| 43 at Tahiti. The others took their wives in the ship and sailed for Pitcairn Island (at that time unknown to Europeans), where they remained undiscovered for many years.
It was in February, 1808, that Captain Folger touched at Pitcairn Island, supposing it to be uninhabited. Imagine his surprise on seeing a canoe come from the shore containing two fine-looking, half-caste natives who spoke the English language as though it was their native tongue. These were the offspring of the mutineers and their Tahitian wives. It appears that the Bounty was well supplied with Bibles and other books, and that the mutineers had determined to bring up their children virtuously and religiously. They succeeded in creating a community, and it attracted a great deal of attention in Europe. "The happiness, simplicity, and excellence of this little isolated community were almost unequalled [unequaled]."
When discovered, three of the mutineers were still living. The British government did not arrest them, but, rather, proceeded to take especial care of their offspring. They were now getting too numerous for the capabilities of the island to support them, and the government in its generosity gave them, as a present, Norfolk Island. This island is situated midway between New Caledonia and New Zealand, and forms a part of the British colony of New South Wales. It is a beautiful island, and early visitors speak strongly in its praise. Says an officer on the spot, in 1847: "It is by nature a paradise, endowed with the choicest gifts of climate, scenery, and vegetable productions."
In 1798 the government established a civil colony upon this island. Subsequently it established a penal colony for doubly convicted, and the more important felons from Sydney. This convict establishment was broken up on May 7, 1855, and on the 8th of June, 1856, the offspring of the mutineers of the Bounty, amounting to one hundred ninety-four persons, were landed here without accident.
"Everything belonging to the Bounty was brought with them, and the island, with its buildings, two thousand sheep, three hundred horses, besides pigs, poultry, etc., were given them as a free and handsome gift from the British government. The island was brought into a high state of cultivation by the convict labor, and its roads, buildings, and gardens were in admirable order." Such is the history of these English-speaking half-castes who are now located within the bounds of the Australian Mission, and who may yet be visited by us.
Returning from this digression we will state, upon the authority already referred to, that the voyages made to Tahiti by the order of George III, excited wonderful attention in England, and one result of them was the formation of a missionary society in London, which in 1796 fitted out a ship to bring missionaries and the Bible into these newly discovered lands
"Perhaps the very success of these missions led to their downfall, for
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