NARRATIVE OF THE ORUISE. 249 



husbands. In April 1827 he brought the women, and they were married to the five 

 bachelors of the settlement, bringing the total number of families up to seven, and these 

 were the residents when the group was visited and described by Captain Morrell of 

 the " Antarctic." 



In 1828 American whalers first began to visit the neighbourhood of the Tristan da 

 Cunha group in search of spoil, and they have continued to do so more or less ever 

 since. Eequiring, as they do, a constant supply of fresh meat and vegetables, and 

 having always on board surplus quantities of flour, coffee, tea, sugar, &c, a brisk trade 

 ensued between their crews and the islanders, which reached its maximum in 1840, and 

 has since gradually declined, for the whales, harassed by the attacks of the numerous 

 ships employed in their capture, have gradually departed to localities less easy of access, 

 and, naturally, the ships have endeavoured to follow them. 



The visits of these whaling vessels were of considerable benefit to the colony, for 

 not only did they bring news of what was going on in the world, but they afforded 

 opportunities to the boys (descendants of the original settlers) of occasionally taking a 

 cruise, thus becoming acquainted with other communities, and working off the natural 

 wish of most young men to wander for a time ; they also supplied opportunities of 

 marriage to the young women, of which some took advantage ; and. above all, by 

 reminding the inhabitants that, did they feel discontented with their simple mode of 

 life, an opportunity of escaping from it was frequently to be had for the asking, made 

 them year by year less inclined to sacrifice their numerous comforts to enter the race of 

 life amongst communities less bound together by ties of interest and consanguinity than 

 themselves. 



How the inhabitants of this remote dependency of the British Crown have prospered 

 can be better seen by referring to the following table of statistics than by any description. 

 Their flocks and herds have increased after supplying all their wants, and their vegetable 

 produce has always been greater than the consumption, while their food and cooking have 

 been described, by those visitors who have enjoyed their hospitality, as most excellent. 

 The table gives the names of the ships whose captains have made reports on the state 

 of the group, the date of their visit, the number of inhabitants, the produce of the island, 

 and a column has been added showing in what publication these reports appear in extenso, 

 so that reference can be made to them should it be necessary to ascertain exactly what 

 was said of the settlement at any particular date. 



The occasional decrease in the number of the inhabitants shown by this table is due 

 to emigration, and not to disease or death. The residents are remarkably healthy and 

 vigorous, and invariably decline to receive a medicine chest. 



From all the ships mentioned in the following table a description of the settlement, 

 more or less diffuse, has been given, from which an excellent idea of the condition 

 of the island can be gathered. 



(XAKR. OHALL. EXP. VOL. I. 1884.) 32 



