chaplain; and the meeting of the wives and husbands most affecting, exchanging expressions of joy that could not have been exceeded had they just returned from a long absence. The men sprang up to the trees, throwing down cocoanuts, the husks of which were torn off by others with their teeth, and offering us the milk. As soon as we had rested ourselves, they took us to their cottages, where we dined and slept."

Captain Waldegrave says it was highly gratifying to observe their native simplicity of manners, apparently without guile; their hospitality was unbounded, their cottages being open to all, and all were welcome to such food as they possessed; pigs and fowls were immediately killed and dressed, and when the guests were seated, one of the islanders, in the attitude of prayer, and his eyes raised towards heaven, repeated a simple grace for the present food they were about to partake of, beseeching, at the same time, spiritual nourishment; at the end of which each responded Amen. On the arrival of any one during the repast, they all paused until the new guest had said grace.

At night they all assembled in one of the cottages to hear the afternoon church service performed by Mr. Watson, and Captain Waldegrave describes it as a most striking scene. The place chosen was the bedroom of one of the double cottages, or one with an upper story. The ascent was by a broad ladder from the lower room through a trap-door. The clergyman took his station between two beds, with a lamp burning close behind him. In the bed on his right were three infants sound asleep; at the foot of that on his left were three men sitting. On each side and in front were the men, some wearing only the simple mara, displaying their gigantic figures; others in jackets and trousers, their necks and feet bare; behind stood the women, in their modest home-made cloth dresses, which entirely covered

the form, leaving only the head and feet bare. The girls wore, in addition, a sheet knotted in the manner of a Roman senator's toga, thrown over the right shoulder and under the left arm. When the general confession commenced, they all knelt down facing the clergyman, with their hands raised to the breast in the attitude of prayer, slowly and distinctly repeating the confession after the clergyman. They prayed for the King of England, whom they consider as their sovereign. A sermon followed, from a text which Captain Waldegrave thinks was most happily chosen: "Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom." conclusion of the service they requested permission to sing their parting hymn, when the whole congregation, in good time, sang "Depart in peace."

At the

Captain Waldegrave, like all former visiters, bears testimony to the kind disposition and active benevolence of these simple islanders. The children, he says, are fond and obedient, the parents affectionate and kind towards their children. None of the party ever heard a harsh word made use of by one towards another. They never slander or speak ill of one another. If any question was asked as to the character or conduct of a particular individual, the answer would probably be something of this kind, "If it could do any good, I would answer you; but as it cannot, it would be wrong to tell tales;" or if the question applied to one who had committed a fault they would say, "It would be wrong to tell my neighbour's shame." The kind and benevolent feeling of these amiable people is extended to the surviving widows of the Otaheite men who were slain on the island, and who would be left in a helpless and destitute state, were it not for the humane consideration of the younger part of the society, by whom they are supported and regarded with every mark of attention.

The women are clothed in white cloth made from

the paper mulberry, the dress extending from the shoulders to the feet, in double folds, and so loose as entirely to conceal the shape of the person. The mothers, while nursing, carry the infant within their dress; as the child advances in growth it sits across the hip of the parent with its little hands clinging to the shoulder, while the mother's arm passing round it keeps it in safety. The men and boys, except on Sunday, when they appear in English dresses, generally wear only the mara, or waist-cloth, which, passing over the hips and between the legs, is knotted behind; the climate is in fact too hot for cumbersome clothing. The women, when working, use only a petticoat, with a jacket.

The men are stated to be from five feet eight inches to six feet high, of great muscular strength and excellent figures. "We did not see," says Captain Waldegrave," one cripple or defective person, except one boy, whom, in the most good-humoured way, and laughing heartily, they brought to me, observing, 'You ought to be brothers, you have each lost the right eye.' I acknowledged the connexion, and no doubt for the future he will be called the Captain."

Captain Beechey has given a more detailed account of the physical qualities of the Pitcairn islanders. He says they are tall, robust, and healthy; their average height five feet ten inches; the tallest man measured six feet and one quarter of an inch, and the shortest of the adults five feet nine inches and one-eighth; their limbs well proportioned, round, and straight; their feet turning a little inwards. A boy of eight years measured four feet and one inch; another of nine years four feet three inches. Their simple food and early habits of exercise give them a muscular power and activity not often surpassed. It is recorded on the island that George Young and Edward Quintal have each carried at one time a kedge anchor, two sledge hammers, and

an armourer's anvil, weighing together upwards of six hundred pounds; and that Quintal once carried a boat twenty-eight feet in length. In the water they are almost as much at home as on land, and can remain almost a whole day in the sea. They frequently swim round their little island, the circuit of which is at the least seven miles; and the women are nearly as expert swimmers as the men.

The female descendants of the Otaheite women are almost as muscular as the males, and taller than the generality of the sex. Polly Young, who is not the tallest on the island, measured five feet nine inches and a half. The features of both men and women are regular and well formed; eyes bright and generally hazel, though in a few instances blue; the eyebrows thin and rarely meeting; the nose a little flattened, and being rather extended at the nostrils, partakes of the Otaheitan character, as do the lips, which are broad and strongly sulcated; their ears moderately large, and the lobes are invariably united with the cheek; they are generally perforated when young, for the reception of flowers, a very common custom among the natives of the South Sea islands; hair black, sometimes curling, sometimes straight; teeth regular and white. On the whole they are a well-looking people.

Captain Beechey says, the women have all learned the art of midwifery; that parturition generally takes place during the night-time; that the duration of labour is seldom longer than five hours, and has not yet in any case proved fatal; but there is no instance of twins, nor of a single miscarriage, except from accident. Infants are generally bathed three times a day in cold water, and are sometimes not weaned for three or four years; but when that does take place, they are fed upon "popoe," made of ripe plantains and boiled taro-root rubbed into a paste. Mr. Collie, the surgeon of the Blossom, remarks that nothing is more extraordinary in the history

of the island than the uniform good health of the children; the teething is easily got over, they have no bowel complaints, and are exempt from those contagious diseases which affect children in large communities. He offered to vaccinate the children as well as all the grown persons; but they deemed the risk of infection of small-pox to be too small to render that operation necessary.

As a proof how very much simple diet and constant exercise tend to the healthful state of the body, the skin of these people, though in such robust health, compared with that of the Europeans, always felt cold, and their pulses always considerably lower. The doctor examined several of them; in the forenoon he found George Young's only sixty; three others, in the afternoon, after dinner, were sixtyeight, seventy-two, and seventy-six, while those of the officers who stood the heat of the climate best were above eighty.

It is impossible not to feel a deep interest in the welfare of this little society, and at the same time an apprehension that something may happen to dis turb that harmony and destroy that simplicity of manners which have hitherto characterized it. It is to be feared, indeed, that the seeds of discord are already sown. It appears from Captain Waldegrave's statement, that no less than three Englishmen have found their way into this happy society. One of them, John Buffet, mentioned by Beechey, is a harmless man, and, as it has been stated, of great use to the islanders in his capacity of clergyman and schoolmaster; he is also a clever and useful mechanic, as a shipwright and joiner, and is much beloved by the community. Two others have since been left on the island, one of them, by name John Evans, son of a coachmaker in the employ of Long of St. Martin's Lane, who has married a daughter of John Adams, through whom he possesses and cultivates a certain portion of land; the third is