CAUSES OF ALARM. 
113 
which happened in March 1829, when he was 
sixty -five years of age, he might well have been 
gladdened by the prospect of the continuance 
among them of those firm and solid principles 
of true religion, which had been fixed upon a 
sure foundation, and which form a topic of 
honourable mention at this very time. 
Much of Adams's trouble and anxiety in 
former years naturally arose from the fear of 
being discovered and taken. In May 1795, he 
and his brother mutineers, having observed 
a ship nearing the island, in their terror hid 
themselves in the bush. Having, after some 
time, cautiously left their place of concealment, 
they found a knife by the sea-side, and a few 
cocoa-nut shells, proving that some persons had 
landed. The visitors however, it would seem, 
had not noticed any signs of houses, and had 
therefore proceeded on their voyage. 
