124 CAPTAIN BEECHEY'S ACCOUNT. 
the general stock, to be repaid when circum- 
stances were more favourable."* 
The name of John Adams is so closely identi- 
fied with Pitcairn's Island, and so much of the 
present happy state of the people is owing, under 
the Divine blessing, to him, that it is difficult to 
say too much on this part of the subject. The 
description given by Captain Beechey of Adams, 
as well as of the young islanders, who came out 
in a boat to the Blossom, when off the island in 
December 1825, is so graphic, that it must be 
quoted in his own words : 
" They sprang up the side, and shook every 
officer by the hand, with undisguised feelings of 
gratification. The activity of the young men 
outstripped that of old Adams, who was, conse- 
quently, almost the last to greet us. He was 
unusually strong and active for his age, notwith- 
standing the inconvenience of considerable corpu- 
lency. He was dressed in a sailor's shirt and 
trowsers, and a low-crowned hat, which he in- 
stinctively held in his hand until desired to put it 
on. He still retained his sailor's gait, doffing his 
hat, and smoothing down his bald forehead, when- 
ever he was addressed by the officers. It was the 
first time he had been on board a ship of war since 
the mutiny, and his mind naturally reverted to 
scenes which could not fail to produce a tempo- 
rary embarrassment, heightened, perhaps, by the 
familiarity with which he found himself ad- 
dressed by persons of a class with those whom 
* See Quarterly Review, vol. iii. p. 378, &c. 
