TO PITCAIRN ISLAND. 243 
it passed for a new discovery, till the English 
frigate Breton, in the year 1814, on her voyage 
from the Marquesas to the coast of Chili, also 
touched at the Pitcairn Island, which from the 
account of its discoverer Carteret, they con- 
sidered uninhabited. ‘The crew were therefore 
much surprised at the sight of cultivated fields, 
and ornamental cottages; and also of men as- 
sembled on the shore making friendly signals 
and inviting them to land. Some were even 
seen skilfully guiding their little canoes through 
the surf, and approaching the frigate. 
The sailors were about to address them in > 
the language of the South Sea Islands, when 
their surprise was not a little increased by 
hearing the name of the ship and her captain 
enquired for, in pure English. The Captain 
himself replied to these questions, and the con- 
versation becoming interesting, invited his new 
acquaintances on board; they immediately 
complied, and even when the whole crew sur- 
rounded them and overwhelmed them with 
questions, betrayed no symptom of the timidity 
universal among the South Sea islanders. 
M 2 
