ST. HELENA 313 



To wait customs office, St. Helena. 



FROM THE QUEEN. 



As I have to thank Her Majesty for the Royal present that I 

 received, will my old friend Newman be kind enough to do it for 

 me ? You are the right man in the right place, and it would only 

 be as a kind man speaking to a very kind Queen. I remember 

 His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh well. When he came 

 to Tristan in Her Majesty's ship Galatea I had the honour of 

 carrying him from his boat to the sand beach, as recommended by 

 Captain Fullerton, R.N. I hope he is an admiral now. Our settle- 

 ment has been called Edinburgh since that time. I should not 

 like to try to back the Duke ashore now. He was as much as I 

 could carry thirty years ago. On boarding the Galatea afterwards 

 I was carrying a large bundle, and His Royal Highness said to the 

 officer who was with him, " What is Mr. Green going to do with 

 that bundle ? " "I want to find a gentleman," I replied, " to 

 take charge of it, and deliver it at Government House, Cape Town, 

 where I have two daughters in the service of the Governor, Sir 

 George Grey." The Duke kindly said at once, " I will be the 

 gentleman," and then told one of his servants to take the bundle 

 from me and put it in his cabin. I afterwards received a letter 

 from my daughters thanking me for the present ; it was a double 

 present, for His Royal Highness also left some money for the ser- 

 vants at Government House. 



If I get no chance to write any more this time let me still remain, 



Your old friend, 



Peter W. Green. 



In 1897 (November) the island was visited by H.M.S. 

 Widgeon, under the command of Lieut, and Commander 

 A. F. Gurney. The special object of the visit was to con- 

 vey to the islanders a whaling boat, which was supplied by 

 the Admiralty. The total population then was sixty-four, 

 composed of eighteen men, nineteen women, fifteen boys 

 and twelve girls. The island is capable of affording pas- 

 turage for some 500 head of cattle, and as there were be- 

 tween 800 and 900 cattle on the island, as well as 500 sheep, 

 the inhabitants were anxious to dispose of their surplus 

 stock. If a ship fetched cattle from there, they could 

 supplement their load by guana from the neighbouring 

 isles. The labour for such a purpose would readily be 

 found by the inhabitants of Tristan d'Acunha. The wants 

 of the islanders are few, but they are always pleased to 

 receive presents of vegetable seeds. 



They seem very contented, and enjoy good health, sick- 

 ness being very infrequent. On Sundays they meet together 



