4 CEDISE OF THE ^CUR.UJOA.' 



however, able iu passing by it to discern anything whicli 

 resembled an extinct crater. 



A httle before mid-day we dropped anclior in Sydney Bay, 

 at least two miles from the centre of the settlement, after 

 a capital rnn of 950 miles in less than five days. Tlie 

 northern coast is steep, nndulating, of a reddish tint, and 

 tolerably well wooded. On the shore, beyond the breakers, 

 we perceived a group of people, several of whom presently 

 maimed an eight-oared l^oat, whicli, forcing itself through 

 the breakers, made its way to the ' Cura^oa.' Its crew was 

 soon upon deck. One of them was George Adams the 

 son of a mutineer of the 'Bounty,' a man sixty-one years 

 of age, accompanied by his son about forty years old. 

 There were also Quintal, Christian, and others whose names 

 the history of the Pitcairn settlers has made familiar to 

 many of us from our childhood. Though reputed to be 

 total abstainers from spirituous liquors these people made 

 no difficulty in accepting a glass of brandy or wine, which 

 they drank while conversing in an English that was tole- 

 rably correct. They were badly dressed, and seemed to me 

 to be of a browner complexion than I liad expected, and 

 tlian, indeed, I had reason to expect, knowing they were 

 luilf-castes, or descendants of half-castes. They advised 

 the Commodore, as a matter of precaution, to seek an 

 anchorage in Cascade Bay on tlie north-east coast of the 

 island. We accordingly weighed anchor, and the ' Cura^oa' 

 made for the point indicated. In sailing past Philip Island 

 we were informed by them that it is thronged with rabbits, 



