MR. NOBBS'S RETURN TO PITCAIRN. 227 
clared that ' it is more blessed to give than to 
receive,' may ever bless and preserve you and 
yours, is the sincere desire of 
" Your loving children, 
" Matthew M'Coy, 
" Chief Magistrate, &c. &c. 
" To Rear-Admiral Fairfax Moresby, Commander-in-Chief." 
Very many persons in this country had learned 
to feel a deep interest in Pitcaim's Island and 
its Pastor; and when they considered the un- 
certainty of human life, and the dangers and 
difficulties of the passage between London and 
Pitcairn — a distance of more than thirteen 
thousand miles — they could not but be anxious 
to hear of Mr. Nobbs's safe return to the scene 
of his labours. They therefore sympathised 
not only with him, but with the energetic and 
disinterested Admiral Moresby, when it became 
known that the valuable deposit, entrusted by the 
Islanders to that officer's care, had, under Divine 
Providence, been happily restored to them. 
The following is an extract from a letter from 
Mr. M. Fortescue Moresby, son and Secretary 
of the Commander-in-Chief, dated H.M.S. Port- 
land, 25th June, 1853 :— 
" On Friday, the 15th of April, 1853, we" 
sailed from Valparaiso, having Mr, Nobbs, and 
his children Reuben and Jane, on board, in 
order to return them all to their island home. 
On Saturday, the 14th of May, we sighted 
Pitcairn, about 50 miles distant : on Sunday, at 
sunrise, it was looming large from the deck. 
