Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1885-03-05
PITCAIRN.
The Observations of a Recent Visitor to a
Distant Island in the South Pacific

The Observations of Recent Visitor to a
Distant Island in the South Pacific
Ocean.
The American clipper ship Snow and
Burgess, which recently completed
loading oil at the old navy-yard piers
for Japan, visited an unfrequented part
of the world on her voyage from Port
Blakely, Washington Territory, to Phil
adelphia. Pitcairn Island, the spot
visited, is lonely and distant land in
the South Pacific Ocean, latitude
twenty-five degrees three minutes, and
longitude 1870 degrees eight minutes
west. 1t is two and one-quarter miles
in length and one mile in breadth.
The shores rise almost perpendicularly,
and there is but one accessible landing
place, Bounty Bay. The island is COW
cred with a luxuriant verdure, and the
bases of it's lofty cliffs are skirted with
thickly-branching evergreens. Its in
habitants are especially interesting, be-
cause they are descendants OF the mu-
tineers of the famous ship Bounty, and
are isolated from the entire world. The
islanders are described by Captain An
derson as community such as has been
the dream of poets and the aspirations
of philosophers. James Russell Nc
Coy. the chief magistrate of the country,
with all OF the men, came Oil In large
whaleboat and boarded the Snow and
Burgess miles out at sea. They re-
ported the entire population to be 100
souls, all of whom were enjoying good
health.
In 1877 the ship Bounty set sail from
England, under the direction of the
English Government, for the Society
Islands for a stock of bread-frut trees.
The island of Tahiti was reached in
safety and the trees collected, but the
Bounty had not proceeded long on her
return voyage when the majority of her
crew, overcome by the temptation OF
leading life of total idleness and dis
sipation in a luxurious climate, deter
mined to mutiny. One of the mates,
Fletcher Christian, was the leader of
the mutiny, and out of a crew of forty
six men sixteen only remained true to
their commander. Captain Bligh was
afterward put in boat with sixteen of
his crew and turned adrift in the ocean.
Afraid of being captured, Christian left
Pitcairn and landed at Norfolk Island,
and again left there for Pitcairn Island,
where most of his descendants now re-
side. For wears the English Govern
| ment supposed all hands had pershed.
as nothing had been seen OF them. In
| 1908 Captain Tolger of the ship Topaz,
| of Boston, called at Pitcairn for water,
and, having supposed it to be uninhab-
| tied, was much surprised to see a canoe
| with two men of light brown hue ap-
proach the vessel and request in good
English that a rope be thrown to them
| They were the descendants of the mu-
tineers. When tins news reached In
| gland the war ship Pandora was sent
| to Pitcairn and seized sixteen of the
men and carried them to England,
where they were promptly executed.
At distance the island is complete
i IL h dden in the trees, so that from
the sea it appears unnhabited. When
| the men boarded the Snow and Burgess
their dress was a perfect caricature.
Some wore long black coats without
any other article of dress; others had
| shirts without coats. and still others
wore waistcoasts without either of the
| aforementioned garments. None had
| shoes or stockings. and only two pos
sessed hats, neither of which seemed
likely to hang long together.
| Cats lead charmed lives at Pitcairn.
The law in regard to these animals is
positively detected in killing fowls.
however strong the suspicion may be,
the person killing such cat is obliged.
as penalty, to destroy three hundred
rats, whose tails must be submitted to