The Hawaiian gazette., 1895-10-11

There is spot on this globe wher
the golden age still fingers, wher
mankind exists in primaval simpli
city, and peace and security prevail
To be sure its extent is limited an
its population scanty, but good thing
are put up in small parcels, and dia
monGs are not as large as cobble
stones.
Some years ago l was making
yachting cruise, here, there, ant
everywhere, on board a smart little
schooner of $50 tons, named the Nau
illus. We were about fortnight ouI
from Sydney, n. S. W., when we en-
countered a heavy gale of wind from
north-northwest that drove us before
it under a close reefed mainsail and 8
storm jib for three clustering days
during which the weather was sc
thick that no observation could be
got, and we depended almost wholly
upon the nautical guesswork called
"dead reckoning" which, like the
medical guesswork called "diag-
nosis," is as frequently wrong as
right. On the fourth day, however,
about noon the sky cleared, and the
owner, skipper, and both mates were
very busy searching the heavens for
our missing latitude and longitude,
which were discovered to be some
where in the South Pacific Ocean, far
from any known land and quite out of
the track OF vessels.
The next morning dawned bright
and pleasant, a nice breeze sprung up,
tooling us away like the zephyrs poets
sing about, and about 8 a. m. q tiny
object seemed to sprout out of the edge
of the horizon like button mushroom
in a meadow. AT first we land lub-
bers thought it was sperm whale,
an ocean mammal plentiful in that
region, but as it stayed ever in one
place right on our port bow and yet
seemed to grow, as it were, out of the
sea, we determined it was land of
some sort, and were comforted.
Presently the button mushroom be-
came towering cliff of rugged rock,
''spring to the sky" Then the 'front.'
age of thick woods clothed the still
ascending mass, then feathery fringe
of cocoa palms enwreathed the base of
a mountain, a tiny bay dotted with
jutting rocks appeared light ahead, and
the crimson folds of a British red mer-
chant ensign futtered from the top
of denuded hibiscus and was lowered
in friendly sa!utation to our approach.
ing vessel.
Our flag was dipped in acknowl-
edgmeDt, the Nautilus was brought to
the wind, her foresail hauled to the
windward, and she lay to, gently
heaving up and down in front of a
scene that looked like the garden of
Eden in its most palmy days, before
the fruit OF Ewes transgression had
driven our progenitors out into the
world to work for their living.
"What Paradise is this, sprung like
AphroGite from the sea?" | asked,
wondering.
"Bouuty Bay, Pitcairn Island"
answered the skipper; 'and id
nasty place 60 be caught in IL the |
weather is foul, for there amt an
inch of solid holdin' ground for an an
Choir within 5000 miles. Howsom- |
ever, the sky looks peaceful, and [ |
reckon We can skirmish about for day |
or so while we ill our tanks, get some |
fresh grub aboard, and give you all a
run ashorer
By this time two smart whaleboats, |
manned by crews of handsome, stall
wart young fellows, brown skinned, |
bright eyed and lusty limbed, had put
off aud were dasbing toward the
schooner, making the spray fly in
arches from their bows. In minute
they were alongside and leaped on
deck with a merry greeting.
"Welcome! Welcomed" they shout
ed in plain English, shaking hands
at the same time. "Glad to
see you at Pitcairnr'
One young fellow, about twenty
years of sge, held back a little from
the boisterous geeting of his compan-
ions, and contented himself with
smiling cordially aud welcoming us
IN more subdued fashion. He had
5he brown skin common to all the
ads, but his blue eyes and hair
Hinged with gold bespake Anglo
saxon blood, and his small arched :
eet and sbapely hands proclaimed
hat blood to be gentle.
His name was Edward Christian, [
,reat-grandson of the midshipman j
Christian, who had led the mutineers
# the Bounty in their attack on their s
aptaiD, Bligh, and in the consequent s
ettlement on the lonely volcanic rock [
n mid ocean, the burning of their I
hip, and the planting of its varied /
argo of all the fruits of thu earth, the |
forth of which has caused q
he barren rock to burst out in a rich S
less of bloom, fragrance and beauty [
hat makes, indeed, "the desert TO Q
lesson as the rose" d
Off We started for the shore, on O
1hich, grouped picturesquely about g
he rocks and on the little strip of Il
1ingle that does duty for beach in il
his almost inaccessible spot of lonely Il
md, were some dozens of natives. "
We were cordially welcomed by
rowd of bappy-looking, comedy peo- c
lie of all ages, the girls with their a
bundant tresses gracefully wreathed q
18th flowers, and wearing each a Of
lais" or garland about a shapely a
aist or over one shoulder. The elder ii
omen with palm leaf hats or 'ker- b.
liefs tidily knotted on their heads, It
nd the men dressed in a rough, half. to
Iilor fashion, but all barefooted, and TO
lost OF them ragged, for clothes are G.
he hardest things to come by in this M
rolf isle so abruptly cut off from the b,
st Of the world. lys