CHAP. III.] BAHIA TO THE CAPE. 135 



remained till April, 1791. There was then abnndajice of wood 

 of small growth, excellent for lire-wood, where the tents of the 

 Industry's crew were pitched, near the site of the present set- 

 tlement; and the amount of sea-animals of all kinds — whales, 

 seals, and sea-birds — was nnlimited. Captain Patten's party 

 obtained 5600 seal-skins in the seven months of their stay, and 

 he says that they could have loaded a ship with oil in three 

 weeks. In 1792 the Lion and the Hindostan, with the British 

 embassy to China on board, touched at the island of Tristan. 

 The Lion anchored olf the north side of the island, under the 

 cliff, but a sudden squall coming on, she almost immediately 

 put to sea. The island was at that time entirely uninhabited ; 

 whales and seals were seen in great numbers on the coast. In 

 1811 Captain Hey wood found three Americans settled on Tris- 

 tan preparing seal-skins and oil. Goats and pigs had been set 

 adrift by some of the earlier visitors, and they had become very 

 numerous on the upper terraces. One of the Americans de- 

 clared himself sovereign proprietor of the islands, and in the 

 intervals of seal-hunting they cleared about fifty acres of land, 

 and planted it with various things, including coffee -trees and 

 sugar - canes, which they got through the American consul at 

 Rio. It seems that for a time some of their crops looked very 

 promising, but for some reason the settlement was shortly 

 abandoned. Formal possession was taken of the islands by 

 the English in 1817, and during Napoleon's captivity at St. 

 Helena a guard detached from the British troops at the Cape 

 of Good Hope was maintained there. Batteries were thrown 

 up and a few houses built, but in little more than a year the 

 soldiers were withdrawn. A corporal of artillery of the name 

 of Glass, with his wife and two soldiers w^ho were induced to 

 join him, were allowed to remain ; and since that time the isl- 

 and of Tristan has been constantly inhabited. In 1823 the set- 

 tlers were seventeen in number, among them three women, and 

 they had to dispose of twenty-five tons of potatoes, and abun- 



