GEORGE.  “Thanks, dear Grandy, for winding up my subject so beautifully.  Now, friend Charles, perhaps you will spin your yarn?”

CHARLES.  “Most willingly; but it will be a short one, as I have very little material.  Pitcairn’s Island stands alone near the eastern extremity of Polynesia.  It is chiefly interesting on account of its having been the refuge of the mutinous crew of Captain Bligh’s ship, the ‘Bounty.’  The mutineers, after having turned their captain and a few of the crew out in an open boat, tried to make a settlement in the Society Islands; but failing, they, accompanied by some Otaheitans, fixed themselves in this isolated spot.  They landed here in 1790, fifteen men, and twelve women.  Nine of the men were mutineers; all the others were Otaheitans.  Captain Beachey visited the island in 1825, and found about sixty persons on it, the descendants of Captain Bligh’s men.  Pitcairn’s Isle is a little spot not more than seven miles in circumference, with an abrupt rocky coast.  I believe the reason there are so few persons on the island, is accounted for by the dismal fate of the original settlers.  The sailors had married Otaheitan women, whose brothers in one night murdered them, only one escaping, whose name was Adams.  On the following night, the Otaheitan widows of the English inflicted dreadful vengeance, by murdering all their brothers who had committed the first frightful deed.  Their children grew up under the fostering care of Adams, who officiated as a sort of patriarch.  The present population comprises about eighty individuals, who form an interesting link between the European and Polynesian races.”

MR. WILTON.  “In a Bermuda paper of August, 1848, there is an interesting letter from a school-master named Nobbs, which is so replete with information, that I will read it all to you, as it is not so remarkable for its length as its interest:—­

“More than twenty years ago, I left England for the express purpose of visiting Pitcairn’s Island, and to remain there if I could render my talents available to the inhabitants.  The proprietor of a small vessel of but eighteen tons’ burthen, hearing me express my anxiety to obtain a passage to Pitcairn’s Island, remarked, it was a spot he had long desired to visit, and if I would assist him in fitting out his vessel, he would go with me.  I accepted his proposal advanced him what money I could command, and embarked from Callao de Lima, with no other person than the owner of the little cutter; and in six weeks arrived here (Pitcairn’s Island) in safety.

“’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.