might, at all events, render their present abode as comfortable as circumstances would allow, until arrangements could be made for their future disposal, either in one of the Society Islands, as originally proposed, or at one of our settlements on New Holland. The assistance here alluded to has been afforded, as above mentioned, by his Majesty's ship Seringapatam.
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.
Pitcairn Island lies at the south-eastern extremity of a chain of islands, which, including the Society and Friendly Islands, exceed a hundred in number, many of them wholly uninhabited, and the rest but thinly peopled, all speaking the same or nearly the same language, which is also spoken by the natives of Pitcairn Island; and all of the two groups are richly clothed with the spontaneous products of nature fit for the use of man. To all these they will have, when necessity prompts them, easy means of access. No large vessels are required for an emigration of this kind; the frailest barks and single canoes have been driven hundreds of miles over the Pacific. The Pitcairners have already proceeded from the simple canoe to row-boats, and the progress from this to small decked vessels is simple and natural. They may thus at some future period, which is not at all improbable, be the means of spreading Christianity and consequently civilization throughout the numerous groups of islands in the Southern Pacific; whereas to remove them, as has been imprudently suggested, would be to devote them at once to misery and destruction.
That there is no deficiency in the number and variety of plants, producing food and clothing for the use of man, will appear from the following list, which is far from being complete:
INDIGENOUS
Cocos nucifera
Cocoa-nut.