LETTEE OF THE ADMIRAL'S SECRETARY. 217 
" They are thoroughly versed in Bible 
history, which has hitherto kept them from 
listening to the advances of some over-heated 
imaginations. I stayed for days upon that 
speck in the ocean, but rising like a paradise 
from its bosom. I believe there was scarcely 
a dry eye in the ship when the islanders took 
their leave. We ran within hail of the settle- 
ment, hoisted the royal standard, fired a salute, 
and cheered them.'' 
Extract from a Letter from the Admiral's 
Secretary. 
" At 6. 30, A.M. of the 9th, as we were 
dancing along about eight knots an hour 
before a fresh breeze, we discovered a thin 
blue shadow, whose outline appeared to be 
too well denned to be a cloud : at 9 we were 
certain that we saw Pitcairn's Island. Hav- 
ing read so much of the mutiny of the 
Bounty, and the subsequent romantic history 
of the mutineers, which has resulted in the 
formation of a colony celebrated for their 
virtue, and simplicity, and religion, I ex- 
perienced a feeling of something (I know not 
what to call it) on approaching the island, 
p 
