Pitcairn Island

Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)

a solitary island in the Pacific Ocean, between Australia and South America, merica, in lat. 25° by Guido of 3' S. and lon. 130° 8' W., measures 2½ miles by 1 mile. It was discovered by Carteret in 1767, and was at that time uninhabited. In 1790 it was taken possession of by nine of the mutineers of H. M. S. "Bounty," with six Tahitian men and 12 women, the ringleader being called Christian. Four years later the native men one night murdered all the Englishmen, except Alexander Smith, who afterward assumed the name of * John Adams. Thereupon the women, in revenge, murdered all the Tahitian men. At the end of 10 years John Adams was left alone, with eight or nine women and several children; and from them the present inhabitants (126 in 1890) are descended. Adams, changed by these tragic adventures, set about the education of his companions in Christian principles. The little colony was unknown to the world till 1808, when it was "discovered" by Captain Folger of the American sealing ship "Topaz"; the first British vessel to visit it did not arrive till 1814. The islanders were visited again in 1825 and 1830, and in 1831, as their numbers had rapidly increased (to 87), they were at their own request removed to Tahiti by the British Government. But, disgusted by the undesirable customs of their Tahitian relatives, the most of them went back to Pitcairn Island. The island was annexed to Great Britain in 1839. Nearly 200 of the islanders were transferred to Norfolk Island in 1856, but a number of them afterward returned. Pitcairn Island enjoys a lovely climate; its mountainous surface reaches 1,008 feet in Outlook Ridge; the soil is fertile, and (1914) adults, 140 males, 39 females; children, 66.