82 WHALING AND FISHING. 



they grew up to man's estate, when several of 

 them chose themselves wives from among the 

 Portuguese inhabitants of the Cape of Good Hope 

 and settled for life under the rule of their t'atlu iv 

 who now styled himself Governor. Two emerod 

 the American whaling service, where they have 

 become expert whalemen, and were office in i. 

 New London vessel at the time of our visit to th<? 

 island. They too have brought their families to 

 Tristan, which lies at a comparatively small 

 distance from the Crozets, and Desolation, the 

 whaling ground of the vessel in which they are 

 engaged. 



At the time of our visit the colony numbered 

 one hundred and one souls, a little child born but 

 a few days before our arrival, making the first of 

 the new hundred. There had never been a death 

 on the island since its first settlement. The old 

 governor rules supreme, with a patriarchal sway, 

 over the entire settlement. All trade with passing 

 vessels is carried on by him, and all property JR 

 held in common. 



The narrow belt of land, about three hundred 

 acres, which is arable, is cultivated in common, 

 and each receives of the proceeds according to his 

 need. Upon the arrival of a vessel each familj 

 states its necessities to the Governor, who barters 

 his produce in exchange for such articles as are 

 needed. The "almighty dollar" is not recrgniztd 

 8 a medium of exchange. With the produco of 



