98 
VOYAGE TO THE 
CHAP, will be required for the annual consumption of the island ; this they 
reckon at 1000 yams to .each person. The other roots, being considered 
Dec. more as luxuries, are cultivated in irregular quantities. I'he failure of 
a crop, so exactly estimated, must of course prove of serious conse- 
quence to the colony, and much anxiety is occasionally felt as the 
season approaches for gathering it. At times cold south-westerly winds 
nip the young plants, and turn such as are exposed to them quite black : 
during our visit several plantations near the sea-coast were affected in this 
manner. At other times caterpillars prove a great source of annoyance . 
The yam is reproduced in the same manner as potatoes in England. 
The taro ( arum esculentum ) requires either a young shoot to be broken 
off and planted, or the stem to be removed from the root, and planted 
after the manner of raising pine-apples. The yappe is a root very 
similar to the taro, and is treated in the same manner. All the above- 
mentioned farinaceous roots thrive extremely well in Pitcairn Island ; 
but this is not the case with English potatoes, which cannot be brought 
even to a moderate growth. Peas and beans yield but very scanty 
crops, the soil being probably too dry for them, and are rarely seen at 
the repasts of the natives. Onions, so universally dispersed over the 
globe, cannot be made to thrive here. Pumpkins and water-melons bear 
exceedingly w^ell, but the bread-fruit, from some recent cause, is begin- 
ning to give very scanty crops. This failure Adams attributes to some 
trees being cut down, that protected them from the cold winds, which 
is not improbable ; for at Otaheite, where the trees are exposed to the 
south-west winds, the crops are very indifferent. 
Having given this short sketch of the soil and vegetation of the 
island, I shall add a few words on the climate and winds. 
The island is situated just without the regular limit of the trade- 
winds, which, however, sometimes reach it. When this is the case, the 
weather is generally fine and settled. The south-west and north-west 
. winds, which blow strong and bring heavy rains, are the chief interrup- 
tions to this serenity. Though they have a rainy season, it is not so 
limited or decided as in places more within the influence of the trade- 
winds. During the period of our visit, from the 5th of December to the 
21st, we had strong breezes from N. E. to S. E., with the sky over- 
