PREFACE. xi 
real life may be more romantic than fiction, the 
author will make it his business to give an 
account of the island, and of the troublous 
iimes which preceded the pure and peaceable 
condition of its inhabitants. 
For some years the population of the island 
had gone on increasing at an advanced ratio, 
whilst the ground available for produce had 
occasionally shown symptoms of failure in the 
supply of the requisite articles of food. Under 
the pressure of a certain amount of want and 
apprehension, the inhabitants, in May, 1853, 
unanimously solicited the aid of the British 
Government, in transferring them to a more 
roomy place; and they themselves suggested 
Norfolk Island as a desirable spot for their 
future residence. That beautiful island, which 
has been sometimes called the garden of the 
world, has ceased to be a penal settlement ; and 
there are no other settlers. 
The Government determined, in the year 
1853, to provide for the transfer of the inha- 
bitants of Pitcairn, or of as many of them as 
might consent, to Norfolk Island. The execu- 
tion of the measure was confided to Sir 
William Denison, the Gfovernor of New South 
