166 THE ATLANTIC. [chap. iii. 



vided for under certain rules, sucli as exist in the case of Nor- 

 folk Island ; one or two magistrates being appointed with au- 

 thority to settle small disputes, celebrate marriages, and look to 

 the maintenance of order. It was provided that the chief mag- 

 istrate should comnnmicate, as occasion occurred, with the Sec- 

 retary of State for the Colonies, and any graver matters would 

 doubtless be adjusted by him by giving special powers to the 

 captain of one of H-M/s ships. The Secretary for the Colonies 

 suggested that the Admiralty should direct the officer in com- 

 mand of a ship likely to call at the island to appoint one or 

 two magistrates and to confer with them as to the rules for 

 their government ; and accordingly, in October, 1875, II.M.S. 

 Diamond visited Tristan, and Captain Stanley Bosanquet for- 

 warded a very full and entertaining report to the Admiralty. 

 He said that if he had failed in carrying out the wishes of 

 H.M.'s Secretary for the Colonies, it was because, on becoming 

 acquainted with the settlers, he was unable to see any need of 

 establishing rules for their future guidance. He again took a 

 census of the population, which remained stationary at eighty- 

 five, and it appears that there are now only fifteen males of the 

 age of twenty -one years and upward. "• These," he remarks, 

 " represent the j)hysical force, and I may also say the intellect- 

 ual, of this somewhat unsophisticated community, although I 

 should not venture to assert this (superiority of the males) of 

 any more highly civilized one ;" and, from what I saw of the 

 business capacity of the Tristan young ladies and their excel- 

 lent physical development, I should certainly have thought 

 twice before venturing to assert it even there. " The families 

 are connected by the ties of marriage, and their interests are 

 identical. They have certain rules of their own, and the pres- 

 ent senior male member of the community, Peter Green, is 

 made their referee if necessary." 



Captain Bosanquet doubts the necessity of the emigration of 

 any of the settlers, even if the population increase considera- 



