4 CRUISE OF THIi 'CURACJOA.' 



however, able in pcassing by it to discefu anything which 

 resembled an extinct crater. 



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

 at least two miles i'r(_)m tlie centre of the settlement, after 

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

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

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

 we perceived a group of people, several of whom presently 

 manned an eight-oared boat, which, forcing itself through 

 the breakers, made its way to the ' Cura9oa.' 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 faraihar 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 Avas tole- 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 made for the point indicated. In sailing past Pliilip Island 

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



