NARRATIVE OF THE CRUISE. 247 



can be more beautiful or picturesque than Tristan, with its lofty peak covered with snow, 

 the sea as smooth as the stillest lake, just rippling against the fine volcanic black sand 

 on the beach, and a cascade of the purest water falling over a cliff directly into the sea ; 

 but it must not be forgotten that in the course of an hour this calm and placid scene 

 may be rendered one of the most terrific in nature, and prove in an unmistakable way 

 the power of the ocean, for in that short time the beach, so lately covered with fine 

 sand, has forced up on it immense stones, which, tossed against one another by the surf, 

 create a noise resembling thunder, and so quickly are these large stones cast up that a 

 fortnight after the wreck of the ' Julia' she was almost entirely buried beneath them/' 1 



When Captain Cloete received orders to abandon the settlement, and return with his 

 men to the Cape of Good Hope, one of his soldiers, Corporal William Glass, in charge 

 of the detachment of the Royal Artillery, asked, and received, permission to remain on 

 the island with his wife and family. He persuaded two other men, John Nankivall and 

 Samuel Burnell, both natives of Plymouth, to join him, and form a kind of partnership, 

 in which he was to be the principal. One of the officers drew up a form of agreement 

 between the three men, which they signed, and in November 1817, after the departure 

 of the troops, these three men, with Glass's wife and two children, remained for some 

 considerable time the only inhabitants of the group. 



From 1817 to the present time Tristan Island has always been occupied either by the 

 original settlers, their descendants, or other people, who from time to time have become 

 fascinated by the primitive life of this interesting community. To the time of his death, 

 which happened in 1853, Corporal Glass, who appears to have been a man of some edu- 

 cation, considerable industry, mild temper, and strong religious principles, was considered 

 the chief of the settlement, and was commonly designated as the Governor by the other 

 residents, who invariably bowed to his decisions. In 1849, previous to the death of 

 Glass, a gentleman interested in the welfare of this remote colony, remitted to the 

 Society for the Propagation of the Gospel a sum of £1000, to be expended in providing 

 the inhabitants of Tristan Island with a resident clergyman for five years, who would fulfil 

 the office of teacher as well as minister. The Society selected the Rev. W. F. Taylor 

 for the task, and he reached the island in 1851, and remained there until 1857, when 

 he left for the Cape of Good Hope in H.M.S. " Geyser," and took with him forty-five 

 of the inhabitants, who thought they could better themselves in that colony. After the 

 death of Corporal Glass, the Rev. Mr. Taylor was, of course, considered the chief of the 

 settlement until his departure, since which time a man named Peter Green has been 

 acknowledged as such. 



For the first three years of its existence this little colony had few communications 

 with the outer world ; they lived very happily together, Mrs. Glass attending to the dairy 

 and other such suitable work, and the three men looking after the cattle and sheep, and 



1 M.S. Report in Hydrographic Department of Admiralty. 



