68 VOYAGE TO THE 



alarm on that head ; and as every person endea- 

 voured to set his mind at rest, he very soon made 

 himself at home.* 



The young men, ten in number, were tall, robust, 

 and healthy, with good-natured countenances, which 

 would any where have procured them a friendly 

 reception ; and with a simplicity of manner and a 

 fear of doing wrong which at once prevented the 

 possibility of giving offence. Unacquainted with 

 the world, they asked a number of questions which 

 would have applied better to persons with whom 

 they had been intimate, and who had left them but 

 a short time before, than to perfect strangers ; and 

 inquired after ships and people we had never heard 

 of. Their dress, made up of the presents which had 

 been given them by the masters and seamen of mer- 

 chant ships, was a perfect caricature. Some had on 

 long black coats without any other article of dress 

 except trousers, some shirts without coats, and others 

 waistcoats without either ; none had shoes or stock- 

 ings, and only two possessed hats, neither of which 

 seemed likely to hang long together. 



They were as anxious to gratify their curiosity 

 about the decks, as we were to learn from them the 

 state of the colony, and the particulars of the fate of 

 the mutineers who had settled upon the island, 

 which had been variously related by occasional visit- 

 ers ; and we were more especially desirous of ob- 

 taining Adams' own narrative ; for it was peculiarly 

 interesting to learn from one who had been impli- 

 cated in the mutiny, the facts of that transaction, 



* Since the MS. of this narrative was sent to press, intelligence 

 of Adams' death has been communicated to me by our Consul at 

 the Sandwich Islands. 



